Lets get this out of the way early on, lakes in Scotland are usually called lochs but this one (which I’d always thought was the only lake in Scotland) is called a lake. It isn’t very deep and we were told in Geography at school that it is a kettle lake. It has three small islands, the most famous being Inchmahome, the location of a Priory where Mary Queen of Scots took refuge for a few weeks in 1547. I’ve been to Inchmahome Priory before as a kid and it is a local tourist attraction maintained by Historic Scotland who usually provide a boat service over to the island from the strangely titled Port of Menteith village.

The lake hasn’t frozen over since 1979 but when it does to a depth of at least 7 inches an outdoor curling tournament called The Bonspiel or the Grand Match is held on the loch. Unfortunately the event was cancelled but at least Dad and I got the opportunity to walk over to two of the islands, Inchmahome and the nearby Inch Talla with it’s ruins of a castle usually unreachable to the public.

It was a strange feeling to walk on the ice. Any concerns of it cracking were quickly allayed and throughout our time on the ice we saw some stable cracks but never heard any new ones. In places there was a covering of snow which made it easier to walk on without slipping and sliding around. We wore the wrong footwear though, we could have been over to the island in minutes if we’d brought ice skates.

Skating across the Lake of Menteith

The frozen lake

Mum and Dad standing on the ice

Approaching Inchmahome Island with the priory in front

A wall of the ruined castle on Inch Talla

Before I left for sunnier climes graduate (or any form of entry-level jobs) were a bit like hens teeth and it was a situation that everyone knew was going to get much worse before it got any better. A survey by High Fliers Research of 100 firms found recruitment targets had been cut by 17% for this year. The economic downturn had rather predictably hit financial sector recruitment, with 47% fewer graduate entry-level jobs.

3 month long internships were suggested as a way to improve the skill sets of recent graduates and make them more employable. Governments don’t have the best track records with job creation however, “fancy a job comrade?” You can’t magic something out of thin air.

Now the Government is encouraging students to try looking for opportunities abroad. It kinda sounds strangely familiar but coming from Universities Minister David Lammy MP it does smack of trying to offload the problem to someone else.

New Zealand is currently trying to fight a “brain drain” which sees many young people each year move to Australia. Roughly one in four tertiary-qualified New Zealanders leave the country to live overseas, more than any other country in the developed world. What New Zealand’s PM is trying to do is get them back.

So vote for Ben!

The full story is available on Yahoo!Xtra. Freaky!

I fly out early next month and I’m due to return at the start of December but you never know what the future might hold.

One thing’s for sure, it’ll be a big change.

A headhunters card with instructions ‘read it then eat it'

The classic is perhaps the packet of seeds business card, appropriate obviously for gardeners and other people that work the soil.

A perforated card from a divorce lawyer

A second hand store

Business card from a dentist

Acupuncturist card

business card from a personal trainer

Lock picking business card from a security consultant

and most complicated of all:

A business card containing a series of gears that when operated show the persons contact details

Or

An AVR microcontroller circuit board business card

The ultimate: The business card that calls for you

Apparently the parts are cheap to buy but require some talent to put together. If you have the time you can build your own autodialing business card too (Geek points available on request).

The future?

We’ve been promised digital newspapers and the like for years. The idea being we all have flexable displays that draw little power and can be easily updated. Recently Esquire magazine had a section of their front cover using an early version of this technology. Maybe in the not too distant future we’ll have business cards made from “e-ink” too.

Before I explain why I had it in the bath I’ll explain why I have it. My trombone is a King 3B Tenor trombone but in the band I’m normally either 3rd or bass trombone so with my instrument I can’t reach some of the lower notes. To solve this problem they spent some of the band funds on a Boosey & Hawkes Imperial (from eBay), what was in its day a professional line of instruments made in England.

As of Monday and the Callander Amateur Operatic Society rehearsal (I need to say no more often!) I’ve had this new toy sitting on a stand in my room. They’re fundamentally the same instrument but with some changes. To get lower notes there’s an extra length of tubing at the top and a valve that controls whether or not the air goes through it or bypasses it and is then essentially a tenor trombone. This bit called the F attachment is the biggest thing I’ve got to get used to because when you pull the trigger strange things happen e.g. you can get c in first position and there are only 6 slide positions instead of the usual 7 (and their all in new places).

Oh I nearly forgot, I had it in the bath as that’s the best way to wash the gunk out of it.

There are other slight differences such as having a larger mouthpiece and having to modify your breathing a little. I found a really helpful video podcast from trombonelessons.com:

The eBay pictures used to sell it: