Early Risers.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[Ozexpatriate]

28 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

Well I don’t know what happened to morning’s post, or last nights post for that matter, but they seem to have disappeared somewhere into the ether!

Had that happen to me yesterday around this time.

[The Stationmaster]

Evening l.

 

BR promotion used to be very straightforward.  All wages grade jobs were based entirely on seniority (and in some cases work specific qualifications such as a trade apprenticeship).  But with the exception of footplate staff promotion fot wages grades on the traffic side was within what were called Promotional Diagrams (which set out a course of upward progression in various ways above the most basic grade) and also within a Promotional District (a geographical area within which you could apply for a job and could normally only get out of to another Promotional District when vacancies had become 'exhausted' - i.e there had been no applicants- or on redundancy).  in contrast Footplate vacancies were the first wages grade jobs to go to an all-line basis but promotion was based solely in seniority.  Promotional Districts officially lasted, to some extent, well into the 1980s as did what were by then much streamlined Promotional Diagrams.   As far as wages grade jobs were concerned it was almost impossible to stop the senior applicant getting a job they'd applied for -  usually the only way it could be done was if they had a poor formal disciplinary record ot r occasinally on health grounds.  And if the senior applicant didn't get a job they were entitled to ask why and be given a written answer

 

Salaried jobs and Management grade jobs were also all line (i.e. countrywide)  and the official reason foe selection was that the appointment should go to 'the senior suitable applicant' and even into the early 1970s there were stlll more than a few people who automatically gave a the job to the senior applicant but it had really begun to break down to 'the most suitable applicant' by the end of the 1960s.  there were a number of official exceptions regarding seniority including such things as redundancy.  By the mid 1970s on the WR the only way in which seniority usually meant anything was when it came to listing candidates for interview although even that wasn't always applied.  Generally wth jobs in all these categories there was an unwritten rule that you didn't apply for another job until you had been in a post for at least six months but there was no formal way of preventing somebody app[lying for another job or for promotion.

 

One big advantage of the BR promotional system was that your manager or supervisor didn't necessarily know if you had applied for another job as there was no need to pass an application via them.  They would perhaps get to hear from the staff or admin clerk in some cases but they didn't get involved in any sort of recommendation or adding comments in respect of an applicant.  But obviously in many cases the person in whose area of responsibility the new job lay would very often come asking some background questions.  In my experience that was extremely rare  for wages grade jobs where it was in many respects pointless anyway as it was extremely difficult to the point of near impossibility to block the senior applicant.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all.

[PhilJ W]

Jamie, don't let these two anywhere near your hens.

[leopardml2341]

Mornin'

 

Been away for a while for a whole host of reasons, mainly centered around crises of confidence after the zoom call, but I won't bore you with the details.

 

I'm not even going to try to catch up, so apologies in advance if I drop any clangers associated with missed events/developments/illnesses and personal losses.

 

Notwithstanding, I hope all are well and thanks to those ERs who have been in contact 'off thread' as it were.

 

Bye for now.

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

I have some catchng up to do.  First, the koala bag.  Jamie, your suggestion that it might be a worthy successor to the hessian bag is a good one.  For new readers, the hessian bag is where I keep the CDs that I have bought but have not got round to playing.  That ruddy virus has disrupted the supply chain.  As Sidmouth festival did not happen last year I bought many fewer CDs, and as I have done considerably less driving in the past 12 months I have had less opportunity to listen to them.  There are good signs: the festival has received a grant of £90k from a government fund, so I await with more than a little eagerness the announcement of the stellar line-up.  The koala bag may yet appear as a fashion accessory, at which point I will probably discover that the world and his wife have one.

 

As for hot cross buns, I have no baking skills so must rely on what I can buy.  Last year I did not bother with them at all.  This year I took advantage of a modest discount at the supermarket and bought a six pack.  They were OK but unless I am missing something the ones I bought are little more than tea cakes and so not that special.

 

Today there will be roast pork.  I shall ponder in due course on the destiny of the leftovers.  If I had started on the salad season I would be slicing some of the cold joint to go with the lettuce etc and a good dose of pickle.  I suppose it could be time to pretend that summer has come.  It was perishing cold where I was though.  Hot food will remain on the menu for a while yet.

 

Best wishes to all 

 

Chris

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl inner Temple Hare,

Seven hours solid sleep I needed that.

 

Promotion RAF was around every 4 to 5 years providing you passed the two promotion exams, one RAF regulations, the other trade Technical ,  and got good assessments. Later promotion would have required a course, then after that seniority, and good assessments.

80% was the pass mark like every other RAF exam I took.

 

GEC promotion was dead mans shoes, then when a vacancy occured, the right handshake helped..

My only promotion was because I was the only one left who hadn't dropped a big clanger. They were very anti promotion anyway, and did everything they could to down grade everyone.

 

Tesco maintenance, no one wanted promotion, the next grade was no overtime pay, but a lot of traveling in your own time. Only those who could afford several years of financial pain went for it, because the next grade up you were into senior management, a very flat management system.

 

The current company, is another one trying to squeeze all grades. Speaking the company buzz words, knowing the company business systems, which seems to be "Keep it Complicated Stupid" is needed for promotion. When they have to run courses for the assessed how to fill in the forms in their language, you know they've got it wrong.

I have had a promotion, after the boss discovered I was two grades lower than he thought, only got put up one grade. I'd been in the job over 10 years by that point. Roll? role? on retirement

 

Ben the I want out Collie is now asleep in his bed, having dragged me out earlier, for him to have a good snuffle around. It's cool , overcast, no wind at all.

 

Today's work,

Shelving, trailer, if I'm up to it and conditions are right ,  there's a large section of tree to cut down.

 

Time to get a muggacoffee then make breakfast.

 

 

 

 

[Andrew P]

2 hours ago, leopardml2341 said:

Mornin'

 

Been away for a while for a whole host of reasons, mainly centered around crises of confidence after the zoom call, but I won't bore you with the details.

 

I'm not even going to try to catch up, so apologies in advance if I drop any clangers associated with missed events/developments/illnesses and personal losses.

 

Notwithstanding, I hope all are well and thanks to those ERs who have been in contact 'off thread' as it were.

 

Bye for now.

Good to see you back Andy, I hope you get sorted.

[Andrew P]

Happy EASTER SUNDAY.

 

Oh what a beautiful morning,

Oh what a glorious day,

I'm off for a walk down the shops now,

So I hope to be back some day.

 

Keep well and stay safe one and all.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all, 

Rather dull here and currently 4°C but the forecasters suggest that there will be sunny periods later and a high of 14°C.  Because of this impending "heatwave" we have brought forward tomorrow's birthday BBQ for Nicki to today as the weather is set to get much colder apparently.

This means that there is much panic on the domestic front at the moment as "the house is a tip" -  it isn't - but there's no arguing with some people.     Also we won't be in the house anyway as we're not allowed under current legislation apart from certain facilities being used.  Don't even mention the fact that "somebody" hasn't been able to get to the hairdressers for weeks/months...oops, just did.

I had a bit of luck yesterday - I got half way to winning £12.5 million on the lottery but 3 out of the 6 numbers requiredmeans I only get £30.  Still, that's better than nothing.

Much rugby watched and some good results for English clubs - I'm sure our resident Tiger will be over the moon.  More games today but I'll have to record them.

Must get on,  I hear frustrated calls from Management.  If I don't move now I won't get breakfast!.  She forgets that I'm quite capable of getting my own but I better humour her.

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited April 4, 2021 by grandadbob

[polybear]

Bear recalls working at RAe Aberporth on many occasions - the MoD Plod in the earlier days were all locals.  Whenever they were pushed into sitting promotion exams they would deliberately fail, as going up to the next grade meant they could be posted anywhere in the country - which is the last thing they wanted.

As for Beary promotions,  few and far between - and not helped by the fact that Bear went onto a four-day week 15+ years ago (my choice), which turned out to be career suicide (did I give a sh1t?  Take a guess....).  The place also thrived on document writing, which isn't a Beary thing (I can do it, but I hate it - and life's too short for wasting on generating cr@p that no-one is gonna read).

 

Bear had a call from Auntie Poly yesterday - she's just back from a 3 week-ish trip to Ireland (went there to care for her daughter after surgery).  A.P less than happy that Easyjet insisted on clear Covid tests within 3 days of flying (which meant private in order to ensure the results would come back in time).  £340 for two, thank you.  Oh yes, and a certain type of face mask (FFP2?) must be worn - not granny's knitted one etc.).  Any of this checked at Gatwick?  Nope.  Planned rammed with passengers, most of whom were doing their own thing with face masks.

 

As for the flight back from Ireland, did AP get covid tests?  Nope - and they weren't checking either.  So either she was given duff gen or Easyjet are far more interested in rammin' em in no matter what.

 

edit:  Looks like the duff gen option, as Bear can find nothing on either the Easyjet or NI Gov websites requiring tests from England.  AP won't be happy.....

 

Now for washing etc.  Deep joy....

Edited April 4, 2021 by polybear

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Welcome back leopard. Hope the summer house is coming along ok?

 

Promotion is always a moot point. First job it was dead mans shows. Secong job was civil servicenpromotion reviewed by someone I had never met..and who was ...strange...

next job was civil service again. Entered as a PTO 2, interviewed 6 months later and becam a PTO 1. Same job, better grade.

 

 The company was privatised and I stayed at that grade until.....I won a £45 million contract. Big boss promoted me to Manager grade (PPTO in our system). I got a car but lost my overtime , travelling time and travelling allowances.. this wasn't made up by the pay rise..pah!

 

Before I left I had a breakfast meeting with the Chief Exec. He offered me a pay rise and a promotion..but had to move to Newcastle..with kids at school no way!

As it happens the promotion was noted on my records but never happened.

 

Headhunted into a large family firm..after 6 months promoted to get a load of money and senior management bonuses (onecyear that was a 10% pay rise and a 25% bonus).

 

My boss retired and I left to set up as an insultant.  Head hunted by BAe to go to Barrow. That is when my boss realised I left Vickers ( which was owned by Vickers) at least on grade higher than he was!

Was proted after a year then.. i grabbed the dosh and legged it.

 

All promotion methods have good and bad things within them. One place the system was ruined by some of the senior bosses. So "Assessments" were used to sort it out. As a qualified assessor it was interesting to see how badly those promoted due to being "liked" was.

 

Have a nicecEaster Sunday!

Baz

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a distinctly cool but sunny Charente.  No easter eggs from the 3 new girls in the palace but they had settled in and sorted out their sleeping places.  This morning we are off to the market then to some friends for fresh scones and coffee.  A cluck bird, not one of ours, has been sacrificed for dinner.  

 

Promotion, several systems operated over the years. First off we had to pass, nationally set exams for Sgt and then Inspector. Then in the first system you had an interview and waited and waited, watching newer people with the right connections get promoted. Then they eventually brought in a system where we all went through assessment centres and the top x number of candidates were put on a select list. X being the anticipated number of vacancies over the next year. When the select list was exhausted a new set of boards was run. This actually worked quite well as those with the right connections didn't get promoted. Then they discovered that many long term detectives were totally incapable of managing so skewed the system and ran a special set of boards just for senior detectives. Finally a new chief arrived who didn't like the fact that his drinking mates couldn't get promoted and so he insisted on having the final say. Surprise surprise guess who he chose. The satisfactipn came when a few years later most of them either got sacked or arrested for corruption/nepotism etc.

 

Anyway I managed to get a few steps up the greasy pole  and despite falling out with the aforementioned  villains retained my pension.  I even collected a 5 figure sum some years after retirement when an error in the pay grades on promotion to Inspector was discovered meaning that we had been put on the wrong grade. The Home office and force management  fought it for many years but the courts eventually  forced them to pay us out. By then I was long retired so had to collect  back pay, an increase in my lump sum and then back pay for several years of pension.  It was sweet reccompense as at the same time the drunken bullly that I had fallen out with was sacked from his Deputy Chief post.

 

Jamie

Edited April 4, 2021 by jamie92208

[jonny777]

Dry and sunny in North Somerset, but cold. 

 

Temperature fell to 0C earlier, and I don't want to think about how that might have affected to blossom on my plum tree. 

 

 

[Andrew P]

Gosh, we've had a frost over night, the Car was still covered when I went for the walk, unfortunately it sits in a shady area so doesn't get the Sun on it until the PM. 

Still it was a nice and invigorating walk. I've told myself that its doing me good, and that I will thank myself in the long run, but the inner me still isn't convinced.

 

Time for a Muggatea now.

[jonny777]

1 hour ago, Andrew P said:

Happy EASTER SUNDAY.

 

Oh what a beautiful morning,

Oh what a glorious day,

I'm off for a walk down the shops now,

So I hope to be back some day.

 

Keep well and stay safe one and all.

 

Are the shops open on Easter Sunday? 

 

I thought only small corner shops were allowed to open. 

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, yesterday got out of control so didn't appear.  The end of the day was a carry-out curry with friend Jayne, it would have been her late husband Garry's 60th birthday, and suddenly it smashed her down hard.  She's been pretty much OK for a while now, but yesterday turned out to be very hard for her.  We got her through the rough patch and the evening ended well, thankfully.  It's what friends are for.

 

Today has dawned overcast and a mere 7c feels like zero, most unpleasant.  So....we're off to archery later, allowed to do that now socially distanced, so I get to go along to help pull arrows out of the undergrowth.  Debs usual accuracy may be compromised by the many weeks since she last shot!  I think wrapping up warm is required.

 

A very good friend of ours was in a similar position to Jamie in the same plodabulary that he describes above, and also got the last laugh after that particular person fell from grace.  It had also cost her a promotion to Chief Inspector after being 'acting' for some time.  She who laughs last....

 

Promotion in the Merch was 'you got told', no interview or awareness, you just got a telegram or a letter and went shopping for new stripes and epaulettes. In the NHS it was a strict interview selection process, well run, but it helped 'who you knew', I think they had sort of decided who they wanted first off.  In the civil service much the same applied, but for my last role I got head hunted (from HR!) for the Youth Justice Team office manager job, but there had to be a proper process that only I was going to win, apparently.  I didn't know this at the time.  It ended up with there only being one other realistic candidate by interview stage, who got a different role which they had more interest in anyway.  As an qualified HR practitioner I would not have been very happy with this all being done, which was why they didn't tell me until some time afterwards....

[Andrew P]

2 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

 

Are the shops open on Easter Sunday? 

 

I thought only small corner shops were allowed to open. 

 

 

Yes, just the local corner shop for a paper and a bit of cake, Supermarkets and shops over a certain sq footage cant open, same with Garden Centres and Car Sales etc.

[TheSignalEngineer]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

Before I left I had a breakfast meeting with the Chief Exec.

I had an interesting interview at LMR HQ. I was senior applicant and sitting tenant, having been covering the new post for several months whilst all seniority/redundancy listings were sorted after a reorg. My interview was the last of the morning, starting at noon, with our Head of New Works and one of the senior managers from the Project office. The former I had known since I was a trainee, the latter like me was into backpacking and hill walking. The interview was mostly a conversation about our recent expeditions then at about 12.30 the big boss said "we're going across to the Mornington for lunch now, are you going to join us?"

[Gwiwer]

54 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

 

Are the shops open on Easter Sunday? 

I thought only small corner shops were allowed to open. 

 

 

Smaller shops employing fewer than 20 staff and below a certain floor size may open.   Specifically supermarkets and large department stores (remember department stores?   ) must remain closed.  There is nothing to prevent home deliveries however meaning that the choc-blocks I ordered at 23 o'clock last night are expected by way of the Rain Forest Delivery Service before 13 o'clock today.  No, that's not Easter luxury goods - it will permit further wiring-up of the "toy"

 

Hallelujah!  He is risen.  He has had a shower and breakfast and he is now making a muggertea   *    Happy Easter.  The bunny is out in.  

 

* With no disrespect whatsoever intended to those for whom today is a great day of rejoicing and celebration.  Me too, actually.  

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

Sunny but cold here. I think our pear blossom survived the predicted frost. 
I may potter about in the garage. I shall try and select items for disposal to make a bit more space. I didn’t do any tidying yesterday as my back was a bit sore so cut the lawns instead working on the idea that different muscles were involved. This morning everything ached but all ok now. 
Tony

[tigerburnie]

3 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Good morning all, 

Rather dull here and currently 4°C but the forecasters suggest that there will be sunny periods later and a high of 14°C.  Because of this impending "heatwave" we have brought forward tomorrow's birthday BBQ for Nicki to today as the weather is set to get much colder apparently.

This means that there is much panic on the domestic front at the moment as "the house is a tip" -  it isn't - but there's no arguing with some people.     Also we won't be in the house anyway as we're not allowed under current legislation apart from certain facilities being used.  Don't even mention the fact that "somebody" hasn't been able to get to the hairdressers for weeks/months...oops, just did.

I had a bit of luck yesterday - I got half way to winning £12.5 million on the lottery but 3 out of the 6 numbers requiredmeans I only get £30.  Still, that's better than nothing.

Much rugby watched and some good results for English clubs - I'm sure our resident Tiger will be over the moon.  More games today but I'll have to record them.

Must get on,  I hear frustrated calls from Management.  If I don't move now I won't get breakfast!.  She forgets that I'm quite capable of getting my own but I better humour her.

Have a good one,

Bob.

Our resident Tiger is extremely chuffed(even for a steam enthusiast who is mostly chuffed) a young side playing well bodes well for the future.

[PupCam]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

The satisfaction came when a few years later most of them either got sacked or arrested for corruption/nepotism etc.

 

We've just got into "Line of Duty"  (yes I know very late to that party).

 

Can't work out if they are a documentary or drama series

 

Alan

[jonny777]

I once had a strange promotion interview with three senior staff members sitting at a large table when I entered the room. 

 

To me, they were all strangers; but as soon as I walked in one of them said "Hello Jon. Long time no see. How are you these days?"

 

If that was intended to relax the candidate, it had the opposite effect on me, because I went into panic mode wondering who this was and where we had met or maybe even worked in the same office. I couldn't reply on first name terms because I had no idea who he was.