28 and only just worked out how to run a house!

cheletastic

I also left school in the eighties.

We always had to clean and my mom tried to teach me how to cook but I just wasn't interested (my younger sisters are both great cooks):o

Now however, thanks to this site I am moving away from ready meals and have started cooking from scratch. Made a big pot of chilli the other night which my OH loved, can now just about cook meat & veg, and actually baked a banana loaf with over ripe bananas the other night, which I would normally have thrown away:rolleyes:

Still need to try more things but am getting there.

Have always been able to clean, just never enjoyed it but after reading through flylady thread yesterday, was inspired to clean whole house from top to bottom ready to start working the fly lady way:D

Once I've used all the cleaning products lurking in my cupboards :eek: will go and buy some star drops:D

Austin_Allegro

I think it was daft they way they used to (or do they still) split up the sexes, with boys taking woodwork and girls taking HE. I think they should just have a 'running a household' course with stuff like basic budgeting, repairs, cookery etc. We are living in single person households for much longer now, so this makes sense. I do nearly all my own cooking, cleaning, repairs etc - my father is astonished as he comes from the generation that went straight from having all that done by his mother to it being done by my mother!

consultant31

tawnyowls wrote: »

.

They don't really help themselves though, do they? Our local one is pretty good, but it still closes for half-days a couple of days a week, including Saturday, and apart from one day, it closes at 5 or before. So not only is it missing the bulk of the workers, it's missing the bulk of the schoolkids/students. Plus I've tried before now passing on (very good quality, barely used) books, but they don't want to know. In some countries, you pay a small membership fee (something on the lines of £10-£20/year - or about the cost of 4 books), which I'd be quite happy to pay if it meant they were kept going. However, considering the massive council tax most of us have to pay, I think it's a cheek that libraries are put under threat - I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that the silly opening hours are all part of the plan: 'no-one uses the library, so we're going to close it down' sort of thing.

I have just retired from my job in our local library, where I worked for almost 20 years. We were always glad of any donations and would have them backed and on the shelves within an hour of the donation. I'm surprised to learn that other authorities have a different view, but Wakefield MDC is always short of money and book buying seemed to be at the bottom of the list of necessities. The only reason books wouldn't be accepted is if they were too common (e.g. Catherine Cookson), where every library has at least one copy and there really isn't the room for several copies of the same book.

We were put under threat of closure almost annually and worked hard to get the borrowers to back us to the hilt, taking out books even if they had no intention of reading them - just so the figures looked good. I feel that the introduction of computers to the library spelled the death of reading to the youngers borrowers - all they wanted to do was come in and use the computers to play games or access chat rooms.

denise_h_2

tawnyowls wrote: »

Me too. I read an article recently about someone described as a 'voracious reader', who read a paltry 10 books a month. Tchah! Amateur.



They don't really help themselves though, do they? Our local one is pretty good, but it still closes for half-days a couple of days a week, including Saturday, and apart from one day, it closes at 5 or before. So not only is it missing the bulk of the workers, it's missing the bulk of the schoolkids/students. Plus I've tried before now passing on (very good quality, barely used) books, but they don't want to know. In some countries, you pay a small membership fee (something on the lines of £10-£20/year - or about the cost of 4 books), which I'd be quite happy to pay if it meant they were kept going. However, considering the massive council tax most of us have to pay, I think it's a cheek that libraries are put under threat - I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that the silly opening hours are all part of the plan: 'no-one uses the library, so we're going to close it down' sort of thing.

I live in the North East and our library has a different attitude to donated books. They will happily accept good quality books. It's only a small branch library so it helps their book budget.
Our local main library is always busy, especially on a Saturday. It must just be a local council thing about how libraries are promoted. Ours have all sorts of things going on, especially for the kids during the school hols.
Is anyone else like me - would go gaga if the library closed!!

kj*daisy

consultant31 wrote: »

I have just retired from my job in our local library, where I worked for almost 20 years. We were always glad of any donations and would have them backed and on the shelves within an hour of the donation. I'm surprised to learn that other authorities have a different view, but Wakefield MDC is always short of money and book buying seemed to be at the bottom of the list of necessities. The only reason books wouldn't be accepted is if they were too common (e.g. Catherine Cookson), where every library has at least one copy and there really isn't the room for several copies of the same book.

We were put under threat of closure almost annually and worked hard to get the borrowers to back us to the hilt, taking out books even if they had no intention of reading them - just so the figures looked good. I feel that the introduction of computers to the library spelled the death of reading to the youngers borrowers - all they wanted to do was come in and use the computers to play games or access chat rooms.

Ooooh - I live in Wakefield. Am due to go to local branch library tomorrow so will ask if they want any books - hadn't thought of that at all. :T