Don’t use odd punctuation like semicolons unless absolutely necessary.

If they know you acknowledge it, they’re real people.

Try to avoid waffle like “valuable insight” if you can – try to say something a bit more specific.

Also, either ditch the Pizza Hut reference completely or keep it and explain it. I hate oblique references to “well known” anythings. It sounds like you are just doing this part time/temporary whilst looking for a proper job? If it is more than that then say so.

The “tough economic climate” bit seems superfluous.

Don’t worry about adding stuff in just to make it longer. They may have a lot of applications to get through! Everything relevant should be in the CV.

Here’s my version of your letter:

Dear XXXXX

I am a final year student at the University of Bath, and I am interested in applying for the position of graduate geotechnical engineer.

As you know I did a short work placement with G.E.M.S. three years ago and I really enjoyed the office working environment there. Now that I also have onsite experience with Costain, as well as my academic qualifications, I am sure I would have a lot to offer the company in a permanent position.

Currently I am working at Pizza Hut and although I consider it a temporary position whilst I look for a job in engineering I like to think that I have made the most of my time there, including taking part in management training. I know that this has helped me to develop my teamworking and time management skills, but it has also made me much more focussed on following my real vocation of a career in geotechnic engineering.

I look forward to your reply and of course would welcome the chance to come to interview.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Pinder.

I don’t think it’s like that. I don’t have any particular problem with Innocent except that I think they are guilty of greenwashing. I don’t believe they ever set out to “do good things” – I think they set out to build a business and saw a way of jumping on the extremely-light-green bandwaggon – I would put them in a circle way outside of the executives who thought up Sunny Delight for example.

Oh, and BTW, until this announcement Innocent was a private company owned mainly by the founders with absolutely no obligation to

seek the greatest return for shareholders i.e. growth wherever possible

I think konabunny, that you kind of prove my point about their marketing, which is very good.

But, IMHO their stuff is overpriced and overpackaged and they have clearly been playing the business game of chasing growth whatever eg their dalliance with McDonalds.

Also I was talking about private businesses – that is, ones that aren’t listed on the stock market, that can do what the hell they like regarding growth/chasing profits.

He’s also very keen on Post-It notes.

Would that be the Butt of Lewis?

I like him.

He spent loads of money getting all the Volvo logos removed from his Volvo.

gg,

Am I not right in thinking that the Monkey got re-elected? Also, that the head of TfL had answered questions just prior to Boris? In fact it seemed to me that one of the reasons that Boris was getting exasperated was that the committee were asking him questions that had previously been answered by the TfL guy, no? Also, do non of these Transport Committee types listen to the news – there were council officials from all over the place explaining why they CHOOSE not to have enough snow ploughs or grit to cope with 1 in 20 year weather events – it’s not cost effective. Come on, get real, most people seemed to enjoy a couple of days off to have fun in the snow.

What was so great about Innocent anyway? Apart from their marketing that is?

Also I don’t subscribe to the theory that businesses have to grow continually to be “successful” There are plenty of nice little private businesses, making a nice living for their owners, who seem to live happy lives without worrying about global domination.

Get rid of your telly.

Pity Gwynneth Dunwoody isn’t still around. Gwynneth V Boris would have been far more interesting. The Transport Committee were crap. 1-0 Boris.

All this stuff is immaterial – in 5 to 10 years time driving your own car will be a luxury for the rich.

The boy stood on the burning deck…

Wouldn’t happen in NZ

I’ve got some Global knives. They are quite nice but not the hardest steel (which will take a sharper edge but not stay so nice and shiny and need sharpening more often).

IMO the most important thing is the sharpener. I’ve got a Global ceramic sharpening steel like this but I never got on with it (see they now cost £94 though – so maybe one on ebay very soon if you want one). So I got one of these instead – only £18 and puts an incredible edge on the knives very easily (first time you use it though you will have to pass the knife through it quite a few times as the edge on the knife won’t be the same angle as the edge on the sharpener, but once they are in sync a few swipes every few times you use it and the knife will be sharp as a razor.

So, Global are V good and look great, but you could get less designery knives that will be as effective and cheaper.

Just as another point of note, there’s now one more hit on the idiot’s YouTube clicker, but it doesn’t mean (although I’m sure he will choose to present it that way) that he has one more person’s support.

Just as a matter of interest, is there a clip of GB’s response to Tory Boy?

£4.98 on a tea and a coffee at the motorway services yesterday.

SIngle was definitely Long Haired Lover from Liverpool – Little Jimmy Osmond
Album may have been Down to Earth – Rainbow

We bought one of these second hand for about £10 and it was brilliant. Doesn’t look like one of those off-road 4×4 types, but much more useful. Chair can point forward or back (which is much better as you can actually talk to your child as you’re going along) and can also be reclined right back so baby can sleep. Also it has a V useful hard plastic tray under, which is good for shopping and also can be used like a buggy board by elder child. 14 months between our 2 and it worked brilliantly. Whole thing can be folded very flat to go in car and still leave room for bikes etc in back.

As it is perfectly legal for anyone to take a photo anywhere of anyone or anything (except policemen now!) if they are in a public place then there is no problem whatsoever with this.

Where do you live(ish) BTW

Don’t want to sound -ve although suspect I might to you, and am only putting this forward as a counter to all the “go for it” postings, but have you considered that you might be having a bit of a mid life crisis? I suspect that if you move to London to immerse yourself in the social scene there that you will just end up feeling old and even more lonely. Instead of burning all your bridges, how about starting a campaign to track down the things you are after nearer to home? There are bound to be sports you can do regardless of any injuries you might have had – plenty of adrenalin in dinghy sailing, parapenting, diving etc, any of which can be done after your knees/ hips or whatever have packed in. Not sure of your inclinations, but also loads of socially orientated groups everywhere e.g. charities, environmental groups full, kind of, almost by definition, with nice friendly people, and from experience there are definitlely plenty of nice women involved in all kinds of eco/environmental groups. On the other hand if you are completely lethargic/uninterested in organised activities, but still want to meet women, how about personal ads? Again from experience (met my wife through a personal add) it is possible to find someone, but I found that placing a very honest ad was the way to go, rather than answering ads, which was totally useless. Personally I think you might be better off giving that a chance rather than pulling up whatever roots you do have where you are, possibly for no benefit.

I vote for Bearnaise too – delicious. But it’s hard to make. Don’t be tempted to buy a packet mix – it will be $hite.

OK, you give me an example of a perfect market in action – any one will do.

Your example of the tar sands isn’t one BTW – the fact that someone now finds they can make a profit out of doing the wrong thing shows a market failing, not succeeding.

markets are always the best way of allocating resources. e.g. High Grade north Sea Oil is more profitable in use as a raw material for plastics than pumping into an old banger. Markets ensure that it is put to best use.

Not so. I happen to think that the best use for most of it would be to leave it in the ground. Of course it remains to be seen if I am right about that, but you can’t currently prove me wrong.

Stoner, thatnks for starting this interesting topic, but this will have to be my last for a bit as I’ve got to go and do some work! So…

I don’t think that having a very long and boring entry in Wikipedia is necessarily a complete validation of a theory. Actually, what you are pointing out is that people who are already in thrall to markets have in the past tried very hard to make these concepts (love, well being etc.) that they are not too familiar with, fit in with their existing world view. In other words, it is people who spend their time chasing money trying to validate that by equating their money with someone else’s happiness, not people who are happy wasting theri time trying to work out how much that would be worth in money, because they already instinctively know that the answer is “none whatsoever”. An apple is not and never will be universally worth a banana.

I also don’t think markets are inevitable. There are plenty of examples of societies living perfectly well without markets, although of course they are usually screwed up once western capitalism imposes itself on them. But, even in the face of the worst excesses of capitalism, it is still possible to live happily outside of that – e.g. the Amish in the US.

Your point about limited resources is even more of an inditement of markets. To me it is immoral that those who already have the most continue to get the most of what the earth holds/produces, but that is exactly what markets do. Those born into wealth continue to control it though market mechanisms.

Aracer (hi Chris long time no see) – not sure exactly what point you are making. I’m not saying that my wife suffers from sexual discrimination. I’m saying that her job is undervalued by society, but that she/we know that and she chooses to do it anyway, because she has a vocation. i.e. she’s not in it for the money, beyond what we feel we need to get by.

Better to be burned or frozen to death? – discuss. Obviously a pointless question, but better than the original one.

If markets were so great then you wouldn’t need to “ensure no discrepancy” of pay across the sexes.

So clearly, somewhere within you (Stoner) you already know and accept that markets are in fact rubbish.

The only people who think that markets are great are the people who are doing very nicely thank you, or those who think that given the will there is a way (i.e. following the American dream).

The main problem with markets is that actually it is impossible to put a monetary value on almost anything important – love, life, not being bored, having access to a good view, general well being etc, but that even in the face of this being spelled out to them, it is a bit complicated for most people who can only think in terms of HD TVs owned, years left on mortgage, holidays taken compared to neighbours, etc. though probably these things come into a bit more perspective as death approaches.

My approach (partially successful) is to try really hard to ignore what everyone else is doing and what they’ve got, be as self-sufficient/self-reliant as possible, try to keep my work as interesting as possible to make the money that I unfortunately still really need to live in a western society, and try to take pride in the fact that my wife is actually doing a great job and making a contribution to society working as a teacher, even if she doesn’t make the same money as many other people in less stressful, less responsible jobs. In other words, accept that life isn’t fair, never will be fair and try to make the best of what I’ve got (which in the global scheme of things is actually a lot) and try not to have too much to do with people who think that markets are a good thing.

Once you’ve got it fixed this time, I would recommend starting pilates and/or yoga or sure enough sooner or later it will go again. If you do a course (nightschool) for a term you’ll learn enough to be able to carry on maintenance on your own. Worked for me after a series of back problems.

Playdoh.

The OS does make some very small deliberate mistakes in its mapping in order to catch out plagiarists. If they find the mistake on someone else’s map they sue.

No really, I do want one.

Lists

When I lived in the Chilterns, which has a very dense minor road/bridleway network I used to enjoy occasionally riding away from home until I got lost then trying to my way back using a different route. Fun way of making yourself do extra miles.

Statistically, May is the driest month in OH. Probably still cold, wet and windy just now though. How about going to Malaga instead and cycle East – warm, cheap (free and acceptable rough camping), rurual, scenic (inland from coast) and end in the Sierra Nevada.

A friend of mine managed to stick a knife right through the middle of his hand whilst trying to de-stone an avocado. Turned out his surgeon was writing a paper on avocado stone removal injuries.

My wife, who was behind me, but in front of the dog, shortly after it came at us, sprayed it with water from her bottle, which luckily worked.

I never tell anyone that they mustn’t watch TV, but I don’t see why I shouldn’t point out that maybe life is better without it. I certainly think my life is better without it (or with very little) – more time to think, less stress (lots of evidence that TV is only relaxing in the same way as valium is relaxing – read the book), get more done, talk/play with kids more etc. I also think that if everyone watched a bit less TV then that would be good for society and ergo, good for me.

I didn’t say it was a causal relationship. You’ve probably got a grandad who’s smoked 300 a day for 70 years and can still run a four minute mile?