Editorial: The Old Rock 03.07.09

What a week. There were those in this office for whom the heat was too much. Doors had to be opened and fans brought in. The news editor needed a very large ice cream at one point from the van that had thoughtfully stopped outside. If he hadn’t had one, flake included of course, he would probably have slumped over his desk at siesta time with mild heatstroke.

The guy who covers sports sometimes was away in some island that was either part of Sweden or part of Finland, but no-one could figure out for sure which. On the phone he kept saying how warm and sunny it was there, but no-one cared.

Elsewhere, a curious mixture of lobster-red and nicely browned faces could be seen moving along the street and around the pier and up to the Lower Hillhead for Saturday night’s carnival in almost unprecedented numbers. Such scenes were played out all over the isles, including at Brae where the new marina was formally opened by a summer-jacketed Drew Ratter.

This may not have been quite Mediterranean weather, as another of the grumpy old men tendency here at Gremista (albeit one dressed in chinos and what looked like a linen shirt) suggested, but it was as close as we will get in this northern latitude. Or maybe not; perhaps it is a portent of things to come as the planet heats up.

Then there was the vexed issue of shorts. In the printroom, where climate change has already arrived, such attire is de rigeur. But down in the newsroom such louche dress meets with near-universal disapproval. Eventually, a member of the advertising department, trying to see if last year’s shorts still fitted (they did, just) before departing on holiday, succumbed to the trend.

But of course it was too good to last. School holidays were on the horizon. And sure enough, in came the fog, wreaking havoc with air travel in and out of the isles yesterday. Let’s just hope it is a temporary interlude before this new-style summer weather returns again. If only to give the naysayers something new to moan about!