Morning Pages | 31 July 2026

I took a trip to the mainland to attend an appointment at the Musculoskeletal Podiatry department in Irvine. Then I went to Glasgow to collect a repaired 2015 MacBook Pro and meet my wife off the train from Cornwall at Glasgow Central. A busy day!

The podiatrist was really good. Why don't we get them coming to Arran any more? Ah, budget cuts and unreliable ferries. Yes. Of course. I got heel wedges to go into my shoes and a referral to have shoes made for me to wear with my suit—which I do a lot, given my Freemasonry hobby. She also recommended a few brands of shoes that would be way better than the rather flat Vans I was wearing: Brooks, Hoka, New Balance and, one I'd never heard of, Altra. So I went shoe shopping in Glasgow while I was waiting for my wife's train to arrive and wound up buying these Altra shoes with a decent discount. They are very, very comfortable!

Here’s what I wrote on the ferry to Ardrossan.