YouTube Train Videos: Thurso to Inverness

A few months ago, I accidentally discovered that there are people who will ride the trains in Scotland, point a camcorder out the window, and then post the entire thing on YouTube... Sometimes years later. The first one I discovered is included below, and was recorded in April of 2002 - that's actually almost three years before YouTube was even founded.


One of my favorite memories of all time took place on the 10th of September, 2004. I'd just completed my first visit to Orkney, and was en route to Glasgow to fetch a resupply package that I'd sent myself at the office of a professional contact. I sat on the left side of the train, looking rearward, and spent part of the journey reading Nineteen Eighty-Four. I saw a stag out the window. (Not the one in the linked post, obviously.) In 2013, I wanted to take the train back down from Thurso to Inverness, but owing to time constraints (generally speaking, the imperative to get to Aberdeen in a timely manner), I always ended up taking the bus from Scrabster to Inverness, then charging from the bus depot to the train station to make my rail connection with mere seconds to spare. I went the other direction twice: once when I commenced Operation Bold Brigand, and again after graduation. In the latter case, inclement weather prevented the MV Hamnavoe from making its scheduled trip from Scrabster to Stromness, so I enjoyed the opportunity to get a great night of sleep and a lovely Scottish breakfast at the Weigh Inn - thanks entirely to the kind coordination of the train's refreshment cart sales lass and her taxi driver boyfriend.

Ahhhhhhh... Memories...

Shetland Croft for Sale

My old buddy Tom Thumb has suggested that I retire with my lovely bride to Fethaland, a (presently) uninhabited Shetland isle. We traded a couple of jokes on the topic. A good chuckle was had by all.

I could be convinced to visit Shetland again. Under virtually any realistic circumstances, actually living there would be a pretty tough sell.

Debacle in Shetland: More Chaos Down South

I've been doing a pretty solid job at posting on this blog, so let's keep it rolling!

In 2013, I posted about chaos at the south end of Shetland. This morning, the BBC reports that pilot error was to blame for a January incident at Sumburgh Airport in which a test pilot overshot the runway. The BBC neglects to mention whether the intersection of the runway with the road played any role in the incident.

The Shetland Ponies may comment on this... If I can get my PowerPoint file opened up at some point soon. I'm getting behind. Oof!

Brexit and Scottish Fishing

A few years ago, the BBC's Coast program did a segment on fishing in Northeast Scotland. The presenter interviewed several Scottish fishermen about the impact of European Union fishing regulations upon their livelihood. Yesterday, NPR ran a segment on Brexit's impact on French fishing, eighty percent of which takes place in British waters. Some casual Googling yielded three interesting articles.

Scottish fishermen given Brexit assurance

Scottish government says UK is right to leave fishing deal

Brexit: Gove confirms foreign access to UK fishing grounds

I'll be honest: watching from afar, I'm torn on Brexit. I listen to Around Orkney most mornings, and there's been no shortage of news reports about how difficult Scottish farmers have it under the European Union. The fishing example is another big example of this: Scottish fishermen have seen their livelihood threatened by EU fishing restrictions, but we're supposed to be concerned about the livelihood of French fishermen and their French customers who may no longer be able to take eighty percent of their daily haul out of British waters. And the European Union might impose harsh tariffs on British industry as a result. A few weeks ago, I also saw an article about the European Union banning loud and/or inefficient vacuum cleaners. Recognizing that there are very real practical concerns about how Brexit will impact both United Kingdom subjects and Europeans, it seems like these concerns stem in large part from proverbial "too big to fail" root causes.

I dunno. I realize this post really isn't very coherent, but that's how confusing this Brexit business is. For all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, it seems like stuff like this fishing issue would have made it difficult for some folks not to vote "yes" on this thing. Then again, the unknowns make it pretty easy to sympathize with those who thought that the nebulous drawbacks outweighed the potential benefits of a "yes" vote.

RAF Saxa Vord to Reopen

BBC Radio Shetland and Shetland News report that the British Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the Royal Air Force radar station at Saxa Vord shall be reopened. Readers of this blog may remember that I saw RAF Saxa Vord during my ill-fated geocaching adventure in the adjacent Hermaness wildlife refuge. As terrifying as that particular debacle ought to have been, I enjoy fond memories of looking across the little harbor to see the disused radar station.

I've lost track of the number of times that British interceptors have been scrambled to "escort" Russian military aircraft in the last eight or nine years. RAF Saxa Vord was disestablished in 2006, and the MoD cancelled the procurement of the BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft in 2010. It stands to reason that with Russia flying sporadic bomber patrols adjacent to British air space, and generally attempting a post-Cold War strategic resurgence, the current coalition government's decision to reverse the Blair era decision to close RAF Saxa Vord makes strategic and economic sense.

I can't guarantee that the Shetland Ponies will refrain from comment on this topic in the coming days.

A Scottish Twist on an American Wedding

Let me start this post by saying that I feel awful for having neglected this blog for the last couple of years. There's plenty of stuff of Scottish interest that could have been posted, and going forward, I hope to pick up the pace. First up: a post about a very special wedding. Ours!

In nine of the more than four hundred posts I've published to this blog, I've mentioned someone named "Lady Jaye". She and I "met" digitally before I left for Scotland, but didn't meet in person until I came home. In 2016, my dear friends at BBC Radio Orkney helped me to propose to her using their Friday request program(me) and a classic Proclaimers song that was featured in the phenomenal 2013 film Sunshine on Leith...


... and she said "Yes!", and we got married in her hometown in August. The crew at Radio Orkney did a follow-up interview with us the morning after the wedding, which ended up being retooled as a BBC Radio Scotland segment and making the BBC News website. In the words of Ron Burgundy, "That escalated quickly!" You can listen to that radio segment here, and check out the article here. Someone at the University of Aberdeen obviously caught wind of it, because we were also congratulated via the University's alumni relations Facebook page.

We're hoping to get to Scotland at some point in the foreseeable future. In the mean time, we're pretty thrilled to have added a bit of Scottish flair to our otherwise American wedding.