Aberdeen (Scotland), anyone been there?

[ElKabong]

Have a job offer that's going to be difficult to turn down there. Anyone been there or know much about it? All I know is....cold, windy, on the North Sea

Anyone experience the cost of living, 1rst hand? General impressions?

Thanks.

[Rookies]

ElK:

From a dyed in the wool Scot friend:

"It is a good city, reasonably safe, will have a few yobbos like any other city. It will have fantastic pubs, good restaurants. There in one good soccer team in Aberdeen. It is an hour away from Inverness, Loch Ness and the Scottish highlands, and some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

World class year round golf course all over the place. The city is right on the North Sea facing Norway. The weather is worse than Glasgow and Edinburgh as it 110 miles straight north of Edinburgh. It can be cold and damp in the summer too. Beautiful beaches.

The good news is you can get cheap Ryan air flights all over Europe. One hour flights to Dublin, Belfast, London, Paris. Guys go on stag flights to places like Krakow, in Poland, or Berlin, Prague etc.

Also a two hour drive to Edinburgh and three hours to Glasgow, both world class cities.

Lots of oil riggers live in Aberdeen.

Aberdonians have the reputation of being the cheapest folk alive :o)

You can also get a week in the sun, Spain or Portugal for next to nothing."

[ElKabong]

Thank you, Rookies. Much appreciated

[Greyfox]

Aberdeen? I never quite made it there. I only got as far north as Edinburgh.

But if you're going there, be sure to tell someone in a pub,

"I'd like to visit your most famous resident Angus, and that's no bull.":rolleyes:

[Shemp Howard]

Someone tell him about the winters. I don't have the heart.

[ElKabong]

winter temps are milder than St Louis, actually. Certainly more harsh than here in Dallas, but not as bad as the midwest per wikipedia....what would get me, is they have no summer warmth. High avg'ing in the mid 60s.

If I were 20-30 yrs younger I'd take it, but I'll pass on the job & stay put (and regret it later no doubt)

[JustRalph]

What kind of work do they do there? What field were you going for?

If you don't mind the questions.........

[highnote]

Too bad you're not going. I have a joke you could tell people. Usually, only Scottish people will get it, but it always gets a laugh when I tell it to Scottish folk.

Q. What's the difference between Frank Sinatra and Walt Disney?

A. Frank sings and Walt Disney.

[Greyfox]

Too bad you're not going. I have a joke you could tell people. Usually, only Scottish people will get it, but it always gets a laugh when I tell it to Scottish folk.

Q. What's the difference between Frank Sinatra and Walt Disney?

A. Frank sings and Walt Disney.

:rolleyes: Are you sure that they are not laughing at you and not the joke??

[HUSKER55]

no....they would be laughing at me. I still don't get it. :D


ahhh....morning coffee is ready

[highnote]

:rolleyes: Are you sure that they are not laughing at you and not the joke??


:lol: You might right.

[highnote]

no....they would be laughing at me. I still don't get it. :D


ahhh....morning coffee is ready


Frank signs and Walt "doesn't he" Scottish colloquialism -- disn-ee

It's never funny when you have to explain it. :D

[horses4courses]

winter temps are milder than St Louis, actually. Certainly more harsh than here in Dallas, but not as bad as the midwest per wikipedia....what would get me, is they have no summer warmth. High avg'ing in the mid 60s.

If I were 20-30 yrs younger I'd take it, but I'll pass on the job & stay put (and regret it later no doubt)

The temperatures, which aren't too bad, are one thing...the darkness is another.
There is not much sunlight throughout the winter months, and it gets dark close to 3pm.
Can be depressing....which is why flights to warmer climates are popular.

[ElKabong]

What kind of work do they do there? What field were you going for?

If you don't mind the questions.........


http://www.statoil.com/en/Careers/JobOpportunities/VacantPositions/Pages/182.aspx

Above was the position I originally interviewed for, then I was asked 2 weeks later if I would be interested in a similar UK position.

If you have (a) oil and gas experience (b) contract negotiation experience (c) supply chain management experience, you're in a good spot....assuming you don't mind moving out of DFW. Surprisingly there are fewer jobs open here @ DFW than elsewhere for people w/ my experience looking around. I'm stuck with what I've got for a job I guess (shrug)

[ElKabong]

Ralph,

http://www.statoil.com/en/Careers/JobOpportunities/VacantPositions/Pages/107.aspx

fwiw, this is what i had submitted my online resume for, but was interviewed for the linked position in the prior post....leads me to believe this is taken (if you're interested) but the position has been open for 3 months, so maybe not.... Odd b/c I'm sure there are a dozen + people locally in HOU qualified for the job that w/ take it. Pays well

[JustRalph]

Interesting stuff. Thanks for the info. I am not qualified for any of that.

Energy industry apparently is the business of note in Aberdeen. It should be more important here.

[iceknight]

Ralph,

http://www.statoil.com/en/Careers/JobOpportunities/VacantPositions/Pages/107.aspx

fwiw, this is what i had submitted my online resume for, but was interviewed for the linked position in the prior post....leads me to believe this is taken (if you're interested) but the position has been open for 3 months, so maybe not.... Odd b/c I'm sure there are a dozen + people locally in HOU qualified for the job that w/ take it. Pays well Ah, you are in the O&G business! Good to know. I am in the energy area, but getting more and more into natural gas. Don't mind getting into the upstream, but most of my knowledge is in downstream so far....might hit you up on pm later!

[highnote]

Elk and Ice -- what do you think of the fracking industry? It's booming in my home county in Ohio. Lots of jobs and the home and apartmental rental prices have risen quite a bit.

[Dahoss2002]

http://www.statoil.com/en/Careers/JobOpportunities/VacantPositions/Pages/182.aspx

Above was the position I originally interviewed for, then I was asked 2 weeks later if I would be interested in a similar UK position.

If you have (a) oil and gas experience (b) contract negotiation experience (c) supply chain management experience, you're in a good spot....assuming you don't mind moving out of DFW. Surprisingly there are fewer jobs open here @ DFW than elsewhere for people w/ my experience looking around. I'm stuck with what I've got for a job I guess (shrug)

Dang it EK.. You need to get over here and Get this Haynesville Shale rolling again. I have some leasehold that needs to be further developed. I have noticed we are getting more rigs back in area.

[iceknight]

Elk and Ice -- what do you think of the fracking industry? It's booming in my home county in Ohio. Lots of jobs and the home and apartmental rental prices have risen quite a bit. fracking for gas has definitely helped adding to the economy in ohio, pa..but at the same time a lot depends on how the doe handles the gas shipping policies for export.
It is a complicated issue as us based chemical companies want the gas as raw material at slightly lower price than what europe or japan might buy it at..
while a lot of the gas-only companies just want to pump it out and sell quickly.

there has been lot of misguided/misinformed opposition towards fracking though and I wish that more science and economics get into it, than just passion based discussions

[ElKabong]

Guys,

I'm currently in the aviation industry, contractual procurement. I left the 'energy bidness' 6 years ago. Kind of wish I didn't leave it, & it's booming bigtime right now. It would be nice to ride hard into retirement back in the energy industry. I miss the fast pace.

Re : booming industry -- check out Houston real estate right now. Houses are selling 30-40k over valuations at the moment, the boom has just begun. I was hoping to get in now, before it gets out of hand (and it will)

[ElKabong]

Elk and Ice -- what do you think of the fracking industry? It's booming in my home county in Ohio. Lots of jobs and the home and apartmental rental prices have risen quite a bit.

Ceejay (and iceknight) would be best to ask. Ceejay is a bonafide geologist, even if educated @ 0u ;) ....i just buy stuff and get beat down by lawyers.

[Charli125]

I reached out to some friends from that area, and below are the responses. They range from helpful, to not helpful at all!

:1: -My wife is from Aberdeen so I know it quite well.

If his job offer is from the twat Trump tell him Aberdeen is a shit hole and Trump is behaving like a ****ing vizigoth with his bloody gold course there.

That aside Aberdeen is not cheap. It's our oil city. It's very northerly, very cold. People are quite reserved. Despite being an oil city it s still very provincial, there's not great nightlife or culture. There is the remants of an old language called Doric which still infuses local speech - that shows how provincial it is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doric_dialect_(Scotland)

The city is made from granite which some people thinks looks very dull and grey and other's think looks like silver. The quartz in the granite glistens in the rain. It rains a fair bit tho not as much as Manchester.

The coast line is great, the beach is gorgeous. The coney island like amusement park on the beach is tacky and hilarious. The inland landscape is lovely too. Scotland really is a beautiful part if the world.

The football club is weak.
They hate all things Glasgow.
And are in some ways the a polar opposite of Glasgow yet stll very scottish.

:2: -I had friends who farmed about an hour inland from Aberdeen and the area was beautiful…

Very rustic, very remote, very “wild” landscape, VERY wet and cold, bit I loved it.

Last time I was in Aberdeen was 20 years ago and the bars I frequented seemed to be from a bygone era (i.e. very “un-modern” and almost 70s working men club in design). I am sure there are many “trendy” bars in the downtown area, but I have always gravitated to the more local and untrendy bars in my life.

I agree the feel of the city is “grey” (or gray if you are American) but I had a awesome time there. The fact that I was fueled with plenty of McEwans 80 shillings and had the company of some excellent friends may have influenced that last statement, but I had fun there.

:3: -I only know the shortest Scottish joke ever.

Scottish lass: "Kiss me where it's wet and stinky!"
Scottish lad drives her to Aberdeen.

[ElKabong]

Thank you, Charlie.