Hi Pat and Hi to Grumpy too My Guess is that 'G' lives in or around Stromness and whoever he or she may be takes life there very seriously and has a VERY good point on a lot of the issues raised and I agree with many of them!!!!!! Janis ----- Original Message ----- From: "Grumpy" <grumpy_in_orkney@btinternet.com> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 6:30 PM Subject: [<orcadia>] Re: [] seasons greetings! Good evening Pat, Who am I ?, a very good question and one that I often ask myself. I used to be the X that appeared on the Ballot Paper when voting in what I hoped would be a councilor that would inject some common sense at Council Meetings when it came to making major decisions that would directly effect the good people of Orkney. Alas over the years I soon discovered that being an X was a futile existence, so I gave up that identity. I then thought about becoming a farmer and living off the fat of the land, and should times ever get hard, I could run to the council and shout "I am a poor farmer", the council would then find limitless funds to help me out. Unfortunately when I approached the HIE to start me off, there was no funds available, seems as if all the spare cash had been spent to fund long established jewellery firms trips abroad, and £25,000 for marketing, not forgetting the thousands handed out to Salmon Firms. It would appear that the excellent "Dounby Stores" were also given the cold shoulder by the HIE, but every cloud has a silver lining and "Dounby Stores" have more than proved their worth by becoming "Retailer of the Year", thus keeping a vital rural shop in existence. For the time being I am now the voice of the forgotten masses, unfortunately a voice that is lost in the wind, due no doubt to the lack of trees that are very beneficial in reducing wind speed! I wish there could be light at the end of the tunnel, but having just returned from Victoria Street clothed in darkness it would appear that someone has forgotten to switch on the coloured bulbs hanging from the wires Bah humbug. Take care Grumpy -------Original Message------- From: ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com Date: 21 November 2003 17:26:39 To: ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [] seasons greetings! Dear Grumpy, What a very nice note you sent...... Your note describes you to a tee. <grin> Who are you? <g> Pat ----- Original Message ----- From: "Grumpy" <grumpy_in_orkney@btinternet.com> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 8:02 PM Subject: [<orcadia>] seasons greetings! > Bah humbug, the festive season looms once more, another year of coloured > lights bulbs hung on wires from the Head of the Pier to the end of Victoria > Street. I keep hoping that one year the OIC will use a bit more imagination > when it comes decorating the town. Perhaps a visit to Finstown would give > the council a bit of an idea what can be archived. I remember many moons ago > visiting Glasgow as a child and being mesmerised by the dazzling display of > Xmas lights. Admittedly Kirkwall is no Glasgow but for a few thousand pounds > investment a better display could be made. Still I suppose I should not > grumble to much and be thankful for the multi million pound new pier out at > Hatston!!!!! > > Down south many towns decorate the trees with lights, but then again we are > led to believe that trees can't grow in Orkney, perhaps the main reason for > trees not growing is that they need someone to plant them in the first > place! It's said that conifers don't grow because our winters are to wet, so > I suppose the conifers that are growing down the Redland Road in Finstown > and at other localities around Orkney must be a mirage. The climate and > conditions in Orkney are said to be similar to that of the South Island of > New Zealand, in fact some of Orkney's widely planted shrubs are New Zealand > natives and thrive very well. > > Farmers south divide many of their field with mixed native trees/shrubs, not > only does this provide shelter for crops and farm animals it's a haven for > wildlife. If Orkney farmers were to use a small percentage of the thousands > of pound handouts from the goverment and spend it on planting mixed hedging > then the Orkney landscape could be made to look more attractive not to > mention the effect it would have on reducing the wind speed. > > Take care. > > Grumpy > > > > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > > > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com