Ally
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Ally got a reaction from Chinahouse in Lerwick town centre
At least the pubs are still world class. Cough.
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Ally got a reaction from BigMouth in Companies who deliver to Shetland & Courier Agents
I think the problem is that people have a nostalgia for a time when they had a local postie who knew them by name, lived in the same area and had been doing the same route for years.
Unfortunately routes are now way bigger and staff turnover is significantly higher. Plus your friendly Postman Pat didn't have to deliver multiple mailshot's, catalogues and assorted junk within a set time-scale or be promptly sacked.
Additionally, people didn't order most of their stuff online, from vendors who usually address it with a misspelled name and some vague assembly of letters that is supposed to represent an address (and I'm not talking about a postcode here).
Add this to the fact that many people (although not all) have no house name or number visible whatsoever. Even if you choose something outrageously pretentious that somehow marries the Nordic Tongue with a character from Star Trek, at least it's a name.
I am, of course, looking at this from the delivery guy's point of view for reasons that are probably obvious. Needless to say I don't want to get into a protracted debate about the relative merits of various delivery firms (I'd like to keep my job), but I would suggest that sometimes people may be unaware of the logistical pressures companies and staff are under these days, and that to simplify the problem by stating that "X company is crap" is a tad unfair to the vast majority of front-line workers who are usually just trying to do their job under increasingly difficult circumstances - not to mention the crappy weather...
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Ally got a reaction from Peerie_Trow in Illegal immigrant's and refugees.
So you're saying don't let them in? Even though there's likely to be only one or two families (if any at all) in Shetland? Even though there's houses lying empty in the isles? If everyone thought like you then what's next? Let them die maybe? That'll teach them to have the temerity to flee for their lives...
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Ally got a reaction from JGHR in Illegal immigrant's and refugees.
So you're saying don't let them in? Even though there's likely to be only one or two families (if any at all) in Shetland? Even though there's houses lying empty in the isles? If everyone thought like you then what's next? Let them die maybe? That'll teach them to have the temerity to flee for their lives...
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Ally got a reaction from Capeesh in Illegal immigrant's and refugees.
So you're saying don't let them in? Even though there's likely to be only one or two families (if any at all) in Shetland? Even though there's houses lying empty in the isles? If everyone thought like you then what's next? Let them die maybe? That'll teach them to have the temerity to flee for their lives...
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Ally got a reaction from paulb in Illegal immigrant's and refugees.
So you're saying don't let them in? Even though there's likely to be only one or two families (if any at all) in Shetland? Even though there's houses lying empty in the isles? If everyone thought like you then what's next? Let them die maybe? That'll teach them to have the temerity to flee for their lives...
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Ally reacted to JGHR in Syria
Reading though your input on this thread I'm not inclined to believe you.
A sympathetic person would not use language such as this:
Martin Niemoller might just as well have said ' Then they came for the refugees, and I did not speak out - ' How do you reconcile your alleged approbation for his writing with the glaring lack of empathy for a different group of desperate and persecuted people which you display on this thread? Or, are you just another poorly informed hypocrite bleating from the comfort of the first world?
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Ally reacted to Capeesh in Syria
Not all immigrants are scroungers as the Daily Mail etc would have you believe, there will be some that start businesses and create jobs, a number of them will have skills we are short of, others will work hard doing menial jobs, some will be intellectuals teaching our youngsters. etc etc
A modern example is the good old US of A who have grown to be the worlds largest economic powerhouse with the help of immigrants.
The UK is heavily reliant on immigrants also, is it not true the NHS would collapse overnight if not for immigrants?
The UK has terrible demographics as well, we as a country have an ageing population, ie we won't have enough people of working age paying taxes to keep people who are too old to work.
Why do we blame immigrants instead of government for the truly abysmal management of housing, health, education etc?
All this is beside the point though, we're not talking about immigrants, these are refugees fleeing a war torn country, we have a moral duty to help our fellow human beings.
Not only that, it's in our interests to help, what do you think will happen to the few ill equipped countries who are housing millions of refugees, some are worried about radicalism, would these squalid camps not be a breeding ground for it?
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Ally reacted to Frances144 in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
How awful. I usually lug the contents of M&S on board with me for the trip and feast in my cabin. I have never been frisked as I clink past.
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Ally got a reaction from Frances144 in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
You seem remarkably free of any empathy or understanding towards these people. I suspect that 'taking the mikey' and 'pushing it' was not at the forefront of their minds given their uniquely traumatic circumstances. They were just trying to get home. Giving them a break would have been the decent thing to do.
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Ally reacted to Colin in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
Probably when they started charging 3.90 for a tin of lager.. Strange(?) part of it is that they do not (yet) scan your stuff in Kirkwall.
Was on the boat a few weeks back when some kid in a hi-vis 'told' me to put my bag through the scanner. Looked more than a little puzzled when I demanded to know 'why'. The old 'port security' garbage just doesn't wash with me anymore and S/N need to be reminded that we are travelling WITHIN the UK and that they are operating nothing more that a floating bus service.
How long before you have to get your bags scanned before using a bus or taxi? Will you be refused travel if you object?
Is it legal for them to to confiscate any alcohol you might be carrying? Definitely questionable and would need to be 'tested' as you can, if you wish, purchase it quite freely when you are on board.
Maybe it's not just alcohol they are looking for but, like an awful lot of other people, I am heartily fed up with being 'spied on' and having my every movement recorded in the name of security(?)
Yet another brick in the wall of the coming police state.
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Ally got a reaction from Roachmill in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
You seem remarkably free of any empathy or understanding towards these people. I suspect that 'taking the mikey' and 'pushing it' was not at the forefront of their minds given their uniquely traumatic circumstances. They were just trying to get home. Giving them a break would have been the decent thing to do.
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Ally got a reaction from crofter in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
You seem remarkably free of any empathy or understanding towards these people. I suspect that 'taking the mikey' and 'pushing it' was not at the forefront of their minds given their uniquely traumatic circumstances. They were just trying to get home. Giving them a break would have been the decent thing to do.
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Ally got a reaction from Berserker in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
You seem remarkably free of any empathy or understanding towards these people. I suspect that 'taking the mikey' and 'pushing it' was not at the forefront of their minds given their uniquely traumatic circumstances. They were just trying to get home. Giving them a break would have been the decent thing to do.
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Ally got a reaction from Chalklate in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
You seem remarkably free of any empathy or understanding towards these people. I suspect that 'taking the mikey' and 'pushing it' was not at the forefront of their minds given their uniquely traumatic circumstances. They were just trying to get home. Giving them a break would have been the decent thing to do.
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Ally got a reaction from Keedle in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
You seem remarkably free of any empathy or understanding towards these people. I suspect that 'taking the mikey' and 'pushing it' was not at the forefront of their minds given their uniquely traumatic circumstances. They were just trying to get home. Giving them a break would have been the decent thing to do.
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Ally reacted to ll in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
Think with a £800,000-00 per WEEK subsidy, there is not much coming over Northlink with large increases in freight, passengers and less dry docking now.
You could dig a tunnel to Orkney pretty easy on this budget rather than cross subsidizing their Pentland service to compete again Pentland Ferries.
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Ally reacted to Berserker in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
You're quite right Tooney. And how often have you seen northlink pre-print the boarding passes so they are sitting ready. Plenty of pathetic excuses being bandied about on this but i'm quite sure this family could have been allowed to board and the ferry still sailed 10 minutes early.
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Ally reacted to Colin in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
I don't know why everyone seems to be apologising(?) for Serco/Northlink and, although I would be the first to admit that there might be fault on both sides, I am having a problem getting past the fact that "the master wanted to leave 10 minutes early"
I just wonder if the family would have been allowed on board with a 'normal' departure time.
It may be counter productive but, if Serco/Northlink are going to be that strict about their boarding times then, they should also be obliged to apply the same measure to all other aspects of their schedule and not just "come and go" at the whims of the master..
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Ally reacted to tooney1 in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
Until an official source can come with genuine and detailed reasons why it was impossible to accommodate this, I don't really accept such speculative timings and guess work.
There's 30 minutes between close of boarding and sailing, in this case 20 mins. If the boat had left the slip then fair enough, but in this case still plenty of time to print a ticket and get them on-board.
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Ally got a reaction from Frances144 in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
They likely thought they were just going to make it then got snarled up in traffic in Aberdeen. It's grim being able to see the boat but being held up near Union St. Back in the old days you would phone up and, thanks to the goodwill of the P&O staff, they would hold the boat back by about 10 mins if necessary. Obviously you couldn't take the p1$$ and casually turn up ages later, but there was a sensible degree of flexibility. Given the duration of the journey, 10-15 mins is hardly a big deal - especially when we know that they slow the boat down deliberately (and not unreasonably) to allow for appropriate docking times.
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Ally reacted to Colin in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
Personally, I always though that "lifeline" was a two way service. Unfortunately, it is beginning to look as though passengers are beginning to interfere with the "smooth running" of their vessels...
Perhaps Serco/Northlink should be made to realise that passengers/customers do not interfere with your work, they ARE your work...
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Ally reacted to Frances144 in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
I agree. A few years' back, they would've waited and that is a fact, not a myth, not hearsay but fact - but then it would've been P&O.
All jobsworth now. Passengers are just the means to the funding.
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Ally reacted to tooney1 in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
The bottom line is they were just 3 minutes late to the terminal and had phoned ahead. I'm pretty sure there was still on/off access via the gangway and that staff were accessing the boat for a while after.
I don't know the exact details of the delay, but roadworks and tailbacks can easily add an hour or more. Aberdeen is a bad bottleneck when you're pushed towards that time of day, where it can be faster to get out and walk towards and down Market Street.
I've had several run ins with Northlink staff at Aberdeen, and this type of issue pre-dates government favourites Serco. Staff attitude is awful, and some rules just make no sense. But they are OCD about sticking to them and any sympathy or sense of morality seem to be non-existent.
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Ally reacted to tooney1 in The North Boat (Northlink ferries)
Some points:
Check-in staff don't always contact the captain and make the decision themselves. This is a lifeline service we're talking about, not a train or bus that departs every half hour/hour. Plus if the boat does arrive late, it doesn't have to sail for at least another 10 hours after arrival! There's no knock-on schedule effect like a train, bus, or plane. We're talking 3 minutes! It's not much to make up on a boat that takes 14 hours, but can leave passengers stranded for the next 24 hours at that time of night. P&O were always accommodating here, and I even seen them wheel the gangway back for late passengers in that half hour before sailing.
So why does the service have to be so ruthless?