A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

BitterAndTwisted

I'm no apologist for the Work Programme because I don't know anything about it, but might quite soon so I might change my tune BUT they arrived in the city only a couple of hours before they were due to work and the rain-sodden campsite was God's fault and no-one else's. Theydon Bois is a bit more ritzy than some other camping-places I can think of here and is quite safe. They knew they were going to be camping and that's always a terrible risk in this country. And the news-story says that the whole thing was voluntary so I can't see anything wrong with it.

I have a feeling that this story could have been just as slanted and with an agenda as anything one could read in the DM except from an opposite point of view.

Still, it makes for an interesting discussion, does it not?

smileyt_2

Bitterandtwisted I think what makes me angry is that they were slave labour for a private company. If they had been going to help out in a crisis (even something as basic as giving tea and biscuits out to people who had been evacuated from their homes) or if they were doing job placements in hospitals/schools/libraries it would be easier to swallow because they would not be lining the pockets of greedy chief execs etc. There'd still be a slight bone of contention because they would be filling places that should be filled by paid workers, but at least they wouldn't be lining private pockets.

I bet the chief exec of that company didn't sleep under London Bridge that night.

silvasava

prepareathome wrote: »

I alas can not get my tension right on my sewing machine I bought last year - not the machines fault mine, I sew and some of the stitches unravel. I will keep plugging away and one day hopefully will make something - so far all I have made is draught excluders as going over where stitches unravelled Hugs. love and healing to all

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

PPH if you google Sewing Machine Tension there are lots of sites that give you info. Its a proper b***er when it all loops. Do check your needle isn't blunt too. You really need to have some scrap fabric & have a 'play' with the tension/stitch lengths. I've found its rarely the bobbin tension - you can check that by slowly pulling the thread through the bobbin case - if it runs fairly freely leave it alone! Good Luck

GreyQueen

Certainly does, B & T. I'm very cynical about various into-work programmes as was once (20+ years ago, admittedly) sent on one. It was a very interesting group of people and in our breaks we discussed how we'd been unemployed so long that we were eligible to be sent on such a course.

One 20-something guy I can remember very well told me about how he'd been doing a lot of voluntary work with BCTV in order to give him the relevent experience to work in conservation. He'd most recently interviewed for a job and the landowner was VERY interested in his vountary work experiences so he was congratulating himself on the wisdom of his choices and quietly hopeful of getting the job.

He didn't get it. None of the applicants did, because the wily landowner now knew how to get keen people to work for nowt and the BCTV volunteers took a paid job away from the market.

Now, I have no particular beef with BCTV and if I enjoyed good health, would probably be doing something similar with my free time, but I've seen a lot of similar things happen in the past 30 years. Mickey-mouse courses, work experience on a promise which is nothing more than slave labour, the whole 9 yards. The economy improves and suddenly the jobs are available and the unemployment goes down, it doesn't get sorted out by "schemes" in my observation and experience. Things like this are probably nothing more than a rip-off. If it's a job, pay the going rate, or the NMW, if you think you can get the people, but don't expect people to work for free. If it ever comes down to "work for dole" they shouldn't expect people to do more than dole divided by NMW = number of hours worked.

Yes, by all means, if there are fixable impediements which are holding individual jobseekers back, work with them as individuals to improve those problem areas, but don't lump everyone into the same one-size-fits-all solution, which is what governments of all stripes seem to want to do. I know plenty of professional people who've been longterm unemployed because they can't get anything in their field and no one will hire them for stuff like bar, shop or cleaning jobs because they're "over-qualified". It's enough to make a cat laugh........

OK, I'm moving off that subject now. Have been to the lottie where I have been making hay...again. I have meadows advancing to the left of me, the right of me, very pretty with lots of different grasses, all ready to drop seeds, and poppies, ditto. I'd love looking at them from the window of a passing train but when they're menacing my hardwon veggie patch, grrr!

Have now met The Silent Man's old Dad and showed him the dark art of cutting grass with the sickle, which was much better than the hedging tool he was attempting to use. I was so thrilled to see some of the meadow on their side being hacked down I nearly hugged him. Baby steps but maybe, one day.........

Ooof, got bedsheets all over clothes airers all over the room and need to sort something out for tea. Got a few chard seedlings to incorportate into it somewhere. Might have them as salad with some new pots (el cheapo from the Magic Greengrocer) and something from a can....sardines, I think.

I was in my thirties before I ever saw a non-canned sardine and made a right fool of myself exclaiming over how big they were.............:rotfl:Well, if they come in little cans, you assume they're little fish, don't you? And as for TUNA - they're whopping great things.

Laters, GQx

Mrs_Chip

I think it was rather thoughtless (to say the least) to expect them to camp on concrete - I am not aware of any patches of earth under London Bridge - how the hell were they supposed to erect a tent?

And then to not be bothered to ensure there was appropriate changing facilities - it extremis it might be ok, but this was being organised by the company who, I presume, were being paid very well for their services (being ex govt I know that these contracts are very lucrative).

So whether these people were being paid or not, or working towards and NVQ or an offer of paid work, I think the security company have behaved very shoddily.

And gosh, the company wellied out a whole £300 quid on licences and work wear - something they would have had to do for employees anyway, and how much did they receive for supplying those staff???

muffin_man_7

PAH could i ask where you got the egg substitute would be really handy in winter for those much needed cakes to keep me warm not that i get to eat them kids do that just a good excuse to have oven on a bit longer can't even find dried egg anymore that was useful too
loved your pics i used to have a side board full of tins jars and packets of stuff its all gone now sideboard fell apart(don't make things to last anymore) might have to get some more plastic draws as my youngest has taken mine to useas a bedside unit she's slowly getting the idea of reuse recycle a work in progress i think

Byatt

I missed the recycling bins too, I thought they would come tomorrow.

DD's abscess burst so mercy dash to hospital to get it packed and dressed.

In all the chat my question got lost, is it ok to have stuff stored in an understairs cupboard which is dampish?

Mrs_Chip

Byatt - Hope DD is ok. As to damp cupboards, I wouldn't store stuff in them, everything in ours goes mouldy and smelly. Unless you have a way to dry it out (like those heated pipe things that plug into the leccy) I just don't think it's worth the risk, sorry

GreyQueen

Byatt wrote: »

I missed the recycling bins too, I thought they would come tomorrow.

DD's abscess burst so mercy dash to hospital to get it packed and dressed.

In all the chat my question got lost, is it ok to have stuff stored in an understairs cupboard which is dampish?

Sorry to hear about the abscess, Byatt, hope your DD is more comfortable now it's burst. Re the understair cupboard, I would say definately no to dried goods like flour etc and possibly no to tins; they might rust.

Is the damp reducable by things like leaving open containers of salt etc or is it really damp? My Mum's house has a deep cupboard in the bedroom which goes over the void of the stairwell and has the outside wall as its sidewall (hope I'm making sense). Anyroad, it was always prone to being a bit damp which made storage problematic. What she did was to buy a louvred-type ventilation thingy, about 18 x 12 inches, cut out a bit of the hollow door and set it in. That was enough extra ventilation to cure the problem. It worked so well that she did it for the same cupboard for the woman who lives next door who'd lost her OH and was nowhere near as handy with a jigsaw. Didn't cost much money - these were hollowcored flush doors btw.

HTH.

fuddle

muffin_man_7 wrote: »

PAH could i ask where you got the egg substitute would be really handy in winter for those much needed cakes to keep me warm not that i get to eat them kids do that just a good excuse to have oven on a bit longer can't even find dried egg anymore that was useful too

I have wondered about this but not sure I have seen it on the eco stores for around £3. I'll go look

http://www.ecogreenstore.co.uk/orgran-natural-egg-replacer-200g-p-1727.html?ref=gmc&gclid=COHW56rBt7ACFcQKfAodRTZs5g

If I can find it in a store then it would be handy but not sure I'd make a special effort.

DH asked me "why are we putting food in the cupboard again?" I think he could see he was about to get a lesson and said "oh, ok". He knows his place Just wait until I hand him the box of emergency supplies to put in his work car in the winter sure he thinks I'm cracking up.

Thanks for the words of support re: my mum and home. Sometimes I think I share too much on the forum but at the same time it helped me to just let it all out this morning.

We've been to Ikea today for the 60p hotdogs... gotta have a treat and I got my tealights. I'm planning on a bubble bath soon by candle light. Sometimes it's the simple things that turn out to be luxury huh?

Hope you're having a nice extra holiday day