tom_widdows

I'm holding back from any gloating given the Fola Esch debacle this time last year

Starting to wonder if Mcinnes & Doc have been studying Brian Clough's tactics (Skip to 2:35)

Champions league started tonight TNS (Wales) 1-2 Europa (Gibraltar). Also in other news England U21 carried on the rich Traditional of losing in Semi-Finals to the Germans

Interesting words. I take from this the Council allowed work on their own building to start without building standards approval. That's an offence and Legal action can be taken against you by the local authority.........oh wait! Also given it is an offence to start without a warrant, as soon as a contractor knocked the first hole in a wall, any building's insurance could effectively be declared null & void. Ergo no compensation, no money to fund re-building etc. Civil war may be breaking out in K&C council as if their Building Control Department is anything like a some I've worked with in Scotland, they treat work on their own Council's buildings the same way they would an individual's private house IE there is no favourable treatment or fast tracking. Seeing a copy of this alleged completion certificate and the signature's on it will be interesting.

FC Ordabasy have never made it past the 2nd qualifying round. They have also to date, not won a home Europa League match - two 0-0 draws, one 3-3 draw, one 2-1 defeat. Away record read: W1-0, D2-2, L2-1, L3-0 NK Široki Brijeg have also never made it past the 2nd qualifying round (europa League) and were put out of the Champions league by Hearts back in 2006 (3-0 on Aggregate). Europa league record is P22 W6, D5, L11. Going on past form I think its a coin toss to see which one gets through.

Fucks sake another potential Kazakhstan trip

Lindsay just rejected Oxford United. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40316140

If gas is not used in any tower blocks in Aberdeen I think you will find it will be for the following reasons 1) When the block was constructed central heating was still a relatively new concept and was not cheap to install so the good old Electric 3 bar fire and perhaps the classic portable gas heater (about the size of a washing machine with a huge gas canister inside) were dealt out. 2) If a new block the developer reduced costs and went with electric boilers or the god awful white meter heating/ storage heater combination. Retro fitting gas supplies to existing buildings is quite common because it is still cheaper, more efficient and easier to control than electric heating and when you have a high rise with small or non existent service risers the logical place is to put it within the stairwells. The pipes as with all services (electricity, water, data, sprinkler pipes etc) are supposed to be boxed for the following reasons. 1) Protect them from accidental damage or vandalism 2) Seal off the openings in separating walls and floors so any fires cannot spread through or up the service riser into fire protected areas. As far as I am aware the gas supply did not play any part in the fire. If it had i think you wouldn't have a burned out shell of a building, you would have a crater and a blast zone. I am a bit cynical at some of the figures being banded about for the savings/ cut backs in the refurbishment as they just don't add up to me (£5,000 for the cladding etc) but I will not be surprised if the contractor who carried out the works essentially 'bought' the job IE they priced at a loss making figure to themselves with the hope being they would become a preferred contractor for the council and then pick up regular work. Of course as soon as a contractor 'buys' the job they have to ensure they don't make a loss which then brings in seemingly endless 'can we use this/ can we do it this way, instead?' Its a risky ploy and a fair few contractors have 'gone under' while trying it but for many of them it can be the only way they can trading. There is a John Ruskin quote hanging in my office which I feel it particularly apt for this tragedy 'There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey.'

Some muppet on Sportsound this afternoon stated Sevco have spent approx £10million on transfers to far. I believe the same muppet kept going on about how any player who leaves the likes of Aberdeen Hibs, Hearts etc for Rangers has to up their game 10 fold or they will never get a game.

In the last few years several tower blocks have been demolished in Glasgow (most famous is probably the Red Road Flats) with actual houses and max. 2-3 storey blocks of flats replacing them. I was hoping this trend would continue until all the 60s/70s designs were gone but in the posher areas the over-cladding has become the fashion with work now coming to an end on the Broomhill 'scheme' which includes five 18-storey towers built in the centre of one of the most expensive postcodes in the city. I have seen a few of the flats in that block on the market so I'm suspecting that as soon as you make the step into 'private & social tenants' demolition of such towers is out of the question. Now who was it that had the great idea of selling off Council houses again?

Refurb sounds half assed but I feel the key to this is the external cladding system and the manufacturer/ contractor will be shitting themselves on that. Over cladding/ applying insulated render to existing buildings has been pushed quite heavily since the government really took an interest in Carbon Dioxide emissions and it has always struck me as a recipe for disaster but I always looked at the risk of condensation/damp, and sick building syndrome. The prospect that it might actually create a fire cage around a building did not occur to me. There will be lots of developers, housing associations, local councils etc frantically going through their records and I wont be surprised if lots of people suddenly find themselves being turfed into temporary accommodation They had a high ranking fireman on the radio today getting grilled by some irritating presenter and he made a very valid point. 'Buildings such as this are designed in such a way that the fire is always fought from within'. That's why you have smoke vents, sprinkler systems, internal fire alarms, dry risers, smoke lobbies, double door protection etc. Now what happens when the fire starts and spreads on the outside? That just doesn't happen with Bricks/ Concrete/ Steel cladding, Glass etc. Certain insulations and cladding systems on the other hand....Anyone ever seen a timber skyscraper? I'm speculating here but it may be the case the smoke vent system actually detected the fire and then activated however as the fire was outside, then rather than letting the smoke out, it created a route for the fire & smoke to get in. Also the windows in the flats were all sealed shut (safety feature) and I suspect they would have been toughened/ laminated but NOT fire glass. As the fire spread up the cladding the extreme heat would shatter the windows allowing the smoke and fire another way in. The 'stay put' safety drill is fucked the moment your flat's 1hr protected enclosure is compromised. I've heard several people making claims about what the UK allows when it comes to building design but in some cases this has been misleading given A) they are talking about an existing 1970s building and B) some of the things claimed are certainly not permitted under Scottish Building regulations. The modern equivalent of those flats requires dedicated fire fighting stairs & lifts. Minimum 2-3 escape stairs from each floor, sprinklers etc and possibly the most relevant one in this case is any external cladding on a high rise building must be NON-COMBUSTIBLE. In England it is only LIMITED COMBUSTIBILITY. Building regs are one of the things I actually find interesting but so many others in my field hate them as it 'restricts the design' or 'increase costs'. The last part is a major worry as in so many situations people will bypass those who follow the regs and go to 'yes' men or cowboys who will design/ build anything you want as long as you pay them.

I use these examples quite often along with the miners strike, destruction of the railways etc but in my rapidly advancing years I have come to realise I now live in the 'age of ignorance' which for me is ironic given so many people seem glued to smartphones which could give them access to actual knowledge. Ravenscraig shut in 1992 (25 years ago) The Poll tax riots were in 89/90 (27/27 years ago). I know people my age who either don't know these events, forgot them, or (as is becoming way to common now) as it didn't affect them they considered them boring so their brain never took them in. I've had people say things like 'yeah but that was ages ago, you should let it go'. I really wish I could let things go but I am cursed with a brain that refuses to switch off. I sometimes envy those who wander in a world of blissful ignorance and candy crush. Today someone (born in 1989) asked me if the DUP were 'the catholic' party from Northern Ireland. I fear my response to that was perhaps a bit too aggressive than was justified.

Andorra just beat Hungary to claim only their 3rd ever victory in a competitive match

Doing the rounds on facebook 'looks like we'll be sending Brussels the Conservative & Unionist Negotiating Team. I hope they can come up with a handy acronym' Hoping someone sends that to 'the Last Leg'.

Make that 2 - Moray

First Scottish Tory Gain - Angus. At least it has been offset by them losing a welsh seat

Given this 'Portuguese' revolution down Ibrox way I presume they will have a 'Red & Green' day at some point during the season akin to their 'orange' day when Advocaat was in charge.

Not an expert but I think Christie should have known what the score was the moment he was loaned straight back to Caley Thistle. I don't think Rodgers would have signed him and if the Tic are even considering punting him on loan again at 22 he should twig his Celtic days will be always be 2nd choice Injury cover, League/ Scottish cup early rounds, or end of season 'league is done so lets not risk the first teamers'. Good player but if he is not careful come September 2019 he is in danger ending up in lower league football and never recovering.

I'm predicting they will win Banff & Buchan and cling onto Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale. I'm also going out on a limb and predicting the SNP will lose Ross, Skye & Lochaber back to the Lib Dems

15mins into the BBc Scottish News and they are still banging on about this. They are actually asking 'how was this (financial black hole b4 Whyte) allowed to happen' and yet not pointing the giant neon arrow towards David Murray.

Surely that means there will finally be a LAST of the summer wine

Junior Cup Final currently on BBC Alba Auchinlek Talbot 1-1 Glenafton Athletic (Darkest Ayrshire Derby) Baffles me that a Gaelic TV Channel covers the final of a cup competition in which by my reckoning features only 3 teams from history Gaelic Speaking Areas of the Country. But then again the Gaelic language has always baffled me since the day I discovered it was a compulsory subject for the first 2 years of High School (Kids at my old school now apparently get a choice)

Personally I just hate social media and its ability to fuel the attention seeker in so many people. Even more irritating is Journalists now use it as a 'credible' source to write their own stories Remember the days when all you had to go on was the P&J or Evening Express? I'm still waiting for the following players to turn up Peter Ndlovu Niall Quinn Marcelo Paul Dickov Eintine Verveer Taffarell (Was apparenlty Dons or St Mirren for him)

Sportsound was on this afternoon ( ) and essentially said the exact opposite to that. Seemingly he is under-rated and exactly what Sevco require to protect their centre backs. The only thing I can ever recall Jack doing is that long range goal against St Johnstone in a howling gale. I know little about football but is he really the Scottish Claude Makelele Sportsound was trying to make him out to be?

So he will be missing from the first game of the season when his red card for diving is upheld?