Serco Northlink Ferries

At last, at long, long last it has been announced that people travelling on Serco Northlink Ferries between Shetland, Orkney and Aberdeen in Scotland, no longer need to provide photographic ID to allow them to get on board the ferry that they have bought the ticket for.

It was farcical in the first place. You don't need ID to get a taxi and you don't need ID to get on the bus (just yet) so what justified the demand for ID to get on a ferry that never leaves the country that we live in, in the first place? Sorry, I cannot work out what goes behind it - other than the stupidity and big-headedness that goes with the company running the ferries, of course!!!

In a couple of days I hope to be on the bus into Lerwick, the only real town in Shetland. If they demand any ID other than my bus pass then I'll let you know.

More hospital app's

Sorry I wasn't around yesterday ,folks. I had a hospital appointment and that, in effect, costs me the day. It means that I leave home just before ten in the morning to catch the bus into Lerwick, getting there just after eleven.

I do whatever I can justify (which usually takes about two minutes) and then, if I've got the day right, I'll get the three o'clock bus, getting home for perhaps half past four, but this bus only runs once a fortnight. Otherwise, it's a twenty to four kick-off, three buses and home for about five o'clock.

Regardless, it takes me ages and as I'm an alcoholic, hanging around in the town which is full of pubs, life is difficult. There is a link relating to that subject, somewhere on the blog, if you are interested.

But I'm home for a while now, a week off the top of my head, so it's possible that I'll have some some sense to write, fingers crossed ;))

The day has been saved

The day has been saved after all!!! I arrived in Lerwick and did what I had to do, jumped on the bus to Brae and got a lift home from there, brilliant. It's amazing how generous people can be ;))

Now that I'm home, I'll probably spend most of the day watching the birds feeding themselves. They still don't eat summer food as quickly as winter food. The winter food must have been smaller and therefore easier to get at. Doesn't matter though, they persevere and they win in the end.

Broken day

It's going to be a rather broken day today, I'm afraid. I have to pop into town, Lerwick, here in Shetland, to deliver a letter and unfortunately that will cost me the day. There is a bus into town that leaves here at 10.00am and there is a bus that will get me home for 17.00 and that is the best on offer on a Thursday.

I'm hoping that I can make use of my time in town. As it is a good morning here, hopefully it will be at least the same when I get there. If it is, then once business is dealt with, I fancy a wander down to the harbour and a good look around to see which boats are in. There may be none, they might well be out fishing but I'll find out when I'm there.

I hope that the sun stays out too.

Broken-hearted

I'm absolutely broken-hearted today. I have to go into town instead of looking after my trees. I'll get home at five though and it's guaranteed that dinner will be late.

They haven't been watered yet so they'll get a little before the bus comes and when I get back they will be first on the list. Dinner? About mid-night!!! :))

Remember those trees

Remember those trees that I was talking about yesterday?

Well, they didn't turn up on the last bus yesterday. Probably had a bit of a night on the town before they turn themselves in tonight. Olaf, of Plantiecrub has dug the the Austrian Pines up and is dropping them off at the bus station today so that Jenny, the best bus driver in Shetland, can ensure that she gets them here tonight at the back of six. I'll have an early dinner myself so that I'm ready for them.

There is, of course, possibly a bit of a problem ahead. It's pouring down with snow at the moment, with the sun just peeking in now and again, so I'm a bit unsure just what to do with my mini-forest. I'll check up on that before I know how to get it wrong. They'll all tell you that it's guaranteed, I never get it right.

Ach, I shouldn't get so paranoid, if it's still snowing when they get here then I can always put them in a pot with some peat and let them settle until the Autumn comes in.

Then I'll have no excuse not to plant them in the snow.

Neolithic man cut down all the trees

If there are any tree-freaks out there, I'm hoping that there will be ten Austrian Pines on the bus tonight - and before you get it wrong, no, they are not visiting and that's not why I've got the dinner on :))

I have a big thing about the fact that here in Shetland, neolithic man cut down all the trees to build houses (That's where D.I.T.T got it from ;) ) and to burn for heating and cooking, unfortunately using them all up. That's not all bad, if they hadn't then where would we have got the peat from but it has meant that Shetland has not had a reasonable amount of trees for a long, long time.

Because of this, I like to get a tree or two on the go. It's always obvious to me that, because of where I live, a few trees around help to break up the wind that comes in from the sea or the ocean.

So, with any luck, they will have been put on the bus for me and will arrive at the back of six.

Then I'll spend ages getting them planted and eventually I'll be living in the middle of a forest. 

Was it "So little time, so much to do!!!" or the other way around???

Lately, I’ve been teaching myself to knit and it’s been quite rewarding. I suppose that I’ve done it for two reasons – firstly, to keep myself busy. I think that we all have the problem when there is nothing to do. Well, the knitting should help to cure that, even if it’s just finishing a pair of socks. Oh, and I’ve got two left feet so I’ll only knit left foot socks and secondly so that I can have exactly what I want. But it will give me a lot to do. You know what it's like, an idea comes into your head and off you go, looking for whatever it was that you thought about and you walk for miles and miles, finding yourself halfway across Europe by the middle of the afternoon. You haven't seen what you're looking for and there is no bus home. Well, this should be it sorted.

 I’ve also decided to learn a second language. With the chances of Scotland going it alone being quite good and that giving Shetland a better chance of doing the same, I’ve decided to teach myself to speak Norwegian. It shouldn’t be that hard as Shetlandic has a lot of similarity with Norwegian. The spelling is immensely different I think but I’ll find out as I go. Any success at either and I'll be full of it, spewing out all the guff incessantly no doubt.

If you get bored, just put the kettle on, I take two sugars, by the way.

Travelling on a Wednesday

On a Wednesday the bus service here in Hillswick is poor. There is a bus to town, leaving at seven thirty in the morning and a bus leaving town at ten past five in the afternoon to bring you home. Not up to much is it?

Today I had an appointment with the dentist at quarter to ten in the morning so got the bus to town which was fine. I got there at nine o'clock and wasted a bit of time before heading to the administrator of pain on Burgh Road, Lerwick. I was only in for a few minutes and when I came out I went to the Harbour Cafe for breakfast before I caught the bus up to Brae. Before the ten past five bus on a Wednesday it's the best available, that's why I took it.

Walking out of Brae with my thumb out I got a lift all the way home which was great. I couldn't believe that I got a lift so quickly and the chap took me almost to my door, thanks mate, I owe you one.

But you have to admit that it's a pretty poor service here in Hillswick where, all too often you have to do what I did, namely, get the thumb out. I have on a number of occasions had to walk the whole way.

Our MP, Alistair Carmichael has contacted the Shetland council to see what can be done about this. We'll wait and see what the council has to say about it.

Don't stay quiet about it though. The more people that stand up and shout, the quicker there will be action by the council that will benefit us - so remember and shout out loud!!!

What sort of day was today?

A good day or a bad day - well, there's a bit to consider, I suppose.

For a start I slept in and that's not the best way to kick it off, now is it? And it's Wednesday and that means that there ain't too many choices, are there?

Let me explain. You have the choice of getting the bus to town on a Wednesday at half past seven (I've possibly mentioned this before) in the morning and travel on the bus home, leaving town at ten past five in the early evening, or finding some other means of transport and if like me, you suffer from epilepsy (oh, I've mentioned it before as well) then you don't drive so you need to find other means to travel.

Well you can walk, it would keep you fit and if you timed it right then you would only (ONLY!!!) have to walk eleven or so miles to Brae where you could get the necessary bus. At least it's not Sunday though, no bus coming or going that day. Perhaps they all spend the day praying for their souls. They possibly need to (Please ignore that one Jenny.).

Or you could thumb a lift, that was what I did today and a lady that stays in the village picked me up after I'd walked four or five hundred yards. Brilliant, that was that problem sorted. Thumbs up, thank you!!!

I had come into town for a hospital appointment that would last about fifteen minutes so I went to the Harbour Cafe for breakfast and it was great, always is, my stomachs idea of paradise. Then it was off to the library, where I could go online and spend some time wastefully but happily before getting it done (I won't describe any) and then having plenty time to do the next bit of necessity - the shopping.

And this is where I got angry - very, very angry indeed.

I wandered down to my favourite, absolutely supermarket - the Co-op, walked through selecting my grub and then heading to the checkout. It was all added up as I put it in the bag and the girl gave me the total. I pulled out my wallet and handed her my card, only to be told "No, sorry". I was a bit put out because I had checked it this morning. I suggested she put it through again and she did - and came back with the same. I needed the food so I wasn't in a position to say "Stuff it" and walk away so I paid cash for as much as possible and left the rest behind.

I was a bit put out so, as I walked out the door with only half the food required, I decided to pop down to the bank and find out just what the score was. The first question to the teller in the bank was to tell me how much was available from that account. His immediate response to that, after checking, was two thousand, two....you get the idea, plenty to pay for a weeks food so what had happened there? Had the Co-op made a mistake or was there a problem with their BT link to the British mainland where the Royal Bank of Scotland would deal with all the payment malarky, or was it the Bank themselves?

Whoever made the mistake made a big one. There are now people in the shop who saw what happened, what do they think? I have to go back to "a shop" tomorrow, probably a different one and get the food that I tried to buy today.

I will contact each and everyone of them and complain profusely, making a real nuisance of myself and I'll stand proud for doing it too. If we don't then what will happen? That's right - nothing!!!

Then I got the bus home. Thank God for that!!!

The out-of-season bus.

The recent problem with the bus home, out of season, seems to be resolved for the time being. I contacted Northmavine Community Council and explained the problem that I had discovered and immediately they contacted Johnson's, the bus company that cover the route who replied saying that the drivers would be instructed to pick me up in the future.

This means that next time I go down to see the lady of my life I can come back, in season or out, on the bus, without the need to spend twenty quid on a taxi. It also means that if I wish, I can go down to Brae first thing and go to the Co-op for my messages, or visit the swimming pool for a quick swim, or anything else for that matter and then get the bus home for ten o'clock. Perfect, what more can I ask for, or, more to the point, expect to happen so quickly!!!

Anyone fancy a swim tomorrow morning?

I got home - eventually!!!

This Christmas and New Year was wonderful. I spent it four hundred miles south of home with the lady that I love and the biggest wee man that I've ever known. Nine years old and a great guy. I hope everyone had at least half as much pleasure and celebration as me, this time around it was brilliant.

There was a problem though - getting home. I got the boat up from Aberdeen, Scotland to Lerwick, Shetland overnight, landing at seven-thirty in the morning and I caught the first bus up to Brae, which is about twelve miles from home. There is a bus that leaves the garage in Brae at about twenty to ten and goes up to Hillswick where I live and that was the bus that I stood waiting for.

Up to this point the journey had been fine. I slept well on board the boat, the first bus was on time to pick me up, all went well until the nine-forty bus came along. It drove up towards the bus stop, the driver waved - and carried on driving. The next bus is in the late afternoon so I invested twenty pounds, angrily, on a taxi.

After calming down I set out to find out why this had happened. I contacted the council who informed me that there is a summer-only service, from Brae to Hillswick at that time in the morning but it is only a summer service.

That, it turns out is true but it is also true that throughout the year there is a ten o'clock bus leaving Hillswick every morning bar Wednesday. To provide that service the bus leaves the garage in Brae at - yes, you've guessed it - twenty minutes to ten.

Surely this is a bit silly. During the summer there is a superb service up to Hillswick, available to all and sundry but off-season the residents of Hillswick cannot go home in the morning, people who wish to visit friends or family cannot catch a bus to do so, even though the bus is making the same trip that it makes in the summer. People in Hillswick cannot pop down to shop, or visit for a short time and then catch the bus home an hour and a half later.

All because a bus that travels up five mornings of every week of every month of every year only picks up passengers in the summer.

It's a long walk - or twenty quid in the taxi!!!

Yesterday

Well, let's be honest, let's tell the truth, no messing - Yesterday I slept in. I didn't get to Uni because  I missed the bus because I was too lazy to get up early enough. The love of my life phoned at eight, the bus left at seven-thirty, oh well, I'll be in on Monday - If they can remember who I am by then.

The funny thing is the clocks in the house were all wrong. The alarm at the bed-side said quarter to seven and that time would have been ideal - but it was wrong. The alarm in the mobile phone had gone off at approximately ten to five, don't know why but I turned it off and went back to sleep and that was that, baw burst, ken.

On Monday, please give me a call, about half past six in the morning, the coffee's on me!!!