The Night Mail

[newbryford]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

"Is this Aluminium?"

 

 

 

But they'll protest that it's Aluminum instead...........

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Apparently their written work is a sight to behold.....

Here's one example (possibly from a question such as "Describe the process used the shape the material"):

 

"I gotten a File"

 

 

 

 

"Was it a b*st*rd?"

 

"Are you sayin' I don't know who my Dad is?"

[PhilJ W]

5 hours ago, TheQ said:

I had to look up where Edinboro  is,  seemingly it's in Pennsylvania.

Damn spill chucker! now corrected.

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Apparently their written work is a sight to behold.....

Here's one example (possibly from a question such as "Describe the process used the shape the material"):

 

"I gotten a File"

 

Sadly such work is all too common apparently, rather than the exception.

 

 

 

That doesn't surprise me in the least. I've seen quite a few rather depressing things from young "apprentices" sent on day release to college who spend the entire day playing on their phones, to those with a masters in mechanical engineering who didn't know which way to unscrew the wheel nuts on his car....

 

There was also the small matter of being asked by the head of the design technology department to have a dig around in my junk pile at home in order to show a class of sixteen year olds who were two weeks from their final exam some examples of spot welds, brazing and MIG welding, as well as samples of aluminium, brass, stainless steel and cast iron.

Everything really has been dumbed down, at our induction for PGCE, the lecturer told us gleefully that the tech teachers we remembered with brown smocks covered in enameled train badges were all gone, in the name of progress and streamlining the subject.

[Dave Hunt]

Entered in error

Edited August 16, 2023 by Dave Hunt

[MrWolf]

41 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

They probably hadn’t been exposed to any metals in CDT at school. Such subjects became expensive and instead  wood and metal were replaced by various plastics and card. Woodwork and metalwork were replaced by light crafts. A terrible shame and not one brought about about the teaching profession. Many experienced technology teachers instead of making a screwdriver were getting their students to design retail packaging for a tool. It wasn’t due to some H&S diktat it was cost. At Aditi’s FE college her subject geography was stopped as it was expensive due to fieldwork requirements. Fortunately she avoided redundancy by reinventing herself as as a sociologist, which is cheap to teach. 

 

It's a damned shame isn't it? Back in 2003 the materials budget per pupil per year was £6. 

The schools are also being ripped off by a cartel of "Approved suppliers". I was shown the remains of a sheet of 0.7mm mild steel and told that there was to be no more ordered as it had gone up to £55 per sheet.

I pointed out that I was buying the same material for £13 per sheet, but was told that it had to be obtained from an approved supplier for "traceability reasons", as if they were building aircraft components!

 

However, some of the teachers and the trainee teachers were quite happy to be sticking with package design, there's no getting dirty for starters and some of the six foot twenty something lads at the university were actually frightened of things like milling machines and welders and were adamant they were never going to use them.

 

Two things made my mind up. One was a thirteen year old boy saying to me: "I want to learn how to make things. What's the point of spending weeks on design and research if we're never going to make it?"

The other was the way that mature students from skilled trades were sent to Coventry by the staff and received absolutely zero mentoring, all I can surmise is that we were seen as a threat.

 

After my other half got her biological sciences degree, she was encouraged to take her PGCE. I didn't discourage her in any way, but she was secretly glad that COVID made it a box ticking exercise and it made her even more determined to study for her doctorate.

 

 

Edited August 16, 2023 by MrWolf
Technology that fails to deliver

[Dave Hunt]

My previous post was due to getting into a tangle trying to edit and ending up with a blank page. What I meant to write was that I have just had lotsa fun (?!) trying to renew my senior railcard. When I tried to log in the system wouldn't recognise my email address so I gave in and set about starting from scratch to set up an account. I was a bit nonplussed when it then said that an account was already registered with that email address. I therefore tried logging in but guess what? It didn't recognise the password so I clicked on 'forgot my password' whereupon it asked for my email address. That resulted in it saying that there was no account registered with that email address.😡 Eventually I tried registering for a new railcard rather than trying renewal and it worked, even though the email address was, unsurprisingly, the same as before!! Sometimes I despair of whichever clown designed these systems. Or is 'designed' the wrong word?

 

Dave 

[Darlington_Shed]

16 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Or is 'designed' the wrong word?

New and improved for your convenience?

[MrWolf]

I had a similarly frustrating experience when a letter from the electoral roll dropped through our door. 

We entered the two codes into the council website, followed by our postcode in the requested format.

 

Not recognised.

 

Try again.

 

Not recognised.

 

Try again....

 

You get the idea.

 

Next morning I walked the 300 yards to the town hall and spoke to a human being and within five minutes Miss Riding Hood and I were registered to vote.

 

Now if only there was anyone worth voting for.....🙄

[AndyID]

Lorna bought some T-shirts to send to our grandchildren. There seem to be about seven of them.

 

I liked these.

 

 

 

 

The second one is quite clever. It's all printed, including the masking tape 😄

 

 

 

 

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, newbryford said:

 

But they'll protest that it's Aluminum instead...........

 

Not according to Le Académie Anglaise.

 

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[Tim Dubya]

30 minutes ago, AndyID said:

There seem to be about seven of them.

 

You're not sure of how many grandchildren you have?

[AndyID]

Just now, Tim Dubya said:

 

You're not sure of how many grandchildren you have?

 

I'm pretty sure it's seven, more or less.

[AndyID]

It's not so easy to keep track. There are two in California, two in Washington State, two in Michigan and one in New Jersey.

 

As tracking the birthdays is a bit tricky they all might have to share the same "official" birthday.

[iL Dottore]

6 hours ago, MrWolf said:

….The other was the way that mature students from skilled trades were sent to Coventry by the staff and received absolutely zero mentoring, all I can surmise is that we were seen as a threat.…

They were probably indeed seen as a threat.
 

Nowadays, it does seem that the western world has diverged significantly from much of Asia in regards to how it regards age and experience. In many Asian countries, age and experience is highly prized. In Japan they have something called Living National Treasure (more properly Preservers of Important Intangible Cultural Properties) who are considered the very best exemplars of various Japanese Performing Arts and Japanese Crafts (including  metalworking!). I’m not sure what is the average age is of a Living National Treasure, but my impression is that it is about the mid 70s. Such treasures are supported by the Japanese government, who awards them a modest stipend of about ¥2 million (about £12,000) a year.

 

Another, to me, appeal of Japanese society is the respect given to those who dedicate their entire life to doing one thing perfectly (they’re called Shokunin, although a literal translation doesn’t really encompass what a Shokunin is). “Half-Ars3d” is definitely an alien concept in Japan.

 

Shokunin are seen in all walks of life: NHK showed a short report on one such Shokunin - a metalwork craftsman who was working to micrometer precision by eye. And a good Shokunin keeps going forever - like this Michelin starred Sushi Chef: https://medium.com/mind-cafe/shokunin-how-striving-for-perfection-can-help-you-live-a-better-life-88fc09394a09

It’s interesting to contemplate how a small start-up company would do if that company only hired very experienced people of mature age (do not apply if you are under 40), where “good enough“ is considered completely inadequate, where at every level of the company people listened to and heeded those with more experience than they (given that everyone’s experience is different, in such an environment one day you will listen, the next you will be listened to), hierarchical seniority is based on experience and ability (and not just by age or worse by bits of paper) and everyone can work at the company for as long as they are able to meet company standards and they want to work. And, critically, all of management has “come off the tools” (is that the right expression?)..

 

Such a company might not make the Fortune500 list, but I think it might be a bloody good company to work for.

 

[Northmoor]

5 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

I'm pretty sure it's seven, more or less.

Don't be embarrassed; not knowing how many children you have isn't even a barrier to being Prime Minister in the UK.

[polybear]

7 hours ago, Tony_S said:

At Aditi’s FE college her subject geography was stopped as it was expensive due to fieldwork requirements. Fortunately she avoided redundancy by reinventing herself as as a sociologist, which is cheap to teach. 

 

Legendary:

 

 

7 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Everything really has been dumbed down, at our induction for PGCE, the lecturer told us gleefully that the tech teachers we remembered with brown smocks covered in enameled train badges were all gone, in the name of progress and streamlining the subject.

 

Such tech teachers have long since realised that (a) there's much more money to be made working in Industry** now that decent techs. are starting to get thin on the ground, and (b) spending your life trying to teach many (not all) of the kids appearing in College Workshops will rapidly make you lose the will to live - or sent down for murder.

 

(Incidentally, (b) above comes from two Tech. Teachers I know).

 

(**Try recruiting a Welding Teacher, for example)

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

In Japan they have something called Living National Treasure (more properly Preservers of Important Intangible Cultural Properties) who are considered the very best exemplars of various Japanese Performing Arts

 

 

Ours  has Kylie and Russell Crowe on it.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Living_Treasure_(Australia)#Current_list

Edited August 17, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Hroth]

8 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

"Was it a b*st*rd?"

 

"Are you sayin' I don't know who my Dad is?"

 

It was half-cut too...

 

7 hours ago, MrWolf said:

I had a similarly frustrating experience when a letter from the electoral roll dropped through our door. 

We entered the two codes into the council website, followed by our postcode in the requested format.

 

Not recognised.

 

Try again.

 

Not recognised.

 

Try again....

 

You get the idea.

 

Next morning I walked the 300 yards to the town hall and spoke to a human being and within five minutes Miss Riding Hood and I were registered to vote.

 

Now if only there was anyone worth voting for.....🙄

 

The envelope also tells you not to ignore it.

Inside, if your details are correct, you are told to ignore it.

No matter what, there should have to be some sort of confirmatory action to take, if only to prove that you've READ the bl00dy thing!

 

[Tony_S]

Our new local tourist attraction. Not a rival at present to Cheddar or Mother  Shipton’s Cave,  not a lot round here that isn’t Roman or Saxon.

 

[Tony_S]

The algorithm of the social media formerly known as Twitter seems to think I like news about hippos. Just observed Fritz the hippo at Cincinnati Zoo being fed. Apparently he will open his mouth following a signal. I think he had his keeper well trained.

Tony

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

And, critically, all of management has “come off the tools” (is that the right expression?). Such a company might not make the Fortune500 list, but I think it might be a bloody good company to work for.

Working in a council payroll office I had to deal with the managers of different departments. Those that had come off the tools were always the most helpful and ready to accept advice. Also they new their own job back to front and everybody else in their department, in fact the refuse manager started out as a road sweeper. The worst managers were those parachuted in from other councils with little experience but plenty of paper qualifications. Fortunately many didn't stay that long, often not long enough to clean up the mess left by their predecessors. Of the latter, some added to the mess and others got out as soon as they saw what had to be done.

[Tony_S]

53 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Fortunately many didn't stay that long, often not long enough to clean up the mess left by their predecessors.

Aditi had a fairly senior role in her department at college. When the Head of Dept was off on sick leave,  instead of making Aditi acting head they brought someone in from an agency. Instead of keeping everything running she implemented a lot of changes. Basically so she could put “implemented and managed radical change” on her CV. When the head of dept returned he and Aditi had to put everything back. The temporary manager had never understood why the department did certain things the way they did. A lot of their students were mature students, often single parents so timetabling took into account school pickup and drop off times. This didn’t fit nicely into a  room use algorithm but really did help attendance and student retention. 
Tony

[jamie92208]

12 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

That doesn't surprise me in the least. I've seen quite a few rather depressing things from young "apprentices" sent on day release to college who spend the entire day playing on their phones, to those with a masters in mechanical engineering who didn't know which way to unscrew the wheel nuts on his car....

 

There was also the small matter of being asked by the head of the design technology department to have a dig around in my junk pile at home in order to show a class of sixteen year olds who were two weeks from their final exam some examples of spot welds, brazing and MIG welding, as well as samples of aluminium, brass, stainless steel and cast iron.

Everything really has been dumbed down, at our induction for PGCE, the lecturer told us gleefully that the tech teachers we remembered with brown smocks covered in enameled train badges were all gone, in the name of progress and streamlining the subject.

This was very true in My profession. Accelerated promotion for a select few bagan in the 60's. Everyone else had to cIImb the ladder from the bottom.  It took me 21 years to get to Inspector for instance..  In the mid 70's a

NewlyT Minted ex special Course Superintendent was in a Radio room near me when he heard a PC being told to attend a domestic dispute.  He asked to be taken there as he had never been to a domestic. Words failed me. One of the major problems at Hillsborough was over promoted and inexperienced senior officers. An old Ch. Insp got a lot of pause for the way that he got a grip of things eventually. 

 

Jamie