Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Humdinger1

Am coming round @foxgloves to play piano duets, if I may?  Let's tickle those ivories! Love Humdinger xx 

ladyholly

In addition to your comments about operation cygnus remember who the minister for health was at the time. Yep none other than our chancellor of the exchequer Mr Hunt. It doesnt bode well for being prepared for the next pandemic.

Personally I am sick of hearing the phrase "lessons must be learned" whether it applies to the police, social services, the NHS, government or many other public bodies. The trouble seems to be what my dh calls the British disease i.e cant be bothered, lack of leadership etc.  Not saying private enterprise is any better but they can keep their errors quiet on the whole.

With regard to Boris I can only think of Trump and his it wasnt me, I didnt do it, they are corrupt etc. They make a good pair. Perhaps we could export Boris.

foxgloves

@Humdinger1 - You are a pianist too? What sort of music do you like to play? I made do with an elderly clavinova for many years, as didn't think we could fit a real piano into our small living room. During Lockdown, Mr F thought of a furniture combo which might just free up sufficient space. We tried it & it did, so I ordered a shiny black piano from a restorer in London (so my sister could pop into the shop & test it for me) & it was soon on its way up the A1 to me. I just play for pleasure.....but is there any other reason? At the moment, I'm playing some Chopin, Beethoven & Heller, but I rotate pieces as & when. Our local charity bookshop usually has a decent shelf of music scores, so I can often pick up new music very cheaply......which suits me, as if I can't play it or decide I don't like it, I can just drop it back to them to re-sell.
F x

foxgloves

@ladyholly - Yes, the phrase about lessons being learned is just said so frequently now, that the first thing I think when I hear it is that they should, but they almost certainly won't be. And yes, we mustn't forget Hunt was in charge of Health. One of the key problems which insinuates its way into every aspect of government is that the Country should always come before the Party, yet it hasn't done for a long time. It didn't help that public services had their government funding cut back to the bone in the 'austerity' years of the Cameron/Osborne government, so were in a lot weaker position to deal with a national emergency than they needed to have been. Local authorities lost between 40 -50% of their annual grants from central government - I think any of us on here could point out only too well the implications for resources when a budget is cut in half.
We badly need radical change.
F

Sun_Addict

I’m a civil servant and we’re always being reminded we have to stick to the civil service code of conduct. So why doesn’t this apply to those higher up the chain 🤷‍♀️

Humdinger1

I'm a very bad amateur pianist @foxgloves ; took it up at 17 when I decided to do a music degree so classical mostly.  Adore Chopin, Mozart, Bach.  All the pandemic hearings are making my blood run cold as i relive the time and who was in charge...I know the outcomes were appalling and the fact they weren't even worse comes down to so many of us deciding what was sensible and doing it...truly, a change is coming.  Love Humdinger xx 

PennysIntoPounds

Well done @foxgloves on solving the epic saga of The Infiltrating Comma

marionmgcars

Suffolk_lass said:

We have a cat and dog "window" in our back door. Stealth cat is an indoor girl and dog (min' Dachshund) watches us and yips at us when we are tending bees that he can see.

At husband's first flat, there was a catflap and when he was working in USA, he rented the flat to friends who paid the bills and looked after it in lieu of rent, while they saved a deposit for their own place. They had a cat (he never had) and one night were woken by caterwauling. Our friend clapped her hands and the cat flap went 6 or seven times as the neighbourhood cats departed. It was only then that they concluded their cat probably didn't have a thyroid problem, after all!

Oh that made me laugh out loud 🤣🤣

weenancyinAmerica

@ladyholly - No no no Boris - only if you get Trump instead. 

foxgloves

@weenancyinAmerica - The two of them are cut from the same cloth, that's for sure!
F