No products in the basket.
- This topic has 10 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 8 months ago by
.
- Topic
Didn’t know where else to put this.
I live in what was originally Sheltered Housing for retired/disabled/elderly tenants. My landlord is one of the biggest Social Housing Groups in the UK and is about to get bigger. When we moved here in 2003, it was a small Trust that administered housing just in East Lindsey, now it is about to become a huge combine of several Housing groups and associations.
We have always had to struggle to get repair & maintenance issues sorted. It took 10 years of battles to get our ancient Night Storage electric heaters replaced by a GCH system, which reduced our energy payments by over 50% and meant that we had good, controllable heating that did not go cold after 4 pm in the winter months. There have always been open fireplaces in each home, with an ancient solid fuel back boiler still installed at the rear. For the first 5 years, in view of the poor heating, we asked every year if we could have an open fire: we never received an answer until I discovered that the back boilers were actually dangerous. If we had started a fire, the boiler could have exploded, according to the HSE (Health & Safety Executive) this has happened in several cases, in one a 7 yo child was badly injured. So I notified my landlord, who ignored it. Then I notified the local Environment and the HSE, whereupon an ‘engineer’ came out to look at the fireplace and informed me that the chimney was capped and had been for at least 20 years! Ever since that time I have repeatedly reported the boiler issue, to no result. Until this morning…
I had a call on my mobile from a workman who said that he was going to visit my home “To remove the Coal Bunker”. I laughed at that: don’t have one I said. “That is No. X xxxxx Close, isn’t it?” Yes, I said, and had to get into a long conversation to inform him that there had been no coal fires in our chimney since who knows when, and we had been here for 15 years. The guy came out, with his mate, had a look and gave us the great news that they would remove the whole fireplace back to the wall, along with the back boiler. They were concerned that it was still connected by pipework. “To what?” I asked, but they had to go take a look at our (3 yo) gas boiler and pipework, to make sure.
So it has only taken 15 years to carry out something that, I discovered, the landlord should have done as a dangerous Health & Safety instruction to all landlords in an HSE letter over 10 years ago. With a bit of luck, I can remove the shelf which carries the TV atm and rearrange my audio/video stuff into a decent unit, flush against the wall.
When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.
Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
- Replies
It is not in the same league but many years ago I ran a small data centre on a floor of our large building. I had a small bunch computers running all sorts of stuff doing process control, running off international reports largely autonomously and as work demands grew I kept adding a few more machines. From time to time I would write to the power engineer asking for confirmation that all was well and all I ever got was silence. Then I collared the power engineer one day and marched him into the area asking if it really was OK to run this little lot off his UPS.
His answer was a surprise, ‘we wondered who had been consuming more power than the main frames up on the 5th floor‘. Perhaps someone should have read their e-mails…
Same league, Richard, same kind of problem.
In both cases, a misuse of power, neglect and abuse of that power, and incompetence.
I find it spreading amongst many organisations today, it grinds my gears. What to blame, but the desire amongst trendy educational establishments and the Labour Party activists, who want to ban Grammar Schools and any educational initiatives that bring the cream rising to the top. The bets of our generations have been increasingly hobbled by this for the last 40 years.
How can we produce the best scientists, engineers, medical professionals, mathematicians etc., in numbers, when these idiots are determined to stifle the competitive spirit that the human race evolved over millions of years? I feel so pleased that my 13 yo gdaughter is in a very good Lincolnshire Grammar, producing A and A* results.
When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.Same league, Richard, same kind of problem. In both cases, a misuse of power, neglect and abuse of that power, and incompetence. I find it spreading amongst many organisations today, it grinds my gears. What to blame, but the desire amongst trendy educational establishments and the Labour Party activists, who want to ban Grammar Schools and any educational initiatives that bring the cream rising to the top. The best of our generations have been increasingly hobbled by this for the last 40 years. How are we to produce the best scientists, engineers, medical professionals, mathematicians etc., in numbers, when these idiots are determined to stifle the competitive spirit that the human race evolved over millions of years? I feel so pleased that my 13 yo gdaughter is in a very good Lincolnshire Grammar, producing A and A* results.
When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.The subject of Grammar Schools is an emotive one due to the impacts on those who just pass or just fail and the cliff-edge nature of the selection system. Numerous teachers also hate the concept some as the result of a lack of any dialectic debate, while others are driven by a badly thought out system of rating teacher/school performance.
I personally favour a highly streamed system as I’m afraid that AI, robotics and future technical developments will result in our national wealth being produced by a very small percentage of the population. We need to ensure that we have more than our fair share of such intellect and streaming and stretching intellect is one way of achieving that goal. I would include STEM subjects and Industrial Design as intellectual pursuits, but NOT Media or Art History Studies! This sort of streaming does need a geographically separate site as there can be a corrosive/disruptive effect by some at the other end of the intellectual spectrum.
Accompanying that however we also need a system that keeps the other 95% of the population usefully occupied, and that is a challenge that really has not even been given any political consideration or thought so far.
I took my 11 Plus exam in 1956 at 11, did not get enough marks to make Grammar school, as did 8 more of my schoolmates in a class of pit village kids. It did not bother me, as I was offered a place at one of the new Technical schools which were set up by the government to address the problem of too few engineers and other technical trades. (Does that sound familiar) Although I achieved no qualifications, mainly due to my inability to concentrate and stop messing about in my last year, that school gave me a grounding in engineering that paid off when I joined the Army as an AAC aircraft Technician, and after leaving HMF, when I became a Motor Engineer and managed a garage and workshop.
My friends who joined grammars and Uni’s, later had such careers as a Dental Surgeon, (owned several practices in West London, later retired comfortably after the sales) Chemist, Pharmaceutical Scientist, Biologist, Teacher/Head. There was also one who was found dead and homeless in Birmingham, as a sad counterweight. I felt absolutely no jealousy for any of them, neither did any of the ones who failed, some of whom took their own route to success as engineers, builders, etc. In fact, our ‘organiser’ back in Notts decided to have a 50th Reunion for the “Class of 1950” who started at the village school in that year, and it was well attended by all those who could go (and were still above ground by then) Unfortunately It was 2000 and I was quite unwell, having treatment for a paralysed spine. I received a huge card, signed by everyone attending, including several old pals I had not seen for many decades. I am now in touch with them all via FB and the village website: unfortunately we are all getting on, some (like me) have problems and some have passed since 200. But one of the letters in the card was from my oldest friend, a girl from a family of 6 next door. We grew up together and one of my prized photos is of us both sitting on her front doorstep, at perhaps 4 or 5 years old. Mary (now married to a Mansfield Labour Councillor) told me that everyone at the Reunion had mixed and talked about their lives: there was no jealousy or animosity, everyone recalling the times together as children up to 11 or 15, depending upon which course their education took them. I really wish I could have been there, but at the same time my mate Vic who moved to OZ, was also in hospital, so we both met up with many who had been there in 2001.
Education then was a fixed purpose and those being educated, understood the paths they took. Changes were few until the Trendy educators began to appear in the 60’s and that got worse. Successive governments have done nothing but make frequent changes since, poking education with a sharp stick and inflicting change where there should be a settled routine, which most educators and all children, like.
I say that from the viewpoint of the father of a daughter who teaches. She and her colleagues are sick and tired of politicians who understand education mostly from a Public School standpoint, and pass on stupid, unworkable solutions too frequently.
When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.I did not dream up the streaming bit, as that is exactly what China is doing.which means something like 0.5 million/year of highly trained highly qualified people hitting the system every year (I allowed a 50% failure rate).
In a nation of 1.5 billion Ed, that is a very small percentage; 0.0225% in fact. Apply the same percentage to a UK population of 66,573,504 in 2018, as reckoned by Global bank and we have the number 149,790.384. Around 150,00 top achievers. Compared to 1.5 billion of other-directed Chinese, that is not contemptible, but should definitely be improved.
Now if you are talking about removing ” Media or Art History Studies ” from the curriculum, I would agree if those are chosen by students too lazy, lacking ambition and drive, or too unfocussed to do anything else. But you fail to detect and include the high exports from the UK of media productions. Our film and TV productions are sold all over the world: Hollywood uses UK studios and regions, with the varied landscapes throughout the British Isles, for a great deal of work.
Art History I do not understand, apart from the fact that it brings tourists from all over the world to view our many Art Galleries and Museums. These are generally wealthy people who are prepared to spend money in the local economy. It brings in a fair few £millions, I would venture. Since the £ seems to have lost so much, Tourism in the UK is more affordable and lots of people, many from China, are coming here to soak up British culture.
Even may years ago, whilst serving in BAOR, my German best mate Rolf asked me to give him a month’s itinerary for a visit to Britain. He wanted landscapes, holiday resorts, museums and Art galleries and I fixed him up well enough to earn his praise for our country. He said he felt especially at home, sitting in a Carlisle restaurant during a heavy rain shower, eating Ochsenschwanzsuppe mit Champignons*, Bratwürst and chips provided by a waitress whose father was also in BAOR some years ago and schooled in Germany. A remarkable meal for a German citizen to be given, in a 1970’s Carlisle restaurant!
*Oxtail soup with button mushrooms. I loved that myself. Bratwürst you probably know is a grilled German sausage of remarkable proportions. I loved that too, covered in ketchup with a dip of Zempf (German mustard, quite mild). I get mine in Tesco, as they sell the best genuine German brand. A rare treat for me, as I invariably need the peppermints later, before bed!
When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.I’m in favour of a tramlines system. Having a very dyslexic lad, who ended up doing his last year in Thr local college, I think he would of been served way better in a less rigid system.
Tbh I thought the about our schools since before we had kids. I get trhle idea of of pigeon who king kids is bad, so I’d like some form of sideways movement. So they can if needed swap. But on The whole I think you need to tap into what type of education suits the child best. It may not even be what they are best at, but more where their interest lie.
Steve, that is why I have 4 grandbrats all on different educational and/or career paths. Every young human is an individual and has to be given the right path for them, not directed by those who want to put them in boxes and label them.
24 yo is an IT networking/security/website specialist and he is doing very well. That’s the Asperger’s lad.
His almost 22 yo cousin was a chef for the last 5 years, has changed course and is taking a job as a Commercial Banking trainee. Probably talked herself into it: she exhausts people with her bags of confidence in what she can do. Drives me crackers with her incessant talking, I come in here after 10 minutes of a visit. But I love her to bits and she knows it, comes for ahug and kiss before leaving. House is too quiet for a bit.??
Her 19 yo bro is a quiet, massive lad, probably has never got a word in above sister, lol. Coming to take out all the heavy garden stuff this weekend.He is taking his last exams and is already qualified as an Electrical Installer, despite being severely Dyslexic. The last exams have been brought in by this dumb government, which refuses to recognise practical talent and wants every college leaver to read and write. He can read fine, but writing makes his head hurt as the words float across the page. What are they doing to this lad? He has wired up businesses and houses from top to bottom in Work Experience, with top marks above his non-dyslexic college mates. (some have been sent off sites) he won’t have a problem getting a job, if he can get through the English. He has an eidetic memory and has got through the Maths with answers worked out in his head: his tutor realises that he cannot write down the working-out, so writes that in for him. All his maths answers are invariably correct, when checked.
24 yo’s sister is getting continual A and A* marks at grammar school, may be brightest of all 4 and is being taught IT as well by big bro.
I love them all. All different, all needed different schools and colleges. No government recognises that.
When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.I hope the future allows a system where everyone does their own thing.
Unfortunately we face an upheaval in the capability of technology that will make the 19th century Industrial Revolution look like a Teddy Bear’s picnic. As a nation today, most of our national wealth is earned in the South East, and most of it through brain power.
Although wealth production may become a bit more dispersed, it will be brain power that continues to earn it. The rest of the population will feed off this through the service sectors etc. Unless we concentrate our limited resources on supporting and growing the future wealth generators this country will slowly slide down to become just a sixth rate tourist spot.
Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
