Wednesday 1st April 2015
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Welcome to FTN. New posters are welcome to join the conversation. You can follow us on Twitter @FlythenestHaven You are responsible for the content you post. This is a public forum. Treat it as if you are speaking in a crowded room. Site admin and Moderators are volunteers who will respond as quickly as they are able to when made aware of any complaints. Please do not post copyrighted material without the original authors permission.
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Ashcroft constituency polling shows Labour in a 10 point lead over Clegg in the standard VI question but reduced to 2 point lead in the constituency VI question.
It also shows the LDs hanging onto St Ives, Torbay & Cambridge with Cons winning St Austell & Newquay as well as North Devon so out of the 7 LD seats, LDs retain 2 West Country seats plus Cambridge, Cons gain 2 & Labour 1
It also shows the LDs hanging onto St Ives, Torbay & Cambridge with Cons winning St Austell & Newquay as well as North Devon so out of the 7 LD seats, LDs retain 2 West Country seats plus Cambridge, Cons gain 2 & Labour 1
Last edited by pk1 on Wed 01 Apr, 2015 12:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Steve Varley from EY and one of the SignaTories is a big mate of Lord Green (of HSBC notoriety).
Surely must be some interesting stuff there!
Surely must be some interesting stuff there!
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Forget Portillo, if Clegg goes we have a new benchmark. (Think he'll scrape through unfortunately)pk1 wrote:Ashcroft constituency polling shows Labour in a 10 point lead over Clegg in the standard VI question but reduced to 2 point lead in the constituency VI question.
It also shows the LDs hanging onto St Ives, Torbay & Cambridge with Cons winning St Austell & Newquay as well as North Devon so out of the 7 LD seats, LDs retain 2 West Country seats plus Cambridge, Cons gain 2 & Labour 1
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
The Cambridge result is interesting. On standard VI it is a Labour gain, it is only a hold if you use the "Constituency VI". i.e. if you think the incumbency factor will swing it; bearing in mind Labour's very good results there in the local elections last year, where they took control of the council, that could be a risky assumption. AK's input could be useful here.pk1 wrote:Ashcroft constituency polling shows Labour in a 10 point lead over Clegg in the standard VI question but reduced to 2 point lead in the constituency VI question.
It also shows the LDs hanging onto St Ives, Torbay & Cambridge with Cons winning St Austell & Newquay as well as North Devon so out of the 7 LD seats, LDs retain 2 West Country seats plus Cambridge, Cons gain 2 & Labour 1
COWER BRIEF MORTALS. HO. HO. HO.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
There is a heck of a difference between the two VI questions in Cambridge, yeah. Huppert will be difficult to beat (he goes down well with lefty-green types) but 9 points? I rather doubt it.
As for Clegg, I'm still not daring to hope yet - but really thought he would be back ahead by now.......
As for Clegg, I'm still not daring to hope yet - but really thought he would be back ahead by now.......
"IS TONTY BLAIR BEHIND THIS???!!!!111???!!!"
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Anybody been watching Daily Politics? Andrew Neil got particularly incensed with Sajid Javid for not answering his questions but those he chose to answer instead.
Edit corrected particularly. 'And on that not4e perhaps I should have said overly particular earlier, or is that over particularly?
Edit corrected particularly. 'And on that not4e perhaps I should have said overly particular earlier, or is that over particularly?
I would close my eyes if I couldn't dream.
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Hello! Since you ask, I'd have said overly particular or over-particular (with a hyphen). But that's probably just a personal preference. I'm not particularly over-particular either way . . . .utopiandreams wrote:Anybody been watching Daily Politics? Andrew Neil got particularly incensed with Sajid Javid for not answering his questions but those he chose to answer instead.
Edit corrected particularly. 'And on that not4e perhaps I should have said overly particular earlier, or is that over particularly?
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
The weather has been a tad dismal lately & makes people feel down so to cheer some of us, here's one I nicked from Andrew Sparrow's blog earlier:
(apologies to the guys & those that don't think Ed is attractive - as they say, it's all in the eyes of the beholder)
(apologies to the guys & those that don't think Ed is attractive - as they say, it's all in the eyes of the beholder)
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Anybody know who Rakesh Sharma one of the signaTories is?
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Not very good sample of S10,
but Haven't seen any lib dem posters yet,
(were loads last election)
fair number of labour up already
1 green.
Mind you we're in the less salubrious bit of Hallam,
& got sucked in by boundary changes.
but Haven't seen any lib dem posters yet,
(were loads last election)
fair number of labour up already
1 green.
Mind you we're in the less salubrious bit of Hallam,
& got sucked in by boundary changes.
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
As a founder-member of the Ed Miliband fan club, please accept my thanks!pk1 wrote:The weather has been a tad dismal lately & makes people feel down so to cheer some of us, here's one I nicked from Andrew Sparrow's blog earlier:
(apologies to the guys & those that don't think Ed is attractive - as they say, it's all in the eyes of the beholder)
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
@PorFavor
Thanks, but I was a little tongue in cheek, PorFavor, because I'd repeatedly used 'particularly' in my earlier post.
Thanks, but I was a little tongue in cheek, PorFavor, because I'd repeatedly used 'particularly' in my earlier post.
I would close my eyes if I couldn't dream.
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
There's a company called Ultra Electronics with a Rakesh Sharma listed as a director. There's also an Indian astronaut named Rakesh Sharma - although I doubt it's him. That's the best I can come up with, I'm afraid.PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Anybody know who Rakesh Sharma one of the signaTories is?
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Chrissie Rucker and Nick Wheeler are married to each other #signaTories
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Yes - I realised that. So was I! I can see that "emoticons" have their uses but I still refuse to use them. That'll teach me to be a stick-in-the-mud!utopiandreams wrote:@PorFavor
Thanks, but I was a little tongue in cheek, PorFavor, because I'd repeatedly used 'particularly' in my earlier post.
Edited
Ha! Missed out a bloody hyphen.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Please accept my humblest apologies, PorFavor, I should have realised. Me too regarding emoticons btw, which only goes to highlight my mistake.PorFavor wrote:.. Yes - I realised that. So was I! I can see that "emoticons" have their uses but I still refuse to use them. That'll teach me to be a stick-in-the-mud! ...
I would close my eyes if I couldn't dream.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
He is CEO of Ultra Electronics, who supply specialist equipment for the defence industry.PorFavor wrote:There's a company called Ultra Electronics with a Rakesh Sharma listed as a director. There's also an Indian astronaut named Rakesh Sharma - although I doubt it's him. That's the best I can come up with, I'm afraid.PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Anybody know who Rakesh Sharma one of the signaTories is?
COWER BRIEF MORTALS. HO. HO. HO.
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Quickly reading Sparrows live blog,there was a snidy little comment atl re Ed practising for the debates in private.Yesterday he wrote that Ed was not out and about for the same reason.I.e,Ed is scared.
Just asked how Andrew knows what is being done 'in private',and what the other leaders are doing in private to prepare.
My question hasn't been shown yet.
Just asked how Andrew knows what is being done 'in private',and what the other leaders are doing in private to prepare.
My question hasn't been shown yet.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Thanks that looks like him (not the astronaut!).PorFavor wrote:There's a company called Ultra Electronics with a Rakesh Sharma listed as a director. There's also an Indian astronaut named Rakesh Sharma - although I doubt it's him. That's the best I can come up with, I'm afraid.PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Anybody know who Rakesh Sharma one of the signaTories is?
If Richard Rose is the AO World one, he's not the Tories' greatest catch. Company share price is sliding since he sold his own stake in the company at a knock down price.
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
...a breakdown of annual movements in whole economy output per hour in terms of the main industry components. Unsurprisingly given the weight of services in overall economic activity, the services components are prominent in most years, albeit less so in recent years. The financial services industry was an important contributor to productivity growth (especially relative to its weight) in the period prior to the economic downturn, but is yet to make a material positive contribution since the downturn.ABDE refers to Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (section A), Mining and Quarrying (section B), Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply (section D) and Water Supply, Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation Activities (section E)
[my bold]
...support for the existence of a relationship between productivity and earnings growth, as the plateauing of productivity since 2007 has been reflected in a reduction in the rate of earnings growth across the economy as a whole.There is a discontinuity in the whole economy series prior to 1987 and in the manufacturing series prior to 1982.
http://ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/productivity/ ... commentary" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Congratulations, Chancellor Jeff, you've well & truly screwed the pooch.
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Amazing, the only growth the UK has seen in output per hour has been in manufacturing & some construction.
That's all.
That's all.
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
I've always thought Ed Miliband handsome. It's only been within the last year or so I rank him as one of finest looking men I've ever seen.pk1 wrote:The weather has been a tad dismal lately & makes people feel down so to cheer some of us, here's one I nicked from Andrew Sparrow's blog earlier:
(apologies to the guys & those that don't think Ed is attractive - as they say, it's all in the eyes of the beholder)
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 53m 53 minutes ago
It looks as though the Tories are not really trying in Hallam. Look at the contact numbers from poll.
Even more reason to vote Labour there, Tories protecting their poodle.
It looks as though the Tories are not really trying in Hallam. Look at the contact numbers from poll.
Even more reason to vote Labour there, Tories protecting their poodle.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
citizenJA wrote:I've always thought Ed Miliband handsome. It's only been within the last year or so I rank him as one of finest looking men I've ever seen.pk1 wrote:The weather has been a tad dismal lately & makes people feel down so to cheer some of us, here's one I nicked from Andrew Sparrow's blog earlier:
(apologies to the guys & those that don't think Ed is attractive - as they say, it's all in the eyes of the beholder)
Intelligent, kind, clear eyed, inner and outer attractiveness, beautifully groomed, what more could you ask for ?
Lucky Justine.
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Cough....George Clooney.(sorry Ed)citizenJA wrote:I've always thought Ed Miliband handsome. It's only been within the last year or so I rank him as one of finest looking men I've ever seen.pk1 wrote:The weather has been a tad dismal lately & makes people feel down so to cheer some of us, here's one I nicked from Andrew Sparrow's blog earlier:
(apologies to the guys & those that don't think Ed is attractive - as they say, it's all in the eyes of the beholder)
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Pleased to hear that Joni Mitchell is OK (she was rushed to hospital earlier).
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Mr. Citizen is an extraordinarily handsome man.
I've been told I'm biased (by Mr. Citizen !)
I've been told I'm biased (by Mr. Citizen !)
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
I've not seen Sparrow's blog today, Rebecca, so can't really comment but don't necessarily see that as snide. There is absolutely nothing wrong with practising for a talk, a debate or whatever.Rebecca wrote:Quickly reading Sparrows live blog,there was a snidy little comment atl re Ed practising for the debates in private.Yesterday he wrote that Ed was not out and about for the same reason.I.e,Ed is scared.
Just asked how Andrew knows what is being done 'in private',and what the other leaders are doing in private to prepare.
My question hasn't been shown yet.
Mmm, I don't know whether I should bore you with yet another anecdote. Oh well I'll sign off afterwards. I once attended an OU summer school and had read nothing of it until I was going there on the train. Amongst the work that I should have prepared beforehand was a five minute talk on a choice of technical subjects. During the morning we were separated into groups and I was allocated to the one that was to do such talk. Worse than that I was elected to go first immediately after lunch. Apart from the talk there were OHP slides to prepare too, so not a lot of time. I didn't eat and spent the hour, or half of it still had slides to do, speaking aloud pacing back and forth in my room.
Needless to say my delivery was broadly similar in that during some of it I paced back and forth in a somewhat musing manner (yes musing not amusing, not another of my typos). It was all rather embarrassing in front of people that I'd never met and also being video-recorded. It didn't go too badly considering. Afterwards the audience had to give their own, constructive hopefully, criticsms. Then the video was played back and I had to give my own thoughts, "I never thought I'd travel all this way to watch my Dad on the telly!"
I'll get my coat.
I would close my eyes if I couldn't dream.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
I am just posting this because I know there have been many rumours, some outrageous, some likely nearer the truth about politically linked child abuse crimes.
Saw it on a blog in the comments, a cut and paste of a NOTW article from 2003.
Just shows you need to be careful if you believe everything you see on the net.
The 'prince of darkness' is hated by the left and the right, no shortage of people wanting to spread mistruth about him.
Saw it on a blog in the comments, a cut and paste of a NOTW article from 2003.
Just shows you need to be careful if you believe everything you see on the net.
The 'prince of darkness' is hated by the left and the right, no shortage of people wanting to spread mistruth about him.
News of the World, 2nd February 2003
by Dominic Herbert
A WELSH student has been quizzed by cops for allegedly surfing child porn sites using the name of former Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson.
He has been targeted as part of the Operation Ore probe into more than 7,000 British users of a sick internet portal in America.
And before moving in on him, cops had to carry out a top-level secret inquiry to make sure Mr Mandelson was not involved.
Police working their way through a suspects list supplied by the FBI were stunned to find the former Trade Secretary’s name.
Several high-profile figures, including rock legend Pete Townshend, had already become embroiled in the investigation.
But police found that Mr Mandelson’s name had only been given when a site called Real Lolita was entered. There was a different name on the credit card used to access pictures of sex abuse involving children as young as six.
They raided the student’s home in west Wales and took away his computer for examination. So far nothing has been found.
There is no suggestion that the real Peter Mandelson is involved.
A police source said: “There was an immediate top level and very discreet inquiry carried out when Mr Mandelson’s name came up.
“This is the difficulty of this operation when people use false names.”
A relative of the student said: “There’s no way he did this. What I think has happened is that someone has stolen our credit card details and used them to get on to this site.”
Last edited by yahyah on Wed 01 Apr, 2015 2:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
And now I'm going to do a bit of 'In the good old days'.
Forced to go to our town centre today. Mr Ohso isn't up to wandering around shops at present so I thought I could leave him sitting down in the small mall while I got what I needed all under one roof.
There is a Boots and a Smiths so I went into Smiths first. Inside the door with a little stall were two smartly dressed young men representing the Red Cross.
They made a bee line for me, and I said, 'no thank you, I can't afford it'...
'But I don't want your money madam,' the smarmy young man said...
'No,' I replied, 'but you want my signature to get at my money don't you.'
They apologised and moved in on the next poor sod coming through the door.
I object to the Red Cross's aggressive marketing methods. They are always knocking on the door after subscriptions even though we have a sticker on the door saying no salesmen etc.
And then I went into Boots because I wanted Tea Tree Oil products and got a, 'sorry we don't have any.'
I found the vitamin tablets Mr Ohso needed and went to the bank of tills. No one there. I waited and waited. An assisstant walked past me twice. The third time she went to look for a cashier came out and said, 'Sorry she's on the phone.' I waited a bit longer, and then left my basket on the counter and walked out. I try not to use them but as we don't have any decent independent chemists here in Bracknell sometimes I have to use them as a last resort. They are awful compared to how they once were. And they're certainly cutting down on staff in our branch.
I am sick of being served by someone sullen, couldn't care less, don't know what the hell they're doing, or having to stand at a till waiting for someone to appear to take my hard earned money.
I suppose the younger generation have grown up with increasingly bad service and wouldn't think there was anything wrong, but I can't get used to it.
As it happened I went quickly into Sainsbury's and found plenty of Tea Tree Oil products in there!
Grumble over!
Forced to go to our town centre today. Mr Ohso isn't up to wandering around shops at present so I thought I could leave him sitting down in the small mall while I got what I needed all under one roof.
There is a Boots and a Smiths so I went into Smiths first. Inside the door with a little stall were two smartly dressed young men representing the Red Cross.
They made a bee line for me, and I said, 'no thank you, I can't afford it'...
'But I don't want your money madam,' the smarmy young man said...
'No,' I replied, 'but you want my signature to get at my money don't you.'
They apologised and moved in on the next poor sod coming through the door.
I object to the Red Cross's aggressive marketing methods. They are always knocking on the door after subscriptions even though we have a sticker on the door saying no salesmen etc.
And then I went into Boots because I wanted Tea Tree Oil products and got a, 'sorry we don't have any.'
I found the vitamin tablets Mr Ohso needed and went to the bank of tills. No one there. I waited and waited. An assisstant walked past me twice. The third time she went to look for a cashier came out and said, 'Sorry she's on the phone.' I waited a bit longer, and then left my basket on the counter and walked out. I try not to use them but as we don't have any decent independent chemists here in Bracknell sometimes I have to use them as a last resort. They are awful compared to how they once were. And they're certainly cutting down on staff in our branch.
I am sick of being served by someone sullen, couldn't care less, don't know what the hell they're doing, or having to stand at a till waiting for someone to appear to take my hard earned money.
I suppose the younger generation have grown up with increasingly bad service and wouldn't think there was anything wrong, but I can't get used to it.
As it happened I went quickly into Sainsbury's and found plenty of Tea Tree Oil products in there!
Grumble over!
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Hello all.
Polling cards arrived today. Hurrah! I don't have to worry about being registered properly anymore. Still 5 weeks to go, though. It's really dragging on a bit, isn't it? All the parties are going to run out of things to say at this rate. Incidentally, I posted a link to a website yesterday that aims to help people decide who to vote for based on policies. In the categories I chose to answer in, it was staggering how similar all the policies were bar the ones that I suspected were the Tories, based on knowing some of the things they have already announced. The website is trailed as "you may be surprised", I suspect because based on the policies other than the EU, Ukip were indistinguishable from Labour, Libdems and Greens. I picked one Green category knowingly as I favoured banning fracking over Labour's policy, but I also picked another but didn't have time to check which one. I could spot Ukip policies, but strikingly they resembled Labour ones more than Tory ones. All the Tory ones seemed to stand out to me as being radically far-right and singularly out of kilter with everyone else, which is making me curious to see some breakdowns of the party manifestos to see if this is the case more generally (I'm guessing they were Tory policies based on the use of well worn Tory soundbites and phrases but of course i could be wrong!).
Polling cards arrived today. Hurrah! I don't have to worry about being registered properly anymore. Still 5 weeks to go, though. It's really dragging on a bit, isn't it? All the parties are going to run out of things to say at this rate. Incidentally, I posted a link to a website yesterday that aims to help people decide who to vote for based on policies. In the categories I chose to answer in, it was staggering how similar all the policies were bar the ones that I suspected were the Tories, based on knowing some of the things they have already announced. The website is trailed as "you may be surprised", I suspect because based on the policies other than the EU, Ukip were indistinguishable from Labour, Libdems and Greens. I picked one Green category knowingly as I favoured banning fracking over Labour's policy, but I also picked another but didn't have time to check which one. I could spot Ukip policies, but strikingly they resembled Labour ones more than Tory ones. All the Tory ones seemed to stand out to me as being radically far-right and singularly out of kilter with everyone else, which is making me curious to see some breakdowns of the party manifestos to see if this is the case more generally (I'm guessing they were Tory policies based on the use of well worn Tory soundbites and phrases but of course i could be wrong!).
"Fall seven times, get up eight" - Japanese proverb
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
I noticed this comment over at Andrew Sparrow's Guardian Election Blog (what I see in the comments section is random and accidental) but, anyway -
This one will, hopefully, be his "bye" election!
Edited
Just the one bye\by election (as per the original post - apologies to the poster)
(my emphasis)mojoangel Sidfishes
4m ago
0 1
He's probably thinking "well, I've lost my seat, but I wasn't really a Lib-Dem anyway, I much prefer the Blues", and he will cross the floor, join the Tory party and stand at the next safe bye election.
This one will, hopefully, be his "bye" election!
Edited
Just the one bye\by election (as per the original post - apologies to the poster)
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
I did one of those yesterday at http://www.votematch.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Willow904 wrote:Hello all.
Polling cards arrived today. Hurrah! I don't have to worry about being registered properly anymore. Still 5 weeks to go, though. It's really dragging on a bit, isn't it? All the parties are going to run out of things to say at this rate. Incidentally, I posted a link to a website yesterday that aims to help people decide who to vote for based on policies. In the categories I chose to answer in, it was staggering how similar all the policies were bar the ones that I suspected were the Tories, based on knowing some of the things they have already announced. The website is trailed as "you may be surprised", I suspect because based on the policies other than the EU, Ukip were indistinguishable from Labour, Libdems and Greens. I picked one Green category knowingly as I favoured banning fracking over Labour's policy, but I also picked another but didn't have time to check which one. I could spot Ukip policies, but strikingly they resembled Labour ones more than Tory ones. All the Tory ones seemed to stand out to me as being radically far-right and singularly out of kilter with everyone else, which is making me curious to see some breakdowns of the party manifestos to see if this is the case more generally (I'm guessing they were Tory policies based on the use of well worn Tory soundbites and phrases but of course i could be wrong!).
I did my own views & got Green but then I quite deliberately selected the 'Don't mind' option all the way through & ended up matched with the LD's
So there you have it, when you have no opinion, you are most closely aligned to the LDs !
There does appear to be a lot of these vote match sites where the result shows a preference for the Greens. It makes me wonder just how that can be.....
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
About 8 years ago I went into JJB Sports to buy some swimming trunks for my son as he was about to start swimming lessons. They didn't have any. Not just in his size, but no boys swimming trunks at all. I was bemused, to be frank, as I thought they were a sports gear retailer. When I got home I rang a local independent sports and camping outlet, a tiny shop on the local high street. Yes, they did boys trunks so I went down to find they had quite a good choice as well. I've bought all my sports wear from there since (and that's two new swimming costumes for growing kids every year), they've always had plenty of choice in stock and once ordered a sun-suit from a wholesale catalogue specially for me. I go there because I know they'll always have what I need in stock.ohsocynical wrote:And now I'm going to do a bit of 'In the good old days'.
Forced to go to our town centre today. Mr Ohso isn't up to wandering around shops at present so I thought I could leave him sitting down in the small mall while I got what I needed all under one roof.
There is a Boots and a Smiths so I went into Smiths first. Inside the door with a little stall were two smartly dressed young men representing the Red Cross.
They made a bee line for me, and I said, 'no thank you, I can't afford it'...
'But I don't want your money madam,' the smarmy young man said...
'No,' I replied, 'but you want my signature to get at my money don't you.'
They apologised and moved in on the next poor sod coming through the door.
I object to the Red Cross's aggressive marketing methods. They are always knocking on the door after subscriptions even though we have a sticker on the door saying no salesmen etc.
And then I went into Boots because I wanted Tea Tree Oil products and got a, 'sorry we don't have any.'
I found the vitamin tablets Mr Ohso needed and went to the bank of tills. No one there. I waited and waited. An assisstant walked past me twice. The third time she went to look for a cashier came out and said, 'Sorry she's on the phone.' I waited a bit longer, and then left my basket on the counter and walked out. I try not to use them but as we don't have any decent independent chemists here in Bracknell sometimes I have to use them as a last resort. They are awful compared to how they once were. And they're certainly cutting down on staff in our branch.
I am sick of being served by someone sullen, couldn't care less, don't know what the hell they're doing, or having to stand at a till waiting for someone to appear to take my hard earned money.
I suppose the younger generation have grown up with increasingly bad service and wouldn't think there was anything wrong, but I can't get used to it.
As it happened I went quickly into Sainsbury's and found plenty of Tea Tree Oil products in there!
Grumble over!
JJB sports, meanwhile, went into administration in 2012. I expect their owners walked away with a wad in their pockets and that's the real problem. If owners can make more cash destroying companies, asset-stripping, and paying themselves unwarranted bonuses and then walking away scot-free than they can running them successfully, I doubt we'll see customer service levels in retail chains improve any time soon. The system is skewed in favour of the spivs and that's what I'm hoping Ed Miliband will change. And I don't think it would take much change, either. Just a case of always having the interests of the right people in mind when structuring policy. Cutting small business rates rather than corporation tax is a good example of a small change in the right direction. I hope there's more to come (though appreciate you wouldn't want to mention it before getting into power, except maybe the hedge funds stuff because no-one approves of hedge funds, do they?).
"Fall seven times, get up eight" - Japanese proverb
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Now I like that. That's fighting talk. That's saying Labour will stand up to those who insist "it can't be done" and do it anyway, because it's the right thing to do. It leaves those on the right defending the indefensible on the grounds "there is no alternative" looking negative and cowardly at best and on the side of the exploiters at worst. This is a similar battle to the one over energy bills and Ed is on the right side of it, standing up for ordinary people against powerful vested interests.Miliband repeats the point about not being able to live himself on a ZHC.
I challenge anyone who criticises us to say ... to say will you volunteer that you could live on a zero-hours contract.
"Fall seven times, get up eight" - Japanese proverb
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
But, but ..... all the same, Red Tories etc.Willow904 wrote:Now I like that. That's fighting talk. That's saying Labour will stand up to those who insist "it can't be done" and do it anyway, because it's the right thing to do. It leaves those on the right defending the indefensible on the grounds "there is no alternative" looking negative and cowardly at best and on the side of the exploiters at worst. This is a similar battle to the one over energy bills and Ed is on the right side of it, standing up for ordinary people against powerful vested interests.Miliband repeats the point about not being able to live himself on a ZHC.
I challenge anyone who criticises us to say ... to say will you volunteer that you could live on a zero-hours contract.
Meanwhile, you can file this one under "Picture=thousand words".
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COWER BRIEF MORTALS. HO. HO. HO.
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Grumle seconded.ohsocynical wrote:And now I'm going to do a bit of 'In the good old days'.
Forced to go to our town centre today. Mr Ohso isn't up to wandering around shops at present so I thought I could leave him sitting down in the small mall while I got what I needed all under one roof.
There is a Boots and a Smiths so I went into Smiths first. Inside the door with a little stall were two smartly dressed young men representing the Red Cross.
They made a bee line for me, and I said, 'no thank you, I can't afford it'...
'But I don't want your money madam,' the smarmy young man said...
'No,' I replied, 'but you want my signature to get at my money don't you.'
They apologised and moved in on the next poor sod coming through the door.
I object to the Red Cross's aggressive marketing methods. They are always knocking on the door after subscriptions even though we have a sticker on the door saying no salesmen etc.
And then I went into Boots because I wanted Tea Tree Oil products and got a, 'sorry we don't have any.'
I found the vitamin tablets Mr Ohso needed and went to the bank of tills. No one there. I waited and waited. An assisstant walked past me twice. The third time she went to look for a cashier came out and said, 'Sorry she's on the phone.' I waited a bit longer, and then left my basket on the counter and walked out. I try not to use them but as we don't have any decent independent chemists here in Bracknell sometimes I have to use them as a last resort. They are awful compared to how they once were. And they're certainly cutting down on staff in our branch.
I am sick of being served by someone sullen, couldn't care less, don't know what the hell they're doing, or having to stand at a till waiting for someone to appear to take my hard earned money.
I suppose the younger generation have grown up with increasingly bad service and wouldn't think there was anything wrong, but I can't get used to it.
As it happened I went quickly into Sainsbury's and found plenty of Tea Tree Oil products in there!
Grumble over!
I used to collect my daughters anticonvulsant from boots,every 4 weeks.Quede up for 20 mins every time.They were NEVER ready,even when I left collecting them an extra day,so had to return an hour later and wait ANOTHER twenty mins in the queue.
Eventually I told the pharmacist to cancel the collect from gp thing and changed to Morrison's.Where the tablets are always ready and waiting.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
I didn't expect to start a conversation about customer or personal service from small operations, but having read ohsocynical's and Rebecca's posts am pleased that I did. Anyway I asked my son about tomorrow's rate of pay, to which he replied 60p per hour. Of course I knew he was joking and he is in fact getting the full rate. He'd also realised why I asked, knowing me, but did explain that this was still connected to the agency, though he did add that he wondered whether they gained additional funds for these training days. Should they, let's hope Boots are footing the bill and that it isn't some government scheme that's being taken advantage of. You never know with such terminology; an 'apprenticeship' day?
Edit: sorry it was yahyah that brought up local independents... and a mention for Willow904.
Edit: sorry it was yahyah that brought up local independents... and a mention for Willow904.
I would close my eyes if I couldn't dream.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
And today went into Waitrose for some of their sausage meat [ Home made sausage rolls for this weekend] and they have a bin for food donations for our local food bank...Never, ever thought I'd see the day.
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
I sense that the businessmen's (were they all men? I can't remember, offhand) letter in the Telegraph is going to backfire on the Conservatives.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
I Tweeted: Re-cycled letter, re-cycled names...Laughable.PorFavor wrote:I sense that the businessmen's (were they all men? I can't remember, offhand) letter in the Telegraph is going to backfire on the Conservatives.
And it really is.
The Tories are bereft of anything that might make their policies attractive. And they're such well proven liars we wouldn't believe them anyway.
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
PS have pointed out that there are a lot of Sam Cam's mates on the list.PorFavor wrote:I sense that the businessmen's (were they all men? I can't remember, offhand) letter in the Telegraph is going to backfire on the Conservatives.
http://politicalscrapbook.net/2015/04/t ... n-friends/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This one is backfiring faster than a clown car in Billy Smarts Circus!!
COWER BRIEF MORTALS. HO. HO. HO.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
A Cabinet of losers?
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehous ... of-losers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Sometimes I must really piss people off, perhaps I need company. I think it was Willow904 who mentioned business rates, which somewhat reminded me of something else. Many moons ago I had business premises in an adjacent county. The rent wasn't too bad considering but the rates... Bloody Hell!
One day one of my staff badly cut his finger and needed a suture. There was a nearby clinic so I took him there. Talk about hassle, he only needed stitches but because neither of us were residents of the county were told to go to A&E at Burton Hospital. Neither were we residents of Staffordshire btw, not that that mattered. They did sort him out once I'd told them I paid business rates locally, but I was still displeased with our reception.
One day one of my staff badly cut his finger and needed a suture. There was a nearby clinic so I took him there. Talk about hassle, he only needed stitches but because neither of us were residents of the county were told to go to A&E at Burton Hospital. Neither were we residents of Staffordshire btw, not that that mattered. They did sort him out once I'd told them I paid business rates locally, but I was still displeased with our reception.
I would close my eyes if I couldn't dream.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
It's a closed 'in crowd' circle that Dave favours. He never steps outside of it to take on someone new. It's almost incestuous and equally as unhealthy.TheGrimSqueaker wrote:PS have pointed out that there are a lot of Sam Cam's mates on the list.PorFavor wrote:I sense that the businessmen's (were they all men? I can't remember, offhand) letter in the Telegraph is going to backfire on the Conservatives.
http://politicalscrapbook.net/2015/04/t ... n-friends/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This one is backfiring faster than a clown car in Billy Smarts Circus!!
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Sky news presenter has said he is with Osborne at Britvic factory in Pudsey, Leeds.
Osborne was introduced by the non-exec chairman Joel Corbett who is apparently another of the signatories to that letter.
Osborne was introduced by the non-exec chairman Joel Corbett who is apparently another of the signatories to that letter.
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Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
One in five of the businesspeople who signed a letter supporting Tory economic policy were given honours by David Cameron in the last few years, while one third have donated money to the Conservative party, an analysis by the Independent shows.
Among the 103 signatories of the letter, published on the front page of the Daily Telegraph this morning, are four Conservative members of the House of Lords – all ennobled by David Cameron.
The Prime Minister also doled out 18 MBEs, OBEs, CBEs and knighthoods to signatories of the letter over the last parliament
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 48897.html
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
Re: Wednesday 1st April 2015
Hurry up, driver !