Clann Alba Forums http://www.clannalba.com/index.php Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:11:00 +0000 5 http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1432-scots-set-for-313-mph/ T-Bucket Forums -

A SCOTTISH team looking to set a new world land speed record today have avoided "near disaster" after the engine of their hi-tech vehicle suffered severe damage.

The Speed Scotland team, competing in the Salt Flats of Utah at the prestigious Bonneville Speed Week, are aiming to smash the existing record of 313mph in the one-litre supercharged class.

Having constructed their own supercharged vehicle at a cost of £200,000, it looked like their chances were wrecked on Tuesday after a chain snapped during a practice session, damaging the casing on the engine and gearbox.

However, after tracking down a specialist on the other side of the US and convincing him to work through the night to make new parts, the team are back on track and hoping to launch an assault on the record today.

Speaking to The Scotsman from Utah, Rick Pearson, the driver of the Flower of Scotland vehicle, said: "Given we have no further spares with us, it looked like the dream of a record for Scotland was over for this year, but the team were not prepared to give it up that easily.

Read more...]]> Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:11:00 +0000 http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1432-scots-set-for-313-mph/ http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1431-happy-birthday-auld-yin/
M...]]> Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:59:05 +0000 http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1431-happy-birthday-auld-yin/ http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1430-some-music-for-the-soul/ The Library for your listening pleasure.]]> Sat, 21 Aug 2010 21:06:05 +0000 http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1430-some-music-for-the-soul/ http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1429-toward-castle-for-sale/

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30080339.html?premiumA=true

Here is the one I am dreaming off, it is downright tiny and cheap next to Toward, but it is the estate that has the ruins of Blackhouse Tower.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30612167.html

You think we could win the lottery in time before they are sold? ]]> Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:26:15 +0000 http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1429-toward-castle-for-sale/ http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1428-wacky-weather/
Here's a for instance. I had to be in Indianapolis for a meeting last evening. I left the house at about 3:30 and the heat index readings were 103° / 39°. Whilst in the meeting, we noticed the skies darkened and they then opened up and poured down rain for a bit. Then the clouds were gone and the sun was shining again. When I left the meeting and stepped outside, the Civil Defense sirens were going off. Mags, did you have a severe weather alert or something? I heard the sirens at about 7:30.

Today, the forecast high is 94° / 34°, with heat indices as high as 106° / 41°. And the National Weather Service has canceled the heat advisory and issued an excessive heat warning until 8:00 PM tomorrow. There's only a 10% probability of precipitation, but this is Indiana, which means there is a pop-up thunderstorm or two in our immediate future.

As warm as it is, I do want to point out you never have to shovel heat from your drives and sidewalks. Hats, coats and gloves are completely optional in this weather. And you are guaranteed not to get stuck in heat. (Unless, of course, you live on the Northside of Indy. Which means you are going to be stuck in traffic. ) I'll take this weather over the snow any day.]]> Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:26:21 +0000 http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1428-wacky-weather/ http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1425-happy-fourth-of-july/
I hope all of you will take just a few minutes to remember what this day is all about, prior to getting involved in the family get-togethers, the cookouts and the fireworks.]]> Sun, 04 Jul 2010 11:19:32 +0000 http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1425-happy-fourth-of-july/ http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1423-we-had-a-wee-spot-of-bad-weather/
Actually, it was the best part of two hours before things returned to some sense of normalcy. The drive home from work was a real treat. I've lived here all my life and streets were ponding in areas I had never seen before.

There are some images of the storm damage located HERE. Maitland, there is a photo of some hailstones and a couple coins in that slideshow The larger of the two coins is about 50% larger than a £2 coin. Fields in the county to our immediate northwest had crops shredded by the hail. All we can do now is hope it is not to late to replant. If we have a decent Fall, the farmers just might pull it off. If it gets wet early on, this isn't going to be a very good harvest for an area that is already suffering the effects of the economy.

And today's forecast is calling for a 70% chance of more thunderstorms. Oh, joy. ]]> Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:08:24 +0000 http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1423-we-had-a-wee-spot-of-bad-weather/ http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1422-indy-has-a-new-flying-scot/
In a post-race interview, it was brought up he may have been in some serious trouble with the amount of fuel he had remaining and an interviewer asked if he felt he had enough to have3 finished the race under power. In a relaxed, Scots accent, Franchitti's response was, 'Oh Hell yeah.' ]]> Mon, 31 May 2010 10:50:32 +0000 http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1422-indy-has-a-new-flying-scot/ http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1421-some-changes-to-the-site/
The site is now running on Invision Power Board 3.1.0 Beta 1 software. A lot of testing has taken place with this software, so I am fully confident the site will be just fine, even running Beta software. You will notice some new icons around the site, and there are more yet to come. We have added a means whereby visitors from Twitter can also use these forums. We will be adding that same functionality for Facebook users and people using OpenID. There are now some social bookmarking icons located at the bottom-left of every topic, so please use them to let others in your social circles know about posts you've enjoyed here on the forums.

If you check Settings > Profile, you will see you can also associate your forum account with your Twitter account. Again, this is something we will be adding for Facebook. For now, you can update your Twitter status by updating your forum status and vice-versa. This is just another means to more tightly integrate your forum experience with your social networking experiences.

You will note we are back to just a couple of forum skins to select from. I really liked the default skin we have been using and was a big fan of the young man that I thought had designed it. When I discovered this young man has been riding the backs of other designers and copying their work, I decided it was a good time to dump his skin from the site. For the time being, we have both the IP.Board skin and the CleanCut 3.1 skin to choose from.

There is now also a Mobile skin for those using Mobile phones.

Enjoy looking about the site and discovering new features.]]> Wed, 12 May 2010 19:36:36 +0000 http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1421-some-changes-to-the-site/ http://www.clannalba.com/topic/1420-gordon-brown-to-resign/
The surprising statement comes as Britain's political parties sort out the electoral mess that began last week, which saw no party emerge as a clear victor.

"I have no desire to stay in my position longer than is needed to ensure that the path to economic growth is secured," Brown said on Monday.

Brown says he wants his Labor Party to govern in coalition with the Liberal Democrats - and he'll step down in September if that happens.

"No single party and no single leader was able to win the full support of the country," Brown said, as he stood outside 10 Downing St. "As leader of my party, I must accept that that is a judgment on me."

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