There’s nothing so exciting as trying to be radical and break a habit. Posting on a Sunday? Well it’s hardly earth shattering or life changing. But since I was too tired to do anything yesterday, today it is.

It is a long bank holiday weekend this weekend, so at least I can spend Sunday not having to think about work on Monday. I am one of those people who can’t switch off totally when I’m not at work. My sleeping patterns are not good. I can get to sleep, but frequently waken up around 4 or 4:30 and my brain decides it’s time to think about all the things I haven’t done at work, all the trouble I might be in…etc. etc. Of course, when I actually get to work, none of that actually transpires. But I’ve been doing it for the last 20 years of my life, and to be honest, that would be the habit I would like to break most.

However, only one week to go before holidays and we’re off to Sydney for by sister in law’s wedding. I have decided I’m going to wear my kilt, but that involved buying a new jacket, belt (my old one seems to have shrunk!!!!) and shoes. But I got it all yesterday and tried it on before Nadia came home from work. I decided to give her a surprise and walked along in all my finery to meet her. I felt really good and of course got a few admiring glances from the tourists – the locals just shout rude things that I’m not going to repeat. So we met in Charlotte Square (almost exactly where the picture at the top of this blog was taken from) and her face was a delight when she saw me. Of course, the first question she asked was if I was a true Scotsman? That is a secret that I am not prepared to reveal here – well not at this stage anyway. I’ll post some pics when we get back from holiday and the debate can start then!

Last week in the pub on Friday night after work, we got on to the subject of Top 5’s. It is not something I normally think about, but it did get me thinking about my Top 5 films and Top 5 books. I am not very good at remembering these things, or categorising them. I either enjoy it or I don’t, but I am not in the habit of ranking them. but I joined in and came up quickly with my top 5 films:

1.  Life is Beautiful (Roberto Bagnini is in this one- makes you laugh and cry and think about the cruelty of war)
2. It’s a Wonderful Life (Jimmy Stewart at his finest – you can’t help but be moved by it)
3. Star Wars (the original one, whatever that has become in the series. A great story, great effects and took adventure and sci-fi to another level)
4. Dead Poet’s Society (Saw this at a very impressionable time in my life – I so wanted to be Robin William’s character and inspire others to follow their dream)
5. The Godfather (just a great, dark story)

So of course that started a debate about the relative merits of each of mine and everyone else’s and I realised that these Top 5 things are a way of generating conversation in a pub when the only thing you probably have in common with the others there is that you work together. Bitching about work gets a bit boring after a while, especially since we all probably had the same things to moan about the last time we were out.

Anyway, I stand by my Top 5 movies, and I’m going to watch them again as soon as I can.

One last thing in this habit breaking entry…

Last Monday morning I got a call at work from the Police. Someone had tried to steal my car during the night. It was not parked directly in front of our flat, so I didn’t notice. I don’t know how they got in, but they ripped the wiring under the steering column and tried to hot wire it. Ha Ha! It has not been working for about a month and the battery is flat. They only managed to move it six feet, but unfortunately that put it on the pavement. So I came home after work to find that Edinburgh’s wonderful parking wardens had given me a parking ticket for obstructing the footway! What a laugh I had – well not really. Anyway, the upshot is the Police (who have been great, by the way) said I should appeal the ticket and it will be cancelled. So I have written away and hopefully they will see sense.

What it has done though is made me make a decision about the future of the car, and I’m afraid it doesn’t have a future. It is 12 years old and going to cost more to fix than it is worth, even with insurance. So I have decided to scrap it and the men in the big white truck are coming to take it away on Monday. I have survived without it for most of the last three months (it has broken down on more than one occasion), and we have joined the City Car Club where you can hire a car by the hour (and it is parked 50 yards from our flat). I’ll use the money we save from the parking, road tax, petrol, MOT, servicing, Breakdown service and insurance to hire cars as and when we need them. Far more environmentally friendly. It is the first time in nearly 30 years I won’t have a car, but then I can dare to be different…can’t I?