Golf in the City

I recently spent a fun evening at the Edinburgh Clubhouse - a venue in Fountainbridge where you're able to hire a golf simulator and play at over 50 of the world's best golf courses. So it's possible to play St.Andrews and Pebble Beach on the same day. There are six full-swing simulators (all very high-tech) and it's ideal for those fair-weather golfers who would rather stay indoors when it's raining. Full sets of clubs are provided, there's a well-stocked bar, and you can have a decent meal in their restaurant. The Clubhouse is open 7 days a week - and the hourly hire cost is very reasonable. Everyone was set up with a 10-foot gimme at the pin. Delighted that I was the only one to get a ball down the hole - right on my very last shot. Anyone for tee...? Details on their website at www.clubhouse.co.uk

Financial Times

Another crazy week on the world's financial markets, with the spectre of total collapse of the US economy looming (with a likely domino effect on the rest of the world), unless a deal can be struck in Congress by tomorrow night. The plan is to divert $700bn of mortgage debt into the 'care' of the US Treasury. Blimey! And in the UK, it's just been confirmed tonight that troubled mortgage bank Bradford & Bingley is about to be nationalised - a fate similarly thrust upon Northern Rock a few months ago. Added to all this is the planned takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB. These are indeed interesting Financial Times!

Freaky Friday

Well, who'd have predicted the week we've just had in the financial markets?! Companies filing for bankruptcy protection, companies being taken over, stock markets plummeting all round the world? And then to finish the week off, we've just witnessed the biggest one-day rise ever in the UK stockmarket, with the FTSE100 index going up 8.84%. I don't think we're in the clear yet, and I expect there'll be many more weeks before a sense of normality returns.
We can only wait and see...

And now to London...

The paralympic games have now been brought to a close in Beijing, with the British team finishing 2nd overall in the medals table, beaten only by the Chinese. A fantastic performance. We won a total of 102 medals, of which 42 were gold, 29 were silver and 31 were bronze. Now that the baton has officially been passed to the London 2012 games, there are high hopes that the momentum will continue and that GB will be even more successful in 4 years' time.

Banking on a major deal

After a day of speculation, it's been confirmed that Lloyds TSB is buying HBOS (which owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland) in a deal worth £12.2bn. In ordinary times, the competition watchdogs would not allow the merger to go ahead, as the enlarged group would capture too big a proportion of the UK mortgage and savings market. But these aren't ordinary times. There's plenty of concern north of the border to ensure that jobs remain in Scotland - although it doesn't take too much to realise that the deal will end up leading to many job losses. Let's hope that some of the recent turmoil in financial markets will start to disappear, and that consumers continue to get a good choice of services, products and rates, and therefore don't get a bad result out of the deal.

Got any spare money?

If you have millions of pounds spare at the moment, why not buy Gatwick Airport? BAA have just announced that it's putting the Sussex airport up for sale. Serious bidders only please.

You should be able to read this

Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rgh it pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs psas it on !!

Psas Ti ON !

Nightmare in the Den

Cartoon spotted in the free Metro newspaper. Anyone who is a fan of the BBC programme Dragons' Den should appreciate the sentiment.

Joggers beware

Earlier this week, a jogger was taken to hospital after he was attacked by a kangaroo on the outskirts of Melbourne. The jogger, who hopped between a male and female kangaroo, suffered a head injury and scratches. A Metropolitan Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the victim, aged in his 50s, ran to a nearby house and telephoned for help while the kangaroo hopped away. The man was taken by ambulance to a hospital in a stable condition with a gash on his head and minor claw scratches to his chest, arms and hands. Who says getting fit is good for you?!

Impact of Credit Crunch #5

Impact of Credit Crunch #4

New Appple i-Phone

Impact of Credit Crunch #3

Impact of Credit Crunch #2

Impact of Credit Crunch #1

Does one want fries with that?