Tales of Home [6]

No the Navy pulled out years ago now, the American housing got sold by the council to a private company and are now very nice, but expensive private lets.
The school is doing well still it expanded its catchment area to fill up the space and as it isone of the few in the area which teaches gaelic it has been popular with parents.
Dunoon has got worse though since they left- the financial loss was huge, they spent a lot.
When I was growing up our small twon and the most taxis per head of population anywhere in the world. They was just a constant stream of them going from the base into town or out to Eagles court, non stop 24 hours a day.
So the place took a hit when they left financially, and of course an awful lot of jobs left, they were easily the largest employer in the area. And they paid well, much better than any local jobs did, and they had generous pension packages too, and as they were American you also got private healthcare chucked in, which was unknown at the time in Scottish jobs and still largely is).
Tons of places shut down however in the wake of them leaving.

that's a shame, it must have been hard adjusting to them going.

Well weirdly in terms of friends I was used to it- most families served about 4-5 years then they got moved, so it was much harder on the American kids.
I got used to making good friends, friends I'd be with every day, and then they just left never to be seen again.

I do miss the variety and the buzz they brought to the place, and I miss the mismash of culture that happened.
One of the weird things that happened for example was to the Dunoon accent- compared to the surrounding areas here on the west coast our accent has softened, become less guttural, less harsh and we speak a bit slower- which came of interacting with Americans who couldn't understand our accent (when I lived in Glasgow for a bit I nearly got punched because a guy thought I 'spoke like a poof').
And now, as the space left is taken up with people from the surrounding areas the accent is hardening back up again in the younger generation.

The sky.

Nice pics, Blue!

Petty - do you still speak like a poof or has the American white bread effect worn off?

No my accent is still a bit girly for this part of the world- not sure if you heard it youd think it was a 'soft' accent, but to west coast scottish ears, it is

I made this gif on my phone this summer, but it was a bit too large and I never found anywhere to upload it. But I did a bit of resizing, so here you go.

Couple of nice local pics- sunset and sunrise-

Oh man, that first one especially is just gorgeous, Petty.

Pink skies make me feel hopeful

Or as my friends would say....
Red sky at night, neighbour take flight,
Red sky in the morning.....yer sheds on fire

Yeah, that is stunning.

That's not one of those submarines out in the loch, is it?

If you mean the first picture Blue- its a lighthouse.
The only vessels in the second picture are the ferry and a yacht.

What's beneath the surface however is another matter! (Although legally they are not supposed to submerge in these waters, they are supposed to be on the surface so as not to present a challenge to commercial shipping, but everyone knows thats not what actually happens).

Ah, it's an island. I see.

Then again, as a Scotsman you just missed an opportunity to propogate the Loch monster myth. What will the Scottish Tourism Board say?

Look at the surrounds! We dont need a monster for tourism.

Only reason Loch Ness does is its dull as buggery, yeah its hugely deep, yeah its a very long loch, but thats it, its just a big puddle inbetween some hills which are rather dully covered in forestry commission pine trees in regimented rows.

great pics Petty

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Look at the surrounds! We dont need a monster for tourism.

Only reason Loch Ness does is its dull as buggery, yeah its hugely deep, yeah its a very long loch, but thats it, its just a big puddle inbetween some hills which are rather dully covered in forestry commission pine trees in regimented rows.

Good thing Karen Gillan isn't on here or you would probably have a flaming argument about which part of the Scottish scenery is more spectacular.

or whether there are the right kind of stinging Thistle.

Are there a right kind of stinging thistle?

Yeah the sort that prevents you bloody vikings  from creeping up on us in the night


'According to a legend, an invading Norse army was attempting to sneak up at night upon a Scottish army's encampment. During this operation one barefoot Norseman had the misfortune to step upon a thistle, causing him to cry out in pain, thus alerting Scots to the presence of the Norse invaders. Some sources suggest the specific occasion was the Battle of Largs, which marked the beginning of the departure of King Haakon IV (Haakon the Elder) of Norway who, having control of the Northern Isles and Hebrides, had harried the coast of the Kingdom of Scotland for some years.'- wiki

I never knew that

See, I'm educational

Damn Vikings. I'm gonna plant thistles all around my house now.

Sadly it will no longer work, they are a wily breed your Viking and thistles wont keep the modern sort at bay, like Ringdrotten, oh no. And you know why not? Because after the thistle incident the sneaky buggers conducted a series of raids to capture cobblers. There wasn't a coastal monastery left with a shod monk in it.Devious vikings

that explains what happened in Forumshire. Our dear admin forgot the Super-Dooper Stinging Thistles, and look what happened. Vikings everywhere.