Nice People 12: Nice in Nice

LydiaJ

lemonjelly wrote: »

In reality, half the welfare budget goes on pensioners/the over 60's (cynic alert - their benefits have been protected for years, because they vote).
Jobseekers Allowance covers around 3% of the welfare budget. Tax Credits covers 35% of the budget.

The actions of the government in recent years, & their comments on benefits & benefit claimants has been disgusting, & imo hasn't been a debate, it has been more about demonising benefit claimants.

Indeed. For example, the proposed changes to WPA will save a tiny amount of money in comparison with the rest of the welfare budget, but make a huge difference (for the worse) for families dealing with bereavement. They think that a family that loses a parent should be over it after a year and no longer in need of support, even though such support is based on the NI of the deceased. Their "consultation" with charities for the bereaved etc consisted in being told that bereaved children need a lot more of the surviving parent's time and attention than normal children, for many years, and then taking no notice of what they had been told.

It won't affect me because it'll only apply to new deaths after 2016, but I'm angry on behalf of people in the future who'll have to deal with what my kids are going through with added money worries.

Generali wrote: »

The problem with dealing with probability at the individual level is that it always reverts to 1.

A year ago I had a lowish chance of getting cancer in the next 12 months (0.01 or less I guess) but now I know that my chance was 1.

You can run an insurance company on probability but I (now) think that for an individual you have to consider things more laterally: what happens if is as important as what are the chances in some ways.

Which is why we take out insurance against things that are unlikely but would be catastrophic.

Can I add my usual reminder to NP with family who depend on them financially to make sure they have adequate life insurance? And in view of the imminent changes I've just mentioned, I suggest getting a policy that will give the survivors a bit of ongoing income as well as one that pays out a lump sum, although check first if your pension scheme already provides any of this.

LydiaJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

Years ago, between jobs, I'd do/try anything to keep money coming in .... and one week I found myself in an industrial unit working for "cash in hand" of £2/hour checking exam papers.

It was a table of women, we had to get a box of exam papers, then flick through every page to check the pages weren't empty and didn't contain any obvious printing errors (e.g. pages cut wrongly, pages upside down, a fold across the middle of a sheet, double-printed, ink too faint).

I think it was 3 days work. One of the women there said she and her husband had bought a new house, they had two kids. It wasn't long after (weeks/months) that he was suddenly killed in an accident and when she got all the paperwork out she discovered that they'd never actually signed/sent off the life assurance documents, so he thought they'd get the house paid for when in fact they ended up with none of it paid.

She was there, earning her £2/hour, to try to keep the house and was doing any/all jobs she could find/get to.

That's awful PN. That poor family.

lemonjelly

bugslet wrote: »

How about walking Long Mynd, Jelly?

I'm with GDB and jelly, the UK is a beautiful place and it's a shame that so much of it is unvisited, on the other hand, it makes it more peaceful for me:D.

Nice suggestion bugs! Haven't been there for years.
Went hiking there with scouts. Me & my brother (sorry NDG!) didn't have hiking boots (couldn't afford them) but we had good trainers. Some other scouts were very snobby about this. We ended up not walking with them, went with the leaders & a couple of volunteers. We had a great time, got lost (in fields) but everyone else with the "proper" equipment got lost in really obvious places.

Oh, & we finished first!

michaels

So this morning watched DS being part of a very hungry catapiller, this afternoon watched DDs 1 and 2 playing recorded and then DD2 playing more football. It is nice watching your kids being good at things and much better than I ever was. DD1 is sort of in with the 'valley girls' but is happy to be a 'nerd', long may she continue to think that make up and boys are not the most important things in the world. DD2 wasn't as good at football as Sunday, she reads the game well but was less keen on getting stuck in against the boys in the mixed match today than she had been in the all girls one.

Nikkster

michaels wrote: »

So this morning watched DS being part of a very hungry catapiller, this afternoon watched DDs 1 and 2 playing recorded and then DD2 playing more football. It is nice watching your kids being good at things and much better than I ever was. DD1 is sort of in with the 'valley girls' but is happy to be a 'nerd', long may she continue to think that make up and boys are not the most important things in the world. DD2 wasn't as good at football as Sunday, she reads the game well but was less keen on getting stuck in against the boys in the mixed match today than she had been in the all girls one.

Sounds like a lovely day away from being 'michaels the office worker ' to spend time being 'michaels the dad'

I bet DS looked adorable as part of a very hungry caterpillar!

Nikkster

PasturesNew wrote: »

Cheers.... Nikkster'll be annoyed you've offered to come and visit me ..... but avoided her neck of the woods to date

It's ok - I'm secure enough in our non-relationship to not mind Plus I wouldn't fight over a bloke - if they wanted to be with someone else there isn't much point in trying to stand in the way!

lemonjelly wrote: »

I'm round nikksters all the time. We just don't let you lot know Oooops!

You don't let me know either - you should. I'll make sure I tidy up!

Nikkster

LydiaJ wrote: »

Excited about the "PN doing a degree" thing. :dance:

Although agree with GDB that a course she finds really interesting is crucial.

Me too (on both counts). Sounds like a great idea

vivatifosi

Doozergirl wrote: »

Thread is moving faster than I can read it!

I had 13 pages of catch up, and even after this summary, I'm still 5 pages behind!

lemonjelly wrote: »

& of course, we're both "lj's"

That has confused me a few times, when people reply to you, & I'm scratching my head thinking "I didn't ask that though..." :rotfl:

LydiaJ wrote: »

It's confused me a few times too! Although I think most NP who put lj mean you most of the time... just not quite all the time, to keep you and me on our toes. :rotfl:

Ooops, that'll be me then, sorry! I call lemonjelly lj, but think of you as Lydia. Sorrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

lostinrates

I Lj them both.


Today I slept a fair bit, but also started to tackle the dumping pit of doom, ( now heavily dust coated from the ceiling) which is the room pn thinks of as the kitchen as it was the kitchen for that summer!

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

I Lj them both.


Today I slept a fair bit, but also started to tackle the dumping pit of doom, ( now heavily dust coated from the ceiling) which is the room pn thinks of as the kitchen as it was the kitchen for that summer!

Awww/pit of doom.

No consolation, but "at least" it's summer, so you're able to think about it, look at it, paw it about a bit during more daylight hours and with less rain coming down.