#i called the HSE guy like my supervisor asked ... and i can go to post ex or something for a few days

[ofcowardiceandkings]

hi im having A Day send me some willpower thanku

[robertmcangusgroup]

The Daily Thistle

The Daily Thistle – News From Scotland

Tuesday 28th March 2017

"Madainn Mhath” …Fellow Scot, I hope the day brings joy to you…. Well it’s my day to be on the radio with the inimitable Giles Brown on his Viewpoint program on TRE (Talk Radio Europe), the difference is that today a Turkish TV station is filming the program, so the t-shirt and jeans has to be replaced by a jacket and tie…. TRE is heard all around the world thanks to the advent of the internet and is in fact the largest English language station in Spain….

RBS TO CLOSE ANOTHER 30 SCOTTISH BRANCHES…. RBS, which has already closed dozens of branches in Scotland since 2015, said 176 full-time posts would be affected. It added that the move was in response to the growing popularity of mobile and online banking. The union Unite reacted angrily, claiming RBS was "turning its back on the communities that have been the foundation of their business for generations". In addition to the Scottish closures, RBS announced it would shut 128 NatWest branches. A total of about 770 staff across the UK will be affected but hundreds of workers will be redeployed, the bank said. An RBS spokesman said many more customers now preferred using mobile and online services over traditional branch counters. He said: "We interact with our customers over 20 times more through digital channels than physical ones. "Half of our personal customers in Scotland are mobile banking users - grown from 500,000 to 900,000 since 2014. "As customers change the way they bank with us, we must change the way we serve them. "The role of the branch is fast moving to a centre for advice, away from basic transactions. "While the branch will still be a core part of our offering to customers, inevitably some branches will have to close."

PIPER'S CELEBRITY FRIENDS CALL THE TUNE ON NEW SINGLE….The Libertines Peter Doherty is one of those appearing on Craig Weir's new song. An Angus primary school teacher has enlisted the help of a host of celebrity friends to perform on his debut single. Hollywood actor Alan Cumming, Queen guitarist Brian May and The Libertines Peter Doherty are among those featured on Craig Weir's The Highland Road. The celebrities texted or emailed their one-line contributions to the 23-year-old musician from Carnoustie. Craig has previously performed for Arnold Schwarzenegger in Edinburgh. The new song begins and ends with a poem written by the piper and his friend Chris Brown, which was inspired by a trip they took along the road of the same name in Canada last year. The 21 guest voices on the Craig Weir and the Cabalistic Cavalry song also include former AC/DC bassist Mark Evans, television presenter Lorraine Kelly, and Kyle Falconer from Dundee band The View. Craig Weir and the Cabalistic Cavalry's song was inspired by a road trip in Canada. Craig said: "It had been in the back of my mind for a while to have different people contributing their voices to this poem. "I split it into different parts and got in touch first of all with the core people I wanted to be involved in it "That was really people I'd had the opportunity to perform with, like Brian May from Queen, Alan Cumming, Kyle from the View, and I really wanted to get Peter (Doherty) involved in it." Craig's previous celebrity encounters include six dates playing with the Bay City Rollers and performing We Will Rock You with Queen at the SSE Hydro.

OFFSHORE WORKERS EXPOSED TO RADIATION…. An offshore worker has called for action after he and colleagues were exposed to radiation, BBC Scotland can reveal. The incident happened on EnQuests's Thistle platform, off Shetland, last December. Rigging supervisor Steve Innes, from Sunderland, told the BBC he and fellow Wood Group contractors discovered they had been exposed to alpha radiation. EnQuest said "additional precautionary steps" had since been taken. Wood Group said it was committed to employee safety. Mr Innes - who said he has struggled to find more work since raising concerns - said the workers now faced cancer fears, and blood tests were ongoing. He said EnQuest had failed in its duty of care. The men were working at Thistle, 125 miles (201 km) north east of Shetland, doing shutdown work with pipe equipment. Mr Innes claimed they were told there was a problem two thirds of the way through the trip. He claimed a health and safety manager told them a reading had been taken the night before and all the work was stopped. He said: "We had all been working on it without the proper PPE (personal protective equipment), because they had assumed it was clear. "At first we were all in shock. "We have been exposed to radioactive material for hours at a time." A spokesperson for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said: "HSE has been made aware of this incident. "However, it was not reportable under the present RIDDOR system (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) and no staff raised the issue with HSE separately so no investigation has been carried out."

THATCHED ROOF CONFERENCE TO BE HELD AT CULLODEN BATTLEFIELD…. Experts on traditional thatched roofs are to gather for a one-day conference at Culloden Battlefield visitor centre later this year. The event - Scotland's Thatched Buildings: Developing a plan for the future - will follow up on a survey of Scotland's thatched buildings last year. Scotland has about 305 thatched roof buildings. May's event will be held close to the historic Leanach Cottage. Other thatched roof properties in Scotland include Balevullin Cottage on Tiree and several in Swanston Village, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Historic Environment Scotland has organised the event in collaboration with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (Scotland), the National Trust for Scotland and the Scottish Vernacular Buildings Working Group. Owners and managers of thatched roof properties and craftspeople have been invited to attend. Last year, the roof of a traditional blackhouse on the Isle of Lewis was given a new thatch. The property at Arnol was built in the 1880s on a site that had been occupied by people for more than 2,000 years. Blackhouses were built in the area by generations of crofting families until 1900. The home that survives today was still inhabited up to 1966.

LEGO-STYLE FLATS BUILT FROM SHIPPING CONTAINERS…. A new student housing block in Glasgow is using shipping containers stacked on top of each other in a method of construction described as similar to Lego. Not far from the River Clyde in the west end of Glasgow, an old industrial site, which has sat empty for years, is getting a new lease of life. Over the past two months 500 shipping containers arrived and the huge metal boxes were stacked on top of each other seven storeys high to provide accommodation for the city's ever-growing student population. The big blue steel containers were made in a factory in China and they are fitted out to the "specification" required by the construction company. A 500-tonne crane lifted the boxes into place The construction took less than 10 weeks The boxes were transported by sea to the port of Southampton before making their journey by road to Glasgow. Marc Carter, the managing director of True Student, which is responsible for the flats, says: "A very large 500-tonne mobile crane was used to load them on to the site much like you or I would have loaded Lego when we were small. "It is a little more technical than that but it is essentially a Lego system of construction and we can go up to 15 storeys tall." When the building is finished you will not be able to tell its method of construction, Mr Carter says The pace of the building project has been remarkable. In less than 10 weeks, the empty site has been transformed into housing for 500 students. And as part of the grand design, there will be a karaoke room, a cinema and a helter-skelter slide between floors. Mr Carter says: "The current student population are more discerning than we might have been at their age. So the build finish is a high specification." The Lego block construction method brings advantages of speed and efficiency but the cost benefits can disappear if the builder tries to do anything too fancy with stacking arrangements.

On that note I will say that I hope you have enjoyed the news from Scotland today,

Our look at Scotland today is of the Highlands..and who could ask for more.....

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Tuesday 28th March 2017 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in ….. Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus