Good morning from wet Leafy Bucks, the Chiltern Hills have disappeared into the clouds and it is extraordinarily grey and damp out there.
Morning all, dry and breezy, but we could see a shower later today. Mme is confident that the washing she has hung out will be dry within the hour. Last public holiday today before Christmas if you live on that side of the Channel, but this side there are two more before then in November. Bit of a storm brewing here after the Prime Minister hinted he might take a look at relaxing the 35 hours a week laws. Some shop workers want to be able to earn overtime payments by working extra hours, while others point out that they actually are more productive in their working week than the Brits who work longer hours. Still it does draw attention to the fact that the government is not in hiding.
The problem is that all french governments collapse at the first attempt of any kind of reform to their labour markets. I cannot see any alternative but a long slow decline in competitiveness and therefore living standards. The french nation needs a Margaret Thatcher type to shake things up but unfortunately it lacks the required resolve, until things worsen....
Exactly.......They need someone to come in, destroy all of their industry and leave them with an unbalanced economy based on banks and the occasional service based industry.....they can become a nation of security guards, call centre workers, fruit pickers, zero hour contract workers. They can sell off all of their national assets to Arabs, squander the money and then claim to be patriotic. They can create a housing bubble which forces house prices out of the reach of normal people, they can have someone who talks about 'living within your means' but which really leads to more debt than ever before........they can, at last, drive all of the poor people out of Paris. They can create a land fit for bankers and yuppies.........all they need is a Maggie ! However, I suggest we move this to the politics thread.
Sæl öll. Tea and coffee, donuts and fruit are on the bar. Half and half coffee for Brian Black coffee for Bragi
Thanks for the coffee (just finished it ) bright and sunny mid 70s . Im starting my trip to the UK, visiting relatives in Atlanta 1ST get to LTR thu and NO watford game till the 12 th can someone have a word .ENGLAND MUST NOT GET IN WATFORD WAY lol
Just been sat outside in the cool of the evening with a glass of Merlot watching a very good electrical storm. The temperature this afternoon was again over the 30°C mark, but I have some winter cabbage and sprout plants that need to go in, so the plot needed to be prepared despite the heat. Getting rid of some of the grasses that have survived showed up just how dry and hot it has been. There was no moisture in the soil despite all the compost that had been applied earlier. Not surprising as the last rain we had fell on the 14th August. Tonight's storm is lovely to watch, although Mme does not agree, but there is still no rain.
