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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 12, 2021 21:13:04 GMT
Bit wet and miserable in Barmouth today but managed to get out for a kayak before the rain started. It was a bit choppy out in the estuary so my cautious side kicked in. Came back inside and headed for pastures new; Fairbourne creek. Very shallow in here if you get away from the small central channel. Came across a large shoal of (sea) mullet mooching around in the sea grass at the edge. Some real monsters amongst them, 5-6lb I'd estimate. (sea) mullet are notoriously difficult to catch, feeding as they do mostly on tiny food items. I have plans for these though, watch this space.
Secured 3 more jobs this afternoon. A garden, painting a room and repairing a garden gate. Never thought I'd get this much work, haven't tried at all, all word of mouth.
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 12, 2021 7:19:43 GMT
the situation is simple and was totally predictable. Mr Stabby has explained it quite simply many times. The wages of drivers has been forced to an artificially low level by use of European drivers prepared to work for low wages. As a result the demographic of lorry drivers is of an aging group obviously apart from the odd (very odd)well groomed Yorkie Muncher. Many other drivers have gone to other work where pay was better. Add to that a very low number of people entering the industry for the last couple of years because of Covid problems (with training/examinations). The cost of transportation has to rise to a level where it can pay sufficiently high wages to attract the number of drivers needed. either by training more or attracting back to the industry those who have left because of the poor wages. The whole situation is due to the drive to the bottom of pricing and the use of cheap labour/imports etc. If, as a society, you are going to stand on your own two feet then wage fairness is an essential ingredient. rant over I think for once I might copy TD and repeat a post of mine from 6 pages back.
After reading the post again I think the words "and conditions" should have been added to "pay"
This is what it's all about ........ exploitation of workers.
I often get called a right winger and on some things I suppose I am but I also hold a lot of very strong liberal moral beliefs
I believe you should only be rewarded for what you do but if you don't try you shouldn't get.. If are unable to try, for whatever reason you should be assisted.
No person working full time, without excessive hours, should be unable to afford to feed, clothe and house himself to a respectable standard
That is what should be the minimum wage, not just the figure for which you can force a desperate person to work for. Any person, company or organisation who fails to do that is deeply immoral. No person in full time employment should either need or get any additional financial supplement from the state
Zero hour contracts are a form of serfdom and should be banned
repeated rant finally over
Mostly agree John but zero hour contracts can be great for both parties, on occasion. For example, they could be great for a retired person who fancies a bit of work from time to time, but doesn't want to commit to a regular, fixed work obligation. I agree that they can be exploitative but if the solution was to ban them outright many people will end up not working, people who could make a useful contribution. I'm hoping that as time goes by, the inability of business to pull on a pool of up to 500 million EU workers, many with low wage expectations, will force them to offer better terms including pay or otherwise; go out of business.
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 11, 2021 18:07:42 GMT
My Yam RS125 had a 6v system, very poor headlight. I fitted a battery bike light to the handlebars which was immeasurably better and, apparently, legal.
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 11, 2021 9:08:35 GMT
Bit grey in Barmouth this morning, but mild. Too much of an onshore breeze to contemplate going out in the kayak. Yet another session coming up chipping mortar off the edges of very old floor tiles this afternoon. It's not as tedious as it sounds. It's quite a challenge to apply just the amount of pressure without cracking a corner off. It makes me feel like a (very low grade) sculptor.
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 11, 2021 8:22:48 GMT
People are generally confused. Many (most?) people will state, often quite passionately, that they support a society that protects people, cares for people who don't have the means to look after themselves. Socialism, I suppose. Then: The same people sometimes set up schemes to avoid proper contribution to the costs associated with having this caring, sharing society. Putting an estate into trust is the obvious example, but there are others. And then, if increases to the tax these people pay is suggested, they are often far from pleased. The problem we have here is a clash between the natural instinct of wishing to protect family and those closest to us versus what we might describe as the taught instinct of the desire to share more widely. I say taught instinct, it's not really an instinct but such is its prominence in our society that it likely behaves as one. So there we have it: The people are conflicted, they don't know what they want. I don’t believe many people want to share there wealth at all. I do believe many say they do though. I agree with you. However, the whole system has been set up based on the words of those who say they want to share. These words are powerful. So much so that, in certain settings, anyone speaking up against the (false) words risks social ridicule.
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 11, 2021 6:30:42 GMT
People are generally confused.
Many (most?) people will state, often quite passionately, that they support a society that protects people, cares for people who don't have the means to look after themselves. Socialism, I suppose.
Then:
The same people sometimes set up schemes to avoid proper contribution to the costs associated with having this caring, sharing society. Putting an estate into trust is the obvious example, but there are others. And then, if increases to the tax these people pay is suggested, they are often far from pleased.
The problem we have here is a clash between the natural instinct of wishing to protect family and those closest to us versus what we might describe as the taught instinct of the desire to share more widely. I say taught instinct, it's not really an instinct but such is its prominence in our society that it likely behaves as one.
So there we have it: The people are conflicted, they don't know what they want.
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 10, 2021 16:09:50 GMT
Well well well, There are actually three types of Bass fish, reading an article in The telegraph. sea bass caught in the Bay of Biscay was put on the Guide’s red list in October because unsustainable fishing practices are killing increasing numbers of dolphins and porpoises. But according to Charlotte Coombes, the MCS’s Good Fish Guide Manager, wild sea bass is not caught this way in British waters and can be an OK choice (although still not recommended – farmed sea bass is better). Wonder which tastes best, Sea, Wild sea or farmed sea? Also the largemouth bass, smallmouth bass (American) and the European black bass. As these are freshwater species. However the writer of the article is wrong. There is only one salt water bass species in Europe; the European bass. The farmed bass is the same species. Very often farmed in Turkey.
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 10, 2021 7:04:38 GMT
That's the problem with a joint tenancy agreement, both parties have joint and several liability for all aspects of the tenancy, regardless of who has paid what or who has caused what damage. The landlord is free to choose who to pursue. It doesn't seem fair does it. nope but then landlords need their rent in my case, despite having all my contact details, no effort was made to notify regarding the spiralling mess. once all the dossers out plus the person I shared with they went after me. As far as I was concerned the agreement had been for 6 months, I paid 6 months rent and all the bills. The house remained occupied for another 6 months when all the damage etc done. However that's in the past but I'd never rent out a house or share a rental ever again Yes unfortunately fixed 6 month tenancies automatically extend 1 month at a time unless they are properly surrendered. You probably already know that already. The lettings business is a horrible mess. The small percentage of rogues, both landlords and tenants, suck everyone into a system that can be terribly unfair, for landlords and tenants alike. I don't know what the solution is but I do know that I'd rather earn my living washing dishes rather than hoping for a small return from renting houses, balanced against a risk of horrendous costs and mental anguish.
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 9, 2021 10:33:11 GMT
I lost £15K to the hammer, drill and flying kicks of the gun toting African drug dealer. This was nothing compared to the emotional grief. I really did have the year from hell, a truly horrible experience, one so bad I could never have imagined it possible. There's something to be said for having less money but a simpler life, one where there's no possibility of such aberrations occurring. If this means you need to do a bit of work you might not have otherwise so what, doing a bit of honest work isn't the end of the world. Nothing is worth that stress I went through hell over a rental..not my house but I made a huge mistake sharing with someone who moved in druggies, drew on the walls in his blood and generally wrecked the place. I left half way through the 6 months having slept on a blow up airbed. I had put everything I owned in storage. I thought I'd got out of the lease having paid everything..all the rent/electric etc for the 6 months tenancy. I wrote letters telling of my decision to leave/not renew etc. 2 years down the line the bailiffs came searching as the landlord had ignored my letters, not redone the tenancy and put all the debt on me. Took me to court in my absence and got a repossession order against me. Dreadful..I learnt lessons, very painful lessons. I fought the judgement but ended up paying half to get them to remove my name from the blacklist. That's the problem with a joint tenancy agreement, both parties have joint and several liability for all aspects of the tenancy, regardless of who has paid what or who has caused what damage. The landlord is free to choose who to pursue. It doesn't seem fair does it.
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 9, 2021 7:39:48 GMT
On my narrow boat I grew a load of flowers from seed. Oranges and yellows and some white flowers. Californian poppy Nasturtiums Canary creeper Mimulus Calendula And some others I ended up with so many plants the roof was more or less covered. One year I even managed to grow Mina Lobata from seed which is a lovely flower and quite difficult to get going properly. Big fan of flowers and neither gay nor ever married. One thing I would like if I had a house would be to be able to have a proper old fashioned cottage garden. Lovely. Closet gay
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 9, 2021 6:46:33 GMT
This look like a decent diy paint job. An observation: The flowers on the roof are a real giveaway. They indicate that you're either: a/ married b/ gay Not that there's anything wrong with either of these. Or indeed ... c/ a man who loves flowers Rog Or should that be: a man who is coerced into liking flowers
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 9, 2021 6:35:12 GMT
This look like a decent diy paint job. An observation: The flowers on the roof are a real giveaway. They indicate that you're either:
a/ married b/ gay
Not that there's anything wrong with either of these.
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 9, 2021 6:23:27 GMT
Me too but I like them well cooked. Especially with chestnuts. The only confidence I have in the Pound is that it will devalue. Steeply. With bacon? Surely? Our pound? Always on the way down after Brexit. Down following the vote for Brexit but up since then, it's been relatively stable against other currencies for a few years now. The problem is debt. Inflation is likely to be allowed to rise to levels that would previously been unacceptable. Inflation reduces the true value of the debt without the government making any repayments. It also devalues the currency, its spending power, in direct proportion to the inflation.
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 9, 2021 6:18:28 GMT
I thought it was quite interesting the variety of opinions (I was living onboard and then sold the house at the top of one of the peaks. I have had a couple of friends with rental properties whe experienced loads of grief from renters and agencies as well) so I reckoned sod it, I am moving away from the land to reduce stress and agro so why hang onto something on the land that will potentially give me loads of grief and agro .... so I sold ..... and have not regretted it I lost £15K to the hammer, drill and flying kicks of the gun toting African drug dealer. This was nothing compared to the emotional grief. I really did have the year from hell, a truly horrible experience, one so bad I could never have imagined it possible. There's something to be said for having less money but a simpler life, one where there's no possibility of such aberrations occurring. If this means you need to do a bit of work you might not have otherwise so what, doing a bit of honest work isn't the end of the world.
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Post by Clinton Cool on Sept 8, 2021 17:46:28 GMT
I have confidence in sprouts Me too but I like them well cooked. Especially with chestnuts. The only confidence I have in the Pound is that it will devalue. Steeply.
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