It’s crazy how kids have different personalities right out of the box. When my daughter Sophia was born, the first thing she gave me was a brief smile and a squeeze of my finger as she lay on the examination table while the nurses tended to my wife. That attitude has only grown ever since. Fifteen months on her generosity really seems boundless. She’s figured out which shoes belong to which adult and will bring them over Even if you aren’t going outside. , point at the next step in making my coffee in the morning, remind you when it’s dinner time, show you a handful of her blueberries and take them back, and provide feedback on how her block tower is better than yours by tearing it down.
Perhaps the most magnanimous of all is her swift sharing of absolutely every cold, stomach flu, and malady which crosses her path at nursery. Among the worst ailment she’s kindly given us stayed with me for about 6 weeks and caused a post-nasal drip I struggle with even now, and that’s not mentioning the stomach bug that drove me, my wife, nephew, and in-laws to our knees in the bathroom.
Most recently, she’s come down with a persistent cough and runny nose. Nothing to be afraid of, just the regular inconvenience of broken sleep and extra cuddles to get her through the night. Pro-tip: babies can’t blow their nose or get rid of congestion on their own. Please consult a qualified physician to learn about strategies for helping them when needed. I foolishly counted myself the lucky one this time when it seemed to pass me by and infect only my wife instead. She woke up on Thursday with a cracked voice and had to call in sick to work. Granny and Grandpa rode in to the rescue, of course, and took her to nursery, leaving my wife to recover over a marathon of “The Great British Bake Off.” She still has the after-effects two days later, but nothing that her stalwart Glaswegian “get on with it” spirit won’t cure.
I, on the other hand, was and am a different story. It turns out the illness didn’t pass me over, but chose to dig into me this morning. I woke up with a scorching throat and the same broken voice my wife had two days earlier. It caused me to quickly rethink my health focused project I was eager to begin today. See the bottom of this post for more information. I decided to stay in bed and get a few extra hours of sleep.
At 8:30 a.m., I was feeling brave enough to leave bed and check-in with my wife about today’s happenings, and around noon, she sent me off to run a few lightweight errands in town – nothing too strenuous, just picking up a few last-minute Halloween items and getting a head start on the Christmas shopping.
I thought it might be interesting to chronicle what a short jaunt into Glasgow is like – what you’re likely to see, even when you don’t have time to linger or window shop. When asked, I always recommend visitors to spend some time in Glasgow, as I’ve always felt it possess the most genuine heartbeat of the large Scottish cities. Edinburgh is nice and appeals to the more aesthetically and architecturally minded, and is good for a selfie with a castle you don’t own, but it doesn’t match Glasgow for its history, culture, or parade of authentic Scottish characters.
The common theme of this trip centered around the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference, which I’ve collected a few snaps of below. But I couldn’t resist the first view that I saw after passing the barriers in Glasgow central.
This photo has three brilliant elements – obviously, the large, wooden effigy in the center testifies to Glasgow’s progressive mindset. But on the right, you’ll see the city’s COVID initiative in full force, as they’ve set up kiosks throughout the populated bottlenecks to pass out free testing kits. Subtlety in the background you’ll also see what looks like a police officer standing ominously in the gallery above. That’s not real – he’s actually a cardboard cutout that the staff cheekily moves around the station to discourage the uninformed from misbehaving.
On the other side of Glasgow Central Station, they’re erecting this digital outpost detailing the benefits of electrical vehicles on the environment. I didn’t take too close of a look, but it’s destined to be the first hot draw for the conference goers who migrate to the conference by train, either distantly from London or locally.
Before I left, my wife told me the errands were “near the place” that I picked my kilt up from for the wedding we attended a few weekends ago. She was referring to a street near the station where an army of police vans patrolled after a recent gang engagement. Where I actually needed to go was in the opposite direction, which I figured out later. But on the way back, I ran across this news team doing a quick report on Cop26.
One street over, I was closer to the Marks and Spencer’s where I needed to acquire a blood red tie for my nephew’s Halloween project. On a bike rack, there was an elevated sign with the city’s motto “People Make Glasgow”…
… and on an abandoned phone booth, there was a poster advertising one of Glasgow’s political action groups, likely hijacking the language and topic of climate change to spark attendance.
Close to the curb, the poles protecting the edge of the street were also decorated for the upcoming event.
After grabbing the tie (and a new winter scarf for myself Don’t tell my wife ), I headed back to the station. My original plan to take the bus was thwarted by a no-show bus, which was particularly unceremonious with its cancellation notice.
I passed a street commonly known for its street performers. The image below shows a local Glasgow legend. I don’t know what his official or unofficial name is or why he’s spending his golden years doing this, but he’s famous for making these small, animatroic displays that play rock music. Before lockdown, I believe they were pigs, but now he’s upgraded them to cats.
And finally, there was a guitar-wielding hopeful, practicing for a few coins or donations. To his right you’ll see what has to be the world’s oldest living Scottish man vigorously dancing to his beats. I don’t think these two conspired to put on an event, rather it’s more likely he felt the music and released an energetic co-performance. I have no idea where he acquired a suit with electric lights sewn in.
People make Glasgow, eh?
Personal Health Project Update
As I mentioned above, I woke up this morning with my throat on fire and my voice cracking. I’m a bit proud to say that I woke up a full hour before my stated plan at 3:00 a.m., but due to the pain in my throat and an ever-worsening stuffy nose, I decided to stay in bed and try to get that last hour sleep. It never came, and as I lay achy in the bed needed to quicly rethink the beginning of my health focused project, which was to start today.
I pushed myself this week to get the website up and deployed, as well as add enough content for my readers in order to have a place to keep account of my project moving forward, but I didn’t factor in the illness that might befall me. I thought I had lucked out this time around and missed the cold that my daughter gave to my wife, causing her to miss a day off work. Unfortunately, I was wrong. So, after giving it some thought, I reasoned that it would be counter-productive to push myself to get up, start exercising, and working when I wasn’t feeling my best. I probably wouldn’t achieve an accurate baseline, which I need to start with, and I’d be ineffective at the handful of things I needed to get done today.
So, I’ll be postponing my health project until Monday, 1 November, 2021, when, in my estimation, I should be more functional than I have been today. I still plan on committing to the entire process and giving it my best, but I want to start out on the right foot, not a disadvantage. That said, if you head back over to the project page, you’ll see a brief little update note at the bottom stating that the date has been pushed back a smidge.