Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

I have a question for any local council engineering type.

 

After painting circles around the water/sewer access plates (call them the unfortunately named 'manhole covers' if you like), the next day a truck showed up with really big steel bits that looked like 'hole saws'.

 

By the time I got back from my walk they were done in front of my house - though they were still at it down the street - with lots of noise and dust.

There's a very shallow annular trench and what appears to be some grinding into a shallow dome* surrounding the access plate.

 

* Outside the painted surface.

 

The question is why? And why do this to every access point on the street.

 

Any ideas?

 

[Ozexpatriate]

13 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Tropical cyclone Ilsa is heading for the NW Australian coast, a cat 5 storm with winds predicted to hit 315kmh (195mph), potentially the biggest storm to ever hit here.

Are you missing all that La Niña rain already?

 

Fort Lauderdale, FL had 633mm* in 24 hours yesterday. No hurricanes either. It's not hurricane season for a while yet.

 

* More than 2'.

 

CNN: Fort Lauderdale airport to remain closed until Friday morning after the rainiest day in the city’s history causes severe flooding

 

Dry here today and not supposed to rain until Sunday.

 

[monkeysarefun]

4 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Are you missing all that La Niña rain already?

 

Still dealing with the tail end of the La @Barry O weather system.

[Tony_S]

I had a phone call on my mobile earlier this evening. It was from an unrecognised number. I don’t get many calls. Anyway the person asks to someone called Foonab. I said there is no one with that name, and suggested she may have dialled a wrong number.  They insisted they hadn’t. I said didn’t know anyone called Foonab, but I did know a Punam. The caller then said perhaps she had pronounced it wrong. So I asked who was calling, and it turned out to be the people who respond to MiLs security/fall pendant. I am a long way down on the call list so have no idea why the local contacts (next road to MiL) weren’t called as usual. So I phoned Aditi’s sister, told them, and the went and found  MiL on her terrace where she had fallen. Before this we had rung the alarm people to say help was on the way. She had been blown over by a strong gust of wind and then couldn’t get up and while trying to move had got stuck in the doorway which is of the French door type so is narrow. She is somewhat shaken and bruised but otherwise ok. I have now entered the phone number in my contacts so if they ring again I will know who the pendant service are. We will go over in the afternoon tomorrow to see MiL and probably stay until her regular overnight carer arrives. 

[Ozexpatriate]

3 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I had a phone call on my mobile earlier this evening.

Perhaps not the greatest efficiency, but some comfort to know the alarm service provides some benefit. Glad your MiL is not badly hurt.

[jjb1970]

Talk of Police and Saudi Arabia (in different posts) made me think of the matawa police in Saudi Arabia, the religious police. Some of those guys were borderline psychopaths, they have a similar (but less objectionable) organization in Malaysia though not in Indonesia where they tend to have a better separation of state and religion.

[monkeysarefun]

20 hours ago, TheQ said:

 economic migrants

   

Hey we are starting to see a whole heap of those arrive here too...

 

 

https://inews.co.uk/news/nhs-why-left-work-junior-doctor-australia-2073235#:~:text=One in four go to,in the next 12 months.

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

53 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

  Hey we are starting to see a whole heap of those arrive here too...

Last time I looked, if you were an RN and willing to work 'back of the black stump' you could pretty much write your own ticket to emigrate to Australia.

 

It's a bit harder moving to the big cities in Oz without medical qualifications.

 

Though of course being medically trained is a ticket to many of the 'western democracies'. There's a big subculture of Filipino nurses in more remote parts of the US - where medical services are needed but the those born in the US flock to the big cities.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Last time I looked, if you were an RN and willing to work 'back of the black stump' you could pretty much write your own ticket to emigrate to Australia.

 

 

 

Not even that far beyond the black stump. ....  Job ad here from an expat UK GP specifically targeting  other  current UK GP's, offering £216,000  - and thats in Wollongong, on the  Sth Pacific coast an hour from Sydney, ,  4 day work week, 8AM to  6PM, 6 weeks annual  leave.

https://www.headmedical.com/job/gp-wollongong-less-than-1hr-to-sydney-earning-c$400k-pa-9111.aspx

 

Other GP jobs closer to the city are offering up to £375,000.

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Barry O]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Still dealing with the tail end of the La @Barry O weather system.

Can't blame me I left while it was warm and dry.. it must be @monkeysarefun... 

 

My rain clouds have long since dispersed...

 

Baz

[roundhouse]

5 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Can't blame me I left while it was warm and dry.. it must be @monkeysarefun... 

 

My rain clouds have long since dispersed...

 

Baz

Those rain clouds are down here. Had plenty of rain a few days ago when we were in Bristol and since we got home its been raining every day here in Surrey.

 

I have to move a layout out of the garage and into the car shortly so that the electric meter can be changed. Its due to rain just when we have to move it.

[TheQ]

6 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Even the Tornado?

Many bits were  on the internet some still are, you could get many sections ( line replaceable units) of the radar off ebay, there's still some bits of cockpit equipment on there.

 

Mooring Awl,

4.5 hours sleep, long awake,  2 hour sleep. Not too bad.

 

Ben the I want out Collie took me on patrol, the Alexander is growing like mad, the daffs are beginning to lose their flowers, the grass is growing madly in the more sheltered spots. Bluebells must be due to appear.

 

Plenty of puddles still around here, More soggy due from the welkin here today, though it's scattered clouds and sunny at the moment.

 

Blazer, shirt and tie, etc, all ready, I depart for the Radar museum https://www.radarmuseum.co.uk/ in an hour. I'll be taking a pile of leaflets for our next show, and a book ( Harrier boys) donated by the MRC to the museum's second hand book shelves. 

 

Hmm the bin men are here, unusually early, and I've just heard a crash. So they've not ignored our bin which they sometimes do.

 

Time to go fill a lunch box...

 

 

 

 

[AndyID]

4 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

   

Hey we are starting to see a whole heap of those arrive here too...

 

 

https://inews.co.uk/news/nhs-why-left-work-junior-doctor-australia-2073235#:~:text=One in four go to,in the next 12 months.

 

 

We were "economic migrants" forty years ago. I was a technical director at a UK company. We had three young children and we were far from affluent. I traded that for a staff engineer position in the US (with very little responsibility) + good weather + a swimming pool - tax and no need for my wife to work.

 

At that time technical education and expertise in the UK was far superior to the USA. Unfortunately the UK was too....failed to understand that. Oh well.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

A grey start to the day and it will be mainly cloudy with a few showers, some heavy.  There is the chance of some brighter spells this afternoon with more heavy rain this evening.  6°C now, might reach 11°C.

Nothing much planned for today although I'm sure more domestic engineering will require my assistance.  A walk via Asda is necessary to pick up a couple of items and we'll try to dodge the showers. ...and the rain has just started. 

There is one rugby match to watch tonight so that's something to look forward to.

Time for some breakfast.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

[jjb1970]

I am on local terms here, not the old type'expat' type of arrangement. So my pay and terms and conditions are set by Singaporean norms. My salary is higher than it was in the UK, it's not a huge difference but it's noticeable.

 

What is very noticeable is my tax rate is 10% here, which is massively less than in England (I say England as Scotland has a small degree of devolved flexibility on tax). The result is that even paying private international school fees for two teenagers and exorbitant prices for many things I am well ahead of where I was in England which seems crazy.

 

I'd be lying if I denied I didn't think about that, but we were mainly drawn by a desire to be somewhere safe where things 'just work', and I am a bit of an sinophile and lover of Asia. It's ideal for my wife's family. I really don't want to be next door to an Asian extended family, but being two hours away means they can visit them and them us very easily.

[PhilJ W]

5 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

   

Hey we are starting to see a whole heap of those arrive here too...

 

 

https://inews.co.uk/news/nhs-why-left-work-junior-doctor-australia-2073235#:~:text=One in four go to,in the next 12 months.

 

After reading a few lines I got a message asking me to subscribe. The only way I could get rid of it and continue reading was to click the reload button, read a few more lines before the subscription page was back in my face again. I only read the first paragraph before giving up.

[polybear]

9 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I received an unsettling SMS today (from a 'local' number):

Of course the 959 area code (Connecticut) is not toll-free. The SMS is poorly worded, with grammatical errors and utterly no one in the US puts the $ at the end of a number. Of course it's a scam - probably low-grade data phishing and benign unless one is taken in by it.

 

At least it is not a link to 'graphic' content.

 

 

Bear has been trying to set up 2-Factor Authentication on a certain website to make the login process more secure - after entering a Password they text you a code number (OTP) to enter on the website to help prove it's really you.

But this particular website assures me it's texting the OTP Codes - but Bear receives sweet FA; I was on the phone nearly 30 minutes yesterday trying to resolve it.  They now blame my Phone Provider, yet I pointed out that OTP's from other Companies arrive with no problem....

Hopefully today I'll be contacting the phone service provider - but I'm not hopeful....

 

9 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Even the Tornado?

 

9 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

https://avpay.aero/company/jet-art-aviation/product/1984-panavia-tornado-f2a-military-jet-for-sale/

 

That particular example has a mere 935 Hours on the Clock, which doesn't seem like a good example of the Taxpayer getting value for money to me.  They don't give a price, so I suspect that unless your initials are CC and you live in Switzerland you might not have deep enough pockets.....

And then there's the maintenance and running costs of course - and I very much suspect that Mr CAA might not be too happy at you flying it anyway.  Turdycurses.

 

8 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I have a question for any local council engineering type.

 

After painting circles around the water/sewer access plates (call them the unfortunately named 'manhole covers' if you like), the next day a truck showed up with really big steel bits that looked like 'hole saws'.

 

By the time I got back from my walk they were done in front of my house - though they were still at it down the street - with lots of noise and dust.

There's a very shallow annular trench and what appears to be some grinding into a shallow dome* surrounding the access plate.

 

* Outside the painted surface.

 

The question is why? And why do this to every access point on the street.

 

Any ideas?

 

 

This Bear's guess is they're gonna be repairing/replacing the tarmac around the manhole (and possibly new covers as well?) and the circle is to create a nice circular finish to the new tarmac, rather than the RFM we are accustomed to in the UK.

 

6 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Talk of Police and Saudi Arabia (in different posts) made me think of the matawa police in Saudi Arabia, the religious police. Some of those guys were borderline psychopaths, they have a similar (but less objectionable) organization in Malaysia though not in Indonesia where they tend to have a better separation of state and religion.

 

A Guy working for the same Company as Bear was in a Restaurant in Kuwait and took pictures of his work buddies, making sure no-one else was in the shot (some locals get rather upset if they are).  Anyway, one woman got rather upset, convinced that she'd had her picture taken; a Waiter came over to explain and said the Woman wanted the Guy's Camera, which he refused.  Instead he showed the waiter all the pictures on the camera to prove he hadn't taken any, and also offered to show the woman the same.  She was having none of it, and called her Husband....

He was fairly sensible about it and could see that no piccies had been taken - but wasn't prepared to suffer at the hands of SWMBO for the next ten years so backed her up.  He tried offering the SIM Card, but that wasn't good enough either....

By this time the Restaurant had got fed up with all the disruption and asked that the argument be taken outside, by which time the Police had arrived....

They said that the Camera had to go to the Woman, or be destroyed; the Guy was wise enough to realise that this was getting dangerously close to him spending the night in a Police Station (and still losing) so went for the latter option, so the camera went under the wheel of a Police Car and was crushed, which at least meant that the woman didn't get a free camera.

I suspect that he claimed for a new one on the Company Insurance anyway, but he was more than a bit p1ssed off about the whole episode.

Personally I did find that Kuwait was pretty laid back (insofar as Western Visitors are concerned, anyway) when compared to other Middle-Eastern Countries; it was still sensible to be respectful and not "push it" though.

 

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

   

Hey we are starting to see a whole heap of those arrive here too...

 

 

https://inews.co.uk/news/nhs-why-left-work-junior-doctor-australia-2073235#:~:text=One in four go to,in the next 12 months.

 

 

Perhaps if the NHS were to start applying a system such as many Airlines do to Pilots trained by them - if you leave within X years then you have to pay a rather large sum to them to cover costs of training etc.

Of course that probably won't help training recruitment.

 

Bear here.....

A day of danglin' on a paint roller awaits.  Turdycurses,

BG

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by polybear

[grandadbob]

There was an item on the news last night about the number of nurses being recruited to work in this country (and others) from the Philippines which is causing a shortage over there.  I believe they are able to leave after 2 years working there and the language requirements for working here have now been made easier.

 

Just found this:   https://www.itv.com/news/2023-04-13/the-philippines-brain-drain-as-nurses-flock-to-the-nhs

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by grandadbob

[Winslow Boy]

9 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Even the Tornado?

 

Go for the readily assembled one. Don't get conned into getting the self assembly one. Yes it might be cheaper but getting all the parts to match is an absolute #£%&%£ nightmare and you you still end up with an extra wing which I have no idea where it goes.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit of sunshine here this morning but heavy rain is predicted  for later. That must be what bought Arthur Itis and Si Attica out of hiding last night. Got some shopping to do so I'll be heading to Tess Coes shortly before the rain starts.

[AndyID]

Oh, and MrsID is a fully qualified Registered General Nurse, Midwife and Health Visitor in the UK. Not to mention that she really knows her stuff. It does seem to be second nature to her. (I'd likely pass out!)

 

But the NHS payed her peanuts. In her case, a good example of the "brain drain".

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s just started to rain, it wasn’t raining 30 minutes ago when I got up, pah, so I might just call at the butchers on my way back from the Trafford Centre instead of walking. This does mean that I’ll miss out on my walk, but at least I won’t get wet! Not much else happening here today. 
 

Back later. 
 

Brian

[New Haven Neil]

There are a huge number of Philippino nurses and care workers here, the locals of course are rude about them in their usual racist way, and have a name for them I won't repeat here.  We'd be sunk without then, they don't think of that bit.

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a train heading for Cambridge. I survived the Barking Travelodge.  No food just the offer of a breakfast basket. However I went foraging and found a market inspector who directed me to a lovely old style cafe on the other side of a park. For mica tables but excellent fresh food made to order.  I'd may not approve but two poached eggs on toast with baked beans, went down a treat.  The alternative was a McD's. 

 

Jamie

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

After reading a few lines I got a message asking me to subscribe. The only way I could get rid of it and continue reading was to click the reload button, read a few more lines before the subscription page was back in my face again. I only read the first paragraph before giving up.

 

You need to learn the ctl-a copy and paste trick...

 

"There is an ‘exodus’ of doctors leaving the NHS to work in Australia, according to th British Medical Association (

January 10, 2023 6:00 am(Updated 11:05 am)

 

A junior doctor who left the UK for a “better work-life balance” to practice medicine in Australia said he could not face any more “horrendous shifts” in the NHS.

Edward Bridge, 29, moved to Brisbane with his partner – who is also a doctor – in 2018 in search of a better lifestyle after becoming fed up with low pay, antisocial hours and feeling burnt out.

He told i that he supports the junior doctors’ strike from afar, in the hope that the situation could ease for his fellow doctors in the UK, and also for himself and his partner when they plan to return in 2024.

Mr Bridge called on the Government to increase doctors’ pay in order to incentivise the workforce to stay in the NHS, with growing numbers leaving to work abroad.

“I think it’s unrealistic for governments to suppose that people with a certain set of skills aren’t trying to get the best pay and the best quality of life in exchange for their skills, Mr Bridge told i.

“The only way to incentivise people to come back is to make working conditions better and safer for doctors. Part of that is also paying them more. And all of that will have a knock-on effect to improve patient care,” he said.

Thousands of UK doctors feel driven to move abroad for a better lifestyle, with 6,950 applying for a certificate to work abroad last year, up from 5,576 in 2021.

One in four go to Australia, with The Times reporting that healthcare providers from the country have developed recruitment campaigns targeting NHS doctors, nurses and midwives.

A third of respondents to a survey by the British Medical Association (BMA) said they plan to take their skills abroad in the next 12 months.

The BMA’s industrial action ballot for junior doctors in England opened on Monday 9 January. If there is at least 50 per cent turnout and a ‘yes’ vote is returned, unionised employees will walk out for 72 hours in March.

 

Mr Bridge said that focussing on pay alone “misses the point” as the problem encompasses staff retention and burnout, as well as long waiting times for patients.

“If more investment isn’t put into the NHS I don’t think that they will be able to attract the number of staff to treat the growing aging population,” he said.

“They won’t be able to retain doctors because people will go off to other more satisfying and fulfilling career options because it’s pretty horrendous working in an emergency department or ward that’s really short-staffed.”

He added: “I want patients in the UK to have the best quality of life possible, but I also want all the doctors treating them to have the best quality of life possible.”

Mr Bridge described working in the NHS as “difficult, frustrating and demoralising” and despite being “well-supported” during his first few years as a doctor, he found the transition from being a student “difficult”.

“You’re stuck between burning yourself out or rationalising what you can get done in order to maintain your sanity and also continue to work as a doctor and maintain some sort of work-life balance,” he told i.

Mr Bridge never aspired to go to Australia – being “quite fond of the NHS and the values that it was built upon” – but he was driven to change his lifestyle due to the “traumatic” experiences he had as a junior doctor in the UK.

“There are only so many really horrendous shifts that you can do,” he said. “And then you look at your paycheck after a couple of difficult months when you’ve been doing nights, weekends and suddenly you’re like, ‘why am I doing this to myself when there is a better option, there is a better lifestyle out there’.”

So he took the plunge and moved to the other side of the world, tempted by the travel opportunities, the higher pay and the fact his partner and some friends decided to move there too.

He now works as a locum A&E doctor and could earn up to 250,000 AUD if he worked full-time, which equates to £140,000.

Mr Bridge does not have to deal with the problems facing the NHS, with UK patients waiting up to 20 hours to be seen in A&E and people passing away alone in hospital partly due to short-staffing.

Unlike in the UK, he said doctors in Australia are encouraged to take sick leave if they feel burnt out and they are paid double to work on a Sunday or if they are called in for extra shifts, making him feel “more valued”.

He said he has a better work-life balance with opportunities to go rock climbing, eat out and take holidays.

“I’ve just had six weeks off and this is pretty much the first Christmas I’ve ever had off as a doctor,” he said.

 

While some of his doctor friends in Australia are keen to stay, Mr Bridge and his partner are planning to return to the UK in 2024 once they have saved up some money to buy a house and get married.

But when he was asked how he feels about returning to the NHS, he said: “I’m less enthused to put it lightly. Some of the people I know have gone back already. Very few of them enjoying their experience.

“You go from somewhere where you have quite a lot of autonomy, you have a good work-life balance, and you get paid well so you can enjoy the time you have off. You actually have a pretty good social circle as well because so many doctors move out here now.”

He said he would be “going back to longer working hours, less support, worse pay and the cost of living crisis compounding all of that”.

“It’s kind of incomparable, which does make me question why I am considering going back,” he added.

However, Mr Bridge said that “life is more than just your job” and he is willing to put up with a worse job if it means he can live near to the rest of his family.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The vast majority of doctors trained in the UK do go on to work in the NHS. More than 93 per cent are using their medical qualification within the UK, according to 2022 data from the General Medical Council.

“There are now almost 4,700 more doctors and over 10,500 more nurses working in the NHS than October 2021, and we will publish a plan this year with independently verified forecasts to help support and grow the NHS workforce.”"