Speccy

The saleroom is closing down I'm afraid.

I am struck by the lack of perspective. All over the country - all over the western world in fact - we are struggling to maintain the services we have built up to maintain a decent standard for our most vulnerable people. In Shetland we still have enough money to keep decent standards of welfare going, if we spend wisely. All Council departments have made cuts. Most have relatively small budgets compared to education and community care. There is not much more to glean from the other departments. Education and community care are the biggest spenders. The money should go where there is the greatest need. Community care is facing the same cuts as education. They are dealing with the most needy, vulnerable, friendless, lonely, abandoned, ill, senile, poverty-stricken and vulnerable. They need to help people who have a huge need, or to relieve their desperate families. Social work needs to be able to step in and protect the children in danger, the children who have much greater problems than which school they go to. They need to protect also our vulnerable adults, the people who no longer have parents to protect and support them. We are facing a situation already where cuts in care homes and social care could leave dangerous gaps in help for desperately needy adults. In schools, we are looking at a very good education system, being slowly starved of funds, but still very good. We are looking at cuts which could require teenagers to travel longer on a bus each day, or stay in a very good, supportive hostel, and still get a very good education, perhaps a better one. We are looking at children with protective, supportive and responsible parents to look after them, homes to go back to and the health and resilience to help them cope with change and perhaps even benefit from it. We are in very serious danger of keeping schools open due to emotive campaigning, and continuing to strangle our other services, including the ones which make life that little bit better for everyone, for the rest of our lives. And we will all need community care, sooner or later, for ourselves, for our elderly relatives. And so will these children that come after us. Please get a perspective.

^does sound like you have a personal issue with Foords, for if the meal was really bad enough to start several threads about it, why didn't you complain at the time and send it back? I've only had chocolate products at that cafe, and it was fine. And the welcome to dogs is very refreshing (even though I don't have one ).

A new consultation, or rather a survey has been launched. http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2013/08/07/1052272 It is not very well constructed. I suggest you click right through the whole thing before attempting to fill it in.

What's happened to the list of latest posts usually on the front page? It would be nice to have it back - too lazy to go in and check all the forums. Can you help?

Exactly. A neighbour of mine was believing it. You learn to be cynical and mistrustful of all those scams, but some folk are still innocent and trusting and they're the ones who are at risk.

Keep an eye out for folk being taken in by some scam letters - I know several folk who've got them so there's probably a lot around in Shetland. They claim to be tying up affairs of a long-lost relative in China, and hint at inheritance. Folk used to scam email won't be taken in, but since these are unusually coming by post, and mentioning a relative called Charles with the surname of the recipient, there's a chance folk will respond.

Naming by committee. You end up with the most anodyne.

Maybe I can find a husband at last!

On the same subject, there's an ongoing problem at Staney Hill with sheep deliberately allowed to stray - been going on for years. Get in folks gardens, demolish community plantings, poo all over the pavements and cause danger on the roads. Once they are straying so far and wide, it is pretty hard for any outside agency to safely round them up. In rural districts I believe there are grazing committees that might exercise a bit of management and co-operation to sort out bust fences etc, but in Lerwick it seems nothing can be done.

In addition to Justme's suggestions, there are quite a few North Mainland buses if you want a day trip. Nice walks near Brae and places to eat etc there, or you could get off at Voe, or South Nesting, both of which offer lovely walks. You can hire bikes in Lerwick. If your guests aren't energetic you have a bit more difficulty! Walls bus is a good one for scenery, lovely walks out there but not many eateries, I'd take a picnic.

Thanks Michael, but, er, can you explain what a strong cross shore rip is exactly?

Wetsuits are for pussies Nothing beats the thrill of icy immersion, then waiting for your top layer of skin to go numb to kill the pain. Seriously, don't let lack of a wetsuit put you off IF you just want a quick dip - it is bracing but bearable. Question, has anyone swum at Quendale beach? It always looks enticing and deep, with big rolling waves. I'm wondering is it Ok for reasonably confident swimmers.

Have to agree, though I just checked schedule and wish I'd gone to see Lore. Didn't notice it among wall to wall Gatsby. Think Mareel are obliged to do all these showings if they want a 'big' film on date of release, but I'd rather wait a few weeks than have this overkill.

I mean cheap for customers and event organisers, dunno what the overheads are.

Don’t look so sad; I know it’s over; But life goes on and this old world will keep on turning. Let’s just be glad we had some time to spend together...

I think Shetland Box Office offers a very smart - and very cheap - service. We're lucky to have such a good set up locally. Some folk will never be happy unless you go round to their house, give them a free ticket and a run to the concert as well.

Can't view plans just now, but it sounds like an excellent idea. Seal viewing, catchment of Tesco shoppers, business investment we badly need. Should we care if folk park an extra half hour in Tesco? I don't think even Tesco will, as the cafe will bring folk to them as well as vice versa.

Hi, at 17.10 you catch the Hillswick bus rather than the Toft one, as the Hillswick one goes through Brae but the Toft one bypasses it for that run.

They need well tied down as mentioned by Silvercloud, a proper skirt and shelter from buildings or a big fence, but yes they can be cosy. The Council site at Hoofields has a site standing empty but they have refused to rent it to at least 2 locals so far, so not sure what's going on there. They could be a good supplement to our housing problem.

Got anything to say, g-dog, or just copy and paste?

In: scenery; wildlife; happy locals speaking authentic but intelligible dialect; dinky local stores; quaint fishing craft; vikingry; spontaneous music in welcoming pubs; costly but delightful craft products... Out: Tesco; road kill; litter; heroin addicts; toon v. country; Local v. Sooth; drunkenness; locals slagging the place off and wishing they had a Yo Sushi, Primark, Top Shop... Don't get me wrong, I would quite like another hour-long advert for Shetland, to bring in well-heeled tourists, but this is a murder drama and I think it would do better to go a bit grittier. A teenage girl mildly pining for high street shops wasn't exactly gritty, but it was one of the more authentic bits of the drama.

Many Shetlanders do whinge about lack of shops - that was very accurate. Please don't make it a middle-class tourist advert .

They had a reasonable stab at it, for non-Shetlanders. Think the main fault is with the scriptwriters for not checking out their du, dee and dys properly. At least they tried to use dialect.

I did meet someone years back who spoke with a good shetland accent but had only been here about 5 years - I was very surprised. It's not normal, as it is very hard to do. There's no right or wrong, but in general if I go to, eg, Dundee, I don't try to speak their accent as they would be puzzled and possibly aggressive. Place names are sometimes easier to get away with than whole sentences though, and worth trying. Not that the locals ever agree on them anyway...