SO, HONDURAS. Home of Jorge Claros "The Pitbull" - possibly the worst midfielder I'ver ever seen play for Hibs (Clearly not seen many - Ed.) I'm not saying it rough here, but the bouncer outside the local Tex Mex equivalent totes a massive shotgun. Gun repair shops are second behind barbers as most numerous shops on the main street...

The national beer here is called Salva Vida - literally Life Saver. Not sure if they've got the name copyrighted or not, but it's a cracking name for a beer. Not sure if it's literally true, but in this heat it's certainly appreciated!

The tourist board seems to have a motto. Honduras - Todo Esta Aqui. (Everything is here). Everything it seems except a live stream of Hearts humbling Dundee United. Had to make do with watching Spanish and English fitba! Word does reach me though that even with Scottish football being in the doldrums more people turned up to see Dundee United Vs Hearts than turned up for Alex Salmond's big march for "freedom" in Edinburgh.

Felt right at home here though - Saturday night in Tegucigalpa is a lot like a Saturday night in Leith. I'd swear I finished the night in their equivalent to the Central Bar...

A new experience has been taking The Herald every day. Via a Kindle. The choice of papers to subscribe to is not 100% yet, so I have to tolerate reading reports of a struggling 3rd division team before we get to the good stuff (they play in maroon) and the Scottish Premier League.

A couple interesting things in it today - local authority workers bumping their gums and threatening strikes again (yawn) - plus Mitt Romney restating his position on big Government. "I think a society based upon a government centred nation, where government plays a larger and larger role, redistributes money, that's the wrong course for America" Mitt - that doesnae just apply to America!

The sabre rattling from the local government unions got me thinking along a familiar route again - we are long overdue a massive reform of local government - should our councils not become essentially small commissioning teams, picking the best company (they winnae be in-house) to collect the rubbish, the best housing association to run their housing stock, the best charities or housing associations to run their advice shops, home support, homeless hostels, day centres, day care, sourcing the best outside providers to run their recycling operations and schools and childcare provision?

As a Conservative it's no surprise that I want the schools market opened right up - Michael Gove is making some encouraging progress down south. But truly, what services do our councils provide better and with more value for money than anyone else could?

It addresses lots of issues - the massive bureaucracy, the non-jobs all councils carry, be they excessive middle management or trendy nonsense like diversity or walking to work coordinators. It would address the long term pension time bomb that's unsustainable as we all live longer, healthier lives and provides a more affordable, less intrusive, more flexible state. What's not to like?