Firstly, two men here in Aberdeen held down a pet cat so their pitbull could savage it. Let’s find them quickly. Well done to the Council official who wrote to me a while back to say we didn’t have any problems with banned breeds, dog fighting, or dog owners who are encouraging problems. That’s all I say on the matter without becoming less polite except keep an eye on your pets and keep them in at night.
Cheerier note – Old Susannah saw a man with a young child stop in the streets today, pick up someone else’s litter, and put it into a bin. Can we have more like him please?
Dream Job
There are certain industries where there are so many perks and benefits, people are willing to take low paid jobs just to get their foot in the door and be part of the excitement. In the film and television world, people willingly take lower salaries than in other business sectors – in exchange for this they get to go to film premiers, mingle with stars on occasion, and get access to movies. People go into the music business to get free CDs, go to concerts, etc. and therefore happily accept less pay than they might get elsewhere. And so it is with Council staff – they get the honour of walking the corridors of power and even sometimes getting a glimpse of Kate or Stewart – if they’re lucky. Sometimes meetings (of which there is no shortage) have biscuits as well as tea and coffee. You would think in those situations people wouldn’t ask for more money. However, the local Unions have wild ideas.
First, there is some silly notion that men and women doing the same work should be paid the same amount of money. Then some people actually want to be paid overtime for evenings and weekends. Finally, the unions are asking for a pay rise higher than 1.5%! Do these people really think that’s fair? After all, for most of them, that would probably mean an extra candy bar a month.
If the experts nationally are correct, then inflation is running somewhere around 3%, so a 1.5% raise is perfectly fair for these privileged personnel. Of course there is the odd suggestion now and then that the atmosphere in some of the Council departments is less than friendly, but that no doubt is sour grapes. I hope the Unions will realise just how lucky they are to be connected with our fantastic Council – perhaps they should all take a voluntary pay cut? After all, the City does have serious expenses – such as finding some £235,000 to pay for 8 ’European and Diversity’ people.
Sustainable Growth
Sustainability is the watchword in public and private sectors these days; it’s almost as if there was some kind of limit on our resources. Luckily past generations had the foresight to put land aside for ‘wildlife’ and ‘recreation’. Examples of these can be found in Union Terrace Gardens, Loirston Loch and Sunnybank Park. Thanks to those who preserved these lands, we are in a good place for some ‘sustainable growth’. In order for Builders to keep growing their businesses, they have to keep building more things, and that means they need places to build on. In order for the Council to keep growing, it needs more taxes from residents and businesses, so it needs to keep making new housing and new shopping malls and the like. It would hardly do to use the existing buildings that are boarded up – that won’t help the builders. Of course, a system based on continuous building can go on forever – well at least as long as there are green spaces to build on.
“On The Map”
Thank goodness: Scotland is going to be “On The Map”!! Old Susannah’s invitation to RGU to see Sir Ian Wood give Donald Trump an honorary degree got lost in the post. However, my spies told me Sir Ian’s immortal words which were along the line of thanking Mr Trump for his golfing development, which is going to put Scotland on the map for golf! Is it possible Scotland will become a destination for golfers? Watch this space!