If the weekend can be considered to start on a Friday it's got off to a bloody awful start. Took my mother in law to hospital in the morning to have a pump fitted for her forthcoming chemotherapy, so it was a bit of a thoughtful drive in to work after that. Then, a couple of miles from the office at a left hand bend I had to move right over to the left hand side of the road to avoid a truck coming the other way somewhat on my side of the road and hit a drainage grid that had dropped about 6". Even at about 25 mph it made a hell of a bang, and immediately afterwards started getting a rattle from the back. Thinking maybe some trim had got detached I stopped to have a look. On the outside all looked ok. Then I looked in the back Mercifully it was still driveable, so I managed to get to work, and this evening from work to the garage where it awaits analysis tomorrow morning. Whether it was actually legally roadworthy is another matter. Also mercifully we had already planned to go to Crewe on the train tomorrow (the anesthetic referred to in alwaysright's post above is not compatible with driving, and we plan to make sure we are suitably anesthetized...) but Thameside council are going to get a bill for the damage. Have to get the wheel checked as well, and the cd mutichanger (just to the rear of the shock absorber on the same side) has stopped working as well. To say that I have spend the day in varying degrees of fury, frustration and despondency is an understatement. What will tomorrow bring? Apart from beer.
Tim - Don't be a wimp - every Saturday has been like that recently. best wishes for your mum-in-law...... and I hope your car gets better soon.
Cheers mate. She's a battler. Not the first time she's had this treatment so we're broadly philosophical about the situation, but you'll appreciate she's not young and so it is a bit of an ordeal.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24268852 So teachers don't want to be 'rewarded ' for their performance ! Is that because, if they 'fail', they don't wish to be 'rewarded' in the same way as the 'rewards' for the 'failure' of their students ?
So talk of freezes on fuel prices where as the counter argument will come from the usual green parties. Quite simply over recent decades government and local authority planning have allowed an environment to be created where people have to commute to work. The government is constantly banging the drum about moving people off benefits and into work. The reality is you have to travel to do this. With many industries now shut down, where many Town Centres are on the verge of death's door and a public transport system that does not cater for the employee's need without great time and expense, we are sadly forced to turn and continue to rely on our cars. The hidden problem is the cost of fuel's knock on affect is surely the poverty line for some. As responsible hard working people toe the government's line but in return are giving a good kicking at the pumps for doing so. So until your planning and infrastructure caters for local needs, we are never going to meet the green party agenda's. But who is to blame for that, us the car users, or the planners and people in power that have forced whole town demise and the need to commute. Don't be fooled by the planners promises of local jobs for local people in an ever moving community. It would take us decades to undo what has been done, so in the meantime the government need to face a stark choice...keep prices down...or take the knock on affect to the already strained government coffers. What's the point in taking tax on fuel if your handing it back in benefits. But as I said earlier fuel is the hidden cost, something not catered for in the breadline and for one where there is no alternative. The Conservatives and Labour will make you promises but just look at the mess they have made over previous decades...time for change?...nothing will change...same old, same old. Time to collect the tax from elsewhere and bring this 59% margin down. ps. I've just seen Boris' comments re migrant workers in comparison to British counterparts...let us get something clear here...when it is promised local jobs for local people how are you checking the sources that these jobs are being advertised through. What do you call as local people?...someone such as single migrant worker that have has just moved from another location and rented a property in the local town, hence adding to the local unemployment problem...if not directly as an individual but indirectly. Yes, that individual has as much right to work as the next indiivdual but how are we monitoring that the local jobs percentage for local people is being applied as perceived?
BRB..... many true words and thoughts. Regarding the transport issues...(my background) ....until there is a viable alternative on offer for the populace then the car will have to be used. So....cynically I say...the government (whoever is in power) will wring its hands and pretend to be greener than its counterpart, register the soundbytes of concern......hammer the motorist (as there IS NO VIABLE OPTION) and place the blame elsewhere. There is a desperate need for (dare I say it) a loss leading public transport policy which will free up the roads for genuine communication and delivery of services...... However what do I (with 32 years background) know. Bought a place in France and intend to move there full time. When people get p***ed off over there......they do something about it.....burning barricades etc. The reason nothing gets done in the UK is because we all role over , die , and accept the crap we're fed on a daily basis.......and then advised how to complain in 50 different languages.
The problem is that you need both a carrot and a stick approach to public transport; a reliable prompt and affordable transport system (carrot) and the taxation of cars to both pay for the transport system in the short term and to reduce the number of cars on the road. Unfortunately we only have a stick at the moment. We need a transport revolution and it needs to be painful for car users as it is the only way things will change, short term pain for long term gain
Nothing ever surprises me anymore none more so than the outrage about the Halloween costumes inaptly named. My first thoughts turned to those people complaining, questioning how much did they actually understand about mental health and their experiences of the illness? Yes, the headlines brought great welcomed attention for MIND...http://www.mind.org.uk/ Truth be known I saw the costume for what it was as in today's ever acceptable age...a costume. Yes, some dumb nut could have applied a more appropriate Halloween name as the annual American big event invades the UK. But let me ask this where is the same outrage applied when you read sad stories such as this... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-24358473 There was no care. I rest my thoughts on those last four words in the that last paragraph. There is no care in the UK for mental health issues because people turn blindly by...so maybe ASDA didn't do all bad after all.
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...M0xPMUFYnBt63FTeA&sig2=c391bRNWlVHNhKHenYG6-A Please don't forget to respect the referee & linesmen tomorrow. [NSFW] [/NSFW]
A comment overheard last night David Moyes spent 11 years trying to get Everton above Manchester United in the Premiership, and he's finally succeeded....
A positive step ! - although it should have been obvious that fans need to know about such things as player injury time scales etc. Of course it will not address more political 'hot potatoes' ( STH ) - because the Club do not (sensibly) respond to such enquiries. And talking politics - The Wall would be a waste of time in places like the houses of Parliament or any of the energy companies. None of them would take any notice of the problems of the common man... or 'Plebs' as one MP was accused of so describing us mere mortals. MPs are far too busy making decisions that dictate that the pay of many of us is restricted to 1% or frozen - yet this fact is lost on the energy companies - who fear the Labour Party being elected into Government - yet they ( energy companies) are quite happy to raise their prices by ridiculous amounts. I hear that the latest, upcoming hike will be circa 6%. Last November British Gas raised their prices by 6%. In 2011 their prices went up by 18% for gas & 16% for electricity - which they reduced in January 2012 by 6% to reflect the reduction in wholesale price - therefore were not actually reducing their profit margins. Talking about that profit - it was £ 2.7 Billion in 2012 ( up 14% on 2011 ) - I think that works out at over £ 850 per SECOND - per SECOND - yet they are worried about a price freeze for what amounts to one winter - let's hope it will be a mild one this year.......... or YOU MIGHT AS WELL GO ON BANGING YOUR HEAD ON A BRICK WALL
I get annoyed enough with the O/S so getting even more hacked off trying to find this so called Gills Wall...where is it?
1. I, along with several of my contemporaries, were frustrated by the dinosaur attitude of my secondary school towards change and ability to move with the times - that was in the (very) early 1970's. The school and I parted with what I term 'unresolved differences of opinion'. It wasn't long, however, before I at least respected that the stuck-in-the past headmaster's philosophy on politics was actually beautiful in both it's simplicity and accuracy. It was "There are three political parties of any significance in this country. Two large ones that govern as badly as each other, and one small one that doesn't govern at all" Which is of course as true now as it was 40+ years ago. which brings me onto 2. There has been a pretty independent form of democratic government in this country for several hundred years (in this post I won't start arguing about an actual start date as the power of the Commons has been a development rather than outright from the off. Save that one for the pub). The bottom line is that assorted politicians have had a very long time to study the history and effect of their decisions on the country and hopefully learn from earlier mistakes. Despite this experience they still show no signs whatsoever that they're ever going to get it right. So do I have any confidence that the next parliament will be able to do it any better? My natural answer would use 3 words, but as this is a non-swearing board I'll settle for 1 - No.
itstimupnorth - love your political comment stance and one of where we may agree, although without searching deeper cannot be completely sure. I think this Country is due for great political change, something that neither the Conservatives or Labour can ever offer. As for the other one Liberal's I have no confidence in them either. That leaves us with someone maybe like UKIP...or would that be like playing the joker card. So where do I stand in my political beliefs... I believe we should come completely out of Europe and seek total independence. The Scots and Welsh can go the same way if they so choose, I really don't care. I've listened to the arguments of how we would not survive going it alone and the great hardships that would follow. Great I say, we live in a want, want society and it's about time we kicked pure greed and selfishness in to touch. Half of the people on this land would not know how to put food to mouth without the ease of a supermarket. What a sorry state of affairs for this little island's human race. The working classes have been gradually eroded over recent decades and replaced by the benefit state on one extreme and the middle class on the opposite. Somewhere in between all this are still those same working classes who are constantly hammered for taxes, the hidden hard working, unspoken minority, who claim nothing off the state. The decline of Pubs, the attack on our beloved game, no smoking, everything politically correct. But I won't apologise for my views because we will still die growing old and at some point peeing our pants. Crude, yes. Reality, yes. We will all still die the same. Already pension age is increasing because our government controlled police state will not allow us to die by our own devices. I'm getting older and I will still die laughing with that final pint of beer and cigarette puff going down my neck. Having out lived most of my own generation. Wages forced down by immigration, in a NOT for 'local' people jobs, in an ever moving foreign community. I once heard a Indian manager boast in a workplace that every member of his office he had employed was a different nationality...oh great but hey hang on a minute, I don't mind a multi cultural environment but should we really be allowing application of emphasis on such an achievement. Surely that is a form of discrimination itself. Whilst on this topic, I've lost count of the number of employers I work for where individuals speak in their native tongue, how rude!...excluding their fellow British counterparts who don't understand that tongue from a conversation. This is not tourism or even that those individuals cannot speak English. If those comments make me a racist then wow, but it don't seem right to me. I have never had an opinion on anyone's race or religion but pure good manners needs to be applied in certain situations. Maybe if we all did experience hardships and withdrew all benefits, we actually might prosper by the pure fact of having to stand on our own two feet. Then there could also be no argument that the migrants that remain are here to help us as one. I suppose the only true way this will all end is another world war, where comforts and conform get thrown on the back burner as a blitzed life needs to be rebuilt again from the ground up. Where the vicious cycle commences all over again.
brb How's your understanding of Bulgarian and Romanian - You've got less than 3 months to learn the languages - before they start flooding in. I agree with virtually everything you've written. Tim - there's little to distinguish Tory from Labour ( Tony Blair changed Labour into another form of Conservatives ) I might have to also concede to cynicism and say that most (all ?) MPs are in office for their own benefit - many (all ?) not giving much consideration for the good of their constituents when making policy.... all the time making sure that they max out their expenses claims. The only time they start to offer small promises of crumbs is about 18 months or so before a General Election - all of a sudden it seems a good vote winner to say that energy prices will be frozen..... Like you Tim, I may be old, grey ugly & fat ( those last 2 might just be me ! ) - but I'm not stupid - unless you are an ecomonic migrant, you'll get nothing without a price. brb- hurry up with that rope - I need to use it after you.
The title has nothing to do with the content of this post ! Got a bit frustrated today with buses. First I'm in a busy road following a bus which I just couldn't pass - not even when it arrived at a bus stop. Why ? Because the local council has created an island jutting out, towards the middle of the road from the normal pavement line - to allow passengers to board the bus. This means that the bus takes up ALL of the lane - and with oncoming trffic it's impossible to pass the bus. So I got stuck behind it for about a mile. It got worse As I followed the bus to yet another bus stop, it managed to arrive at exactly the same time as a bus, from the opposite direction arriving at a bus stop directly opposite !! Nothing moved for the next couple of minutes. What cretin thought it was a good idea to create a situation where buses stop in the middle of the road ? Was it the same idiot who devised the bus timetable to ensure that opposing buses will arrive at stops directly opposite each other at the same time. I certainly wont be inviting the idiot to organise a party. ..... this on a day when a mysteriously large pile of leaves appeared directly outside my front door !
Another ridiculous decision - at least this man jumped before he was pushed AND He can replace his one hand with just two fingers to his former employers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-24516676
alwaysright...can I ask...was you tipped off about MadDogs sacking?... I refer to your title of post #537....which states: 'The world will end before you lot finish reading brb's camel thread for Shrewsbury' This just has to go in your Vale camel thread...lol
brb I'm sure that it's going to cost Scally a lot more than 9 pence to put Martin Allen on the cart ! <bring out your dead> edit - how are you doing with the Sheffield Utd 'camel' ? - I've already practically finished the one for Rotherham ! I haven't needed to reprint the Port Vale 'camel' as I knew about the leadership change before I sent it to press.
