The Garden Fence - proper Old Style support and chat!

nursemaggie

What is an echidna please, never heard of it?

I've done a very unMSE thing today. I put on the oil filled radiator and am warm again for the first time since the weather broke. I'm just permanently cold if the temperature is less than 24c.

You can keep the 47 degrees ivyleaf.

silvasava

Hester - isn't it about time CHS let you take the helm?? Tell him if two women can win first and second place in the round the world yacht race you can be in charge of the tiller for a change

Hard_Up_Hester

No thanks Silva, he's a terribly back seat driver, I tolerate it in the car, I refuse to be critiqued on the boat as well.

Every trip is the same, I tell him that five hours and 6 or 7 locks is enough each day, he agrees but as soon as he gets behind the tiller his inner Stirling Moss takes over and he wants to go faster, longer and further. I get tired, he complains that I'm grumpy. This carries on until we have a blazing row & I put my foot down!

We travel slowly for a couple of days in complete silence as by now he isn't speaking to me, lol.

I did steer for a while yesterday but he gives the most appalling directions, including screaming 'Back, back, back when he meant turn!

Softstuff

Nursemaggie, the echidna:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echidna
quite cute, wild over here. I actually got to see one a bit back which was quite the thrill.

monnagran

Hester, you have my sympathy. I once had a BF who was hopeless at giving directions but always insisted on doing so because women can't read maps doncherno.
"Turn left," he would bark as we swept past the turning. "Turn right at the Kings Arms pub. Why didn't you turn right?" Because the pub was called the Royal Oak.

Enjoy the silence. Humming a merry tune while they are still simmering with rage really gets up their nose. This and other marriage guidance pearls of wisdom obtainable on payment of a small fee.

Morning all.

Ouch, nursemaggie. The mere mention of heaters makes me feel faint. I also feel the cold but the heat is worse for me. I think that it is easier to warm yourself up if you are cold than it is to cool yourself down in a heatwave.

Today I do all the things I meant to do yesterday and didn't. But breakfast first.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Just because I am awake at 8.30 am doesn't mean I'm ready to do things.

Cheapskate

Sunny and fresh here, warm but not hot, and breezy so washing out on the line already. Taking the littlies to town in a bit (still asleep! :eek:) for a few things we still need for DS#1's wedding on Saturday, but trying hard not to food shop - we're bleeding cash I can't afford, and have had too many holiday treats, so belt tightening is the name of the game now! :rotfl:

Still waiting for appt from referral to rheumatology in bigger town near me, might be September at the earliest (from a March referral), which I suppose isn't too bad, but annoying when I hear of others being referred by their GPs for the same thing getting a first appt in 6-8 weeks! New physio seems to not believe/agree with my diagnosis, so don't know how long he'll last, although his treatments seem to be doing a bit of good...

A xo

VJsmum

monnagran wrote: »

Enjoy the silence. Humming a merry tune while they are still simmering with rage really gets up their nose. This and other marriage guidance pearls of wisdom obtainable on payment of a small fee.

My mum used to do that - :rotfl: it really wound dad up..:p I tend to wait till mine has got over himself, it doesn't usually take long, and then take the !!!!!! :cool: IF he criticises me when i am driving, I stop the car and tell him to walk... that shuts him up. And if he criticises my map reading i stop doing it... My friend told me last week that the Sat Nav had saved her marriage :rotfl:

Morning all - another day, more statistics. FPK i am mixed methods so have the qual to do also. Never let it be said i take the easy route... <<sigh>> Monna, I am partly doing it to prove i can - I am, after all, a girl who failed her A levels first time, and a year of her degree and was told by a 'friend' to 'just give it up as a bad job' :mad: nothing more likely to spur me on. I am mainly doing it cos i was in a job i was starting to hate and i was trapped there by the fact that i didn't have a PhD as no other uni would have employed me without one.

First i am walking to the supermarket with my wally trolley to buy all the things OH didn't buy when he did the shop on Saturday. The conversation went thus

MiL: "P has done the shopping for you" (another sure way to get me fired up)
Me: "Well it wasn't for me, but anyway what have you bought?"
P: Usual stuff
Me: What meals for the week
P: hmm meals. Well I bought some fish fingers, garlic bread and one pizza.

(this is for a family of 4...)

So i am off to buy vegetables, fruit and soya milk for DS.

Softstuff

I could use some advice from your collective wisdom fencers. I'm currently simmering with a bit of anger.

So, here in Australia we have enterprise agreements with awards, these relate to wages and job descriptions. When I was taken into this role I was level 1. This was because although I had admin and reception experience, I had no medical experience. I was fine with this and was told I would transition up.

I had previously spoken with my supervisor regarding this, asking that as I'm coming up to 2 years with the company I should be increased at least a level. She said she'd see what she could do with the higher ups. Bearing in mind, I've been doing the work of a level 3 for more than a year now, if the descriptions are what you go by (a level one isn't supposed to even be unsupervised, not only do I work there alone when necessary, I've supervised others).

Anyhoo, they're hiring again due to a staff member leaving. They're putting this new staff member in on a higher level. She'll likely be level 3. She has medical experience, but her experience is actually less than the time I've been doing the job. In short, I'll soon be the lowest level of staff, yet still with a higher level of responsibility. And my supervisor doesn't know if she can do anything about it.

I'm annoyed. Not about the money, but about the acknowledgement. Just this past month I got 2 100% ratings in mystery shops, I can add those certificates to the other half dozen.

The problem is, my bargaining position sucks. I'm unlikely to go elsewhere, because jobs here are like hens teeth. But I'm feel like this isn't just me being taken advantage of, it's downright insulting.

Other than look for another job (which could take ages and would be a shame - I actually like it here). I don't know what else to do.

Floss

Softstuff can you raise it formally in writing with HR, is there a grievance procedure? You've already done the "raise with manager" stage.

Softstuff

Floss wrote: »

Softstuff can you raise it formally in writing with HR, is there a grievance procedure? You've already done the "raise with manager" stage.

That would have been a great idea, unfortunately we don't have HR or grievance procedures. What happened in Australia a few years ago was that a lot of employment protections were removed. The workforce here is very casualised, and it seems like we have very few rights.

The idea was that employees could negotiate contracts with employers "enterprise bargaining agreements" and agree on fair terms. In reality, the only people bargaining from a position of strength were the people who were already in a position of strength - execs. Most other people just end up taking what they can get.