Let there be light...

What is it about adverse weather that turns a large proportion of drivers into complete morons?

I rode my motorbike to the train station this morning in thick mist/fog.  Visibility was down to 50 yards, with lights.  If ever there was a need to use fog lights, it was today (of course, being on a bike, I didn't have any so the full beam headlight had to do).  There was so much of it I had to wipe the fine mist off my visor every 100m just so I didn't end up on the other side of a hedge, arse over tits. 

And what did I see along the way?

Sure, one or two had the sense to put their fog lights on.  Some of the cars coming the other way had their headlights on, but I just could not believe the number of cars who went by me with no lights on, probably still half asleep.  Worst of all, I think, was the BMW driver who obviously got in his car, saw the conditions, stopped for a moment to consider that dense fog was potentially dangerous.....and decided to do the 'sensible' thing and put his sidelights on just to be on the safe side.  Seriously?  WTF?

There should be some sort of intelligence test before they let people drive, because you could train a chimp to drive better than some of these numpties.

Pleased and proud...

...is what I am. 

I'm am officially over the moon to be on the foremost post graduate forensic science course in the UK and one which is world renowned. 

When Professor Jim Fraser gave the introduction today and said:
"If any of you are wondering if you came to the right place, you undoubtedly did.  This is by far the top forensic science course in the UK", I just wanted to cheer. 

This post may seem a little bit self-indulgent but when you want something for long enough and finally achieve it there's a natural feeling of pride.  Jim Fraser's comments today just echoed what I already knew about the course's reputation, but to hear it put so confidently, well, it was something else.  However, getting on the course was the easy part, there's a lot of hard work to come and, like I've been telling people for a while now, full time means full time on this course.  We've 30 experiments to do in 6 weeks, that's one in every half day lab session and that's not even including the lectures and theory.  The timetable is very interesting and I can't wait to get started on it.  Some of the techniques we are to learn in Semester 1 are:

Casting of toolmarks
Microscopy of documents
Recovering fibres from tapelifts
Blood presumptive tests
Presumptive / confirmatory tests for semen and saliva
Writing of court reports
Blood pattern analysis
Bloodsplash
TLC of inks and fibre dyes
Examining fibres
Glass breaking
Glass reconstruction
Paint - microscopy and solubility
Examination of striations on thin plastic films
2D and 3D footwear marks
Fingerprint enhancement and identification

Suffice to say...

Insurance companies...

...they're all the same.  They take your money every month or every year.  You do your bit by paying your premium on time and know that when the worst happens you can safely rely on the insurance company to make your life hell for daring to actually claim.

Technicalities.  You'd think in my 35 years I'd have learned not to rely on a common sense approach or a reasoned argument in dealing with an insurance company.  A couple of pieces of information weren't quite right and that's enough to completely invalidate my insurance.  Does it matter that the risk to the property was exactly the same, regardless of this information?  No.  Does it matter that they're own policy document seems to say that the actions I took were acceptable?  Seemingly not.  Please drop your trousers and bend over, Stoo, this won't hurt a bit.  Yes, ok, this is all my fault for not making sure the information was 100% correct but in many other financial instituitions you'd be able to make your argument based on fact.  Not with an insurance company.  Sorry. Not correct. PFO.

Will they be refunding my premium seeing how I wasn't actually insured?  Will they heck!!  I won't name the insurance company other than to say that it rhymes with I wrecked mine

Sharks the lot of them.  Someone can expect to receive a jobby in the post.

And so it begins...

Tomorrow is my first day back at Uni after a 14 year gap to study a full time post graduate diploma in forensic science, and with any luck an MSc at the end of it.

It's hard to believe that just a few weeks ago I was in a secure job, which in the current climate is pretty hard to find, earning upwards of £30k pa and now I'm in full time education again earning SFA.  I think it was a necessary step, the job was going nowhere and I was starting to go slowly mad.  So it was decision time.  Put up, or shut up. 

I've had an interest in forensic science since I was at school and had it not been for the relatively few jobs in the field in 1992 when I was choosing my Uni course I'd have studied FS at undergraduate level.  Things are different now, although there is the possibility that the number of labs in Scotland will be halved.  Not a good prospect for someone looking to ultimately get a job in one of them.

The silver lining is that the Scottish Parliament recently backed an amendment calling for all 4 labs in Scotland to remain open, including the one in Edinburgh.  SPSA will make their recommendation and the final decision will be up to the Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill.  Wouldn't it be ironic if the party I have backed all my adult life are the one to f*ck it all up?  There is a brand new, state of the art, lab in my home city of Dundee which is being earmarked to be one of the two 'centralised' forensic labs, so that's not a bad alternative to Edinburgh.

Fingers crossed...

Outlets are guid

I've been considering creating a blog for some time now, mainly out of a lack of suitable outlets for various frustrations.  It helps to get things off your chest.  I fully expect nobody to actually read this blog but you never know.  It won't just be random moans, I hope to add some serious points.  As a Scot, these will naturally be focussed on Scotland, Scottish politics, our relationship with our closest neighbour and, well, stuff like that.  Anyone who knows me will know that I am staunchly pro-independence, so don't be surprised to see an item or two on that subject ;o)

Fir noo, I'll leave ye wi' this thought:

"The rose of all the world is not for me

I want for my part

Only the little white rose of Scotland

That smells sharp and sweet - and breaks the heart"

- Hugh MacDiarmid