Journal Entries
The great experiment begins
Posted Apr 23, 2007
Well, I'm not sure if this will end up meriting an entry into the Guide, so let's do it here instead for now.
I am on the big Diet and Exercise experiment. I am attempting to become an exercise addict again, so for the next six weeks there will be:
NO alcohol
NO chocolate
NO sweeties
Instead I am going to try out a traditionally Scottish diet, lots of oats and a bit of meat. The main thing I will be cutting out is processed food - so out goes hydrogenated fats (you would not believe the amount of food that particular nasty is in), sweeteners, added salt, colouring...
I'm really looking forward to a nice plate of neeps and haggis. I'm sure low-fat diet followers all over the country would be choking on their bran flakes to think that I'm actually thinking of eating haggis on a diet - but it's full of goodness! Heart! Lights! Liver! Oatmeal! Yum yum! And perfect fuel for my silly schedule of exercise. How on earth I will fit in three hours exercise everyday, I don't know.
Should be interesting, particularly after watching C4's Race to Size 00 last night. Eugghhh... so skinny. Like dressing a toast rack. No, I'm not jealous... 
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Latest reply: Apr 23, 2007
This silly country of ours
Posted Apr 17, 2007
Rahhh. Red tape in this stupid country strikes again.
My husband and I were married abroad, in a legal ceremony. My marriage certificate is in Spanish. I speak Spanish, so no problem there. It very clearly states my maiden name, my husband’s name, and the date on which we married. It has spangly official seals.
So, I want to change my surname, and blithely thought, “Oh no problem, my certificate is a legal document”. I did not expect to be asked (by my bank, by the DVLA and by the Passport Office) to provide translated and verified English copies of my marriage certificate.
It’s going to be easier and cheaper for me to change my name by Deed Poll than it is to change my maiden name to my married name. Does that make sense? That if I wanted, perchance, to be called Oblong Doodah the Third, it would be easier and cheaper for me to do so than to change my surname only to match that of the man I married?
Thank you, country of my birth, for making anyone getting married abroad feel like a total putz.
And, no, I don’t want to be known as Oblong Doodah the Third from now on. Although, it does have its appeal. 
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Latest reply: Apr 17, 2007
On being prolific
Posted Apr 17, 2007
I have decided, in my infinite foolishness, to try to catalogue the area I live in, including all the festivals. This is probably an exercise in futility, but I shall try. I would like to have some representation of the Scottish Borders on HooToo, since it's so popular with tourists and travellers.
Hopefully the information I pull should be both interesting and helpful, so let's see how it goes.
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Latest reply: Apr 17, 2007
Lady Magpye
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