Bill McAlpine

@ScotMac (1335)

Edinburgh, Scotland • Age 56

Joined myLot 6 years ago

A Scotsman through and through!

Discussions (86)

Bill McAlpine's Discussions

Does Covid-19 still concern you?

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 20 Aug 22

After all that has been said and done concerning the coronavirus pandemic and, given the fact that we now have effective vaccines against it, does the threat of catching Covid-19 still concern you? It seems like the virus is...

coronavirus covid 19

health

disease

12 responses •

12 people

I'm back - but why was I away for so long?

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 15 Aug 22

I have returned to myLot after an absence of nearly two years. So what have I been doing? Ok, I'm going to make a game of this! I will give five options and we will see who guesses correctly. The winner will receive, well, not...

absence

return

guess

18 responses •

16 people

Creepy Fungus!

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 31 Oct 20

I found this bracket fungus growing on a dead tree stump in the garden of a derelict house near my home. It looks really creepy! Is there anything like this growing where you are?

fungus

mushroom

5 responses •

5 people

Feed the birds this winter

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 30 Oct 20

Not just birds but many creatures struggle to find enough food to survive a harsh winter and, with winter approaching, now is the time to consider making preparations to help them survive. In my area winters can be quite harsh...

winter

bird feeder

9 responses •

8 people

What famous person would you like to spend an evening with?

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 29 Oct 20

It could be anyone from any time period so let your imagination run wild! I have a few suggestions of my own which you may, or may not, agree with (in no particular order): 1. Socrates; 2. Winston Churchill; 3. Julius...

famous person

3 responses •

2 people

Apparently, we're getting a dog!

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 28 Oct 20

It's not like I wasn't consulted but, for some reason, my opinion came at the bottom of a long list of reasons why a dog would be a good idea. It will be an excuse (more likely a reason) for daily walks which will keep 'us' fit...

pet

dog

surprise

12 responses •

11 people

Does your life need a reset button?

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 27 Oct 20

Sometimes, when I'm particularly down in the dumps it occurs to me that what I really need is a reset button. What if we could actually do that? What if we could rewind our lives back to that point in time when we made that...

reset

redo

rewind button

13 responses •

13 people

What a pain it is!

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 26 Oct 20

Don't you find that autocorrect is a real pain in the neck sometimes? It was invented to help us but sometimes (too often in my opinion) it alters what we type and turns into something rude, embarrassing, awkward or just plain...

autocorrect

mistake

funny

12 responses •

11 people

Tea, sugar, piece, money, matches, tobacco

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 25 Oct 20

No, not my shopping list but the mantra my father used to repeat every morning before he left for work. This short saying ensured that he would take everything he needed for his day's work as an engineer in a shipyard workshop. He...

mnemonic

mantra

reminder

8 responses •

10 people

It was disgusting!

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 25 Oct 20

I didn't notice it until I got into my car and my foot stuck to the carpet. A lump of chewing gum I must have picked up crossing the car park was firmly fixed to the sole of my shoe and the carpet of my car! I realise that some...

disgusting

chewing gum

8 responses •

6 people

Butter, not margarine

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 25 Oct 20

When I make myself a slice of toast it must have a good dollop of real butter on it! Margarine, low-fat spreads or any other kind of (so-called) healthy spread is anathema to me - it's 'toast with butter' not 'toast with healthy,...

butter

toast

potatoes

12 responses •

13 people

Send $100 in plain, unmarked bills . . .

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 25 Oct 20

Honestly, some people really have no shame! By people I mean, of course, scammers, cheats and online thiefs. The number of times in the past month or so I have been approached by these parasites on social media or by email is...

scam

cheat

steal

8 responses •

9 people

We don't do this in Scotland!

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 23 Oct 20

No, we don't! We do celebrate (if that's the right word) Halloween but no true Scot will send their children out on All Hallows' Eve to go 'Trick or Treating' - we go 'Guising'! Nor would any true Scot dare to carve a pumpkin into...

halloween

guising

trick or treat

11 responses •

12 people

Coronavirus games

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 23 Oct 20

One way to keep in touch with relatives we can't visit in person is to contact them online but, sometimes, the conversation can run dry, especially with children. How can we solve this? One way is to play online games. There is a...

chess

online

games

5 responses •

5 people

Best invention ever!

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 17 Oct 20

So what do you think is the best invention that mankind has ever come up with? I have a few ideas - let's see if you agree: 1 - String: where would we be without string to tie up parcels; 2 - The pencil/pen: for writing lists or...

inventions

8 responses •

9 people

Friends? Who needs 'em!

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 15 Oct 20

Well, actually, we all do. Where would we be without our friends? They help us celebrate the good times and they commiserate with us over the bad times. A true friend isn't afraid to tell you when you've overstepped the mark or...

friends

families

8 responses •

7 people

Oh no - my Amazon account is running out!

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 14 Oct 20

At least according to the call I got the other day. This nice young lady phoned out of the blue to inform me that my Amazon account is about to expire and will be auto-renewed to the sum of £79.99 but if I didn't want it renewed...

amazon account renewal

6 responses •

6 people

Red Admiral butterfly

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 14 Oct 20

I spotted this Red Admiral butterfly on bushes near my home when I was walking our daughter's dog (he is staying with us on his holidays 'cos they couldn't take him with them to where they were going). Since it's now nearly the...

butterfly

red admiral

4 responses •

4 people

Roadkill!

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 14 Oct 20

I found this dead badger on a road near my home. There isn't a mark on it but it's obviously been hit by a car. I live in a semi-rural area and roadkill like this is quite common. Badgers are a frequent victim closely followed by...

roadkill

3 responses •

3 people

Back pain?

Bill McAlpine @ScotMac (1335) • Edinburgh, Scotland 14 Oct 20

Both my wife and I suffer from chronic back pain. There is rarely a day when our backs don't give some sort of protest even if we don't provoke it. For most people age-related wear-and-tear is the main cause, which simply means...

back pain

2 responses •

2 people