Sudden Stop

It is legal to sell or advertise for sale a car on the public road but there is a limit to number that one vendor can advertise (three if I remember right). This won't be a problem for the people using Lochside (unless they have a small fleet of their own vehicles for sale there at the same time). What might be a problem is that it has become a very popular place to sell car - there's a range of all sorts, the stock changes regularly and the prices are negotiable. This is much more than can be said for a lot of the professional forecourts and could well be bugbear of their's. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the local garages had had a quiet word in a Councillors ear in an attempt to remove the competition.

OP, for what it's worth, I agree with the points you made in your letter however the 'threats' (for want of a better word) turned me away from wanting to side with you. I suspect that any recipient of a letter written with that tone would also have a negative reaction to it. To me, Marriage is a religious act/ceremony and therefore shouldn't be allowed for a non-religious couple. Civil partnerships are, to me, the appriopriate event for gay couples to demonstrate their public commitment to each other. Emotive subjects such as this are always going to be hard to discuss but please, everyone, try to stay civil.

Yeah, this the ' big' weekend. The old tower is now shut and the new one opens on monday!

Or taking the p1$$, unlike the bogs up north!

De-icing gear? No there's been no problem with any of that. Nae water in the toilet pan is a big problem though especially when you've got hundreds of guys that have been rattled to pieces crossing the north sea!

A water main near Brae needed some work today, so they'll have switched the operation to somewhere the toilets have water in them.

Are there any neuter programmes up here that deal with feral cats? I've noticed a family of them living near me, I presume they are a problem for ground nesting birds and the like?

What irrates me is the bloody spray paint. Regardless of the opinions of a few folk who are taking a hardline on which symbol should be on a sign - this really isn't THAT important. What is a really problem is that some morons have sprayed graffiti on road sign which everyone that passes then has to suffer. Shetland is pretty much free from graffiti apart from on the signs that are put up so that visitors to our islands can recognise a point of interest. The only thing that matters regarding which symbol is on the signs is whether tourists understand it's purpose. If there is evidence of people seeing a picture of a thistle and NOT connecting that to a place to visit, then fine, change it for something else. The extremely childish and pathethic spray painting of the signs is unsightly, uneffective and stops people from spotting places to visit. Grow up.

Tesco's is the worst offender for not planning ahead. The stock room simply isn't big enough to cope without daily deliveries from south. This is a major problem for them but they have handsomely diverted attention away from that with this PR stunt. Tesco's have effectively let their customers down by not having anyting to sell but have manged to turn the situation around (only in the short term mind) into a positive for them through throwing money at the problem and hoping the public fall for it - mission accomplished! This should have been an opportunity for the smaller retailers to show their value to shetland by filling the gap. Their use of local suppliers and more sensible 'Shetland style' stock control means that every shop I've been in still has full shelves.

There hasn't been a thaw here today, it's been down around about freezing all day and the ground temps will be that little bit cooler. Also, there hasn't been a gritter in sight all day. The roads WILL be icy (still) and they will get worse as the night goes on. Unfortunately, the roads are very simply, not safe for use just now. Don't bother trying to go anywhere, you may not survive the trip. It may sound over dramatic to some of you but this is the situation we find ourselves in. Only drive if you absolutely have to - stay home, watch some of the rubbish on telly instead and thank the council for their fantastic grasp on economics.

Dammit, I missed Looper. There doesn't look like much point in visiting Mareel from Friday 16th onwards...

No, that's not paranoid nor are you too self conscious - that's just being a decent human being and having some consideration for others. It's this built in 'code of conduct' that is unfortunately missing from quite a lot of people using Mareel.

By far the biggest problem faced by Mareel is it's own customers. There are far too many people going to the cinema that simply have no consideration for others - making noise, kicking chair backs and generally interupting the film. There are a few things that Mareel could do to minimise the impact these people have on others though: - Crinkly paper bags for popcorn replaced with little cardboard buckets. - No beer in the cinema - there's a hell of a stink from it and surely shetland's alcoholics can go two hours without getting their fix. - Reinforce the seat mounts. Everytime someone shifts in their seat, everyone else in that row gets a shake. - Have adult only screenings - there was a family there last night with very small childern for a film that was only starting at nearly 10pm and finish at midnight. It'd be nice to think that people could be trusted to think about others and not be disruptive but we all know that can be done. So, that leaves Mareel the choice to either let people do their own thing and accept they will lose customers permanently or try their best to promote cinema going etiquette and hope it catches on. I accept that watching a film with the public sitting all around you will add various 'cinema experiences' but the current experience will stop me returning. It's strange that there is so much difference compared to mainland cinemas where I've only rarely had any problems - I guess it's a cultural thing where Shetlanders are used to the etiquette.

Fares will have to go up and up, and up again. As someone said - the ferries are an road equivalent and as we all know it's getting more and more expensive to travel on roads. The cost of fuel is rising every week and that effects ALL forms of mass transport whether that be car, train, plane or the humble SIC ferry. I'm afraid the ferry fares will have to rise and people will just have to suck it up...

Yeah c'mon folks. The administrative side of the police was shut for a couple of days - it's not the end of the world. So long as their emergency repsonse capability was not affected it's just a pain in the backside, that's all. Have you ever tried getting to a bank while they are open? Now that is a proper joke.