Changes

How well do you know your Scottish rivers? Try to list 10 rivers in Scotland before looking at the photo. One point for every river you get right. If you get over 5, I’ll buy you a drink of your choice. Hint: one is a common material for clothes used around here.


A bus mirror went a few centimeters by Anthony’s head (imagine having to take your CEO to the hospital), while we were on our way to the Balmoral (formerly the North British), just by Waverley station.


The rich industrialist Victorians used to make their fortunes and come up to Edinburgh to spend their time and money. The North British has one of the fanciest tea rooms in the UK, built for the sole purpose of Victorians to have their tea before boarding the train back to London. The Flying Scotsman took these fancy pants back and forth to Edinburgh. This steamer took roughly the same long four and a half hours to cross the UK as it does now. In 1840.

For things to change, some have to stay the same.

The time it takes to get to Edinburgh is one of the latter.

Other times, one needs to force change. Take Tom, the banker who I met last night at the investor event. I asked him what changed in his 30 years career. Automation.

His first job was to write down accounts and orders by hand. They also had a mechanical calculator that required moving pieces on a string (I guess something similar to an abacus?). The electronic ones used to cost ~£600 at the time, which his boss did not want to find the budget for. So, one day Tom took a pair of pliers and cut the strings that held the mechanical calculator together. It must have had a spring system in it, as the next day when his boss wanted to use it, a piece of the calculator flew sideways into the wall. He helped his boss find the budget for an electronic number cruncher.

And with that little thought, the end of the Edinburgh dispatches finds us on the LNER service to London Kings Cross, looking at the misty fields and stone hedges. More than 1500 words clocked up. While kings get crowned this weekend, I shall be reviewing and editing the text and images sent into a blog. Thank you for letting me indulge in this, despite you having no choice.

Yours,

Twobob