WCMUT....what cheered me up today

woof woof said:
I'd have asked for one. Are you sure he wasn't just some random bloke waiting for an appointment who crept into the office?
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You jest or maybe not BUT..years ago..in the late 70's I had occasion to visit a large mental hospital (not as a patient) I don't think they call them that now do they, if they still exist ?...and as I drove to the entrance where there was a small painted roundabout on the ground a man was directing traffic..mainly cars. It was quite a busy place and I slowed down wondering what he was doing..or rather why. He signalled for me to park in a nearby slot. Anyway, I did that, got out of the car and walked the 15m or so to the entrance at which point out came a doctor.. and yes.. wearing a white coat...who spoke kindly to the man, caught hold of his arm and took him inside. I told matron (I think she was a matron)about it and she said he was a patient and liked to direct traffic. A couple of year later I watched the wonderful film 'One Flew Over a Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and immediately thought of this patient.
 
Learning that by NOT getting another "deal" on my power, I was transferred to the standard rate for a few months, which is currently much cheaper than any offered deal due to the price being capped at the moment. (Thank you Martin from the telly money programme). Seems that I will get stung in April but it should be warming up by then! I felt quite sorry for the Indian chap who dealt with my "selfie" meter reading because the (not so) smart meter failed to send any info through!
 
by all accounts the standard - capped tarrif - will be cheaper than any fix that was avaialble from October onwards if you factor in the amount you would be currently overpaying.
Its crap what ever way you look at it but the price Capped tarrif is the best option
 
JohnC6 said:
You jest or maybe not BUT..years ago..in the late 70's I had occasion to visit a large mental hospital (not as a patient) I don't think they call them that now do they, if they still exist ?..
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Replaced with what is laughingly called care in the community I think :(.
 
WCMUT?
Receiving my water bill statement.

It seems that I am 32 odd quid in credit over the past year, and my next payments are going to be £18 / month for the rest of the year.
It also surprised me as I was expecting a rise, due to the amount of water I used last year, topping up the pond due to evaporation,
in the heat and winds of last summer. Also same goes for the increased amount I used on the Bonsai's.
 
Discovered we can pay for our shopping with Nectar points! :naughty:
We'd been wondering what to do with them... :tumbleweed:
 
Having my car back after a double belt change, service and MOT. Not cheap but less than Mrs Nod's XK8 used to cost her every year.
 
I finally managed (near enough) to figure out that Nikon D50 camera, just waiting for delivery of the charger from Amazon (according to the tracking it's due around tea time), also I've just had a very successful Zoom meeting to show the ID documents for the DBS disclosure for my new job, hopefully that will come back clear soon and I'll be able to start working, Lord knows I could do with the Loot.
 
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sphexx said:
Replaced with what is laughingly called care in the community I think :(.
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Yes, that's correct. I recall Mrs T doing that .The community care reforms outlined in the 1990 Act came into effect in April 1993 and whilst it might have been a good idea for some there were those who should not have been placed in the community not least because there was no monitoring to ensure they took their prescription drugs. The inevitable outcome of this were tragic incidents like this (Daily Mail link below) which occurred in 1992. The reason I recall it so readily is that the victim of the attack was stabbed through the eye which was one of several stabs into his face. It made me shudder.

Jayne Zito, the wife of the victim, Jonathan Zito, subsequently lead a campaign and set up a charity, the Zito Trust, to raise awareness of the problems and urge reform such as compulsory prescription drugs and to stop such dangerous patients (the offender was schizophrenic) being released into the community along with many other measures. She placed no blame on the attacker, Christopher Clunis but wholly on the authorities. The motivation for the belated Care in the Community policy was an exposé in 1967 in the News of the World of the scandalous way in which in-patients in Ely hospital, Cardiff, were treated. These hospitals were often from the Victorian era , the so-called Asylums. Here's a 2016 'Wales Online' article about that exposé.

www.walesonline.co.uk

Untold stories from notorious Ely Hospital heard for first time

The institution, for people with learning difficulties, was accused of the 'endemic maltreatment' of its patients in the 1960s
www.walesonline.co.uk www.walesonline.co.uk

About the attack. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...than-Zito-set-moved-high-security-prison.html

Jayne Zito ended her campaign in 2009. The reporting of that by the Guardian sets out the reforms she wanted enacted.

www.theguardian.com

Jayne Zito: why it's time to end mental health campaign

Widow of man killed by a schizophrenic says that new legislation means her charity's work is done
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
Cobra said:
WCMUT?
Receiving my water bill statement.

It seems that I am 32 odd quid in credit over the past year, and my next payments are going to be £18 / month for the rest of the year.
It also surprised me as I was expecting a rise, due to the amount of water I used last year, topping up the pond due to evaporation,
in the heat and winds of last summer. Also same goes for the increased amount I used on the Bonsai's.
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,
You must be on a meter, then ? Our water company Severn Trent wrote to customers urging them to have a meter fitted but the cynic I am..lol..thought that if they're recommending it then it can only be in their interests. Was your home already fitted with a meter when you moved in or did you have it fitted..if the latter why did you think it was more economical ? We've had no more requests from the compoany for a few years now.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Discovered we can pay for our shopping with Nectar points! :naughty:
We'd been wondering what to do with them... :tumbleweed:
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We save them up for Christmas / special occassions. Can convert them to ebay vouchers or spend in argos too.
 
broc said:
We save our Nectar points all year & use them to shop for the December Seasonal festival lunch & drinks......
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We do that, too and so far have saved the points for 12 months and spent them on a big shop at Helston on our annual Christmas/New Year break in Cornwall.It's amazing how the points mount up. It's amounted to £40 some years for us.

There's now an option to contribute to a chosen,listed, charity. https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/sainsburys-announces-change-nectar-card-6550441
 
JohnC6 said:
,
You must be on a meter, then ? Our water company Severn Trent wrote to customers urging them to have a meter fitted but the cynic I am..lol..thought that if they're recommending it then it can only be in their interests. Was your home already fitted with a meter when you moved in or did you have it fitted..if the latter why did you think it was more economical ? We've had no more requests from the compoany for a few years now.
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In 2019 we reduced our water bill from almost £80 a month to £30 per month after having a meter fitted. The Water company (Northumbria Water) gave us 2 years to decide if we wanted to stick with a metered supply or switch back to the charge based upon rateable value.
 
JohnC6 said:
Yes, that's correct. I recall Mrs T doing that .The community care reforms outlined in the 1990 Act came into effect in April 1993 and whilst it might have been a good idea for some there were those who should not have been placed in the community not least because there was no monitoring to ensure they took their prescription drugs. The inevitable outcome of this were tragic incidents like this (Daily Mail link below) which occurred in 1992. The reason I recall it so readily is that the victim of the attack was stabbed through the eye which was one of several stabs into his face. It made me shudder.

Jayne Zito, the wife of the victim, Jonathan Zito, subsequently lead a campaign and set up a charity, the Zito Trust, to raise awareness of the problems and urge reform such as compulsory prescription drugs and to stop such dangerous patients (the offender was schizophrenic) being released into the community along with many other measures. She placed no blame on the attacker, Christopher Clunis but wholly on the authorities. The motivation for the belated Care in the Community policy was an exposé in 1967 in the News of the World of the scandalous way in which in-patients in Ely hospital, Cardiff, were treated. These hospitals were often from the Victorian era , the so-called Asylums. Here's a 2016 'Wales Online' article about that exposé.

www.walesonline.co.uk

Untold stories from notorious Ely Hospital heard for first time

The institution, for people with learning difficulties, was accused of the 'endemic maltreatment' of its patients in the 1960s
www.walesonline.co.uk www.walesonline.co.uk

About the attack. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...than-Zito-set-moved-high-security-prison.html

Jayne Zito ended her campaign in 2009. The reporting of that by the Guardian sets out the reforms she wanted enacted.

www.theguardian.com

Jayne Zito: why it's time to end mental health campaign

Widow of man killed by a schizophrenic says that new legislation means her charity's work is done
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
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Meh, at nearly 46 I am nowhere near old enough to go in a care Home, although with both my Parents being over 70, eventually I might have to... At the moment though I have support from a Nottingham based company called Choice Support UK every day except Monday and Thursday for social activities, shopping and general personal care as I can't safely run a bath (well I can but Mum doesn't like me to run the bath when I'm on my own, just because I once flooded the House back when I lived at Home, I put the bath on, went in the bedroom playing N64, half an hour later the Bathroom flooded!)
 
broc said:
In 2019 we reduced our water bill from almost £80 a month to £30 per month after having a meter fitted. The Water company (Northumbria Water) gave us 2 years to decide if we wanted to stick with a metered supply or switch back to the charge based upon rateable value.
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That's a great saving. I'll look into it. We have a large rear garden and a medium-sized front garden and the pond needs topping up in summer months and that's 19' x 10'. When I say, top up..just a couple of inches. Is your consumption mainly within your home ?
 
We went to a meter as soon as we were offered free installation. It's just us, no kids so we close to halved our bill.
 
JohnC6 said:
That's a great saving. I'll look into it. We have a large rear garden and a medium-sized front garden and the pond needs topping up in summer months and that's 19' x 10'. When I say, top up..just a couple of inches. Is your consumption mainly within your home ?
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We have a 4 bedroom detached house with 1/4 acre garden laid mostly to lawn. There are two of us in the house now. My wife waters her flower beds & greenhouse, we rarely ever water the lawn. I also wash our cars & motorhome & pressure wash our 160 sq m block paved driveway from time to time.

Our Water Company had a calculator on their website that let me work out what our water consumption might be.

Based upon their numbers it looks like we are using 20% -30% more than their average '2 person' household, but I am not too worried.
 
We bought rainwater diverters and catch barrels (modified bulk liquid barrels 200 litres approx) which we use for washing the cars and summer garden watering and saved a mint on using my hosepipe on a meter. They actually overflow when it rains. Just fit a tap to the bottom of the barrel and stand the barrel on pallets or a base built high enough to get a bucket or a watering can underneath. For car washing, I attach my pressure washer inlet directly to the tap and it pulls the water through with no problems (no streaks on the car due to hard water either!).
 
broc said:
We have a 4 bedroom detached house with 1/4 acre garden laid mostly to lawn. There are two of us in the house now. My wife waters her flower beds & greenhouse, we rarely ever water the lawn. I also wash our cars & motorhome & pressure wash our 160 sq m block paved driveway from time to time.

Our Water Company had a calculator on their website that let me work out what our water consumption might be.

Based upon their numbers it looks like we are using 20% -30% more than their average '2 person' household, but I am not too worried.
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I'll see if Severn Trent have the same calculator. A quarter of an acre is great to have. That's 1012 Square metres . Our back garden is half that at 525 Sq metres.,lawn mainly with only two borders. I grassed up to the right side boundary fence. I only do the drive every couple of years despite travellers wanting to do it three times a year..Lol. I thanked one one day and said that it's the only exercise I get and the docctor said I need to excercise more. He wasn't sure if I was being 'funny' with him or not. I was. :)

Martin Lewis, consumer Guru, says that if there are less people in the house than the number of bedrooms or the same number then check out meters. We also have a 4-bed and just my wife and myself so probably worth a look.
 
JohnC6 said:
,
You must be on a meter, then ? Our water company Severn Trent wrote to customers urging them to have a meter fitted but the cynic I am..lol..thought that if they're recommending it then it can only be in their interests. Was your home already fitted with a meter when you moved in or did you have it fitted..if the latter why did you think it was more economical ? We've had no more requests from the company for a few years now.
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They installed meters here years ago but you had to accept, no pressure ( pun intended) as a family of 4 on the basic tariff it was costing just short of £600 a year. Once the nest was empty and it was just me, I went to live chat (Anglia water) they gave me projections over the next year, and I had 2 years to revert if I wanted to. As it happens the person grossly over estimated ( about £33 / month iirc) that price has continued to drop over the years, as above £18/ month for this year and £21 for 2023. If you are in credit they text / email and offer you a refund on the balance, or reduced payments for the current year. ( my meter is read in Feb) I'd certainly contact them and ask the question. There may already be a meter for your property, but not connected.
 
I just got an email from a company called Pine Media, they've announced that full Fibre's available on my road NOW, up to 900 Mb/s speeds for £25 a month with no line rental, very tempted to sign up but I'm tied in with Plusnet till May and I know for a fact Dad won't let me pay off about another 3 and half months of contract to get out of it.
 
MrRichAllen1976 said:
I just got an email from a company called Pine Media, they've announced that full Fibre's available on my road NOW, up to 900 Mb/s speeds for £25 a month with no line rental, very tempted to sign up but I'm tied in with Plusnet till May and I know for a fact Dad won't let me pay off about another 3 and half months of contract to get out of it.
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I think it’s near £50 for 900 Mb isn’t it? £25 looks like 40Mb?
 
Chevin said:
Scotland gubbing England at Murrayfield ... magic :D

Scotlands first back to back Calcutta Cup since 1984
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Good game though! Just showed why hookers throw in - they can't catch for toffee!!!
 
The final whistle was the most excited I’d seen the wife since I let her off the chain at the cooker.
 
MrRichAllen1976 said:
I just got an email stating I've PASSED the DBS check that was started circa last Thursday when I showed the ID documents on a Zoom meeting.. Just waiting for the certificate to be posted and then hopefully I can start the new job!
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Congrats!
 
WCMUT?

I "lost" my massive female Boa towards the end of last summer.

After I lot of thought I decided that I will get another snake but something a lot smaller.

I opted for a couple of Corn snakes, at about a meter or so.
They guy was sure they weren't a true pair, but couldn't say which sex.

I went into clean them out earlier, and one of them was wrapped around 6 eggs!
They don't incubate eggs so there is a chance there is more to come.
I'll find out tomorrow.
Obviously I left them undisturbed.
I've no idea if they are furtile or not but
I'll move them to a small "incubator" soon and candle them in a couple of weeks.
 
Cobra said:
WCMUT?

I "lost" my massive female Boa towards the end of last summer.

After I lot of thought I decided that I will get another snake but something a lot smaller.

I opted for a couple of Corn snakes, at about a meter or so.
They guy was sure they weren't a true pair, but couldn't say which sex.

I went into clean them out earlier, and one of them was wrapped around 6 eggs!
They don't incubate eggs so there is a chance there is more to come.
I'll find out tomorrow.
Obviously I left them undisturbed.
I've no idea if they are furtile or not but
I'll move them to a small "incubator" soon and candle them in a couple of weeks.
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Rather you than me pal! I'm scared of Snakes in general, I couldn't even watch the trailer for Snakes on a Plane without being terrified.
 
MrRichAllen1976 said:
Rather you than me pal! I'm scared of Snakes in general, I couldn't even watch the trailer for Snakes on a Plane without being terrified.
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I don't blame you, Samuel L Jackson's a scary motherf***** :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
Cobra said:
wrapped around 6 eggs!
They don't incubate eggs so there is a chance there is more to come.
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And as suspected 6 more this morning.
What's the saying? cheaper by the dozen?
 
Cobra said:
And as suspected 6 more this morning.
What's the saying? cheaper by the dozen?
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Fry half and hatch the others? I guess they’ll taste disappoint ly similar to hens eggs, as I found with turtle eggs* :( .

* Before anyone says anything, this was in 1957.
 
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sphexx said:
Fry half and hatch the others?
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LOL I've moved them now, it seems there is a bakers dozen.
I've no idea if they are fertile but I'll give them my best shot ...
 
Buggers to crack open though...

Good luck with the raising.
 
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