RMweb Premium Sidecar Racer Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2013 I also firmly intend to try tarte flambée, which I hope will be particularly good in its region of origin. Is this the practice of setting fire to , how shall we put this politly , ladies of easy virtue . 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruffalo Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Sorry about the loss Don, I hope that both you and Mrs Don can celebrate the good times you shared but I also know that people's passing takes a long time to get over and that is certainly not a bad thing! Re Tesco's and other s'markets cheap fuel, a good friend in the motor trade advises all his clients that they must use a major brand fuel once in every four fills so that the additives in these "better" fuels are used to "lubricate" the system else there are sometimes issues particularly with injectors - quite expensive to correct. You may think that to be a fet lock of good info, my gait is always open for stride(nt) counter proposals to be hand(ed) down. Appalling, aren't they! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2013 (edited) Re Tesco's and other s'markets cheap fuel, a good friend in the motor trade advises all his clients that they must use a major brand fuel once in every four fills so that the additives in these "better" fuels are used to "lubricate" the system else there are sometimes issues particularly with injectors - quite expensive to correct. Good point that - the diesel engine specialists in Reading who sorted out my fuel problems said 'don't buy diesel from Tesco' apparently it can cause all sorts of problems in some makes of pump and injectors due to the undeclared bio-desel content which often exceeds recommended levels for those components. Logs safely stashed away! Edited January 17, 2013 by The Stationmaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2013 Our condolences too, Don. Don't get me started on fuel prices - as it all comes here by ship, it is very much more expensive, and a monopoly of course. Just as well we don't pay too much tax, the extra goes on living expenses. Charities, my ol Dad used to go bananas about one particular large and well known overseas aid outfit, on the amount he used to see spent on offices etc, he was involved in a lot of fundraising activities himself. We support the RNLI as a family of seafarers, although it's been a good while since I did it for a living. Just think what a mess the lifeboats would be if they were Government funded......they'd be cut back to Grace Darling's rowing boat. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2013 As for careers advice - you never know where life's twists and turns take you.....as in.... Merchant Navy engineer cadet then officer, degree course, redundancy, NHS Estates officer, redundancy threat so retrain into HR, HR Clerk, NHS HR adviser, outpatients service manager, stressed out move to IoM, Sub-postmaster, HR officer in Soc. Services, Office Manager Youth Justice (Young Offenders) Team. And I'm not quite 54. So career planning didn't do much for me, did it! I would still be at sea if my initial plan went through, or maybe lecturing in Marine Engineeriing. Ho hum. After all that , only the first and last jobs provide job satisfaction. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debs. Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 (edited) These businesses have led to the demise of your local butcher, baker, (candlestick maker), fishmonger, green grocer etc. They have also frequently treated their suppliers very shabbily - e.g. Farm gate milk prices! The popularity of the .1% fat 'milk' amazes me.....people really buy lots of it, and in my local supermarket it costs the same (£/litre) as the gorgeous Gold Top (Jersey) milk I get delivered to my doorstep by Jack`s electric-float each morning. I`m amazed that supermarkets are allowed to call such a dilute dairy-product; 'Milk', at all!......The other 4.9% they`ve pinched (and surely used elsewhere for great commercial gain), is where all the fat-soluble vitamins, calcium (and taste) reside......people have are being comprehensively conned by the supermarkets/agri-business and the many health fads. Edited January 17, 2013 by Debs. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2013 Career planning used to be quite important on BR - and they were quite good at it for some people with two lots of lists. One list was the 'career path appointments' for the truly highflyers (there was also one for those at rather lower alltitude but not quite so 'fixed') plus we always tried to get an idea on people's ambitions etc at appraisal interviews and do what we could to help with training and so on. The other system was a series of succession lists' for all Senior Officer posts and for the most senior grades of Management Grade posts. Part of the idea was to match the career path with the Succession Lists and that actually sometimes happened - but mainly for the high flyers I think. the rest of us took our chances. The strange thing in my case (not being a high flyer by any stretch of the imagination) was that notwithstanding organisational change I finished up almost precisely where I had been hoping to get - notwithstanding a rather circuitous route on the way. But of course it all started to fall apart in 1994, the year I was forcibly removed from BR by dint of the bit I worked for being 'separated' prior to privytisation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 45156 Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2013 Afternoon All I'm not up to speed at all on the past few days - sorry. I've only jumped in to offer condolences for Don's loss - there's never a good time for this - even if it is expected or is a "Blessed relief" - it is always far from easy. Also picking up on Dd's comments about charities and their admin costs - I worked for several years for an organisation which offered services to such bodies, and was privy to a lot of info about the earnings at the top, as well as at the bottom. They were, in many cases, on a par with commercial oranisations, and the argument was that to get the "right" people, the had to offer a competive package - at that level, ability as a high flier seemed to be more important than a sympathy with the organisation's aims - 'nuff said. Regards to All Stewart 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruffalo Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 As for careers advice - you never know where life's twists and turns take you.....as in.... Merchant Navy engineer cadet then officer, degree course, redundancy, NHS Estates officer, redundancy threat so retrain into HR, HR Clerk, NHS HR adviser, outpatients service manager, stressed out move to IoM, Sub-postmaster, HR officer in Soc. Services, Office Manager Youth Justice (Young Offenders) Team. And I'm not quite 54. So career planning didn't do much for me, did it! I would still be at sea if my initial plan went through, or maybe lecturing in Marine Engineeriing. Ho hum. After all that , only the first and last jobs provide job satisfaction. I too started as an engineer in the Merchant Navy Neil (1966). I chose to leave (for young family reasons) once I had gained Combined Chief's Certificate. I moved into brewing - where there was a strong demand for most of the skills I had learnt and an opportunity to learn more. Eight years after that, I was offered a job with a chemical company supplying breweries so it was good that I enjoyed a pint. I could, and still can, burble on happily with a jar in my hand. Following various take-overs of the chemicals company, my services were dispensed with after 22 years so I set up on my own doing the type of work I had done for my last employers, still doing this too! I enjoyed all my jobs but really I was lucky that my roles were allowed to evolve as my knowledge and interests expanded. I have been lucky enough to work with a for a lot of good guys over the years and that, I believe, is where much of the satisfaction is rooted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28XX Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 The popularity of the .1% fat 'milk' amazes me.....people really buy lots of it, and in my local supermarket it costs the same (£/litre) as the gorgeous Gold Top (Jersey) milk I get delivered to my doorstep by Jack`s electric-float each morning. I`m amazed that supermarkets are allowed to call such a dilute dairy-product; 'Milk', at all!......The other 4.9% they`ve pinched (and surely used elsewhere for great commercial gain), is where all the fat-soluble vitamins, calcium (and taste) reside......people have are being comprehensively conned by the supermarkets/agri-business and the many health fads. The fat is removed by centrifuge these days, not by gentle warming and skimming as in the past. Post war, the cream was the premium product and the skimmed milk was fed to the pigs as it was the by-product. Nowadays the faddies like the full skim to drink (yuk) and the cream is the by-product. It is exported by road tanker to the Netherlands where it is used to make spreads like Clover, then re-imported. Bear in mind that to supply the super dairies like Wisemans, Droitwich raw milk is often brought 200 miles, again by road. Food miles? carbon footprint? Don't get me started! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruffalo Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 The popularity of the .1% fat 'milk' amazes me.....people really buy lots of it, and in my local supermarket it costs the same (£/litre) as the gorgeous Gold Top (Jersey) milk I get delivered to my doorstep by Jack`s electric-float each morning. I`m amazed that supermarkets are allowed to call such a dilute dairy-product; 'Milk', at all!......The other 4.9% they`ve pinched (and surely used elsewhere for great commercial gain), is where all the fat-soluble vitamins, calcium (and taste) reside......people have are being comprehensively conned by the supermarkets/agri-business and the many health fads. Nice to hear there are still float-based deliveries Debs. Unfortunately, the high-yield cows tend to be friesians and they do not produce the levels of milk-fat that make the flavour of jersey & guernsey Gold-Top. There's little better than morning cereals and gold-top in my view - I even rate that above a full english (loud cheers from my doctor for that). The missing fat is usually processed into butter and food ingredients but the demand for butter, cream and double cream has certainly fallen over the years. I don't often see those lovely small channel island cattle around very much now - just a symptom of our changing tastes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruffalo Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 The fat is removed by centrifuge these days, not by gentle warming and skimming as in the past. Post war, the cream was the premium product and the skimmed milk was fed to the pigs as it was the by-product. Nowadays the faddies like the full skim to drink (yuk) and the cream is the by-product. It is exported by road tanker to the Netherlands where it is used to make spreads like Clover, then re-imported. Bear in mind that to supply the super dairies like Wisemans, Droitwich raw milk is often brought 200 miles, again by road. Food miles? carbon footprint? Don't get me started! You haven't added that, due to EU rules, we had (probably still have) to import 10% of our milk from other EU countries. Ireland supplied a lot, with the rest generally from France & Belgium. Needless to say, the best milk was kept in their countries whilst the worst went into cheese, yoghurt, evaporated and condensed milk and powders produced in the UK. Common Agriculture Policy and Free Trade Agreements have poisoned our ability to be self sufficient. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 (edited) Don't knock all Charities. We give to the major Cancer Research Institutes and St.Judes Hospital for Sick Children. Lost too many friends to Cancer. Similarly I cannot drink full fat Milk amongst other things. Each to his own, please. Best, Pete. Edited January 17, 2013 by trisonic 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Been out all morning Don, so only just seen your sad news. My thoughts are with you... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2013 ... Which reminds me, it's decision day on who in the class progresses from pencil to pen. Spill the beans, did they let you use a pen? Sorry to hear your news Don. Onwards and all that. Cheers Dave 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2013 (edited) I too started as an engineer in the Merchant Navy Neil (1966). I chose to leave (for young family reasons) once I had gained Combined Chief's Certificate. I moved into brewing - where there was a strong demand for most of the skills I had learnt and an opportunity to learn more. Eight years after that, I was offered a job with a chemical company supplying breweries so it was good that I enjoyed a pint. I could, and still can, burble on happily with a jar in my hand. Following various take-overs of the chemicals company, my services were dispensed with after 22 years so I set up on my own doing the type of work I had done for my last employers, still doing this too! I enjoyed all my jobs but really I was lucky that my roles were allowed to evolve as my knowledge and interests expanded. I have been lucky enough to work with a for a lot of good guys over the years and that, I believe, is where much of the satisfaction is rooted. Only got as far as Fourth, motor second's ticket, LPG Tankers. The life intruded.... redundancy....got the chance of another job (edit - as a Third too!) the day I was moving house and subsequently getting married so turned it down, and started the process describer earlier! I just bought a Hornby 35020 from a fellow member, as a memory of those days....Bibby Line! My HR degree has been more useful than the engineering one as it turned out. Edited January 17, 2013 by New Haven Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Don - sympathies regarding your MIL. Been there. Have spent the day: Trying to get a break in repaired Finding out about the Severe Weather Warning for tomorrow and what we're intending to do about it http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings/#?tab=map&map=Warnings&zoom=5&lon=-4.50&lat=55.74&fcTime=1358337660 and then telling people Sorting out heating Sorting out office moves Sorting out H&S matters And an hour of what I get paid to do, teach However tomorrow I'm working from home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 However tomorrow I'm working from home Have you got enough chairs for the Students? Good Luck with the Snow, everyone. It looks almost to US levels! Washington DC is getting 12" tonight but, touch wood, we're missing it, this time..... Best, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2013 I shall be at home tomorrow too, but I usually am anyway. Aditi will be at home as she was told she could have the day off (not even "working" from home). I've noticed that when she does have a day working from home she seems to do so for about 16 hours. The Essex Weather Centre have changed their forecast for tomorrow, now 95% chance of 2 - 4 cm of snow. Temperature is expected to be below zero all day. Sounds quite nice really. We can track the Essex gritting lorries on the internet, nearly as exciting as Mikes coastal adventures! Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 It's good being below zero for a while (we will be tomorrow and much of next week) kills all the bugs! You must give me that website for the Gritters!!!!! I expect Shenfield will get more than Benfleet? Pete. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2013 (edited) It's good being below zero for a while (we will be tomorrow and much of next week) kills all the bugs! You must give me that website for the Gritters!!!!! I expect Shenfield will get more than Benfleet? Pete. Lorry GPS Map I suspect everywhere in Essex will get more snow than Benfleet. Edited January 17, 2013 by Tony_S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixoh8sixoh Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Sympathies from me too Don. Charities, my ol Dad used to go bananas about one particular large and well known overseas aid outfit, on the amount he used to see spent on offices etc, he was involved in a lot of fundraising activities himself. We support the RNLI as a family of seafarers, although it's been a good while since I did it for a living. Just think what a mess the lifeboats would be if they were Government funded......they'd be cut back to Grace Darling's rowing boat. My Dad too - he recalled a (possibly the same?) five-letter-beginning-with-O overseas aid charity only giving 10% of its income to overseas aid recipients and has never donated to them as a result. Been in Glasgow during the day, came back to the flat about 4 o'clock and have had to suffer over 90 minutes of drumming from next door. The sooner I buy a detached house the better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2013 ........ have had to suffer over 90 minutes of drumming from next door. My neighbour knocked on my door at 2:00am last night. It's just as well I was still up practising my bagpipes. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2013 The sooner I buy a detached house the better... Some detached houses can get a lot of noise from adjacent properties too. We are lucky as a) we have lovely neighbours and b) the houses seem quite well insulated for heat and sound. I have turned the stereo up and done a walk round outside just to check! I was a bit concerned when Matthew had his bass guitar but even that was OK. The flats MiL lives in have agreements about noise but I think the residents are all a bit hard of hearing anyway and don't look like heavy metal fans either! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixoh8sixoh Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I'm going to start playing Kashmir on my Les Paul shortly if he's not careful... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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