Early Risers.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl,

5.5 hours solid sleep, short awake 1.5 hours sleep a very good night for me..

 

Ben the uncomfortable Collie did not have a good night, his warm soft bed to cold hard floor, and return several times just while I was awake...

 

He also chose a splash and dash as it was raining heavily.. But not as heavily as shortly after when someone turned on the fire hose, wipers to max chat, slow the car to 20mph below the speed limit, and everyone else agreed. No long queue of cars behind me because I was only doing the speed limit..

 

Booze and work,

First job, Civil Aviation Authority at that time civil service , on site bar at lunch time, some of the tutors used it a lot..

 

Second Job RAF, when I joined if you didn't go to the bar you were marked down as not having the right "team spirit", by the time I left you were marked down if you did go to the bar a lot..

However no radar station I was at had an airmans bar on the technical site, they were only only at the accommodation site. The distance between accommodation and technical sites varied between a couple of miles and 10 miles depending on the place, and you couldn't leave Technical site except for duty.

So we were actually dry during working hours, except on one site for the officers as they had a bar.

 

GEC there was an onsite Canteen and bar when I joined, the management lunch hour was usually 2 or 3 hours, The rest of us had to stick to the hour, but drink was allowed at lunch time..  The canteen and bar went during a series of cut backs..

All jobs after that no bar, no drinking allowed, but no tests to check.

 

Over night cross check run failed, I found a bug in the spreadsheet that produces the correction file for that particular system, corrected, now being re run with the corrected Ohms. The bug didn't matter in the past as the two resistors involved had a similar error value in PPM, but as they drifted apart...

 

So I've another resistor block to measure in the meantime..

 

10KOhm next,

Time to get on with it.

 

[polybear]

5 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

One thing about Japanese model trains is beautiful presentation which is a lesson to the model industry in my opinion.

 

 

 

Not sure if they still use the same method, but Heljan boxes are (were?) very similar - foam inners and a very strong outer box with a lift-off lid.  My only concern would be whether or not the foam would deteriorate with age.

 

4 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

To illustrate the different design language of JR East, here is a model of their flagship E5 Hayabusa (peregrine falcon). The nose on these is...ahem...striking. I am genuinely undecided, 

 

 

 

Peregrine Falcon?  It says more like "Duck-Billed Platypus" to this Bear.....🤣

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

FROM THE OFFCE OF THE PRIME MINISTER

 

Dear Minister @polybear, Dear Minister @The White Rabbit,

 

It has come to the attention of the Prime Minister’s office that your department has been neglecting the testing of all cakes that contain walnuts, cream and coffee. This has caused the Association of Walnut Coffee and Cream Cake Bakers and the Amalgamated Union of Walnut Shellers, Cream Whippers and Coffee Roasters to express their very deep dissatisfaction with the performance of your department.  I need not remind you of how generous these two organisations are to the party’s coffers! 

 

The Prime Minister’s Office expects you to stop all current LDC and Treacle Tart testing and dedicate at least 90% of your departments efforts in the forthcoming quarter to the testing of all cakes that contain walnuts, cream and coffee. If this is not achieved, the Prime Minister is minded to appoint you - at the next Cabinet reshuffle - to the newly created office of Chief Biscuit Tester (Falklands) – which will be a residential position in those South Atlantic Islands.

 

Furthermore, any attempts to “sneak in“ LDC and Treacle Tart testing during this quarter will be considered as gross insubordination by the Prime Minister‘s office and will result in your immediate dismissal.

 

Yours Faithfully

E.N. Forcer

Special Advisor To The Prime Minister

 

Dear PM,

The "cakes" in question have indeed already passed through this Department and I can assure you they were treated with the utmost respect and due haste - the HAZMAT Team quickly assessed them and have urgently despatched them to "The Special Lab" just outside Salisbury for further analysis.  Their origins were quickly established, full details have been passed to MI5 and the Minister for Homeland Security to ensure such materials can never darken our doorsteps again.  The Minister for Poisons has also been briefed.

Yours,

The. Rt. Hon. Bear & White Rabbit, Ministers for Cake.

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

I think the DWP is a two headed hydra. If you are a pensioner, then they are OK. But if you are claiming unemployment, UC, support for a disability (and so on) they are (far too frequently from all accounts) obstructive to the point of being hostile.

 

Quite frankly (and I hope that I’m not getting too political here) I find it appalling that the state has to supplement - by the use of Universal Credit - the incomes of people in work.

 

As for rules and regulations, the DWP seems to be one of the worst - even by the Byzantine bureaucratic standards of the Civil Service!

 

Sadly it does seem that those who are genuinely in need of assistance often find it very difficult and frustrating to get that help; what frustrates this Bear is the huge number of people that take the p1ss (technical term) out of the system - as an example I know of someone who, for the best part of 20 years has claimed support despite only working a maximum of 16 hours a week purely through choice.  They have absolutely no reason not to work more hours but won't simply because they'd lose their benefit.  They are oblivious to the fact that others (= taxpayers) have to pay into the system so they can claim out of it.  Yes, that's a Rant.

 

Bear here.....

A MIUABGA day today; I'm also promised delivery of 10L of paint stripper at some point as well, so will have to make sure I don't miss that.  I also have some more muddlin' planning work to do 😉....

 

In other news.....

Great weather - if you're a fish.....

Bear gone.

Bear gone.

[polybear]

Another Rant:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63489901

 

"But 11 of them had nowhere to go after reaching Victoria railway station."

 

- and on the Radio a moment ago they said that the 11 were transferred to a Hotel in Norwich (the above article mentions the same).

 

I wonder just how many of the many Homeless UK Citizens living on the streets of London were offered the same benefit?

 

Yep, definitely a Rant.

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

Have you experienced this personally?

Yes, when I was made redundant (before I moved to Switzerland). The staff were civil enough, but the rules and regulations were just absurd - even back then.

But why take my word for it - Private Eye, The Guardian and other newspapers have run numerous stories about failings at or of the DWP.

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It is rather damp here and quite murky. We will be setting off later to the far north for a day out. By far north I mean Enfield. Aditi’s brother and family are visiting for the day. Aditi is making cakes, there have been, or soon will be lots of family birthdays. She is melting chocolate at the moment before making it PB resistant with the addition of real cream for a ganache topping. 
We will all be at Aditi’s sister’s house. I hope the event passes off smoothly. There were “words” exchanged on the phone yesterday. MiL had started to interfere with the plans for various relatives going to India next year to,attend a wedding. She thinks they should travel round and stay with various family members to avoid hotel bills. Whereas I suspect my brother  in law would prefer a seven star hotel with pillow menus. Aditi was trying to gently suggest to her Mum that she wasn’t being helpful and got a bit of a tirade in response. We aren’t even going to the wedding!  
Tony
 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

The rain and wind have gone, but the grey clouds are still here, allegedly there will be something me sunshine later on, mmmm, we’ll see how that goes. As Sheila is going to Zumba today, the plans are to fill the hole around the outlet pipe work for the washing machine and dishwasher with some plaster. I can then refit the kick boards around the cupboard next to the washing machine. After that I’ll potter about until dinner, as there’ll be no point in starting any big jobs as Charlie will be coming round after dinner. So I may well just sit at the computer and double check the drawings I did yesterday, just to ensure there are no mistakes. 

 

But once I've dropped Sheila off at her Zumba class, my first task will be to get a new key cut for the shed, as one has broken, so, I’m going to get two keys cut and have one as a spare!

 

As for the DWP, I’ve only ever had 2 dealings with them. My first was in 1972, when I turned 16 as I had to claim 3 weeks unemployment benefit, I’d got a job but my start date wasn’t until mid September! The second was more recently, when I claimed my state pension, this was done on line and I had a confirmation email within 30 minutes. In both cases I had no problems at all. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

[simontaylor484]

2 hours ago, AndyID said:

Have you experienced this personally?

I have experienced it sadly.

When i had to finish work we were shunted from Tax credits which were easy to deal with to UC.

No one you dealt with seemed to have a clue what they were doing. One person would tell you to do one thing, you would do it. The next person you spoke to after doing it would tell you that you shouldn't have done it and you needed to do this instead.

It is a bizarre system to deal with to say the least. Like any company you get some that will go out of their way to help you. Others don't give a Donald Duck 

[simontaylor484]

@jjb1970 those are lovely models I do like the way Kato pack them.

I do have to agree with @polybear that they look duck billed. Some look like they have come straight from a sci fi movie.

 

 

[Tony_S]

We have just had a message from Aditi’s sister in Enfield. It looks as if we may have some floods to deal with on the way there. 

[Tony_S]

7 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

@jjb1970 those are lovely models I do like the way Kato pack them.

I do have to agree with @polybear that they look duck billed. Some look like they have come straight from a sci fi movie.

 

 

I am sure I read somewhere that the big noses are required to displace the air smoothly  as the trains enter tunnels at high speed. 

Edited November 3, 2022 by Tony_S

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I haven't had a lot of dealings with the DWP being permanently employed from leaving school until retirement. However I did car share with a lady who worked for the DWP when I lived at Burnham-on-Crouch in the mid 80's. It was a similar situation to now with inflation going through the roof (that's why we car shared). She was obviously not very happy at working for the DWP and she told me that staff turnover was enormous, the average 'stay' in the job was less than five weeks amongst the staff facing the public. It wasn't the clients (well the majority) that were the problem but the management. The car sharing ended when she quit the job.

[jjb1970]

7 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I am sure I read somewhere that the big noses are required to displace the air smoothly  as the trains enter tunnels at high speed. 

 

Yes, the nose is a function of aerodynamics to reduce the piston effect in tunnels. The clearances are quite tight and speeds were increased as newer trains were developed. Something which becomes noticeable in tunnels is the lightweight design of the trains, there's quite a thump on the body as they enter tunnels, much more than you find in British trains. The Shinkansen trains tended to take quite a conservative approach to train design, basically add lightness and power. The advanced ideas were in operation and the acceptance that to really accelerate speeds the way to do it was to build a new railway. However in the 80's and 90's speeds stepped up and the trains have become much more impressive technically. The E5 and E6 are probably the most extreme examples of playing with nose design, but the N700 and N700S also have a significantly redesigned nose over the original series 700 which had a duckbill design.

[jjb1970]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

@jjb1970 those are beautiful models.

 

When I was in Japan, quite sometime ago now (about 2005?), I managed to arrange my business trip so that I had a couple of days free (my company was happy to allow that) and I had a wander around Tokyo and found a lovely model railway shop (I forget which neighbourhood).
 

I spent an enjoyable hour or so looking at some really beautiful models and trying out my (non-existent) Japanese. But with a bit of a combined amiable effort I was able to buy a souvenir which was a Kato suburban train set in N gauge. The price was quite eye watering (even for me) and, this is the interesting bit, it was secondhand – but looked as new as if it had just come out of the factory. It was taken out of the box and tested before being wrapped up and purchased. It ran flawlessly.

 

I remember thinking at the time, when purchasing the Kato model (and don’t forget this was back in the early 2000s), how crude the Graham Farish and Dapol models N Gauge models seemed in comparison (I had previously bought some British N Gauge rolling stock when I was deciding in which gauge to model when I restarted in the hobby). 
 

Whilst I was in the model shop I also looked at their 4mm handcrafted brass locomotives.  Utterly, utterly superb! Beautifully finished (albeit in plain brass and unpainted) with all kinds of Digital extras – such as sound, smoke units and controllable lighting and lighting effects. As much as I was very, very tempted the pricetag deterred me. One model I was very interested in had a pricetag of about £1200 (in Yen) equivalent to £1900 today. Ouch! Sadly, a wee bit too expensive for what was essentially a souvenir.

 

Finally, I came across this place (https://www.tofugu.com/travel/chou-chou-popon/) which I hope to visit during my trip to Japan next year.

 

Japanese brass is exquisite, there's very little quite like it, but prices are not for the feint hearted. HO in Japan is basically equivalent to O gauge in Europe, a step up from the main market for the well-heeled and those with more space, N gauge is equivalent to OO and HO in terms of market positioning. Something about Japan is that in everything they are serious about standards and quality. Their second-hand shops have high standards and if it is less than new condition it will be honestly described. 

I remember the first time I visited Japan. The first shock was temperature, my image of Japan was a result of war films which were invariably set on Pacific islands, we arrived in winter and it was freezing, literally, sub-zero. The second thing was the attention to detail the people apply to everything, there's a pride people have that comes from within and means everything they do they do extremely well. Then there was the food, my knowledge of Japan was raw fish, but Japanese food is rich and varied and so much more (best beef I've ever had is Japanese). When I spent time in the shipyards it just made other shipyards look like they were playing games, the efficiency and quality was on another level (though the yards in the Republic of Korea matched them by the mid-late 90's). The funny thing is that a typical European or American manager would have palpitations at the inefficiency. The Japanese conception of efficiency is not just obsessed with head count and cost, it is also bout delivery. The railways are like the shipyards, there are lots of people but it all works with absolute precision and they have a philosophy of 'do it once, do it right' rather than the sort of half baked muddling through of many other places.

I guess I am gushing, but I really do love Japan, wonderful country.

[jjb1970]

On alcohol at work, I was a cadet and junior officer with P&O Containers and I've never seen drinking like it since. I've often wondered about fate, when I joined my first ship I was the only person on-board who wouldn't have been considered a clinical alcoholic. I decided it was too easy to end up the same so didn't drink on-board, after getting out of the habit of drinking I just never restarted after the trip and have been pretty much teetotal ever since. I ended up on dry ships in the offshore sector and although this opinion is not shared by all seafarers I found taking alcohol off ships eliminated probably more than 90% of the personnel issues on-board. At least for British, European and similar nationalities, it was different for Asian and African crews as they do not have the same attitudes to alcohol. The British and anglo-sphere people were the worst and many just seem to go stupid with alcohol but other Europeans were pretty bad (though not as bad). Norwegians and Danes can be as bad or worse as they're so used to the price of aocohol at home some of them go mad when it is cheap.

[BoD]

I did once suggest that the dining room at work should sell alcohol, but the school dinner ladies said that there was enough mess as it was.

[iL Dottore]

48 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

The British and anglo-sphere people were the worst and many just seem to go stupid with alcohol but other Europeans were pretty bad (though not as bad). Norwegians and Danes can be as bad or worse as they're so used to the price of alcohol at home some of them go mad when it is cheap.

I think that it's partly down to the fact that in the Anglosphere and Scandinavia not allowing youngsters (i.e. under 18 years of age) to drink in pubs or bars is rigorously enforced - unlike the Latin countries who seem to be more relaxed about it (even though Spain, France and Italy also have an 18 year lower limit for drinking in pubs and bars). But the biggest factor to my mind is that in Spain, Italy and France minors often have a small glass of (watered down) wine with meals - mostly at special occasions (or at least it used to be the case). This leads to a mindset that alcohol is nothing particularly special - so there is no impetus to "go out and get rat ars3d" as soon as it's legal to drink. Another factor, again in France, Spain and Italy, is that public drunkenness is a big social no-no and you almost never see falling-down drunks, violent drunks or other extreme forms of drunkenness on the streets

 

That's not to say there isn't alcoholism in these countries - there is. Although overall the top 10 Countries with the Highest Rates of Alcohol Use Disorder/Alcoholism are mostly Eastern European (with the US at No. 7 and South Korea at No. 5), when broken down by gender, the ladies put the UK at No 8! France has a combined rate of 7%, Italy 1.3%, Spain 1.5% (the Swiss get seriously boozy at 9.5% but even then you don't get falling-down and abusive drunks on the streets....)

 

One final little trivial nugget: when I was a paramedic and an overdose was phoned in, we always prayed that it would be a stoner (marijuana overdose) or a junkie (opioid overdose) as these were SO easy to handle and treat compared with a raving drunk.....

Edited November 3, 2022 by iL Dottore

[petethemole]

The DWP's treatment of claims for disability benefits became quite hostile during the changeover from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment, which required making a new claim. Previous entitlement was irrelevant.  Many existing claimants were refused the new benefit or given a lower rate, particularly on the Mobility component, which removed the qualification for a Motability car.  Mrs mole went through this, lost her car, and had to go to a tribunal to be awarded the higher rate.  I had to help her with the initial claim process along with an advisor from Citizens' Advice who specialised in these claims. I accompanied her to the face-to-face and made full notes.  The report included falsehoods and gave the wrong distance she walked to the interview.  I helped prepare the appeal, including visiting the interview venue (with permission) and measuring the distance.  I supported this with plans of the venue from its planning application.  She won the appeal and they also awarded her the Daily Living component which she hadn't even applied for.  Throughout this process we were in touch with others experiencing similar issues, often worse. The assumption seemed to be that anybody claiming disability was faking it.

 

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

She is melting chocolate at the moment before making it PB resistant........

 

🤣🤣

 

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

...........with the addition of real cream for a ganache topping. 

 

Oh dear, what a waste.  Just think how much more yummy it'd be with buttercream on top.....

(Note to @The White Rabbit - Buttercream to replace the real stuff, as from Monday.....)

 

51 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

When I spent time in the shipyards it just made other shipyards look like they were playing games, the efficiency and quality was on another level (though the yards in the Republic of Korea matched them by the mid-late 90's). 

 

Bear worked in the BAeS Shipyard in Glasgow back in the mid 90's; the guy I was working with had also worked on ships built by H&W(?) in N.I. - he said the build quality of theirs was much better, and obviously so.  I saw the Samsung Shipyard on Geoje Island, S.Korea back in 2001 - the place was b. huge in comparison.

 

51 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

I guess I am gushing, but I really do love Japan, wonderful country.

 

Bear has never been - one day, maybe.  I quite like the idea of also seeing Nepal.

[iL Dottore]

1 minute ago, petethemole said:

The DWP's treatment of claims for disability benefits became quite hostile during the changeover from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment, which required making a new claim. Previous entitlement was irrelevant.  Many existing claimants were refused the new benefit or given a lower rate, particularly on the Mobility component, which removed the qualification for a Motability car.  Mrs mole went through this, lost her car, and had to go to a tribunal to be awarded the higher rate.  I had to help her with the initial claim process along with an advisor from Citizens' Advice who specialised in these claims. I accompanied her to the face-to-face and made full notes.  The report included falsehoods and gave the wrong distance she walked to the interview.  I helped prepare the appeal, including visiting the interview venue (with permission) and measuring the distance.  I supported this with plans of the venue from its planning application.  She won the appeal and they also awarded her the Daily Living component which she hadn't even applied for.  Throughout this process we were in touch with others experiencing similar issues, often worse. The assumption seemed to be that anybody claiming disability was faking it.

 

That's disgusting.

 

And what's more, the whole sordid business of denial of the initial claim and appeal is costing the taxpayers more than granting the payments in the first place.

 

I see no reason why why all applications cannot go through a simple review process with automatic approval (unless something very dodgy turns up) with random follow ups to ensure the system isn't being gamed (and stiff penalties for those who ARE gaming the system).

 

I would also criminally prosecute those who lie at the appeals and that includes the DWP people and "outside providers"

[petethemole]

Just now, iL Dottore said:

And what's more, the whole sordid business of denial of the initial claim and appeal is costing the taxpayers more than granting the payments in the first place.

DWP don't care. The cost of the appeal at a tribunal is borne by the Justice Department so doesn't come from their pot. 

[iL Dottore]

26 minutes ago, polybear said:

Oh dear, what a waste.  Just think how much more yummy it'd be with buttercream on top.....

(Note to @The White Rabbit - Buttercream to replace the real stuff, as from Monday.....)

Are you mad, Minister? Have you a political death wish?

You DO know the “cake with cream” voters were instrumental in securing the return of the party to government?

Your replacement programme completely contravenes the government’s policy that every citizen has the right to his/her choice of cake toppings and fillings in his/her own personal life. Your personal preferences Minister Bear, have NO place in the running of the Ministry of Cake.
 

Either you rescind your ban on cream fillings by end of business today, or you’ll be out of a job before you can say “LDC”

Is this perfectly clear, Minister?

 

E.N. Forcer

Special Advisor to the Prime Minister.

[The White Rabbit]

Morning all,

 

Late this am due to a broken night, groceries and someone picking up an item of furniture. It's sunny most of the time but rather chilly outside. 

 

DWP... it would be very easy to rant and or get into politics. My own experiences have generally not been positive. The exception to this was the staff at the local Jobcentre when I was signing on for a while after finishing university. They were always decent and straight with me. But the rules, rulemakers and procedures - foolish, counter-productive and utterly carp - as an example, I was supposed to sign on at a centre twice as far away as the one I ended up using. The latter was much more convenient and cheaper in time and money to get to but for reasons which no-one could ever explain, I was supposed to go to the one further away. 

 

Disability benefits and pensions... My experiences have been similar in nature as @petethemole's. Various phrases which were used at the time and since to describe the situations include 'institutionally incompetent', 'malevolent morons' and 'evil, lying *'. Here is not the place to go into everything but things have been so bad that between them and the NHS, they made me very ill and as well as nearly dying from physical causes, I was actively contemplating suicide. I would happily see those responsible suffer what is currently described as 'cruel and unnatural punishment'. 

 

And then, as @polybear pointed out, you have the people which 'game' the system. I have no problem with the theory of social security/national insurance and paying into a 'rainy day fund' or against the risk of future problems but bitterly resent subsidising others' permanent holidays. Especially when the system does not help me when I am in trouble, it makes me question why I should work and pay tax. I'd better not say any more. 

 

On a more positive note, I now have a recipe to read! 

[Gwiwer]

9 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

E5 Hayabusa (peregrine falcon).

I can’t help thinking that this looks rather less like a peregrine falcon and much more like a rail-mounted platypus. 

[Gwiwer]

Minister for Train-sport speaking. 
 

We apologise for the excess of liquid sunshine today and for any inconvenience caused. 
 

Fulwell Tunnel is flooded; no trains to Shepperton.

River Axe in spate through Devon; services west of Yeovil Junction may be suspended.

The points at Farnborough have objected to all this rain and have stopped work for the day; delays on the main line. 
Lewes has flooded; delays and cancellations to the Green Train Railway’s services. 
Oh - and Haywards Heath is now a bit wet as well causing more delays. 
Something broke on a train at Fratton; no trains to or from Portsmouth for a while. 
London Over-go-round completely stopped because of numerous floods and broken-down trains
 

Ladies and gents owing to the number of announcements being made this microphone has now run out of battery charge. Please ……… 

Will Inspector Sands please report to Control.

 

Hey ho. Worse things happen at sea. 

 

[NGT6 1315]

9 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 

I hope you get better soon! It sounds like you've been having problems with people, my sympathies for that. That can be an issue at any time but the last couple of years has been quite exceptional, it brought out the worst and the best of people. And it often brought out the worst and best in a single individual, sometimes it's presented as some people are good and others bad but life isn't like that and I have seen the same people display amazing kindness and generosity and at other times act like complete (insert naughty word of choice here). Hopefully things improve, remember, if you do what is necessary for your own health and your family then that's what matters.

 

Yes, it has indeed not been nice to have to deal with work mates who, for example, gleefully posted photos taken at covidiot rallies they attended and proclaimed themselves to be morally holier than anyone else because they were "part of the resistance" against the "dictatorship" we have supposedly slipped into...

 

That, by the way, is also one main reason why I eventually deactivated my FB account. And no, I don't see that as having created my own filter bubble with all connotations typically associated with the term, but as necessary protection against evident stupidity too atrocious to fathom and too glaring to ever miss.

 

Sadly, the company seems to have struggled in handling these tensions among our staff, and, in my opinion, to eventually have shied away from the issue a few times too often. All, I suspect, in the name of maintaining "normalcy", whatever the management took for it. My interpretation is that no-one wanted to alienate driving staff in particular, lest services would have had to be reduced for lack of drivers. Especially if it would have been for reasons possibly attributable to management decisions, Heaven forbid...

 

Well: Precisely those service reductions have, in fact, now been happening for about one and a half years at least, and I understand about 95 driver slots are expected to remain open by the end of the year. The reasons for that are certainly varied, but overexertion has been a major issue and cause for complaints for essentially the same period of time. Of course, there is only so much you can rightfully ask of your staff in terms of going "above and beyond", if you will - especially when passenger and traffic safety are at stake.

In parallel, hiring new staff has become more difficult than ever, so no actual lasting solution seems to be forthcoming.

 

Frankly, with the stress I have been coping with in mind, I couldn't blame anyone who might have decided to find a calmer working environment! And, yes, that, too, may yet be an option for myself to consider as well.

 

There is also another dimension to all of the above which I may yet elaborate on further at another point, and which, frankly, is well inside the realm of the outrageous.