Day 810

On November 1st 1971, I started school in Falkirk having had my childhood savagely uprooted and dragged to that town from the lovely west of Scotland suburb of Bishopbriggs.

On November 1st 1983, I started working for a major Scottish clearing bank having had my sparkling university career wrecked by a combination of failed exams and blatant apathy. (I think the two were connected.)

And on November 1st 2003 I boarded a plane in London bound for Hong Kong on the start of my round the world adventure.

All of which are completely unrelated to the fact that I jumped from the thrilling rollercoaster world of high finance earlier in 2003 and today, Sunday July 24th 2005, represents the 810th and final day of what was intended to be a short, six-month career break.

Tomorrow at around 8.30am (BST) I will join the hoards of commuters crowding the railway station in Linlithgow who are about to turn very ugly due to the fact that the 8.14am service to Edinburgh is late again.

I’m going back to work for my old company, albeit on a short term contract and amazing as this may sound, I’m really looking forward to it. What better time to return to work in Edinburgh than right before the start of the biggest arts festival in the world. Of course if it all turns sour and I end up bitching about it in these pages, then termination, humiliation and a hefty lawsuit are likely to follow swiftly.

So, back to year zero…