Hindsight

[gray_marian]

Having lived in cities, suburbs,villages and remote areas in the UK and beyond I was astounded to read of the whinging few regarding the severe weather on the peninsula.......Why based on where they live were they not prepared?
For some of the local shops charging extra, so be it, at least they were open and providing a service,when others were not.
Re frozen food being wasted......cook it and refreeze or give some to neighbours or feed your pets or the squirrels, or birds, foxes etc.
As for compensation from the energy companies, good luck on that, perhaps any funding returned could be utilized for future reference towards establishing a community service to the elderly and infirm living in outlying area's when needed in the winters to come, if it doesn't exist already. Does the local council not provide anything on this front?
To end on a lighter note, my family remembers with great mirth the first time we were snowed in. Sitting 13 hundred ft above sea level. We woke up to 8ft feet high snowdrifts surrounding the house. On the 7th morning, my husband and a neighbour ventured out with sledges to the nearest village shop six miles away. When he returned in the dark minus the sledge! rather worse for wear due to thankful neighbours in providing a warm libation in lieu of fresh food supplied. This at every home coming up the hill to me at the top. My share of the booty was six eggs in one pocket and half a loaf in the other. When I asked what happened to the other half he responded he couldn't fit it in. Motto........Be prepared.

[Kintyre Candles]

I am assuming grey_marion does not live in Kintyre.
I have heard no...or certainly very little whinging. What I have seen & heard has been a fantastic community rallying to help those less fortunate in any way they could. Everyone was cold, hungry, & tired, not to mention inconvenienced but everyone did their best in very difficult circumstances & continually expressed their gratitude to the SSE engineers who were working very hard to get things back to normal. If by the end of 4 or 5 days being cold a few ppl had a bit of a grouch so what?
Perhaps Grey_marion would like to experience first hand what the people of Kintyre have come through in a cheerful manner overall, most thinking of others rather than themselves?
Well done Kintyre....if I have to be in a crisis situation ever again you are the folks I want to be with.

[Govangirl]

Kintyre Candles, a great post, well done. I don't live in Kintyre either but your version is certainly what I have experienced from TV, Facebook, friends' messages, etc. I'm astonished at the opening post on here!

[Sheik Yir Erse]

Why based on where they live were they not prepared?

It's not April 1st until Monday

I've read (and posted!) a fair amount of rubbish on the Forum over the years, but that statement is probably the most bizarre post I've seen

How many events that have never happened in your lifetime are you currently prepared for?

You prepare for what you expect, or is reasonable to expect. Most people in Kintyre will be prepared for the odd night or day without electricity - however when you reach the 3rd-4th day it's an entirely different ball game - let alone the 5th and 6th days.

Excuse the extreme analogy, but it's almost like someone saying - I can't believe the World Trade Centres weren't better prepared against attacks from hijacked Boeing 767's!

Hindsight is indeed a wonderful thing, and hopefully hindsight will make you reconsider the appropriateness of your post.

[gray_marian]

Re the above, replies to my earlier post this afternoon.



Re above, I would like to reply that perhaps if Kintyre candles had read my post beyond the first few lines she would have read that I have experianced what the people of Kintyre were subjected to weather wise last week. Therefore
in a valid position to comment. I stated the 'whinging few' and not the entire community , nor did I mention anything
on the SSE Engineers sent to repair the damage caused.........no answer to my questions, I note.

As to Govengirl, you are of course entitled to your opinion.........As am I, no questions answered by you either. Even though you profess to have the media coverage of Kintyre at your fingertips.

In answer to S/Y/A, I find your response incredable, your analogy of comparing my 'whinging few' to the deaths of over three thousand, two hundred people in a terrorist attack I find deplorable, and completely out of context to the subject matter.

[four eyes]

i do love this site,always a difference of opinion eh!. I have never seen the like in Kintyre before,and im getting on a bit. Spot on sheiky. The road get shut at the rest at times but at Clachan!Na it was not normal hen, and my rellys in the toon and about did not mention anything above the usual panic buying. Whingers in the wee Toon surely not!Cant believe that for a moment.

[Govangirl]

no answer to my questions, I note.

no questions answered by you either.

If by 'questions' you mean

I was astounded to read of the whinging few regarding the severe weather on the peninsula.......Why based on where they live were they not prepared?

I think you have had your answer! Sometimes there are things for which you just cannot be prepared!!!!!!!!

[Sheik Yir Erse]

The damage and subsequent repairs to the steel transmission towers has been unprecedented on the GB transmission network. It is recognised that no other generation mobilisation has been done at this scale before, connecting the equivalent of two small power stations.

un·prec·e·dent·ed

Adj. Never done or known before



Del·u·sion·al Dis·ord·er

Def: A person with delusional disorder is out of touch with reality concerning a particular issue or closely related issues and has delusions—fixed, false beliefs in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence.

[Shona]

'Why based on where they live were they not prepared?'

Hmmm...

Kintyre has a mild climate because it's warmed by the North Atlantic Drift - that's why there are palm trees in the Toon. Throughout the peninsula, half-hardy plants grow which don't in other parts of Scotland with a more harsh climate. If you check out the blurb in Achamore House (OK - it's Gigha, but not a million miles away), it reads: 'Frosts are rare and snow ever rarer.' That is why they Achamore gardens has so many tender rhododendrons and other plants. Many of the species that thrive are more likely to be found in Cornwall than in Scotland.

The weather was extreme. My 80-year-old uncle at Glenbarr said he had never seen the like of it. We couldn't get through to him for days and it was a huge worry.

Even when I was wee in the 1960s, the family hoose had no electricity and no inside loo. Our (freezing) water came from a spring in the hill above the hoose - a pipe brought the water down to an outside tap.

Granny always kept a few things in the press 'for winter' - pearl barley, lentils, split peas and the like to make a broth over the fire should there be 'problems'.

The A38 was a wee, winding road back them and more prone to getting cut-off than today. But it was gales and the resulting waves lashing the road that caused the problems. Snow could block the Rest and Be Thankful while Kintyre was left untouched.

The hoose was more basic when my uncle and his brothers were wee - it was a basic and tough life. But as he says: He had never seen the like of it.

It was a rare and extreme weather event.