PowerSwitch

Thanks all! I knew I would get food for thought from you lot. As a bit of context, we've been living up in Fife and Edinburgh for the last year and a half - slowly moving ever northwards. We're outsiders here but both very sociable so have enjoyed getting to know people. Also in the way back when, I...

Hello all, Long time no see, I know, I'm rubbish! But my lovely fiance and I have been offered the chance to move to Stromness in Orkney, he has been offered a cracking job (environmental consultancy - marine renewables essentially and a whopping 30% pay rise for him), a great relocation package and...

I know being sent to a temple of consumerism for four months isn't quite as much fun for the PO aware.... I don't buy bling or brand names so am looked at like a freak. Even the office cleaner wears Vivienne Westwood.... I kid you not.

Spare time is an elusive concept given Hong Kong's working culture.... they sure get their pound of flesh, I'm pulling 12 hour days. Also as the pound is now effectively worthless Hong Kong isn't cheap :? Still the tax free salary helps make up for it!!! Also there are a lot of fun things to do and ...

Am doing a climate change impact analysis study for the HK govt to feed into China's national comunique on climate change... it's lots of fun, but the bureaucracy and 'politics' is shall we say - very special.

It's 10 to one in the morning here speaking of which .... yawn off to bedski

Hmmm I see your point Peter, but I'm not back til Sat and trying to brace myself and rather than the news headlines, I guess I'm trying to find out how the UK is feeling at the mo' - what is the vibe down your local etc? I'm just a little dubious of auntie Beeb at the mo' as she does rather seem to ...

right I'll make sure to bring lots of duty frees and other barter goods...

So Vortex, what you're saying is, is that my fave pick n mix shop is fecked.... WAH!!! you could have couched it in soft words and sweet nothings and checked that I was sitting down. Am kidding, that made the news here, Bloomberg Asia is very much reporting the UK as a following Iceland's lead.

I did Pakistan this summer and adored it... but no zim isn't really doing it for me... However this Times article about Iceland really blew my mind

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b ... 329762.ece

espesh the comments at the end...

Spelling checker? :roll: The kids today. :wink: Ok say that again when I'm closer than 9,000 miles away.... :lol: but I bet you can't draw the chinese symbol for autumn.... :wink: when our chinese overlords (this is a culture that is soooooo playing the long game) arrive, I'll at least be in with a...

Oh Peter!!!! forewarned is forarmed.... do I change my flight and just stay here for Chrimble... 17C compared to chilly mcfreezing is tempting... I guess I want to use this as a chance to get you lot to navel gaze as its usually good to listen to and learn from.

Damnit as I'm learning more and more traditional chinese characters (I learnt climate change, middle, region and month today - whoop whoop) I swear my English spelling is receding into the middle distance.... Thanks John!

What-O! I'm back to Blighty for a couple of weeks over Christmas, and it will be my first time in the country for any decent length of time since July. So, what has changed? What are the visible trends of our changing times that you have noticed? What has improved? What has worsened? Are folk happie...

That's really cheered me up (although from a carbon perspective I'm not sure I've thought this through) - wouldn't it be kick ass if we returned to a repair and make do culture rather than our throw away dystopia? more where this came from please. The trouble is that modern vehicles have hi-tech co...