Amy MacBeath

Mid-terraced cottage available for rent in scenic Speyside town of Grantown on Spey. The partly furnished property consists of a lounge with electric fire, kitchen with working open fire, bathroom fitted with electric shower and two bedrooms. Electricity is by means of top up cards and there are convection heaters in the property. There is also parking available. Central location with a wide range of amenities (including post office, supermarket, shops) readily available. The area is popular for outdoor pursuits with the River Spey a short distance away. A bus service runs to the popular resort town of Aviemore (14 miles) with further shopping opportunities and transport links. Inverness (35 miles) provides transport links by road, rail and air and has plenty shops and businesses for those wishing to commute.

No smokers, pets or DSS please. Deposit & references required.  Contact macbeath4@btinternet.com or comment on this blog with contact details and I’ll get back to you!

With the G20 Summit happening in London and protesters insisting they will bring the city to a standstill it begs the question, how much can really be achieved?  Meetings between the 22 heads of state will carry on regardless of who turns out to campaign.  I respect the folk who take the opportunity to fight for a cause they truly believe in, if it was something on a local level affecting my family I would probably be all for taking part.  My generation missed the days of sticking to the man and flower power so perhaps we don’t possess the same spirit to rebel for the cause.  I just hope that protests remain peaceful and that no fools out there ruin it for everyone – after all they are spending £7.5m on policing the summit!

This came up this morning at the BBC watching Graham Stewart present the Morning Extra programme, which I was fortunate enough to sit in on.  Once I had got over the initial shock of getting up at 5.30am it was nice to be up and about before the rush and see Glasgow calm and still as the sun came up – a far cry from the scenes I imagine will be on the streets of London.

Amid further revelations that the Trinity Mirror are about to shed 70 staff in Glasgow it seems that the doom and gloom predictions for budding journos are never going to end.  After the Herald, Sunday Herald & Evening Times made 40 staff redundant and the Scotsman publications lost two Editors within a matter of days, I am left feeling a bit discouraged and admit I am a little concerned about hunting for a job later this year!  Anyway, here is an interesting article in today’s Guardian by Tim Luckhurst.

A (ever so slightly) belated happy new year to one and all!

I’m not sure if it’s more exciting or scary that 2009 will be the year of once more going out into the big bad world of work to seek employment – this time as a journalist.  With all the doom and gloom predictions only spurred on by most working reporters you meet, let’s hope that there is room out there in the crazy media sphere for a few more of us enthusiastic beginners!

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