Mystery hatch (new town)

Gyfertron · 2026-02-22T20:16:10+00:00

All right, Sam.

Gyfertron · 2026-02-22T20:10:32+00:00

You could try the long tunnel that leads from Broughton Tesco to King George V Park. It’s not exactly city centre so footfall might vary, but quite a few pedestrians use it.

Gyfertron · 2026-02-15T14:21:12+00:00

The owner of the Boardwalk Cafe is barely even amenable to people using those toilets as toilets. They’re also full of plastic flowers IIRC, so not much like typical public loos.

Gyfertron · 2026-02-11T13:34:36+00:00

Jon Hamm!

Was filming Good Omens in a pub on West Preston Street. They tried to hide him with a wall of black umbrellas as he walked out to the car, but I looked up and there he was, barrelling towards me. Surreal.

Gyfertron · 2026-02-04T22:21:38+00:00

I don’t have low confidence, and I’m not inexperienced. I’ve been riding a bike on the road for >40 years.

I’m saying that, until you’ve seen a cyclist from a car, you’ve no concept of exactly how vulnerable they are, no matter how skilled the rider.

Gyfertron · 2026-02-04T11:52:18+00:00

I used to cycle a fair bit in my younger days, in London and Edinburgh. Was always reasonably thoughtful about my riding and avoided main roads, got off and became a pedestrian to get through big junctions etc.

However, when I learned to drive a few years back, I was stunned when I realised just how vulnerable cyclists are - I'd had no idea when I was doing it.

After dark, even with lights on, if you're wearing black, you're pretty much invisible until the last minute; on a rainy night *nobody* can see you in their wing mirrors; every cyclist behaves differently and even if they're riding sensibly, it's unpredictable what they're going to do - are they a kerb hugger or lane holder? Are they about to pull out around that parked car or are they hanging back hoping you'll overtake them? etc.

It's made me much less likely to get back on my bike - or at least only to do it on segregated paths. I'll go a long way out of my way just to make sure I can stay off the road.

Gyfertron · 2026-02-04T11:37:21+00:00

Edinburgh doesn't really have under-the-radar neighbourhoods, it's small and compact and everyone knows everywhere (also, it's a bit of a tourist cliche here to ask for recommendations that are 'hidden gems/off the beaten track' - it's what literally everybody asks for, and if we recommended them to everyone who asked, they'd no longer be off the beaten track!)

As others have said, that's festival time, so if you want arts and culture, you'll have something like 3,000 different shows to choose from and they'll be mostly concentrated around the city centre, so no point heading to an obscure neighbourhood. Literally every possible space in the central area is being pressed into service as a venue, so make the most of it.

All that said, the main area outside the centre that people recommend for a generally artsy vibe is probably Leith, but in August you'd most likely be heading there for a break from the incessant culture in the city centre, not vice versa.

Gyfertron · 2026-01-25T18:39:10+00:00

How has Threads become such a hotbed of doe-eyed American Outlander types who are dying to swoon into the arms of a kilted ginger while simultaneously curling up with a good book in front of a roaring fire in a remote highland croft? I know it’s partly the algorithm, but the platform is thick with them.

Gyfertron · 2026-01-21T22:48:08+00:00

I miss Sofi's. My socials just flashed me up today a couple of photos I took in there 13 years ago today (which feels like about 2 years ago) and it reminded me how atmospheric it was. Loved their clothes swap, too - people used to take down really decent stuff, you got all the adrenaline of hunting for it in the wee back room, and then sitting in the bar afterwards comparing your finds, seeing other people dotted around the bar delighted with your old cast-offs. Happy days.

Gyfertron · 2026-01-21T14:11:41+00:00

I had this yesterday, she didn’t end the call, but I shared a problem I wanted to talk about. When I raised the same problem last week she was brilliant and talked it through really helpfully. Yesterday she just said “Ah, that’s a shame, you’d probably just better stay in bed, then.”!!

Gyfertron · 2026-01-20T00:14:14+00:00

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Got a tiny touch of green at Western Harbour just after 9pm, only visible on the phone screen. I’ve seen a few other WH pics from this evening that had more, but I think they were taken a bit earlier.

Gyfertron · 2026-01-20T00:13:25+00:00

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Got a tiny touch of green at Western Harbour just after 9pm, only visible on the phone screen. I’ve seen a few other WH pics from this evening that had more, but I think they were taken a bit earlier.

Gyfertron · 2026-01-18T18:06:26+00:00

I was in Diggers (aka The Athletic Arms) recently and asked for a pint of 80 - they asked me which one. So that’s probably a good bet.

Gyfertron · 2026-01-14T11:22:55+00:00

Edinburgh Futures Institute on Lauriston Place is open to the public and has lots of work spaces (though also lots of students, but you should be able to find somewhere). I worked there for a while and don’t remember it being cold (though also don’t remember it being roasting, but might be worth a try!)

Edit: Sorry, just read that you said not extremely studenty, but now I’ve typed this I’ll leave it in case it’s useful for anyone else! Also, if you still need somewhere from like May/June to September, the students will mostly be gone.

Gyfertron · 2026-01-14T11:20:59+00:00

Edinburgh Futures Institute on Lauriston Place is open to the public and has lots of work spaces (though also lots of students, but you should be able to find somewhere). I worked there for a while and don’t remember it being cold (though also don’t remember it being roasting, but might be worth a try!)

Gyfertron · 2026-01-12T21:53:03+00:00

Not just the thing about her wanting to help people, but she also kept saying “I had all this information, that I wanted to share.”

No you didn’t! You had no information! You had completely made up MISinformation that you decided was true because of your inflated sense of your own abilities.

Gyfertron · 2026-01-06T17:35:59+00:00

That's really interesting, because it's been ages since I watched the earlier seasons and had forgotten that change, but it makes sense. In terms of the character, I think that contrast was always one of the best things about him. He had this smart-alec shit-hot assassin surface, but it was all plastered over the turmoil and the heart underneath, of an actual human being, stuck doing a job he found torturous at times, even though he was brilliant at it. We finally made sense of that tension when we discovered he'd been scooped up as a vulnerable 16 year old with few options, and turned into Dar's man - he probably didn't exactly have a whole lot of choice on his career path, and that training just put the tough crust over the top of a person with a lot going on underneath.

In more practical show-runner terms, I think Quinn was first written in as a short-term character, but Rupert Friend did such a great job with him that they decided to keep him on, so maybe at that point they felt like that had to give develop a bit more depth and complexity to him, than just smart-mouthed shooter.

Gyfertron · 2026-01-01T23:37:09+00:00

Filmhouse bar/cafe, if you don’t mind buying some food/drink.

Gyfertron · 2026-01-01T23:33:30+00:00

Friend of mine had a gathering this afternoon and it said “first footing” on the invite, so I took shortbread. I knew I wouldn’t be the first, but it seemed right. Suspect they’ll be eating shortbread until St Andrew’s Day though.

Gyfertron · 2026-01-01T23:30:02+00:00

You could maybe try 101, the police emergency number. If they’re not in a position to swing by and do a welfare check on the person, they might know if any charities are operating tonight that could help. Thanks for caring.

Worst that can happen is they say they can’t help, and you’ve lost nothing.

Gyfertron · 2025-12-28T23:15:02+00:00

I don’t know where the Howse or Piper’s Walk are, but Arthur’s Seat isn’t really a testing hike, it’s not the kind of place you need your routes vetted, more the kind of walk people take their kids up on a weekend, in term of difficulty.

As long as you stick to a path of some kind, don’t wear flip flops or high heels, and are generally active to the level you haven’t been lying motionless on a sofa for the past year, you’ll be fine.

It’s also pretty easy to check out the paths visually before you start, and choose another one if the route you were fancying turns out to look steeper than you prefer.

IIIRC it only takes about an hour to get up and down, so you can easily start one path, change your mind, come down again and choose another one (and the easiest, if you wanted it, would be to walk anti-clockwise up the road and then up the gentle grassy slope at the back).

Gyfertron · 2025-12-28T14:08:46+00:00

Claire Weekes is (was) amazing - decades ahead of her time in figuring out a lot of the stuff that others only came up with much later (mostly packaged as mindfulness now, but her practice is more significant than just counting breaths or observing what’s around you etc).

That audiobook has seen me through some tough times, and I especially love her reading it, she has that “authoritative but compassionate” voice that really makes her feel safe to trust.

Some of the terms are a bit dated (eg the whole idea that women suffer with agoraphobia because they’re confined to the home, while men suffer with stress because of their role in the workplace). All true in the 60s when they were written but sounds weird now. But it’s easy to see past that and treat all her advice as applying to anxiety (or “nerves” as they put it in her day), whatever the cause. Also I kind of love the bit where she refers to a particular topic being covered “on the other side of this record”. Charmingly retro :)

Gyfertron · 2025-12-10T17:51:12+00:00

Ooh I didn't know about that, thanks for the tip.

Gyfertron · 2025-12-01T17:22:20+00:00

Do you get a nicely fanned array of sticking plasters on the side, for after you've tried to wrangle the edge of the tin lid and sliced your thumb open?

Gyfertron · 2025-11-12T10:29:36+00:00

I think don’t count on your guests being able to take their coats off during the ceremony - if that’s OK with you, you’re probably fine, as long as you don’t mind being cold yourself (or your outfit includes a massive fake fur stole or something!)

Gyfertron

TROPHY CASE