PhilJ W

I can't help noticing that there are more empty shops in those high streets where parking charges are high than those where they are low or none at all.

Way back in the mid 1960's there were more jobs than people to fill them. There were a few people who were virtually unemployable. One such person was a neighbour who was an alcoholic, after so long on the dole he would be sent to a job but after a couple of weeks he would lose the job due to his alcoholism. The employment office then found a job for him, in Ind Coopes Romford brewery! He apparently only lasted for one morning there. He was given a job in the bottling plant, checking the bottles of beer to see that they were full before they were capped. He was supposed to remove any underfilled bottles and put them to one side. Needless to say he soon started taking a swig from the open bottles passing in front of him. After less than an hour there was bottles everywhere and the bottling machine was jammed, they found him completely blotto under the machine. After that the brewery management ceased to use the employment office and done their own recruiting.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I was assembling the ingredients for some bread pudding this afternoon until I found that the principle ingredient, a stale loaf of bread had gone mouldy. The only bread in the house is a fresh loaf that I need for tomorrows breakfast, Turdycurses. I'll be looking for some wholemeal bread in the reduced to clear when I visit Tess Coes tomorrow. Instead of the black treacle that my mum used to put in her bread puddings I am going to experiment using honey, I have some that has gone 'sugary' and I've got some more fresh honey to add to it. I remember that well, many of the workers of the council I worked for were taken in by that and being in the payroll department I saw it first hand and fortunately could see what a sh1tty deal it was. Most of the people affected eventually came back into the council pension scheme but they still lost out with regards to the interest (at a high rate) on the money they paid in, the employers contribution and also on the length of pensionable service. Surprise, surprise this was thought up by the insurance companies and sold to the government of the day as a way of saving public money. If you think the banks are a bunch of thieving bar stewards they've got nothing on the insurance business. That is cheap parking, around here it's £1 an hour for short stay, under two hours, and 80p for long stay. What is more blue badge drivers have to pay as well. The parking is run by a private company and none of the ticket machines work, so they send you a notice demanding £80 which after a couple of weeks doubles if it isn't paid. Apparently these fines make more money than the ticket machines so they leave the machines not working. Here is the rub, only a local authority can enforce the fines and only if they operate the system themselves so you don't have to pay them a penny. The company operating the car parking has some very dubious forebears, some of the directors had been involved with wheel clamping.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I haven't had a lot of dealings with the DWP being permanently employed from leaving school until retirement. However I did car share with a lady who worked for the DWP when I lived at Burnham-on-Crouch in the mid 80's. It was a similar situation to now with inflation going through the roof (that's why we car shared). She was obviously not very happy at working for the DWP and she told me that staff turnover was enormous, the average 'stay' in the job was less than five weeks amongst the staff facing the public. It wasn't the clients (well the majority) that were the problem but the management. The car sharing ended when she quit the job.

It looks as if the roofs are from a five compartment first. Is it possible an error was made in the factory and a batch received the wrong roofs?

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I worked for the GPO before I worked for the council and a lot of the larger sorting offices and telephone exchanges had licenced staff canteens. The GPO used to have its own catering department with its own career structure. Other public bodies such as London Transport also had catering departments some of which even had their own bakeries. I left the GPO in 1970 to work for the council, working close enough to home to go home for lunch.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Just finished the shopping and Arthur Itis started grumbling again, a brace of Nurofen is sending him on his way. Royal ciphers were mentioned recently, here is a blog from the Post Office Museum. https://www.postalmuseum.org/blog/royal-cyphers-on-letterboxes/?mc_cid=062e2ba99b&mc_eid=9677d5fad4#

Apparently this is a common problem with these models, together with the rather fragile connecting rods. There is a thread here on RMweb about these locomotives that may have solutions to some of the problems.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis was at it last night so I only got a couple of hours sleep. A bit of eyelid inspection will be necessary later. I would nominate @Barry O as sports minister, leaving @chrisf with the digital, cultural and media. I would nominate myself for the treasury and would proceed to close all the tax loopholes that allow companies and individuals to avoid paying tax.

Happy anniversary Mr. & Mrs. @jjb1970

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Today's on-off-on-off rain gave Arthur Itis a field day today. Thanks @polybear for the info on the paint stripper so I'll be ordering some shortly, and clearing a bit of space in the garage to work on the chairs. Now to tackle Farcebook, be back later.

Sadly thats how the original came out.

The Ukrainians have captured so much Russian equipment that they have more than that provided by NATO. Apparently the tactic is during a Russian withdrawal is to target the equipment but leave any retreating on foot alone. The result is a lot of abandoned equipment.

I wonder if the Russians 'sanitised' anything provided to client nations as the Americans do.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Rain-sunshine-rain-sunshine has been the weather today, now it's clouding over again. Arthur Itis got out of his cage a little while ago but the co-codamol is putting him back. I didn't know that there was a Priority Service Register either. How do you get your name on it? What is the name of this wonderous stuff? I have a couple of chairs dating back to 1936 that are under umpteen coats of paint. They have an interesting history, they started out as church pews from St. Nicholas church in Elm Park which was consecrated in 1936. The church despite being less than twenty years old was replaced by a new church in the early 50's and the church authorities sold off some of the fittings including the pews which looked like ordinary dining chairs. At the time furniture was rationed and they were limited to two per person. However my dad and my grandparents all went and got a pair of chairs each giving us six in all. Some had a small plywood box on the back for a prayer book. Over the years they have disappeared and only two remain. I seem to recall that some houses very near the church were badly damaged in the Blitz and perhaps the church was also damaged hence it needed replacement.

Plenty of old cars in this clip (1958) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zbLaG1QS5q7tzHbiCDmTWb1q-0AbZA6s/view?fbclid=IwAR0nb8qPKkJzdEVSVMUBgB6PXXJRVsra_-yvzZhul1x6Cxp9IuM4tJ1tOhg

More trolleybus film, this time in colour. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zbLaG1QS5q7tzHbiCDmTWb1q-0AbZA6s/view?fbclid=IwAR0nb8qPKkJzdEVSVMUBgB6PXXJRVsra_-yvzZhul1x6Cxp9IuM4tJ1tOhg Useful if you model the 1950's with all the little details visible.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Apart from the usual stiff joints this morning Arthur Itis is absent. Why not ask SWMBO to pick up the bread and milk after her appointment and then you pick her up.

Goodnight all.