In a New York minute…

That’s how quick this new ruby red P-51 will turn heads, folks…it’s stunning!

The ruby red beauty you see above is headed to our good buddy Syracuse Lance in the Empire State, and this bike sure has a sweet accessories selection…spot lights, a windshield, our heel-and-toe shifter, chrome foot controls, LED billet turn signals, a custom fuel tank logo, gangster whitewall tires, wire wheels, and more.

Take a look at Lance’s new ride…

This is an awesome bike!    Lance, you probably know this already….when your new motorcycle arrives, Syracuse will never be the same.

And speaking of places starting with an S, I’m having a blast in Scotland.   These folks speak English, but it’s not the English you and I know.   I have to really concentrate to understand things…so much so that I asked my new Scottish friends if they had the same difficulty understanding me as I did understanding them.  The answer is no, but I’ll bet you’ll never guess why.   They tell me it’s because they get our US television shows and they all grew up watching American movies.   That’s pretty interesting.

The emails I’ve been getting from you are asking for more photos of Scotland, so here we go…

Yesterday was the first day I wasn’t doing secret mission stuff, so I had a chance to get out and about.   The first thing I guess I should mention is that everybody is friendly over here.   My new good buddy John (and I’ve got lots of Scottish new buddies) offered to drive me around for a bit, and the first place we hit was the village of Stirling and its castle…

The castle and surrounding areas were pretty cool, as were the people, including these two military guards.  I asked if I could photograph them, and they sure didn’t mind posing (especially when I told them they might make the CSC blog)…

Our next stop was the Wallace National Monument.   You may think you’ve never heard of William Wallace, but I’ll bet you have.   William Wallace is what the Mel Gibson movie Braveheart was all about.   That was an awesome movie about a real hero, and here’s the monument to him high up on a Scottish hill…

We had to walk up a steep hill to get to it, but the trek was worth it.   Very cool stuff, indeed.

After huffing and puffing all the way up that hill, it was a quick run in John’s Audi to downtown Glasgow, and that was great fun, too, but getting there was a little scary.   It’s unnerving for me being around folks who drive on the left…I’m in the passenger seat, which would be the driver’s seat in our part of the world, and every time we enter an intersection I’m reaching for the wheel (that isn’t there) or the brake pedal (which also isn’t there).   John told me that when he goes someplace like the US he has no problem switching over to our system of driving on the right.  I don’t know if I could do that trying to drive over here.

More photos, folks, this time of downtown Glasgow…

I had a great lunch at a Spanish restaurant just off of George Square, and then I was just kind of hanging out watching Glasgow go by.   I found a comfortable park bench and was taking it all in when I noticed this young Asian woman on the next bench.   She was trying to prop up her point-and-shoot camera with the lens cap.   I’ve done that same thing.    When I saw her fiddling around trying to position the camera, I knew she wanted a selfie with Glasgow in the background.   She looked like a Chinese tourist, I thought, having spent a lot of time in China.   Ah, an opportunity for SuperPhotoMan (that would be me) to aid a damsel in distress.   In Scotland.   The stuff of legends…

“You…want…me…take…picture?” I said, speaking slowly and pointing to her camera so she would understand me.

“Why, yes,” she answered perfectly, with no accent whatsoever…followed by “Do you speak English?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess I do,” I answered, feeling pretty stupid.

I took a picture of my new friend Susie (not my Susie, but this nice young woman also named Susie) with her camera, and then I asked her if I could take one with my camera…

So that was about it yesterday, except for a nice Skype conversation with my Susie and my daughter Erica later in the day when I returned to the hotel…

After talking to my girls back in California, I thought about everything I had done in just one day and how much fun I had.   Then I realized I hadn’t accomplished one of my secret mission objectives.   And that objective, my friends, was to enjoy a fine Scotch in Scotland.

So….I drifted downstairs to the hotel bar, and I was beyond dazzled by the selection of Scotch whisky I saw in front of me.   I asked Darren (my new bartending buddy) to teach me about Scotch.   I sort of vaguely remember him telling me that not all Scotch is made in Scotland, but if it is made in Scotland, it will say “Whisky” rather than “Whiskey” on the bottle (there’s no “e” on the real deal).   Hmmm, whaddaya know.   Darren was most impressive…he was a walking, talking, Scotch-serving encyclopedia.  To tell you the truth, though, after a couple of genuine Balvenie Scotch double malt drinks last night (spelled with no “e”), I really don’t remember too much.

It’s Sunday afternoon over here, folks, there’s a pub right across the street, and I think I need to continue my education.  Today’s lesson will be on Scottish beer, methinks…

Later, boys and girls…