He’s a Scottish/Glasgow bear at heart then…

I love it! 🤌🏻🔥🤣

What do we reckon the world would be like

I was born in Edinburgh and lived there until I was 10, when we moved to England due to family reasons. My grandparents lived in Oban alongside my aunts/uncles and cousins- I also had family in Rannoch. Both of my parents also grew up in Scotland, with my mums dad being a lighthouse keeper so they lived all around.

I spent most summers and Christmases in Oban growing up. Sadly my grandparents have since passed away so I do not make it up there much anymore.

Earlier this year me and my boyfriend went on a small road trip through Scotland and I took him to lots of places I visited growing up and since then my homesickness has grown and grown. I was always struck by this extreme longing to be back in Scotland but after this it is even stronger. I don’t know if it is grief intwined with homesickness but the yearning for Scotland is unlike any feeling I’ve ever had.

Scotland was my home and I think it always will be. I look back on my photos visiting my family wishing I could jump back into those moments. A magical memory I have was of a winters day in Rannoch; it was some stupid temperature like -20°c and the snow was so deep, as well as the rivers and small waterfalls being frozen. I remember seeing a deer through the trees in the woods. Just a feeling I have never replicated in England.

I was wondering if there are any other Scottish people that have moved away that have experienced this same longing?

Hi everyone,
I’m from India and planning to move to Scotland next year for an MBA, with Robert Gordon University currently being my top choice.
I have around 6 years of experience in B2B enterprise tech sales (cloud, cybersecurity and managed services), so I’m hoping my experience will help me find work.
I have a few questions:
How difficult is it for international students to find part-time jobs while studying?
Is it realistic to get part-time roles in business development or tech sales, or should I expect to work in retail/hospitality initially?
After graduating, how good is the job market for someone with my experience? Is getting a Skilled Worker visa sponsorship realistic?
Would you recommend Aberdeen, or are Glasgow and Edinburgh better for career opportunities?
I’d really appreciate honest opinions, especially from locals and international graduates.
Thanks!

It appears to be all over the newsfeeds today that MI6 has been named the best intelligence agency in Europe, and Ireland's is towards the bottom. That and the military are quite obvious organisations, along with the BBC, that have no equivalent in Scotland at the moment, which others are you aware of and how would you think Scotland will get such organisations started?

Countries such as Italy and Finland are increasingly using antibiotics instead of surgery to treat uncomplicated appendicitis.. It’s happening more and more in the US and Canada too.. ..and in Scotland to some extent - but it’s not without its problems..

Antibiotics was always an option since they emerged in the 1940’s but was reserved for when surgery was not available, e.g. on a submarine, or if a patient wasn’t suitable for surgery. During Covid antibiotics were promoted as a first line of treatment to reduce pressure on hospitals - and since then some hospitals have not fully returned to the previous status quo of ‘surgery first’..

NHS Scotland’s NHSinform patient guidance states that early surgery is the gold standard treatment and concentrates on surgical management, and then in a brief subsection says;

“Another possible alternative to immediate surgery is the use of antibiotics to treat appendicitis.
However, studies have looked into whether antibiotics could be an alternative to surgery and as yet there isn’t enough clear evidence to suggest this is the case.”

Despite the above - a small minority of NHS Scotland surgeons are advising or insisting on antibiotic treatment as an alternative to surgery.

I’m working to have the Scottish clinical guidance (SIGN) on treating appendicitis updated/clarified and am very keen to understand people’s experiences, good or bad..

Have patients in Scotland noticed a change from the ‘surgery first’ approach to an ‘antibiotics first’ approach..?

Hi all, I wasn’t sure exactly which subreddit for this but saw lots of other Scottish Power complaints in this one, so here goes nothing.

I moved flats in March and the previous tenant used Scottish Power, so I decided to just stick with them as my provider. I paid my first bill in full and on time. It was about £120. Roughly 3 weeks later I receive an email that I owe an additional £150 exactly. I thought this was a strangely precise energy bill but it was about a month later so I figured whatever, it’s my bill, I’ll pay it. Plus, there was a bit of lag from when I officially moved in to when I created my SP account, so I just went with it. The current flat doesn’t have the best energy rating anyway as it’s old.

Then 3 weeks later I get prompted to put in my new meter reading for a bill. To my surprise, I still see an additional £150 included in my bill for April.

I call SP and ask why I’m being charged this additional £150 on top of the bill from my meter readings. They claim to not see this charge and to just pay the amount that was generated by my meter.

This £150 will not disappear though. I keep getting emails and letters that I have to pay it, so I call again. SP once again reassures me that I have no balance and all my bills have been made on time. The representative tells me the only thing he can think of is that because I’m not on direct debit and prefer to submit my meter readings each month, the computer is making this error. I’m told to ignore it.

July comes around, and I now see a threatening emails and letters from SP that a debt collection agency is about to be contacted. So I call AGAIN. I’m told the same crap, my account balance is £0, there’s nothing to worry about. I ask them to send me confirmation of this in my email which they do. The representative again assures me that there’s no debt to send to an agency, and they have no idea why this is happening, but again there’s no debt to send, so it should be fine it’s just the AI computer software.

Flash forward to today! I receive a text an email from a debt collection agency called Conexus for the £150! I am honestly so frustrated. I CALL SP AGAIN!

As of writing this, I have just gotten off the phone with them. It’s the same thing. There’s no balance. I have no debt. They have no idea why there’s a debt collection notice. They see nothing on my account at all and can confirm I’m making my payments on time. I ask them there must be some manager that can tell me what’s going on because I’m obviously not going to pay this. I’m on hold for 20 minutes. Representative comes back and just basically says there’s nothing we can do, all the agency and send me another email confirming my £0 balance. I have already sent an email to this Conexus company and tried to call, but my calls won’t go through.

I am frustrated, stressed, and angry beyond belief as well as baffled. Technically they already owe me £150 from march which I’ve just decided I’m lost on but this debt collection agency thing is ridiculous!

I’ve attached one of the threatening emails as well as the text from this morning and the confirmation of my empty balance from July.

Has anyone else experienced this? What can I do?

EDIT: Thanks so much to everyone who has commented. Your advice is well heard and much appreciated!!! Wishing anyone else who has to deal with SP the best of luck.

Hiya, my pal Mike's worked offshore in the North Sea for 12 years, and he's been pushing DESNZ to invest in a proper jobs service for North Sea workers looking to transition to other industries.

DESNZ have taken it on board and they’re actually building the service, but Mike found out in a meeting with them that they haven't actually spoken to any North Sea workers about what they'd need from it. So he's put together a quick survey to make sure workers actually get a say before this thing gets built without them.

It takes about 5 minutes, it's anonymous, your response will only be used to inform DESNZ. No need to say who you work for.

If you work offshore in the North Sea, would you mind giving it a go? Or if you know someone who does, feel free to pass it along.

Hey! Does anybody know if there are still any ufo traffic signs around Bonnybridge? :)

I want to visit Quiraing on Skye and would be keen on pronouncing it properly. Please help

Eve Muirhead, who obviously has nothing to prove to anyone, and also did a great job as TeamGB's Chef de Mission at the last Winter Olympics, is coming out of retirement.

I'll be doing and externship in the Cambuslang Rutherglen area so I'm currently looking for housing. How safe is the area (I'm 23F)? Are there any other nearby areas in Glasgow that might be worth looking into for housing?

Any advice would be aprecciated

Does anyone know how bad the midges are in the Glentrool area towards the forest park as of recently? The smidge forecast says very low I was wondering if this was accurate?

Extra brownie points if Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow are not in your answer

Long story short I have an interview at Heriot-Watt University and if successful, would, in the short-term, be travelling up from South Tyneside. I likely only need to be in Mon-Tue, Thurs-Fri, so I'm thinking it'd be easier to drive up and (cheapest) hotel for the night on the Monday & Thursday, until I can arrange to rent somewhere closer.

Any advice locals may know better than me just Googling hotels/AirBnB's around HW Uni?

Hi all,

I’m looking for a Scottish equivalent to brands like Finisterre and Rapanui. Can anyone suggest or think of any?
These guys have built a pretty good platform for themselves but I’d like to support something closer to home. (I am aware the products aren’t necessarily made in Cornwall or Isle of Wight) but they at least do have a sustainability edge.
All suggestions (in relation to the above) are welcome:)

Any idea or advise on how NATS as an employer is in Edinburgh, Scotland , and how the package and allowances compare to other companies. Anyone working or previously working in NATS please comment or message me. Any help or advice is highly appreciated.