Early Risers.

[PupCam]

Morning!

 

15 hours ago, polybear said:

**Bear was at The Great Empire for 39 years - and how many times did something similar happen there?  Not fuggin' once  - in fact your were expected to take the cakes in for the Department.....of 60 or 70+ people (some of which were total Tw@ts).

 

13 hours ago, Barry O said:

@polybear  never ever had a cake with candles on! Had to take pies ans peas in in Barrow on pay days and birthdays.

 

Me neither.   I think we can detect a theme here .....

 

ION

 

Had very few interviews during my career.  One to get my first position.     One 10 years later for a position with the then opposition.    I passed but declined the "kind" offer.    History shows another bullet dodged as I probably would have ended up where I ended up anyway but on different terms.      Looks like I failed my last informal interview.

 

It's a beautiful day!       I had an invitation to go on the first local VMCC "Summer Saunter".   I think they are heading out over Saffron Walden way.   No doubt it will be a nice run but I declined the offer as I'm out with another group (ex GE bikers) this evening and this morning Mrs Puppers and I are out to visit the Bluebells.

 

TTFN

 

 

 

[Sidecar Racer]

 Interviewing and telling  the truth , I interviewed for an internal promotion , one question

was , Are you a member of XYZ guild ?  At he time this was a body that covered the field of work

I was in and membership could be obtained by a years in the job and pay a fee , not having to sit and

pass any sort of exam .

 

 My answer was no I'm not , why I was asked , I see no benefit to the actual work I do that paying

for a membership that has no direct effect on my work as unnecessary was my answer .

 

A mate who also was applying was a member .

 

Guess who didn't get promoted .    😎

[Gwiwer]

In honour of the day being a good ‘un. Those of a nervous musical disposition may wish to avert their ears 

 

 

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

In honour of the day being a good ‘un. Those of a nervous musical disposition may wish to avert their ears 

 

 

 

A bit old-fashioned nowadays, even tuneful? 🤔

🤪

 

[jjb1970]

1 hour ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 Interviewing and telling  the truth , I interviewed for an internal promotion , one question

was , Are you a member of XYZ guild ?  At he time this was a body that covered the field of work

I was in and membership could be obtained by a years in the job and pay a fee , not having to sit and

pass any sort of exam .

 

 My answer was no I'm not , why I was asked , I see no benefit to the actual work I do that paying

for a membership that has no direct effect on my work as unnecessary was my answer .

 

A mate who also was applying was a member .

 

Guess who didn't get promoted .    😎

 

I am a member of RINA and have my CEng registration through them but I really object to the institute racket. Every year it gets harder to persuade myself to renew, so far each year I have decided retaining CEng registration outweighs my hatred of being forced to be a member of an institute to keep it but I really was close to shoving it this year. 

[jamie92208]

Domestic engineering © Gwiwer, completed then our French tax return so that's a good mornings work. 

 

Jamie

Edited April 18 by jamie92208

[Sidecar Racer]

20 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

 

I am a member of RINA and have my CEng registration through them but I really object to the institute racket. Every year it gets harder to persuade myself to renew, so far each year I have decided retaining CEng registration outweighs my hatred of being forced to be a member of an institute to keep it but I really was close to shoving it this year. 

 

 I can fully understand belonging to trade guilds if you are intending to move jobs for

better prospects/interest/money etc.  But my case was just internal promotion of a job

I'd been doing for the last 25 years , it just meant going to chargehand level instead of just

spanner twiddler , so no amount  of letters after my name would have made a scrap of difference .

as it turned out eventually I was glad I failed as it did involve a lot paper  shuffling and that's something

I don't think I would have enjoyed .

[DaveF]

I remember interviews having been on both sides of the table - more often as interviewer along with the Headteacher and sometimes (but not always) school governors.

 

I remember one interview after which I was told I was the best candidate for the job but they already had someone who thought like me on the senior management team so they appointed someone else.  Another time the successful candidate for a deputy head post had not taught for about 10 years having worked in the Education Department at County Hall so the governors thought he would have admin experience.  Knowing what happened next in both those schools I was pleased I hadn't got the job.

 

I didn't have interviews for my last 3 posts, for the first I was simply asked if I would stop being Head of Science to become overall Curriculum Manager of the school and manage the Learning Mentors, recommend teaching staff numbers, look after some of the finances etc.   A few years later I told the Head that I though we needed better provision for very disruptive students, shortly afterwards I was asked to do the job which involved working Mon to Thurs 1.30pm till 7pm and normal hours on Fridays.  I also kept my other responsibilities which I did at times to suit me and kept my A level IT teaching.  For that I got a good pay rise.

 

When I decided to retire I was quickly asked to work part time as an IT consultant to sort out software problems, write the timetable, and increase the use of IT in admin and lessons etc.  I said I'd do it for a year and finished 8 years later.

 

I always found the most useful information when interviewing was listening to and watching candidates as we showed them round the school and had coffee and lunch with them.  It was rare that our minds were changed in the "real" interview.

 

As for school governors' involvement there was only one I rated.  He was a senior air traffic controller at the local airport, he always knew how truthful a candiate was being. 

 

David

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. The expected parcel arrived this morning, well before the binmen came round so I put the bin out. The hay fever is back, not surprising as birch trees throw out clouds of pollen after heavy rain as we had last night.

[TheQ]

I looked at joining various trade bodies, one I selected, but then they increased the level of qualification needed. Then I realised , those in the society were pulling up the ladder behind themselves. The oldest members cannot have had the relevant even earlier electronics  qualifications because they didn't exist when the society started. Looking at the history, the qualifications required increased a couple of times. 

 

Afternoon Awl,

Ben's sample delivered, no phone call with the results yet.

 

Then to the MRC, toilet room emptied, walls washed, pipe work cleaned , floor washed, before anyone else arrived.

Discussions on cupboards sinks etc

Measurements taken,

The top of the cupboard has been made.

Three into one toilet  room don't go, so I painted a wall in the clubroom I'd previously filled. Painted? Well just the repairs and old pencil marks, there used to be a bench there. . Next time I'll roller the lot.

 

Then to an orange shed, entertainment on the way.. someone doing a 450 degree turn at a roundabout.

 

Deltic and a half spent, sand, timber, and a new hob. SWMBO doesn't know about the hob, I'll fit it Tuesday when she's out weaving and see if she notices.

 

The three blocks for BM arrived yesterday, the errant one has got an apology, should arrive tomorrow.

Bits for SWMBO's electric spinny thingy should arrive today along with the USB hub. Eta 1 hour.

 

Ocular covering checking required...

[tigerburnie]

Been trainspotting

 

[Sidecar Racer]

8 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

Been trainspotting

 

 And they still needed a push from a diesel .      😎

[tigerburnie]

38 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 And they still needed a push from a diesel .      😎

Now you know that's being towed in for repair...............................................actually it provides electrickery for the coaches heating/lighting and I believe for the restaurant car.

[Sidecar Racer]

7 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

Now you know that's being towed in for repair...............................................actually it provides electrickery for the coaches heating/lighting and I believe for the restaurant car.

 

 Just havin a larf guv .     😀

[Ozexpatriate]

8 hours ago, Barry O said:

Teams is an awful package.. Microsoft have now 5aken it out of Office. Big problem is its old and creaky. 

It's not that "old". Enterprise customers had (for the most part) not switched to it pre-pandemic. I know of one very large Enterprise that was using Skype (also a Microsoft product - though they acquired it) at that time. In that setting Skype was terrible. It wasn't until the pandemic hit that Enterprises switched to Teams.

 

There are many evident problems with the architecture of Teams. It has many redundant capabilities with Outlook (like the calendar) intended for 'stand alone' operation that create serious synchronization problems. It's biggest problem is that it is a memory pig - I'm guessing it's a "sedimentary" solution with features being layered on without any architectural overhauls for performance.

 

I reboot every morning. Unless I wait for Teams to (not just open but) complete all it's background loading it doesn't do the "one thing" it is supposed to do - join a meeting. It can take five minutes before it is actually "ready". Until then the application looks like it's up - but you try to join a meeting with a link and it just sits there. (If you have all the minutia at hand, like meeting number, password, etc you can connect manually, but many meeting hosts don't provide this - just a link.)

 

8 hours ago, Barry O said:

Using it for interviews means it's hard to pick up on body language. I have used it for this purpose but I prefer face to face interviews.

Of course the quality of the interaction is far superior with an in-person interview. But when the interview team is not co-located and a successful candidate would be relocated to the work location (frequently requiring air travel and an overnight stay for the interview), using virtual video interviews is a no-brainer.

 

I imagine that it is 'easier' to conduct traditional in-person interviews in the UK where distances are less, though the stories I hear here about rail transport make me wonder how practical that is these days.

[DaveF]

It's been a typical Thursday with a visit to church for the usual service, I did the intercessions for the first time.  I have realised that I need to print them off using a larger font so I can actually see the words clearly, fortunately this morning I had almost memorised them.

 

After coffee at church and a good natter I visited the beach where everything looked grey and there was a keen cold wind with rain starting so I didn't stay long.  There were a number of sandpipers running around dodging the waves.  I could see why they are called clockwork birds as they move so quickly and quite jerkily.

 

Today I was able to go into the greenhouse without getting my feet wet so I brushed most of the mud off the floor.  It has rained quite a bit this afternoon so a small amount of water has returned.  I am hoping that the forecast of dry weather for the next few days will be correct.

 

I did some more work on a model and since then have been looking at Living North, a local lifestyle magazine.  This month's issue has 160 pages for £3-45 which is good value.

 

In other words a calm quite relaxing day.

 

David

Edited April 18 by DaveF

[PupCam]

Afternoon!

 

Bluebells were spotted in Hitch Wood and very nice they were too.

 

 

 

On the way back we detoured via St Evenage as shopping had to be shopped; "a few bits" aka ~£100 from Sainsbugs and some wool from Hobby Craft.   Like many things it appears wool is becoming a difficult item to source.     All of the traditional local retailers, whether independents or chains, seem to have disappeared in a puff of smoke.   This is not good when Mrs Puppers has just been commissioned by Junior Junior Puppers to knit yet more toy snakes!     Still, we found some in the end but how much!

 

This afternoon I have been engaged in the death defying feat of dismantling the scaffold tower with the assistance of Mrs Puppers and a neighbour (who reported that this mornings VMCC ride was extremely pleasant - that's right, rub it in 🤣).   Anyway, I'm very pleased to say that the entire activity is now complete without any physical damage to my body including that that would be created by the sudden stop at the end of a long drop!   I'm getting way too old to be scrabbling around at the top of a braced but still wobbly  scaffold tower.      On disassembly I tried one of the frames for size in the back of Monty.   It looks like I'll be able to return it to it's owner without troubling him to come over with his trailer.   Good old Monty who, incidently, clocked up 198,000 miles on the way home this morning.

 

Whilst engaged in this activity I noticed a glider thermal soaring nearby.    It's only a phone shot and it was a way away so it is included for interest rather than photographic merit.   The other day we were visited by a couple of Wildcat helicopters that clearly used the local church (stuck on a hill) as a turning point.    Reminds me of the days years ago when we used to get A10 Warthogs doing the same thing at about 800'   Fortunately we never heard the very distinctive sound of the "Gatling Gun"*

 

* Actually the GAU-8/A Avenger auto-cannon

 

 

This evening it's downt'pub with the ex GE Biker mates.      I wonder if the world will have been to rights in the morning?   Probably not .....

 

TTFN

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 18 by PupCam

[Ian Abel]

20 hours ago, Debs. said:

Hello Early Peeps!👋 

It's been a while, nearly a yonk; so just dropping in to confess to doing a bit of r**lw*y muddling.....so blame BazO for leading me a'stray!🫣...."My name's Deb and I'm {still} an E.R"🤓 

On the workbench is a Grumpy Gronk and a Suzie Sulzer.....both being given voice with new tech!🙉 

Henceforth "Ratty" and "Grumpy"🥰 

Best wishes,

Debs.

 

 

Great to see you back @Debs.

 

10 hours ago, Barry O said:

Teams is an awful package.. Microsoft have now 5aken it out of Office. Big problem is its old and creaky. Using it for interviews means it's hard to pick up on body language. I have used it for this purpose but I prefer face to face interviews.

Couldn't agree more, it's our "corporate" choice, prior company used Zoom, far superior IMHO.

Then again, given it's a Microsnot product it comes with a guarantee that it's rubbish 🤣🤣

 

Noonish here, and BIN day...

Nothing to post from yesterday. Today the Mrs is much improved over the previous couple of days, so much so, she took herself to PT and chiropractic appointments.

Today, Zoom earlier that was enjoyable and entertaining, later pre-choir happy hour and then rehearsal. We sing this Sunday for an Earth Sunday service.

 

Weather, 6c and sunny at BIN time, expecting a high of 12c or so.

 

That's all folks..

[TheQ]

Plenty of woolley shops in Norfolk.. somehow I've been in many. Though swmbo often spins any passing sheep's or dog's.... 

"The works " has, on the odd  occasion, had wool.. as have B&M stores, and even poundland..

 

Buying almost anything from hobbycraft is expensive...

 

We've now got all of two bluebells in the garden.

 

Bits for spinny thing, and the USB charge hub have just arrived.

[polybear]

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

I looked at joining various trade bodies, one I selected, but then they increased the level of qualification needed. Then I realised , those in the society were pulling up the ladder behind themselves. The oldest members cannot have had the relevant even earlier electronics  qualifications because they didn't exist when the society started. Looking at the history, the qualifications required increased a couple of times. 

 

 

Bear has encountered numerous individuals at the G.E. over the years, some of which had very impressive qualifications along with being members of some Society thingy or other.  A number of those individuals were so useless they weren't worth a wet f@rt.

 

32 minutes ago, PupCam said:

Like many things it appears wool is becoming a difficult item to source.     All of the traditional local retailers, whether independents or chains, seem to have disappeared in a puff of smoke.   This is not good when Mrs Puppers has just been commissioned by Junior Junior Puppers to knit yet more toy snakes!     Still, we found some in the end but how much!

 

Bear delivers new wool to the Charity Shops - it's rather a popular item and sells well.

 

32 minutes ago, PupCam said:

Good old Monty who, incidently, clocked up 198,000 miles on the way home this morning.

 

Ricky the Rover reached 239,000 miles - so Monty has a way to go yet....

[polybear]

Bear here.....

 

Another day at the Hospice - I arrived to discover that some T0sser had "donated" a kid's bed (an Ikea jobbie - so left as a kit of parts) at the Warehouse Door - this is despite (a) signs asking people not to do this, and (b) both Furniture (and especially) Mattresses being on the Website No-No list 🤬.  They'd even gone to the trouble to include all the screws etc. (neatly bagged up) so were obviously hoping we'd re-home it....yes we have - in the Commercial Bin, meaning more cost to dispose of it.  Yep, Rant.

 

There was only one Driver + Bear working on deliveries & collections today, so we had to get a bit of a wriggle on; eight shops visited in all, four of which are on the "long run".  Not sure how many miles we did in all today - it must be 100-ish +.

Another kind person had dumped a bluddy great desk (a pile of cr@p) round by the back door of one of the shops - along with a bluddy great (and old) flat screen TV as well (same person - or another?), all of which have been rained on too.  Thanks a bunch, Ar5ehole(s) - we collected those and took them back to clog the Commercial Bin (one of three, in fact - all of which have to be emptied EVERY DAY) at the Warehouse even more.....more money wasted.....🤬🤬

 

We had Tea & Bikkies at this last shop on the a.m run; they had a customer come in a few days ago with a donation - he placed it just inside the doorway of the back room, whereupon he spotted the staff were having their tea break and the bikky tin was right in front of him.  What does he do?  Yep, helped himself to a bikky....and not just any 'ol bikky either - it was THE LAST Jammie Dodger 🤬🤬  Wottab'sterd - and to add insult to injury every single thing in his donation was cr@p and unsellable...

 

When we left I nipped into the Sainsbury's almost opposite as I needed Bread - so I grabbed a couple of packets of J.D's and took them back for the Manageress in the Shop; she was more than a bit taken aback and rather pleased - Brownie Points earned methinks.  They're always nice to us in that shop (as are all other shops) and offer us T & B every time, so fair's fair in This Bear's book.

 

Donuts?  Available - but Bear didn't scoff one, amazingly....there was still Bear's B/day cake left over so I had a wedge of that with my din dins instead.....😁  Even better, I still have a lump left over from last night and I suspect a close encounter with that is rapidly approaching......

 

Bear gone....

 

edit:  I heard that one of the shop staff (the Manageress?) at one shop chased after a shoplifter a while back - and got a whack for her trouble.  There really are some ar5eholes out there.

 

Edited April 18 by polybear

[New Haven Neil]

I have been a member of two of those institutes over the years, one the same as JJB would have been in (but NOTHING like as senior!) and the other #cough# CIPD (HR), but I had to present examined qualifications to both - and money of course.  The CIPD in particular used to get my goat as the monthly magazine was literally self promotion and job adverts, and a mere ONE page of new case law that was relevant to my practice.  I'm now in neither as I don't send them any money.

 

I did manage to pressure wash a lot of the paths, until my hips and back gave up, we'll see if the remainder looking dirty will provoke SWMBO to do the rest - or just tell me to do it.  I can guess.......😇

[polybear]

A couple of things spotted in the Warehouse today:

 

First, a rather large book - the smaller book measures something like 8 x 7 inches or so:

 

 

Plus a "little something for the weekend, Sir...."  - whatever floats yer boat....

 

 

 

Edited April 18 by polybear

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

Like many things it appears wool is becoming a difficult item to source.     All of the traditional local retailers, whether independents or chains, seem to have disappeared in a puff of smoke.   This is not good when Mrs Puppers has just been commissioned by Junior Junior Puppers to knit yet more toy snakes!     Still, we found some in the end but how much!

 

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Bear delivers new wool to the Charity Shops - it's rather a popular item and sells well.

I was about to say some of our local charity shops stock knitting wool and as @polybear said above its very popular. A majority of charity shop customers are elderly and female so its understandable.

[PhilJ W]

3 minutes ago, polybear said:

A couple of things spotted in the Warehouse today:

 

First, a rather large book - the smaller book measures something like 8 x 7 inches or so:

 

 

Plus a "little something for the weekend, Sir...."  - whatever floats yer boat....

 

 

 

As a one time MRC librarian I dreaded those large 'coffee table' books. Largely because the contents were carp cobbled together from various sources and nobody wanted them. The chains were very fashionable with punk rockers 25 years ago.