alison Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Not sure how to put this but am getting excessively cross with the premise of having to spend excessive amounts of money on a present. I received an email from Amazon advertising a Kindle as a Mothers Day present - reduced to £99!!! I thought it was just a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates - how can people afford this! I can understand for a birthday perhaps but I've noticed the same idea perpetuating Christmas - I think it's got quite out of hand. I've told both my girls I'm quite happy if they just clean the car or do something around the house. It's quite hard for my family as my birthday is always around Mothers Day. Yes, I've been finding the commercialisation of Mothering Sunday (Mothers' Day is later on in the year!), Valentine's, Easter, Fathers' Day etc. extremely sickening in recent years. Whatever happened to just flowers, card, eggs and, well, nothing really, respectively, which is what it always used to be? Excessive consumerism? Guilt complexes for having taken them for granted the rest of the year? I suspect these days many mothers would just appreciate their offspring actually taking their noses out of their mobiles, tablets and whatever and just taking time to say "Thanks, Mum, I really appreciate you"! On the other hand, we did get a very nice tarte au citron with 1/3 off from Waitrose on one of their "Mothers' Day" offers ... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swanprincess Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Teachers strikes!!!! Yes I appreciate their need to strike- but making us come into school with half the teachers missing seems incredibly pointless; currently in an English lesson with a supply teacher, who, having been given no work for us, is allowing the class to wreak havoc whilst he watches football videos with the lads!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 A tale of two schools: My dd's school had many staff on strike, but stayed open and the scheduled school trip for dd's class went ahead, with accompanying teachers. A colleague at work told me that his dc's were devastated because their long-awaited school day out (organised as a reward for all their efforts over the last year) was cancelled. He and other parents contacted the school and asked if they could accompany the children instead and were told it was out of the question. What an example to set the children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 That seems a bit of a shoot yourself in the foot situation!! Surely they could have just reorganised the trip for another day......the strike has been known about for some time now!! Your supply teacher doesn't sound very enterprising Swanprincess Ive just sent loads of resources and materials collected over the years I had in teaching for just such occasions to schools in Africa!!! If he was going to cop out with a video at least he could have found one suitable for the whole class......though usually these days the kids have already seen any videos the school can get hold of....so not easy. But strike days are difficult if you do not have the full complement of teachers in the school as it may be difficult to go on with normal curriculum but if enough teachers say they will come in the school has to open. If all or more teachers were on strike the school would have closed. There were certainly loads of kids and parents wandering around in Brighton on Wednesday!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I agree Porthesia that I think the "gift" for every occasion including ones you haven't heard of is getting totally out of hand! When I was young we brought home a bunch of daffodils and a little printed card from Sunday School. These days I get my Mum a bunch of flowers or a box of chocs. We've never given Mother's Day cards. My mother died over a year ago, and when I was clearing out her possessions, I was amazed to find she had kept every single Mother's Day Card her 3 children had sent her. I felt quite a pang looking at my childish art work and printing on home made cards. I realised how much they had meant to her, and that must be the same for all mothers. No need to spend huge amounts on something, and the idea that the more expensive the present, the better the gift, is utter nonsense. Her birthday clashed with Mother's Day, and it always annoyed me that the range of bouquets available were severely restricted during this period, and only the more expensive ones could be ordered. I can understand that demand goes up, but isn't it strange that all the cheaper blooms are suddenly, mysteriously, unavailable, only to blossom forth the week following the big day. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 My mother died over a year ago, and when I was clearing out her possessions, I was amazed to find she had kept every single Mother's Day Card her 3 children had sent her. I felt quite a pang looking at my childish art work and printing on home made cards. I realised how much they had meant to her, and that must be the same for all mothers. It certainly was for mine: like you, I found all the cards my siblings and I had ever made for her in her drawer, and was hugely touched to think they'd meant so much to her that she'd never got rid of them. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 The stupid bird who is building or trying to, a nest on our chimney. I have a rather large pile of twigs and branches -some of it over a foot long which is now in my fireplace. She is also incredibly noisy! This is all because the cowl got blown off our chimney in the severe winds we had - the ones everyone said didn't happen. Now what do I do. She's obviously been very busy but I'm not sure if she's laid any eggs. I feel really mean if I get the chimney swept and destroy everything but bits are coming down the chimney quite regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Yes difficult situation but if eggs have been laid I'd probably put up for the next 6 weeks .......three weeks to hatch three weeks to fledge!! The only prob though is will any babies start descending down the chimney too!! If there are no eggs I'd disrupt it. When I lived in London a blackbird built a best on my partners balcony. Very sweet for a while to watch close up......except of course we couldn't use the balcony! When they started to fledge I kept trying to rescue them from the garden below as they weren't ready to fly and kept falling out of the nest. I even got attacked by the female blackbird for my rescue attempts. I'm sure they didn't all survive in the end though anyway......too many cats just waiting for their chance!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Mm I can just imagine my cat sitting in front of the fireplace with her mouth open, waiting .... We've called a man out to give us a quote to replace the cowl - once he's been up and had a look we can decide what to do. I cannot actually believe how much stuff there is. OH did reach up last night and pull some more down - it would do justice to an eagle!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 Porthesia, it sounds like a giant bird - whatever is it? Have you seen it yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Unfortunately we haven't seen it yet, we can't see the nest from the outside. I'm afraid that we've taken steps to get a new cowl installed. Just waiting for the man to turn up - sometime this week and then perhaps we'll find out what it is. Hope she has time to make another nest and lay some more eggs this spring, I feel really mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 It's usually jackdaws who nest in chimneys!! However I believe somewhere in Norfolk a stork has nested for the first time in 300 years!! Are you sure it isn't another stork?! Your chimney could become famous!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimi66 Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Didn't stork nesting in one's chimney also means something else? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porthesia Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Haha mimi66 - too old for that! New cowl situated on chimney by the kindness of ..... Mr Angel - yep that's what he's called. Said he couldn't see a nest. There is a starling now sitting on next doors cowl-less chimney - think she's moved up the street. I'm just pleased that I'm not responsible for the non-birth of some birds - I can sleep tonight. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 That's all a relief then. I do like wildlife and do a lot to support them in my garden but sometimes it can just not be practical. I think birds nesting in your chimney are a step too far!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 Wasps nesting in your porch is worse!!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dancersmum Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Adding road closures with no signage to room 101. The main A road near our village is closed from 8pm til 7am at the moment. The diversion is about 12 miles to get you around a closure of about 1/3 mile but worse is the fact that there are no signs on the A road telling you it is closed and no signs on any of the approach roads that join the A road in the closed section so by the time you find the 12 mile diversion (as the closest place you can rejoin the A road), you've done twice that amount just trying to find a way through. Not a single road closed or diversion sign anywhere!!! grr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Zero hours contracts. My youngest dd has two jobs and works less than 16 hours a week. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Oh, and Wonga. Both the adverts and the firm (and the others like it) are thoroughly immoral IMHO. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 Adding road closures with no signage to room 101. The main A road near our village is closed from 8pm til 7am at the moment. The diversion is about 12 miles to get you around a closure of about 1/3 mile but worse is the fact that there are no signs on the A road telling you it is closed and no signs on any of the approach roads that join the A road in the closed section so by the time you find the 12 mile diversion (as the closest place you can rejoin the A road), you've done twice that amount just trying to find a way through. Not a single road closed or diversion sign anywhere!!! grr My DH will second that. He was driving home the other night on M25 and needed something to eat, so he came off at a junction and found a McDonalds. On leaving, he found the slip road back on to the M25 was closed and a single diversion sign. He followed it, and at the next roundabout - nothing. He had to drive about for ages, and ended up having to go back the wrong way up the motorway before he could turn round at the next junction and get back on track. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 Oh, and Wonga. Both the adverts and the firm (and the others like it) are thoroughly immoral IMHO. They "Put You In Control" of how much you want to borrow... really???? You can't control the interest rates they charge though, can you? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 What is wonga? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Payday loan company 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Monsanto. I needed a weedkiller to get rid of the millions of dandelions in the garden. The lawn, patio, drive and borders are choked with them. Our B and Q did have another brand but Roundup was scattered in strategic places all over the store, not just in the garden department. Grr! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Zero hours contracts. My youngest dd has two jobs and works less than 16 hours a week. They really are shockers, aren't they? My friend's daughter is also on one of these. She works 40 hour weeks for 3 weeks of every month, the other week she is told she isn't wanted. They have other workers whose 3 weeks a month overlap her week off. I am not quite clear what this means legally? I assume it means she isn;t entitled to holiday pay, or pension benefits, and things like that? Very unsettling for her, anyway, as she is never sure after the week off whether she will be asked back again. This has been going on for about 6 months now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Yes, Fonty, they are appalling. My daughter gets paid holiday but no sick pay. She never knows from one week to the next what time shifts she will be doing and is treated like a dogsbody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 WINDOWS 8! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Oh Janet, surely you should be used to rotten Windows products by now? I think the last Windows version I liked had a number 3 in front of it! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I had a friendly computer bod at work take 8 off my laptop and install 7 instead. Actually I don't like 7 much either but it's a massive improvement on 8! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Our eldest said the last Windows she really liked was 3.1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Our eldest said the last Windows she really liked was 3.1. Yep, that's the one. Windows 3 wasn't all that good though 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 I'd switch to Apple at the earliest opportunity!! Just feeling a bit provocative ;( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Or is it this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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