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A view from the Bridge

Published on 23/12/2012 12:57

HOLIDAYS are coming! Or so those Coca-Cola adverts with the obscenely illuminated lorries would have you believe. I’m sure I can’t be the only grump who watched said adverts in November (or was it October?) and muttered quietly: “Sod off.”

Or something like that.

To be honest, I remain a thorough-going Christmas sceptic. Frankly, I resent the fact that my week’s holiday - which I will be half-way through by the time you’re reading this - will be mostly spent panicking over what to buy friends and loved ones.

It’s beyond me why people don’t simply move Christmas to January, so that they can take advantage of the January sales. I did suggest this to my mother, however like so many irredeemably logical ideas, it went down like a lead balloon. Hmph.

Anyhow, enough Scrooge - this is my last column before Hogmanay.

I’ll go out on a limb and assume that the Mayans are scheduled to be wrong about the world ending on December 21, and wish you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year too.

MOVING into the festive season, I’ve been left surprised by how busy Ellon and District is in terms of stories.

Usually by this time in December we have decisively moved into what the newspaper industry refers to as ‘silly season’ - when stories come in short supply, and ever more desperate items find their way onto the pages.

Surprisingly, however, no such silly season seems to have emerged thus far, and myself and Graeme have been kept busy with a range of local news at a time when, ordinarily, there isn’t much.

Keep your stories coming in folks, its yourselves who make the paper what it is. And give our Facebook page a like, it keeps the editor happy...

THIS week, the Times bids a fond farewell to our ‘advertising quine’ Kara, who will be leaving our humble office for a prestigious career in an Aberdeen solicitors’ office.

For more than a year, the estimable Miss Leslie has entertained us at the Times with her ruthless sense of humour and jovial nature.

We wish her all the best in her new job.

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