sjc Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 6 hours ago, paranoid android said: I'm not saying people shouldn't work hard, or that they should swing the lead - I worked hard today, for example, and I'll be going well out of my way to help people at work tomorrow. Here's an example of what I'm on about: Boy at work today (nice bloke) was talking about university degrees - he thinks people should only study for degrees that they can use for their careers - I disagree with him, as I believe that education has its own value - he thinks it should be all about it getting you a gig. I agree with you that education has its own value but in a day and age where the cost of a university degree is ridiculous I'd question why someone would go to this expense for no career benefit so I can see the point your colleague is making. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paranoid android Posted May 22, 2017 Author Share Posted May 22, 2017 2 minutes ago, sjc said: I agree with you that education has its own value but in a day and age where the cost of a university degree is ridiculous I'd question why someone would go to this expense for no career benefit so I can see the point your colleague is making. Everything has to be about dollars and cents, doesn't it? If the bottom line isn't satisfactory, it gets shut down, and High Streets are full of empty shops apart from charity shops, tanning studios, and Greggs. Brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kincardine Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 14 minutes ago, sjc said: I agree with you that education has its own value but in a day and age where the cost of a university degree is ridiculous I'd question why someone would go to this expense for no career benefit so I can see the point your colleague is making. 3 minutes ago, paranoid android said: Everything has to be about dollars and cents, doesn't it? If the bottom line isn't satisfactory, it gets shut down, and High Streets are full of empty shops apart from charity shops, tanning studios, and Greggs. Brilliant. Education: Apart from a few technical disciplines you learn how to work post-grad. Science and engineering may be the exceptions. Mostly weans should go to Uni and study what interests them and catch up later. I've budgeted for my 3 to take a post-grad degree and hope they do it after they've worked long enough to know what they like/what they are good at. If this means they'd have worked for a few years first then fine. Shops: Most shops are shite and you can buy what you want online. High Wycombe is a prosperous area but, in the past month, we've had the top area of the Eden Shopping centre boarded off and another 3 shops with 'closing down' sales. We've also gone from two Greggs to one. Same with Timpsons..Both have been boarded off. At the same time we have huge pressure on the housing stock to the extent that a dreary 2 bed flat in Wycombe costs £200K and that a nice one is on the market for £370K. The High Street won't recover as a place of retail. What could happen, though, is that non-viable retail units could easily become perfectly acceptable houses/flats. I know this may cause the local council to have issues with the loss of business rates but it has to be a sensible option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjc Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 53 minutes ago, paranoid android said: Everything has to be about dollars and cents, doesn't it? If the bottom line isn't satisfactory, it gets shut down, and High Streets are full of empty shops apart from charity shops, tanning studios, and Greggs. Brilliant. Sadly the way of the World my friend. Did we have a better work/life balance as hunter gatherers? Possibly but generally speaking everyones bought into the capitalist dream of ownership. This comes at a cost. The other option is to come out here to the Far East and teach English. They don't care what your degree is in as long as you're a native English speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjc Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 32 minutes ago, The_Kincardine said: Education: Apart from a few technical disciplines you learn how to work post-grad. Science and engineering may be the exceptions. Mostly weans should go to Uni and study what interests them and catch up later. I've budgeted for my 3 to take a post-grad degree and hope they do it after they've worked long enough to know what they like/what they are good at. If this means they'd have worked for a few years first then fine. Shops: Most shops are shite and you can buy what you want online. High Wycombe is a prosperous area but, in the past month, we've had the top area of the Eden Shopping centre boarded off and another 3 shops with 'closing down' sales. We've also gone from two Greggs to one. Same with Timpsons..Both have been boarded off. At the same time we have huge pressure on the housing stock to the extent that a dreary 2 bed flat in Wycombe costs £200K and that a nice one is on the market for £370K. The High Street won't recover as a place of retail. What could happen, though, is that non-viable retail units could easily become perfectly acceptable houses/flats. I know this may cause the local council to have issues with the loss of business rates but it has to be a sensible option. The problem for shops in Wycombe, like Perth or Falkirk for example is that if people do want to go shopping (for a change from online shopping) they'll make a day of it and head of to London or Edinburgh/Glasgow in the latter twos case. Agree with you that we'll see changes in use of City center retain units. Manchester has already seen this on a large scale with their old warehouses being turned into apartments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kincardine Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 37 minutes ago, sjc said: The problem for shops in Wycombe, like Perth or Falkirk for example is that if people do want to go shopping (for a change from online shopping) they'll make a day of it and head of to London or Edinburgh/Glasgow in the latter twos case. This is an excellent point. My older two had year 13 and year 11 leaving do's in the past week and both bought their new garb 'up London' rather than Wycombe. I'll leave my comment on my 16 year old asking me, "Dad, can you buy me a new tux for the year 11 prom" to the PTTGOYN thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scary Bear Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 What is the obsession with work in this country? Folk demonise other people for not wanting to work. Spoiler - I don't want to work - I do it because I have to - out of economic necessity - my economic necessity. Politicians and commentators constantly stressing the need for us to 'work hard' - 'hard work'. Well, f**k that - I don't reckon we're here for the sole purpose of working ourselves into an early grave for the benefit of greedy money-makers. Righteous indignation. Thank you. I am 46 this year and have been working since I was 17, with a 4 year hiatus from 1997 to 2001 to go to university. I have worked for 11 employers, one of which I worked for on two separate occasions. I find that even though I'm only mid-40s I am regularly thinking about ideas to get out of working for the next 20 years. Conditions and perks of my job have been noticeably eroded since the Tories came to power. Mondays sometimes feel like purgatory, but I assume that most people feel like this on occasion. I feel that working is a bit of a waste of my life. It takes up so much time with commuting and working. I might feel different if I felt I had a job that made a real difference to people's lives. However, on reflection, my work isn't too bad. My boss is a good guy. I can programme my own workload as I see fit and the staff I manage are generally competent, nice people. I can escape the office whenever I feel like it and the only pressure I have is the pressure I put myself under. I think I just like to have a moan occasionally. I'd still rather be fishing up the Highlands every day, but as jobs go, this isn't too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee Man Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 9 minutes ago, Scary Bear said: I am 46 this year and have been working since I was 17, with a 4 year hiatus from 1997 to 2001 to go to university. I have worked for 11 employers, one of which I worked for on two separate occasions. I find that even though I'm only mid-40s I am regularly thinking about ideas to get out of working for the next 20 years. I feel that working is a bit of a waste of a life. What would you rather do that you wouldn't consider a waste of your life? Realistic stuff, not snorting lines of coke off hooker's tits on your multi-million pound yacht. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irvine_buddie Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 9 minutes ago, Dee Man said: What would you rather do that you wouldn't consider a waste of your life? Realistic stuff, not snorting lines of coke off hooker's tits on your multi-million pound yacht. Personally, I'd rather just have the freedom enjoy my time at leisure rather than living for the weekends and then trying to squeeze my life into 2-3 days off before going back to work on Monday and wasting 4.5 days waiting on the next weekend. I'm 26, got a pretty decent well paying job which is relativey stress free but pretty boring.. but I feel like every hour I spend in work is just an hour wasted and don't want to waste my life in an office staring at a screen and chatting with people I have little in common with. Unfortunately, barring a lottery win there is little alternative if I want to continue to live in a nice house and afford to go to the football, play golf, go holidays and nights out etc. I don't think people who don't work should be judged but they also shouldn't be living off other people's tax money unless they can't work for medical reasons or are between jobs etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross. Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Working for a living is a bit meh. I am fairly fortunate in that the job I do is OK and it pays me well enough, but given the choice I would rather lie about in my underpants half the morning, spend more time reading books, eat well and do more exercise. Quite how I would come up with excuses to avoid family and friends I am unsure though, as all that spare time would undoubtedly see expectations of contact increase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scary Bear Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 What would you rather do that you wouldn't consider a waste of your life? Realistic stuff, not snorting lines of coke off hooker's tits on your multi-million pound yacht. See revised post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Genuine question as I don't know the answer; How much of people's wage goes towards paying for JSA and similar 'benefits'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 3 minutes ago, DA Baracus said: Genuine question as I don't know the answer; How much of people's wage goes towards paying for JSA and similar 'benefits'? It's minute compared to other tax funded stuff. https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/jan/08/uk-benefit-welfare-spending Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 So how much would this equate to from someone's pay (on average)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Just now, DA Baracus said: So how much would this equate to from someone's pay (on average)? That would require me doing sums. Very roughly £2 a week for JSA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 5 hours ago, DA Baracus said: Genuine question as I don't know the answer; How much of people's wage goes towards paying for JSA and similar 'benefits'? Theoretically NI Contributions pay towards your pension and potential benefits. If you work and don't claim any benefits your contributions will fund Benefits. The contributions won't cover the benefit bill now, so it'll be subsidised from other Government revenue. Your P 60 should show your particular % contribution to various Government spending commitments, but I suspect that's a load of made up shite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paranoid android Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 11 hours ago, Scary Bear said: I'd still rather be fishing up the Highlands every day This c**t gets it. As an aside, I'm assuming my hard-working, diligent, committed fellow posters have never posted on P & B while at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandarilla Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 This c**t gets it. As an aside, I'm assuming my hard-working, diligent, committed fellow posters have never posted on P & B while at work. [emoji6] I f**k about at work all the time - but when I need to work hard I do. It's one of the bonuses of having that wee bit of freedom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 I work in admin. It's dull as f**k. I do what I have to. Not sure how I can 'work hard' in admin. I do my work for when it needs done. I regularly piss about online in between doing my work. Would rather never have to work ever again but barring a lottery win or shagging some rich granny who mysteriously dies soon after with me suspiciously named as sole heir in her will, I will have to keep working. Alas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigmouth Strikes Again Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 "If you must go to work tomorrow, well if I were you, I really wouldn't bother, for there are brighter sides to life, and I should know, because I've seen them, but not very often". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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