This is one of the things that pisses me off about the world.
A fucking observatory has been empty for two years because the council put the rent up to a point where the Astronomical society couldn't afford it. So instead of getting a little bit of money they have got no money and had to pay for the upkeep for 2 years.

Stupid council cunts, *grumble grumble* pencil pushing *grumble*
(PsychoChomp, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 13:49, 3 replies, latest was 14 years ago)

This^
I'd still live in it though
( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 13:50, Reply)

Thing is, they won't let anyone buy it and live in it.
So they'll have to carry on paying the upkeep and upping the theoretical rent to compensate and never get any tenants becuase of it.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 13:52, Reply)

There is a big case for councils having strict guidelines for what they can and can't do,
but there has to be someone in the council somewhere who goes. "hey, this observatory shouldn't really be treated the same way as a swimming pool or library"
(PsychoChomp, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:00, Reply)

At the moment, Swimming Pools and Libraries shouldn't be being treated like Swimming Pools and Libraries.
Hang on, I'm going to fetch my lefty rant book.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:04, Reply)

I don't think they should be allowed to sell it as a private residence
absolutely. But they should be smart enough to realise keeping it occupied at a loss is still less of a loss than it being unoccupied.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:04, Reply)

I'm afraid no council in the Western world
can compete with Edinburgh on the fuckwitted moneywasting scale. See: Trams.

And the bastards gave me a parking ticket in my own street on Friday. Cunts of the highest order.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 13:51, Reply)

What's wrong with Trams?

( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Mon 9 Jan 2012, 13:56, Reply)

Nothing
if arranged and administered properly.

Edinburgh cannot manage this.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 13:58, Reply)

Just wait till England lets them have independence.
That'll be your free prescriptions, eye tests and social care out of the window.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 9 Jan 2012, 13:59, Reply)

Won't happen
Scotland mostly doesn't want independence.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:00, Reply)

That's why the SNp never actually have a referendum, and were throwing their toys out of the pram this morning
whne the real government tried to force their hand
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:01, Reply)

I have a slight worry
in that I can't decide whether I hate the cunt Salmond or the cunt Cameron more.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:03, Reply)

That is like being asked which testicle to have bitten off

( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:03, Reply)

I think Nicola Sturgeon is worse.
Scotland - led by two fish. Straight down Shit Creek.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:04, Reply)

technically she's my wife's boss. Which is nice.

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:05, Reply)

Lovely.
One of my friends lives in Airdrie, and was delighted when Nicola Sturgeon took John Smith's seat. In the strictly sarcastic sense, obviously.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:07, Reply)

She's come and talked shit at me
at the last couple of "science in the parliment" events. I tried not to belm or stab her.

Scotland's saving grace is that we had Ann Glover as the Science Adviser and she's fucking ace. But now the EU have nicked her so I might as well go back to my original plan and fuck off to Oz.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:14, Reply)

Cheers.

( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:15, Reply)

Oh, hang on, is he there?
Fuck, New Zealand it is then.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:16, Reply)

They are extremely self righteous as a party

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:09, Reply)

I was watching a bit about that on the local news when I was there in the summer.
And it was in the local paper. And I overheard two people in the hotel talking about it. And the woman who does the Camera Obscura show had a bitch about it.

I didn't really get what was going on mind, beyond 'colossal waste of tax payers money'.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:05, Reply)

colossal waste of taxpayers money
failing to actually provide the transport to Leith which was the whole point, so far behind schedule and overbudget it's actually going backwards and monumental disruption to all other transport in Edinburgh for 7 years. All in all, a stupendous public-sector result, really.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:11, Reply)

Wasn't it going to be 3 lines and now it's like half of one of the originally proposed lines.
Fucking Alistair Darling approved this, the cunt.
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:20, Reply)

pretty much, yeah.
but the really frustrating thing is that the only line they are going to build entirely duplicates the route of the Airbus, which is an extremely efficient way of getting to the airport already and the tram will not be any quicker. An excellent use of just shy of a billion quid. even london is going to manage most of an olympics for that and we're getting 8 miles of pointless track.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:23, Reply)

That will likely be the most expensive piece of track in the world.

(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:24, Reply)

That actually made me laugh.
I know it's not funny, really, especially if you live there I'm sure, but it's just so monumentally ridiculous that I laughed.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:28, Reply)

In this case, everything, absolutely everything

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:00, Reply)

this man speaks the truth.

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:00, Reply)

fancy a lift in my helicopter?
i live just off prince street
(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:03, Reply)

Is that Princess Avenue?

( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:04, Reply)

no its right next to the free church

(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:05, Reply)

Free church?
You mean St Johns?
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:07, Reply)

google maps says free church of scotland
i don't fucken know, its not like i live there or anythin
(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:15, Reply)

scottish episcopal
so, yeah, St Johns.

I realise this, but I thought you might feel less crushingly alone if I carried on the conversation pretence.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:18, Reply)

in my brain we're having a hug now

(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:19, Reply)

h t
(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:46, Reply)

It's Princes Street.

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:05, Reply)

yeah told you i'm no good at typing

(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:05, Reply)

If I'd known this I could have bought you a pint at New Years.
Maybe I did, who knows
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:05, Reply)

we could be illegitmate lovers and you would never even know

(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:16, Reply)

That was you?
I thought you'd be shorter somehow and less Jamaican.
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:32, Reply)

yah mon

(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:37, Reply)

Were you displaying your resident permit?

( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:07, Reply)

yep.
I was parked half in and half out of a bay because there's a portacabin been left in the bays on one side. My own fault, I'd forgotten it wasn't quite 5pm when I'd got home cos I'd left work early.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:09, Reply)

With my council, they occasionally run out of permits.
Their fault. They don't put an announcement on the website telling you "Don't bother hauling your arse to the office for vouchers because we have none." nor do they offer you anything in lieu of a permit. They just say "You can't park in your street until you have a voucher/permit, and we've run out."
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:11, Reply)

oh, well played them.
really well played
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:12, Reply)

and public sector workers wonder why they are so disliked

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:14, Reply)

Public sector workers are mostly very pleasant and helpful
Public sector overall management and policies are the issue.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:15, Reply)

are you lying to impress women?
i'm pretty sure everything you just said was wrong
(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:18, Reply)

I'm pretty sure Naked Ape is a man
and I'm also pretty sure everything I said wasn't wrong. Unless you've somehow got some evidence of efficient, effective and streamlined public sector policies that the entire rest of the fucking world is unaware of?
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:20, Reply)

it was mostly the public sector workers being helpful and pleasant i was disagreeing with

(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:25, Reply)

ah, rightho
I suppose it depends on your experiences.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:33, Reply)

don't rolll over so easily, fight your corner man, you got no stones or summat?

(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:35, Reply)

arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics, Quents.
Even if you win you're still retarded.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:40, Reply)

no it isn't!
its the best fun a young single man can ever have on his own!
(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:42, Reply)

I'm a public sector worker and everyone thinks I'm pleasant and helpful.

(PsychoChomp, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:23, Reply)

is everyone there like you, or are you a minority?

(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:24, Reply)

I would say most people are very nice here.
The problems with the organisation is more based on the DfH or Ministers changing their minds after we sign 3 year contracts. That and NHS IT being honestly the shittest I have ever come across, I think there's a lot of IT upper managment who give millions of pounds worth of contracts to big IT firms on vague overpriced contracts and then quit only to join those big IT firms the next year.
I don't like to think that happens but the failures of NHS IT are so big I can't believe it's just incompitance.
(PsychoChomp, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:29, Reply)

wot?

(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:35, Reply)

It's all an elaborate metaphor for breasts Quentin

(PsychoChomp, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:38, Reply)

that'll do

(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:38, Reply)

Jobsworths.

(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:19, Reply)

The last time this happened, I kicked up a fuss, so the manager went off somewhere,
came back and said "Postal Services have some, so I'll see if I can borrow some from them and post some out to you.
I said, "Could I have them now please, seeing as they're in the basement, where you've just been?" and she said "No, they have to be posted out."

So there's a stock of them in the basement, but they're for posting, and as nobody's requesting them by post, they're just sat there, but the counter (the counter that has run out) cannot borrow any and hand them over. They have to ask if they can borrow some, and then send the customer on their way, with their vouchers behind them in the post. And that's only if they kick up a fuss. Most people are unaware of the vouchers Shangri-La in the basement.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:19, Reply)

Did they arrive in the post?

(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:21, Reply)

They did, actually.
They used to refuse to send them by post lest they fell into the wrong hands, so I was surprised to hear of 'Postal Services' existence.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:24, Reply)

Small mercies, I suppose.

(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 14:40, Reply)

i know the answer to this with regards to private landlords
they put the rent up on shops which close down. Surely some rent is better you might think. Not so, as by increasing the rent the landlord has increased the potential value of the property on paper, this allows them to borrow more money elsewhere for new projects.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 13:53, Reply)

Depends on the scheme innit
Landlords have to continue paying the business rates and utilities, plus a void is a void which won't help with bank covenants
( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 13:57, Reply)

SO SHUT UP YOU MASSIVE SPASTIC

( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 13:57, Reply)

I love it when you're all serious

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 13:57, Reply)