And this is exactly why our economy is ****. Economists like those you quote have been telling us that it doesn’t matter if we in Britain don’t make stuff nor own companies. It does.

What exactly are we exporting to Taiwan to trade for goods, so that both parties benefit? Where will we be in 10 years? We know that by offshoring corporate HQ, foreigh companies avoi paying tax to you & me. Where’s the benefit to us?
Yes, we have lots of financial services, but there are easy to replicate, and are being. Trade is good but it has to reciprocal, and at the moment the UK is not exporting. So by buying British we can cut the deficit and improve our lot.

Your bicycle example is a good one.
We import many MTBs, but we don’t make the road bikes either. In the real world, the 5000 ex-employees of Raleigh don’t make anything, and many were on the dole for many years. Please explain how this benefitted the UK. If Raleigh had continued to make bikes in the UK, by improving efficiency, we could have bought locally and the UK would be better off.

THM: “Trade does not mean that we are poorer, otherwise we would no engage in it. “

I never said that it did mean this, just that by importing / buying frmo abroad, we are impoverishing ourselves when compared with buying locally. Similarly, we are enriching other countries. (Even though they may be porer than we are)

Only 1″ maps, but here you are for 1948 or so:

http://www.npemap.org.uk/

Moses

Moses, if the logic was correct, no one would engage in trade at all.

The logic is fine.
However we don’t make everything on our doorstep, so some trade is inevitable: not all foods grow here, most minerals originate elsewhere. But the more added value we put in here, the richer we are. By buying manufactured goods and services from abroad (like EDF electricity & German cars), most of the profits are made & taxed elsewhere so we are poorer.

A case in point: when we closed many of our uneconomic coal mines, in favour of nominally cheaper imported coal, the overall cost to the British economy was higher, because of the social support required for the ex-miners and the industries which depended upon the industry.

There’s nothing wrong with your logic, you’re right.
If you’re a greengrocer & buy a bike from the shop next door, he’s got the money to buy carrots from you. If the bike is made in Britain, then the manufacturer’s employees can buy from you. The taxes on ransactions & profits & wages pay for the NHS, teachers, etc
If the money goes to China via Amazon, then all the wages & profits go elsewhere, & little tax is due here.

It’s meant that folk can live in the further reaches of Kent and commute to London in a short time, so there’s been more investment in those places, and property prices have risen. The north has the same to look forward to I suspect!

Nope, it means there is LESS investment in Kent, it’s happening in London and the jobs are there. Property prices are up because workers can commute.

Dealers make more money on 2nd-hand cars than on new, or so I’m told.

First, your covering letter should focus on what you can do for them, not why you would benefit.
OK, so youre getting a couple of degrees. What are your differentiators that make you stand out, apart from academic stuff?
Have you liaised with local schools, built a drug-smuggling mini-sub, done anythng to show initiative? Ask yourself, why should they give ME a job? and focus on that.

There is a very strong correlation between inequality in a society, and suicide rates. It tends to affect the poor more, as they suffer continual low-level stress from being metaphorically shat upon.

To some extent, blame Thatcher, Blair & Cameron

My Philips rotary razor works fine.
It’s not as smooth as a wet safety razor, but the stubble isn’t so abrasive in the evening, either. Swings and roundabouts. They work better dry, go for a 50% offer

Sorry, Al, the Club Tour has a 56cm TT, C-C.
anyone else?

How tall are you, Al?
I have a Thorn Club Tour for sale, too big for me.
No discs, though.
On the other hand, it’s not expensive.

Most of the time poor spelling & grammar aren’t a problem on here.
This isn’t real life, however.

If you are an engineer, a coder, a medic or lawyer or accountant; if your writing is sloppy and incorrect it is logical and reasonable to assume that your work and advice will also be sub-par. Poor spelling & grammar matters in the world outside. It’s more important now because of the greater amount of communications we have with non-anglophones, whom may have more difficulty in interpreting incorrect English.

Close observation indicates that on a good fibre-rich diet, average transit time is somewhat under 24 hours.
The 1-3 days figure was for the low-fibre high starch diet of the West in the 50s & 60s.

I know a man who needs short lengths of cherry.
He’s a precision wood engineer, I suppose, & has a good proportion of the world market for harpischord spare parts.

Sell it?

You’re right, you will work just as well in a tutu or kilt or mankini or whatever you want to wear.

However your colleagues’ perception of your performace may be affected, and instead of reviewing our mate Ted’s work, they may be reviewing “that tosser in the corner”‘s work, and they’ll think it’s scruffy because you are. Sorry, that’s the way of some offices.

Shape up or ship out, in other words

If he’s put it on ebay for the agreed amount, it’s likely he’ll have no bids.
Just wait. You may be able to get it for less, later.

UPdate: Centralish Bristol, a few flakes, no more.

baby robin.
The European type, not American baby robin.

🙂

Don’t say a word.
The messenger always gets shot.
You may not know the whole story (Obviously, as you didn’t know about the pregnancy)

Keep out of it, keep your big mouth shut.

There was a move a few years back to classify all space used by retailers as rateable, in other words to enable taxing the car-park spaces where they were owned by property companies. This would have balanced the cost advantages that out of town centres had, in favour of the high street.
The proposal was lobbied against and died.

The death of the high street is also a function of the increased efficiency of retail space following the introduction of Sunday shopping, if people can shop on more days, they need less space to do so.

Bring back the day of rest!

Ye gods! I’m old.
All I think about in the Avengers is Honor Blackman or Diana Rigg.

🙂

The other reason is that most fizzies contain phosphoric acid, the reason that colas rot your tooth enamel. They also leach the calcium phosphate from your bones, as your body compensates for the extra acidity in your diet.
Women who drink fizzies tend to have lighter, weaker bones & suffer more breakages than those who don’t. So if you’re likely to fall off a bike, don’t drnik them.

Anything in the engineering area uses maths, lots of it. That will get you into other roles too, including accounting & finance.

Civil Eng: roads, railways, bridges, infrastructure, dams, big pipes. related to structural eng: making buildings and other constructions work without falling down.
Mechanical Eng: Think engines, metals, vehicles, anything which has moving parts or comprises parts which are fixed together.
Chemical Eng: Smaller pipes. Food, pharmaceuticals, brewing, petrochemicals, nuclear: anything dealing with “stuff”

and there are other disciplines too. Look at the Engineering COuncil websites.

You think it’s abhorrent because that’s our society’s norm.
In some US states the age of consent is 18, so would you consider sex with a 17-year old abhorrent, too? If not, why not?

Similarly, in Spain (I think) the age of consent is 13. Is it abhorrent for 14 year olds to have consensual sex?
So why do you think that 16 is right? Biologically, the age of menarche is dropping across the western world, yet if anything the age of legal consent is rising.

Coercion is wrong, sex isn’t.

He’s adult but in a crap job when employed, so it’s “proper” games he plays. Skyrim, Call of Duty, WoW. Not that I know what those are cos I’m a old codger and prefer a bike.
Many thanks for all suggestions & comments so far. Keep them coming, please

Rusty: Sadly, I’ve never been a rock god with easy access to nubile women so I don’t know. Post-puberty, adolescent, young adult?

The differences between JS and many of the rockstars were that on the whole, the musicians didn’t coerce young women into sex, it was offered. Also, generally they were young as well, early 20s or less so there was less of an age difference.

At the time there was an acceptance that young women were willingly sexually active, hence Oz’s cartoons featuring Honeybunch Kaminski and the words of the Stones’ song “Stray Cat Blues”.

Thanks, all. It’s difficult to know the budget – say £500 including monitor & keyboard? Something that won’t be too outdated in 2-3 years.

I feel like a non-cyclist trying to buy a bike, wondering whether a £99 Tesco special is OK, or if I need £2000 of carbon loveliness. So, reckoning that £300 is a minimal laptop cost, does £500 seem reasonable for a gaming machine?

If you want a challenge that’s out of your comfort zone, why not dissuade your company from doing this? That will take guts and skill.
If you can’t rise to that challenge, why bother with the 3 Peaks?

In mixed areas average values are meaningless anyway, unless you’re looking at trends. . The difference between a samll flat & a large semi in adjacent streets can be a factor af 4.

In my area, large houses are being split into flats, so the average purchase price is going down while the value of property is going up. Go figure,

Tenancy agreements are standard documents, available via dowload or stationers’ shops.
Gumtree is a good place to advertise, cheap & effective.
You will need to put the deposit with the DPS, or risk mahoosive fines & a guarantee of losing any disputes with the tenants.

Why not do the Yorkshire 3 Peaks, the original one?
There’s less driving, better walking, better pubs, and it’s more of a real physical effort.

Don’t buy boots online. They need to fit you or you’ll walk in pain. pay the extra & buy from a shop after trying several pairs.

There’s a good gay nudist beach area.
But personally I’d stay away from Barca.

Remember to oil the bowl first, otherwise you will need to scrub it clean. It’s still easier & faster than doing in a pan, though.

Dirty Disco doesn’t take racks or guards, according to the video website

Yes, Ryanair only allow one (smaller than most airlines allowance) carry-on bag. If it won’t fit in the Ryanair bag size, they won’t let you on the plane.
They are a bunch of aerosols but they fly to useful places so I hold my nose & fly with em when I can’t avoid it.

I’m normally a 34″ waist and wear L Humvee shorts. M were too tight.

I tried one pair of Endura L Singletrack trousers on which were too tight by far, then another pair in another shop which fitted fine. Go figure.

That bike is beautiful. What is it?