Nice People Thread Part 9 - and so it continues

zagubov

silvercar wrote: »

South - Measles land.

Summers spent on the Gower beaches.

You need to write the Welsh equivalent of these travel guides.

:beer:

I've enjoyed the Molvania one ( the country which invented the harpoon and the calper) and am working my way through the Phaic Tan edition

neverdespairgirl

LydiaJ wrote: »

Agree. That's my big gripe about the idea that we should all return to the 11+ and grammar schools etc - it doesn't give much thought to what to do with the ones who don't pass. (Having read that link to the thread in DT I've posted on it, BTW.) If it were possible, what I'd really love to see would be a much more flexible start to education where the ones that want to learn to read young can do so, even if they don't have parents who can be bothered to teach them, and those who aren't ready don't have to until a bit later.

My Dad went to a grammar school in Cheshire, having been encouraged by his primary school to apply to it. He thinks it's the only way he ended up not leaving school at 15, and is very grateful for the academic education he received. There are advantages, as well as disadvantages, I think.

LydiaJ wrote: »

"I concur with every word you say." (That's a quote from a Flanders and Swann record we had when I was a kid.)

"At the Drop of a Hat" and "At the Drop of Another Hat?" we had them on tapes for the car when I was a child, and I've got them on my ipod now. Very, very funny.

GDB2222

My wife emailed the No.10 restaurant in Sheringham to find out if they would be open. I just thought I should share part of the reply (explaining why they are closed):

"Mustapha will be away camel racing until the end of the month. "

chewmylegoff

michaels wrote: »

No offense taken.

I didn't know how long it would take to rent it and thought we might be spending a fair bit of time there painting up and whatever so wanted to have internet and also prefered to keep the phone line on rather than letting it disconnect and thus suffer a reconnection fee. Talktalk are the cheapest per month even without the incentives which are no longer available so I don't think the tenant has been disadvantaged.

Once you take over the energy supply are you not then bound by the same T&C (including and switching before minimum term charges) that the previous person had signed up to or be it with energy it tends to be max £50 per fuel rather than 12 months?

Edit: Any update on the house you went to see. I am in the buy cheap with potential to upgrade to your specification rather than buy ready to move into and suffer someone else's view of how the place should have been renovated.

I've never had a problem switching when I move to a new property but that could well be because many people are just on standard tariff.

I am getting a builder who I went to school with to come and view it with me again on Tuesday. He won some fancy national award recently so hopefully he knows what he is doing. I will get him to come up with a rough figure for all the work that it needs and also a plan on how the downstairs can be remodelled and go from there.

I need to clarify just who the seller is as well. The previous owner has died but the local church is involved somehow - they appear to be the beneficiaries of his will and the property may have been transfered to them so god knows what negotiations over price will be like. The agent seemed a bit embarrassed by the price tag, but I may have mistaken his normal shifty look for embarrassment of course.

Anyway, getting ahead of myself - builder's opinion needed first!

chewmylegoff

Spent the weekend in mid Wales, walked a bit of Offa's Dyke with some friends from school which was fun and thankfully the weather was ok whilst we walked but it rained buckets the rest of the time. We decided to camp which was cheap but close to insane at this time of year! Luckily the heavily cloud cover kept the temperature up!

Lots of very friendly business owners up there, not like going to a London cafe or pub, that's for sure! One chap even opened up his cafe for us this morning to do breakfast - he doesn't normally open on Sundays and was actually there to do some redecorating!

chewmylegoff

GDB2222 wrote: »

My wife emailed the No.10 restaurant in Sheringham to find out if they would be open. I just thought I should share part of the reply (explaining why they are closed):

"Mustapha will be away camel racing until the end of the month. "

Strangely I had a conversation on Saturday with someone who had been to see some camel racing in Oman. He said there weren't many other spectators, can't think why.

michaels

chewmylegoff wrote: »

I've never had a problem switching when I move to a new property but that could well be because many people are just on standard tariff.

I am getting a builder who I went to school with to come and view it with me again on Tuesday. He won some fancy national award recently so hopefully he knows what he is doing. I will get him to come up with a rough figure for all the work that it needs and also a plan on how the downstairs can be remodelled and go from there.

I need to clarify just who the seller is as well. The previous owner has died but the local church is involved somehow - they appear to be the beneficiaries of his will and the property may have been transfered to them so god knows what negotiations over price will be like. The agent seemed a bit embarrassed by the price tag, but I may have mistaken his normal shifty look for embarrassment of course.

Anyway, getting ahead of myself - builder's opinion needed first!

Sounds ideal knowing a builder you can trust, don't forget to factor in the extra 6/12 months of renting while the work is done....it really is great having a place done to your design/specs rather than always thinking 'why did they put the door there'.

lostinrates

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

My Dad went to a grammar school in Cheshire, having been encouraged by his primary school to apply to it. He thinks it's the only way he ended up not leaving school at 15, and is very grateful for the academic education he received. There are advantages, as well as disadvantages, I think.

.

My father absolutely benefitted from his grammar school. Not only the education, but the aspiration. His parents had none. He still had to leave school 'early' (his father wouldn't pay to feed a 'man' not working at school) but the aspiration and idea that he could achieve was set. That was more vital than the actual education I think, the hope, the promise, the faith in him. He talks of the school siting his home and pleasing with his parents to keep him there and his father refusing, and his headmaster telling my father that he had the skills he needed to educated himself, and he must avail himself of them. That his headmaster had faith in him meant a huge deal.

neverdespairgirl

I'll reply to the more serious stuff tomorrow, I'm tired - I was thinking, though, in response to Lydia's mention of Flanders & Swann of the wonderful Have some Madeira M'dear song, which wonderful collections of words linked by an initial up / down / out:

he hastened to put out the cat, the wine, his cigar, and the lamps

and

She lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes, and his hopes

And the wonderful line her mother told her with her ante-penultimate breath

Today's irrelevant fact - Flanders' daughter is Stephanie Flanders, the BBC economics guru

chewmylegoff

My favourite Flanders and Swann song is Ill Wind, closely followed by the one about London Buses. We used to listen to them in the car on long journeys when I was a kid. I also remember listening to Tom Lehrer a lot in the car, although I'm not sure that I completely understood the Old Dope Peddler when I was 7 or whatever.