as

I'm sure if you asked them nicely enough during the months when they get the most flicker they'd let you stay for a few days so you could experience it for yourself. 

Why don't all the folks in favour of VE and convinced it's all harmless actually swap properties with the folks who have to live in the path of these monstrosities??  Any takers?
 
Still no referendum on wether the population wants the windfarm. And why not? Worried Shetland will tell VE to go..... and play with the traffic?
 
If there had been a public vote and the decision been made democraticaly to build the damned thing I could accept the majority vote. But since no one bothers to ask Shetlanders I think it stinks to high heaven.

Your last statement has me a bit puzzled. If the windfarm is such a great idea and you reckon there's no health risk why would you not swap like for like? Why expect a better property and exploit the drop in property value that those folk will have to accept?

Why don't all the folks in favour of VE and convinced it's all harmless actually swap properties with the folks who have to live in the path of these monstrosities??  Any takers?
 
Still no referendum on wether the population wants the windfarm. And why not? Worried Shetland will tell VE to go..... and play with the traffic?
 
If there had been a public vote and the decision been made democraticaly to build the damned thing I could accept the majority vote. But since no one bothers to ask Shetlanders I think it stinks to high heaven.

Its never too late to stop making a mistake and stop throwing good after bad.

Why don't all the folks in favour of VE and convinced it's all harmless actually swap properties with the folks who have to live in the path of these monstrosities??  Any takers?
 
Still no referendum on wether the population wants the windfarm. And why not? Worried Shetland will tell VE to go..... and play with the traffic?
 
If there had been a public vote and the decision been made democraticaly to build the damned thing I could accept the majority vote. But since no one bothers to ask Shetlanders I think it stinks to high heaven.

Why don't all the folks in favour of VE and convinced it's all harmless actually swap properties with the folks who have to live in the path of these monstrosities??  Any takers?
 
Still no referendum on wether the population wants the windfarm. And why not? Worried Shetland will tell VE to go..... and play with the traffic?
 
If there had been a public vote and the decision been made democraticaly to build the damned thing I could accept the majority vote. But since no one bothers to ask Shetlanders I think it stinks to high heaven.

Looks like you might already owe someone that fiver then:-
 
http://www.shetnews.co.uk/letters/5997-severe-shadow-flicker

Its easy to "feel" you can make a profit when its other people's money you're "investing", and there's no direct come back on you if the whole thing goes belly up losing money hand over fist. Oil wells are whole other matter, the costs, risks and historical long term value are well proven, but with that said, I'd be no more supportive or happy about the SCT risking an equal number of millions in them either. SCT have no business risking a large percentage of the funds they are supposed to be protecting in a speculative venture, the SCT was not set up or intended for such purposes as far as I'm concerned, and the trustees IMHO by the nature of how they are selected aren't the best suited candidates to perform the necessary roles.
 
I presume you mean that by some folk having a windmill to supply an individual household, business etc, that somehow converts to its owner being supportive of any and all kinds of wind energy, regardless of any other factors? If so, I think you will find that you may be making an assumption too far. Whether someone invests their own money to supply a percentage of their own electricity consumption and sell some on to SSE is one thing and entirely their business, sitting watching an eye-watering sum of Shetland's funds being risked and a significant percentage of the islands' skyline being covered in huge white poles, all for no more than on last estimates I heard, a speculative "estimated" annual return of 7.5%, is a wholly different equation to come to terms with enough to allow you to sleep nights.
 
Connection issues are one reason progress why Viking is no faster than it is, and its no surprise that that is the case, given that the interconnector, give or take a few paltry millions, is going to more or less double the cost of the entire project. There's no point in burying your head in the sand and saying it'll be paid for by someone else, as regardless of who puts up the front money, it'll be us who stumps up in the end, either through fees to use the cable, lower price per unit sold etc.

I think some folk are maybe not aware of what COPE is - how & why they exist?
 
Community Opportunity for Participation in Enterprise
 
-was set up initially by Frank Millsop who worked at the Eric Gray Centre, back in 1998-99.
He started out with some of the clients, setting up a small tree nursery, and after the clients had attended catering courses at Shetland College, he set up a sandwich delivery service to SIC offices.
 
He managed to obtain enough support, grants and funding to take on 2 members of staff, and build the original COPE building opposite the power station.
Frank was a very enterprising and enthusiastic individual!
 
 
COPE's objectives:
 
 
taken from - http://www.shetlandcharitabletrust.co.uk/who-we-fund
 "Promotes opportunities for enterprise, work and life skills training and community service for people with learning difficulties in Shetland."
 
 
and
 
 
 
Taken from  http://www.learnshetland.com/cope-ltd
"Services:   Offers advice and support to allow individuals to work in a valuable, productive business.
Eligibility:  Adults with disabilities that would like training, support and employment opportunities.
Referrals from Social Care, Education, Careers, the Voluntary Sector and directly from the community. "
 
The 3 guys in a van are an employed driver, and 2 participants.
Last Ditchology, the electrical repair business, closed a few years ago. 
The Scrapstore is a recycling facility providing employment, support and training for participants.
Sorry if I sounded a bit snippit there, but COPE is primarily for the benefit of the participants.
They do go out of their way to help the general public, if they can, but the participants always come first

for those of you who are seriously interested in canine behaviour and how to improve your relationship and communication with your dog, here are a few links to books which I found to be extremely helpful:
 
http://www.nonlineardogs.com/socialorganisation.html
 
http://www.nonlineardogs.com/100MostSillyIntro.html
 
http://www.positiveanimalsolutions.co.uk/dominanceindogs.html
 
 
and the 2 books every dog owner should read:
 
http://en.turid-rugaas.no/calming-signals-photos.html
 
http://understandingthesilentcommunicationofdogs.com/
 
 
enjoy!

if people would only use a bit of common sense and show respect to other beach users all these unpleasant encounters could easily be avoided......
 
If owners need to exercise their animals and give them a good long run, why not choose a time when the beach is bound to be quiet and free of children/ other dogs? This approach has worked for me for many years. With the long daylight hours we enjoy here, why not go very early in the morning or late in the evening? I avoided beaches during the daytime, particularly during holidays. In the winter the beaches are deserted anyway and less chance of encountering children or unfriendly/ uncontrolled dogs. My dogs disliked children and were not keen on other dogs either. When we saw that the beach was already used by others, we would wait a while in the car until they had finished their walk. Similarly, if somebody else entered the beach with dogs or children, we would cut our walk short, put the dogs back on leads and retreat, so as to let another user have the chance to have their walk in peace. It was just a matter of keeping your eyes peeled and be on the lookout for others. My dogs would never run up to anybody else, they were far to fixated on their ball game. I knew my dogs preferred not to have their personal space invaded by other dogs or humans, therefore I did my best not to put them into a situation they would find stressful.
 
With a bit of tolerance and Give and Take, everybody can enjoy the beach and exercise their animals safely. But yes, it is the minority of owners who are too busy having a conversation when they should be focusing on where their off lead dog is running and being a nuisance, who give responsible owners a bad name. I must agree that the OP should probably have thought twice about entering the beach under those conditions. I have on occassions delayed or even turned for home a walk when I saw that the beach was used by too many people with off lead dogs. It was just not worth the hassle and stress and is asking for trouble.
 
Alternatively, maybe Shetland needs a designated "dog park"?

Now we're finding common ground here. Common sense is the key!
 
But hey! it's not just about dogs, common sense seems to be at a premium these days on all sorts of issues.

if people would only use a bit of common sense and show respect to other beach users all these unpleasant encounters could easily be avoided......
 
If owners need to exercise their animals and give them a good long run, why not choose a time when the beach is bound to be quiet and free of children/ other dogs? This approach has worked for me for many years. With the long daylight hours we enjoy here, why not go very early in the morning or late in the evening? I avoided beaches during the daytime, particularly during holidays. In the winter the beaches are deserted anyway and less chance of encountering children or unfriendly/ uncontrolled dogs. My dogs disliked children and were not keen on other dogs either. When we saw that the beach was already used by others, we would wait a while in the car until they had finished their walk. Similarly, if somebody else entered the beach with dogs or children, we would cut our walk short, put the dogs back on leads and retreat, so as to let another user have the chance to have their walk in peace. It was just a matter of keeping your eyes peeled and be on the lookout for others. My dogs would never run up to anybody else, they were far to fixated on their ball game. I knew my dogs preferred not to have their personal space invaded by other dogs or humans, therefore I did my best not to put them into a situation they would find stressful.
 
With a bit of tolerance and Give and Take, everybody can enjoy the beach and exercise their animals safely. But yes, it is the minority of owners who are too busy having a conversation when they should be focusing on where their off lead dog is running and being a nuisance, who give responsible owners a bad name. I must agree that the OP should probably have thought twice about entering the beach under those conditions. I have on occassions delayed or even turned for home a walk when I saw that the beach was used by too many people with off lead dogs. It was just not worth the hassle and stress and is asking for trouble.
 
Alternatively, maybe Shetland needs a designated "dog park"?

I agree it is not just cats causing problems, pleanty of other culprits like crows and gulls, and lets not gloss over the major issues with most of these birds being more to do with humans than any other animal whether directly or indirectly. However all that being said, domestic cats are predators and do contribute strongly to the death rate of some species of bird and that shouldn't be glossed over either just because we happen to like cats more than crows.
 
Personally I am dismayed and worried about the general attitude in this country to breed our pets, whether it be some misguided attempt to earn cash as seems the fad with dogs or because of people's squeemishness with fixing their animals (that last one in particular really gets me!), either way it is irresponsible for ANY animal. I can only conclude these people that are guilty of the afore mentioned don't really care about their pets at all, or they would put more thought into what kind of homes the offspring would get or the countless other dogs and cats out there in need of a home - I for one would never buy a puppy, I have always and will always take one that needs a new start in life and Ive had some cracking animals over the years.
 
For the record I'm not saying that there aren't reasons for buying an animal/taking a free puppy or kitten or even for breeding them, and as someone that grew up with a litter of puppies in my house it is a magical thing to be involved with, I'm just agreeing with brochbuilder that unfortunately with most people it is not a well reasoned decision to do so but rather irresponsibility. 

Although having read that last comment about women and cats I'm not as enthused with siding with him any more...

I see yet more kittens advertised, free to good home. Why oh why, cant owners of these animals get them neutered?
 
There are far too many irresponsible cat owners in this country, these animals are causing devastation among nesting birds, globally as well as nationally. Ask Chris Packham.
 
If you must keep these carnivores, please do your bit to keep their numbers under control.

It always amuses me that folk rut and bring bairns into da world and they expect a free ride. If you canna afford bairns, stop hivvin dem.
Contraception is available and even the simple minded can work it oot?
They can always be adopted by someone who has the means to bring them up properly.

http://myshetland.co.uk/snati-swimming/
 
**** sigh **** Snati

This thread sums up beautifully why I rarely go on Shetlink any more.  Honestly, it should be called The Electron, as there is never anything positive about it.  The OP - soon to be a resident here - asks a simple question in an upbeat post, (you'll find it in the dictionary), and instead of getting a wave of interesting and helpful advice, ('are you going to be living in town or the country?' 'make sure you go to xxxxxx, it's a great place.' 'Check out this website for some great dog-friendly walks...')  she gets post after post of negative, irrelevant crap.  ('Why does one person need 5 dogs?' 'Stay off the land!  All of it!' 'Have you even read the 1564 Land Reform Act?' 'Groan.....')  Yes groan indeed.
 
Shetland is known the world over for being a forward thinking, friendly, happy to be place.  Shetlink, for the best part, aint....

I don't think it's an issue of not being bothered but the fact that personalities are clashing and the bickering is a result of that. It's at that point they have to get involved and it's not like the two people who left can say they never dished out flak in the other direction. Like I said it was an easy decision for an admin to make, it removed two people who actively disagree with one of the most active posters on the forum, by removing their accounts they've gotten rid of hassle they likely didn't want to get involved in. Has it worked, well yes but they've gotten a quieter less active forum because of it.

What a warm welcome this thread has become, this couple are planning to move to shetland and the focus of the thread has become folks experiences with irresponsible dog owners who have nothing to do with this couple, as a born a bred shetlander I'm appalled at some of the above replies - given this might be their first contact with folk from the isles.

Thanks folks.
In the last couple of days I've had some results. I had some bleeding and bad pain but my appetite has returned and it may be that the stone has left the kitchen. The pain has eased and my stomach is demanding food aurally
My appointment went very well, the consultant explained everything to me I will be having another x ray to check if the stone did escape. If it is still there, I will have to go to ABZ to have it dug out, I don't think that the surgeon used those words but it is what he meant. He also said that he couldn't understand why it had all taken so long. So I told him that it was inefficiency and that some people couldn't be bothered doing their jobs.
regards,
Rex.

the point is that they don't actually have to tell you if they are in fact withholding information, so you might never know. To my mind it makes a complete mockery of the whole idea. Personally, I don't trust them anymore.

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/newsbites/8210-sandwick-break-in
 
Anyone still feeling inclined to 'apologise' for the perps, snuggle up to them, ask them, nicely, why they did it and, blame society as a whole for not 'engaging' with them?
 
OR
 
Do we need more rope?

poor Jack. Hopefully the antibiotics will do the trick in a day or two, but at least all the gunk is gone and out of his system.
Fingers, toes and assorted paws crossed that he picks up soon.
Your Jack reminds so much of my little Gyp.