daveh

I totally agree with you here. Surely there isn't a sort of birthright to have a council property otherwise we would all be living in one and never moving out; irrespective of our future earnings.

Thanks. By the way, the skydive attempt is currently live on here :

^^ Skyumpi - whereabouts are you? Here in Cunningsburgh, I was going out at about every 15 to 20 minutes from about 9-30pm but saw only a few hazy streaks and a glow in the distance. Certainly nothing like in those great pics.

Of course I can see that but just assuming that a young couple have an automatic right to a council-owned property is, in my eyes, fundamentally wrong. It is also wrong, in my opinion, if a family does get to live in a council property, to spend money on cars & holidays etc rather than save up for a deposit to buy a privately-owned home thus relinquishing the council property to another young family. I have been there mysef, down south, many years ago. My then wife and I lived in a dingy rented flat, with outside toilet, that was deemed to be unfit for a small child. We were allocated a second floor council flat and, due to the cheapness of the rent, didn't have holidays for 3 years whilst saving a deposit for a very modest house. When we moved out of the flat, several neighbours there thought that we were mad to give up a council tenancy saying that it was ours for life. I remember arguing that it was good for our flat to go to another needy young family but I didn't win that argument back then either.

^^ The main point you are making is that, if I had a house to sale valued by the local estate agents at £200k, I should sell it for maybe £150k to Shetlanders and for as much as I could get to anyone else. Not a great idea; particularly if we were thinking of moving back south again and needing to buy another place down there.

I also moved here from the London commuter belt and actually commuted into London to work. However, young families are being priced out of houses virtually all over the Uk and it certainly isn't unique to Shetland. Having said that, too many young couples seem to want to move straight into a house of their own rather than, as we did, rent for a few years and save up for a deposit.

Which one(s) are you thinking of?

I don't understand the point you are making here one little bit. I could possibly see the point if the guy wanted to make a very quick sale in which case any prospective purchasers may already be local. Otherwise house prices here are and should be subject to the same market forces as there are down south. Aiming to get the best price for a property sale is not greed whatsoever in my eyes. If we were to ever move back south, we would be guided by a local estate agent in terms of setting the price, anyway. In our case, we moved up here in 2008 and bought our house from an English family who were returning south again. they would have bought the house cheaper, as we did, than a comparable house would have been down south but, like us, moved here not because of the price but because we wanted to move to Shetland because we liked the place.

I got a message, via Facebook this morning, saying that it was down to Loganair to issue their April 2013 schedules. So I phoned the above number and it was a complete waste of time. Firstly I got a recorded message to phone Flybe, on their 0871 number. Instead, I took the option to speak to someone by holding on. What I then got was a recorded message to phone British Airways and then the call was cut off. Such a great service !

^^ That is true, Seaflech. Basically, what you are saying is that I should sit back and just enjoy this wonderful weather right now and savour even more the thought of getting away from it. I suppose that I just like to get these sorts of things organised which can be an obsession on my part.

^^ It isn't just the ability to get ADS discount or being able to use my Flybe reward4all points. The flights just aren't available, full stop, even if I was a full-fare paying passenger. Thanks for the number, though.

Thankyou for the number. If the flights aren't available in the morning, I'll phone Loganair and ask them. We don't have an alternative airline here so it is a bit shoddy that you can book to fly with Flybe elsewhere within the UK but not from here.

Yes - on both Twitter and Facebook but I only get the comment that it will be soon. I have now been able to book return April Flybe flights between Glasgow and Southampton but still not out of Sumburgh. I have looked and it is the same between Glasgow and Stornoway as well so I am not sure what is going on. I haven't phoned Flybe as, from past experiences, I can be hanging on for, at the very least, 20 minutes before getting through to someone.

OK - this hasn't moved forward even now. It is October 7th and I still can't book a flight out of Sumburgh for next April.

^^ Well, don't bury them all at sea as the Mareel would soon be flooded.

That is true but it is the number of sheets that you use that is under scrutiny within the thread. Cheaper quality paper probably leads to more sheets of paper being used. If the paper is too thin, I would double or even treble up but that would be dependent upon the urgency of my visit in the first place.

I occasionally visit the brilliant moneysavingexpert website for all sorts of information and noticed this slightly gruesome but fascinating thread that answers all sorts of questions that you maybe never dared to ask ! Enjoy ! http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4162555

When our polyunnel was erected two years ago, the builder bought the polycarbonate sheets from LBC who, I think, brought them into Lerwick as a special purchase. It might be worth going there and asking. The fact that they are under new ownership might work in your favour as well.

^^ Fair enough. Your choice, of course.

I can certainly recommend a decent pair of hearing aids, when the time comes, if that is what you like. Declining hearing, accompanied by tinnitus as in my case, is most definitely not anything to joke about. If you can avoid it then you will appreciate having done so in later life. I am not looking for any sympathy whatsoever; merely stating that you should value your hearing just as you should value your sight.

^^ I suffer from tinnitus and also wear hearing aids. I am thus fully aware of the effects caused by loud music and I can assure you that folks were at risk last night. As it happens, I turned the volume of my hearing aids right down last night but was still in pain and the tinnitus has gone up a notch today as a consequence of last night. If you choose to have your hearing damaged then that is your choice but I love blues music and went along to enjoy it last night but, due to the volume, took very little pleasure from out night out. For the record, Jed Potts & the Hillman Hunters were brilliant but we left straight after they finished.

My wife and I seemed to be the only ones walking out when we did so I didn't think that the staff would have been sympathetic to us at the time. However, I will contact someone tomorrow at the Mareel about it.

It was our first visit to the Mareel last night and we were very impressed with the place. Particularly so the toilets; surely the best public ones in town and with a superb view of the water outside as well (the toliets near the bar, that is). Our only gripe last night, though was the music volume at the Blues festival. It was unnecessarily far too loud, probably very close to the point where it was ear-damaging, and spoilt our enjoyment. In fact, we left early to preserve our hearing and thus missed the last act entirely. Why does the music volume need to be turned up to such dangerous levels? I really hope that the Mareel operators have good public liability insurance to cover potential claims for ear damage caused if it continues to allow it to be so high.

We are going to the Mareel for the first time tonight as we have tickets for the blues festival. I am intrigued to see what the place is like and we are both hoping that the music isn't mega loud as it usually is.

^^ There is a "rule" about booking in advance? Really?