islandhopper

@tlady: The prob behind that is that trout's example is in general only applicable for those who don't suffer from the severest forms of dyslexia; it doesn't change that much for those who suffer. I had a classmate who suffered from a very particular form of dyslexia that is to say he could read, write and understand mathematical formulars but absolutely no plain text. When he was in his fourties he managed with the help of his 3rd child, the youngest daughter, to reach a level he was very proud of: In terms of the UNESCO definition he was no longer an "analphabet". He could leave written text notes understandable for all those who know him and about his probs and he was able to decipher answers kept in a simple style. For the rest he handled the probs similar as described before in this thread trusting in the help of spell check proggis etc. from the very first moment that such things were available. He always left a note on top of any paper he published: Sorry, the author is suffering from dyslexia. Please accept the form published and in any case of not-understanding don't hesitate to ask me! Despite that: He passed school and university without any written test - he did oral examinations only. He holds two Dr grades (mathematics and computing), is an retired professor of Princeton, enjoys travelling the world and to earn the money for his extensive tours he sometimes works as a private consultant for that M$ company ... as an expert on voice controled computing systems ...

Sorry, peeriebryan, but how to develop? Phone polls might be working for some kind of tv-shows, but even their it is questionable. They are defenitely no "valid research instruments in its own right" - at least no such polls as they are planned (and not to get mixed up with phone polls based on controlable populations and quotas). You had the bridge case, you had that "Hodge" case ... Imagine: In both cases the councils would have based their decision on "da muckle poll". I am sure Scotland has some kind of "supervision of local authorities" an of course, these bodies might have failed. But the judges who would have the last word anyway were surely dead by now. *sdsnla* = sudden death by super natural lough attacks. The whole way that thing was launched and here especially the permanent quotes that the idea is "somehow" backed by the SIC - without stating who is backing it and how they are backing it - is nothing else but a kind of exhibitionism ... Well, we never know how such a club of eldermen as the SIC might deal with such popular cases but for Shetland sake I do hope that at least folks like Allan will know how to stop such a nonesense.

... well, the best thing of the 2nd online issue is probably that all links asking you for your opinion or for further comments are either ending up in the electronical 404 nirvana or in the already closed first forum ...

... sorry folks: Who is that Charly who singed the guest book of the museum just after Queen Sonja ... http://www.shetlopedia.com/Image:Museum_Opening_6.JPG

Today I got an answer to my letter sent some weeks ago now to greenpeace.de stating the following things: i) There was nothing at the posers with campaigners or crew of the Arctic Sunrise as stated by beachcaster earlier in this thread. ii) There was only the accident at the Victoria Pier which obliged the crew to call the police for assistance. iii) There was at no time any risk neither for an untrained campaigner nor any crew of any fishing boat tackled. Everything was completely under controle of the highly experienced campaigners. iv) There are absolutely no image losses neither internationally or locally. v) Of course they paid their tribute to the victims of the Dolphin. Carrying out such a peacefull action to preserve the natural ressources for future generations on which these might be depending on is not like disrespecting those who lost their lives. For this the original German text, which might be translated by someone more experienced: It was a polite letter showing that they did some research on local perception of the campain (they quoted the Shetland Marine News). Nevertheless, I copied some of the opinions published earlier in this thread ...

Being in the chair of SIC's Audit and Scrutiny Committee she obviously knows the rules and how to use them ... Buy her a pushbike ...

... just a footnote: Earlier in this thread I have stated "This are my favourites: 1, 2, 3, 4 ... etc." BUT: Some three weeks ago or so we did the job on Shetland Inshore Waters for Shetlopedia. Robbie (now I'm allowed to say so ) did the little texts and me made the nasty graphs for a first and rough indication where the water is. THE RESULT: Being confronted with about 260 places where I was been to over the last 30 years within a week or so ... going 260 time to the OS "Get a map search" making it 260 times sure that my guesses on the location are not wrong ... that simply ended up with: I don't have a favourite location!!! Sorry, for different feelings of a Non-Shetlander ...

*from a one-eyed to another one-eyed* According to similar probs years ago: Have you checked the manual of your motherboard if you have to change this or that switch settings manually when adding an additional memmory-bank??? or: Have you checked your bios settings if there is an option and if it is neccessary to "enable more than 256K" to get the bios working correctly??? *over and out from one-eyed to one-eyed*

What made me really angry, that was this obvious (that's to say visible in the webcam) SIC attitude of "Sorry, YMs, but Shetland has not enough Right Honorables to fill this little pier/terrace. But we tried our best to secure you from that crowd on the pier on the other side of the basin." Would make a nice Smirk Cartoon ...

... some screenshots from the webcam: http://www.shetlopedia.com/Shetland_Museum ... untill we get some better stuff

... quite simple, Fjool. Modern tram systems run on seperate tracks/lanes sealed off the roads/lanes for cars by kerbs ... and where they cross the car traffic they have the right of way. Furthermore: They have a higher capacity per unit ... so less units used ... or mor comfort by higher frequencies for those travelling with a tram. Despite that the modern tram systems (as they were re-installed in the big cities of the former GDR after the reunion) can actively interfere the traffic regulating system. That's to say: There is a tram stopping at a station in front of a street crossing with traffic light regulation. People getting out and in - after that it might have happened that the tram had to wait in front of a red showing traffic light. Nowadays when the last passenger is in and before he closes the doors the conductor/driver sends a signal to the traffic light and when the door is closed the light has changed to green ... no extra waiting times anymore in front of a traffic light ...

... so what do we learn from that??? That chap never travelled China. Otherwise he would have known that at least in the southeast of China there are more Chinese than there are Brits in the UK who would prefer Whippet styled dog than Corgies ... So, enjoy your next visit to a Cantoon styled Chinese restaurant: You will meet no Corgie on your plate ...

No Ghostrider ... I have pointed to that "minor" prob earlier and here we are 2 to 3 weeks ahead of the UK or Scotland. Today we had an emergency call in the newspapers here that some 400 fruitfarmers providing about 2000 full-time jobs in Lower Saxony alone will go bankrupt if these damned restrictions will not be given up in the very last moment ... strawberries and asparagus is simply rotting on thousands of acres due to the lack of workforce to meet the rapid weather changes to harvest them ...

Firstly ... I have to agree with Angela: The Fair Isle website is good ... having in mind the population figures backing it, it is outstanding in Scotland ... but we have to have in mind: There is one person quite obviously doing a lot of the job: Dave Wheeler ... himself attracting a lot of interest to the Fair Isle site due to his job as "weather froggy" for some other, probably more read sites in the north of Scotland ... Secondly ... We have other very good local websites in Shetland. Looking from abroad I would just like to mention the Northmavine website. So: Why should their no room for other intersting websites??? Thirdly ... ... and that is probably the most interesting aspect! Looking at your neighbours in Orkney ... or Caithness ... or further down to the west and south there are good local websites, too as are good community websites with interesting community news and stuning photo blogs etc. BUT ... There is no area in the rest of Scotland - at least north of the Caledonian Canal - which has this unique multiple set as Shetland has: A traditional printed paper including its internet presentation as the Shetland Time /ShetlandToday, a news agency as Shetland News (its online presentation more and more regarded as a newspaper), and the ShetlinkForum to discuss the matters locally and Shetlopedia in the back for providing cross information??? SO WHY ... should any new local website show its own newsboard or a discussion board??? ... or to repeat generals about Shetland??? It is probably just the question of job /capacity sharing ... Sorry ... I am Looking from abroad ...

THX ... What I have found so far is a story about the shipsbell of the Drottningen af Swerige which remaind in Shetland and was later used as a churchbell. This article by a Danish historian mentions a "stadhuset" (=Town Hall) - so refered to by Danish Eastindiamen - built in 1767. That said stadhuset - that is clear from the context - is nothing else but the 18th century "Toll Booth" which served in many functions as "former town jail ("Nicol's Hotel" in the second half of the 19th century = "Johnnie Brood da Prison Door", the door of John Gaudi's reel), customs house and post office." And that it most possibly the place were Sheriff Erskine, who accompanied Walter Scott and Stevenson's grandfather, sat in court when in Shetland - so there was probably one bigger room in the building suitable for some kind of meetings. Anyway: Taking the Toll Booth with its various functions as the "old Town Hall" and putting it together with the Mounthooly burn it seems to be more and more clearer that the said solid landing place formerly known as the water-stair is probably somewhere under and used as foundation for the Victoria Pier which appears just 2 years after Stevenson's account as the first bigger pier development in the 1871 OS maps.

Firstly... I'll keep my fingers crossed, Ghostrider ... Secondly ... Is there anyone missing a VE surveyer in that area???

Any chicken bones somewhere near by ... or an empty can? Then it easily could be some left overs from Ghostriders last attempts to feed and clothe his demons ...

... where was it? Or more precisly: Where was the "water-stair" which was refered to by the young R L Stevenson when he said, speaking in 1869 ... we returned again to the water-stair beside the town-hall and waved a handkerchief for the gig ... and after he had compared his findings with the account by Walter Scott (1814) and then stated that there was still no landing stage in Lerwick (for public use) ...

Trout, I'm not sure about the temperature. I only know that some of the beasts do live in the hills and above 800m - and on those levels the Greec hills can be pritty cold. A dry space might be prefered first of anything else. And some kinds demand a nice winter rest. My good old lassie Penelope - now well in her 60s and still living with my niece - goes to her winterbed for the very last by mid november. Then she is put into a wooden box, some straw underneath and a heap of hay on top and a little flat pot with water in one corner and then she goes down into the cellar ... In case she wakes up and gets hungry she nipples some hay and sipp a little water (keep it always fresh) and then she turns for the next round of sleep ... ... sleeps normally until the first warm sunshine in March. But real behaviour is depending on the specia and - nowadays - how they are brought up by the breeder. Modern commercially bred animals are said to do well being up all year round, but you must ask the breeder about that because only he will know about the condition of the individual.

... come on folks: Who is that Shetlander who wants to cut the grass, where is that German who wants to harvest asparagus sprouts or strawberries ... season just beginning here in the north of Germany ... for some 6 € quit or even less??? Those chaps from eastern Poland or nowadays from the Ukraine, from Byela Rus or the Lord knows from where they are not volunteering!!! They are looking for some way how to make a living for their families and would prefer to stay with their loved ones if they would have a chance to do so at home. Within the green belt around Hamburg we have farm workers from the east comming here for 20 years and more. When they see their offspring getting married they have seen them for less then 10 years ... for the rest of the time they went to our strawberry fields, then to the asparagus fields, followed by the cherry trees, then the apple trees ... All that just for the fun that we can buy our asparagus sprouts for 5€/kg instead of 22€/kg if we would intend to make such jobs attractive to a Shetlander, an Irish or a German. It's some kind of "modern slavery", nothing else! If we do not want to pay more for such jobs we should at least pay some respect to the folks doing that jobs and thus comforting ourselves ...

Trout, I had a Greec land turtle (testuda graeca) for years, so I can speak for those only. Firstly ... any bred from the graeca would like to enjoy a sunny day out in a Shetland garden. But than you have to watch them closely. They become sportive and are quicker than you might have thought. Fencing them in doesn't really help. They are clever beasts and start to dig under the fence ... and they are phantastic diggers!

... probably both ... or neither / nor ... that's the magic of dialect ... ... at least we have it as a "nickname for a native of Papa Stour" as in the New Shetlander, N° 78, 7, 1969, quoted from DSL-Dictionary of Scottish Language ... That leaves the question: WHY ???

Agreed: But did it stop us from wasting our resources for the last 200,000 years or so ...

Wasn't there a song in the early 1970s: .... Rocket(ed) man ... or so ... growing older I forget about the band ...

Fish starts stinking from the head ... Common Dutch/German phrase ...