@Yak Lil Shredder[/url]

Can’t see the instagram ones, but what about a skyline silhouette similar to

but with the fells, or a particular view that you like. I’m sure I’ve seen some woodcuts of fells which would translate to a tattoo very well but I can’t remember where I saw them.

Don’t know what Dundee’s reliant on, but none of those seems to involve an enormous integrated works built up over a century.

Ferrals – that’s the tin lid! Reinforces what many people have already said about not sticking to the “rules” of international trade.

THM – raw material supply is still relevant, because in PT’s instance a deepwater port was built in order to ship it in – I guess that’s a sign that the place was moving with the times. Continuing to use Port Talbot as the example, the site grew to keep up with demand from the use of local materials over 200 years ago, development of the dock, building of blast furnaces, introducing steelmaking and then the amalgamation that took place 100 years ago (to counter foreign competition as it happens). These were all business decisions which drove the place to the size and scale it is now. I think “allowing a region to become socially and economically dependent on one industry” misses the point: this government, and any of the past few decades didn’t “allow” it. It’s how most traditional industry has developed. What we’re seeing now is the failure of modern legislation to keep up in a global market. As many have already said, a free market only works for everyone if it’s a level playing field, which it isn’t.

My point about those 2 factors was that they’re the reason that regions traditionally saw clusters of similar businesses and industries. Sure, it’s less relevant now, but it can’t simply be ignored as no longer relevant since that’s how these places have developed over decades and in some cases centuries.

You’re right, steelmaking and rolling is no longer labour intensive – very few industries are these days – but there’s two parts to the labour side of it and you’re forgetting the skills and experience built up over (in some cases) a lifetime.

What’s your point with Northern textiles? Same influencing factors as I mentioned previously, then undercut by foreign imports?

The whole “area reliant on one industry” rhetoric is completely misplaced. If one looks at the history of industry, like businesses tended to group themselves together round the sources of raw materials, other geographically significant features (for example, rivers) or an abundance of labour. Blaming successive governments in the second half of the 20th century for the economies of production employed at the start of the industrial revolution and even many centuries before is ridiculous.

@Jambalaya All the German plants I’ve visited point to a different reality – namely that they’re good at defining and controlling a process so that they can make huge volumes of something with little variation, consistently and at high perceived quality. They also have better employment laws (for the workers) and seemingly employers that believe that “we’re all in this together”. Another key point is that again, IME, German factories get continual and substantial reinvestment in equipment and in employee training to maintain their competitiveness.

Denis99 – which part of Rogerstone were you in/ who are you? I used to work there!

Cornholio98 – now, you’re being a little disingenuous there… 10 years ago there was a massive investment and drive to up production and reduce cost, as well as rationalise the range of products being offered from the strip business. All the profit comes from the finishing end as I’ve said, so there was a drive to make more high quality, high margin stuff, but that’s the same for many developed markets.

The Panasonic (I think) factory in between Newport and Cardiff closed after the subsidy ran out I believe. Is the semi-conductor plant near the patent office a different place?

Another interesting Radio 4 programme called The Untold and hosted by Grace Dent was a short documentary (I suppose I’d call it that) about Sanjeev Gupta (and his family business) and Liberty Steel in Newport. They’re working on a much smaller scale and are buying in slab rather than making liquid metal, but it certainly seems as though the setup is aimed at integrating the whole supply chain* and making it sustainable. They also own a local power plant.

*this is what has been happening in this sort of industry for a long time now anyway, but it seems to me that there’s a point that a complete value stream integration become unwieldy and parts of the business get spun off (Rio Tinto did it with Alcan, then subsequently Hindalco did it with the upstream parts of what was Alcan, as two examples). Owning the whole supply chain means that costs can be spread across the business and the loss-making side (if there is one) can be supported by the more value adding sections (in metal processing it’s the finishing end that does this). Tata did this to a large extent though as it owns everything from blastfurnace to final sheet (in PT’s case). Not sure if they owned or had stakes in iron ore or coke production though.

In a completely different area, Rolex own almost all of their supply chain.

(I like that 2300 year analysis Thisisnotaspoon :-))

I didn’t say STEM workers earn less than teachers. I said that a 50 grand job in engineering under the age of 30 if you’re not contracting is unusual, which IME is (yes, I have an engineering degree. Yes, I’ve worked in more than one sector. No, I’ve never been a contractor but have worked with my fair share. Yes I know people who work abroad, both permanently and on contract. No, I don’t know what your point is, especially as you haven’t actually said what you earn…). You’re also a fair bit older than 30, so I’d imagine your previous experience counts in there somewhere.

Dragon, you must move in more salubrious circles than me and dazh then.

Binners – that made me do an actual LOL. Thank you.

Thisisnotaspoon: £50k+ in engineering before you’re 30 “without breaking a sweat”?! Nonsense. I’d suggest that’s the exception rather than the rule unless one works in certain parts of the world on contract, but that’s still not the norm. The job you linked to is in waste water treatment, and a stab in the dark at £60k is, IMO way too high. Unless the jobs are contract work with high day or hourly rates, £50k is a huge ask under 30.

If you’re a hiring manager, can I have a job please?

Speaking with the many teachers I know, the money’s not the main issue (as many teachers on here have said) and it’s the terms and constant goal-post moving and testing which ups the workload and makes the profession feel undervalued and undermined.

YES Bencooper!

And it’s a fantastic book as well.

I once wrote a comprehensive business plan for a brewery startup (about 5 years ago as part of a course I was doing) and realised that I’d need 6 figures to produce in volume and start from nothing. I also had someone I trust read through it and critique and there was still stuff I’d missed. So I’d agree with dogthomson and say try it first and see what interest you get, then if you need funding, write your business plan. The main things investors want to see are that you have a handle on the numbers, a handle on the market, and are not a complete f**kwit.

My wife’s a teacher and has a real love/hate relationship with the profession: she loves the classroom time and the responsibility and reward she feels towards every pupil she teaches, but hates the “test test test” mentality of OFSTED and the politicising of the sector by government, particularly the constant goalpost moving.

She puts in a lot of hours, both in school and outside, to make sure her lessons are properly planned and that work is thoroughly marked, as well as being involved in clubs and extra curricular activities which are not mandatory, but which she sees the pupils get a huge benefit from.

I think what a lot of non-teachers don’t get (as well as non-doctors, non-nurses etc – and this is not just limited to public sector workers btw) is that it’s not simply a profession, but a VOCATION. And with that comes a real connection to each and ever child (careful…) and a huge sense of duty to do right by them all. No one likes to feel undervalued or shat on in a job, but it’s a damned sight harder if your chosen profession is based in only one or two different “companies” (state schools or private in this case), with little choice or difference in conditions if one moves school.

It should also be pointed out that, for those who seem to despise any and all public sector workers for what appears to be choosing a society-benefitting career, should the plans to turn all schools into academies actually happen, then effectively all the “perks” of being a teacher will disappear as each school or group of schools will be run as a business. Imagine a system where there is no choice but to send your child to a privately run school, but you can’t choose which one.

There are some things that should not be run with profit as the end goal. Sure, they should be run efficiently, but education is about producing individuals with a minimum level of competence in key areas, not money, and not testing all the time at the expense of learning.

(looks like I got to the party a bit late)

Johndoh – I’m the same, although both my wife and I are keen not to get into debt other than our mortgage as we had a rough (ish – nothing too severe) time of it a few years ago due to moves and job losses.

One does feel pressure to go abroad for a holiday each year (we’ve never taken our children abroad, for a number of reasons including cost) and I think the most difficult thing is the feeling that it’s “unfair” that others are outwardly living the high life when you’re being very careful, either to get back on an even keel, or so as not to have the burden of debt.

But as said above, people just have different priorities, and some people’s priority is to have a good time versus not get into debt.

(Reading that back I sound a bit sanctimonious and don’t meant to. Everyone has a choice about what they spend their money on, and if they want to borrow more and are able to, then that’s fine with me too.)

It’s an S60

Best try fitting the current road bike in the boot then!

*I should point out that I’ve not actually got this company car yet and am still swanning about in a massive Saab estate.

There’s no option of a car with a bigger boot – it’s a company car and (at the moment) I don’t get a choice.

I don’t want to store the bike on the back seat for this reason, as well as for security.

Rink-NO

I quite fancy a Moulton but they’re incredibly expensive! The Montague Fit looks a good buy, especially at Fudge Cycles. Montague have a thread on their website about putting discs and drops on as well I think.

Yes they do, just found it[/url]

Yeah, the Break Away looks like a good compromise but they only seem to come in expensive carbon now rather than the previous and more affordable steel. Might be worth an Ebay trawl.

Thanks for the Airnimal info.

I’ve had a Challenge (Mistral or Furai, can’t remember) and a Bike-E semi recumbent. Sold them both because I never used them. It might have been not liking the attention, but I think equally it was just not getting into the groove with them. They were nice to ride but I didn’t spend the time getting used to the different ride and kept going back to my road bike.

I’ve had a quick go on an Optima Baron, which was lovely, and really fancy a ride on a Raptobike. For the moment though, with the type of riding I do (um, which is almost eff all) it’d be a waste to buy another. If my wife was keen I’d get a pair and we could do some touring, but she isn’t!

Have you read this[/url]?

Little update: subject to signing a contract and starting, I appear to have found myself a little job, which is great.

Thanks for the advice and support, both on the thread and off it.

Ooh yeah, and peanut butter and tomato on toast. Makes more sense to me than peanut butter and jam.

Speaking of which, ham and marmalade sandwiches, or ham and apricot jam.

I quite enjoyed it. It’ll be interesting to see how it develops.

When I started watching it (after not paying much attention) I thought it wasn’t how I remembered it, but then realised it wasn’t the film of (almost) the same name.

Didn’t read all of the 2nd page, but what Choppersquad said: it’s not really about Max, it’s about Imperator Furiosa (?!). You could remove him from the film entirely and not lose anything.

Visually it was great to watch. Storyline, not so much.

Who do you work for Molgrips?

I agree with what Mrmo said – having been involved (on the customer side) of a big implementation, everyone wants to customise the hell out of the software because it makes them feel special, when in reality its vanilla build is the most stable, easy to upgrade and easiest to use. It’s not ideal to “change to fit the software” but as others have said an implementation is usually combined with some form of “business improvement” initiative anyway where process and ways of working are being changed.

I’d also agree with the view of consultants. Many do not have a vested interest in getting the thing implemented successfully the first time round because they know (possibly from experience) that the client will throw money at them to get it working once it’s in, usually because there are many millions of £ invested in the project already.

My current employer (soon to not be…) has no ERP or MRP software whatsoever and the ability to schedule, see cost and do umpteen other things across multiple sites is, IMO severely lacking. I’m not suggesting SAP per se, but some sort of planner would be useful. Having said that, we do have Agresso (only for HR though…) and we had decided on implementing Syteline until the project was canned. Now, that was a shocking bit of software.

Also, what Dragon just said in his second paragraph.

It’s all about the feeling and memory they evoke, innit? Very rarely do people pick what they think is nice, just for it being a good piece of art.

So in that spirit.

Old

(decal, more than a badge I guess)

New

But as I’ve had 2 of these, I also have a soft spot:

This is a nice post too

I have a Gaggia Titanium going cheap (ish) if you want one?

Good point. I meant more along the lines of getting the general “me” details right so I can then tailor them to the company

Thank’s for all the advice chaps!

I have my CV with an old colleague up at Sellafield, and I’m also looking at employers up there too, so perhaps I should focus on there a bit more.

EDF is a good call. Even though I can almost see Heysham from my house, it’s easy to forget that it’s there!

Today’s jobs are: get a decent cover letter sorted, build up a list of potential employers I want to work for, follow up my previous applications.

I really would like to start out on my own, so I’ll give that “plan” a lot more thought too.

Please do keep the info coming though. 🙂

I’ll try that next time I’m out. Won’t be this week as I’m not keen on getting blown off the top of a fell.

It’s just what lies in the bottom of my bag when we go out for family walks and things. I’ve not weighed it, so I guessed at the weight. Might be worth revisiting though.

The Klymit is not the holey one, which is why I figured on putting the insulation under it. As I have a quilt there’s nothing under me when I’m on it and it’s not an insulated mat.

That pack weight is fine with me. It’s comfortable and nothing cost a fortune. As long as you’re happy with your gear and get the use out of it, that’s the best thing IMO.

That’s a lot of coffee. I like coffee. That’s a great bit of advice though Nick, thanks.

The payoff will be pretty rubbish as I’ve only been here 3 years, so it’ll be well under a months’ salary equivalent, plus any notice. Makes things a bit more urgent.

I had thought about offering a Quality-for-hire service to SMEs whereby those who need some form of control over their processes and records but don’t necessary need a fulltime QM could pay for a package tailored to their needs, with me being on site for them a certain number of days a month, alongside an offering where I would get them through accreditation. Where I’d start with that is the big issue though.

At a guess 4kg

custom quilt (by some random off Ebay but to my spec) – 400g
Klymit Static V – 500g
MLD Speedmid – 650g
Luxe Minipeak inner – 600g
8 MSR Groundhog pegs – 100g
Homemade groundsheet – 30g
600ml pot, homemade stove & stand – 250g
Vaude pack – 800g
Leki ti pole – 250g
first aid kit – 300g

plus a few bits and bobs like water, headtorch, knife, clothes depending on weather. My down jacket is 400g btw. My axe is 1.3kg but I don’t often take it with me. 🙂

The speedmid is very spacious and very stable. I’ve slept under it without the inner in the summer, but having the inner makes it more comfortable in the winter. I also find that the mat could do with a space blanker or some similar insulation underneath it in the winter as that seems to be where I lose heat from.

That’s what I thought you meant! Best places to look online for work there?

Appreciated.*

*the email, not the “hilarity”…

Thanks for the advice. I am on Linkedin but I’m not a particularly good networking (I think, anyway) so I need to improve in that area.

I best get on with making a list of companies I want to work for and cold calling them too. Not something I’ve ever done before but sounds like it could work.

My redundancy will be statutory minimum so not a great deal, and IMO it’s already been decided, but the legalities mean we can’t be told just yet.

What’s in Sweden?

@deadkenny Does this mean that all the houses in the vicinity will have reduced heating bills as a result of this mast?

Erm, it’s primarily the Saudis who’ve kept oil production high, despite the calls from their OPEC partners to reign it in. This was to make it unprofitable for the smaller US producers (and force them out of the industry) and also to make it more difficult for Iran to enter the market after the sanctions were lifted. It’s certainly not only about affecting Russia.