Hector's House

Very's furniture delivery is £8.95 - however if you dig around in their T&C's you'll find their disclaimer about delivering to remote areas. So VERY unlikely to be able to get a suite from them Last leather 3+2 I got was from the Bargain Centre 8 years ago and it was still looking top-notch when I sold it on last year. However I do agree with rum lover, Muddy Bay do have some nice stuff.

What's that on the skids? Flotation airbags?

One 75p fly swatter from Home Furnishings and 30 mins of furious flailing - job done! I dislike fly spray, especially as flies naturally congregate in kitchens, as the chemicals are (necessarily) none too life-friendly. Much prefer the "kinetic" kill approach

Weeks, Peat? Try years! It is a scam as old as the internet itself. Gafynandrew - are you by any chance a BT internet customer? Everyone I know who is (or was!) has had these calls. My conclusion from that is that BT's customer database has been sold on to 3rd parties, most likely by BT's helpline staff themselves.

I think if you call the old station number there is a recorded message to call 101 or 999 depending on the urgency. When I last called 101 I got put through to Lerwick, no problem.

The Co-op does funeral plans, so no problem there Scorrie!

Combining this thread and the complaints about speeding at Tesco, maybe Tesco should buy the holes from the Co-op and install them in their own car park - giving the Co-op a smooth car park and slowing the cars at Tesco. Sorted!

Curious, there are Aldi ads on the Indeed job site - however, according to Aldi's website (can't copy the link for some reason) Lerwick isn't on the "opening soon" list of stores. Maybe the job ads are really just nationwide ones posted to come up during specific area searches to look like they are local.

They were there in huge numbers on Saturday, and the lighthouse refurbishment is well worth the trip

My biggest bugbear - no, ONE of my biggest bugbears... oh heck, one of my many, many bugbears with Tesco is the special offers such as the "Meal Deal" or "Big Night In" range where a key element of the deal is missing, such as the qualifying bottles of drink - why bother promoting this stuff if only the first few dozen customers can take advantage of it? It infuriates me when I ask a passing staff member if there is any more available and am met with a vacant stare and a shrug of the shoulders. No doubt there are staff who have off days, but the general response to similar questions rarely meets with the "standards" that Tesco sets. That said, there are many staff members who are quite lovely and haven't been assimilated (yet!) - mainly the more mature ones. As for the dearth of stuff on the shelves, I'd put money on the number of folk with Petrofac fleeces on in the shop as having a big effect on it. It may be that the introduction of the delivery and click 'n' collect services has impacted on the storage space, just when they needed to up the physical throughput. Having re-read wot I rote, I have had to edit a lot of it. I really am turning into a Grumpy Old Hector

Check out the grants available, Heatwise should be able to help. The rules changed last year and properties now seem to have to show a certain percentage of carbon saving to qualify for free (or discounted) insulation.

I'd look at massively upgrading the insulation before throwing cash at new heating - with rising leccy prices you can only win in the longer term by stopping the heat getting out in the first place. I speak from bitter experience...

To be fair, with Branson's personal record of airborne pursuits he'd more likely end up in the water than on the runway.

Glad to be of service

Quite so paulb, hence the Arianes launching from French Guiana, a mere 5 degrees north of the equator. However, the extra oomph is only beneficial for orbits that roughly follow the initial launch direction - a Shetland launch would be more suited to polar orbits that earth-science satellites (and GCHQ's ones!) often take. The weather issues in Florida are usually about the need for visual contact from the ground - spaceplanes by their nature don't go straight up, so there is less opportunity to keep an eye on them all the way. Anyway, it's immaterial for Shetland, as - according to the boffin the Beeb had on - they will need a 5km runway... Tingwall straight mebbe? Also, why has nobody taken Gerry Anderson's idea and made a big curved launch rail like wot he did in Fireball XL5?