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Came to Thailand in 2008 to live in a temple and learn about Buddhism, during this 1 month stay, the temple was helping to built a school for the hill tribe children, that are not legally Thai to get them into the system of education and away from the prostitution and drugs trade. A cycle that has destroyed there lives for decades. I loved it and came back for an extra 3 months, with being back in Scotland for about 1 week. On my second trip, I meet a woman in her 50's at a laundrette in the town of Singburi. She said to me that she would do my washing for me and I can go and get something to eat. I thought, that's sound good to me. On my return, she handed me 1000 baht and explained that it was in one of my pockets. Me being a good c**t, gave her the 1000 baht and told her to treat herself and family. She was a little embarrassed and refused, just at that time her son walked it to pick her up (I didn't know it was her son at the time). He could speak a little English, and I explain it to him, that I would prefer she took the money....anyway, she ordered that I come to her house that evening for a meal, that she will prepare. I got picked up from the temple are around 18:00 and drove off into the wilderness to this little house in the farmlands/paddy fields. The house was full of the family members, I meet my wife for the first time, it was the woman's daughter. I married her 3 years latter and now have 3 kids. I still go back to the school now and again to drop of boxes of sweeties or ice cream, none of the children are the same as when I helped there back in the day, they have all grown up, but it does give me a massive warm glow inside, when I'm there. I also take my kids and wife with me. Good for my kids to see where it all began for me in Thailand. I only ever returned back to Scotland back in 2010, to fix some financial stuff and sell my house, never looked back.

Well, as an immigrant TO Scotland I have gone in a different direction obviously, but I'll add my experiences here too. I left The Netherlands back in 2009, I went to England (Darlington) for work reasons. It was purely for work reasons as my job in The Netherlands wasn't going to last due to financial trouble of the company I was in. As languages are my strong point (German second language, more or less bilingual, also speaking English (obviously) & French), opportunities for me in the UK are better than in The Netherlands. After a year in Darlington I ended up in Derby where I stayed for 7 years, in 2017 I then moved to Scotland. I am much happier here then I was the last years in England. Especially after the Brexit-vote, I regularly got negative reactions when people heard my foreign accent in Derby. Some experiences weren't exactly nice. People up here are much friendlier and Scotland is a beautiful place. In my opinion, many Scots are too negative about their country as it's a great place to live. I don't miss much about The Netherlands other than friends and family (especially now as it's been so long!). I can't see myself moving back to The Netherlands as I much prefer Scotland. I could see myself moving within Scotland one day, but that's about it.

I'll be honest, I thought Davidson would be a guaranteed flop. He seems to be a bit of a boring type ans the start you made last season had alarm bells going. What an unbelievable job he's done to the point that he's added 2 trophies to your cabinet and has you competing against Galatasaray. Not even that, but a Galatasaray led by the greatest Turkish manager of all time. Just out of this world. Obviously there's jealousy in there but it's well past that now and it's at a point where I'm just like, 'Wow. Fair fucks'.

Still don't see the why the Dowds hate. I've never watched a single game he has featured and thought he is absolutely shite, like akeel and dennon levels of shite. Definite potential in there imo. Hopefully a decent style of football and a semi competent coach can bring this out in him.

What a great thread. For my part, I moved over here in the summer of 2012 but it all started in January of 2011 when me and Wife #1 split up. She bought me out of the house we had in Alloa and I got myself a nice wee flat above a Ladbrokes in Stirling and booked myself a holiday in Boston. I write a wee bit and had arranged to meet up with some writer friends I'd made online over the years, actually pretty much 10 years ago to the day. One of those friends would go on to become Wife #2. I went back over to see her a couple more times and decided to give it a bit of a go. At the time I worked for an insurance company in Stirling who had a sister company in Michigan. The first time I looked at their job board online, I saw something that was 95% the job I was doing. So I applied, got an interview, and on March 1, 2012, as I was sitting in Morrison's CBC, I got a call from their HR department offering me the job. There then began four months of immigration hell and waiting around and I learned more about applying for a visa than I'll ever need to know again. Like, when I applied for a visa, I wasn't really applying for a visa, I was applying for a petition to apply for a visa. Because the job I did in Stirling was fairly niche, and it was the same in Michigan, we were able to bombard Immigration Services with paperwork describing the positions in glorious terms so they eventually granted the petition. The next stage was a meeting at the embassy in London. On the advice of my Immigration Lawyer, I got suited and booted and jumped on the sleeper down to That London. In those days, you weren't allowed anything electronic in the US Embassy but there was a wee chemist nearby that would hold on to your stuff for a tenner or whatever. That place must've made a fucking fortune. When I dropped off my electronics, I was aware that I had made one mistake, which was wearing a new pair of work shoes that were sawing their way through my achilles as I walked to the embassy. The second mistake was being told at the embassy that my paperwork hadn't been submitted. Someone had forgotten to hit the COMPLETE button on the form. That someone was probably me. So I had to walk back to the chemist, that was also an internet cafe, log on and hit the button. I limped back to the embassy, stood in line again, only to be told that the paperwork wasn't through. So I hobbled back to the chemist where I checked, it was complete, but one of the chemist staff, who were all experts in US Immigration, told me that it can frequently take an hour for the updates to filter through. My shoes were now filling with blood as my razor sharp shoes went about amputating my feet as I squelched back to the embassy, stood in line, saw the immigration officer who confirmed the application was now complete. He asked me three questions: what's your name, what's your date of birth, what company are you going to work for in the US. He stamped a form and my visa was approved. I crawled back to the chemist, retrieved my phone and bought some plasters for my poor feet. A week later, and I was standing in Edinburgh airport saying goodbye to my mum and cousins and as I walked to security, because for four months I'd been just waiting for something to go wrong and f**k everything up, I remember thinking, "Well, I guess I'm moving to Michigan." So the first time I was in Michigan was the day I moved to Michigan, wife #2 joining me from Connecticut a little later, and we got married that September. My new company put me up in a hotel for a couple of months while I found a place to live, eventually settling in a town I'd never heard of, which is where I am now. I became a citizen a couple of years ago and now have two passports which, along with raging misogyny and a violent approach to the preparation of vodka martinis, makes me feel a bit like Jimmy Bond. Nobody tells you how much it costs to live in the US and while lots of things are cheap, there's plenty that's ridiculously expensive. My mobile, Wi-FI, car insurance, health insurance etc are all far more than I expected and for the first few years, money was really tight. And starting again at 38 as I was at the time with no credit makes life a bit more difficult than it should be. Winters are shite here and Summers are hot and humid. But between traveling with work and general wanderlust, I've been to 44 states and visited the graves of 28 former presidents around the country. I've only been back to Scotland three times in the last nine years, and I haven't been back since 2015, when my mum passed away. I've no real family left in Scotland so I don't know if or when I'll be back, and I've made my peace with that. I do miss my friends back home, I miss square sausage which I've tried and failed to recreate a hundred times. I miss Irn Bru. I miss the NHS. I miss Raads kebab in Alloa, Falcone's chippy in Carronshore, I miss getting off the work's bus outside Morrison's Cold Beer with every intention of going straight home and then ending up in the pub until 9. Again. I miss public transport. I miss being able to drive by the house in Carronshore where my family lived from 1950 and which was always my sanctuary and safety net. I miss that last one a lot.

Nobody does. Don’t single that one poster out.

The SG have completely lost the plot. Horrendous abuse of emergency powers.

It's a monumental day for The Thistle Archive, as we're now very proud to put all 147 seasons of Partick Thistle match history at your fingertips. Although there is much still to be done, every single game is profiled to varying extents. As you explore, you will notice that we have around 800 matches covered with video highlights, with many more yet to be digitally transferred from old VHS and DVD formats. In total, our Archive now has 13,183 active web pages for the Thistle community to reference and enjoy, so please help to spread the word wherever you can.

Try hiding your number.

Just resigned my SNP membership. Joined the party along with everyone else in the aftermath of the referendum but I really don't support the route they are taking currently with this and the nonsensical mixed messaging. I had been considering it for a while anyway as I no longer live in the country and always feel it is a bit dangerous to support a political party like they are a football team but the last few days nonsense was the final straw. Still pro independence and still view that ironically as the best way we will end up with a non SNP government but I'm not sure who I'd vote for in Scotland at the moment. None of the choices seem particularly appealing. Thankfully not a choice I will have to make any time soon.

Most people don't book a holiday one day and travel the next. It's entirely possible that folk have booked these holidays months ago or even last year - they could even be holidays which they were supposed to be going on last year and which they have rescheduled.

^^^Thought he was going for a bunk up with the old dear.

A bit of prehistory - some of the Scottish teams from the Charles Alcock Football Annual for 1873. The team at the top left is Callander.

This is an utterly pish and irrelevant argument tbh.

This handsome boy has been adopted as our workshop cat. He had been kicking around the yard for months, and there aren't any houses that close to us. One of the other guys started feeding him and he is now here all the time. He has definitely been somebody's pet though as he is very tame and loves to be petted. The hope is that we can get him settled enough that we can take him to the vet to find out if he is chipped.

Such shite. Spoke to him not long back and asked why and he said he was never asked to play for Scotland. His Dad's Northern Irish so why shouldn't he be happy to play for them? He was playing Premiership football for a top six side at 19, strolling it and never even got approached whilst such stellar talents as Lewis Smith and Barry Maguire were getting called up. The blame is 100% on clowns like Steve Clarke and Scot Gemmil and any under age Scotland coaches who ignored him. Only one country gave him the opportunity to play international football; few players would knock back the chance.

You OK ***?

Professor Howieson to come in and play in the hole.

First time I've have every wrote it down, and only my 2 sisters know the story. It felt very unreal. (not sure that's the best word). Surreal. Much appreciated thanks to everyone, it's Friday work has finished I'm 2 pints down (real reason I moved east, you can drink earlier). But for real here, anyone want to PM me more about helping the Hill Tribes children of Thailand, you are more than welcome. I really never thought you c***s were that soft, like me.....

Post above is exactly it and @Widge was spot on last night that at least when the bad times do inevitably arrive, we have really made our time at the top count. It's all a club of Saints' size can do, make sure you land some punches when you get your big opportunity.

"Masks to be worn when moving around in clubs" is final confirmation for me that not one of those people writing this shit has ever set foot in a nightclub.

The SPFL have apparently asked Rangers for proof of what they're saying, which is surely reasonable. I'm still trying to work out what sort of contractual issue this might be, because it's surely unprecedented. Nobody in Rangers sponsor list competes with cinch, and it would be mondo bizarro for a football team's bus supplier contract to have a 'Oh by the way, no advertising our competitors on your billboards' clause in it. Given Rangers track record in embellishing the supposed crimes of the SPFL and the rest of Scottish fitba' and much of Scottish society for their own purposes, I wouldn't immediately jump to the conclusion that we're getting an accurate depiction of the situation from them.

I think that Scotland should run all aspects of her affairs. Just like Ireland, Iceland, Australia or any other independent sovereign state. We elect our Governments. We make our own decisions. If we don't like that Government we vote for another. We make our own mistakes. It really is as simple as that.

Starting to think we should be spending some of that Government cash on wages for a couple of temp admin staff. Are there any admin staff that St Johnstone are in for so we can outbid them?

FFs I thought Thailand had a bad reputation!!!! ETA - Sorry, miss read that, ken.

10 for Friday

Oregon does it as well IIRC. And great shout about the wee shop that holds on to your phone while you’re in the Embassy, I’d totally forgotten about that. My story’s not that exciting - the company my wife (then girlfriend) works for shifted a lot of stuff down to London, and in 2011 they told one of the guys she works with there was nothing for him to do in Scotland any more and he’d have to go down south. He said he didn’t fancy it so they offered him Miami, which he figured beat the f**k out of sunny Govan on a Monday morning. Roll forward a year and the better half’s main client’s had a management buyout and been Sevco’d within the space of a year. We knew what was about to happen and Chris offered that there was a job going in Miami if she wanted to apply. She did, got offered it and we thought f**k it, why not. Bit of poking around the visa process revealed we’d have to get married for me to get anything other than a tourist visa, so we did that - I’m basically a big dodgy Nigerian at this point. She went in Jan 2013 and I hung back a couple of months to get the house rented out and paperwork tidied up. She left behind a bag with a load of underwear in it and for some reason I volunteered to put it in a Jiffy bag and mail it rather than just telling her to go to TJ Maxx which led to a very confused post office clerk having to confirm I was mailing a job lot of women’s underpants to a man in Miami called Christopher. May 2014, Carpetmonster Jr appeared and we discovered first hand how much of a cartel the US healthcare system is (doctor trying to insist on completely unnecessary c-section, hospital trying to bill us for a anaesthesia my wife never had). 2016 her job got obsoleted and it was a case of find another one within the US operation or take the payoff and piss off out the country. This was just after the Brexit vote so our logic of ‘f**k it, let’s go to Miami; London’s always gonna be there if we need to go back’ was looking shoogly and she got a new job in Chicago where we moved Nov 2016. 2018 we got green cards and aren’t tied to her company any more; if they want to pay her off again we take the money and stay where we are. I love Chicago. The wee one goes to a great school, the Parks Dept are fantastic between summer camps and the lakefront stuff. I dislike the fact it’s so segregated and 4 years in Miami makes me really dislike the winters here, which are a bit silly. Looking like we’re going to move to New York next year and I’ll miss it. Not that I don’t want to go to NY, I think after I made the first big jump, then no issues, it’s just a case of wherever the wind takes us. I miss family and friends - perversely the pandemic’s been great for that because time zones matter less when everybody’s working from home - I’ve spoken to folks more in the last year than in the prior 7. The issue with Zoom pub quizzes is that you’re 6 hours behind GMT, so while everyone else can go to bed pleasantly rattled at 11pm, it’s 5 here and you’ve got to get dinner together while off your tits. Would I go back? I dunno. While cost of living here is more expensive, salary increases dwarf it. We’re earning comfortably 3-3.5 times what we did in Glasgow even when COL’s taken into account. We had a good social circle in Miami because nobody’s from there, everyone’s only been there 20 minutes so it’s easy to meet folks, everyone’s looking to get themselves out there. Chicago is more like a giant Glasgow, people are normal and there’s not a lot of airs and graces about the place. Trump polled something like 8% here so I do feel like I’m a little bastion of common sense. Nobody’s ever tried to talk to me about Jesus apart from the Mormon missionaries I ran into in Mexico. Oh, and the preacher on State Street that shouts at smokers that they’re going to hell for using cigarettes. My e-fag seemed to confuse him and he went back to screaming at randoms coming out of the subway.

Fully 23 pages of speculation, debate, claim & counter claim and still NOBODY has hit upon the obvious, tried & tested solution in a scenario like this:

https://www.falkirkfc.co.uk/2021/08/06/safe-space-section-to-open-for-the-clinically-extremely-vulnerable/ Genuinely brilliant initiative that I haven’t seen many other clubs doing. Everyone’s a winner. @Long Suffering Bairni think you have talked about being vulnerable - hope this sees you back at TFS where possible.

Was that the season Dundee relegated Dundee United at Dens Park?

He was never spoken to by anyone in the Scoyland set up ever. Even when he'd broken through in the top flight and was clearly a star nobody from the SFA ever contacted the club or player. Tommy Wright mentioned it in the media to goad a reaction and the SFA continued to refuse to contact McCann or Saints. Then NI came in, gave him a massive report about how they saw his future in terms of when and how he would step up to the first team, got him training with the first team, and had him mentored by Steven Davis as part of that. And still the SFA never contacted anyone about him. It was a no brainer as he wanted an International future. Scotland never even made it a choice for him.

Moved from Scotland early 2000’s, initially on a secondment for one year to sort an issue my employer at the time had in Hungary. Then moved over to Canada, hated that, moved back to Hungary for another 5 years, spent a bit of time in Russia and China (Guangdong). Then moved over to Vietnam working for myself. Went from several roles that took me to Philippines-China (Jiangsu and Zhejiang) -Philippines - Indonesia over the years and now been in Singapore coming up in six years. Many, many regrets, but leaving Scotland isn’t one of them. Only been back twice to Scotland since coming to Asia. Got married along the way to an Indonesian and both my kids born in Singapore so consider South East Asia best Asia. Not a particularly fantastic story as @SlipperyP but can relate to the attitudes of the people in the region to be absolutely great and humbling. Love spending time in the rural areas with friends and family that leaves me no desire to return to Scotland. There were a few things I missed from home at first, but like everything, through time these fade away.

In years to come we will look back and wonder how Dumbarton FC posting a Kevin MacLeod Grand Designs meme to mock Clyde ended up with a university professor offering scraps with fellow Falkirk fans whilst stating he never bombed innocent people. Scottish football is back baby!

What a pathetic post.

As regards the French, probably no surprise to learn that I’ve encountered no racism or negative vibes at all. The exact opposite. They’re as big fans of Scotland as you’ll find anywhere, which proved helpful in the past when getting busted for traveling without bus/train tickets. ”Ah, l’Ecosse” the inspector would say wistfully, before enquiring about my interest in whisky/rugby/ghosts. I’ve made a point of lecturing them that, in Scotland, rugby is played exclusively by paedophiles.

WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE

Man you have shipping containers in one of your stands and roughly 95% of your ground is shitty plastic seats. You won't win this one or even come close.

Not sure you are the right poster to be discussing the "logic or otherwise" of his political stance either tbh

Dinnae.

I moved to our beloved province/the occupied six counties (delete as per your prejudice) in 1973, like a lot of things in my life, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I needed a job, having just finished a quantity surveying course at polytechnic, and thought a change of scene might do me good. There was a job on offer in Coleraine (the chief partner was a Scotsman) and although The Troubles were basically at their worst, Coleraine hadn't been affected. Until I applied for the job - the Railway Road bomb - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Coleraine_bombings I also had (still have) relatives here, and knew things weren't (quite) as bad as portrayed on TV. Got the job, moved to Coleraine, got digs - the landlady was 8 months pregnant and said I could stay till the baby was born - I was there 6 years - and settled in. Found it very much like Scotland. Never had any real hankerings to move back, I would have visited twice a year and always tried to squeeze in a match at Pittodrie, I did miss the scotch pies and rowies and still do. Got my football fix by supporting Coleraine. Despite having no great hankerings to move back, a couple of times I applied for jobs in Scotland, I think I actually got offered one but it's that long ago I can't really remember. Thought i was destined for the life of a bachelor till I met my wife in 1992 and we celebrated our silver wedding anniversary this year (with her self isolating because she had Covid). The scenery here is spectacular, even the view from the top of our garden is quite stunning (currently unavailable due to grandson nr 3's sheep), and Donegal is only an hour away, equally spectacular. Folk are friendly/nosy depending how you take it, and having lived here for 48 years it's my home. The downside was obviously The Troubles and the resulting legacy of bitterness and division, which may never heal. Because of the money poured into security over the years infrastructure has suffered. Whenever I arrived here the M2 (I think that part is actually the M22) went as far as Randalstown. 48 years later it still only goes to Randalstown although in the last year it has been dualled to Castledawson. Dungiven - Londonderry is also being dualled, so that only leaves the bit in the middle, a mammoth task. There is still no dual carriageway from Londonderry to Ballygawley, despite £80 million having been spent - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-58090116 - There is still no motorway from Ballymena-Coleraine-Limavady-Londonderry although a lot of it has been dualled in the last few years. There is a bit of dual carriageway between Moneymore and Cookstown that hasn't been extended since it was built , 47 years ago. It's 2.3 miles long. I've never figured out why this bit only of the A29 is dualled. Omagh is still the forgotten town, no motorway or dual carriageway for it. The train service is actually quite good, the main problem being over 70% of the service was closed down 60 years ago and never replaced by buses, again partly a legacy of the Troubles to a certain extent. I haven't been back to Scotland since my parents died and with our health the way it is it's unlikely I'll ever be back. I'm content with my life and quite happy with my lot, I think the quality of life here is excellent, and have no regrets about moving here.

One thing in that screenshot jumps out at me and makes me think it's a lot of made-up shite...

It's a small section of the ground and if it makes some vulnerable people feel more comfortable and gets them to the game then it can't be bad thing. It in no way affects you anyway, and your post completely missed the point that I said it looked like masks WERE being binned across the board.

On the penalty thing, i wonder if part of our issue over the last few years has been we change the taker so regularly, generally after they miss one. I think there's a bit of added mental pressure due to the amount it feels like we've missed the past few years. Going back about 4 years; Maclean, Wotherspoon, May have all missed at least a couple, Tanser, Watt, Craig, Kennedy, McCann all missed as well. Should maybe say to a player, you're on the next three regardless, so they get the chance to find their method and handle the nerves. On a different note, I still think the change in Chris Kane is incredible. A year ago someone tells you we're going to Galatasary with Kane leading the line and it would be worry. Now you're desperate for him to be fit to start. He never once looked out his depth up there against quality European opposition, holding the ball up and winning fouls. Fully deserved for all the years of hard work he's put in, and a bit of stick at times.

as it is currently a Conservative / Labour run council they wont be getting my vote even if they allow a 50,000 crowd and free pies

Wales appear to be scrapping facemasks in all hospitality - nightclubs, pubs, restaurants, cafes - to rule out the obvious lunacy of allowing nightclubs but not late-night bars to scrap them. They do remain on public transport and in hospitals, which is mostly OK, and in shops, which is an obvious inconsistency and essentially pointless. But it’s a hell of a lot better than the absolute mess the Scottish Government have got themselves into here.

The message I got is they are keen to get fans back in the stadium. After 15 months of robot bald-head-tracker-cam crap I’m sure that will be achieved. But what the club don’t appear to have considered in the on-cost for a lot of fans living near Hampden and now travelling to the far north. A situation entirely of the club’s own making. Also noticed the Firhill food & drink prices aren’t very generous. I’d be very surprised if all the revenue for these doesn’t go to PTFC so not sure how much the club are gaining from all this, apart from more questionable PR. There’s a theme developing of a still-to-be-measured L1 team with alleged community ambitions behaving like a Premiership team angling for fans cash.

Tough start to the day. Poured my porridge into my coffee mug rather than the measuring cup, then spilled boiling water on my foot, and don't get me started on the answers to Q5 today.... Despite all that, 9/10 for Thursday. Edit: uh, looks like I rounded off an error-prone morning yesterday by forgetting to hit "submit reply". Some days you should just stay in bed... Still, 10 for Friday, which is nice

Okay I thought the treadmills episode was the worst moan I’d seen on here recently. Moaning about not paying £60k for one player in League One after a season that was covid affected might be up there. FYI - St Johnstone have just drawn away to Galatasaray tonight. Which of those players did they spend a £60k fee on?