Nice people thread part 5 - nicely does it

CKhalvashi

vivatifosi wrote: »

The problem with HB online, as I see it, is that it disproportionately affects those the wrong side of the digital divide. The forms are long and complex and the people filling them out often don't have the skills to do them themselves. You then end up with someone with little money, paying over £6 in printing fees in a library so that they can take the form away, show it to someone who knows how to fill it out, then they are desperate when they have little/no typing skills and are trying to get the whole form filled out in their allotted amount of time. They fail and then end up having to pay yet another bunch of money for extra time as well as another print out showing they've filled the form out. Cost to someone on the breadline, about £15 for something that used to cost nothing.

That’s the main problem. If anyone comes to me (either via the offices, of which details are taken and then myself/housing call back, depending on the situation and vulnerability) then they are explicitly told (by myself anyway) that they I can run these to them if they can’t get to the office, and it’s free.

I don’t want people paying to print something off when they can get it for nothing, and I’m happy to spend pence in diesel to do that for them. I think the attitude of benefits themselves is a little off when I walk in with about 20 forms (as I did this morning). The other one that I’m starting to do is take an iPad to do the bidding with people that don’t have computers and can’t get out. Again, I probably go further than most, but it’s a useful service to have. I’m being paid a large sum of CT payers money each year to do my job, and I’d rather put 30mins of my time to one side, rather than be told I’ve not done it correctly.

Edit: On a completely fresh note, thinking seriously about this one as a live music venue. Only condition is a 25yr lease, so I know it’ll do me until I retire.

PasturesNew

chewmylegoff wrote: »

I also got called by a recruiter today ....The conversation ended pretty quickly!

I tend to be a bit sharp with them. Firstly I ask them if they know where I am .... and then I ask them "if my address said Paris would you have phoned me?" and they say "No" - and I say "Well, if I were in Paris I'd be closer to you right now and it'd be easier for me to get there".

And then my parting line, that makes them give up is "I don't want to go through this process to come 2nd, just because you have a candidate quota to meet. I'm interested in the right job, at the right price, if I'm pretty much the only person in the frame".

SingleSue

StevieJ wrote: »

Do you all keep getting those PPI etc harassment calls?

I do on my mobile but each time I do, I save the number and label it "PPI crap, don't answer" or something similar.

LydiaJ

Found something new to do together with DD this evening. She's interested in houses - when I was beginning to learn about buying houses I watched a fair number of property shows on TV to get my head round a few things and feel a bit less ignorant. (I hung out on the house buying/renting/selling etc board here too.) She used to watch them with me and loved them. So now I've introduced her to the "have a look at this" thread over on the house board. We see what the posts tell us to look out for and then look at the houses. I make sarcastic comments in an overly dramatic tone of voice and she roars with laughter. I think she'd be happy to go on doing it all night, but I can only cope with so much at a time. I've promised we'll look at some more tomorrow, though.

michaels

Hmm - I am sure there are many who would see introducing one children to property as qualifying as irresponsible parenting...

LydiaJ wrote: »

Found something new to do together with DD this evening. She's interested in houses - when I was beginning to learn about buying houses I watched a fair number of property shows on TV to get my head round a few things and feel a bit less ignorant. (I hung out on the house buying/renting/selling etc board here too.) She used to watch them with me and loved them. So now I've introduced her to the "have a look at this" thread over on the house board. We see what the posts tell us to look out for and then look at the houses. I make sarcastic comments in an overly dramatic tone of voice and she roars with laughter. I think she'd be happy to go on doing it all night, but I can only cope with so much at a time. I've promised we'll look at some more tomorrow, though.

LydiaJ

michaels wrote: »

Hmm - I am sure there are many who would see introducing one children to property as qualifying as irresponsible parenting...

:rotfl:

Well, I don't think it'll do her too much harm to laugh at some of the most outrageous pictures, floorplans and descriptions on some RM listings. She was in fits this evening over a floorplan where you had to go through the hall, kitchen and conservatory to get from the bedroom to the shower room, and a description saying that the kitchen had an unfettered view of the town carpark.

I did wonder what I'd done, though, when she started telling me what she thought of our rented house (in which we'd been living for as long as she could really remember):

"It's a pity we rent this house and don't own it, Mummy. If we owned it, I'd like to take out the wall between my bedroom and the spare room and..."

Afraid I can't remember what else she had planned, but I knew I'd been letting her watch too much of Sarah Beeny.

vivatifosi

Hi Lydia, just wanted to say not to go too far back in that thread about property. There was a long bit on sado-masochistic furniture around January this year. Explaining houses is one thing, but how you would explain the strange choice in furniture I'm not really sure. One of the chairs enabled the user to simulate horse riding in a sexual manner, the other had short stubby arms - the only use for which I could see as they were so far down the chair would be to keep ones legs apart. And I'll leave it at that in terms of explanations...

JonnyBravo

LydiaJ wrote: »

make sarcastic comments in an overly dramatic tone of voice and she roars with laughter. I think she'd be happy to go on doing it all night, but I can only cope with so much at a time. I've promised we'll look at some more tomorrow, though.

There are plenty of threads that could fit the bill.
Let us know when you move her onto the precious metal or "Armageddon" threads. :rotfl:

JonnyBravo

vivatifosi wrote: »

Hi Lydia, just wanted to say not to go too far back in that thread about property. There was a long bit on sado-masochistic furniture around January this year. Explaining houses is one thing, but how you would explain the strange choice in furniture I'm not really sure. One of the chairs enabled the user to simulate horse riding in a sexual manner, the other had short stubby arms - the only use for which I could see as they were so far down the chair would be to keep ones legs apart. And I'll leave it at that in terms of explanations...

Blimey, and I thought it was all house prices, gold and sockies.

-toddles off to look a the stuff he's been missing out on-

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

Why, oh why, oh why do some council workers have to be so crazy that they give the rest of us a bad name?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-17269511

Because there are laws about what flags you can fly, so if somebody makes a complaint, it kicks off a statutory letter to be sent telling them to take it down. The fact it's a kid's flag and a pirate flag's irrelevant as they will still have to have sent out the standard, approved, letter so their boxes get ticked.