So, the new GM is closing SAAB, the Swedish car manufacturer. It's not unexpected but still a shame as we have happy memories of owning them. As a student in Scotland in the 1970's a SAAB 96 was one of the first cars I had ; it was also the first car 'the font' was alowed to drive. For some long forgotten reason it was christened 'Bernadette', perhaps because it was bright red. Thinking about it, and it's unusual wallowing motion at anything over 40 mph, still brings a smile to my face.
Years later when our circumstances were different we bought a large four door SAAB 9000. Like all SAAB's it had the ignition peculiarly situated between the seats but apart from that was pretty characterless - just a large,safe, family swallowing saloon. It was also one of the first cars to have electrically heated seats - now pretty much standard but then state of the art. When taking delivery I blithely ignored the salesmans run through of all the features opting instead to get the car home and go for a long drive with 'the font'. About three miles down the road from the dealership, on the road out of Edinburgh to the Forth Road Bridge, the area between the small of my back and my knees started getting hot , indeed very hot- and more alarmingly the area at base of my spine had started to sweat. Approaching home an hour later the hot flushes were now constant and my symptoms indicated that I had contracted some rare, hitherto unknown, tropical illness . The hot flushes lasted for about a month ,recurring anywhere more than two miles drive from home. It was only by chance when out of the blue someone asked me how we liked the heated seats that the source of the disease became clear.
It was Wilf's day for grooming yesterday. Long haired dog and exhausted groomer can be made out in the bottom photo. You will be pleased to know that much of what you see is fur and not the real state of Wilf's waistline.
'The font' is off to the airport this morning to attend to 'Granny font' . The weather is beautiful, sunny and cold, so there should be no travel delays at this end. Thankfully, the disruptive BA strike seems to be on hold. The boyz are here with me to await the delivery of the beds, the Fortnums hamper , and the presents that were entrusted to DHL when I was last in London. Talk about cutting the deliveries fine. I intend to enjoy the peace and quiet before the 'gannets' arrive.
