RileyBKing

Please read #35....

Could we have this again in plain english.

Don't forget we are also the "beneficiaries of slavery" .
 
This would have been news to my great grandfather as he and his family (including my grandfather) were turfed out of the family croft to make way for the laird's sheep.

Don't forget we are also the "beneficiaries of slavery" .
 
This would have been news to my great grandfather as he and his family (including my grandfather) were turfed out of the family croft to make way for the laird's sheep.

I remember the letters flying in to the Times re the moving of the library to St.Ringans church building some years ago. The reason being apparently that the old library building had had its day and was now condemned.
An expensive refurb in St Ringans produced the new library, but the public were less than impressed. Apparently there wasn't enough room for the books and that's quite a priority for a library. 
Complaints poured in and several sites were suggested for a new library.
Meantime it was suddenly decided that the old library building was actually ok and wasn't condemned after all.
I remember some wag suggesting that a good site for the new library was in the old library, and as it was nearby, the books could easily be moved.
However, the council had now decided to use the old library as council offices so another refurb was required for this purpose, new ventilation, heating, etc.
Now that the council is able to use some of it's new state of the art building, the old library can be refurbed yet again and we will have a brand new old library back in operation soon.
I didn't make this up, honest!

I think that if you are going to start looking for politicians to be honest with us then you (and we) are in trouble.
 
Barack Obama (22 January 2009) "Guantanamo will be shut down within one year"
 
Hillary Clinton (17 march 2008 & other dates) on arriving in Bosnia "under sniper Fire"

Did anyone watch the programme “All Aboard” on STV last night?
 
I like to watch anything ‘Shetland’ related and although I didn’t expect it to be about Shetland, I was so disappointed in the programme and struggled to maintain interest in it.
 
Virtually all on board shots, showed a boat with less then half a dozen people on it and the ramblings of some if the crew, who spoke about people getting a bit heat up or spewing all over the place, whilst there wasn’t a soul to be seen was laughable. The shot where the barmaid has to deal with a roudy customer on what looks like a ghost ship couldn’t have looked more contrived it was laughable.
 
Can’t see how this could possibly encourage anyone to sail on the boat. speak about shooting yourself in the foot.
 
I don’t understand why they didn’t show the boat as it usually is, buzzing with folk and families, a rough trip and a smooth one etc. After watching I just though ‘what’s the point’
 
Maybe we’ve just been spoilt with other Shetland related programmes, let’s hope they don’t turn this in to a regular thing.

A bit like marmite - you either love it or hate it.
 
Both of you should both love it with a sort of made must-be-here passion.  Not one "might get used to it later" attitude.  That way lies separation imho.
 
Winters are tough.  You get used to the weather but if you rely on daylight to keep you sane, it can be dark (not night-time) for unceasing days.  You should be the types that if something breaks, you mend it with whatever is to hand.  Waiting for someone to come along is not going to happen really and if they do, it costs an arm, a leg and possibly even a kidney!  Self-sufficient is good.

You live with the weather, you don't tame your surroundings and don't make plans that cannot be changed.  Everything is at the whim of the Gods up here.

Slow to load, poor layout and full of annoying pop up ads, sorry Shetlink but I preferred the classifieds the way they were.

Ghostie, I think the answer to your question above is "any age greater than that of the complainer at any given time"
 
It is my belief that long after all the other "isms" have been banished from society, ageism will still persist.

Ageist much!
 
At what age would you deem someone to be 'elderly' and in need of a retest?
 
In my experience pulling out in your face happens with all ages, and has more to do with the overall competency of the individual driver than their age. A number of folk certainly tend to drive slower as they get older, but that effect tends to start kicking in with some in their 30's and for others it never does, they're still pedal to the metal in their 70's.
 
I won't argue that there are a few on the roads that you do question the sanity of letting them loose in traffic, and feel decidedly nervous if you see them around as you're never quite sure what they might pull next, but just blanket re-retesting of everybody at an aribitary age seems a bit excessive just to address the problem of a very small minority.
 
I mean, if Phil the Greek and Madge can hammer around the lanes of Norfolk in their Range Rovers in their 90's..............Okay, maybe not the best of examples.

Du has a very good memory if du minds dat far back 

I've just discovered that Google Street view is available for Faroe.

The next will be predictions of plagues of locusts and floods . 

Every territory in every part of the world has a history of shifting borders, different colonial masters, signed and broken treaties, wars, revolutions etc etc. You could probably go to any patch of land in the world and claim the legitimate government is illegitimate because of x y and z.

On behalf of our local cormorant community, I should assert that cormorants have Rights too. Eating of non-consenting cormorants is clearly a serious abuse of the appropriate legislation.
 
Further, salting them is surely a further outrage. Don't the inhabitants of Unst know that salt is bad for their health and soon to be made illegal?
 
I propose the missing PC be replaced by a new enhanced official position of Cormorant Rights Commissar to monitor these abuses.. This would have the added advantage of boosting the Unst economy by adding to employment opportunities .It would also bring high speed broadband to Unst as the new post would require proper communications with HQ in Lerwick. (Unfortunately this facility would not be available to civilians, i.e. the rest of us).

In Unst, any reliance on 'lovely' or 'super' in descriptive narrative is hackneyed superficial gush. Unst people only use adjectives to describe something that is dead, lost or stolen. 
We used to have a policeman.
He was a lovely guy.
 
People still play badminton. The badminton scene is the only scene and it has always been a thriving scene. Whoever and whatever you are.. on Thursday evenings you are free to strut your stuff in badminton shorts. The serial killer probably enjoys Badminton.
 
The population has reached a critical point where it cannot sustain a Masonic Lodge. The Unst Councillor punches above his weight, the schools close and children get rickets. Most children would prefer to be in an orphanage than a happy family unit. At least they would get a wifi connection.
They could post smileys and super selfies like everybody else.
Aww. 

They are indeed a picture of misery and gloom Bluevac, for many reasons;
 
With even the slightest change in ferry timetables they are forced to eat cormorants.
Excessive consumption of salted cormorants over prolonged winters has been linked to rickets in children and diabetes in rats. Rickety children and diabetic rats is the stark reality faced by Unst folks in austere times. 
The parents of the rickety children are also fighting to save the last surviving school and the last surviving Talc quarry on the island to secure a future for the community. Both are riddled with asbestos.
A council survey recently concluded that 76% of Unst people can't even spell 'community' without the help of Google,
Another council survey concluded that 76% of Unst people can' access Google without installing Satellite Broadband.
That same 76% also failed to spell 'Satellite' within seven attempts.
A greater number of Unst people carry a smouldering anger, frustration and paranoia against the world of inanimate objects and failing electronic devices. They punch plasterboard walls regularly to vent their rage. Their houses are well vented too and the rats get in.
There is also a suspected serial killer at large. The population has dropped from 1100 to 500 in twenty years and Police have found no leads. The Policeman disappeared too in 2001.
 
The last job on the island is also under threat of automation since the Waterboard decided not to replace the technician who regulated the fluoride and chlorine levels in the Island's water supply. A lost generation of rickety children had their education tailored for this post and were groomed for the position. They are probably qualified to run a bath or operate anything wth two taps. Their only other skill set would be fishing a dead horse from a loch if required. 
76% of that lost generation couldn't spell 'maintenance' or 'technician'.
That was their happy lot.
No longer.
 
Lastly, following two decades of exposure to the noise pollution of oil traffic they suffer from P.F.T., a Pitch Fluctuating variant of Tinnitus which rings like a constant National Anthem of 'God Save the Queen' in their ears giving them an aloofness and reverent countenance that could be misinterpreted as a dismissive stiffness of character.
 
In sadder times now, the skies are no longer a choppity-chug of helicopters; the toxic talc quarries are no longer a thud of dynamite and diesel water-pumps; the wax-buffed school floors are no longer a-squeak or a scurry of plimsoled feet running to the clangity-clang of a janitor's bell and 76% of Unst people can't spell 'marmalade'.
In Unst they call it 'orange jam'.

The charge is being introduced without any prior warning or consultations with either politicians or the wider community.
 
Meanwhile we learn from the MD of HIAL that the company "is committed to being open and transparent in its operations"
 
Don't you just love this stuff? Do universities now run degree courses in CorporateSpeak?

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/15970-sic-appoints-first-ever-female-chief-executive
 
So, she's all about supporting the workforce and let's just ride rough-shod and not bother to ask the service users what they want because, according to the link, it's all about the staff.  Well Mags, you seem to think that ROSPA's stance on blinding bungee cords for wheelie bins should be ignored and deem them to be a good solution, regardless of the risks.  Years ago you had the circling dog poo with pink paint, that was short lived too.  As for other Heads of Department?  Somehow, I'm not visualising you coming down hard on them, it all seems a tad too cosy.  There are many good staff working for the SIC, but there's many who, quite frankly, need booting out.  And it starts with the top.  Now unless a certain online publication has been incredibly picky about what they printed, the article illustrates Mag's mindset - it's all about the workforce and how they know best - it's about time they started to remember they are there to serve the PUBLIC, the service users.

I'm with Frances144 and Ghostie here.

Starting a business or opening a shop has always been a big risk, and believe you me, it's not for the faint hearted.
 
Even more of a risk now with the internet and the lack of footfall.
 
Most folk that might have a good idea but never go for it, instead they get stuck in the 9-5 work routine with a guaranteed sum of money in their pocket at the end of the week or month.
 
You are highly un-likely to make a fortune with a shop now a days.
 
It all depends on what your personal life is like and how you want to live.
 
If you have a family and children to support, want flash cars, go on holiday once or twice a year, etc, then it's not going to work as there isn't enough profit.
 
But, if you are like me, on your own, no interest in jetting off on holiday and no interest in a flash lifestyle, then it will probably work.
 
As I always say, it is hard being in business, but long as I can pay the bills, able to buy fresh stock, and be able to buy something to eat at the end of the day, then I am happy.

I guess the Fentanyl patches could assuage the lack of cute puppies running around my house!

Thanks Admin

Yes I wish Admin were a bit quicker to respond to this stuff. What worries me is that it is the trusting people who think that everybody else is nice who get conned. Leaving the ads up on the website can be construed as approval.

What is it with Shetlink and puppy ads?
 
Never knew that breeding was such a major industry in the Nort Isles......