Monday 1 June 1998
Tuesday 2 June 1998
And because I am just at the beginning of these projects, I am at that frustrating stage where no-one really knows where the information is. Have you noticed how the so-called Age of Information is anything but, if the information you want is not in an electronic form. There was a time when a city reference librarian could have told you exactly where all the various city archives were. No longer. They can't even tell you what bus to take to get out to one of their own branch libraries. So, apart from wasting a lot of time trying to find out where information is, I also wasted time getting the wrong bus. However, I have to give them full marks for courtesy and friendlness.
And it is still freezing cold.
In Edinburgh, the usual political news rumbles on, and World Cup fever is beginning to take hold, especially as Scotland are taking part, although the least said about their past performances the better. The biggest cause for controversy in the city seems to be whether to ban dogs from public parks because of the risk from their dirt, when owners defy the bylaws and let their pets do what they want when they want.
In the Royal Infirmary, there is a man of Arabic or North African appearance, who has completely lost his memory. So far the police have had no success in discovering who he is and where he is from. It is hard to imagine the terror of not having any sense of your own identity.
Wednesday 3 June 1998
I spent most of the day looking up John's forebears in New Register House. Apart from the information I did want, I also found two mistakes in the data-inputting of the search facility, which meant a marriage certificate I wanted did not show up under its correct date. But it's not just modern sloppiness I also found an actual mistake on a marriage certificate itself. The Registrar of the time had put down John's paternal grandfather's forename incorrectly. These little things make searching somewhat more frustrating than they should be. It's not you who's gone wrong, it's some other idiot who's holding you up. The fact he's been dead for about fifty years, is no consolation.
Tuesday 8 June 1998
Our tv is already saturated with the World Cup, and it doesn't start until tomorrow. OK, I confess. I used to more than a little interested in football, and I have been known to follow previous World Cups. But the saturation coverage is enough to put anyone, except a complete fanatic, off.
Well, at least it's more interesting than the Spice Girls (who they?) breaking up.
Edinburgh is quiet at the moment, apart from the usual political stuff. That doesn't change either. Even though the political parties in power have changed, the controversies stay the same.
Outside Edinburgh, near Loch Lomond, a poor Water Board official, harmlessly taking water samples for testing, was gored to death by an irate bull. It sounds bizarre, but it's real and very tragic.
Friday 12 June 1998
I managed to get on the trail of the 'lost' brothers and sisters of the grandmother of the friend I'm looking up the family for, so I have a quiet sense of achievement.
Thursday 25 June 1998
Well, one does not mention the words World Cup around here at the moment!
This is turning into a weather forecast! But really! Here we are at the beginning of June, and we still have high winds, freezing rain and temperatures worthy of December. Actually, come to think of it, I think December was warmer than this. We had an abnormally warm start to the winter. In December, I was still wearing a t-shirt and summer shoes. Here we are in June, and I'm back in a sweatshirt and padded jacket and winter shoes.
Today was one of those days when you set out to do a lot of things and manage to do very few of them. I have a couple of research projects on at the moment, tracing an exiled Scottish friend's forebears in Scotland, in one instance, and trying to find photographs of ships coming into the old ports of Leith and Granton from Iceland, between about 1870 and 1890, in the other instance. That was the period of the massive emigration from Iceland, mainly west to Canada and the States, brought about by the intolerable conditions of Danish rule and the havoc caused by several bad volcanic eruptions. All passengers from Iceland to North America came through Scotland, usually through Leith or Granton. Getting photographs of the ports at that period is not too difficult, it's the ships themselves that are a bit of a problem.
Need I say it? No change on the weather front. Well, that's got that out of the way!
What idiot said 'Plus ca change'? It's still freezing cold - well, relatively so, for this time of year, and still pouring of rain. I'm still in my sweatshirts and winter leather jacket (not the same sweatshirt!)
I haven't seen the Evening News yet, today, so I'm not sure what the news is in Edinburgh. I'll have to fill it in tomorrow. On a national stage, Scotland managed to lose to Brazil (World Cup - what else!) through an own goal. That is not the way to go, if you must go. Not that Scotland are gone yet. This is just the first round and there are several more matches to play before it's decdided who goes through to the next round. I did not actually see the fatal match, being safely immured in New Register House at the time, although, with a pub just opposite, we did hear the roars, and then the wails and screams. Luckily the actual words were inaudible!
Dare I say it? It's actually warm! Still raining - but warm! Wonder how long for ...
