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Owens88

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Posts posted by Owens88

  1. Some considerations:

    The radiant heaters produce 'nice' heat for anything within line of sight of them ( a bit like coal fires. Does anybody else remembre the doctor visiting and standing with backside to fire?).

    If you want a general 'air heat' you might need to supplement the radiants with a convector.
  2. Going back to the OP.

    I don't see a problem with an identity card , or CCTV in streets or classrooms etc.

    The downside is not the collection of data it is the misuse (or abuse, I may be confused) of it.

    If I get caught picking my nose on a public street, or saying 'bluddy' in a classroom, so be it. If a knifer gets caught (either situation) hooray.

    If we were all DNA'd at birth then there would be no connotation that 'having a dna record means you are a bad'un' and if it solved more crimes more quickly then it might save money and help deter further crime -

    EXCEPT if having been proven guilty the consequence is so lame that it is no deterrent.

    But that is a systemic problem (in schools and real life) not a 'detection mechanism' problem.
  3. Cooments re a report from quillan. Mine have a > in front if I have done it right.

    Quillan

    Posts 4,705 Re: How do you fix the UK

    Well here is a few of my more controversial ideas.

    Compulsory introduction of ID cards, this allows the government to know exactly who's in the country and will weed out people who are not entitled to be there (among other things).

    >I agree. I just don't like the implementation methods/costs.

    Stop the NHS from being sued. Injury and death of patients to become criminal offences and not civil. Should free up nearly 1/3 of the NHS budget held back for litigation. How many people do you hear on the TV saying it's not the money its the justice they want.

    >I agree. The defence costs are ridiculous and an open system of 'compensation' is better than 'retribution'

    Immediate but temporary halt to immigration. Only people allowed to emigrate to the UK should be those who can perform jobs for which there is nobody else to do rather like Canada, Australia and the USA. If you have a verified job to go to then you gain entry.

    >Agreed, except for true asylum seekers. (Byword. Apparently the accord for asylum seekers is to deal with them at first contact. How come they arrive at Britain having passed through several countries including France? Perhaps some other countries should live up to their pledges)

    Get rid of the ASBO system, parents become legally liable for any costs caused by damage by those previously covered by ASBO's. Children who continue to commit offences should be taken in to care. The ID card or lack of it as it would only be available to 18's and over can be used to dramatically reduce under age people buying booze. Much harsher penalties for those who sell or buy booze to under age people. Immediate and permanent removal of off sales licence plus lets say £30k fine for shops and a £10k fine or/and 2 years prison sentence (depending on number of offences) for those caught buying booze for under age people.

    >Agreed

    Bring back PE and games at schools, if the schools don't have playing fields anymore then local stadiums or recreational parks to be used.

    >Actually there is more of PE than the news gives credit for. It is still patchy. I was on the Bristol, Downs last weekend and it was full of playing pitches. In my own semi-rural area there is not enough pitches for the demand. (Charnwood Leicestershire)

    Bring back the death penalty and life sentences, mandatory for 1st degree murder. Modern DNA testing can now determine in many cases if somebody has committed murder and the death penalty can be used. For cases where it is not 100% possible to prove the person committed the offence and/or the jury does not have a 100% majority then a life sentence should be used, life meaning life.

    >Life meaning life (unless new evidence) Yes.

    Withdrawal of UK armed forces from current global conflicts which are nothing to do with us.

    >How does one emphasise ABSOLUTELY AGREE ?

    Make it illegal for hospitals to use agency nurses. That means there will be no jobs for nurses trained by the state who leave and come back as agency nurses. They either work direct for the NHS or not at all. Nurses to be nurses and not mini doctors like under the '2000' scheme. Contract cleaning labour only to be used in hospitals for common areas, nurses to have their original duties returned to them like keeping wards clean etc as well as the nursing the patients. Bring back matrons.

    >Contract is more complex than you make out, can have benefits to all. Standards yes.

    Making nurses nurse, Yes.

    Bring back one point of responsibility AND authority (e.g. matrons) yes.

    Massive rise in VAT registration limit. No employers national insurance for the first three years of a companies life from start up. Not tax payments either. No bank charges for start up companies for the first three years either. This will give incentives for people to start companies and hopefully they will grow and create jobs thus reducing unemployment.

    >Laudable but.... Improving employmemt in UK is largely about attracting big companies. Incentives to smaller employers are also valid for social reasons but the higher incentives should go to those who can grow to above 20 employees.

    Pass legislation to make it illegal for the government to lend money to banks etc.

    >How about being radical. Each and Every exec Director of a bank is liable for the first £100 million of losses? That way they might pay attention to the job rather than their ego/property/mistresses.

    Higher rates of unemployment payments for those who loose their jobs but on a sliding scale. Starting with full salary and reducing by 20% per year. Free training to those that are unemployed linked to industries requirements for type of jobs needing to be filled.

    >All statistics suggest that 'per year' is too slow. If you ain't cracked it in 3 months widen your field, 6 months widen again. I think that the mortgage subsidy should actually stay longer (2-4years?) as an incentive for people to downtrade in salary in response to the market.

    Abolish University fees, but set the entry qualification higher. Double the fees for international students. Charge companies a one off modest fee for employing a graduate as they are gaining an advantage by employing them (they didn't have to pay for all their training) and its to the advantage generally that industry gets to employ them (with the exception of start up companies).

    >That is so evidently common sense. I applaud you !

    Sorry guys. The input box I have to deal with is about 60 characters width and has no formatting options.
  4. quote user="Quillan" Why should they be allowed to walk away after all the damage they have done. end quote

    I love the principle.

    Could we insist that the bankers who gambled using other people's money(while getting paid rather princely amounts themselves) stayed on (at a moderate remuneration) until they fixed things, then be shipped off to an island somewhere where they can indulge in mutual congratulation.

    I speak as a tax payer, a defrauded shareholder and a weary citizen feeling that as long as cronies are allowed to play games amongst themselves using my money then any personal endeavours are almost invalidated.
  5. Quote - This government was I recalled left 30 billion in credit by the last conserative governement. We also had one of the best pensions system in Europe.

    I may be wrong but I thought that one of the first things that New Labour did was to repay a whole load of national debt - so as to avoid paying all the b*** interest. I don't see how that squares away with £30 billion in credit. However I haven't bothered looking it up.
  6. I 'think' that the systems that accumulate the amount of time you are on involve some interaction with a 'management' suite or server; radius or other names.

    So the firewall may be stopping you talking back to the server ? You might have to put some destination in your 'allowed' list.

    As you can see I am not a teccie.

    I presume that your bar gives you free wifi via a wep key or similar (or your mac address is recognised 'the usual sir?') .

    I am guessing that the time charging mechanism at the Mairie is going a bit further than that, the fact that the ethernet connection has the same problem is a strong indicator that it is not a wifi problem ! Hence my opening comment.

    Good luck
  7. phew. £100? Was it a massive party?

     

    You would have to have 14 people in my apartment (more than twice its maximum) to get that 'surcharge'.

     

    However if it was for a dozen or more that probably that gite wasn't cheap anyway so  £100 may hust have been a bagatel to you -:)

     

    Being more serious. We recognise that all coming by air will need bedding and towels. I wouldn't dream of renting without offering them (though the Residence du Canigou in Vernet could not offer bedding when I wanted to stay there, but hey they have now closed down). BUT the car travellers (particularly French and Dutch) like to bring their own.

    Therefore we have a small extra charge which is flagged up on the price page (not merely after booking) and in any price correspondence. No hidden extras.

     

     

     

     

  8. [quote user="chessie"]

    I've had enough - I really and truly have had enough of France.

    .......

    ..........


    I've complained and moaned on this site before about bonfires.   We don't feel we can complain - either to them or the Mairie - because our French isn't good enough.   [/quote]

    Pardon my emphasis. But I think I see the problem.

    My French is not good, but I haven't chosen to live there. I still made sure it was good enough for several functions, and talking to a neighbour or Mairie would indeed be one of them.

    Would you have sympathy for,  lets say for example, an Indian Maa'm In UK who had never learnt English but felt 'done down' by a neighbour yet never complained?

    John

     

  9. We require names of tenants as well as numbers. (ages if children).

     

    In fact we have just had one (very moaning) renter who abused us by adding on one teenager. Am still debating whether to apply the extra costs (linen etc. as in  the rental agreement) and issue a censorious note about taking the mickey.

    Regards

     

     

  10.  Stan Streason wrote:

    The problem with most gites or self catering acommodation is that ultimately the furniture and quality of interior decor is not as good as at home


    That might indeed be the case in your property, but not in mine. As we live next door, the rental property is an extension of our home.
    The property I rent out is not furnished with lower quality items, but with furniture which was in our house in the UK.

    Similarly, the pictures on the wall, the books on the shelves and the other other knicknacks are all personal items (in the case of the pictures, they were shot and printed by Mr Clair in his days as owner and manager of a pro photo lab).
    I bought new beds, new sofas and new chairs from Ikea to ensure the maximum comfort at a price my business wallet could sustain.

     

    In fairness you may both be saying the same thing. As you buy new the best stuff will migrate into your real home and a cascade from there into the 'business' home might result.    Not lower quality per se (as it was bought for you originally)  but perhaps not kept to the cutting edge of style/condition as your main home.

     

    We too buy for comfort. We don't live next door and we do visit and use it, so no cascade effect. One of our despairs over the years is that rental accomodation rarely has good seating and lighting (I read more on holiday than at home ...!). Our places have both.

     

    Other posters have mentioned the need to be practical, provide a speed and coherency with replacements (e.g. Ikea etc) at a budget. I think that is realistic.

     

    As for wow factors. Ours is the view. The rest is good but not wow (unless you are wowed by LOTS AND LOTS of books in 2 languages plus toys for several ages)

     

    In fact we once sayed in a 'right dump' in Calella  and had a very big initial disappointment (tears in fact). But the view over the bay was tremendous.

  11. In my experience finding the village or hamlet is not the problem - it's actually finding the house when you get there.  I don't have sat nav as I can read a map perfectly adequately - but it is amazing how many times instructions leave out the last final important piece of information eg, what side of the road is it on, does it have a number (and if so can it be seen from the car, or do you have to walk up and down), what colour paintwork, style of house etc - or other distinguishing features.

     

     

    We send a map with annotations, a sketch map in very high detail and photo showing the aproach and where to park for unloading.

    Cheers

     

    John

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