Are You Observant Or Do You Miss The Signs ?

[Bloo Loo]

Bread makers knead the dough for the pizza if you're too lazy to knead it yourself. You then use something called a rolling pin to roll it out pizza shape. But then I don't suppose people who buy Domino's pizzas have the faintest idea how to cook.

youd better tell my wife that the rolling pin ISNT a weapon

[Sofa Spud]

Another sign will be that as recessionmania grips the headlines people will stop talking about climate change.

[Backseat Economist]

Went out in Bristol on Thursday evening with workmates for a curry and some pool up round Whiteladies Road.

We ended up in a bar along the area popularly known as "the strip". One of my friends knows the proprietor of the bar

and we all got chatting. Apart from the fact that there was nobody there at what should have been a fairly busy time,

the owner had spoken to a number of his colleagues who had bars and pubs along Whiteladies.

The general feeling was that this is the quietist that it's been at this time of year since 2000.

Nobody doing good business, lower sales, and huge numbers of drinks offers not really helping either.

Lunchtime trade has also been significantly lower too.

I also walked past a lot of places along there with hardly any punters in at all. Yes, it was a Thursday eve, but

really did think at this time of year that things would be a lot busier.

Don't think that many of them have put two and two together, but it does seem as if the wheels have started to come off,

certainly much quicker than I expected. Judging by the speed of everything unravelling, we may well be in recession

by the end of this year.

GT.

[yellerkat]

Bread makers knead the dough for the pizza if you're too lazy to knead it yourself. You then use something called a rolling pin to roll it out pizza shape. But then I don't suppose people who buy Domino's pizzas have the faintest idea how to cook.

Rolling out pizza dough takes forever; it just bounces back again and again and again until finally it gives up 1st. Or you do.

[#1 on West side]

Another sign is that the reduced food in the supermarkets (the stuff on the clearing shelves) is not really so "reduced" after all. Used to be standard 50% off on fresh produce that is getting very close to expiry date. Now it is a mere 20%, sometimes even 10%.

[Guest absolutezero]

Another sign will be that as recessionmania grips the headlines people will stop talking about climate change.

Thank fook for that!

I am so sick of hearing about carbon dioxide/global warming/climate change/recycling/turn to 30 etc.

Anyway when did "global warming" become "climate change"?

[juvenal]

I noticed a sign of 'belt tightening' when I found myself in Sainsbury's last night buying industrial amounts of basmati rice, because the radio told me it's going up by 50% - due to various factors. I noticed it again in Iceland getting the large box deal on Brooke Bond tea bags.

Both Sainsbury and Iceland were eerily empty.

Something must be happening, because this is the Dorset coast, and I'm quite well off....

[Yankovic]

Have you noticed any small changes with regards to your daily life lately ?

I have noticed a fair few of them, here's 3 of:

1) when getting a cash withdrawal from my local Lloyds TSB machine, I no longer have a 'cash only' option. It now says 'cash with onscreen balance'. I have banked with my Lloyds tsb bank for a lot of years......why the change now ?

This may explain the Balance enquiry side of the argument,……………

It is not widely known outside banking industry, banks have in place what they call an interchange fee between the bank that owns the ATM and the card users bank.

NB If I have a Nat West Card and use an HSBC ATM, then if I take out £10.00 (Or any amount for that matter!) then Nat West pays HSBC about 40p (Plus £10 of Course!) for their costs of dispensing cash.

If However I ask for a Balance enquiry in the same situation, then the same applies but the fee is much less, about 4p.

At the end of each month all the banks tot up their transactions and they all pay each other what they owe.

Your bank is what’s called a ‘Net Acquirer’ NB they have more non customers using their machines than their ‘own’ customers using other banks. (NB at the end of the month they make a profit) whilst other Banks such as Egg and First Direct, who don’t have ATM’s and therefore have to pay for each transaction, make a loss)

Now my theory is this:

If they entice you to do a balance enquiry, then all those customers that are not with Lloyds but are using a Lloyds ATM…….. Bingo many hundreds of thousands of 4P’s for no more effort than a bit of software on the screen! Any customers that are Lloyds – this makes neither a cost nor a loss.

Of course they just be being nice and friendly offering a new service!

[Dopamine]

everyone worried about the road signs should be grateful they don't live in the socialist republic of wales. My 4 year old came home from school with a leaflet telling us we should encourage him to speak Welsh. As it happens, I can speak Welsh myself but it is no business of government to tell me how to communicate with my children. Come the recession, they could save a lot of public money here in Wales by saving on the total waste of having every public document printed in welsh and english.

[oracle]

Yep Grumpy - I can smell it. I live in a posh and wealthy area of Worcestershire (you know, the type of area with some posh bits and a morassse of council / chav estates with burnt-out Astras) and I and wife have noticed a more subdued atmos in town.

It has that 'calm before the storm' feel out there. Glad you posted this as I thought it was just me.

I've noticed the contrary.

Chavvy looking people,and middle class alike.

they tend to now pay with credit cards rather than a standard bank debit card at tesco.

It's fairly easy to tell the difference,because the ones with debit cards will tend to get cashback as well....this ain't the case with your flexible friend.

[oracle]

. Come the recession, they could save a lot of public money here in Wales by saving on the total waste of having every public document printed in welsh and english.

how do you think we feel in england?

we have the same documant translated into welsh,english,urdu,gujurati,punjabi,french,german,spanish,italian,polish,swedish

,dutch and greek.

might as well do bloody sanskrit and ancient egyptian hyroglyphycs while we're at it

Edited April 5, 2008 by oracle

[ParticleMan]

how do you think we feel in england?

we have the same documant translated into welsh,english,urdu,gujurati,punjabi,french,german,spanish,italian,polish,swedish

,dutch and greek.

might as well do bloody sanskrit and ancient egyptian hyroglyphycs while we're at it

... and for those in Brighton - Polari.

[Bloo Loo]

snip

If they entice you to do a balance enquiry, then all those customers that are not with Lloyds but are using a Lloyds ATM…….. Bingo many hundreds of thousands of 4P's for no more effort than a bit of software on the screen! Any customers that are Lloyds – this makes neither a cost nor a loss.

Of course they just be being nice and friendly offering a new service!

I thought it might be because the tight wads dont have to give you another scrap of paper with the balance on.

[eightiesgirly]

how do you think we feel in england?

we have the same documant translated into welsh,english,urdu,gujurati,punjabi,french,german,spanish,italian,polish,swedish

,dutch and greek.

might as well do bloody sanskrit and ancient egyptian hyroglyphycs while we're at it

A wee note from my daughter's school to let us know about a teacher training day, covered FOUR sides of A4. Script of the United Nations. The english bit consisted of four lines! School ink and paper bill must be horrific.

[Nicolaj]

how do you think we feel in england?

we have the same documant translated into welsh,english,urdu,gujurati,punjabi,french,german,spanish,italian,polish,swedish

,dutch and greek.

might as well do bloody sanskrit and ancient egyptian hyroglyphycs while we're at it

[Johnny Storm]

Yes a recession may clear up a number of problems in the UK and on a global scale, but are you sure that you will outlive its effects...

btw - first post

I'm willing to risk it.

[Compounded]

everyone worried about the road signs should be grateful they don't live in the socialist republic of wales. My 4 year old came home from school with a leaflet telling us we should encourage him to speak Welsh. As it happens, I can speak Welsh myself but it is no business of government to tell me how to communicate with my children. Come the recession, they could save a lot of public money here in Wales by saving on the total waste of having every public document printed in welsh and english.

Its my opinion that if everyone in the world spoke the same language the world would be a much better place.

Its some sort of twisted politically correct thinking that has taxpayers money promoting the welsh language.

Incidentally Welsh was pretty much the language spoken in these islands before the Romans invaded it's a celtic language - English is a mix of latin and the language of the saxon (German) invaders plus a contribution from the later Norman invaders, it is amazing that so little Welsh influence in present in the English language - an oddity is nearly all English river names have a celtic origin.

[Ash4781]

Car dealerships in for a rough ride during 2008

http://www.creditman.biz/uk/members/news-v...newsviewID=8353

[Guest Shedfish]

the trouble with Welsh is the Vikings nicked all the vowels...

[Cold Snail]

Have you noticed any small changes with regards to your daily life lately ?

07 plate BMW X5 on the M25 this afternoon, in the inside lane sticking to 56mph.

Still had his wan front foglights on though...

[Guest grumpy-old-man]

I've noticed the contrary.

Chavvy looking people,and middle class alike.

they tend to now pay with credit cards rather than a standard bank debit card at tesco.

It's fairly easy to tell the difference,because the ones with debit cards will tend to get cashback as well....this ain't the case with your flexible friend.

actually Oracle, that's a good point.

We pay by debit card & always get cash back at the same time.

[Guest grumpy-old-man]

07 plate BMW X5 on the M25 this afternoon, in the inside lane sticking to 56mph.

Still had his wan front foglights on though...

surely not

[Sheer Heart Attack]

Its my opinion that if everyone in the world spoke the same language the world would be a much better place.

Its some sort of twisted politically correct thinking that has taxpayers money promoting the welsh language.

Incidentally Welsh was pretty much the language spoken in these islands before the Romans invaded it's a celtic language - English is a mix of latin and the language of the saxon (German) invaders plus a contribution from the later Norman invaders, it is amazing that so little Welsh influence in present in the English language - an oddity is nearly all English river names have a celtic origin.

It would be excellent if there was a universal lingua franca, however when a language is lost, imo it is a tragedy.

Speaking and understanding other languages is a joy. I speak German as well as English - thinking in another language is very useful as, for some reason, I can problem-solve better in German than in English. Must be something to do with the incredibly rigid structure of German.

[Johnny Storm]

I always pay with credit card for pretty much everything. Its always cleared off every month without fail. I then get a percentage of what I spend back. Been doing this for about 5 years now.

When ever I see people paying with wads of cash I always asssume they are on benefit for some reason.

[a j]

Speaking and understanding other languages is a joy. I speak German as well as English - thinking in another language is very useful as, for some reason, I can problem-solve better in German than in English. Must be something to do with the incredibly rigid structure of German.

Thats interesting. How well do you speak German and how did you learn?