Clear skies.

A 'temporary communications outage' in the US has grounded flights and caused chaos on trans-Atlantic flights. The morning radio broadcast has interviews with unhappy business travelers who turned up at Heathrow only to discover that their trip back across the pond had been cancelled. The chaos has been put down to 'legacy technology issues' although what this means isn't spelled out. British Airways warns of more possible delays or cancellations while the backlog of flights is 'addressed'. Seems that flights to Scotland have not be impacted. The next time 'The Font' wonders why I'm running late I shall blame it on legacy technology issues.

Over the last week the weather has turned much colder. In a sure sign that frigid air is on its way the railway stations have started to lay down grit in case there's a build up of ice. The skies remain cloud free which means that the temperatures really plummet as soon as the sun sets.

We have opted to stay in the anonymous modern Edinburgh  hotel near the concert halls. In cold weather anonymous modern hotels can be counted on to have heating that works. In some of the towns older hostelries drafts come included in the price.

The modern hotels lobby has been redecorated in ice rink style. Someone must think this is a good idea. There is presumably new management to go along with the decor change. The lobby staff used to have a soi-disant interest in their guests. No longer. Now they bubble over with a charm and enthusiasm that is decidedly not the norm in these northerly parts. By the time we've made it to the front desk I've been asked three times if we've had a good journey.

This morning as we leave the sun is out.

The oddly shaped little war memorial by the station is covered in Remembrance Day wreathes.

On the way home I finish off this book about the UK's first Socialist Prime Minister. It is particularly well written and has been  a joy to read. Ramsay MacDonalds relationship with  King George V ( an extremely crusty and conservative character ) proved, against all the odds, to be a great success. In fact the King thought he was the greatest of all his Prime Ministers. All the more amazing as MacDonald was an illegitimate ploughmans son from Lossiemouth.

This Prime Ministers speeches seem dull and monotonous to modern ears but in his day he was counted as one of the countrys greatest speakers. He managed to take Britain from a paternalistic form of government to popular social democracy so quietly that the change was barely noticed. King George V we also discover insisted on having his trousers ironed at the side , rather than fore and aft.

Ancient Greek beauticians :https://greekreporter.com/2026/11/09/beauty-secrets-bronze-age-greece/

Climate science in 2026 :https://thebulletin.org/premium/2026-11/cuts-evictions-and-job-losses-a-view-from-the-trenches-of-climate-science-in-2026/

As it unfolds there's more to this story than meets the eye - and its not the Chinese spy : https://newsletter.semianalysis.com/p/nvidia-and-the-world-without-jensen