Nigel Bridgman-Elliot

> how we no longer have our own power station. That reminds me, when did Unst last have its own power station ? As isn't there an empty power station building up at Saxavord minus the generators ?

Talking of free stuff, I'm reminded about flu jabs, which only some folk get free. Not a problem you might say, just pay £10 and buy one from your GP, except.. you can only do that on the smaller islands ! How come the discrimination against folk on Shetland mainland who can't get a flu jab unless they visit Aberdeen ?

I guess we need a top ten list of reasons to vote for X over Y then. What might they be ? Ferry prices ? Ferry capacities ? Tunnels.. ? Electricity prices ?

> Shetland voted resoundingly to remain in the EU that > democratic cry has been completely ignored. Some parts, other parts less so.. https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/general-election/shetland-district-had-highest-leave-vote-in-scotland-1-4359193 > Shetland district ‘had highest Leave vote in Scotland’ > Two remote communities in Shetland returned the highest pro-Leave vote in Scotland, > analysis of last year’s Brexit referendum has found. The 567 voters in the combined polling > districts of Whalsay and South Unst returned a Leave vote of 81 per cent - the highest north > of the border so far identified.

In the last 3 years, ordered over 1,000+ items online, 95% from Ebay, I'd say 99% of them arrive. The most trouble I had was from Amazon orders not arriving, or being cancelled. Tried AliExpress once, it didn't arrive, apparently they couldn't find the address so sent it back ! The few times I had Ebay issues, it was generally a seller with a poor reputation (Not necessarily a low number, if you check the negative feedback comments for the last 6 months, it usually gives a fairly accurate picture.) and occasionally one that didn't realise sending to here would cost a lot more. I often have to carefully check in advance if sellers are willing to post here or not, though much of the time, they plainly point out that this postcode is either somewhere they don't deliver to, or charge a small fortune to do so ! Items from China I find can at times arrive quicker than from mainland UK ! The longest I had to wait for an item was 3+ months, and it came all the way from Lerwick.. Sometimes items aren't packaged very well and suffer some damage on their way here. (Usually not fatal damage..)

I read someplace that double glazed units are rated up to 120mph winds, so what happens after that, do they go like that when the wind pressure is too much ? I've also seen units like that when water gets inside and they freeze.

> probably partly due to our labour costs That'll be the minimum wage then.. I hear its 1/10th of ours in China, in those areas that practice it. Makes it hard to start a business if you have to pay your employees a small fortune or else. I'm reminded in that place that cannot be mentioned, how most of the new jobs came from folk becoming self employed, so they could pay themselves less than minimum wage and compete against everyone else. So its happening by the back anyway, just with more bureaucracy and red tape to deal with.

I'm reminded someone telling me they no longer buy steel from China because the quality is too low. I'm also reminded how much food we import, as such, we may not need to export what we grow here, we can probably consume it all ourselves and still be short of something to eat !

> Irn Bru is just another sickly sugar loaded drink I'm reminded: https://www.rehis.com/story/irn-bru-recipe-change-reduce-its-sugar-content > From January 2018 Irn Bru will contain approximately 50% less sugar. I guess its all part of the plan to give us tasteless food that is good for us..

I have seen the odd geodesic one around here and there, which I imagine would stand up to the winds well. (Though to be honest, the ones I've seen, look too lightweight to me..) Related link: http://www.solardome.co.uk/dome-range/glasshouses/ I notice their prices are a lot more than the other folk mentioned. (Who I think are around the £4k mark, but they never seem to talk about their prices..) I'd quite like to do a concrete framed geodesic one, as then I think the weight of the concrete will help keep it anchored down and stop it being sucked up by the wind crossing over the top of it, I'm reminded of this one: (I heard they was more common during WWII)

I'm reminded of: https://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2009/10/27/mi5-blamed-bp-for-security-lapse-before-ira-bomb-attack-on-queen-at-sullom-voe ---------------- The second parcel, containing a 6lb bomb and a 12-day timing device, arrived after his departure and remained uncollected in the construction village post office until, absurdly, it was forwarded to (but failed to reach) his address in Northern Ireland.” ----------------

Which says: Download speed 5.8Mb 0.3Mb upload 34 ms ping time Broadband uk says: Download speed 6.87Mb 0.28Mb upload 72 ms ping time http://www.speedtest.btwholesale.com speedtest BT says: Download speed 7.04Mb 0.07Mb upload 140,11 ms ping time !!! What are they doing, measuring it from Mars.. Rerunning test.. Download speed 6.96Mb 0.07Mb upload 164,75 ms ping time.. Doing more advanced test: ------- 1. Downstream Test: Download Speed : 0 Mbps Your speed test has completed and the results are shown above, however during the test an error occurred while trying to retrieve additional details regarding your service. As a result we are unable to determine if the speed you received during the test is acceptable for your service. Please re-run the test if you require this additional information. ------- Redoing test.. Download speed 6.80Mb 0.08Mb upload 10,997 ms ping time, best so far via BT ! Advanced one.. ------------- Download speedachieved during the test was - 0 Mbps For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 0.6 Mbps-7.15 Mbps. Additional Information: Your DSL Connection Rate :8.13 Mbps(DOWN-STREAM), 0.45 Mbps(UP-STREAM) IP Profile for your line is - 7.15 Mbps ------------- I test by downloading several things and seeing what my connection maxes out at, which is 7.2Mb down. Not yet tested upload speeds.. Less than a mile from the exchange for me. Interesting information about IP Profile there being set lower !

Email from Plusnet: ----------------- When you signed up for Plusnet Broadband, we gave you an estimated line speed range. Now that your Unlimited (Contracted) broadband has been up and running for 14 days, we wanted to let you know your line speed as it stands today, as a comparison. Estimated peak time speeds: Download: 5 - 6Mb Upload: 1Mb These are the speeds your line is capable of at peak times. Current line speed: 7.15Mb This is a measure of the actual line speed you are now receiving based on the product you have taken. Minimum Guaranteed Speed: 3.4Mb This is the minimum speed you should expect to achieve on your line. ----------------- No real mention of how on the same hardware I was getting 8.8Mb before on BT.. Oh well, at least its half the price ! Just means it takes longer to download stuff..

Maybe we had better vote carefully, in case we end up having another referendum and decide not to leave after all.. Would that mean Scotland gets another referendum too ? How about best out of three..

Router arrived today, ordered just over a month ago. So, if anyone else is thinking of changing ISP, add a good 2 to 4 weeks to the first date suggested to get a more realistic timescale.

Whilst testing speeds, I came across this site which appears to show the distance from your rough house area to the your telephone exchange. (Previously you could find that out via a phone command, but that is now blocked for non-telephone staff to use, and no longer appears available to find out online.) https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/speedtest Oh wait, here is another one: https://www.broadbandexposed.co.uk/broadband/tools/exchange-search/ Though they disagree on the distance, and also where the exchange is.. Does that mean there two very close to me, or that one has moved, or its choosing the wrong one, or its miss-reporting for some other reason ? FX [ Goes to check google maps and street view.. ] Oh I see, either BT have taken to disguising their exchanges as bungalows, or its pointing to the wrong place. As such, the second link doesn't appear to be as reliable for distance measuring as the first one.

Early days, but speed difference appears to be 7.2 Mbps download speeds under Plusnet, compared to 8.8 Mbps under BT.. (Same router!) Upload speeds and ping appear the same.

Last I read it was 99%, is it really 100% ? https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2019/04/11/superfast-broadband-promised-for-all-by-the-end-of-2021/ > Community / Superfast broadband promised for all by the end of 2021 So a bit under 3 years then ? Will they be using the same ductwork as the council is having laid on Yell / Unst, or plugging into the fibre cable being laid there shortly ?

Only had to put up with 4 days without internet.. Router hasn't arrived yet after nearly 3 weeks. Apparently they have sent one, and the internet should be working..

https://www.saxavord.com http://www.midfieldcroft.com

> A genuinely centrist viable alternative option would be good I was thinking of using the term 'centrist' in my dating profile, but I'm not sure anyone would know what it meant ! Kinda like when years ago I put in " Humanistic " and some months into the relationship my partner when I asked them what they thought of my dating advert, they thought that word meant I was humorous.

> Who would be president? I'm reminded how at college I become the official student representative, when I discovered by accident there was going to be an election for the position the next day. I asked who was running for the position and was told no one.. So I got a form, filled it in and put myself down. Then the next day I voted for myself. The results came in, one vote was cast, and I'd won ! Related link: > Bart Simpson Runs for Class President. But, what if one of the islands of Shetland disagrees with voted in policies and wants its own Independence ! I'm reminded of: https://www.politico.eu/article/northern-exposure-brexit-reveals-shetland-split/ > 81 percent of voters on Whalsay and in nearby > South Unst supported leaving the EU, one of the > highest pro-Brexit votes in the U.K. Does that mean we'll have to build a wall across Unst like they did in years ago in Fetlar ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funzie_Girt

So, what went wrong with the engines then ? Lack of maintenance ? Or another ship that ran out of fuel..

> these days there's an annoying amount of short lived drop outs, peaking and flat spots from time to time. I get those on BT.

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