Headline of the year?

Sums it up, really, this headline on the front of today's local paper. (You have to read the local paper or you miss stuff. Really.) But the feeble pronouncement of the headline matches the feeble excuse for a ferry service that now runs between Dunoon (town) pier and Gourock (railhead) pier, and the linkspan in question, though no longer used for cars (that's another story) was where foot passengers, the old, the halt and lame, the very young and the pram-pushers could walk up a reasonable incline on their way to the train. Since it failed, several weeks ago now, the only way off the ferry is up steep stairs, the number of flights dependant on the state of the tide. Unless you can cope with stairs, you're stuck.

We're told today that the "sort of" fixing means it can be used again - for now. The ramp itself is apparently five years past any credible use-by date, and, according to a CMal spokesman, "there is no appetite to fund its replacement".

Apart from that gem, all that I've done today is pay for a flu jab at the pharmacy because I'm fed up waiting for my surgery to come up with a time. I missed the mass vaccination at the weekend as I was away, and it's been downhill ever since. The pharmacist was charming and good at the job, so I reckon it was a tenner worth spending. At least I don't need to fret about having a cold when the surgery was ready for me. Is this another sign of the stress the NHS is under? I suspect it may well be - there is half the number of doctors that there were in the practice a few years ago.

It's been gloomy and damp all day. Can you tell?