frankief

Although being quite fit and able to carry my shopping home a couple of miles (I would never ever get a taxi as so many seem to do - even if it was in the middle of a storm). This becomes much more difficult of course when you are seduced by the offers eg. bottled water - 3 x 1.5L for price of 2 (wow, i'll take 6!), and of course the current multi-can deal on lager. Then you find that you are carrying both bulk and weight and have to buy extra eco-bags. You will suffer a bit on the way home, but at least that evening you have plenty of refreshments in the fridge!

Anyone know who the Resolution foundation are and who pays their wages etc? From their website: The Resolution Foundation is an independent think-tank focused on improving the living standards for those on low to middle incomes. The Foundation is overseen by a board of trustees, and primarily funded by the Resolution Trust.

The inaction bit worries me. 23 July Conservative leader chosen 25 July Parliament breaks up for summer hols 19 Sept Parliament reconvenes 31 Oct Brexit date So they'll have 6 weeks to sort a deal out! I know they are a very capable, professional and organised lot (they'll probably be doing some work on the beach!) but it looks to me like EU will hold all the cards at the negotiations.

Agree with this, some people visiting this site and reading the posts may go away with the impression that all boomers get massive pensions. That's nowhere near the truth. Of all the people I grew up with there are only two who have done well with pensions - an ex-copper (fair enough, he deserves it, I wouldn't do that job), a council heating engineer (I remember he was paid a pittance throughout his career compared to his mates from technical college who all worked on the sites). Oh, and there's my uncle - worked for NCB. The rest of us didn't work for big national companies but with local firms. Pensions were neither requested nor offered, it wasn't compulsory, it's not like you would get a shiny folder on your first day at work. As an out of work boomer rapidly approaching retirement, with no significant pension scheme and renting, I am anxious about the future also.

I would say that most of the retirees to date have lived through proper austerity, particularly in childhood. They also learned important life skills. A lot of them have the useful skill of being able to put together a warm and filling meal for not much more than a millenial might spend on his pet dog's tinned or packet dinner.

Anyone know when the results will be announced? Although we vote Thursday, others are at the weekend and Italy last on Sunday. Thing is, I am planning an all-nighter and need to get some drinks and snacks in. ? Could be up there with Brexit 1/ Teresa May snap election/ Trump v Clinton - some of the best TV shows I have watched in recent years!

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Such vitriol! I can't think of anyone I know of who fits the 'boomer' classification who lived in a 7 bed mansion. That's just hyperbole surely? Who is going to live in these mansions if they do sell up anyway? They'll probably be turned into one bed flats as the population problem is only going one way. The developer might be a boomer, he might even be a millenial. And to say people born in 1919 or 1939 have led 'golden lives'. Come on!

Housing Association buying from builders is not anything new. For example, a new housing development gets approval. Council will insist on % of 'affordable' homes. As you don't get much in the affordable bracket (even up North) this invariably means the developer will stick a small three storey block of 1/2 bed flats in amongst his plans to cover this requirement. This will attract the attention of HAs who are always short of property and have waiting lists a mile long. They might offer to take some or all of the flats off the builders hands. If they are slow sellers the builder will go for that as it helps his cash flow. I would expect the HAs in these cases to negotiate a discount anyway, especially if the deal is 'off plan'. So it's not really news. Like Killian said some HAs do build their own, although it used to be most of them. Its nowhere near as usual these days.

As far as I could tell from the article and video, the flats looked as if they had been trashed and graffiti sprayed on walls. Who could have done that I wonder to myself - previous tenants whilst being rented out? by squatters? or by local yobs who have broken in when the building was unoccupied? I can't really see how the Landlord can be blamed for this?

As I posted on another thread about this, the old type 'Techs' & 'Polys' were much more useful. You could get a handful of GCE O levels, leave school at 16 and go the day release course route ONC/ HNC for technical or City & Guilds for trades. By 21 you have got relevant qualifications and work experience and money in the bank. Compare that to a 21 year old leaving Uni now with the wrong degree, they are starting from scratch and with a boatload of debt. So why were these techs & polys rebranded as Universities?, they had a useful purpose. BTW there are plenty of good managers and directors out there with 'just' an ONC or C & G.

Having had quite a few interviews over the years I have learnt that, if you want the job, the best policy is to tell them what they want to hear. As soon as you start going into your personal hopes & fears, perhaps even demonstrate that you are an individual with an intellect, then you can smell the fear. OMG he's not a team player! Of course, be ready for the one tricky question, 'what are your weaknesses?' to which you will have prepared a suitable (to them) answer. The standard of interview I have been to is pretty poor, most of the decision is made before on looking at your CV experience (as edited by the fellow at the agency who above all wants his fee). The company want to fill the vacancy as soon as possible and the interviewer is in a hurry to go back to their job as head of department with the box ticked. Anyway, you get the job and it turns out totally different from the description of the one you applied for or was discussed at interview! You have been taken on with the assumption of being a team player, but it appears that you are the only one in the team. Some things were not explained to you honestly at interview. That is when you have to get on and use the qualities that you didn't volunteer to the interviewer. Who has misled whom?

If you look past the front page of his guide, there is also all the detail about getting a residency and work permit. Quite a difficult process! An unspoilt place in many ways unlike so much of Europe...but don't they want GROWTH?? ? What are their politicians thinking of?!

I passed through Andorra and spent a couple of days there one summer long ago on the way back from Spain. Beautiful peaceful place. I expect though that it is packed with ski-ing holidymakers in winter. I'm thinking that it's economy may be tourism, financial services and low tax goods shopping - a bit like Gibraltar. In fact, got the car searched rigourously at the border on the way out - seems cigarettes are big business - as in Gib. As for settling there? I would suggest any immigrant to look at the realities, the first is to learn the native language to a good standard. That takes years. Except that in this case, due to the geographical position there are three languages - French, Spanish and Catalan (which is difficult even if you know Castellano).

Agree with you. How can anybody equate the job of shelf-stacker with a surgeon? Shelf stacker does his hours and then goes home. No training required. Light lifting. Little or no responsibility. What's the worst mistake he can make? Drop a can on the floor and put a dent in it. OK just put it in the bargain bin.* A surgeon has massive responsibility and therefore needs a hell of a lot of knowledge and training. I wouldn't sleep at night if I had to make some decisions that they do. * Correction. H & S Training required putting out the yellow triangles and mopping up any spillage. The company does not want customers sliding on the tiled floor and requiring a visit to the Dr as above.

Yes but where is the border between talking straight to someone and being rude? Knowing where you stand with someone is useful, because the politeness they show to you can be fake. I notice it a lot in the workspace these days. People are so sensitive, they actually expect to be congratulated for doing their job. I'm not talking about doing am exemplary piece of work above and beyond what was expected. Just for doing the normal day to day routine stuff that they are paid to do. 'Thanks very very much for the report you put on my desk only two hours late, and riddled with basic spelling mistakes and bad grammar. Obviously I can't point that out because it might hurt your feelings. I really appreciate that. Truthfully!'

Which means we are going to need thousands of brickies, carpenters, groundworkers etc. Where will we get them from? All you East Europeans on your way home, turn back please!! Builders will be on the favoured job lists, outranking NHS staff and with free passport thrown in. Might put the population figure up a bit, but then we'll have to build even more houses and roads and schools and hospitals and police stations and roads etc etc....

I'll say bad parenting in many cases. Another member posted about children without socks. I mean, try poundshop or the market you could probably get two pairs for a quid. Won't be best quality, probably itchy synthetic material but.... And now we have breakfast clubs in school for our kids. How much is a bag of porridge? And a piece of toast? If you can't find that money you really are in trouble. Some may say it all adds up. I'm just not convinced having come from a poor background and always been fed and clothed to basic standard I am sceptical about some parents abilities.

I think Food Banks are by invitation only. Don't you need to get a voucher? As one of the working lower/middle classes I am lucky that I learnt to peel a spud! ?

I'll concur with Bruce on that. During all my years of tenancies with various landlords/ agencies I have only received the following at the start/ finish or during the tenancy. Gas - 12 month gas safety check. Yes every time. The form is standard with copy pages to tenant/ landlord/ engineer. Electric - 12 month portable appliance inspection & test * - Yes every time. * Fridge/ Washing Machine/ Kettle etc - If supplied by landlord. As far as I know this does not cover the wiring installation of the house itself?

Like most people, I don't have a local greengrocer and buy from a supermarket. I must admit that I am a bit of a fruit squeezer! It helps gauge the maturity of the product. It's just that I am sick of buying fruit that is not what it appears to the eye. For instance, in a hurry, I will buy a bunch of green, supposedly unripe, bananas thinking they will be fine for use at the end of the week. Only to get home and find that inside some are soggy and starting to rot already. To confuse me supermarkets now do 'ripen at home' packs of bananas. Something to do with the refrigeration transport/forced ripening process - i.e. messing with nature? I suppose that's the price we pay for enjoying citrus fruits in winter.

15 years ago, I used to work with someone that spent a lot of their spare time in shopping centres - Retail Therapy they called it - what a buzz! Now I work with someone one who spends their evenings ordering stuff online, trying it on, then returning it if they don't like it. Don't know if this has got a name but it sounds exciting! You do get out a bit - to the post office. My questions to the forum are : So Retail Therapy wasn't a social thing? Is Retail Therapy dead?

According to Wiki, Romania is a slightly smaller land area than UK and with a population of just under 20 million. I don't know the geography or whether most of that area is habitable or not. But it's a good place to start if you don't want people going without shelter - sufficient land to accomodate the population and sufficient land for industry/ farming also.

These landlords are lovely aren't they? Reminds me of houses I've looked around - for example: the rental for this house is £xxx per month, however it does not include access to the garage and loft! Which is full of landlord's accumulated rubbish and he can't be bothered to move/ throw away. So sleep tight tonight under a mountain of flammable debris. And don't bother trying to get the mower and trimmer from the garage because that's his and your contract says you have to provide your own and look after the gardens etc... Or he's done a deal with somebody to get more cash for renting the garage seperately. Look forward to a strange van coming and going in the middle of the night! But anyway Sausage, whatever the agreement with the garage, that's secondary - protect yourself from stress, it really is a killer. I think that most of us would love to see you give this LL a lesson but you have kids and health issues and it's a bummer looking for somewhere to move to in the middle of winter. Take your time to get the right place, and move on in the Spring or whenever is best for you.

As posted above by others - you need a S21 with two months notice - properly filled in and properly dated and delivered to you - that's the law, although it doesn't sound like the landlord is good with paperwork. Perhaps you could help him out with the administration of his property empire. Go to your local CAB. I did this once and they referred me to a local housing charity. Their lawyer does this stuff every day. He photocopied my correspondence and contract etc. and rang me later advising me that if I kept paying the rent that i'd still be there in 9 months, longer if I appealed and went to court - and my landlord's paperwork was all correct! He said just keep a dialogue going and inform him that you are actively seeking suitable alternative accomodation. Having said that, it is a stressful experience and must be 10 x worse with kids. I didn't test his advice so can't report further. I managed to get somewhere within 2 months anyway, bear in mind that (ironically) it is you that usually need a reference to give to your next landlord!