throw a dyce,
It doesn't help your pay banding or pension issues I know, but until they are resolved, consider this:-
About an hour's drive west of where I believe you work, you are in the Grampian Highlands. ("Where the mountain men are kings, and the sound of the piper counts for everything").
- A lonely, primeval landscape, totally devoid of out-of-town shopping centres, Starbucks, and Band 5 ATCOs.
It's priceless.
ENJOY 
!
Last edited by ZOOKER; 13th August 2008 at 10:21.