An Unnecessary Sign?
This sign is displayed both ways at the English-Scottish border on the A68.
Keep Left - Unnecessary Sign
Do we really need it?
There are three reasons it might be there.
- It could be that it’s an EU regulation if you pass between countries. But then I pass between Belgium, France and Holland regularly and they don’t have the sign.
- Someone had a budget and needed to spent it.
- There was a commission from the sign manufacturers.
But the sign is still unnecessary.
Peebles Hydro
On Sunday, I went for lunch with my friends at Peebles Hydro.
Everything on the menu that was gluten-free was marked as such. All restaurants should follow their example. about half the menu was gluten-free, so I had a lot of choice.
In the end I had melon followed by pork medallions. It was delicious and if you need to a gluten-free meal, then it is definitely a place to try.
They are part of McMillan Hotels. I don’t know if the same policy applies across their five hotels.
Banking Security
I don’t like internet banking. Well to be truthful, I like the concept, but some of the implementations of it are rather poor.
Take my bank. I need to enter my account reference, a password and then three numbers from a key code. I can remember these in most cases, but if I access the account from someone else’s computer, I need to have the account reference written down. But I do write it down in a way that no-one could ascertain.
Although it is a system that works, it is not the best. It is typical of many systems used to login to on-line banking.
I am a mentor on The Horse’s Mouth, which is a web site where people put ideas and others pass comments. It is an interesting concept and from what I read in the press, it is highly regarded.
In the last few days, the web site has put me in touch with a company called SafeTok.
It looks like it could be a solution to better Internet security.
But then I am not an expert in this field. But then I’m a consumer who knows what I don’t like.
Taking the High Road
I got up early on Sunday morning and by half-past-seven, I was on the road to see an old friend near Peebles in the Scottish Borders.
First stop was Wetherby Services on the A1(M), just north of York and Leeds. So the petrol was it’s usual expensive price, but the service area seemed better than most. Perhaps it was just a mirage as service areas in the UK, tend to be very poor, tired, of bad design and serving the same crap food. At least Wetherby had a Marks and Spencer, so if I had wanted to buy some decent food, then I could have done.
I should say here, that I never stop unless I absolutely have to in a motorway service area, that does not have either an M&S or a Waitrose.
I took the A1 or A1(M) all the way to Newcastle and past the Angel of the North before taking the A696 through Ponteland and towards Scotland. Things must be getting more civilised up in the North East, as I noticed that Ponteland has a Waitrose, which until a few years ago was restricted very much to the South.
The A696 and A68 route from Newcastle to Edinburgh is one of those roads that needs driving. It also needs a nimble car with lots of acceleration. In other words it’s a road fit for a Lotus.
I didn’t hang about on a road that was almost free of traffic with snow to both sides and a good bit of mist. But the smooth trip to Peebles was interrupted by bridge works at Jedburgh, which meant that I had to take a detour via Hawick and Selkirk.
The latter did slow the Lotus, but I still arrived in time for lunch in Peebles.
Southampton and Football
I went to Southampton on Saturday to see Ipswich play them in the FA Cup.
I’ve always had rather a low opinion of Southampton. Not that I’ve been there very often, but I had great difficulty once getting a gluten-free meal and that clouded my view of the place.
I was surprised that the city had medieval walls, which contain the longest stretch in England, and you can walk along the top of them in places. Like many English cities, it has a ruined church, Holyrood, that was bombed by the Luftwaffe in the Second World Wat and has been left as a memorial sailors of the Merchant Navy.
Let’s not talk about the football.
The Anonymous Widower 