does anyone know if the ratio of male:female primary school teachers is still dropping? Last I heard it was something like 1:10. Not sure if attitudes are on the change or not, but if they are then male primary school teachers are going to be in a very competitive market position soon

Is this one of those situations where the ratio of men:women Primary school teachers is a result of it just being something that women are naturally more likely to choose as a career?, but some people are trying to force it to be more balanced so that their equality/diversity looks good?

From Wikipedia:

“Most mobile phones can be unlocked to work with any GSM, such as O2 or Orange (in the UK), but the phone may still display the original branding and may not support features of the new carrier; besides the locking, phones may also have firmware installed on them which is specific to the network provider. For example, if you have a Vodafone or Telstra branded phone in Australia, it displays the relevant logo and may only support features provided by that network (e.g. Vodafone Live!). This firmware is installed by the service provider and is separate from the locking mechanism. Most phones can be unbranded by reflashing a different firmware version, a procedure recommended for advanced users only.”

a primary school teacher … tends to be a bit more touchy feely

This should generate a few interesting comments

I’ve never seen it promoted by an over-enthusiastic perma-tanned pneumatically-chested American fitness model* on those long-winded early morning TV ‘adverts’ … so it may actually work

(*who was probably never overweight or unfit in the first place but want you to think you’ll look like them if you buy what they’re shamelessly plugging)

Every other road user is a moron

Problem is, that’s what everyone thinks; they’re never in the wrong, it’s always someone else …

Wife is kipping on the couch

So that means you’ve got the nice comfy bed?

Every cloud …

😉

In the scheme of things £500m isn’t all that big a deal

I believe filming your commute on a headcam, shouting a lot, then posting it all on YouTube is the guaranteed way of changing the world …

every random passing cyclist doesn’t step off their bike

Can you have a one-man clique?

Cliques = a group of friends?

Almost.

Clique = group of friends who make sure ‘outsiders’ know they’re not welcome in the group and make no effort to speak to or include others

Cliques seem to be mostly a female phenomenon

People like Gaz are attempting to change things

And home-made YouTube vidoes are famous for that … every day I hear many many heartwarming stories of people eternally indebted to YouTube for helping them make their driving perfect in every way

I value your input and would love to hear your suggestions

Management might actually sincerely mean this*, but it doesn’t mean that you will get what you want … just because your ‘input’ wasn’t taken further doesn’t mean they only asked to make everyone feel ‘valued’ …

(*I don’t believe this)

You can use a high quality olive oil to seal and enhance the natural finish of the slate

Some manufacturers apply a protective acrylic resin coating to make their cheeseboards food safe, reduce chipping and prevent staining.

“the attacks were thought to be by someone with “a gripe” against parking rules”

Durrrr

No sh1t sherlock?!

🙄

richc was being sarcsastic I think (?)

At least, that’s how I read it …

The future of the UK is in safe hands

I was talking to my sister last night. The school my two nephews attend allow up to 10 days term time absence.

Apparently some parents treat this as additional holiday allowance and make sure their children use all 10 days each year.

😕

Is your wife taking them to London with her?

He’s being taken to London on 30th Dec by some good friends of ours who live there. I want him to come home on 3rd ready for school on 4th. My wife says let him stay with them all week and she’ll travel down on 6th & bring him home that weekend.

I know he’ll have a great time etc, but the bottom line for me is it’s not a justifiable reason to miss the first 3 days of term.

If so a would a trip to the Natural History, Science museum etc not be worth more than a few extra days sat in a classroom?

If this were the case, yes it probably would. We’re taking him to Blue Planet Aquarium if his school’s closed on 30th for the strikes. 🙂

I’m guessing that you and your wife are seperated? Otherwise you’d be asking her rather than us?

Heh! No, we’re happily married etc … When I said ‘my kids’ in my original post I really should’ve said ‘our kids’.

The London trip thing is more than just a whim as there are friends from Brazil visiting us & then going to stay with some other friends in London … but this still doesn’t necessitate the school absence.

This is our first child in school, and she’s from Brazil where the attitude to schooling seems extremely relaxed, so she doesn’t see any issue whatsoever with missing a few days ‘just because’

i.e. we both have totally opposing opinions

I was just wondering whether I was being too stubborn on the subject.
From the comments thus far I don’t think I’m being unreasonable.

Your children will take this onboard and will not respect or understand the importance of being in school.

Agree with this sentiment.

To my mind, letting my kids miss school for no good reason is as bad as me pulling a sickie from work.

Which I don’t do either, by the way 🙂

correction;

posting the evidence of bad driving in urban areas might will do a lot no more to highlight the issues road users face, than posting silly comments on here

Very bad precedent IMHO

+1

The school are unlikely to authorise it and it’ll go down as unauthorised absence

The school are happy for kids to miss up to 5 (or 7?) days a year without good reason. I was pretty surprised when I heard this.

but instead it’s FY06 3BN

Some people go plane spotting, this guy is clearly car-spotting.

Every day wen he gets home he’ll spend his evening, eating his ready-meal for one, ticking off the numbers he’s seen that day in his Big Book of Vehicle Registration Plates.

**** hell this is pointless

That sums up internet forums pretty concisely I think

Too many idiots from the “I’d rather be right than alive” camp.

But I’m sure posting on Look-at-me-Tube will solve all the issues – it’s a well known fact that all motorists spend their evenings painstakingly reviewing cyclist headcam vids & making notes for their own improvement …

Property with insecurities? How does that work?

My house seems pretty confident & well-balanced, good sense of humour etc

So you got that wrong eh?

This is what I enjoy most about here – “you’re opinion is different to mine therefore you’re wrong”

😉

… give just a little then I’m sure that his journeys would be much less fraught…

…and his videos less interesting. Maybe that’s the point?

The familiar sound of nail being hit on the head …

People with headcams do seem to be involved in an unusually high number of ‘incidents’ 😕

They’re obviously providing a very useful public service. In their head.

Oooh, I’m so cross about this. If I see any of them I’m going to give them a damn good frowning. I may even go so far as to shake my fist in their general direction. And ‘tut’ very loudly. That’s how angry I am.

“Variety is the Spice of Life”

What works for me:

I generally cycle from March to October. A mix of off- and on-road to keep it varied.

I do something completely different over the winter months and come back to cycling with fresh enthusiasm in the spring.

I found that when I cycled all the time a ride became less and less of a special ‘event’ to look forward to and increasingly just another part of my routine …

I have so little faith/belief in any of the Political parties that I’d struggle to make a meaningful choice (again).

But abstaining doesn’t feel right considering we live in a country where we have the privilege/ability to vote.

No. Because everyone seems to think their view is the Holy Grail of opinion and therefore will argue to the death with anyone who doesn’t agree in the misplaced belief they’ll see the error of their ways and all fall humbly in line.

there is an equal number of vids of cyclists getting hit by cars where its the cyclists fault

Shhhh, quiet.

There are many many self-righteous cyclists who’d rather we didn’t know this. It adds too much of a ‘reality’ element to their ‘motorists are all evil’ propaganda.

People uploading their boring little films onto the internets … what a life full of purpose and meaning they must lead

Why road rage?

Because nobody is ever wrong and everything’s always someone elses fault and how dare anyone question me and I pay my taxes and I have my rights you know blah blah

It’s the spirit of the age

Science-ists spend all this time looking for the “missing link”, when it exists all around us: just put a man in a car

When I hear a motorist talking all I hear is “ooh ooh ooh eee eee eee aah aah aah” and wait for them to start throwing their faeces

daily mail it is, i shall use “appalled” a lot

Appalled is insufficient for the Daily Fail.

Minimum requirement is to be outraged, & a tenuous reason why it’s all Gordon Browns fault.

According to Amazon.co.uk, the basic £89 Kindle can do English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese

These are very useful in the silicone removal process.

Although if you’re removing from around a plastic bath …

Cyclists should pay road tax

It’s brilliant isn’t it.

Motorists want ‘us’ to pay a tax that doesn’t even exist 🙄

And they’re so committed to their prejudices that they’ve even convinced themselves they’re paying it 😆

The famous scouse sense of humour that vanishes the moment anyone says owt bad about the place?

Is that the same as in the STW community?

i.e. some members are all friendly and agreeable … until you have the nerve to disagree with an opinion they’ve posted

😈