Early Risers.

[newbryford]

A sombre mood at wife's work today.

 

Yesterday, our local railway service was suspended for about three hours in the morning whilst a body was removed from the line after being hit by a train. The local news reports said that there were "no suspicious circumstances".

It was a 20 year old man and was unfortunately confirmed today - son of one of wife's employees who had taken his own life.

 

I had met him two years ago whilst he had a summer job at the golf course. A very pleasant and personable chap.

 

Thoughts to Monika and the family that has to deal with this tragedy.

 

And others affected by this as well.

 

Mick

Edited April 13, 2018 by newbryford

[grandadbob]

That is dreadful Mick. One wonders what on earth could be so bad that a young man like that had to resort to such a terrible action.

[NGT6 1315]

Gosh, that’s some dreadful thing to happen, Mick. And indeed, it raises the question of why...

[Tony_S]

It has been some comfort to us that although losing Matthew has been awful he was very happy. We have friends who had to deal with their child being in a suicidal frame of mind during teenage and young adult years.

[81C]

According to the Lawn Gisland experts all you need is Bread and Milk plus Milk and Bread, etc.,

 

83f in my backyard as we speak. back to 60’s on Sunday.

 

Keep warm (yes, it’s highly irritating when someone says this specially if you are standing in the middle of a busy intersection at the time).

 

I think we may be able to swap the Snow Blower for the Lawn Mower this weekend, at last.

 

We’ve got a Sasquatch at the bottom of our garden. It’s really annoying as he keeps filling it up with cheap IKEA furniture - and he knows how to put it together.

 

 

 

Best, Pete.

You have got to be an idiot if you can't put that carp together believe me there's alot of idiots about I make good few bob putting junk together for people,

 it's the same for the old MFI (Made For Idiots)the owner thought it was a joke to call his company that all those years ago the construction of both makes leave a lot to be desired.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Bob the real builder

Edited April 13, 2018 by 81C

[Tony_S]

The visit from Aditi's cousins was very pleasant. We were going to have the lunch they brought but their daughter aged 12 noticed the pizza we had got "just in case" and we had that as Namah (12 year old) said how nice it looked and that it would make a change from the Indian food they had every day. We had the lovely food her Mum brought for dinner!

 

ABN AMRO (Dutch Bank) sent me an email and some pdfs to start dealing with Matthew's bank account there. It was in Dutch. Pasting the pdf text into Google Translate worked quite well. Just a list of items they need to see at some stage. There is a phone help line which proved very helpful when I first made contact earlier this week.

Tony

[Coombe Barton]

I cannot imagine what the lad's parents are going through. 

[bbishop]

ABN AMRO (Dutch Bank) sent me an email and some pdfs to start dealing with Matthew's bank account there. It was in Dutch. Pasting the pdf text into Google Translate worked quite well. Just a list of items they need to see at some stage. There is a phone help line which proved very helpful when I first made contact earlier this week.

Tony

Tony, you may find Deepl provides a better translation. Still thinking of Aditi and yourself.

 

Bill

Edited April 13, 2018 by bbishop

[NGT6 1315]

I'm not sure whether I may have mentioned this before, but given that life choices and reflections on them seems to be a recurring theme in various contexts currently...

 

While I was having such a hard time working at schools here, I first got in touch with a local autism advisory and support office. Initially, this, naturally, had been with the intention of salvaging the situation through some means I might not have been aware of.

I kept in touch with them after I had been able to bail out into a job obviously much more in agreement with me, and last autumn had been invited to join an effort at establishing a broader support network involving various institutions such as the job centre, social support facilities, the regional school board and others.

 

At the meeting last year, I had been invited as one of four persons on the spectrum to provide the various representatives an outline of their personal educational and professional careers, including any possible difficulties to have had to be overcome.

And indeed, the biographies of the four of us were broadly diverse, comprising one to only find themselves able of working in a specially protected welfare job; one to have acquired an accountant's position with an energy provider following a previous bookbinder's apprenticeship; one who as a devoted railfan had just obtained an agreement for job training as a railway guard; and me who, having achieved a M.A. in English and German philologies and followed this up with a teacher training curriculum only to have found schools (at least in Saxony) to have been a singularly ghastly working environment, was able to turn a long-standing hobby into a living.

 

Today, I attended the first meeting of this networking group for this year, where, for one, a local support and empowerment association (of whose associates a plurality is indeed on the spectrum themselves) presented their work. Furthermore, two psychologists from St George's Hospital specialising in diagnosing autism spectrum cases provided an outline of common diagnostic proceedings, which by present-day standards are even more complex and encompassing than those tests I underwent in 2011.

One item I found particularly noteworthy was that at this time, working with as much detailed information from their clients' personal histories (whether these be first hand accounts or outlines by parents, other relatives and possibly teachers or employers) seems to be seen as essential for ensuring an accurate diagnostic picture - even more so than seven years ago.

 

They also related that their clients tend to be almost exclusively adults who seek their assistance out of having run into personal crises - often serious ones having developed into depressions, anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorders through years of ordeals as diverse as the people themselves are. It was also stated that, sadly, roughly two thirds to three quarters of their clients are unemployed at the time of them seeking assistance; and that a not-too-old study suggests that only five percent of all adults on the spectrum manage to acquire and maintain a regular job not falling into what I suppose could be roughly described as special measures or protected welfare categories.

At this point, the question was raised as to why this might be the case; with one proposal having been that the fast-changing economic environment of this time may be to blame by putting little emphasis (if any at all) on ensuring fair employment opportunities for those who by a strict neoliberal (or should I say, social Darwinist) viewpoint are unlikely to be "the fittest", in the sense of those most easily able to adapt.

 

All this happened against the backdrop of the support office I mentioned earlier having been given the notice of cessation of support by their carriers effective by 30 September this year under what I am not alone in considering dubious circumstances. However, the staff are very optimistic that a new carrier can be found until then as the city council and various other institutions have pledged their support. I certainly find this very encouraging as such specialist assistance is surprisingly rare.

 

I am not completely sure which aspect of this overarching topic of life choices this bit of a missive may best relate to, but perhaps, so I should hope, it might give those of our number currently asking themselves questions of such gravity something to draw hope from.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. My driving licence renewal landed on the mat this morning. I didn't realise that you could still retain the minibus and 7:5 tonne part of the licence provided you got a form signed by your doctor or optician. Question is is it worth it? Mick, sorry to hear of that young mans suicide, when that black dog bites he bites very hard. I know of two suicides among the families of friends one of whome I was acquainted with, I never thought he would do such a thing. We have foxes locally despite being very suburban but the marshlands are less than a couple of miles away and there is plenty of cover for them, they were certainly kicking up a racket last night.

[Tony_S]

The local wildlife don't seem to have realised that we no longer have a dog! However Rosie the cat from over the road visits our front garden now. When she was a kitten and lived at another house she was a prolific bird slaughterer. Not now though.

[Simon G]

Very pleasant 3 hours spent at the pub in Foxfield trying their range of beers (but not too much in my case), and wonderful pasties. I did indeed get a class 68 loco hauled train home. I sat in the first carriage, but soon moved, as it was both cold and smelled of diesel fumes! It was better further back in the train, which was largely empty until we reached Sellafield when it became rather full as it was after finishing time for a lot of the workers.

 

Off to Maryport Show tomorrow, to try and sell a load of stock from the loft clearance we did a few months back. Hopefully, I will get a chance to see the Cumbrian Hoover excursion as the show venue backs onto the railway.

[NGT6 1315]

According to Google the French for piercing is piercing

„Hiya, partners, comment ça va“, said the French cowboy.

[lightengine]

This lark of asking for a passport as id is, as my old colleague George Britton would say, not on.

I pay for my passport for my personal use. I dont pay for it so that banks can verify me. Why is that needed? What if I dont have one?

When I phone the bank on my wifes behalf and they ask to speak to her to confirm its ok to converse with me, how do they know its her? Quite often its an attractive female who is sat next to me on the bus who pretends to be my wife and is accepted as so.

There are many elderly people without a passport or a driving licence. What proves their id?

[TheQ]

Evening Awl,

The wind has shifted to the south west and blown the mist and fog away, yippee.

 

We are back from the Border Collie Appreciation Society, where, Ben spent a lot of time on his back 4 paws in the air. While I spent a lot of time cladding viaduct piers. Just a little filling and then it will be painting time.

 

We do get foxes in the garden, at least, I suspect they are the cause of the occasional pile of pigeon feathers.

 

A newsletter brings me the information that I have another non railway event to attend in May, the Yeoman class national championships ( and barbeque and dinner and AGM) That's 18/ 19/ 20th May, then there is Horning boat show, 5th May, and the 3 Rivers Race the 2nd / 3rd of June. My chances of getting to an event in May with parallel metal things are looking slim.

 

Well I have something from the Orkneys not involving 2mm etched brass near me.

 

Time to consume some Highland park..

 

Goodnight..

[The Lurker]

Greetings all. Supercar hunting was succesful; a new discovery was a McClaren showroom and the Bugatti showroom on Bruton Street was actually open so we didn’t have to just stare through the window. One satisfied younger Lurker although we did see the designated forfeit car, Fiat multipla.

 

I an fortunate to have never been affected by the Black Dog although I did get diagnosed with stress long ago - I was prescribed beta blockers though I never took the prescribed dose. I taught myself to picture packaging up the stress and putting it to one side; over and over again. Those with religious leanings may recognise that I got that from praying; picture God taking your troubles from you; for me that is where it came from. Over time it became a good habit

[BoD]

There are many elderly people without a passport or a driving licence. What proves their id?

I tell them I have a hankie with my initial sewn on.

For some reason they won't accept that.

[Barry O]

Goodnight awl!

[The Lurker]

I'm not sure whether I may have mentioned this before, but given that life choices and reflections on them seems to be a recurring theme in various contexts currently...

 

While I was having such a hard time working at schools here, I first got in touch with a local autism advisory and support office. Initially, this, naturally, had been with the intention of salvaging the situation through some means I might not have been aware of.

I kept in touch with them after I had been able to bail out into a job obviously much more in agreement with me, and last autumn had been invited to join an effort at establishing a broader support network involving various institutions such as the job centre, social support facilities, the regional school board and others.

 

At the meeting last year, I had been invited as one of four persons on the spectrum to provide the various representatives an outline of their personal educational and professional careers, including any possible difficulties to have had to be overcome.

And indeed, the biographies of the four of us were broadly diverse, comprising one to only find themselves able of working in a specially protected welfare job; one to have acquired an accountant's position with an energy provider following a previous bookbinder's apprenticeship; one who as a devoted railfan had just obtained an agreement for job training as a railway guard; and me who, having achieved a M.A. in English and German philologies and followed this up with a teacher training curriculum only to have found schools (at least in Saxony) to have been a singularly ghastly working environment, was able to turn a long-standing hobby into a living.

 

Today, I attended the first meeting of this networking group for this year, where, for one, a local support and empowerment association (of whose associates a plurality is indeed on the spectrum themselves) presented their work. Furthermore, two psychologists from St George's Hospital specialising in diagnosing autism spectrum cases provided an outline of common diagnostic proceedings, which by present-day standards are even more complex and encompassing than those tests I underwent in 2011.

One item I found particularly noteworthy was that at this time, working with as much detailed information from their clients' personal histories (whether these be first hand accounts or outlines by parents, other relatives and possibly teachers or employers) seems to be seen as essential for ensuring an accurate diagnostic picture - even more so than seven years ago.

 

They also related that their clients tend to be almost exclusively adults who seek their assistance out of having run into personal crises - often serious ones having developed into depressions, anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorders through years of ordeals as diverse as the people themselves are. It was also stated that, sadly, roughly two thirds to three quarters of their clients are unemployed at the time of them seeking assistance; and that a not-too-old study suggests that only five percent of all adults on the spectrum manage to acquire and maintain a regular job not falling into what I suppose could be roughly described as special measures or protected welfare categories.

At this point, the question was raised as to why this might be the case; with one proposal having been that the fast-changing economic environment of this time may be to blame by putting little emphasis (if any at all) on ensuring fair employment opportunities for those who by a strict neoliberal (or should I say, social Darwinist) viewpoint are unlikely to be "the fittest", in the sense of those most easily able to adapt.

 

All this happened against the backdrop of the support office I mentioned earlier having been given the notice of cessation of support by their carriers effective by 30 September this year under what I am not alone in considering dubious circumstances. However, the staff are very optimistic that a new carrier can be found until then as the city council and various other institutions have pledged their support. I certainly find this very encouraging as such specialist assistance is surprisingly rare.

 

I am not completely sure which aspect of this overarching topic of life choices this bit of a missive may best relate to, but perhaps, so I should hope, it might give those of our number currently asking themselves questions of such gravity something to draw hope from.

As a parent of a child with autism I thank you for posting this. I think the hope of every parent in my situation is that their child can somehow cope with the normal folk; the spectrum being what it is , some of us have a more realistic hope than others. It doesn’t surprise me that people with autism find it hard to fit in to all jobs that they choose, even where they have all the academic requisites. Simply, so many roles require a large dose of what I have heard referred to as a sixth sense; that intuitive sense of how to interact in a social situation. I can imagine that teaching is one of those roles.

A lot of coping is what I have heard called Social Masking. - apparently women are naturally better at this than men which is why fewer girls are diagnosed as children. Younger Lurker has developed a little phrase; “you know what I’m like” which he uses as a defence.

Anyway what I was trying to say is that support might be needed for people with ASD to understand what roles might entail; my observation is that potential lack of understanding might be why the role is so hard to cope with. A neurotypical might be able to roll with it more; because interaction for us is natural, not learned behaviour.

 

All my own opinion. I’m trying to observe and learn so I can help my son.

[tetsudofan]

Regarding ID cards I've been used to carrying them for many years as a result of living in Asia for over 30 years.

 

When I arrived in Hong Kong back in 1966 the first thing I had to do was to get an ID card issued. Rather strange when you think about it, Hong Kong, a British colony, had ID cards back then when the Mother country is still talking about them.

 

Japan was a little more formal. All Aliens residing in Japan had a have an Aliens Registration Card which had to be carried at all times. Apart from having your picture it also carried your  fingerprint as well as a lot more data including your visa status in Japan.

 

During my 18 years in Japan I was only stopped once by a policeman and asked for my card...... but then I was walking home at 2:00am after an evening in the bars. Looking back on it I think he was having a quiet night and wanted to practice his English....... 

 

As it happens I still have my Japanese Alien Registration Card in my wallet........it has a much clearer picture of my face than that on my UK Driving Licence!!

 

Keith

[BSW01]

Evening everyone

 

Our trip to the Trafford Centre went fairly quickly, on our way back we called in at he butchers and bought our weekly meat rations and we were still home in time for a nice hot drink.

 

Tonight we had James and Amelia round for tea and with it being a Friday we had fish, chips and mushy peas, that always goes down well with everyone. He was showing off his new car, an Alfa Romeo 159 which he picked up last weekend, very nice it is too, but a bit low for me now'

 

I forgot to mention in last nights post that I had a bit of luck on Ebay yesterday. I put a cheeky bid on a large job lot of 00 truck kits, (11 Cambrian, 1 Cooper Craft, plus a few extra bits), I got the lot for £15.00. I also put in a last minute bid on an etched brass loco kit, a Jidenco Maunsell Z class, (which included wheels) for under £50.00). Everything was from the same seller, I got the whole lot, including postage for less than £70.00, really chuffed (pun intended) with that too.

 

Mick. Sorry to read such awful news, it must be very hard in the lads parents.

 

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

That is dreadful Mick. One wonders what on earth could be so bad that a young man like that had to resort to such a terrible action.

 

Having had to deal with the consequences of a few (fortunately only a few) plus one who seemed intent on doing the deed but who we managed to stop the only thing I can think is that people in this situation seem to be in a mental state where they have fallen prey to a completely different set of reason values from those which normally guide us through life.  Quite why they get there is probably for as many individual reasons as there are people involved but the key factor seems to be that they have decided to make a very purposeful and final decision (possibly because it is their decision and made solely by them?).  They then become what many people would regard as irrationally resolute, but very definitely resolute, in their intention to pursue that decision to its conclusion, usually to the total exclusion of any other thought - hence the difficulty in talking many of them out of what they had intended.

 

The one we managed to stop - by the simple expedient of posting someone at each end of the station platforms thereby making sure she could go nowhere but the two running lines between those platform faces - was probably as much seeking attention and help as she was seeking to end her life.  But whatever she had in mind the attending members of the medical fraternity made a decision for her by signing the necessary papers to commit her to a mental hospital;  I do wonder if that is necessarily the answer?

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all.

[Horsetan]

Coming out of the stables this evening, I collided with a rabbit.

[PhilJ W]

This lark of asking for a passport as id is, as my old colleague George Britton would say, not on.

I pay for my passport for my personal use. I dont pay for it so that banks can verify me. Why is that needed? What if I dont have one?

When I phone the bank on my wifes behalf and they ask to speak to her to confirm its ok to converse with me, how do they know its her? Quite often its an attractive female who is sat next to me on the bus who pretends to be my wife and is accepted as so.

There are many elderly people without a passport or a driving licence. What proves their id?

The ID required for the licence renewal seems a bit strange. I haven't got any photo ID except for my bus pass, but this apparently is not acceptable but a letter from the department of pensions is?