Today I'm angry about.....

[General Mannerheim]

four long days is easy, especially away from home when you've cock all else to do. they are not even that long tho, in fact i run out of 37.5 hours at about 2.30pm on Thursday, so im back home in the lovely north for 6!

[thebish]

the stuff our teenage daughters imagine that they have to compete with.....

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[thebish]

and for your average wiggin fan...

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[Worthy4England]

Just rip off a copy of Photoshop - sorted.

Having got a teenage daughter (17), I've not noticed it too much to be honest, but part of that might be that I generally discredit anything remotely "I'm a model" as completely false and airhead.

[Il Pirate]

Feckin scooters and scooterists...................It's the bank holiday w/end and a massive scooter/mod rally down here on IoW, (again). I'm usualy away this time of year but curently laid up so going nowhere. Thousands of em come every year and I live on a little road which runs towards one of the main campsites. The air is thick with two stroke and all you hear is Nrrrrrrrrr, Nrrrrrrrrrr, Nrrrrrrrrrrr, as they speed past on their twatty little machines, usualy heading to aid a mate who's broken down at the side of the road. When the Nrrrrrrrrrr noise stops around midnight they fire up the stereo's and blast out music by the Jam or some obscure Northern Soul sh*t. Which I don't mind realy, if; IF! It was just one sound system going, I can accept a bit of noise and a party atmosphere; but when you have about eighty sound systems blasting, all trying to compete with each other, the cocophony drifting through the windows and drowning out my telly gets a bit much. Having just moaned like feck, in their defence, in all the years they've been coming, there has been no trouble to speak of in Ryde and they spend shedloads of money. Plus there's some quirky sights to behold and a realy fit bird called (as it says on her machine) 'The pink lady', she looks like a young Audrey Hepburn and everything she wears is pink, and rides a pink scooter. Now if she wanted to camp in my veg patch I'd let her. As long as she doesn't have a stereo.........

[Gary the Enfield]

Feckin scooters and scooterists...................It's the bank holiday w/end and a massive scooter/mod rally down here on IoW, (again). I'm usualy away this time of year but curently laid up so going nowhere. Thousands of em come every year and I live on a little road which runs towards one of the main campsites. The air is thick with two stroke and all you hear is Nrrrrrrrrr, Nrrrrrrrrrr, Nrrrrrrrrrrr, as they speed past on their twatty little machines, usualy heading to aid a mate who's broken down at the side of the road. When the Nrrrrrrrrrr noise stops around midnight they fire up the stereo's and blast out music by the Jam or some obscure Northern Soul sh*t. Which I don't mind realy, if; IF! It was just one sound system going, I can accept a bit of noise and a party atmosphere; but when you have about eighty sound systems blasting, all trying to compete with each other, the cocophony drifting through the windows and drowning out my telly gets a bit much. Having just moaned like feck, in their defence, in all the years they've been coming, there has been no trouble to speak of in Ryde and they spend shedloads of money. Plus there's some quirky sights to behold and a realy fit bird called (as it says on her machine) 'The pink lady', she looks like a young Audrey Hepburn and everything she wears is pink, and rides a pink scooter. Now if she wanted to camp in my veg patch I'd let her. As long as she doesn't have a stereo.........

With YOUR back!!!?

I'm a bit of an old rocker and it does stir the soul seeing a flock of bikes and/or scooters coming down the road. The Mods are always very dapper and the girls are very prettily made up and dressed. However, give me a girl in tight denim jeans and t-shirt with a long flowing mane of hair and knee length boots and I'm sold!!!!!

[Worthy4England]

Feckin scooters and scooterists...................It's the bank holiday w/end and a massive scooter/mod rally down here on IoW, (again). I'm usualy away this time of year but curently laid up so going nowhere. Thousands of em come every year and I live on a little road which runs towards one of the main campsites. The air is thick with two stroke and all you hear is Nrrrrrrrrr, Nrrrrrrrrrr, Nrrrrrrrrrrr, as they speed past on their twatty little machines, usualy heading to aid a mate who's broken down at the side of the road. When the Nrrrrrrrrrr noise stops around midnight they fire up the stereo's and blast out music by the Jam or some obscure Northern Soul sh*t. Which I don't mind realy, if; IF! It was just one sound system going, I can accept a bit of noise and a party atmosphere; but when you have about eighty sound systems blasting, all trying to compete with each other, the cocophony drifting through the windows and drowning out my telly gets a bit much. Having just moaned like feck, in their defence, in all the years they've been coming, there has been no trouble to speak of in Ryde and they spend shedloads of money. Plus there's some quirky sights to behold and a realy fit bird called (as it says on her machine) 'The pink lady', she looks like a young Audrey Hepburn and everything she wears is pink, and rides a pink scooter. Now if she wanted to camp in my veg patch I'd let her. As long as she doesn't have a stereo.........

With YOUR back!!!?

I'm a bit of an old rocker and it does stir the soul seeing a flock of bikes and/or scooters coming down the road. The Mods are always very dapper and the girls are very prettily made up and dressed. However, give me a girl in tight denim jeans and t-shirt with a long flowing mane of hair and knee length boots and I'm sold!!!!!

Aye, I remember well the night they were all parked outside the Free Trade Hall, the same night that Motorhead were doing their Bomber tour at the Apollo...

It was like a mechanic's scrap yard...

[Prufrock]

Work.

I know everyone is, and the fact that I'm on here negates some of the points I'm going to make, but hey ho. Let's go.

Because of my companies reluctant approach to hiring (see tight), I am currently.

News editor of a national bi-weekly magazine
Editor of a national quarterly magazine
Chief reporter for a weekly newspaper
News reporter of a bi-monthly national magazine

They're all trade press titles, and I'm not about to reveal their names because this could well be read by the powers that be as I'm on a work computer, but come on! Is this a good way to ensure 1) I'm not overworked and 2) the output is of a consistently high standard?


I am also mentoring a new reporter we just recruited fresh from a journalism degree.

He doesn't know how apostrophe's [sic] work.

"Oh curse you students, you newly recruited journalists, you should learn what an apostrophe is!"

[bobo the clown]

Weevils.

Small, essentially harmless little bastards which live in flour ... especially un-processed ... shall I say 'organic' flour.

They sit in said flour, more or less harming no-one, unil the flour is moved. So, when my wife went to a local mill a few months ago & decided it would only be proper to buy a bag of the guys produce "so I can maje some really nice bread" and then placed the flour in the cupboard ... & never even contemplated using the stuff ... was the beginning of my problem.

The phoney war had begun without me even knowing it. Until yesterday.

I was cooking. I needed some flour. The Homepride was almost done, there was some McDougals to the back. I had to mve the "real, homemade, good-for-nice-homemade" stuff. I ddn't use it. I just moved it.

This morning the cupbaords were fckg crawling with the little black bugs and writhing with the (regrettably flour coloured) pupae). little bastards.

They were already in every cardboard box, buscuits, cereals, rice bag etc., etc. All over the goddamn place. I was working from home today whivh my wife interprets as "home, so you can do the chores, cleaning, shopping, ferrying kids and generally anything other than work.. So I cleanerd all the cupboards. Actually I quite enjoyed it.

By the way ... what do you think is the longest "over the sell-by-date" item in your cupboard ? I give you June 1999. Not even this century !!

Anyone top that ???

[Little Green Man]

Weevils.

Yup - had them until recently - I think they're biscuit weevils. You've got to chuck out everything containing flour, pasta, biscuits, dried chick peas, some ground spices (found a whole load of them wriggling in a tin of paprika). Next you need squirt where they're coming from with some bug spray - can't recall what I used - some crawling insect stuff from B&Q I think. Then you need to buy a whole load of plastic containers to store your biscuits, flour as they will munch their way through paper and plastic bags.

I think mine arrived in spices I got from Sri Lanka. Little feckers!

I'm currently waging a war with carpet moths. More little feckers.

[thebish]

Weevils.

Yup - had them until recently - I think they're biscuit weevils. You've got to chuck out everything containing flour, pasta, biscuits, dried chick peas, some ground spices (found a whole load of them wriggling in a tin of paprika). Next you need squirt where they're coming from with some bug spray - can't recall what I used - some crawling insect stuff from B&Q I think. Then you need to buy a whole load of plastic containers to store your biscuits, flour as they will munch their way through paper and plastic bags.

I think mine arrived in spices I got from Sri Lanka. Little feckers!

I'm currently waging a war with carpet moths. More little feckers.

ahh - the indian carpet moth - tenacious little buggers - now virtually all the contents of my larder are encased in fort-knox plastic tubs...

moth maggots in the rice.... nice!

[thebish]

I have been angry for some time about this - perhaps disproportionately - but was reminded of it it during a blah-blah-blah report about officials touring England about our world cup bid...

it's just one word....

LEGACY!!

the Olympics - the European World Cup - the World Cup - the Commonwealth Games - all of them have to have a "legacy" and the "legacy" is always talked about as if it is the main point - the reason for doing it - the most important thing....

since when?

why the feck can't we have a sporting competition for its own fecking sake?

and if it's too fecking expensive - then reform the way it's done

I'm fed up of the almost entirely BOGUS claims about "legacies" - it's all a giant bag of sweaty nuts.

[Il Pirate]

Feckin scooters and scooterists...................It's the bank holiday w/end and a massive scooter/mod rally down here on IoW, (again). I'm usualy away this time of year but curently laid up so going nowhere. Thousands of em come every year and I live on a little road which runs towards one of the main campsites. The air is thick with two stroke and all you hear is Nrrrrrrrrr, Nrrrrrrrrrr, Nrrrrrrrrrrr, as they speed past on their twatty little machines, usualy heading to aid a mate who's broken down at the side of the road. When the Nrrrrrrrrrr noise stops around midnight they fire up the stereo's and blast out music by the Jam or some obscure Northern Soul sh*t. Which I don't mind realy, if; IF! It was just one sound system going, I can accept a bit of noise and a party atmosphere; but when you have about eighty sound systems blasting, all trying to compete with each other, the cocophony drifting through the windows and drowning out my telly gets a bit much. Having just moaned like feck, in their defence, in all the years they've been coming, there has been no trouble to speak of in Ryde and they spend shedloads of money. Plus there's some quirky sights to behold and a realy fit bird called (as it says on her machine) 'The pink lady', she looks like a young Audrey Hepburn and everything she wears is pink, and rides a pink scooter. Now if she wanted to camp in my veg patch I'd let her. As long as she doesn't have a stereo.........

With YOUR back!!!?

I'm a bit of an old rocker and it does stir the soul seeing a flock of bikes and/or scooters coming down the road. The Mods are always very dapper and the girls are very prettily made up and dressed. However, give me a girl in tight denim jeans and t-shirt with a long flowing mane of hair and knee length boots and I'm sold!!!!!

[Bruce Rioja]

37.5 hours? Are you on a two day week or something Worthy?

No that's just what my Contract says. I think it must've been written by Hans Christian Andersson.

Since when did staff get set hours?

Since the The EU Working Time Directive - a European Union Directive, which creates the right for EU workers to a minimum number of holidays each year, paid breaks, and rest of at least 11 hours in any 24 hour period, while restricting excessive night work and, a default right to work no more than 48 hours per week. (the last clause has an opt-out if you so desire.)

It does, but beyond being signed off the EUWTD, I'm quite comforatable with the line in my contract - 'Although you're contractually paid to work 37.5 hours per week, you agree to work whatever hours are required by you in the fulfillment of your role within the company' (basically that).

[bobo the clown]

37.5 hours? Are you on a two day week or something Worthy? :twisted

No that's just what my Contract says. I think it must've been written by Hans Christian Andersson.

Since when did staff get set hours?

Since the The EU Working Time Directive - a European Union Directive, which creates the right for EU workers to a minimum number of holidays each year, paid breaks, and rest of at least 11 hours in any 24 hour period, while restricting excessive night work and, a default right to work no more than 48 hours per week. (the last clause has an opt-out if you so desire.)

It does, but beyond being signed off the EUWTD, I'm quite comforatable with the line in my contract - 'Although you're contractually paid to work 37.5 hours per week, you agree to work whatever hours are required by you in the fulfillment of your role within the company' (basically that).

Bless you Bruce. The proper attitude to work.

Fecking WTD is an imposition by the EU plutocrats to make every country as inefficient as the others. Shame is we aren't competing with just the EU but the rest of the world ... who are pissing on us.

The ultimate was the French 35hr, with a plan for 32 ... the UK has dodged it so far, thank God, but it ticks the French & Germans off.

The EU's attempt to commit economic suicide.

[Worthy4England]

No that's just what my Contract says. I think it must've been written by Hans Christian Andersson.

Since when did staff get set hours?

Since the The EU Working Time Directive - a European Union Directive, which creates the right for EU workers to a minimum number of holidays each year, paid breaks, and rest of at least 11 hours in any 24 hour period, while restricting excessive night work and, a default right to work no more than 48 hours per week. (the last clause has an opt-out if you so desire.)

It does, but beyond being signed off the EUWTD, I'm quite comforatable with the line in my contract - 'Although you're contractually paid to work 37.5 hours per week, you agree to work whatever hours are required by you in the fulfillment of your role within the company' (basically that).

Bless you Bruce. The proper attitude to work.

Fecking WTD is an imposition by the EU plutocrats to make every country as inefficient as the others. Shame is we aren't competing with just the EU but the rest of the world ... who are pissing on us.

The ultimate was the French 35hr, with a plan for 32 ... the UK has dodged it so far, thank God, but it ticks the French & Germans off.

The EU's attempt to commit economic suicide.

Oh dear, oh dear.

If anyone can explain to me why someone can sign a Contract with you saying "this is what you get for X hours work" then expect you to work double and more for the same amount, I'll be delighted to hear the explanation.

Don't get me wrong, I regularly put in 60-90 hours, because like many people, I need to work until the job is done, but on what basis do you think it's a good idea? Other than the US/English we're taking the pi$$ concept?

Remind me how many Contracts your Company signs with Customers for "30 hours worth" and doesn't charge them for the extra "30 hours worth" per week?

[TANGODANCER]

A few years ago our conracts not only stated working whatever hours needed to do the job, but that they could also uproot us and move us to any of the other areas whenever necessary,which, at that time, included Birmingham, Glasgow, London and the good old US of A. This probably still applies in some jobs?

[Worthy4England]

A few years ago our conracts not only stated working whatever hours needed to do the job, but that they could also uproot us and move us to any of the other areas whenever necessary,which, at that time, included Birmingham, Glasgow, London and the good old US of A. This probably still applies in some jobs?

Certainly not in mine TD, without penalty to the Company - they have to pay relocation and get my agreement. Like everything else, employment contracts are there to be negotiated. If you don't like the clause, tell them you don't accept it.

[Lord Kangana]

I foresee another Daily Mail infinite irony loop rearing its ugly head. Those lazy spics, frogs and krauts? Yup, all more productive than we and the US with our "working hundreds of hours proves you're a good worker" bollox.

I await the (almost audible) implosion.

[TANGODANCER]

A few years ago our conracts not only stated working whatever hours needed to do the job, but that they could also uproot us and move us to any of the other areas whenever necessary,which, at that time, included Birmingham, Glasgow, London and the good old US of A. This probably still applies in some jobs?

Certainly not in mine TD, without penalty to the Company - they have to pay relocation and get my agreement. Like everything else, employment contracts are there to be negotiated. If you don't like the clause, tell them you don't accept it.

Well, I'm certainly no expert on contracts and have never had any real problems with one, but two lads did get re-located (fortunately, both single) one to Glasgow and one to America.