During the crisis of 2008, the law firm at which I then worked engaged in restructuring, and sent the big boss around the international offices on a charm offensive, to explain the need for a “headcount reduction”. The French people I was in the room with had no idea what he was talking about.
Enhanced seems to be word of the week at my tertiary institution. The union has sent around a bulletin warning about "enhanced retirement"... I can only guess it gives you a shack by the beach, $1 mill a year and all the pāua (abalone) you can eat.
Enhanced seems to be word of the week at my tertiary institution. The union has sent around a bulletin warning about "enhanced retirement"... I can only guess it gives you a shack by the beach, $1 mill a year and all the pāua (abalone) you can eat.
Sorry, paua are protected, there is a limit to your daily take, as there is with most kai moana (seafood). Maybe you could live on rabbits, possums and wallabies and become venerated as a wildlife conservator.
Is this something that UK folks take seriously? I initially was angry because I misread "UK" as "US" (doh!), and thought this was going to be like Chef Jamie Oliver coming over here, telling us how to eat. Don't know if his behavior was a reflection of who he really is. But IMVHO he was rude, condescending, culturally clueless, and acted like a food messiah. (What, me, have opinions? Noooo.)
I guess my TICTH is about the attitudes and behavior I mentioned, and the 2.0 version of same in the article.
Many years ago, I was entitled to free school dinners, but I eventually took in packed lunches because the school dinners were so awful (I can still smell that vile cheese pie!). Since then I've visited a lot of schools, and had lunches, as a historical re-enactor, and the meals do seem to have improved immensely.
My wife taught in at least two schools which enacted a strict school lunchbox regime ... parents who put unhealthy foods in them were told to change their ways (in no uncertain terms!) I think this isn't uncommon.
My kids had something called the Golden Carrot award, back in the day (c2006/ 7/8). Kids got a point for taking healthy food to school Mon-Thurs, but their food had to include something unhealthy on a Friday (modelling the once-a-week treat thing). Every Friday I would forget that I was supposed to provide something properly unhealthy, and I'd be scrabbling around, with the kids saying that e.g. chocolate raisins, or flapjacks or home made walnut cake wasn't unhealthy enough, and they'd only get a point if they had something with no redeeming qualities like a mars bar.
Personally, I used to fantasise about where I'd like the school to shove the Golden Carrot.
I should add that while chocolate raisins, flapjacks and home made cake weren't unhealthy enough for Friday's Golden Carrot point, they weren't healthy enough for Mon-Thursday G.C. points either. Mon-Thurs had to be fruit / carrot sticks / wholemeal bread sandwiches etc.
My kids had something called the Golden Carrot award, back in the day (c2006/ 7/8). Kids got a point for taking healthy food to school Mon-Thurs, but their food had to include something unhealthy on a Friday (modelling the once-a-week treat thing). Every Friday I would forget that I was supposed to provide something properly unhealthy, and I'd be scrabbling around, with the kids saying that e.g. chocolate raisins, or flapjacks or home made walnut cake wasn't unhealthy enough, and they'd only get a point if they had something with no redeeming qualities like a mars bar.
Personally, I used to fantasise about where I'd like the school to shove the Golden Carrot.
They've never been on a mountainside in driving sleet three hours later than expected and still two hours to go before civilisation if they think a Mars bar has no redeeming qualities at all.
They've never been on a mountainside in driving sleet three hours later than expected and still two hours to go before civilisation if they think a Mars bar has no redeeming qualities at all.
Aren't you confusing Mars bars with Kendal Mint Cake?
Just thinking out loud, and you don't have to answer. I wonder if the debit card is *just* a debit card. Is it branded by a well-known company (Visa, etc.)? Is it connected to a bank account? Or is it more like a pre-paid credit card? Could you connect your debit card to a Paypal account?
I was supposed to have a podiatry appointment at 11.30. They rang at 9.30 to say it had been cancelled, by which time I had rearranged my plans for the day 😡
I was supposed to have a podiatry appointment at 11.30. They rang at 9.30 to say it had been cancelled, by which time I had rearranged my plans for the day 😡
My doctor's office did that to me recently. I had made an appointment for my flu shot, but they called to say they had run out of the vaccine. I had assumed making an appointment meant they would reserve my dose.
The really annoying thing is the big sign in the waiting room that patients who cancel within 24 hours of their appointment will be charged. No mention of doctors cancelling within 2 hours!
... Is it branded by a well-known company (Visa, etc.)? Is it connected to a bank account? Could you connect your debit card to a Paypal account?
Yes - Mastercard; yes; yes it is.
I've decided, sod it - a friend's picking me up shortly and we're going to a travel agent. They might be able to get a less disagreeable flight schedule as well - the ones I was finding seemed to have either (a) an inordinately long wait in Toronto (11 hours, sort of overnight); (b) a very short one in London (leaving very little time to change terminals or to allow for delays) or (c) both.
I'm not relishing the prospect of travelling on my own, but I guess I'm going to have to get used to it.
Travel now organised - thanks, all, for your good wishes!
I'm glad I went to an agent - I've got an itinerary that I think I can handle, with stops in Toronto and Dublin on the way across, and London and Montreal on the way back, but none of the stops is either too long or too short.
Dogs who bark, while giving their owners the impression that they don't.
The very nice people who have moved in next door brought three collies and an Australian cattle dog, all working animals. He assured us that they never barked except when something was seriously amiss. For three weeks the dogs lived in the utility room and I never heard them, so when the kennels were built outside my bedroom window I didn't object.
I have now discovered that they bark when he isn't there. They bark at 5.30 in the morning when their people get up.
I am prepared to give them time to settle, but this is seriously impacting on my sleep
Indeed. It's all I can do to get on and off a bus these days...
If there's a bus.
The new bus station in Newport is so inadequate that if buses are delayed it gets overcrowded and too often it's caused by drivers not getting to the bus in time to collect fares so they can leave promptly, enabling another bus to pull-in. Sometimes this escalates and there are five buses waiting to pull-in because the station is full. It's a combination of poor bus station design, poor management and drivers who really don't want to drive a bus, and who can blame them for the lousy wages and abuse they get.
Dogs who bark, while giving their owners the impression that they don't.
The very nice people who have moved in next door brought three collies and an Australian cattle dog, all working animals. He assured us that they never barked except when something was seriously amiss. For three weeks the dogs lived in the utility room and I never heard them, so when the kennels were built outside my bedroom window I didn't object.
I have now discovered that they bark when he isn't there. They bark at 5.30 in the morning when their people get up.
I am prepared to give them time to settle, but this is seriously impacting on my sleep
If the Aussie cattle dog is a Huntaway, then all they do is bark (and run). The collies will bark back. I reckon you've got bored dogs there.
Ahem! Cardiff Bus Station had 34 stands and was the largest in Wales - but it was closed in 2015. Now there isn't one, despite repeated promises to build one. We have been told 2023 and - guess what? - it will only have 14 stands. With very few exceptions, new bus stations are far too small (yes, Norwich and Hammersmith [two I know well], I'm looking at you).
The Christchurch Bus Interchange has 16 bays. I was built following the quakes and is my second most favourite building (after Turanga - the Library of course). Buses drive through it, rather than it being a terminal.
As for bus drivers' pay - it is lousy. I told a bus driver I though they should be paid on a par with domestic pilots - at least the pilots don't have the dubious pleasure of dealing with the public.🙄
Ahem! Cardiff Bus Station had 34 stands and was the largest in Wales - but it was closed in 2015. Now there isn't one, despite repeated promises to build one. We have been told 2023 and - guess what? - it will only have 14 stands. With very few exceptions, new bus stations are far too small (yes, Norwich and Hammersmith [two I know well], I'm looking at you).
Preston Bus Station, on the other hand, is ludicrously over-sized and resembles a grotesquely enlarged public toilet.
We acquired a nice new bus station some years ago, and (despite being rather draughty) it seems adequate for the services using it even at peak times.
The only stand without a shelter or seats is that used by the daily buses to Slovakia (one to Kosice, the other to Presov, IIRC - not sure if there's one to Bratislava as well).
I am tempted to board one of them one day, brandishing my Senior Citizens Bus Pass...
Dogs who bark, while giving their owners the impression that they don't.
The very nice people who have moved in next door brought three collies and an Australian cattle dog, all working animals. He assured us that they never barked except when something was seriously amiss. For three weeks the dogs lived in the utility room and I never heard them, so when the kennels were built outside my bedroom window I didn't object.
I have now discovered that they bark when he isn't there. They bark at 5.30 in the morning when their people get up.
I am prepared to give them time to settle, but this is seriously impacting on my sleep
If the Aussie cattle dog is a Huntaway, then all they do is bark (and run). The collies will bark back. I reckon you've got bored dogs there.
To be fair to the poor dogs, they were left unattended for 12 hours or so yesterday. I'm sure they felt that justified them breaking out of the posh kennels and running for the hills (two were brought back from the village - given that sheep roam freely this seemed like a recipe for disaster to me!)
I think it was the Huntaway which barked all day. There Will Be Words.
A particular feature of Aberdeen Bus Station is the electronic timetable telling you when the next buses are due. If bus X is due at 4pm, it will appear on the board until 4pm, when it will disappear, regardless of whether of not the bus has appeared. If there's a queue for a bus which isn't listed on the board, that signifies the bus is due, but running late.
On the positive side, this does encourage conversation between strangers, as people try to work out which queue is for which late-running bus.
Comments
Thank you for that. It is now added my list of banned words and phrases. (One of my favourites is "disbenefit", from the UK MoD)
“Means we’re all for the guillotine.”
O wait...a reduction in the number of heads to be counted...
D'oh!
Enhanced seems to be word of the week at my tertiary institution. The union has sent around a bulletin warning about "enhanced retirement"... I can only guess it gives you a shack by the beach, $1 mill a year and all the pāua (abalone) you can eat.
Sorry, paua are protected, there is a limit to your daily take, as there is with most kai moana (seafood). Maybe you could live on rabbits, possums and wallabies and become venerated as a wildlife conservator.
"Should schools ban packed lunches?" (Yahoo Style UK).
Is this something that UK folks take seriously? I initially was angry because I misread "UK" as "US" (doh!), and thought this was going to be like Chef Jamie Oliver coming over here, telling us how to eat. Don't know if his behavior was a reflection of who he really is. But IMVHO he was rude, condescending, culturally clueless, and acted like a food messiah. (What, me, have opinions? Noooo.)
I guess my TICTH is about the attitudes and behavior I mentioned, and the 2.0 version of same in the article.
So...what think ye?
Personally, I used to fantasise about where I'd like the school to shove the Golden Carrot.
They've never been on a mountainside in driving sleet three hours later than expected and still two hours to go before civilisation if they think a Mars bar has no redeeming qualities at all.
Outwith school, and far from the Golden Carrot regime, we have been known to enjoy our Mars Bars deep fried!
Currency?
Hey-ho, hey-ho, it's off to the travel agent I go ...
Just thinking out loud, and you don't have to answer. I wonder if the debit card is *just* a debit card. Is it branded by a well-known company (Visa, etc.)? Is it connected to a bank account? Or is it more like a pre-paid credit card? Could you connect your debit card to a Paypal account?
FWIW, YMMV.
Good luck!
My doctor's office did that to me recently. I had made an appointment for my flu shot, but they called to say they had run out of the vaccine. I had assumed making an appointment meant they would reserve my dose.
The really annoying thing is the big sign in the waiting room that patients who cancel within 24 hours of their appointment will be charged. No mention of doctors cancelling within 2 hours!
I've decided, sod it - a friend's picking me up shortly and we're going to a travel agent. They might be able to get a less disagreeable flight schedule as well - the ones I was finding seemed to have either (a) an inordinately long wait in Toronto (11 hours, sort of overnight); (b) a very short one in London (leaving very little time to change terminals or to allow for delays) or (c) both.
I'm not relishing the prospect of travelling on my own, but I guess I'm going to have to get used to it.
Best wishes for organising the travel.
I'm glad I went to an agent - I've got an itinerary that I think I can handle, with stops in Toronto and Dublin on the way across, and London and Montreal on the way back, but none of the stops is either too long or too short.
ROTFL!
Good one!
The very nice people who have moved in next door brought three collies and an Australian cattle dog, all working animals. He assured us that they never barked except when something was seriously amiss. For three weeks the dogs lived in the utility room and I never heard them, so when the kennels were built outside my bedroom window I didn't object.
I have now discovered that they bark when he isn't there. They bark at 5.30 in the morning when their people get up.
I am prepared to give them time to settle, but this is seriously impacting on my sleep
If there's a bus.
The new bus station in Newport is so inadequate that if buses are delayed it gets overcrowded and too often it's caused by drivers not getting to the bus in time to collect fares so they can leave promptly, enabling another bus to pull-in. Sometimes this escalates and there are five buses waiting to pull-in because the station is full. It's a combination of poor bus station design, poor management and drivers who really don't want to drive a bus, and who can blame them for the lousy wages and abuse they get.
If the Aussie cattle dog is a Huntaway, then all they do is bark (and run). The collies will bark back. I reckon you've got bored dogs there.
As for bus drivers' pay - it is lousy. I told a bus driver I though they should be paid on a par with domestic pilots - at least the pilots don't have the dubious pleasure of dealing with the public.🙄
Preston Bus Station, on the other hand, is ludicrously over-sized and resembles a grotesquely enlarged public toilet.
The only stand without a shelter or seats is that used by the daily buses to Slovakia (one to Kosice, the other to Presov, IIRC - not sure if there's one to Bratislava as well).
I am tempted to board one of them one day, brandishing my Senior Citizens Bus Pass...
And its Grade II listed so the good people of Preston are stuck with it.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Preston_bus_station_232-26.jpg/1200px-Preston_bus_station_232-26.jpg
To be fair to the poor dogs, they were left unattended for 12 hours or so yesterday. I'm sure they felt that justified them breaking out of the posh kennels and running for the hills (two were brought back from the village - given that sheep roam freely this seemed like a recipe for disaster to me!)
I think it was the Huntaway which barked all day. There Will Be Words.
Mrs. S,still very grumpy
On the positive side, this does encourage conversation between strangers, as people try to work out which queue is for which late-running bus.
"Public Convenience" as in public restroom/loo?
Thx.
Yup. Our euphemisms differ!
That's only the outside. The inside is even worse. Apparently fans of brutalist architecture really go for the outside.