The Night Mail

[newbryford]

19 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Imperial or Metric?🤣

 

I have two adjustable spanners. One marked in mm and the other in Imperial measurements...........

 

😃

 

(Akin to a long stand or a bucket of steam, it's one of those apprentice training things - "go and ask the storeman for a metric adjustable spanner"

[Winslow Boy]

32 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I see there is a call for the Grenadier Guardsman who were pall bearers of the late Queen Elizabeth's coffin, to receive MBEs.

 

Personally I do not think that it would be appropriate.

 

A more fitting award would be entry as members to the Royal Victorian Order as this is usually only awarded for personal service to the Monarch. 

 

I think that's dead mans shoes to get in there Big H.

 

Who would you like to do first?

[Winslow Boy]

27 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

I have two adjustable spanners. One marked in mm and the other in Imperial measurements...........

 

😃

 

(Akin to a long stand or a bucket of steam, it's one of those apprentice training things - "go and ask the storeman for a metric adjustable spanner"

 

Or my favourite the tin of elbow grease to which the correct response is large or small.

[Happy Hippo]

1 minute ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

I think that's dead mans shoes to get in there Big H.

 

Who would you like to do first?

Membership of the RVO is at the personal behest of the monarch rather than the usual committee of civil servants. That same committee would downgrade the MBE to a BEM due to their junior rank within the military.

[AndyID]

It was high time I did some organizing and junk disposal in the shed. There was some stuff on a shelf that's eight feet above the floor that needed to be disposed of including a rather large blue plastic tarpaulin. When I removed it I discovered it was an ant nest. The ants, very small ones, had actually chewed through the tarp at various places. There must have been thousands of them, and a lot of eggs too.

 

Dead ants have been dropping down from the rafters for some time and it looks like I've finally discovered where they were coming from, I hope.

[jamie92208]

6 hours ago, AndyID said:

It was high time I did some organizing and junk disposal in the shed. There was some stuff on a shelf that's eight feet above the floor that needed to be disposed of including a rather large blue plastic tarpaulin. When I removed it I discovered it was an ant nest. The ants, very small ones, had actually chewed through the tarp at various places. There must have been thousands of them, and a lot of eggs too.

 

Dead ants have been dropping down from the rafters for some time and it looks like I've finally discovered where they were coming from, I hope.

At least it wasn't a nest of rodents like I discovered on a similar shelf.  My mallet came in very useful.

 

Jamie

Edited September 21, 2022 by jamie92208

[polybear]

7 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I see there is a call for the Grenadier Guardsman who were pall bearers of the late Queen Elizabeth's coffin, to receive MBEs.

 

Personally I do not think that it would be appropriate.

 

A more fitting award would be entry as members to the Royal Victorian Order as this is usually only awarded for personal service to the Monarch. 

 

The honour of doing it could be (should be?) reward enough....

 

7 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

I have two adjustable spanners. One marked in mm and the other in Imperial measurements...........

 

😃

 

(Akin to a long stand or a bucket of steam, it's one of those apprentice training things - "go and ask the storeman for a metric adjustable spanner"

 

We sent a graduate type to the tool stores for a metric adjustable allen key, zero to 1".  Yep, they went for it.  Not happy when they came back IIRC.  That was their initiation ceremony.

 

 

[AndyID]

48 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

We sent a graduate type to the tool stores for a metric adjustable allen key, zero to 1".  Yep, they went for it.  Not happy when they came back IIRC.  That was their initiation ceremony.

 

 

Yeah, well as a "graduate type" I was also a big lad and nobody ever tried to pull a stunt like that on me. Not only that but that's exactly the the sort of attitude that convinced me I had no future in the UK.

 

Sorry for being a wet blanket 😀

[Compound2632]

9 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I see there is a call for the Grenadier Guardsman who were pall bearers of the late Queen Elizabeth's coffin, to receive MBEs.

 

Probably from people who have never heard of the

 

9 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Royal Victorian Order

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

4 hours ago, AndyID said:

It was high time I did some organizing and junk disposal in the shed.

Join the club.

 

The trouble is I seem to have a problem with unloading by the car load and by the time I've got back from the recycling centre a further two car loads have surrepticiously arrived and decamped into the recently cleared areas.

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

Join the club.

 

The trouble is I seem to have a problem with unloading by the car load and by the time I've got back from the recycling centre a further two car loads have surrepticiously arrived and decamped into the recently cleared areas.

Do you suspect fly tippers taking advantage? Or it could be squirrels perhaps? You need some of those trail cams to identify the offender 

[polybear]

3 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

Yeah, well as a "graduate type" I was also a big lad and nobody ever tried to pull a stunt like that on me. Not only that but that's exactly the the sort of attitude that convinced me I had no future in the UK.

 

Sorry for being a wet blanket 😀

 

We all gave as good as we got** - and there was never, NEVER any bullying, targeting, victimisation etc. (though I can think of one or two Managers that crossed that line).  Not so many years ago that was a part of "Team Bonding" as it's now called; the old way seemed for the most part to work pretty well - we were all a part of "The Lads (and Ladies)" and it made being at work good fun - or in the bad times at least bearable.  Nowadays HR have stuck their noses in to such an extent that daring to even smile whilst at work means a disciplinary; they run "Team Building Courses" now - and boy, are they a struggle to get thru'.  Unless of course you happen to be in the "right" department - one dept. got a couple of days away in Portsmouth - including an Evening Meal....on HMS Victory.  Bear's lowly dept. (Customer Support in latter years - which was the most profitable in the company as they made obscene profits - got an afternoon listening to drivel and silly games in the dreaded "Atrium").

 

**Back in the late 80's we even "hit" the Dept. Head (of 80+ staff) - there were culls going on at the time and we decided it'd be a wheeze if we totally cleared his office (even the piccies on the walls) one afternoon whilst he went to a meeting; he came back to find a solitary telephone sitting in the middle of the floor 🤣.  His face was a real picture - and he found it pretty amusing once we all appeared from our hiding places.

 

[BoD]

13 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I see there is a call for the Grenadier Guardsman who were pall bearers of the late Queen Elizabeth's coffin, to receive MBEs.

 

Personally I do not think that it would be appropriate.

 

A more fitting award would be entry as members to the Royal Victorian Order as this is usually only awarded for personal service to the Monarch. 

 

I hope the same would apply to the pallbearers in Edinburgh even though they had to perform the duty fewer times.

[Happy Hippo]

Team bonding:  

 

'Platoon! Step forward and 1 section pick up the log (telegraph pole).'

 

'To the top of the hill (1.5 miles) and back.  Quick march!'

 

After 100 yards or so  'Break into double time......'

[Happy Hippo]

5 minutes ago, BoD said:

 

I hope the same would apply to the pallbearers in Edinburgh even though they had to perform the duty fewer times.

I would agree.  There could be a large increase in numbers being so awarded.

 

I mentioned the RVO because the hearse driver for Diana, Princess of Wales's funeral was so honoured. 

[polybear]

8 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Team bonding:  

 

'Platoon! Step forward and 1 section pick up the log (telegraph pole).'

 

'To the top of the hill (1.5 miles) and back.  Quick march!'

 

After 100 yards or so  'Break into double time......'

 

When a young cub had just become a Trials Engineer one of my first missions was to provide an escort to something being driven up to North Berwick ( @TheQ may well know the place) for Trials; that basically meant I had to sit in the cab of a Volvo F10 for two days, with the odd stop for a fry-up en-route up the A1).  The overnight stop meant leaving the trailer parked on the edge of the parade ground at RAF Catterick; there was a guy having to run around the perimeter whilst his Senior screamed at him - the guy had a rather large lump of Telegraph Pole across his shoulders at the time.  Dunno what he'd done wrong - and neither the driver nor I were about to ask.......

[Happy Hippo]

This morning I first vacuumed, and then used the carpet cleaner on the downstairs carpets.

 

The alternative was to continue digging an access trench in the garden.

 

I would have preferred the latter, but the former was suggested as a solution to gaining some merit marks.

 

Tomorrow, I will be making careful preparation for the materiel and tool supplies for Saturday's Girlguiding event which will complete merit work until Saturday evening.

 

I may be permitted to carry on with the trench tomorrow afternoon.

 

 

[SM42]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

I may be permitted to carry on with the trench tomorrow afternoon.

 

 

 

You've been done

 

Rain is forecast to come in tomorrow afternoon. 

 

 

Andy

[Happy Hippo]

1 minute ago, SM42 said:

 

You've been done

 

Rain is forecast to come in tomorrow afternoon. 

 

 

Andy

Trench + rain = Muddy Hollow.

 

Sounds like luxury to me.

 

All I would need to go with that combo for absolute bliss would be some cake.

[Northmoor]

7 hours ago, polybear said:

 

When a young cub had just become a Trials Engineer one of my first missions was to provide an escort to something being driven up to North Berwick ( @TheQ may well know the place) for Trials; that basically meant I had to sit in the cab of a Volvo F10 for two days, with the odd stop for a fry-up en-route up the A1).  The overnight stop meant leaving the trailer parked on the edge of the parade ground at RAF Catterick; there was a guy having to run around the perimeter whilst his Senior screamed at him - the guy had a rather large lump of Telegraph Pole across his shoulders at the time.  Dunno what he'd done wrong - and neither the driver nor I were about to ask.......

I spent nine years working as a (relatively junior) management consultant.  Towards the end of my time in that job, a volunteer was requested to drive a van-load of high-spec PCs and screens to Caldicot Barracks. 

It was my best day at work for months; I got to spend a sunny day bimbling along the M4 to Wales and back, on my own and didn't have to talk to anyone, got to visit a new military site (mentally ticking another one off) and got some lunch on expenses.  And I wasn't being paid a van driver's daily rate......

[AndyID]

10 hours ago, polybear said:

 

We all gave as good as we got** - and there was never, NEVER any bullying, targeting, victimisation etc. (though I can think of one or two Managers that crossed that line).  Not so many years ago that was a part of "Team Bonding" as it's now called; the old way seemed for the most part to work pretty well - we were all a part of "The Lads (and Ladies)" and it made being at work good fun - or in the bad times at least bearable.  Nowadays HR have stuck their noses in to such an extent that daring to even smile whilst at work means a disciplinary; they run "Team Building Courses" now - and boy, are they a struggle to get thru'.  Unless of course you happen to be in the "right" department - one dept. got a couple of days away in Portsmouth - including an Evening Meal....on HMS Victory.  Bear's lowly dept. (Customer Support in latter years - which was the most profitable in the company as they made obscene profits - got an afternoon listening to drivel and silly games in the dreaded "Atrium").

 

**Back in the late 80's we even "hit" the Dept. Head (of 80+ staff) - there were culls going on at the time and we decided it'd be a wheeze if we totally cleared his office (even the piccies on the walls) one afternoon whilst he went to a meeting; he came back to find a solitary telephone sitting in the middle of the floor 🤣.  His face was a real picture - and he found it pretty amusing once we all appeared from our hiding places.

 

 

Fear not. I too have been involved in some extremely adventurous stunts in the workplace. They can be very effective for team-building.

 

My objection was the use of the pejorative "graduate type". It reminded me of a conversation I had many years ago in the UK when I told someone I was studying electronic engineering. Their response was,

 

"Oh, so you'll repair TVs then."

😀

 

[iL Dottore]

7 hours ago, AndyID said:

…My objection was the use of the pejorative "graduate type". It reminded me of a conversation I had many years ago in the UK when I told someone I was studying electronic engineering. Their response was,

 

"Oh, so you'll repair TVs then."

😀

 

Apart from the British aversion to “intellectuals” (which may or may not sometimes be justified) there is also denigration of many highly skilled professions by the sharp elbowed upper middle classes who dominate British society - you know, the ones who, from the comfort and safety of their very expensive London houses, tell everyone else in Britain what to do and think.

 

God forbid that their little Tarquin or little Cressida go into “trade”. Electronic Engineering? Rather they become heroin addicts (OK, I exaggerate a wee bit). Many of the ex-pat Brits who I’ve met over the years here in Switzerland, and who have been engineers, technicians, etc., have said that not only are they paid much much better in Switzerland than they would ever have been in the UK, but they also get a damn site more respect and recognition than they would in the UK.

 

Part of this respect, I think, is down to the rigourous apprenticeships and technical education that various professions (denigrated as “trade“ “in the UK“) have to go through in order to be qualified. This is well recognised by the Swiss and, as this summary article shows, strongly supported by the government, kantons etc.  (https://hospitalityinsights.ehl.edu/swiss-vocational-education-training-model) The other thing is that whilst the Swiss have (like any other country) various social circles, they also have various vereins such as the Basel Fasnachtsclique where people from all walks of life socialise. In such vereins you are judged on who you are, not what you are (I get the impression that there are far fewer rigid social silos in Switzerland than in many other countries). Certainly my social circle here in CH is a lot, lot wider than it ever was in the UK.
 

[SM42]

I think the " graduate type" 

attitude is down to many things. 

 

Primarily we all remember the ones who really didn't have much of a clue. 

It often not their fault. They've been thrown in at the deep end with a couple of days induction and are expected to be fully conversant with the ins and outs of the business, its technicalities and people overnight. 

 

We have had our share of bright young things who have arrived in the company at a level that many would spend years working up to. 

 

They have ranged from those who want to change the world today and think they can without any thought for reality ( the ones we remember) to those who accept they've been dropped in it and much is expected of them. 

 

The latter we forget, because they take the time to listen and learn. To ask the questions that get them up and running, appreciate that things don't happen overnight and they need  the support of their colleagues at all levels to be successful.

They very soon become part of the furniture and the " graduate type" label falls away

 

Fortunately we have had more of the latter and only a few of the former have got through the selection process. 

 

Andy

[Winslow Boy]

 

We all have to learn and some do it faster than others.

 

One of best things that I think both employer and employee benefit from are placements. I've had a few acquiantances who having done there placements have been offered jobs at the end of it.

 

I have often wondered though if any employers have had cause to let people go after there initial appointment or whether that no matter how bad the person is they just don't want to go through the whole process of hiring someone.

 

Without straying into politics I do think it was in the late 90's that the push into full time education has a lot to answer for.

[Happy Hippo]

It seems we've had a very quiet day.

 

This morning was spent putting things away and having a general tidy up, although some cleaning was involved.

 

No trench digging this afternoon as I had quite a bit of admin to do.  This involved trying to resolve an issue with a prescription:  The pharmacy can no longer get the eye drops I am prescribed, and I need to get the doctor to authorise a change so that that there is no substitution required. Of course, this will require the doctor to write a letter to the consultant, and then the consultant to write back.  Getting an appointment is nigh on impossible, so it's going to be fun tomorrow when I try to explain to the reception staff that a letter has to be writted.

 

More pleasurable was listing a load of 7 mm stuff for sale (not mine).

 

Then the new trees arrived!  They were delivered to the head gardener, and duly unpacked.  Fortunately, they came potted and not as bare rootballs, so can rest in their pots for a time before being planted up later in the year. We will wait until the trees they are replacing are demolished as it would be somewhat foolish to plant them and then have the potential for some big lump of timber to drop on top of them.

 

If the weather is good tomorrow we might go and visit Tatton Park.  I fancy a day out, but not so much the drive up the M6.