1 post tagged “gaelic”

It's been a bit quiet round here, hasn't it?  I'm glad to say this is entirely down to life going particularly nuts over the last few months, rather than any kind of climbdown from The Plan.  Central to the nutsness has been moving flat, caused by our old landlord selling up.  As time goes by I can feel the city sickness getting worse - but we'll save that ramble for another post.  Still, while there's been no great leaps forward since January, there's a few wee points worth noting...

• The Open University, of which I wibbled about in the previous post, have an open content section filled with written resources for their courses, accessible to anyone online.  Called OpenLearn, it's apparently been going since October last year but I only heard about it via the Moneysaving Expert newsletter a few weeks back.  There's all sorts of interesting stuff to browse around, but of particular interest to muggins here is Working with our environment - an introduction, Why sustainable energy matters, an Introduction to sustainable energy and Health and Environment.  Basically course textbooks in digital format, they all look like good introductions to subjects that could lead onto actual study at the OU, and costing precisely zilch it's a good gentle dip into educational waters.  Good tea-break reading, if nothing else.
• I received a couple of books on how to speak Scots Gaelic from local chum Croila for my 30th back in February.  Haven't really delved into them so far, the plan being to get into them as we get closer to taking evening classes on the language this Autumn, at which point I expect them to become immensely useful.  Likewise, the excellent range of online BBC resources, including a weekly MP3 podcast, Letter to Gaelic Learners.  Looking through the vacancies listed in the West Highland Free Press each week, there's usually at least one that's only written in Gaelic, more often than not with a higher salary than the others listed.  Right now it's frustrating, but once on the right side of the language it'll be a blessing and a huge plus in finding work over yonder.
• Talking of work, for the first time this week I had a look at the Civil Service Careers site on behalf of a chum who can do so much better than his current job and knows it.  While there is a public section on the site, there's also an existing-civil-servants-only section that's out of sight for Joe Public.  It was while looking through there that I found a job vacancy at a SEERAD office in Skye, Portree.  I may have involuntarily shrieked at the sight.  A quick read of the position made it pretty clear I could do it, no problem... however, it would also require a paycut of around £4K.  What with me still carrying a fair amount of debt with no mortgage to speak of, this just isn't an option.  On top of that, what with us both having just moved to a new flat in Edinburgh, we're locked into a lease for at least the next 4 months.  So I didn't apply, though that didn't stop me wistfully daydreaming about doing so for a few hours last week.  As things stand, in my financial condition, it would be utterly impractical and really far too soon.  As I've written before, with a move & a plan this major, it's worth taking the time to get it right, with all the pre-planning and work it requires.  Still, I'll be keeping an eye on those internal vacancies - just in case...

There should be more regular postings here over the next few months, what with a Skye holiday in June and a fascinating day in Inverness next month as part of the Six Cities Design Festival:

The profile of sustainable design is on the rise. People are taking more responsibility for reducing their own carbon footprints, and implementing more environmentally friendly lifestyles. The Six Cities Design Festival in Inverness explores:
• new technologies and building methods
• the use of new (and not so new) materials
• the importance of reducing and recycling waste
• renewable energy
• power micro-generation

Considering what we're planning, it couldn't be more ideal!