Sturm und Drang start to the day

I was lucky and managed to get to work in a brief gap between thunderstorms, but others weren't so lucky and arrived looking distinctly bedraggled. Then, in the middle of a conversation about a thorny problem that had kept someone up until three this morning, there was the huge flash of nearby lightning strike followed by an abrupt loss of power to the building. Not exactly the most auspicious start to the day. But the UPS did its job and the power feeds switched to an alternate substation and things gradually started coming back on. Just as well: I'm not sure either of us was up to the chore of a cold restart...

Kicking over the dust

I've been pretty ambivalent about the whole Scottish referendum thing, largely because, despite Alec Salmond's sweeping rhetoric, a yes vote was never going to result in radical change. But the process itself has been deeply positive, increasing public engagement with politics and bringing issues which matter deeply to people elsewhere in the UK.

Now all the parties have to deliver on their promises for devo max; something they can't be allowed to renege on, otherwise there's no point in believing in anything they say ever again.

But the signs, on the Tory side at least, aren't good. The BBC are currently interviewing a parade of appalling Tories who seem determined to use the devo max promise as a stick to beat Scottish MPs with — something that will hurt the Tories, with almost no presence north of the border, far less than it will the parties — rather than make a show of positive intent and reconciliation. I suppose I shouldn't be disappointed, but it's hard not to be...

My first Boatman

Adhering to the tradition of marking crossword milestones: my first successful completion of a Boatman puzzle. I'm not really sure it's legitimate to count it, because it was definitely at the easier end of the spectrum...