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Photo Diary - week ending September 17th 2006
(NOTE - click on any image to see the high-resolution version)


This week started with September 11th.





A forum I contribute to recently had a thread asking 'where were you...?' - this was my response:

'I was in our Midtown apartment - 35th and Park. Getting ready for work, went into the shower and everything was normal. Got
out 15 mins later and noticed these pictures of a burning building on the TV. Recognised it as the WTC. Carried on dressing
half-asleep abstractedly glancing at the TV from time to time, I remember thinking 'I wonder when that happened?' - I
assumed it was some kind of historical footage from some WTC fire of many years ago, thought it curious that I'd never heard about it.'

'It was a couple of minutes before it finally penetrated my brain that this was happening *now*. That's what I remember
most - the disbelief. Then of course when the second plane hit quite a few people in our building got sh!t scared
and hit the basement - we were only a couple of hundred yards from the Empire State building, and folks were thinking 'ok they
got both WTC towers - what's the next likely target?'.'

'Wasn't in work for a few days. One guy from our building didn't come home.'




Five years on, Sept. 11th found me... flying. To Scotland, for a couple of days, to visit my dad. Arriving with
plenty time in hand, I went to the station at Newark airport to relax for an hour or two before my flight:















Funny how these things work out... practically the first thing I encountered in Scotland was another GM
loco on a freight train at Crianlarich:















Oh and a nice girl at the legendary private Crianlarich station tearoom:





I went on a wee tour of local power stations near Dingwall to see what was new... Mossford:





Grudie Bridge:





Achanalt, which was being refurbished:




















And finally one of my favourite views, from the Mossford portal valve house high above Loch Luichart, and
with one of my favourite cars, my Renault Avantime:





(here's the view from where the car is parked: the valve house and penstock)





Back in Glasgow on Thursday, I had a delightful meeting with Ewelina, our former au pair, who is now working in the UK.
I took her on a short tour, which included eating Orkney ice cream at the Cruachan visitor centre:





Then saw her back on her train home in Glasgow: