Nice People Thread Number 11 - A Treasury of Nice People

vivatifosi

Q for Gen. If circumstances enabled you to have a career change, and theoretically anything was possible (including pilot and brain surgeon) what would you do now if you had a choice as a grown up?

Incidentally, did you look at the week 1 reading? There was a bit in the Tetlock paper on irrationality in financial markets that you may like if you haven't already seen it.

zagubov

tomterm8 wrote: »

Tom and Jerry was suggested by John Carr because it was a common phrase for kids misbehaving in the 19th century. The phrase came from Life in London, or Days and Nights of Jerry Hawthorne and his elegant friend Corinthian Tom (1823) by Pierce Egan.

Thanks for that- that's a good answer.

I knew the cartoons must have been on in WW2 as I'd read a story about Jacob Bronoswki walking through an atom-bombed Nagasaki in total ruins and somebody had put on a radio which was playing the song "Is you is or is you ain't ma baby" which Tom used to sing or mime to in the cartoons. Can't hear that without picturing what the ruins must have looked like.

I grew up in what with hindsight we can call the Space age or at any rate the Space Race. Also the cold war was going full blast and space travel looked utterly necessary on a large scale, hence my choice of avatar.

I didn't think I'd be working in space or anything like that but I probably expected to know people who did because it would be so common. I did want to be a scientist, but I hadn't a clue what research was really like till I eventually did it.

tomterm8

zagubov wrote: »

I knew the cartoons must have been on in WW2 as I'd read a story about Jacob Bronoswki walking through an atom-bombed Nagasaki in total ruins and somebody had put on a radio which was playing the song "Is you is or is you ain't ma baby" which Tom used to sing or mime to in the cartoons. Can't hear that without picturing what the ruins must have looked like.
.

Tom and Jerry came before world war II. The first cartoon where they were named was in July 19, 1941. You can see The Midnight Snack on youtube. It was the second Tom and Jerry cartoon ever, but in the first one they hadn't been named yet.

GDB2222

Doozergirl wrote: »

Hello GDB, how are things? How are you?

Thanks for asking, and the answer is not too bad, really.

DW bursts into tears every so often, which is not a bad thing at all. But, understandably, she's not her usual cheerful self. Work-wise, I have too much on, so that's bad timing but I can't alter when people choose to use my services and I don't want to turn work away. Importantly, we are all healthy (apart from MIL), so we shouldn't grumble.

vivatifosi

From the readings for week 1, something to consider if you are a parent taking your children to look at potential universities... 1 study found that students viewing two universities viewed ones seen on a sunny day more favourably than those viewed on a rainy day and this influenced choice.

Generali

vivatifosi wrote: »

Q for Gen. If circumstances enabled you to have a career change, and theoretically anything was possible (including pilot and brain surgeon) what would you do now if you had a choice as a grown up?

Incidentally, did you look at the week 1 reading? There was a bit in the Tetlock paper on irrationality in financial markets that you may like if you haven't already seen it.

I would have given singing a proper go when I was younger (I was a very good singer before my voice broke) and then had a go at being an economic historian. I could have paid the bills and fulfilled myself more than I have in my career to date.

I have some very serious moral problems with the financial services industry as it has progressed over the last 20 years. Then again, higher education has gone down the pan rather too.

I've got an interesting day tomorrow. My 15th wedding anniversary and the results of my biopsy.

Generali

GDB2222 wrote: »

Thanks for asking, and the answer is not too bad, really.

DW bursts into tears every so often, which is not a bad thing at all. But, understandably, she's not her usual cheerful self. Work-wise, I have too much on, so that's bad timing but I can't alter when people choose to use my services and I don't want to turn work away. Importantly, we are all healthy (apart from MIL), so we shouldn't grumble.

Hope things are going well with you guys or at least are moderately tolerable. Best wishes as I have some insight into your situation.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Anyone able to live post the budget?

Stuck in meetings so can't this year

Generali

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Anyone able to live post the budget?

Stuck in meetings so can't this year

Not in the mood for it this year, sorry all.:(

tomterm8

I'm thinking it'll be a big yawn fest today. Announcing the announcements they already made in the pre-budget budget and measures they're not going to bring in until after an election it looks like they're going to lose anyway. A budget continuing the same kind of austerity we've already had.

You know, the kind of austerity where you end up spending more money each year:

Total Managed expenditure

2012-13 £701.9bn

2013-14 £717.8bn

2014-15 £730.5bn

2015-16 £744bn (OBR figures Autumn 2013)