norfolk dumpling

There was an interesting documentary on Herpes as while ago where they have weekly auctions of undelivered parcels - here you bid for the contents of a large plastic box and take pot luck on the value. Successful bidders usually make a profit: some a very good profit if there is tech included but the reporter who investigated followed up on the failure to deliver information and in almost every case was able to locate address and person. Apparently their failure % is within industry levels of acceptability but still represents hundreds of thousands of disappointed customers annually.

Apparently we have agreed to a further £30m! And I understand - see my earlier post - unaccompanied under 18s are our responsibility and we support them until they are 25. Under 16s are fostered -at huge expense - so the £30m is a good deal if the Frogs 'stem the tide'

It's who registers the vehicle in the first instance I believe. If you are a company VAT etc then twin cabs get N1 category and same rules as for vans Ie speed restricted on non-motorways ie 50mph single carriageway or 60mph dual carriageway. If you are an individual and not VAT reg. then you get M1 and can drive as a car. Speed cameras differentiate - some of my colleagues got caught when we had to get 1,000 hired twin cabs to the military a few years ago. Confusing to see one going passed you at 70+ when you are sure you cannot exceed 60.

Did I hear correctly if you arrive on our shores and you are under 25 you are automatically considered for UK residency? I was driving and caught a news article where that was the opening sentence and then the debate ensued about "...all young men, all lacking any papers, all claiming not to speak English" etc etc which seemed to tie in with the initial statement that nearly caused me to crash my car. If this is correct then get the Navy out there pushing the boats back at once.

It's now looking a little more sinister than I originally though. It seems that my employers are using our zero hours t's & c's to run down driver numbers (and possibly getting £1k bonus for those remaining!). The work isn't there so we are told off furlough phone your manager. We phone manager who says yes some work offered to a handful of drivers and we will contact you if work increases. Ok so when? In a months time! So no money from government and no paid work so hardship for drivers (not me as this is fill-in work in my retirement) but for others this will be a major problem.

Myself and a few colleagues have been told to report for work - we are off furlough. However having contacted the office manager it seems there is little work for us to do and those who remained are sitting around or doing short days. This is zero hours work so it appears company may be taking the £1,000 'return to work' bonus but then not supplying any paid work. I was up for redundancy but this would cost them money. Is this a fiddle?

Nothing changes - 50+ years ago my dad was working as a carpenter on the University of East Anglia and he, a skilled tradesman, was very upset to be forced to use shorter screws to hang heavy doors (dozens of them) than he knew from experience were necessary. This was to speed up process. Two years later he was earning good (better) money re-hanging those doors!

I think some companies are playing games here! The one I work for has taken back a few staff but they are working their nuts off and multi-skilling ie doing a lot outside their job descriptions and another big multi-national where orders have picked up quickly still have a high % furloughed and the ones re-employed are suffering. I realise there is huge uncertainty but this is wrong and may change the workplace for a long time.

No blame on Social Services - it was dreadful treatment by our local hospital ie returning the old fellow home with cannula in his arm, claiming they had carried out various tests and he was ok (he was oh so far from OK) and missing infected boils. This when for 10yrs an extensive care package had been put in place to ensure their wish to die at home could be met. Thank god for the guys in the ambulance!

I think you are missing the point - he had extensive care in place but hospital tried to ride rough shod over this and family's wishes and put him in a home. Ambulance paramedics realised he needed both more treatment and care and arranged for this.

Whilst our hospital were hopeless here, which was no surprise, the stars were the ambulance team who, when they brought f-i-l home, realise he still needed medical attention (and sorted this locally) and arranged for him to have a hospital-style bed and other kit. This they did in conjunction with Social Services (who should have already arranged!!) plus they recommended extra nursing care which with a GP visit significantly improved his life, his wife's burden and of course reduced pressure on my wife. We are currently 'shielding' our disabled lad who also is a long-term cancer sufferer so there was a few days where the pressure on our family was huge - all because of a foolish understanding of an instruction to 'clear the decks' before the C19 wave hits us locally.

I've walnut, chestnut and 4 decent sized hazel bushes and I live between two woods and a water meadow so wildlife opportunities are endless. I've watched pheasants and they concentrate on buried hazel nuts. Just noticed this morning something has taken a fancy to water lily leaves. Only ones close to side which a quick google suggests Mutjac! Don't you love nature.

Yep although my lawn too is being ruined by pheasants digging up the hundreds of nuts squirrels have buried last autumn/winter! Watched one little sod try to bury a bramley apple after he had hidden a few nuts! He disappeared before the airgun was ready. Isn't nature wonderful!? AND just to make our lives more 'interesting' this little fellow pruned our pear trees last year....

And..... A few years ago we were awoken by a spotty removing a large section of the barge board in our 17th century cottage. The sound, when you are fast asleep, is a bit like a road drill attacking your house. This evil deed was to get at baby blue tits! He or his mates, removed all the house martin nests from my neighbours house AND then they started removing thatch from another neighbours property. There is a point where tolerance levels are exceeded!!

No doubt there was a panic to clear the decks of oldies but my father-in-law had a minor injury, had care in place, did not have C19 and was returned with cannula in place and the charge nurse lied about the tests. This is Norfolk where C19 rates very low so very very poor how our local hospital behaved. The ambulance guys admitted the ward concerned - a specialist non-C19 area - was very quiet and so better care should have been the case no no care. What, of course, they wouldn't have known was other matters which were putting my wife under huge pressure which I must say pushed us very close to talking to lawyers. Even now this has left a scar - my wife was an NHS manager and former nurse and was horrified by the dreadful treatment.