Monday 11th August – Keeping On Keeping On

Well, that's another week gone by then.

By 7am Tomorrow morning I'd have finished this weeks work – that's 8 twelve hour shifts, so I'd have worked 96 hours straight through – plus the travelling of course, so all told, my shift this time around was about 110 hours – thank God the usual Sunday Knights Hill Caravan bedlam isn't so bad at the moment.

I'm struggling to remember what a 35 hour week's like to work.

I think I might have picked up a casual part time job as a result of last weeks blog, and although the work's on an as required basis, the occasional extra earnings will make a difference to my financial life!
And it's a bit on the physical side as well, working in the fresh air, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Workwise, nothing to report really. We had this really stroppy lorry driver come in last night who was in a hell of a rush to get back on the road. Stroppy attitude, full of aggression, for which there was no need. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall of his cab when he ripped all his hoses and air pipes off when he drove away from his tank as he dropped it – and forgot to disconnect all the pipes from his tank first in his rush to get away. Immediate lorry breakdown – the driver ended up delaying himself almost 3 hours. Oops.

Have You Ever.....
used one of those commercial hole punches? You know, one of those that hold hndreds and thousands and thousands of little, circular bits of paper in the bottom? At work, ours is located on the front window sill, as this is where we do most of our paperwork. Have you ever picked one of these hole punches up and the bottom piece of rubber drops off? By an open window?

Cue the scene – I have just picked up the hole punch, the bottom has dropped off, and there are thousands and thousands of white circular bits of paper being blown around the office with the wind coming in through the window. Took me a good hour and half to clean the office to save me being told off by the cleaner!

And of course, it always has to happen when there's “customers” in the office as well doesn't it?

Ah well, keeping on keeping on. 7 days off starting 7am Tuesday and I'm looking forward to the break

What can I say when words are not enough?

July was a really difficult month! So many sudden changes! And now, we’ve started a new month.

And in the words of that TV advert, yesterdays gone. Today's a new day. A chance to start over again. So, let's go for it!

As well as the upset over the new employers last month, I have to report that Middle Daughter has broken up with her boyfriend and has, temporarily, moved back in here with us. Complete with dog.

Which has greatly upset the family cat, who moved out for a few days, finding refuge at a neighbour's up the road. I think we went through a week or so when we didn't see her, but she's started to move back in now as the House Manager now leaves a bedroom window open for her, with the bedroom door kept firmly shut, keeping the dog out. Gradually, the cat is spending more time in her sanctuary again, but it does come with a bit of a downside.

She doesn't come home most nights until midnight-ish. As she climbs in through the window, she walks onto the windowsill, making her way around the bedroom over various dressers and tables and stuff; quickly darting across the bed when the tables run out.

So occasionally, we are woken by the sound of a poltergeist; with various bottles, combs, brushes and ornaments being knocked off the tables, waking us up with a start. Then, with a minimum delay of just seconds, she darts across the bed as we're just starting to make sense of all the noise.

And this is often repeated at 3 or 4am when she decides she wants to go out again!

And we've discovered the dog has a bit of a door fetish; she barks like crazy when someone shuts a door somewhere, every time the doors shut. Especially at night.

So now, the Household is taking on it's own sense of madness.

And, on the normal side of things, I've paid the mortgage last month, including the additional payment, so I've kept the house another month. Throughout last month, I've been looking for part time work; and have, literally, emailed every single agency in and around Kings Lynn. And you know, I've only had one reply, and that didn't amount to anything either. See? Because of my shift pattern, I can't even work for an agency who, by default, are always short of staff.

So, it's got to be the car boots and markets, hasn't it? This is the only way I can get extra money and being able to drop it if overtime comes up at work. From my point of view, there's just no other way. And has the News Of The World have said today, the "normal" family household budget's going up by £3,000 a year because of the extra costs of food, heat, light and petrol. So the situation's rapidly getting worse.

And I'm the only one who can, and must, stop this from getting even worse.

What can I Say Now Words Are Not Enough?

I find this blog really hard to write. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end?

I think the wife has fallen out with me, gradually, over time perhaps, but it's definitely happened. There's an hell of an attitude here now, I am sometimes ignored, sometimes too much of a effort to listen to, am now NEVER told anything about my family (not even that Middle Daughter was moving back in with us), and I think, becoming just a liability, an irritation, a thorn in every one's side around here.

It's not my imagination - it's really happening. I've noticed things "not quite right" on and off for, well, for ages really, certainly since before last Christmas. I can't put it into a single word what's going on, but how long can I pretend everything's OK when the wife, laughing, joking and being brilliant with the neighbours, is exactly, 100% the opposite, with me, often within seconds as the front door closes? I told Middle daughter, months ago, not knowing she was having problems as well, that I can't make her mum laugh any more. And it's true.

Just don't know what to do, or say, any more.

23rd July - I'm still here!

A massive three weeks since I last blogged! Maybe I ought to change the daily adventures part of my blog description!

So, what's been happening? Well..........

First off, the job. The place I work at did announce those redundancies, and it was in the Lynn News as I said. As the work closes one of it's departments down, the positions are being made redundant, but the employer is aiming to keep as many of it's staff as it can to avoid redundancy payments. So what's happening is that the redundant staff are being filtered through all the other sections of the business - with the result that it is the site's contractors that are being laid off to make room for the staff.

From what I know (Understand) there's about 40 people being laid off, as well as some middle management. My working world, at the moment, is just full of goodbyes, see you's, and keep in touche's. Realistically, I know that as I say goodbye to these friends, I'm not likely to see them again.

I and my colleagues have been told that our department is not being affected......yet. Our department's hours will be reviewed again in October, once the fall out from the lay offs has settled - I am, realistically, expecting the departments hours to be cut to somewhere where they used to be - which means that three out of the five of us will be up the road if the directors decide to take this option.

And as we are all contractors too, the future outcome seems even more certain.

New Employers

I and my colleagues now work for another contracting company, as a direct result of the new manager at my old firm attempting to change the rosters over. Again. This one man, acting because he (alone) couldn't understand the shift pattern we are working, attempted to ride roughshod over 5 men's lives - and his actions has lost his company the contract which was making thousands of pounds of profit every year.

It took just 2 weeks for the company I work at to serve notice on my old employers and get someone else in. So, now, we work for someone else.

Which has interrupted the payroll. My old company stopped over £200 out of my last wages as I had claimed excess holiday hours. The repossession order for the house which I had sorted out last month is now back on because I was late paying this month's instalment. I now get paid fortnightly instead of monthly as well, so I could only afford to pay two weeks mortgage instead of the month.

I should have caught back up with myself with the payments by making the second fortnightly payment this weekend, so it's perhaps not quite so bad. I have spoken to the mortgage company, who are not interested in the reasons why, they are only bothered with the fact that I've been late on the first arranged payment. So, hopefully, I will be able to stop the action again.

Keeping on keeping on. I just need to get rid of this total desperation, hopelessness and sadness that has surrounded me and my life. There's still more to tell, I'll update again in a day or so. Paul

Stabbings Must Stop

Can someone, somewhere, explain to me exactly what's going on in our streets? Are you, like me, a concerned parent, wondering what's happening to our childrens' world?

Almost daily now it seems, there's another stabbing. The local estate and criminal underworlds remain silent, the Police, under instructions from Europe and the equal rights campaigners are increasingly powerless to act. The stabbings become a routine, daily, normal event.

Almost as if, everytime there's another 'incident', the Police lose more powers to match. And since when did a muder become a simple 'incident'?

We need an urgent injection of common sense. The do gooders and others who are more determined to maintain the criminal's rights over the rights of the innocent and law abiding, need to take a back seat. We need to back our Police Officers with the powers they need to control crime.

We must break the street gangs before they start to take over our civilised world. We need to make our streets safer for our parents, our children and our pensioners.

The Human Rights Act must undoubtably play a large part in the dismantling of our civilised world. Britain is now controlled by Eurocrats in Brussells. We are not British any more, we're European.

But, in my eyes, the buck does stop – and start – with the parents. A child's self image is created by the time he's five and this self image, set in concrete in his subconscious, stays with the child for life. And he learns this self image from his parents and home life.

The parents who lead unconventional lives ruin their children's lives, their futures, their everything. The parents who refuse to work, living on state benefit, the parents who refuse to instill discipine, the parents who are openly criminal in front of their children, the parents without morals, or values of decency, without respect for authority,the parents who cannot be bothered to actually parent their children properly, instead sitting them down in front of the television for hours at a time, parents who actually make a point of letting their children know they don't matter and are an hinderance to them.

The 60's children – my generation - are now the parents. And what a mess some of them are making of it. We have children starting school, unwashed, unironed clothes, who cannot communicate with others, know every single swear word, and cannot even use a knife and fork.

Couple that up with European interference, lack of Police power and rights, political correctness instead of common sense, an over zealous Health and Safety culture, The Human Rights (Criminals Charter) Act, a huge influx of other nationalities with different morals, ethics, beliefs and behaviour, often similar to tribal warfare, a pathetic justice system, early release of prisioners, prisons that are more like 5 star hotels, all surrounded by a massive culture of disrespect – our future as a great country is frightening.

And all this – and more – starts the day the child's born. Standards start at home. We need all these weak, ineffective and downright criminal parents to start behaving themselves. These are the parents – the minority- who show the rest of us up.If a child's brought up properly – he will live properly. It's – naturally – built into his subconscious to do so.

The criminals are some of the parents – not the children. Parents make decent children. Or Criminals.

Norfolk Resident - Caravans Go Home

Once again I have to report that my basic European Right to a free and unhindered life has again been compromised by the tin can on wheels owners.

Again I set out for work early, and again I arrived at work late. Why do we tolerate such a public menace?


Last night for instance I was the 9th car stuck behind one of ......these,...... these, people. Doing 37mph in a 60 mph zone.And because we only have single lane roads around here, I couldn't overtake it safely. So I had to follow it. For miles and miles, despite the road in front of it being clear for as far as the eye could see.


But I did use the enforced entrapment time usefully. I thought I might lower my normal high standards and write to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and highlight his tax income oversight to him.As we know, Labour are always open to new tax income ideas.


And this is what I'd suggest:


Firstly, that caravans are treated the same as they are in America, Canada, Europe and Austrailia. We'll reclassify them as trailers. Because in the rest of the world, trailers are taxed separately, and in addition to, the towing vehicle.


We'll split the trailer group of vehicles into two sections: beneficial and non beneficial. Beneficial trailers such as lorries and all other commercials will be exempt from taxation, except if they're used, even once, in caravan manufacturing industry, when they'll be subject to double the non beneficial trailer taxation rate, for life. Other Beneficial Trailers, such as those used for keeping the nation stocked up with food and fuel and keeping industry going will never be taxed.


Non Beneficial Trailers, such as the tin can on wheels, boat trailers and horse boxes will be subject to a separate road tax. Of, say, £2,500 per year.


Complete with enforced quarterly MOT tests costing at least £250.00 each.


And we'll bring in the new Trailer Law, prohibiting these trailers from all roads from 6am to 9pm daily. Owners who break this law will be subject to immediate imprisonment, and the trailers scrapped, crushed and the metal sold to the highest bidder, with all proceeds going direct to the NSPCC to give some kids a brighter future.


Any non beneficial trailer over 2 years of age will automatically be scrapped, again with the funds going straight to the NSPCC.


All non beneficial trailers will have to comply with extra stringent safety factors, as they cause a lot of accidents, and we'll make these new standards a flat cost of something like £5,000, again with the proceeds' profits going direct to the NSPCC


Anyone concerned with the distribution or sales of non beneficial trailers will undergo psychotherapy with the intention of eventual re-integration into Society.


And anyone involved in the actual manufacturing process of non essential trailers will be seconded to a more useful job to serve the nation by making toilet rolls, because toilet rolls are more useful to the country than the non beneficial trailers.


And, finally, I'm thinking of forming a campaign group to push these improvements through, and I thought of calling it the Citizens Against Caravans, CAC for short, reminds you of caravans, doesn't it?


I think it's a really good idea, because one of the country's most important charities will benefit, as will every single road user in this great country of ours. Gordon Brown, watch out for my letter.

Friday 13th? Just superstition, right?

Well, the work problem's been sorted out, to a fashion, anyway.I Just can't believe the speed and ferocity of what's happened over the last few days.

The working roster's been sorted out first off. The company I work for have lost their contract with the customer. Seems the customer's got really fed up of the problems constantly created by the contract firm I work for, and have given them notice. We work for someone else, having transferred under TUPE law, from the 6th July. And the new contact firm has been given strict instructions to leave the procedures alone for at least three months. I'm being interviewed by the new company at work tonight.(Yes, I'm being interviewed for my own job).


BUT


The firm I work at had emergency meetings all day yesterday (Thursday) - and they're closing a division down in September, resulting in the loss of about 70 people's jobs at the end of the month.Just as people start thinking about, and saving for, Christmas. Shop floor workers, warehouse personnel and HGV lorry drivers are all included.


And that means......


My and colleagues workloads will lessen to such an extent that - and we've already been warned about this as well yesterday - our department will "be considered" for downsizing from a 24/7 operation to just 12 hours a day, 5 days a week.


Which in turn means that our department will be overmanned by three men.......which means that 3 of us will also be leaving at the end of September as well (although it's not likely to filter down to us until the end of October).


Watch out for the Lynn News - you'll see the (carefully edited) press releases there.

Friday 13th? Ha, it's only superstition, isn't it?

Know what? I don't (and can't) care any more

10th June – Trouble At ‘Mill

The company I work for have taken on a new manager who’s really keen to make his prescence felt.

And here we go again. New broom sweeps clean. This new manager is keen to change our working roster and has, in the process, upset everyone of us.

This manager’s predecessor, 2 managers back, also tried this. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now.

This all started when one of my colleagues received a suprise visit from our line manager who announced the changes he wanted to make. Totally out of the blue, with no reason.

Now, I am different to my colleagues whereas they will just moan about the injustice of the situation, then take action after the changes come in,but, rather than moaning, I rang up my company’s head office and asked the magical, all powerful question: WHY?

That question works wonders. As well as the manager realising that at least one of us was going to challenge his infinate wisdom, he also told me that the customer had “complained” (we work for a contactor).

That conversation over, I rang my colleagues at work at explained the situation. One of my colleagues challenged the customer, as he was, like the rest of us, suprised a complaint had been made.

Guess what? The customer has denied making a complaint during a heated conversation with my colleague. No suprise there then. Although the conversation did end with my colleague storming out of the office saying/shouting that “Someone’s lying around here, and if it’s not them (our company) it must be you. We’re all really ****** off with this.”

The new manager has annonuced that he’s going to implement a new roster, no questions asked. All of us, as a team, have spoken to this manager one by one in turn. The general concensus is: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Tha’s not good enough. The last time this happened, I resigned as they are forcing me to work more days (I already work 30% of my roster on days, but around my wife’s roster, so she’s always got a car)- which means my wife either has to walk to work, or have the day off if her back plays up too much making walking extremely difficult. That means less money.

Everyone of us has made plans. This new manager of ours is going to (and is Hell bent on) ruining and interfering with 5 men’s lives. Just to make a name for himself.

Know what? It’s just not going to happen.

I’ll keep you informed........