scottsdad

Specsavers today. Staff all masked up. An old guy walked in and immediately apologised for forgetting his. The staff whapped out a boxful and gave him one. It was really strange all round.

7 for Monday

I am 6 foot 4. Shortest woman I have ever been with is my wife, she is 5 foot 6.

On holiday for the next fortnight. So far enjoying it, though I know that in midweek I will start getting fidgety. Just need to ride it out before I properly relax.

Just read through the last few pages here. Dearie me. The irony is that those who insist that it is simply 2 sexes are the ones making everything very complicated. Contorting their arguments in to all kinds of shapes.

Jesus wept. I thought you were older (probably because of the avatar). Ah well. Happy birthday, kid.

Sorry @SlipperyP. 9 for Friday. Last one wrong.

That is one of those names like Clare, Lyn, Lindsay, and so on where you are just subjecting the kid to a lifetime of spelling out their name for people.

What folk say before an election means nothing. Look at this one from Nick Clegg just before the 2010 election. VAT up to 20%? Yes, and Clegg voted it in. Cuts to teachers, police and the public sector wage bill? Yes, and Clegg voted it in. Starmer is saying what he has to to avoid the (rather predictable) "Coalition of Chaos" nonsense in the press.

2 and a bit hours left to work today, then off for two weeks (except next Friday when I have to work a half day interviewing folk).

I was on tramadol for a while. It never, ever made me feel high/relaxed/anything. But when I stopped taking it my body reacted really badly. Sweating, muscle cramps, sleeplessness, everything. Lasted about 2 weeks. Vowed never to take it again. I would need to be in horrific shape physically to even consider taking an opioid again.

Cracking episode 9. I think it's safe to say it "borrowed" some ideas from both Alien and Jurassic Park. The Gorn as the baddies are fantastic. Having recently watched Arena (the original fight between Kirk and the Gorn captain), the Gorn's big weakness was that they were slow. SNW has binned that idea and gone for the fast, strong, terrifying lizards. Oh, and that ending...

Certainly will be tough if you're forced to watch all the Simon Moon episodes.

I went to school with a Frazer

Lewis Hamilton trying to cancel old folk. "Why are we listening to older voices?" I get that the three guys he is targeting (Jackie Stewart, Piquet and Ecclestone) have been outrageous but to then try to shut up all older people? One day, a 60 year old Hamilton might be the one being cancelled as he will be out of touch.

On Stormzy, it's like waiting for the new Doctor Who. When will he be back? Under what name? What changes will there be? The Albus version wasn't too bad I thought.

Got through quickly, they told me to email and hung up on me.

I phoned Scottish Power and got through in 3 minutes. It was like being in the twilight zone.

I am in the same boat. It has simply never entered my life.

You're right to point to the 70s as an example. But the situation we have now is in some ways a little worse. In the early 70s, growth was a factor, and we ended up in the growth/inflation cycle that didn't really end until the mid-80s. Now we have rapid inflation with no growth. How can a small business give staff a decent pay rise whilst their own income has not grown and their own costs have risen? Giving pay rises of 9% will on one level allow employees to maintain their standard of living and avoid a real terms pay cut, but it will put businesses under pressure and will fuel the next cycle of inflation. And unlike the 70s the powers that the government have are very limited. I suspect (but am no economist so am just talking out of my hat) that we will end up with a middle ground. People will get pay rises in the region of 3-6% which will enable companies to stay afloat but will also be a real terms pay cut. With less spending power and interest rate hikes inflation should slow down. And if we get a game changer (end of the Russia-Ukraine war which has impacted on food prices; or a big increase in oil production dropping the prices) then things might ease a bit quicker.

My feeling is that when this took off, the daughter imagined that this was a way to secure her own future. A six figure salary to manage a £30million+ fund might have seemed like a modest amount. I can imagine all the self justifications made.

As per @Genuine Hibs Fan post earlier on, many families are taking on debt to make ends meet. And that is by no means a permanent solution; if anything it is storing up trouble for the future.

The thread is about more than that - we have strikes, a cost of living crisis, employees needing significant wage hikes to keep up with inflation and companies not always able to afford these (the joy of stagflation), energy price rises, a cumulative amount of damage caused by austerity, Brexit and Covid all coming to a head all at once. Folk on the very lowest incomes need help, no doubt, and the help offered by the government is still not enough to ensure that people stay above the breadline. Folk who were on a barely comfortable income now find that they are no longer in the same boat. When energy costs jump by 50% for household bills and 30% for fuel, that's money that has to come from somewhere else in the household budget. At a fundamental level, encouraging "cutting back on luxuries" is also a message that you work, you eat, you sleep and no more. Forget entertainment, holidays, new clothes and cars and so on and all of these things that make life worth living. When all people do is work to barely cover the bills and no more - and it is sometimes still not enough - then discontent really is here.

We should protest. Like this guy: