Early Risers.

[Grizz]

7 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

 

See, now YOU'RE messing with my head, like that @Smiffy2 guy!   I dont know whether you made this up and so are being very clever and really funny, in which case I'd  give this a "funny", or  is it actually true, in which case you'd get a "friendly/supportive"

 

I'm going to have to hold back and wait for the others!

Sorry dude. Please don’t sue me. 😉

[BachelorBoy]

3 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

Or they could just have a list with my name ticked off.

 

But it's not going to be just you, is it? Lots of people will probably say they should be exempted too. Of course, you are a person with commonsense. But how does the RAAF know that? Far easier just to keep giving the briefings. Arses are covered. 

 

[monkeysarefun]

4 minutes ago, BachelorBoy said:

 

But it's not going to be just you, is it? Lots of people will probably say they should be exempted too. Of course, you are a person with commonsense. But how does the RAAF know that? Far easier just to keep giving the briefings. Arses are covered. 

 

 

 

 ?????????????  Hmmmm. I do the briefing the first time. I get my name ticked off. The end.

Edited February 24 by monkeysarefun

[Grizz]

4 minutes ago, BachelorBoy said:

The content and aims of most of these briefing and training sessions do seem like commonsense much of the time.

 

But, as has been noted on the internet before, a lot of people do seem to lack common sense.

 

There's no easy test for who's got commonsense or not, and whether they have the right sort of commonsense for this day and age, and so it's better to treat everyone as if they don't have commonsense. 

I guess in the past we would collectively have based our judgement for measuring a given level of common sense on what used to be described as “What a reasonable person would be likely to believe, understand and or act upon”…..

 

But there in lies the rub. 
 

We collectively are no longer dealing with what, in the past, could be generally and fairly acceptably described as ‘Reasonable People’. 
 

Litigation has come festering in. Now in some cases of death resulting from gross negligence, particularly in the work place, then it was long over due. Real world Consequences to actions or inactions. Fair enough….basically if you are in charge and someone dies and you’ve been making huge profits and cutting safety then you should get what’s coming to you. 
 

But no win no fee cases are increasingly being settled out of court with little if any real substance because if someone sues you for something you are going to have to pay legal fees either way. 
 

Corruption of the system to line peoples pockets. Suing someone for PTSD for something someone said to you about your T shirt or something you saw written on someone else’s  T shirt. Or because the film you went to watch didn’t display a warning of something and you have suffered trauma as a result…..etc etc etc…..victim culture. It’s a real money maker. 

[Ohmisterporter]

Mention of childhood games with toy guns and the hatred of the former enemies at the time reminded me of a game we played called "Commandos and Japs " in which I, being the smallest, was always the Jap. So I was shot, blown up in imaginative ways, set upon by tigers, and generally dispatched for sheer fun. I quickly learned to improvise spectacular falls, trips, and Buster Keaton ear spins that at least earned a laugh and a cheer. I kept in touch with some of the gang; we all ended up with Japanese motorbikes, cars, and game players. Made by their newer generation and bought by our newer generation.

Stay safe all.

Edited February 24 by Ohmisterporter

[woodenhead]

5 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 

The sad thing is things haven't changed. The modern variation is Islam as a global conspiracy, ignoring the fact that the Islamic world is riven with divisions and enmities which go back a lot further than contemporary political issues.

 

None of this is to deny that there are legitimate global security issues and problems associated with Islamist extremists just as there were with Communist movements, but we also need to recognize the underlying issues motivating support for such movements and that things are never simple and very rarely fall into a simplistic good/bad dichotomy.

The problem is that there is more money to be made in having enemies than friends.....

 

Communism as a political force would have died out without dictatorships using it as an excuse to take control of the fight between the proletariat and bourgeoisie.  The idea of everyone being equal is as bad as the idea of rich and powerful people owning all the wealth, because someone has to lead and those that lead end up more equal which leads back to bourgeoisie.  Russia under Stalin was not Communist, it was a dictatorship and apart from a small window of opportunity it remains so, basically that window was used by a small cabal of people to gain power and make themselves into bourgeoisie before claiming once again to be Communist and a return to the status quo ensued.  China is also no longer Communist, it too has a powerful bourgeoisie elite ruling with an iron fist.  North Korea has an interesting take on Communism because it has one family in charge and claiming mythical status to ensure they stay in power whilst starving it's population and punishing severely any contact outside of the country to ensure the people do not become acutely aware how the rest of the world operates.  All of these dictatorships are based on the same premise of wealth and power vested in a few individuals, in some respects the US can be viewed in a similar manner with it's worship of millionaires who can buy the policies of the Democrats and especially the Republicans and it's led us to a position where one man who is not as rich as he'd like people to think has managed to take a hold of politics and potentially lead the US into unknown territory in November though even now the rules for him seem different for everyone else.  Here in the UK we're not immune to this either, Brexit was a battle of rich vested interests working together to make people from both sides of a politcal divide to vote for something clearly not in our best interests but theirs.  Then some of the same people worked to bring about a fundamental shift in Government that luckily lasted just 50 days to try and orchestrate another massive shift that would not benefit the masses.

 

What all these regimes have in common though is to make the proletariat believe that the enemy isn't those who rule them with an iron fist but someone else.  For the 'Communist' countries it was the rich West and it's billionaires who take all your hard earned money (whilst of course being and doing the same thing).  For the West it was the fear of the billionaires (or millionaires way back when) who feared the proletariat might wake up to the idea of Commnunism that might take the powerful down a peg or too and lead to more democracy than they would like.  But now it is evident that all these political powers represent the same thing to the proletariat regardless which one you are under they need a new enemy and so religion has reared it's ugly head again - no matter the historical abuses that the western countries inflicted upon the eastern ones in the name of white christianity despite it's origin being Judaism (as is Islam).

 

Religion is to me just another cabal in this institution of power vested in a few individuals and the abuses inflicted upon people in the name of religion are too numerous to start on.

 

The ultimate problem though is the human brain - we are the dominant species on the planet, we have the capability to create and destroy habitats, living organisms and the world itself.  We think ourselves above everything else upon the planet but we are the ultimate example of Darwinism.  So the idea we can all use our intelligence to create a better world is a fallacy because ultimately we are just the same as any other living creature on this planet - our biological drive is to procreate and to do that there has to be a hierarchy so that the best survive, we are also programmed to fear different and just like other species fight to survive. 

 

We're doomed really......

[woodenhead]

6 hours ago, Grizz said:

The view across the valley was beautiful this morning. However it is possible that someone in Eastbourne may just have had a gas cooker malfunction incident……looking at the odd bit in the clouds and the ensuing fireball.

 

 

 

 

I think it's an Imperial Star Destroyer cloaked in cloud cover delivering something.

[woodenhead]

4 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Home for the next 13 hours.

 

And three hours on a Pendolino was enough for me!

[Andy Hayter]

50 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

 ?????????????  Hmmmm. I do the briefing the first time. I get my name ticked off. The end.

 

Try that during the safety briefing on an airliner and see where it gets you.

[The Lurker]

3 hours ago, southern42 said:

 

Interestingly, though, in my first teaching appointment, I attended a teachers' in-service training session on children's speech. This was in London. We have the spelling and pronunciation wrong! It is Bowsanarras. All one word! 

.........

 

When I was in infants I asked the teacher how to spell “thisafternoon ”.

 

i was most put out that I had “this” in my spelling book. I knew how to spell “this”, I’d never clocked they were two words when my Mum said it!

[Grizz]

No real world consequences….world run by psychopaths…..who all have this in common. It is always someone else’s fault, and those people don’t matter…in fact NO ONE ELSE MATTERS…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[iL Dottore]

As I have been reading these various posts mentioning training, "awareness", common sense or lack thereof), Captain Cynical has been reading over my shoulder.

 

He proceeded to make the trenchant observation that a lot of the things that get us in the west tied up in knots are regarded as pointless, useless or simplistic by a number of powerful countries. Many of whom are really serious world players!

 

He then proceeded to put forward his three key principles to address most of the above:

 

1. You give people instructions clearly and simply once. And if, say, they wander on to a runway and get killed by a landing helicopter because they didn't pay attention to the instructions "don't walk on the runway it is dangerous and you could get killed", then tough.

2. Everyone deserves to be treated with consideration and courtesy and everyone should be treated the same. And you return this consideration and  courtesy that is offered to you to others in the same way. Furthermore, there should be NO special treatment or exemptions because you are a member of The Church of The Baked Bean or whatever.

3. Yes, sometimes it IS your fault. If you want to reap the profits of success, you should also accept the price of failure. Being a grown-up means taking responsibility for all your actions. Don't play the victim!

 

He concluded by adding that if you insist on having a democracy (CC prefers an enlightened dictatorship), then you have to accept that there will be winners (the majority vote) and losers (the minority vote).

[The Lurker]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

 

Every time I go to a flying base (eg RAAF Williamstown, RAAF Darwin etc) that has aircraft operations I have to sit through a safety briefing which goes for about 15 minutes but is basically "Planes are dangerous, so stay away from  the runway". I've been going to these bases periodically for 20 years or so to install IT infrastructure  and have yet to even see a runway.

You have obviously paid attention then and the courses did their job!

[monkeysarefun]

6 minutes ago, Andy Hayter said:

 

Try that during the safety briefing on an airliner and see where it gets you.

 

 

    Huh?

 

[woodenhead]

So yesterday a trip to Model Rail Scotland was an eye opener of changes in the past 12 months.   As a work from home not needing to visit an office kind of guy I don't venture out much when it is dark (any my eyesight doesn't like it much either).

 

I was out of the house at an outrageous 6:30 am and the M60 was.... busy....  people were heading to work just like when I was a normal commuter.

 

The train to Glasgow was very well patronised, all the way to Glasgow.

 

Model Rail on a Friday was packed, glad I didn't go today when I think it will have even more people about.

 

The train home at 5:30 pm was even fuller than the one up, packed to Preston with people actually having difficulty getting a seat at times.

 

When you don't go out much in the working week and if you do you travel outside of the peak periods you don't notice the changes, though the M60 clockwise around Trafford has been stubbornly busy for some time now from late afternoon which I notice if I am walking to Aldi.

[monkeysarefun]

7 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

was out of the house at an outrageous 6:30 am and the M60 was

 

 

You have 60 "M"s?!?!  

 

We are up to I think 9?   - and thats with skipping  M number  6, which  is being built ATM.  

Edited February 24 by monkeysarefun

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Grizz said:

Sorry dude. Please don’t sue me. 😉

Big mistake.  You’ve just admitted that (a) it happened, and

(b) you’re liable

You’re Toast

[petethemole]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

?????????????  Hmmmm. I do the briefing the first time. I get my name ticked off. The end.

It appears to be an accepted fact in organisations that training and briefings do not stick in the mind.  A briefing is assumed to be forgotten if you change role, go off site, get ill etc.  Training  needs to be renewed every year, if not sooner.  We had to sit through various videos year after year.  The funniest was Lifting and Shifting.  It advised that if you had a heavy load such as a bucket (of soil or stones in our case) you should split your load, suitably illustrated by showing two little buckets, one in each hand. We only had one size of bucket, but carrying two was definitely better for your back, so we actually doubled our load.  

[monkeysarefun]

23 minutes ago, polybear said:

Big mistake.  You’ve just admitted that (a) it happened, and

(b) you’re liable

You’re Toast

 

 

Thank you @polybear!

 

 

(drafts email to Alina Habba, Attorney at law, outlining case.....

 

 

.......  

 

 

Ends up owing  @Grizz$800,000,000,000)

Edited February 24 by monkeysarefun

[polybear]

BH

Out wanderin’ - down the big hill, up a not-quite-so-big hill, then up a killer hill to the top, turn around and back down it again.

Tea break time in the Cafe - then up the big hill to Bear Towers.  That’ll be just under 3 miles, according to Bear’s super duper iphone.

BG

[monkeysarefun]

2 minutes ago, petethemole said:

It appears to be an accepted fact in organisations that training and briefings do not stick in the mind.  A briefing is assumed to be forgotten if you change role, go off site, get ill etc.  Training  needs to be renewed every year, if not sooner.  We had to sit through various videos year after year.  The funniest was Lifting and Shifting.  It advised that if you had a heavy load such as a bucket (of soil or stones in our case) you should split your load, suitably illustrated by showing two little buckets, one in each hand. We only had one size of bucket, but carrying two was definitely better for your back, so we actually doubled our load.  

 

 

I sub contract to a sub contractor who sub-contracts to a certain UK defence company who had a bit of a sticky situation involving brown paper bags and  Saudis. As a result I and my sub-contracting fellows have to undertake a yearly ethics training course. Which is a powerpoint presentation where we get to role-play the various characters. 

 

"Dianne notices that Bill is sending mysterious emails that contain classified documents  and also has recently bought a Lamborghini.

 

Should Dianne

A) Ask Bill where he got the money?

B) Tell Stan, her supervisor about her concerns?" 

C ) Ask Bill for a ride in his Lamborghini?"  etc etc ....

[Grizz]

11 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

You have 60 "M"s?!?!  

 

We are up to I think 9?   - and thats with skipping  M number  6, which  is being built ATM.  

Yeah we do but lots of them are clustered and some are very short.
 

Some counties don’t have any…like East Sussex. And West Sussex only has a tiny bit of one around the (Pease Pottage, Crawley to just north of Gatwick) approx. 5 miles.
Much to the ever lasting shame and anger of the Sussex Highways Concrete Over the World lobby (who are politically appointed to positions of power and influence with the respective councils) but now are just really a front for massive private companies. 
 

 

[woodenhead]

12 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

I sub contract to a sub contractor who sub-contracts to a certain UK defence company who had a bit of a sticky situation involving brown paper bags and  Saudis. As a result I and my sub-contracting fellows have to undertake a yearly ethics training course. Which is a powerpoint presentation where we get to role-play the various characters. 

 

"Dianne notices that Bill is sending mysterious emails that contain classified documents  and also has recently bought a Lamborghini.

 

Should Dianne

A) Ask Bill where he got the money?

B) Tell Stan, her supervisor about her concerns?" 

C ) Ask Bill for a ride in his Lamborghini?"  etc etc ....

D) Dianne should email the mysterious email recipient and offer to do it for a Mercedes, he is clearly overpaying Bill.

[monkeysarefun]

13 minutes ago, Grizz said:

Yeah we do but lots of them are clustered and some are very short.
 

Some counties don’t have any…like East Sussex. And West Sussex only has a tiny bit of one around the (Pease Pottage, Crawley to just north of Gatwick) approx. 5 miles.
Much to the ever lasting shame and anger of the Sussex Highways Concrete Over the World lobby (who are politically appointed to positions of power and influence with the respective councils) but now are just really a front for massive private companies. 
 

 

 

 

Gotta admit that   the Dick Turpin legend lacks a lot now  given that he'd be going all "Stand And Deliver!" on the M45 or something. 

[monkeysarefun]

4 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

D) Dianne should email the mysterious email recipient and offer to do it for a Mercedes, he is clearly overpaying Bill.

 

 

 

Thank you, I shall suggest that, and see what happens!