good weekend

Saturday was consuming in the most decadent laziness. I got up at 8 to feed the cats (having finally gone to bed around 3), then went back to sleep until 11, pottered until 1 when I made breakfast :-). Talked to my folks, did some assembly of models for the Warhammer 40K tournament I was playing in on Sunday, and watched various bits of telly. *Didn't* do laundry (tonight I must, or at least really ought to), but I cleaned up the kitchen a bit.

Sunday I trundled off to Chantilly and played in the aforementioned tournament. My army of Eldar (think "elves in space") went 0-2-1, but I was there more for the experience and the chance to meet new opponents (which I did; my three games were with three complete strangers). Over lunch I realized I had downtime and nothing to read (!!) so I stopped at the closest thign the shopping center has to a bookstore (all books 50% off, but a huge selection of, ahem, adult magazines) and bought a copy of Lloyd Alexander's The Castle of Llyr, which I remembered enjoying tremendously as a kid. It's still wonderful. :-)

After the tournament was over, I went on to my next engagement, dinner with the lovely and charming sharrainchains. We had a delicious dinner, then hung out at her place and talked about books and movies until she detected a yawn or two and sent me on my way so I would be fresh for work the next day. What a simply wonderful lady she is! I'm terrifically smitten.

UK – Scotland in need of immigrants

10 November 2004

The first minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell, is determined to bring Scotland back on the map as a country where foreign skilled professionals would want to live and work. Without immigrants, the Scottish population is expected to decline drastically over the coming years.

McConnell's Fresh Talent initiative aims at promoting Scotland enough to attract 8,000 foreign professionals each year from now to 2009. There are also plans to grant visa extensions to foreign students who wish to stay after graduation. The first minister is presently discussing with the UK Home Office on a number of immigration initiatives.

Still, Scottish opposition leaders say McConnell's Fresh Talent will not solve the declining population problem in the country. They say Scotland is in need of 10,000 new immigrants every year just to keep the population steady.