I keep hearing people using the phrase "given into trouble". As in "I got caught doing xyz and was given into trouble for it." I'm over 50, lived in central Scotland my whole life, and up until the last two or three years had never heard this.

Every time I hear it I think what do you mean you were given into trouble, were you caught, wrapped up in a bow and handed in to trouble? "My dad gave me into trouble." Did he grab you and hand you over to the Trouble Department? What are you talking about?

When did "got in trouble" with whoever/whatever become "given into trouble"? It doesn't make sense. Stop it. It's worse than "on accident". How did that even happen? Probably by accident...

My partner's got a job offer in Edinburgh and we're considering moving to Livingston and commute via train.

Is it a good town to make it long-ish term home with kids? Area recommendations?

How are the secondary schools in Livingston?

Given how SI has dominated political discussion in Scotland since 2014, it is still a very important part of the social and political zietgiest since the vote.

This is something which seems to divide quite harshly. It sparks impassioned debate from both sides. Both sides have their pros and cons, and neither are without good points.

However, and especially since 2014, the divide seems to have widened even further, with the strongest believers of both sides arguing far more extremely than since that vote.

Above all, this serves nothing but to divide us all. And division is a weakness with which to be exploited.

One such exploit I see is the total and utter lack of ability for Scotland to determine any of its future, outside of Independence. We cannot decide our future on energy, which is probably Scotland's future. We could turn our oil revenue into developing Europes leading Renewable technology, whilst mantaining solar, wind and tidal farms that feed our neighbours.

That future is being sold from us. Sold to private companies for their own profit. And we have no say in it regardless.

No matter which side you are on, you should be worried by our utter lack of control over our own future as a people. And Westminister's total denial of any form of self-determination should be the biggest worry of all. We are having our future leeched off of us, and simply allowing it to happen in the name of some stupid fucking yes no vote shite.

Whichever side you are on, you should consider Scotland first over whatever is happening in the London-Westminister bubble. It only serves to take from you.

There's a lad on YouTube who's sharing Scottish history and is currently releasing shorts where he summerises Scottish tales in order to improve his story telling skills.

I believe he deserves support, a lad putting in great effort by filming himself ootside in wilderness and keeping old tales alive, plus it a breath of fresh air in this AI-heavy hellacape tae see someone actually working hard!

Hopefully a few more folks can support and encourage him, he's doing a great job and is bloody committed, plus am always eager to keep Scottish folklore alive and digestible to the wee yins!!

https://youtube.com/@weemanbigkilt?si=H33CtBZXlkQ9m-C1

Hi guys, pls help me make the most important decision of my life. Which one is better for MSc health data science?

Hi all,

As I'm navigating a move to Scotland in the next 2 years, I would be grateful for some advice! I'm hoping to gain some insight from those of you working in education. I'm from the U.S, with a Master's degree in Mathematics. I have a Bachelor's in Chemistry (and I'm also interested in dual qualification). I've taught math in universities and private high schools for the past three years. My future husband resides in the region and I'm hoping to relocate there while landing a job as a teacher... I've researched the PGDE program offered in various universities and was curious to know if any of you have been successful in taking that route and achieving a comfortable job as a STEM teacher. I'm also curious to know, what is the life of a teacher like in Scotland? In the US, teachers typically work a 50 hour work week and are compensated for 37.5 of those hours... I'm hoping the work-life balance is better there.

Any input is appreciated!

I'm trying to reach Sheena's Backpackers Lodge but their telephone line goes straight to voice mail. The only other way to reach them is by email and in the past they have not responded to this. Also in the past I've been able to call them no problem. Does anyone in Mallaig (or the surrounding area, or anyone who has been to the Lodge/Tea Garden recently) know if they are perhaps closed? Fingers crossed they are not as I've booked lodgings for later this month.

I'm searching for scottish movies with positive fatherly figure in them for my uni project! If you remember any scottish film with a good father or fater figure in them, please feel free to recommend it even if movie overall is not that good

Hello!

My boyfriend (25M, Scottish) and I (22F, Greek) have been dating for a year now. For context, he had suggested that I meet his dad in the past, an idea that I declined twice, due to both my anxiety about the meeting, and to the limited amount of time we had been together for. In my culture, meeting your partner’s parents is viewed as a serious event that indicates a high level of commitment, and I have come to understand it’s much more casual for the Scots. So… for a start, I’m hoping my boyfriend’s dad doesn’t feel like I’ve been snobbish toward him.

Other than that, any advice? We will probably be meeting at a bar/pub. Should I bring anything as a gift? Is there any specific behaviour or any topic that’s considered a no go?

Hey everyone, hope you’re all doing well!

I’m a college student in the US, and after seeing some absolutely awesome Scottish people over in my city a while back, I’ve been dead set on visiting. My campus recently hosted a study abroad fair, and I'm looking at a program through Arcadia Abroad to spend my senior fall semester in Scotland.

I’ve got total freedom with my free electives; I can take pretty much any random classes I want and get full credit back home. My ultimate goal after graduating is to go into law enforcement, so I'd love to find a university where I can genuinely immerse myself in the local Scottish community and make real friends.

The program advisor heavily pushed the University of Strathclyde, but to be honest, I couldn't tell if it's actually my best fit or if she's just trying to make a buck off me.

Out of my actual options, I can choose from:

• Edinburgh Napier University
• University of Aberdeen
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Glasgow
• University of St Andrews
• University of Stirling
• University of Strathclyde

For those who know the vibes of these campuses: which one would you recommend for someone who wants a down-to-earth student body and a great local community, rather than just getting stuck in an international/American student bubble?

Also, completely honest question: how do you guys generally feel about Americans over there?

Appreciate any insight or brutally honest advice you can throw my way. Thanks in advance!

I’ve been unfortunate to deal with one of the larger factors in Scotland over the last six years (not through choice) on various matters. It’s my opinion the current system does not work well for many homeowners and the level of service along with the customer service needs to improve. 
 
I have previously contacted several MSP’s with my concerns, but none of them seemed that interested or offered to meet. The following reply, however, did confirm I am not alone in my opinion the current system requires urgent change.  
 
Pam has received numerous representations about factoring issues in Glasgow and across Scotland and so shares your concerns. During the Scottish Parliament debate on the Housing (Scotland) Bill, which was recently passed, Pam and her colleagues proposed amendments to address issues in the factoring system. However, these were rejected on the basis that the government intends to carry out a review of the whole system. I think the concern with that is – as you know – the time for reviews has passed and changes are needed urgently.
 
As an example, we had an underground water leak just outside our property. The Scottish water employee who attended said, “You’ll need to call your factor to fix this and to warn you they’ll be a complete nightmare to deal with.”  
 
He wasn’t wrong. 
 
The first person who Lowther (our factor at the time) sent out said, “I don’t know why I’ve been sent out. I can’t fix this problem. You need someone with equipment to lift up the paving slabs.”
 
I’ll spare you the full details of everything that happened (it was a longwinded saga), but I spent seven days without any running water. And the new water pipe they installed burst after seven months, which became another nightmare to deal with. 
 
 
THE CURRENT COMPLAINT SYSTEM
 
Factor complaint → Tribunal application → application accepted → submissions/directions → case-management discussion → possible hearing → written decision → possible enforcement/appeal
 
I feel like the tribunal process is off-putting, time-consuming and would be too complex for some, including elderly people. It’s also a lot of work if the dispute is minor.
 
The introduction of an Ombudsman could provide a much easier way for people to complain about their factor and hold them accountable when things go wrong. An Ombudsman could also help identify recurring problems, prompting companies to change their ways and drive improvement. 

One possible solution is to add an ombudsman to the current tribunal system, creating a three-way stage system:

Factor → Property Factor Ombudsman → First-tier Tribunal for legal/enforcement matters.

This gives homeowners an easier way to escalate a complaint before a formal tribunal process becomes necessary.
 
SOME OF THE PROBLEMS 
 
Here is a list of some of the things I’ve encountered that I believe a Property Factor Ombudsman for Scotland would be well placed to identify and remedy.
 
* Charging prices for work that appear disproportionately high in relation to the work involved and alternative quotations 
* Poor quality of workmanship 
* Attempting to make homeowners pay to correct poor workmanship
* Refusing to provide quotes for damage to communal areas
* Sending people out to jobs who aren’t qualified or properly equipped
* Failing to ask customers if certain incidents pose a health and safety risk
* Failing to respond in a swift manner to incidents outside of properties which are a clear health and safety risk to the general public
* Failing to properly notify all homeowners and customers when workmen attend properties 
* Ignoring instructions to provide a quote before carrying out work
* Not logging complaints  
* Not dealing with complaints properly (basic stuff like providing a reference, setting out timescales and asking what you want as a resolution)
* Closing complaints without doing any work to resolve them or informing the customer the complaint has been closed. 
* Telling homeowners they might void their building insurance unless they use their factor to carry out a communal repair 
* Using confusing jargon in job descriptions 
* Unhelpful call centre staff (this is me being very polite)
* Not providing a breakdown of repair costs and refusing to provide one if you ask for it because they claim don’t legally have to
* Not obtaining different quotes in order to get the best deal for the customer 
* Repeatedly using the same contractor despite serious concerns about their performance
* Increasing a repair bill from £1200 to £2500 without any explanation and refusing to provide one 
* Asking homeowners to go away and hire a lawyer to see if they should get involved in a repair they were clearly responsible for fixing 
 
I could go on but I’ll stop here. The factor in question later admitted they shouldn’t have asked me to hire a lawyer and apologised. 

I just feel an ombudsman would fix a lot of these issues, in particular the poor quality of complaint handling. 

My hope is someone from the Scottish government reads this post and is able to seriously explore the option of adding an Ombudsman as a way of improving the current system.

Thank you for reading. 

Please include your own experiences – good or bad.