Today I'll mainly be moaning about ...

[First_Lexus]

1 hour ago, Phil xxkr said:

You raise such interesting points Ed. Firstly, Latin and Greek are cornerstones of the English language so lots of people already know lots of words albeit not the grammar 😱. Vocational training doesn't seem such a bad idea, rather that than a degree in pantomime performance!. At least they are learning and who knows it may encourage curiosity and from there there is no end. As to dinosaurs well, their progeny are still here so making them one of the most successful species ever 👍

Agree that vocational training is a great idea, but only from the age of (say) 14 or 16. Before that, allow children to learn and explore. I’ve heard many youngsters tell me that they don’t like Shakespeare, or poetry, or history…but they’ve never really had the opportunity to experience it ‘just because.’ Tests and assessments and an obsession with ‘technology’ are making a decent education almost impossible - unless you can afford to pay for it, and that simply reinforces a ‘two-tier’ society.

13 minutes ago, Malc said:

as I say ........  a load of  bo--ll-cks quite frankly 

whoever could possibly imagine that either Latin or ancient Greek have any use whatsoever in this day and age really must be a dinosaur .......... the world's moved on ........  well, unless one's a specific type of scholar or tutor at some renowned university or other and needing the set skills to teach those other " dinosaurs" emerging into the modern world ...  the modern world we have and are in and whether we like it or not, the set language is whatsapp type speak with abbreviations and a lingo quite frankly I even have trouble comprehending when the grandkids send me stuff ..........  messages that is !

our world has moved on ..  get a grip .......

Malc

^^ Barbarian! 

[Moleman]

26 minutes ago, First_Lexus said:

Agree that vocational training is a great idea, but only from the age of (say) 14 or 16. Before that, allow children to learn and explore. I’ve heard many youngsters tell me that they don’t like Shakespeare, or poetry, or history…but they’ve never really had the opportunity to experience it ‘just because.’ Tests and assessments and an obsession with ‘technology’ are making a decent education almost impossible - unless you can afford to pay for it, and that simply reinforces a ‘two-tier’ society.

 

Education has for a long time now been about targets, exam results and tables. Children suffer as a result.

[Bluemarlin]

Whilst knowledge of Latin in itself may appear redundant, I've found that what little I remember from school has sometimes helped me understand something in other countries like France, Italy, Spain.

[Mincey]

54 minutes ago, Moleman said:

Education has for a long time now been about targets, exam results and tables. Children suffer as a result.

I was pleasantly surprised at the weekend to be asked for a Bob Marley CD by my 8 year old granddaughter. Why? She is being taught about him in her music lessons at school. I wish I'd had her music teacher when I was growing up. Next week she's learning about Napalm Death apparently.

[Las Palmas]

3 hours ago, Phil xxkr said:

How about at the airport John? 

3 weeks ago I was in the airport to receive a friend coming from Denmark. No control for me going in there, no control for my friend coming out of the airport. No control in hotel. After 2 weeks back to airport and home again without any kind of test going into the airport or onboard the plane or coming out of the airport in Denmark for my friend.

Believe money from tourists is more important than anything else.

Hospital here had 3 months ago one stock half full of Covid patients, now they have 2½ stock full (it is a big hospital); mostly not vaccinated or obese or other wise not healthy. To get a parking space I had to drive up to 5th stock, never happened before. I go there twice yearly because of skin cancer since 7 years, so I am used to going there.

So, to answer your question: Airport: no problems at all.

[Malc]

7 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

So, to answer your question

the UK Govt and NHS statistics show that of all the covid related deaths these days it is ( only ☠️ ) 0.5% that are  vaccinated and most of those vaccinated sad cases are of extremely vulnerable persons .  the remainder, some 99.5%  are deaths from covid of unvaccinated persons             FACT

Malc

[Phil xxkr]

22 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

3 weeks ago I was in the airport to receive a friend coming from Denmark. No control for me going in there, no control for my friend coming out of the airport. No control in hotel. After 2 weeks back to airport and home again without any kind of test going into the airport or onboard the plane or coming out of the airport in Denmark for my friend.

 

Believe money from tourists is more important than anything else.

 

Hospital here had 3 months ago one stock half full of Covid patients, now they have 2½ stock full (it is a big hospital); mostly not vaccinated or obese or other wise not healthy. To get a parking space I had to drive up to 5th stock, never happened before. I go there twice yearly because of skin cancer since 7 years, so I am used to going there.

 

So, to answer your question: Airport: no problems at all.

 

No, what I meant John was can you get your tests done at the airport? 

[Phil xxkr]

12 minutes ago, Malc said:

the UK Govt and NHS statistics show that of all the covid related deaths these days it is ( only ☠️ ) 0.5% that are  vaccinated and most of those vaccinated sad cases are of extremely vulnerable persons .  the remainder, some 99.5%  are deaths from covid of unvaccinated persons             FACT

Malc

These are NOT facts Malc, they are Government provided interpretations of what they believe you will accept as being factual. 

[Phil xxkr]

3 hours ago, Malc said:

as I say ........  a load of  bo--ll-cks quite frankly 

whoever could possibly imagine that either Latin or ancient Greek have any use whatsoever in this day and age really must be a dinosaur .......... the world's moved on ........  well, unless one's a specific type of scholar or tutor at some renowned university or other and needing the set skills to teach those other " dinosaurs" emerging into the modern world ...  the modern world we have and are in and whether we like it or not, the set language is whatsapp type speak with abbreviations and a lingo quite frankly I even have trouble comprehending when the grandkids send me stuff ..........  messages that is !

our world has moved on ..  get a grip .......

Malc

The verb "move" doesn't imply in which direction! Many of us would agree with the statement, that some "modern" trends are in fact backwards and not forwards. Your comment about your grandchildren supports this point, the pursuit of the lowest common denominator, good luck with that one in an increasingly fierce competitive environment. And for us hugely fortunate retired people with a love of gardening, for example, where would we be without Latin in identifying the genus, class and specific differences of the myriads of plant life? 🤔

[Las Palmas]

32 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

No, what I meant John was can you get your tests done at the airport? 

Do not think so. It seems not needed.

[Las Palmas]

45 minutes ago, Malc said:

the UK Govt and NHS statistics show that of all the covid related deaths these days it is ( only ☠️ ) 0.5% that are  vaccinated and most of those vaccinated sad cases are of extremely vulnerable persons .  the remainder, some 99.5%  are deaths from covid of unvaccinated persons             FACT

Malc

Sounds nice. Do you believe all the government tell you? I do not. I have my information from friends that work in hospital.

[dutchie01]

4 hours ago, Bluemarlin said:

Whilst knowledge of Latin in itself may appear redundant, I've found that what little I remember from school has sometimes helped me understand something in other countries like France, Italy, Spain.

Whatever happened to Esperanto??

[First_Lexus]

13 minutes ago, dutchie01 said:

Whatever happened to Esperanto??

Seem to remember we spent a term learning that…

[dutchie01]

23 hours ago, Bluemarlin said:

I'm sure there's truth to the working class thing Ed. I remember seeing old black and white clips of cyclists pouring out of factories at knocking off time. Likewise the policeman on his bike, but lets not forget the midwife on her bike too.

Funny how things go. Overhere biking has turned into a status symbol, like cars were in the past. Highly educated city folk dont want cars as too unpractical too expensive and bad for the environment. Instead they buy 4/5/6000 euro costing designer bikes. In the countryside bikes have always been transport nothing else. Groups of schoolchildren biking 15/20 km one way as school is in the next village is still common. Anyway, another short vid with some statistics of biking in The Netherlands. ( I honestly did not know it was that big but then again id do not even own a bicycle..)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Phil xxkr]

4 hours ago, Mincey said:

I was pleasantly surprised at the weekend to be asked for a Bob Marley CD by my 8 year old granddaughter. Why? She is being taught about him in her music lessons at school. I wish I'd had her music teacher when I was growing up. Next week she's learning about Napalm Death apparently.

Change schools 😱

[doog442]

2 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

 In the countryside bikes have always been transport nothing else. Groups of schoolchildren biking 15/20 km one way as school is in the next village is still common. 

 

My last cycling trip to the Netherlands was in 2019 camping all the way .Hook to Utrecht. Onto Vordern via Arnhem, into Germany via Winterswijk . I returned via Kleve. Nijmegan, Zaltbommel , Dordrecht , Rotterdam and Hook. I'm not sure I even went on a road but when I did drivers are a different breed than here....you are very lucky to have such a wonderful infrastructure.    

The school runs were enlightening.  Teenage lads simply didn't care they were on 'a sit up and beg ' as we call them ..with a basket of all things - just a mode of transport I guess. That would never happen here as it simply isn't 'cool' . Instead we still have a culture of school run mums clogging up the roads at 8am and 3pm. 

[royoftherovers]

2 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

Whatever happened to Esperanto??

I remember it distinctly. I was 9 going on 10 and Dad called it a Bl**dy Camel as it fell at the first fence at Aintree in the `56 National.😉

[Mincey]

On 1/7/2022 at 9:08 AM, Mincey said:

HMRC!

My 82 year old mother has just received a letter saying she's due a tax rebate. Can she log on to gov.uk/p800refund to claim it. No problem. I've been through all the rigmarole to create an account for her, but now it wants details of:

- her passport
- credit reference questions
- NI driving licence.

She does not have a valid passport or a NI driving licence. Does the taxman actually think things through? No wonder the Beatles didn't like him.

Guess it's a six week wait for the cheque now.

The cheque arrived yesterday so not quite six weeks. I suppose at this point I should say "Well done HMRC!". Now to find time to go to town to pay it in. That was a subtle moan by the way.

[Phil xxkr]

6 minutes ago, Mincey said:

The cheque arrived yesterday so not quite six weeks. I suppose at this point I should say "Well done HMRC!". Now to find time to go to town to pay it in. That was a subtle moan by the way.

🥳🥳🥳

[Phil xxkr]

10 hours ago, doog442 said:

My last cycling trip to the Netherlands was in 2019 camping all the way .Hook to Utrecht. Onto Vordern via Arnhem, into Germany via Winterswijk . I returned via Kleve. Nijmegan, Zaltbommel , Dordrecht , Rotterdam and Hook. I'm not sure I even went on a road but when I did drivers are a different breed than here....you are very lucky to have such a wonderful infrastructure.    

The school runs were enlightening.  Teenage lads simply didn't care they were on 'a sit up and beg ' as we call them ..with a basket of all things - just a mode of transport I guess. That would never happen here as it simply isn't 'cool' . Instead we still have a culture of school run mums clogging up the roads at 8am and 3pm. 

That's a lot of non sequiturs, from lauding a countries infrastructure to highlighting teenage lads only to school run mothers, no discernable connection whatsoever. Of much more interest might be explaining why the Netherlands has the second highest and increasing death rate for cyclists. Or why Ireland is first? 

[Malc]

51 minutes ago, Mincey said:

Now to find time to go to town to pay it in.

might even have trouble finding a bank still open these days !

Malc

[Malc]

34 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

non sequiturs

I thought these are tools for pruning rose bushes etc 

Malc

[doog442]

1 hour ago, Phil xxkr said:

That's a lot of non sequiturs, from lauding a countries infrastructure to highlighting teenage lads only to school run mothers, no discernable connection whatsoever. Of much more interest might be explaining why the Netherlands has the second highest and increasing death rate for cyclists. Or why Ireland is first? 

Notwithstanding the alleged non sequiturs directly relate to comments made in dutchies post to which I was replying I'd argue they're relevant and connected. He mentions children riding to school in rural areas, which from my experience includes teenage boys on bikes with baskets supporting his view that bicycles are seen simply as a mode of transport - nothing else. This is only possible because they have the infrastructure of dedicated cycling lanes or suitable infrastructure. This mass of children cycling results in less vehicles undertaking school journeys, so less school run mums. .

In relation to death rates if more people take part in an activity of any sort that carries a risk however slight, you're more than likely to have a higher accident or death rate. 

Netherlands death rate per miles ridden is far less than the UK, they have however seen an increase amongst older folk riding E bikes. This is blamed on the speed of the damned things (yes I'm not really a fan) and an over confidence in their ability to ride them. Having witnessed it I'd agree. 

[Malc]

19 minutes ago, doog442 said:

teenage boys on bikes with baskets

UK too has all this of course ...........  doesn't anyone watch David Jason  ........Open All Hours 

or maybe Mr Jones, Dads Army .......... on his Butcher's bike etc

c'mon guys, lighten up on all this ... cyclists will always get mown down by cars and vans and trucks  .......  it's called " sport " surely 

Malc

[doog442]

8 minutes ago, Malc said:

c'mon guys, lighten up on all this ... cyclists will always get mown down by cars and vans and trucks  .......  it's called " sport " surely 

Malc

Can we leave Rochester High Street out of it malc ... I'll stop with the teenage boys and basket thing, someone might think I have an unhealthy obsession with it🤣..

Anyway I think we've done it to death now.