Banks

Haven't ranted for ages...............................  Sooooooo thought I'd have a little rant about the customer service in banks these days.

Years ago a 'Bank Manager' was a very respected person in society.  In the early 1980s (or possibly the late 1970s) when I was first given a credit card by my Bank Manager it was a HUGE deal.  The only people who had credit cards were professionals.  At that time most people were still being paid in cash and a lot of people (particularly the over 40/50s didn't even have a bank account).

In 1988 I'd had a credit card for a few years but I'd never used it.  I was living abroad and as far as I was concerned my credit card was for major emergencies only.

....................Fast forward 30 years.............................

Soooooo.......................... off I go to the local bank to cancel a couple of direct debits.  Obviously 30 years ago 'direct debits' were unheard of.  We just wrote out a cheque for our gas/electricity/phone/TV license/Water rates/etc, etc, etc.  And wifi was like a thing in a science fiction movie????

I'm greeted at the entrance to the bank by a 12 year old.  Obviously he's not 12 because these days there are laws and rules and regulations preventing 12 year olds from working.  ................He was young!!!

Anyway, he cancelled the two direct debits I wanted him to cancel, while sitting on a sofa, in full view of everyone else in the Bank and discussing my account and how much money I had in it, in full view of everyone.  And then he proceeded to try and make me switch to another type of account (which I didn't want to do).  Seriously?..............................

....................And that's what I want to RANT about........................

Why is there no personal service these days?

Everyone just seems to be working towards targets and goals and their annual appraisals.  There is absolutely no room in todays workplace for genuine care, compassion or devotion to a job that one may love.

I actually know quite a lot of people who started out in the Banks in the late 1970/80s when customer service was important.

I certainly will not go into a bank today unless it is absolutely necessary.

#Ihatebanks

NO thanks - Is politeness dead?

I've given this the title of 'NO thanks - is politeness dead' because I'm really angry that youngsters today don't seem to bother to thank people for presents they've received.

To be honest I'm only referring to my own nephews and niece in this rant.  Other youngsters may be different.  I don't know. 

I made the decision, more than 30 years ago, that I wouldn't actually buy my friends kids presents for their birthdays, etc.  I made this decision because years ago, everyone just seemed to be having babies and I had the insight to realise that buying presents for babies could actually last a life time.  Yes, when friends had babies I turned up after they'd been born with a gift, and yes I went to the numerous baby showers, with a gift.  BUT.................... for me.................. that's where it ended.

...................Except for my two nephews and niece.

Obviously I still buy my nephews and niece pressies for their birthdays and Christmas.  But do I get any thanks for this?  I do not?  Is this because they just assume that their Auntie will always be there to throw gifts at them?  I don't know.  Is it because society is so materialistic these days that they just expect to be showered with gifts on their birthdays? Is it because they haven't been taught to say 'thank you'?  I find that very hard to believe because my sister has 'brought the kids up proper'.  But may be she's just not reminding them any more that they actually need to thank people for gifts???

Actually, I have to say that my 'middle nephew' always says 'thank you' for any gifts and he always thanks me for anything that I do for him...........................  So 'middle nephew Jack' you're excluded from this RANT!

Unfortunately oldest nephew and young niece (22  & 18 years old) don't seem to have the word 'Thank you' in their vocabulary?  Nephew was 22 in August & niece was 18 at the beginning Oct. Neither of them have bothered to thank me for their birthday pressies.

To me; that is just rude?  Even if they didn't like their pressies (which they actually wanted), they should at least say 'thank you'.

But ho hum, what do I know?.....................

......................I know that politeness costs nothing, I know that respect costs nothing, I know that my middle class nephew & niece live in such a 'cocooned world' that my meagre pressie to them obviously wasn't worthy of saying 'thank you' for.  And to be honest my 'meagre pressie' wasn't actually that meagre??  As I said above, my middle nephew always thanks me for everything.

I actually spent a lot of money on pressies for my nephew and niece.  I'm working in a 'minimum wage' job.  I wouldn't even like to think how many hours I've had to work to buy what I bought them both for their birthdays.  But because they live in this 'middle class' bubble, they obviously don't realise that they need to thank anybody for anything. 

Whatever they want, Daddy can afford...................... and whatever problems they have............... Mummy can just sort out.

#notsurehowmiddlenephewhasturnedoutsonormal

Sexual harrassment

So today the 'news' is full of females who have been 'sexually harassed'.  Females who have worked in parliament and have been degraded by men.  Females who have kept quiet because they thought that was how life in the work place was.  Females who didn't think that they would have a 'voice' or females who thought they wouldn't be believed.

Today, at work, a man touched me on my arm while asking me a question.  His mates all said, 'You can't do that.  She can accuse you of sexual harassment.' My reply to that was; 'I haven't got to my age in life without a bit of sexual harassment. I think I can cope with someone touching me on the arm.'

Soooo................... the questions is.................... what exactly is 'sexual harassment'?

I entered the workplace in the early 1980s where men were men & women were women.  Actually I entered the workforce long before that but for sexual harassment purposes lets skip to 1980 I distinctly remember in 1980 working in a temporary office job, and my sister came in to visit me, and my boss said; 'She's got bigger tits than you'.  It was true - she did have bigger tits than me.  My boss had made an accurate observation.  Was I upset by his comment?  Probably - but only because he had voiced what I already knew - my sister did have bigger tits than me.  Did I feel undervalued or less of a woman because of what he said?  No I didn't because I think at the grand old age of 20 years old................. I just thought................... what a silly little Pratt he is.  He was probably only in his 30s and had a wife and two kids and I remember feeling sorry for her and the kids because I thought he was such a wanker.  He used to swan around the place with his beer belly toppling over the top of his trousers, thinking he was GOD!

Things haven't actually changed that much in the last 30 years......................

................Men are still men................. And women are still women.

However.......................... it would seem that the men still seem to think they can do what they want to women .....................And the women are rebelling.

Today if a 'manager' said to an 'employee' - 'Your sister has bigger tits than you', that would be seen as sexual harassment, the employee's self esteem would be at rock bottom, they'd have to have counselling for such a traumatic comment and would probably have to be signed off work for months while they got over the stress of it all.  Seriously???

Whilst I am not 'dissing' anyone's genuine experiences of stress, anxiety or depression....................  Let's just get a bit real here peeps.....................

..................What exactly is sexual harassment???

Sexual harassment is not someone touching you on the arm, it's not someone saying your sister has bigger tits than you, it's not someone commenting on how good looking you are.

To be honest, I'm not actually sure how I would define sexual harassment..............................

....................Guess I'd better do a bit of googling.......................

Are 'fat' people unfit?

I've just been reading a magazine article entitled, 'Are fat people unfit'?  And to be honest I'm not sure if I know the answer to that question.

However, there does seem to be a lot more 'fat' people around these days than there ever was when I was a child.  I have also read an article (in a high class newspaper) this week that said that the 'average family' eats out/has a takeaway three times a week.  To be honest, I find that hard to believe.  Eating out and take aways are not cheap.  How can the 'average family' afford to do that?

Anyway; to get back to; 'Are fat people unfit?'..........................  I'm not sure....................

I have a few 'fat' friends.  I also have some 'skinny' friends.  Are my fat friends less fit than my skinny friends?...................... I honestly don't know?  My 'fat' friends go to the gym, go swimming, go walking.  My 'skinny' friends drink copious quantities of alcohol, are always out eating and never seem to do any kind of exercise.

Sooooooo........................  how do we measure if someone is unfit, unhealthy, medically overweight?

...............That's another question that I don't know the answer to.

However, today I spent the day with two 'fat' friends.  And to be honest both of them have lost a couple of stone over the last few months.  BUT their attitude to food and mine is completely different.

We all had a bacon & (fried)sausage roll at about 11am, (friends then had a 'jammy dodger biscuit).  We went for a three and a half mile walk (which was pretty much on the flat) ending up at a pub for lunch at 2pm-ish.  I was still full from the bacon & sausage roll so opted for a 'small' portion of 'haddock & chips'.  One of my friends had a HUGE portion of 'scampi & chips' and the other had 'French onion soup and then deep fried brie'.  (Obviously both were high calories choices??)

After that I had a black coffee and they had some more 'Jammy Dodgers'.

And then I wanted to go for another walk but they were like........................ we've done a lot of exercise today.

It's very difficult to know whether fat people are unfit or not.  I don't actually consider myself to be 'fat'........................ BUT I do consider myself to be unfit (even though at the moment I'm swimming 200 lengths a week and walking for 2 hours a day).

I guess everything is relative???  Ie, I'm not 'fat' compared to 'fat' people.  I'm not 'unfit' compared to unfit people.

.....................However, compared to fit, skinny, energetic people.......................... I'm a big fat slob. LOL!!!!

What's your postcode?

Sooooo today I was in a 'well known supermarket' at the checkout.  I'd just paid for all my shopping, when the young, spotty, teenage, checkout operator, asked, 'What's your postcode?'

I'd only bought a few things and I'd paid with cash so I replied; 'Why do you need to know that?'................

Spotty teenager: 'Oh ummm, oh ummm'

Me: 'WHY do you need my postcode?'

Spotty teenager: 'We're doing a survey to see how far people have travelled to shop here.'

Bearing in mind I am a 'Ranting Middle Aged Spinster' who lives in the South West where the tourism industry is HUGE.......................... And there are loads of caravan sites and camping sites and holiday lets and B&Bs, etc etc........................  This to me seemed like a pretty stupid question.

Me: 'So if I'm on holiday here do you want my home address postcode or my holiday address postcode?'

Spotty teenager: Oh ummmm oh ummmm, home postcode'.

Me: OK, so say I live in Grimbsy, that was the first place that popped into my head does 'well known supermarket' want to know how far I've travelled to shop here?'

Spotty teenager: 'Yes'

Me: 'That's ridiculous.  I've bought 3 bottles of wine, a loaf of bread and some mushrooms.  Do you really think I am going to travel all the way from Grimbsy to buy that?  And do you actually know where Grimbsy is?'

Spotty teenager: 'No'.

Me:  Grimbsy is hundreds of miles away so do you really think I would travel hundreds of miles to buy 3 bottles of wine, some mushrooms and a loaf of bread?'

Spotty teenage checkout operator looks embarrassed so I feel sorry for him.

Me:  This is a really stupid survey.  It's not your fault.  I know you're only being paid to do what 'well known supermarket' is asking you to do but seriously, this is a ridiculous survey.  Have the management told you why they are doing this survey and what they hope to achieve from it?'

Spotty teenager looks even more embarrassed!  Obviously hasn't got a clue why he's being asked to ask people for their postcodes.

Sooooooo I have three things to say here.............................

1)  Why do 'big companies' not treat their staff like human beings and explain things properly?

2)  Why does everything have to be evaluated?

3)  What is wrong with personal service and good old communication?

And also, why is 'well known supermarket' taking everyone's postcode to see how far they've travelled to shop in their store???  Absolute madness???  Holiday makers will shop in the shop because it's convenient.  It's the nearest supermarket.  As I said above, if I lived in Grimbsy (which I don't), I wouldn't be making a round trip of 600 miles to buy a loaf of bread, mushrooms and 3 bottles of wine???

.....................Holiday makers will shop in the nearest supermarket to where they are staying.....................

'Well known supermarket' - I think your survey is worthless!!!!!

Let's see how much compensation we can get

Soooooooo, my last post was a bit of a rant about holiday makers leaving a holiday let property in a bit of a mess.

For those of you who haven't read any of my other RANTS - I'm a scrubber executive housekeeper?!!  I clean holiday let properties in the summer.

Todays post is going to be about holiday makers leaving a property in so much of a mess that it actually looked like the whole place had been trashed.  Actually it didn't just look like it had been trashed - It had been trashed??!!

I CANNOT believe that people who come on holiday and stay in someone else's home have so little respect whilst living in another property.  It is absolutely unbelievable how some holiday makers treat their holiday homes.  ..................And I have to say; it's usually the holiday makers in the 'upper social scale' of society that tend to leave the properties in the worst possible case.

Take my latest clean............................. 2 doctors and 3 squealy brats staying for one week.

One wet mattress, one broken bed, one broken blind, two broken curtain rails, one missing ornament, 3 bags of rubbish removed from the property, 2 broken body boards just left in the kitchen, every single bin in the property full to overflowing and used paper hankies/wet wipes/paper/etc, etc, etc,  just left on the floor in every single room.  Crockery left on the draining board and in the sink and crockery/pans/glasses that had actually been put away all needed to be re-washed.  Laundry basket and a bath sheet and a towel and loads of pegs just on the floor on the balcony.

Oh and a clothes airer was just left in the middle of the living room floor and a step-stool was left in the middle of a bedroom floor.  And every single window had horrible little fingerprints on it.

......................And I've just spoken to the Letting Agents......................

...................Apparently............... these holiday makers are demanding £200 in compensation because some moss fell off the roof onto the balcony????

#theworldhasgonemad

Executive housekeeping & holiday lets

I've ranted about scrubbing executive housekeeping before but seriously................. it seems like I have to have a RANT every August.  I soooooo hate holiday makers in August.

I'm probably going to RANT about the same old things that I ranted about last August and probably the August before that and the August before that???  But August holiday makers are an absolute nightmare.  The respect for other people's property is non-existent!  I know - I've looked after two holiday lets for more than 10 years.

Most of the year looking after holiday lets is a well paid, relatively easy job.  Outwith the school summer holidays, visitors seem to look after the properties they are staying in and there are never any major incidents.

That all changes in August.............................

In August the whole world seems to arrive in the South West and the whole world arrives with squealy brats, dogs (that they haven't actually told the letting agents about, but that's a whole other rant) and extra people (that they haven't actually told the letting agents about: again a whole other rant).  And every meal they have is either a takeaway where they just leave the remains strewn around the kitchen.  Or a fry up where they think it is totally acceptable to just shove all the greasy pans back into a cupboard.

Much as I don't want to have to wash horrible greasy pans; I would far rather they had been left out so I knew what I had to wash, rather than having to trawl through cupboards and re-wash every single item.  Oh and while I'm having a bit of a rant about dirty pans...................... why do holiday makers feel the need to 're-organise' every single cupboard and every single item of furniture???  I totally understand that the 'owners' of the property may not have organised their house in the way that holiday makers may have done.  And I totally understand that holiday makers may like to rearrange things to suit their weeks' stay.  Actually I don't understand that - you're on holiday................... does it really matter which drawer the cutlery is in, or if a chair is somewhere that you wouldn't have placed it?  But what I don't understand is...................... if you're staying in a holiday let and you move stuff around; why would you not have respect for the owners and move it back when you leave???

I've actually discussed 'August holiday makers' with quite a few people and one of my friends (who lives 'up country', has three kids and has stayed in holiday lets in the South West on numerous occasions) said that perhaps because the rentals are so high in August that people on holiday don't feel they have to do anything.  I can totally understand that but there's a difference between 'not doing anything' and totally disrespecting someone's  property??

Is it really ever OK to 'over occupy' (that will invalid the insurance should anything happen), allow dogs to poo on a balcony or in a communal area and just expect someone else to pick up after you leave, allow children to eat sweets/other stuff in bed and throw all the wrappers and discarded food under the bed, move the furniture around and change where all the crockery/cutlery is stored?  To say nothing about leaving a bath so dirty that soaking it in 3 hours of bleach and then scrubbing it for another half an hour still doesn't get it cleaned............................  Grrr...................

Renting a 'holiday let' IS expensive in the South West (it's a desirable location to go on holiday) but owning a holiday home here is not as lucrative as one might think. 

.................Most of the holiday let agencies are charging almost 20% for the privilege of owners renting out their properties.  Cleaning charges are about £20ph.  Then there's council tax, gas/electricity bills, wifi, TV licence, water bills, etc, etc, etc.  And also the charges for ridiculous 'call outs' where visitors say that there's something wrong, but it turns out that there's not?  Take today, for example; I'd finished cleaning property No.1 and was busy cleaning property No. 2 when I noticed that a maintenance man was in property No.1.  Letting agent had sent him to look at the shower hose because visitor had written on the feedback form that it was leaking.  As I'd just cleaned the shower using the shower hose I knew that it wasn't leaking.  And maintenance man confirmed this.  Why holiday letting agents hadn't just called me to check if there was a problem I don't know? But who is going to pay for this totally unnecessary call out?  The owners of course.  Not the holiday makers, who've had their holiday and are now on the way home.  And not the holiday letting agents who have absolutely no qualms about spending someone else's money.

Renting a holiday let in the South West is very expensive.  As I've said before, it's a very desirable location.

......................BUT .............................. just  a note to all you holiday makers......................  I know someone who rented out their two bed-roomed property for almost £1000.00 for a week in August.  Letting agent took 20%, visitor left iron on floor, new carpet was £300.  Why would you put an iron on a floor?  And with all the other bills that they had to pay they made £89.45 for a week long booking that had cost the visitors more than £1000???

Just saying................................

Recycling

Recycling

OK so todays rant is going to be about recycling. 

Now whilst I would guess that most of us totally support recycling; what I am about to RANT about is recycling done incorrectly. 

I live in a communal block of 12 properties.  We have a communal car park (where every owner has a numbered space), we have 2 communal bins where we can all chuck our rubbish, we have a communal courtyard which includes a whirly gig where any of us can hang out washing.

....................But what we don't have.................... is communal recycling.

Communal recycling would be great, but at the moment it is not an option for a variety of reasons.  Every property has 3 horrible flimsy bags that are supposed to be put out once a fortnight for collection.  We got these horrible flimsy bags about 5 years ago and at that point I stopped doing any recycling where I live.  (NB - I take my recycling to public recycling points).  There are two reasons for this:

1)  My house is small.  I have no room to house 3 bags of recycling for two weeks.

2)  When I first got my 3 flimsy bags (to replace the one plastic box with a lid that I could keep outside) I tried to do the recycling how the council wanted.  I put them out in the allotted spot on the allotted day and then I went to work.  When I came back from work, two of my flimsy bags were in the middle of the road and the other one was in the middle of the car  park???

At that point I gave up recycling at my property and decided to deal with my recycling myself.  I now go to public recycling points myself and have absolutely nothing to do with any recycling where I live.

.....................So here starts my RANT......................

One of my neighbours (who shall remain nameless) decided to put a load of recycling boxes/bags in the communal courtyard.  Now whilst I appreciate that her motives for doing this were admirable, the reality of this is less so.  Just how stupid is it to put out a load of recycling boxes when there is no plan in place for the collection of these?

In the summer half of the 12 homes here are holiday lets (including the said neighbours).  I know for a fact that 3 of those holiday homes have info in their information folders to say that there is no recycling facilities at the property.  BUT...................... if you were on holiday and saw that there were recycling boxes/bags in the communal area what would you do????.........................

a)  Chuck all your recycling stuff in there

b)  Dispose of your recycling stuff yourself

I know what I would do - I'd take the easy option and chuck all my recycling in the nearest recycling boxes??!!  And who cares how mixed up it is???

....................And here lies the problem..........................  The holiday makers haven't a clue when the recycling is going to be collected, and even if they do; they're on holiday so they're hardly likely to want to sort through all the rubbish, sort it out and then put it in the correct place for collection.  The neighbour who put all the recycling boxes/bags in the communal courtyard is renting out her place and although is somewhere local, hasn't bothered to come back on recycling day to sort out all the mess, so yet again (we had the same problem last year) it's down to myself and another neighbour to sort everything out.

Well it's not on.  Last summer after spending six weeks sorting through everyone's rubbish I made an 'executive' decision (when I found a used babies nappy) to get rid of all the recycling boxes/bags and stacked them up in the corner of the communal courtyard.  My neighbour who helped me sort them out agreed with me.  And let's just be clear here - we both do our OWN recycling so really should not have had to spend all summer sorting out everyone else's recycling/rubbish just because another neighbour had left a load of recycling boxes in a communal area and then buggered off?????(

This year I rebelled!!!

Took photos of all the rubbish (as above), sent email to 'said neighbour' telling her I was going to chuck the whole lot in the bin and copied all the other owners into the email to tell them why.  As far as I'm concerned communication is really important so I wanted everyone to know why I was doing this.  ...................I saw a rat sitting on top of the recycling boxes??!!

Obviously she wasn't happy.  Ranted and raved at me a bit.  OK ranted and raved at me a lot?!!!  

But hey ho, that's life.

At the end of the day........................  I really do think recycling is important.......................  But only if it is done correctly????

Middle class kids

I'm not sure if I should really post this.  I'm not sure if it's really an appropriate RANT for a 'middle aged ranting spinster'???

...............BUT......................... middle class kids really do my head in.

And by that, I mean they have so many privileges that they don't even realise that they have.

My nephews & niece are the most wonderful, caring, young people ever, but they live in a 'cocooned' world.  Their 'mummy' (my sister) has never, ever, worked since they were born.  She's been fortunate enough to have a 'high flying' husband in a good job so her role has been to 'look after the house and family'.

And I have to say....................... she has done an excellent job.  There's no way I could have spent 20 years doing what she has.

My sister and her family are like the Waltons??!!  Home cooked meals.  Proper packed lunches. Chauffeuring the kids around, here, there and everywhere. No social life.  No sex life because her husband is hardly ever at home. Lol.  Actually I don't know that?!! I don't discuss sex with my sister.

The kids mobile phones are paid for, their cars are paid for (including installing sat nav), they go on holiday with their mummy & daddy (all paid for of course) and most of their uni fees have been paid via mummy & daddy.  All they have to pay for is their tuition fees and to be honest,  if they'd bothered to get a job while at uni, the fees would have been at least half way paid off by now.  But of course they didn't because.......................  because what?  They didn't need to.

My nephews & niece's life is just sooooooo far removed from the life of the kids that I work with everyday.

Living in the SW, where I work, with a lot of teenage kids.......................  life is so different for them.  Their parents can't afford to pay their uni fees so the kids have to subsidise themselves.  Their parents  can't afford to pay for driving lessons for them because they're only earning minimum wage themselves.

The youngsters in the SW learn to 'fend for themselves' from a very early age.  They find part-time work from when they are 14-15 years old, they earn their own money, they learn how to become independent very quickly.

If they want to go to uni - they have to pay for it themselves.  Most of the kids who go to uni from the SW end up in more than £20,000 debt. Hardly any of them will get a job back home that pays more than the £20,000 (or is it now £25,000?) that one needs to be earning to pay back the uni debt.

Life for kids in the SW is so far removed from the life my nephews and niece are living..............

....................And yet life for my nephews and niece is so far removed from the life that some of their 'rich' uni friends are living.

.............But however rich my nephews and nieces uni friends are................. do they really have a clue how well off they are???  I don't think so.

My nephews and niece are aged  21, 20 and 17.  So not exactly babies.  They could all appear on the Jeremy Kyle show???  Fortunately I don't think that is one of their great aims in life. Lol!  But they still all consult their mummy on every single thing.  Ie, I ask the 21 year old what he wants for Christmas/birthday pressies and he says, 'Ask mum'.  The 17 year old phoned her mum (when she, her mum, was staying with me more than 300 miles away) because she thought she had concussion???  She was at school.  Surely most 'normal' kids would have just taken themselves off to the school nurse??!!  What on earth did she think her mummy could do 300 miles away?  And as for the 20 year old................. well he's apparently dyslexic but has 'worked really hard to overcome it' (my sister's words not mine) but at a parents night in his latter years at school, she apparently said to a teacher, 'You do know he's dyslexic don't you?'  Seriously?  If he's been 'signed off' from having dyslexia then I don't think that can be used for any 'special' treatment.

Oh and then my niece told me that she got 'extra' time for writing because she was a slow writer???

Really???

The world has gone mad!

So if my niece gets a job as a waitress, what's she going to do?  ..................Say, I can't take your order very quickly because I'm  a slow writer???.................

The sooner these 'over protected' kids realise that 'life is not fair', the better.

Life isn't fair.  FACT!  Get over it..................

There's always going to be people who are brighter, richer, more intelligent, better looking, etc, etc.  Instead of everyone pursuing claims because they're a victim of one thing or another, why not just accept who you are and start enjoying life.

OK - RANT over!!!

Kitty

I've just googled 'kitty' and apparently it means; 'a fund of money for communal use'.

How many of you girls (or boys) have contributed to a 'kitty' for a night out, or a day out, or a holiday..................... and then got seriously annoyed because you just felt like you're subsidising everyone else?

Personally, I like the idea of a 'kitty'.  If there is a group of you and you're all going to be eating and drinking pretty much the same thing, then it makes sense to have a 'kitty'.  Appoint one person as the 'banker', give them your dosh and then every time you have something to eat or drink the appointed person just pays the bill.  Does it matter that one person had something that cost 50p more or someone had something that cost £1 less.  Of course it doesn't.  Well I don't think it does.  Most people contributing to a 'kitty' work on the assumption that they're with like minded friends and maybe someone will have a more expensive meal but perhaps won't drink very much or vice versa.  So, in theory having a 'kitty' is a good thing.

But let's face it; we all know people that don't do sharing?!

.........................And this is where the 'kitty' system breaks down.  And this is why I'm just about to RANT???

The question is - If one has a 'kitty' with a group of friends, how much does one have to spend before it becomes 'an abuse of the kitty'?  Ie, for example;  there are four people in the 'kitty' and they are out for a meal and a few drinks.  Three of the people order a burger and a glass of wine each, costing £10 per person; other person orders a steak & half a carafe of wine which costs more than £30.

I'd like to know your thoughts peeps? 

Personally; if I had wanted steak (and everyone else had been having burgers) and if I had wanted a half carafe of wine (and everyone else was only having one glass) I would have chucked an extra £20 into the 'kitty'.

My view is...................................  If you have a 'kitty' and everyone is having the same thing, give or take a couple of pounds, then that's OK.  BUT as a 'ranting middle aged spinster, I feel if one person is constantly taking advantage of the 'communal fund' or is constantly ordering the most expensive thing on the menu, just because they can.................. or someone is ordering something that is more than £10 what everyone else is ordering.......................... then maybe the 'kitty' system is not the best way to go.

It's a shame really because if one is out with friends, one shouldn't abuse the 'kitty' system.  But unfortunately people do and unfortunately a lot of friendships break down because of this.

Is this a RANT or just a 'reflection on today's society'???

Water - who needs it??!!

As most of my friends know; my favourite drink is dry white wine. I drink copious quantities of the stuff. I wouldn't exactly call myself an alcoholic. I drink black coffee and diet coke as well. But I drink way more than my 14 units of alcohol per week. In fact if I'm honest, I could easily drink this amount in one evening. After all, that's only a bottle and a half of wine.

However, it seems that everywhere one turns, water is being promoted as the best thing since sliced bread. Must google where the saying 'best thing since sliced bread' comes from?' Apparently we should all drink at least 6 glasses of water a day.

WHY?

Anyway in an effort to 'do the healthy thing' I decided I would drink 2 litres of water a day for four weeks. Not really quite sure why I decided to do this. I guess I thought I'd just see if my complexion improved or if I lost weight or if I felt better. And at this point I would just like to say, that actually I don't think there's anything wrong with my complexion and yes, most of us would like to lose a bit of weight, but I'm a firm believer re the words of my 'wise dearly departed old Gran' – 'if you want to lose weight; eat less and exercise more'. As for feeling better............. I don't particularly feel bad so how do I judge that?!

After doing a bit of a 'google', the top 10 benefits of drinking water are below (with my responses in italics!)

Increases energy & relieves fatigue – since I started drinking water I have had to have an afternoon/early evening nap most days.

Promotes weight loss – have yet to see evidence of this.

Flushes out toxins – ditto.

Improves skin complexion – ditto.

Maintains regularity – pretty regular anyway, thank you very much.

Boosts the immune system – where is the evidence of this?

Natural headache remedy – I don't get headaches.

Prevents cramps & sprains – ditto.

Puts you in a good mood – NO, it definitely does not.

Save money – how? – increased wee-ing leads to buying more toilet rolls. Lol!

  

So the above 10 points are apparently the advantages of drinking water. I can honestly say that since I started this ridiculous water regime I have never felt so bad in my life. And below are MY 10 points for not drinking water....................

Constant wee-ing. And I mean CONSTANT. I haven't even been able to do the dog walk without having to find a bush to wee behind. I haven't been able to work a 4/5 hr shift at work without having to go to the loo at least 4 times. I haven't been able to do a supermarket shop without having to use the 'on-site toilets'. And without divulging too much information..................... there was actually nothing wrong with my wee before I started this ridiculous 'drink 2 litres of water a day.' My wee was straw coloured, which according to all the blurb online is a good healthy colour. Now my wee is pretty much transparent which doesn't surprise me in the least. All that water that is going in........................ has to come out.

Lack of variety – A month ago In the 'olden days', I drank a mug of coffee with breakfast, diet coke throughout the day and copious quantities of wine in the evenings. Now I drink a mug of coffee at breakfast and don't allow myself anything else until my full quota of water has been drunk. Sometimes it takes me all day to drink 2 litres of water. Some days all I drink is water. How boring is that?

Tiredness/stress – OK I know I'm getting old, but coffee, diet coke and wine seem to keep me perked up. Drinking water all day exhausts me. Constantly looking for toilets when one is out and constantly having to plan one's life as to where one can go to the toilet is very stressful. I'm normally the type of person who can go out at 8am and not return until 6pm and not need to go to the loo. I can go all day without having a drink or going to the toilet. And I never normally need to have a little lie down in the middle of the day??

OK, 3 points are enough. I could RANT forever about my experience of drinking 2 litres of water a month but at the end of the day, my experiment is over. Yay! I've drunk 2 litres of water every day for 4 weeks and have seen absolutely no benefits from doing this at all….................

So tomorrow I'll be back to my old life........................ black coffee, diet coke and copious quantities of wine. Yay!

Life is not a dress rehearsal. Live your life, live your dreams. Be happy.

So glad my water drinking regime is over.  Yay!!!

I don't want to leave a review

Like the rest of the world I am on Facebook.  I constantly check FB to see what is going on with my increasingly large little circle of friends.  I am totally utterly and completely obsessed with FB.  WHY?

Do I really need to know where a friend is having lunch, or when a friend is waiting for the kettle to boil, or when a friends baby has had it's first poo?  Of course I don't.  But FB has transformed our lives.

We're like goldfish - we're all living in a bowl, swimming around in a life that can be viewed by anybody.

I personally use FB as a diary of my life.  And as a 'middle aged ranting spinster' I am very aware that with the click of a button my posts could go 'viral'.  But having said that; why would photos of a middle aged woman drinking wine yep that's what most of my posts show go viral?  Who is interested in me - unless you're a mad stalker that likes wine drinking middle aged women??

Anyway, today's RANT is going to be about leaving reviews.

I 'check in' to places quite a lot.  As I say, I use FB as a diary to record what I am doing in my everyday life.  But what really, really, annoys me is............................ the following day, after I've checked in somewhere I get messages from FB saying, 'You checked into so & so, would you like to leave a review?'

NO, I don't want to leave a review.  I seriously feel like just saying to these messages; 'F*** O**, I'm not leaving a review, I don't want to leave a review, I have nothing to say about my visit to you.  I had a meal or I had a drink.  End of story.  I had a night out.  I had a nice time and now you want me to 'complete some homework' because I tagged you in a FB  post?  Grrrrr.................

Social media has gone a bit crazy.  I personally do not read many reviews.  I could be in the minority here.  I don't know?!  But as far as I'm concerned, if you check out a website and it seems good, then just believe it?!  Would you really not go somewhere because a load of other people had given it a bad review online? 

The world has gone mad.  Does no-one believe in their own decisions anymore?

I recently had a 'Cornish Cream Tea' with a couple of friends.  One of the scones was paler than the others.  It wasn't undercooked.  It was just a pale scone.  But my friend complained and when she was told it was just a paler colour; she then wrote a damning review online about it.  WHY?  It's only a f****** scone

I felt really embarrassed about the whole thing because it was just a pale scone.  It was cooked, there was nothing wrong with it.  And now that poor café (which I have to say was really rather nice) has a bad review.

It's like......................... one click of a button can destroy someone's livelihood, someone's business, someone's whole life.

To me that seems very cruel.  People work hard.  Mistakes are made.  Nobody is perfect.

BUT.............................. why do we have to review everything?

What is wrong with just going out, having a good time, and enjoying it??!!

Manchester

I don't think this is going to be a RANT.  It's just going to be a, 'what is the world coming to'?  type of statement?  To target a place that is predominately filled with kids............................  Why would anyone do that?  Especially a suicide bomber?!  He's dead!  He's not exactly going to get the status of killing 22 people and hurting numerous more is he???

What makes someone do this.  According to the newspaper  reports the 'suicide bomber' was 23 years old.  What makes a 23 year old want to take his own life and kill and maine loads of people in the process.

What do you think was going through his mind when he detonated his suicide bomb?  Would he have been scared?  Would he have been on a power trip - thinking about how many people he could kill?  Was he pressured into doing this?  Was somebody, somewhere, telling him that he had to do this because if he didn't................................. because if he didn't - what?

.................They'd kill him?!!

...............Is killing yourself better than being killed by someone else?????

Who knows the answers to any of the questions above.  And who knows the questions that the answers are actually asking?

#it'sacomplicatedlife.

Automatic Insurance Cover

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from a company from whom I had taken out an annual travel insurance policy last year.  The email said something along the lines of;  'Your policy is due for renewal on xxxx date.'  I ignored it.  I deleted it.  I didn't want to renew my travel insurance with this particular company.

Today I got another email saying, 'We have attempted to take payment through the automatic renewal process.  Unfortunately the payment has been refused by your bank.'

Thank God for that?!!

Fortunately the credit card that I used to pay for this last year has now expired.

...................BUT here comes the RANT.............................

Why is it, that every time one buys something like insurance (whether it be travel insurance or any other kind of insurance or anything that needs renewing on an annual basis).................. companies just seem to think that once they've got all your 'card' details they can go on a spending spree on an annual basis?

WHY?

It's hard enough trying to find the 'best deal' around, without companies deciding that they can take money off ones credit/debit card every year just because they think people will be too lazy to look for the best deal.

And the other thing...........................  I actually thought that it was illegal, these days, to keep a customers payment details on file.  No doubt there's a load of blurb in the 'small print' that means that they're exempt from this.  Grrrrr.............

Anyway, once I'd received this email this morning, I phoned 'annoying travel insurance company' (even though I knew they couldn't take any money off my credit card because it had expired). 

I was in 'very nice customer mode'.  After listening to at least 2 mins of 'blurb' I actually got to speak to a real life person.................  Kay/Katie?  I don't know?   Whoever it was, they obviously weren't very interested in what I had to say?!!

Everyone is just reading from a 'script' these days.

Soooooo......................... Kay/Katie, after listening to my RANT about not wanting to renew my annual travel insurance, (and just to clarify here; didn't ask me why or try to persuade me to reconsider - probably on minimum wage and couldn't care less about 'making the customer happy'.) said that they'd delete everything from my account????

Apparently I won't be getting any more emails from this company, I won't be getting any more promotional stuff, I won't be getting anything???

Time will tell???!!!

.........................BUT I'm still really angry that I actually had to go to the trouble of phoning these people to make sure that I'm not on any of there stupid mailing lists.  Grrrrrr...............

I want a new bathroom

I want a new bathroom.  I've wanted a new bathroom for years now.  I want to rip out the bath and put a super duper high powered shower in there.  In the 15 years that I've lived in this house I can count on one hand the number of times that I've had a bath.  I have an electric shower over the bath and it's fine.  But it's not super duper.

Last year I contacted a 'specialist bathroom company'.  They came and measured my bathroom and I then had to go into the salesroom so that a 12 year old young designer person could design my super duper new bathroom.  Was very impressed with the guy who came to measure up and how fast he got the measurements  to me.  Apparently he does a lot of bathroom fitting as well but was totally booked up.  Grrr....

...........................I digress.

12 year old Young designer designed me a bathroom (which I wasn't altogether happy with) and gave me a quote for buying it and fitting it from her company.  HUGE quote.  But actually (with quite a few changes) I was happy to go with this.  'Fabulous bathroom' company was supposed to phone me to discuss this further.  They didn't.  'Fabulous bathroom' company were supposed to arrange a follow up meeting.  They didn't.

After two weeks of hearing nothing, I emailed and asked what was going on.  Got an email back saying that someone would be in contact with me within 24 hours.  Great I thought.  ..................Not great?!  Didn't hear a thing?!  After another week I contacted them again to ask what was going on.  I was told that the person I had been dealing with had left.  Really???????  So a big company, with loads of staff, just lets someone leave and doesn't even bother to replace their staff and doesn't even bother to follow up customer orders?

Not exactly good customer service is it???  So after that, I put doing up the bathroom on hold.

Fast forward nine months and off I go to another bathroom company.  Same old,  same old.

This time I had to take my own measurements into the store.  Thanks to the previous company who came out to measure I had very accurate measurements.  In all the 'blurb' that I was given before my appointment I was told that the appointment to design my bathroom would take 1-2 hours.  After an hour (where nothing much happened) I was told I couldn't have a shower cubicle the size that I wanted, and they didn't do separate shower doors, and they didn't do made to measure mirrors, and they didn't do hot water tanks, and they didn't do extractor fans, and they didn't do LED lighting, and they didn't do.................................. ANYTHING as far as I was concerned.

I was told it was very difficult to put splash backs into the design so designer would do it in his own time and email me the plans the following day.  He asked if it were OK for him to give me a call before sending these over.  I agreed.

Soooooo.................... the following day, I receive an email with the plans for my new bathroom.  No call before I received these and three days later, no follow up call.  What is wrong with people these days.  Why does nobody want to talk to anyone.

Obviously with so little contact I will not be using this company to fit a new bathroom for me.

I'm seriously not happy, hence the RANT!

Does nobody want work these days?  And whatever happened to 'the customer is always right'?

All I want is a tradesperson who is reliable and who does what he says he's going to do.  Is that really too much to ask???

Holiday lets

I have worked in the hospitality industry for more than 20 years.  I consider myself to be an expert on the totally, ridiculous, stupid, demands that holiday makers often make when on holiday.

Stuff like - 'Why is the toilet paper blue? We thought it would be white.  Are we entitled to compensation?'  And that question was in the days when coloured toilet paper was very trendy.  And even if it hadn't been...........................  Does it really matter what colour toilet paper one wipes ones bum with?  At least they had toilet paper?  Which is a lot more than most people had when I first started working in the holiday letting industry.

20 years ago most people who rented a holiday home had to bring their own bedding, their own toilet rolls, their own washing up liquid and towels and t-towels.  And if you had a washing machine in your holiday let, it was considered 'luxury'.  As was a TV, a video recorder....................... and wifi hadn't even been invented.  Well actually it probably had, but only for the 'yuppies' who came on holiday from London.

..............And actually can anyone these days remember what YUPPIES stood for? - Young upwardly professional people - and that's as far as I remember. Haven't got a clue what 'IES' stood for.  Time to do a bit of googling.

Not sure where I'm going with this RANT?...........................

..............Oh yes.......................... Holiday lets...........................

Why is it that people who go on holiday chose not to respect one's home?

I have been away from my home for a few months now and to make some money I decided to 'holiday let' it.  Mmmmmmmmmmmmm  Best laid plans and all that.

Being an 'experienced person in hospitality' I thought I knew all the pitfalls.  And to be fair I think I probably do.

The problem is.................. holiday makers do stuff that they don't actually even know that they're doing?!!

For example -

They change the furniture around.  Holidaymaker thinks - I'll just move a couple of chairs into a different position and I'll just move the coffee tables and I'll just reposition the table that the DVD is on so that................................  So that what?????????????????

..................Totally oblivious to the fact that doing this has scratched, marked, flaked the painted floorboards.  Will they admit to any of this? - of course they won't.

..............And holiday makers don't EVER like the cupboards where one keeps the crockery.  So they decide to re-organise everything?!  So when the owner returns to their home, where they had a system, they find everything in disarray??? Instead of there being a couple of empty cupboards for holiday makers to put their foodstuffs, these are filled with things like egg cups and teapots. And having left the property with more than 6 mugs on a shelf, one returns to find 2 mugs sitting on the draining board and no other mugs in sight anywhere.

Why do holiday makers do this?

When I go on holiday and stay in a holiday let I try and leave everything single thing as near to perfect as I possibly can.

And the other thing....................... Even when you have photographic evidence; they still deny it???

It's like.................... here is what my property looked like when you arrived and here's what it looked liked when you left.....................

.....................Oh you haven't bothered to open any windows or ventilate the place.  All you've done is crank up the heating to full, close all the curtains and blinds, have really hot showers without using the extractor fan.............................  And you haven't  noticed that all the bedroom walls have turned black and the shower curtain is riddled with mildew

And then the visitor says, ' Oh, I didn't notice anything?'

Seriously??!!  How could you not???????????????????????????

................And being a very 'on the ball' letting person, I always contact my visitors the day after they arrive to check that everything is OK.  Every single time I have done this, my visitors have replied, 'Yes everything is hunky dory'.

.............................And then........................... when they leave....................... they leave me reviews saying such things as; 'the bed wasn't very comfy' or 'there were cat hairs on the rug'.  Bed not comfy?  Check out the rest of my reviews that say that the bed is very comfy.  And surely that's a personal preference thing anyway?  Cat hairs on the rug?.................. in a property where a cat has never, ever been?  Seriously?!!

Sometimes I think people just like complaining for the sake of it?!

It just really annoys me that when people are asked if everything is Ok and they say it is................  Then they complain on a public review?!!

There again, I guess we're living in an very 'online' world where people are too scared to talk to anyone?   They probably think that by responding to messages that everything is OK and then posting online reviews that there are things that they don't like, that they can remain anonymous.

..............But do you know what?.................. the next time anyone who rents my house says that everything is OK and then posts a bad review online..............  I am going to name and shame them.

Rant over!!!

Sat Nav

Sat Nav?  Does anyone actually know where they are going these days????

The funniest story I have ever heard re SAT NAV is from my friend who is an assistant head teacher in a special school...........................  took the kids out on a day trip, keyed in the location of where they were going (unaware that there were two places with the same name), ended up somewhere that they didn't think they should be.  And lets just be a little bit realistic here?!!.......................  Special Ed school trips normally mean that there is one adult to every child. 

Obviously all the 'helpers' didn't have a clue where they were going either??  Just how ridiculous is that?  Why do people never know where they are going these days?

So my friend, with her special Ed kids and all the helpers, ended up in a place where they weren't actually supposed to be.

..................And her answer to the problem.....................  the kids didn't actually know where they were going anyway so they had a good day out.

Seriously.............................

Technology is great. Technology is fabulous.  Technology has made our lives a whole lot simpler.

BUT...................  can anyone actually read a map these days???

I'm trying to be cool?!

My nephew is coming to visit me tomorrow.  He's coming to stay overnight with his friend.  They are on a bit of a 'Thelma & Louise' road trip and I just so happen to be on his route.

About 10 days ago he messaged me on FB and said, and I quote, 'X and I are doing a bit of a road trip between 3-7 April so may be able to come and visit you'.

'Come and visit you'?  ..................Why would two 20 year old boys want to come and visit me?  Obviously I am the bestest Auntie in the whole wide world but even so......................  When I was 20 years old, I'm sure I wouldn't have wanted to visit my Aunt & Uncle if I were on a road trip with a friend?

But times change and there is not such a big generation gap as there was when I was a teenager in the 1970s.

So as I am a very nice Auntie I told him to come and stay.

The boys said they'd sorted out 'hostel' accommodation and it would only cost them £10 a night.  Mmmmm................... they're travelling in a car.  Car parking will be at least double that for 24 hours but ho hum - students don't think about stuff like that

So to cut a very long story short - Nephew and his friend are coming to stay tomorrow night.

I am sooooooooo looking forward to it.

BUT here starts the RANT..........................

It's Wednesday 5th April at 11.15pm.

Do I know what time my nephew and friend are arriving tomorrow?  I do not.

Do I know if my nephew and friend need feeding when they arrive?  I do not.

Do I know if my nephew and friend want breakfast before they leave?  I do not.

In these days of social media and messaging one would have thought that communication would have been easy.  But apparently not???

My nephew has my email address and mobile phone number, he follows me on FB, messenger & twitter,  how cool am I?, so why can't he just let me know when exactly he is coming to visit me?

.....................Possibly I'm not actually as cool as I thought I am??? 

Perhaps my very lovely 20 year old nephew just thinks that he can rock up at whatever time he wants tomorrow and I'll just be sitting here in my rocking chair doing my knitting.  I don't have a rocking chair.

And actually, come to think of it; that's exactly what we did in the 1980s.  I distinctly remember living in Leicester and friends just rocked up to stay for a couple of nights because I'd written them a letter and said that they could.  And at that time - I was in and - they did stay probably in sleeping bags on a floor, - and I had absolutely no idea that they were arriving, but we dealt with it.

BUT times change.......................

And now I'm a middle aged woman....................................

And actually, I would quite like to know if my nephew is actually going to turn up tomorrow with his friend?  I would like to know if he wants me to feed him and his friend?  I live by myself so I can't just rustle up a meal for two 'growing boys' unless that I know that two 'growing boys' are actually coming to stay. 

Well actually I can; because tomorrow morning I will go to Asda. I was in the Guides - Motto - 'Be Prepared!!!'

There again.....................  Maybe I'm just worrying too much.  In the 1980s I lived in a teeny, weeny flat and I always seemed to have loads of people staying overnight etc.  Haven't a clue how I coped.

There again................... years ago................... people DID just cope.

40 years ago we were living in the shadow of 'World War Two'.

Morals, standards, commitment, respect, loyalty.

.....................I actually don't think that society thinks any of the above are very important in todays
world???

I do!!!

Priority Seats on Buses

Years ago there were no such things as 'priority seats' on buses.  If you were disabled, or in a wheelchair or had a child in a buggy you didn't get any 'special' treatment.  In fact if you were in a wheelchair I don't even think that you could go on a bus.  As far as I remember there was absolutely no way that one would be able to get a wheelchair onto a bus.  And for the poor mothers who were struggling with kids in buggies and shopping etc, going on a bus was almost impossible.  They had to take their kids out of the buggy, fold up the buggy, struggle onto the bus holding the buggy, the child, the shopping and usually another young child as well.

These days, buses have wheelchair spaces, buggy spaces, priority seating and apparently one can also get a card to show to the driver that indicates that one has 'special needs' and needs extra time to get on the bus and find somewhere to sit.

Now, whilst I think that all this has got to be a good thing..........................  What I object to is people who abuse this system.

Take yesterday for example.  I got on the bus with my dog and sat in the wheelchair space.  If I am on the bus with my dog I like to sit in either the wheelchair space or the buggy space because there is room for my dog to lie down and she is out of the way of everyone else.  Obviously if I see a wheelchair user or buggy get onto the bus I move.

So there I am, sitting in the wheelchair space when the bus approaches a bus stop and I see an old man leaping around, waving his walking stick at the bus to signal for it to stop.  Actually I don't think that the old man was any older than me but that's beside the point.  I glanced around and noted that the buggy space was still free as were three of the priority seats.  Whoopee dooo I thought - I can stay where I am.

................Except when the old man (who I don't think was that old) got on the bus, he looked directly at me and said, 'Who's going to let me sit down?'  Other people on the bus pointed to the free four priority seats but old man (who I don't think was that old) said, 'I'm better in that seat'.

So then I felt obliged to move.  Not being one for confrontation I didn't even ask him why.  I just gave up my seat and moved.  And then after I'd done that I thought to myself; why have I done that?  He's not in a wheelchair, he's just a bit frail and there are four other priority seats available.  And what made it even worse was - the minute he sat down he proceeded to take out some sort of stinky crisp bread rivitta thing, covered in goodness only knows what, and was sitting munching away with the crumbs dripping down onto his horrible stinky anorak.

..................And then....................... when he got off the bus...................... he made a huge palaver about not getting up out of his seat until the bus had actually stopped.  He hobbled off the bus, using his stick and the bus drove off.

BUT..................  I looked back and actually saw him walking along the road without his stick.

Seriously not happy that people are abusing the priority seating on buses in this way???!!!

Airbnb - Your property can make you 300% more????

So today when I trekked around my normal dog walking route, I saw loads of neighbourhood cars had flyers stuck underneath their windscreen wipers................

....................These flyers were saying such things as, 'Boost your property rental by 300%'.

Firstly; ..................I would just like to comment - Boost your property rental by 300% of what???

And secondly................. Do these people who actually stick these flyers underneath car windscreen wipers actually know what they are promoting?

The flyers were from 'Airbnb'.

'Airbnb' is the biggest hospitality letting agents in the world and yet it does not own one single property.  A lot of people seem to be jumping on the 'airbnb' bandwagon.  I've seen jobs advertised for people to hand out keys, meet and greet, do property maintenance, etc, etc, etc.

Renting out a property short term is not easy.  ..............Well, it's not if you do it properly...................... 

..............And I'm not talking 'Airbnb' here.

You need proper building and house insurance in place, you need to check with your local council what rules they have re letting a property, you need electricity/gas checks in place, you need a TV licence, you need public liability for guests in your home, you need wifi, who books a property without wifi these days?, you need so many things, that to be honest, if you then have to pay some random person who is putting flyers around your local area................... is it going to be worth your while to actually rent out your property?

Holiday makers always think that people who rent out their properties in seaside towns or prime locations are making an absolute killing.  That honestly is not the case.  Yes, on paper, the holiday let home you have rented seems like a ridiculous price.  But lets just look a little closer at this............

Ie, - Two bedroomed property in a popular  South West seaside resort....................Price £1,000 for one week...........  Sleeps 4?

Letting fees - 20%   =               £200
Cleaning fees           =                 £50
Laundry fees            =                 £50
Council tax pw         =                £40
Electricity/gas pw           =          £25
Water pw                  =                £8
Landlords building ins pw =       £7.00
Landlords house ins. pw =          £7.00
Public liability ins. pw =             £7.00

Total expenditure - £394

Net income - £606 for one week. 

..............But then one still has to pay for a TV licence/netfix or sky or some other super duper extra TV service and a wifi connection and a window cleaner, electricity/gas check and various other things that I can't even think of at the moment.  And because people are paying £1000 for one week they will expect a hospitality tray which will include wine or flowers or tea/coffee or a welcome hamper full of high class locally sourced goodies.

So in reality the 'holiday let property' that you think is really expensive and is costing you £1000 a week is probably only going to give the owner about £450pw and that's before you take into account all the wear & tear that your kids have inflicted on the property.

£450pw = about £16 pppn.  Not exactly a lot is it?

£450 = about 62 hours pw of work at minimum wage.  A lot of people in the SW in the hospitality industry work much longer hours than this.

And before you say that your kids are really well behaved and would never, ever, think of damaging anyone else's property................... do you really know what your kids are doing at all times?

I have spent years living in the SW and for years my nephews & niece came to visit me in my house every summer.  They're very well behaved kids with responsible parents, but after each visit there was always damage to my property.  And at this point I would just like to say that any damage wasn't deliberate..........................  But that's the problem with renting out properties.

99% of the time, damage isn't deliberate but stuff happens.....................

Ie,:

1)  My niece used to slam the kitchen door so hard that the kitchen clock fell off the wall every time - until it ceased to work.  Obviously it had to be replaced 'at my own cost'. - £20.

2)  My nephews/niece used to sleep on a z-bed in my spare room but rammed it into the wall so often that it left indents in the wall.  Obviously the wall had to be re-plastered 'at my own cost'. - £40.

3)  My niece left my sun lounge cushions out all night and the following morning it was soaking wet and couldn't be dried out.  Obviously it had to be replaced 'at my own cost' - £30.

......................So that's another £90 added onto a one week stay.

Obviously the above is just an example of my own experience.  It was my sister and her family that were staying in my home and I'm sure if my sister knew that her kids had caused this damage she would be mortified.  But the fact is; that she didn't, because I didn't tell her people with kids don't actually know what their kids are doing..........................

But the point I'm trying to make is.................. 'holiday letting'??? -  your property will not turn you into a millionaire.................................

....................And 'Airbnb'....................  I still don't understand your flyers????

...........'Your property can make you 300% more???

300% more of what???'

.................Can anyone enlighten me??????????????????????

What should I rant about today?

So today I felt like ranting but wasn't actually sure what I should rant about.  And then I thought....................  I'll have another rant about a middle aged woman finding a job in a large city.

In the last four and a half months I have lived in a big city and in the last four and a half months I have applied for almost 100 jobs.  I still don't have a job.  All I want is a little part-time, minimum wage job, near to where I live.  Is that really too much to ask.

I have always had a job.  I've never had a problem finding a job.  I have always worked, since aged 13 years old when I had a paper round.

The trouble is; no one wants to employ a middle aged woman. 

I wouldn't want to employ a middle aged woman.  I've been in the position where I've had to employ staff and to be honest, minimum wage jobs usually attract kids with no experience.  In my position as an employer, if two people applied for a minimum wage job that required little or no skills (even though these days the list of attributes & flexibility one needs for a wage job is ridiculous), I have to say I would employ the youngster. 

Youngsters do what they are told.  Older people have more attitude (they'll speak their mind), probably could do the job a lot better, but could possibly be more confrontational. And there's always that thing...................  Give a child a chance???  I have nephews and a niece and if I were in competition with them for a job, I would obviously want the job to go to them.  And to be honest I would feel like that with any kid who is applying for a job.

However, at the risk of sounding like someone who has watched too much Jeremy Kyle..........  Youngsters are totally unreliable............... 

..................For example, youngsters have absolutely no qualms about phoning in sick after a night out when they have a hangover the following day.  Would a 58 year old do that? Of course they wouldn't.  If a youngster splits up with a boyfriend/girlfriend it's a traumatic event in their life and they need time off work to get over it.  As far as I'm concerned - stuff happens - get over it.  It never happened in our day?!  Well obviously it did, but we would never have dreamt of taking time off work because of a relationship breakup.  I guess growing up in the 1960/70s we were still living in the backlash of how our parents lived during World War 2.  Work, save, mend, make do.  Luxury's were something that had to be worked for and earned.

If you were out of work you were considered to be the lowest of the low.  It was the same if a female had a baby out of wedlock.  Britain 50 years ago had 'standards.' 

These days there are no standards and there are no luxury's.  Everybody has everything.  Ie., what would you call a luxury these days?  Inside toilet, heating, TV, phone, wifi?

It is just soooooo, sooooooooo, annoying that all the jobs that I saw advertised more than 4 months ago are now being advertised again.  Seriously.......................  if they'd employed me I would still be there now.  But that to me says two things:

1)  The person who got the job is a student/young person so is moving on to bigger and better things.
2)  The employer is awful to work for so people leave at the very first opportunity that they get.

Either way, if I had been lucky enough to get a job 4 months ago I would still be doing it now.

..............And that is what is sooooo, soooooo annoying.

#whydoesnoonewanttoemploya58yearold?

Receipts

I don't know whether anyone else has noticed but...............................

......................Where has this policy of asking one if one wants their receipt come from?

You buy some shopping, you get a receipt, you go home.  End of story.  Or at least that's how it's always been.  Now it would seem that you actually have to say 'yes' to the question, 'do you want your receipt?'  Has this got something to do with saving paper, saving the planet, being environmentally friendly???

Obviously I want my receipt.  If I don't have my receipt how can I check how much I have been charged for stuff?  Incidentally, I'm not talking clothes shopping here (when I may want to return the goods).  I'm talking supermarket shopping.  But even supermarket shopping; you often want to check how much you've paid for something.

And the other thing................  If I pay for goods via a credit card, I like to keep the receipt as evidence of what I've bought.  I keep this receipt until I get my credit card statement and then I check off my receipts with the items on my statement.  If you don't have any receipts how can you do this?

I think I am in the minority.   Or maybe I'm just old and don't understand the up-to-date way of doing things.  Perhaps there's some very clever app that means that you don't have to keep hold of a paper receipt once you've bought a load of stuff.  The number of people in a queue in front of me who never want their receipt is amazing.  Most of them pay via 'contactless card' but what I don't understand is; how on earth do they keep a track of their spending?  As I say, there must be some super duper clever app that allows one to do this. 

Or perhaps no one keeps a check on their spending these days??

Oh well, ho hum, until someone enlightens me on how one knows what one's spent without a receipt; I'll be continuing to say YES to the question, 'Would you like your receipt?'

Benefits

Firstly, let me just say, that I am not very au fait with people on benefits.  I don't mean that to sound snobbish; it's just that, although I have come into contact with many people throughout my life, who have been on benefits - until now I didn't actually realise just how much money one could get from not doing anything??!!

I have a friend OK I have quite a lot of friends who is about 64 years old.  I've known him for more than 20 years (but probably haven't seen him for more than 15 years)...........................

To give you a bit of background here; when I first met him, he was a bit eccentric, appeared highly intelligent and was a bit of an inventor.  He'd invented something which I personally thought had the potential to be a 'best seller'.  Together, we went to the 'patent office', and registered the said invention.  That was more than 20 years ago.

And now it's 20 years on and he's still talking as if this latest invention is going to be the best thing since sliced bread.  I really must google sliced bread?!  Obviously it's not, because over the last 20 years a lot of things have been invented. Lol!

Anyway, all this is totally irrelevant to my rant about benefits.

Since I last saw him, he's deliberately made himself homeless, and is now living in a fantastic spacious, council owned, two bedroomed flat, with far reaching views.  In the area that this flat is; it would easily sell for at least £250,000 - £300,000 if not more.

Apparently, he's getting £210 from the state every week.   And this is after all his bills have been paid.  Ie, electric, TV licence, wifi.  He doesn't have to pay council tax, he's just had a new heating system installed, the kitchen was refurbished three years ago, etc, etc, etc.  So he has £210 per week pocket money?!

Today I went to visit this 'spacious, 2 bed flat with far reaching views'.  And very lovely it was too.
 
..........At least it would be if he actually took the care to look after it.   It stank, it was dirty, there was rubbish all over the place, there was a leak/damp patch on the ceiling which obviously had just been left to fester, it was like a sauna because the heating was cranked up to full well why would he worry - everything is paid for.

I cannot believe that someone who has been offered such a fantastic opportunity to live in such a fabulous abode does not take the care to look after it.  The place was an absolute tip.  The 'new' kitchen (installed only three years ago) was caked in grease, as was everything else in the kitchen.  The carpet in the living room looked as though it hadn't been hovered since he moved in.  In fact the whole place was absolutely disgusting.

And the sad thing is......................  This actually belongs to someone I know, who I thought had the same values as me.

Well, to be honest, even 20 years ago, I guess I realised that he didn't have the same values as me.  I was brought up to work for everything I wanted and that's what I've done.  But when I met this particular guy.................... he was clever, intelligent, and had ideas for the future.  I believed in him.  I thought he was going places.

The reality - he's never worked since I met him, the fabulous invention that he had more than 20 years ago (and I have to admit could have been fabulous then)...................... is still what he thinks is going to make him into a millionaire today.

I have to ask myself - just what has he being doing for the last 20 years?

When I try to ask him, I don't get any kind of answer that makes sense.

In fact to be honest, it's very difficult to have any sort of 'normal' conversation with him at all.  But that's maybe me just being a very 'snobbish middle class, middle-aged woman'???  Personally I think years of alcohol abuse have addled his brain.

He looks like a tramp!

From what I can make out; all he does all day...................... is get up late, go to the pub, drink a few bottles of wine with his mates, but are they really mates? come home, go to the local garage to buy more wine, sit at home, drink the wine, go to bed.

What sort of a life is that?

From my point of view; it's no life.  But it's his life and who am I to say that my life is any better than his life.  BUT, what I'm ranting about here is..................................

BENEFITS.

I truly believe that everyone has the right to live their lives how they want to live their lives.

BUT, I also believe that to live your life, how you want to live your life, then you need to support yourself in order to do this.

Much as I love my very eccentric friend, I personally feel that instead of 'saving him', the benefits system have failed him.  He's been given 'everything' and ultimately that will be his downfall.

..................And remember this isn't someone from a 'sink' estate or a bad background or an abused childhood.  This is someone who had the intelligence to make 'informed' choices.  He made the choice to make himself homeless so that he could get a council house.  Unfortunately, somewhere along the line that choice has turned him into the person that he is today.

From my point of view;  the person he is today is................................. an alcoholic who is living day to day, living in the past, totally out of touch with reality and yet still believing that one day his inventions will make him a million.

I think the benefits system is great for people who are in dire straits.

But how the benefits system can be monitored, so that the people who really need help get it, is a very different question??????

Let's get to know each other

Why is it, these days, when you go on a course, or go to an evening class, or go to anywhere where there is a group of people; you have to introduce yourself and talk a little bit about yourself and tell the rest of the group why you're there, what you're hoping to get out of the course, what your past experiences are, what you've done in your life, etc, etc, etc.

It really annoys me.

If I go on a course or I do an evening class in something that interests me; I do it because I want to be there.  I don't do it because I want to find out why everyone else in the class is doing it.  I'm doing it because I actually want to learn something.  Spending more than half an hour (during a 2 hour class) listening to other people wittering on about why they are there, is of absolutely no interest to me.  If I want to find out about their lives I will ask them.

Sometimes when one goes on courses or does classes, one just 'clicks' with the other people.  After all I guess we all have a shared interest.  And if that is the case, then I am perfectly capable of making some new friends.  And once I have made some new friends, then I can find out about all the reasons why they are doing the course.

It does my head in!  Why do all course leaders feel the need to do this?  Do they think it 'bonds' us to each other?  Do they think that because of the time it takes, they will not have to teach us so much?  Do they genuinely think this 'sharing of information' will make the learning process better?

And what of the people who do not want to speak in front of a group, but who do want to learn?  For people of my age (57 years old) we did not grow up in the era of where we had to do personal presentations at school.  If we were shy we could just fade into the background.  All this 'public speaking' will surely be scaring a lot of people off.  If I had left school at 16 years old because I hated it and hadn't gained any qualifications, and then in my 50s or 60s decided to do an adult education class in something that interested me.........................  If someone asked me to stand up in front of the rest of the class and talk about why I was there and what I hoped to gain from the course..............  I certainly would not be coming back the following week.

From a personal point of view, I have had a lot of experience of speaking in front of a lot of people.  However, having said that; I find it very difficult to speak in front of a lot of people in a personal situation.  I don't want to have to tell everyone why I'm doing a particular course.  I don't think it's anybody's business why I have personally chosen to do a particular course.  I'm doing the course because I want to learn something or I'm interested in something.

Gone are the days when I am doing an evening class because I'm hoping to meet the 'love of my life'.  I remember years ago, I started an evening class in Spanish.  After a few weeks I gave it up because I wasn't learning anything and a male friend said, 'Oh well, there's not much point anyway if there's nobody you fancy there'???

Mmmmmmm............................  That wasn't actually why I was doing it.  I was doing it because I wanted to go and live in Spain.

I was going to say that I've never, ever done an evening class in the hope of meeting the 'love of my life'..................  But actually, about 30 years ago I applied to do an evening class in car mechanics because I thought it would be a good place to meet men???  Turned out that only 5 girls had applied for the course and it had to be cancelled due to lack of numbers.

BUT years ago, doing an evening class or going on a course through work, was so much simpler.  You were there to learn.  You didn't have to go through all this palaver of introducing yourself to everyone else and telling them why you were there and what you hoped to get out of the class.  You didn't have to evaluate it afterwards either.  You just did it.  You learnt something.  And you left the class feeling that you had actually accomplished something.

And if you had a bit of an informal chit chat with someone while having a coffee break then all well and good.

These days, every single thing has to be evaluated.  Why are you doing the course?  What are you hoping to get out of the course?  What do you think about how the course has been taught?  Would you recommend the course?  Would you do another course?  On a scale of 1-10............................ etc, etc, etc, etc,.

It's enough to put anyone off doing any kind of course ever again!!!