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Post by Big Blue on Oct 24, 2023 8:37:17 GMT
Ha! We deliver services through the big 4 (all of them) because they are on Government Frameworks that provide certain services and the Big 4 haven't got direct capability in those certain services. We (and others like us) do have so we are tiered suppliers. The thing is the tenders that the Big 4 respond to (and win) would be won by companies like ours if we were allowed to enter the Frameworks as stand alone but there are more barriers that way than partnering with a big 4 and letting them do the expensive tendering bit.
It results in seasoned professionals being managed by callow youth, if I'm honest. I know what my general charge-out rate range is and it can be into 4-figures a day. The big 4 are still making money on the deal as well as administering us. Then get this: we as a tiered provider division in the Partnership are more profitable than the traditional arms of the business that do the really fancy front-of-house stuff for FTSE100 companies.
This is probably why I'm not concerned about being taxed, but remain concerned about where it is spent for the general populace.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 23, 2023 15:31:36 GMT
How does a modern vehicle allow this? Even the (2011) Gorilla went into a battery-save mode when I had a power leaking door handle.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 23, 2023 14:24:42 GMT
Haven't some countries flirted with a move to the right and then gone back a bit? I can't remember who but saw it mentioned somewhere recently. Poland recently. France: always on the brink of a Le Pen administration but never quite making it Slovakia: Nationalists didn't make it to full parliament and have to coalition with all sorts of dregs Germany: same as Slovakia
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 23, 2023 14:22:18 GMT
Remember that the higher rate tax threshold should be about £90K now if it had moved with earnings and inflation but at £50,250 in England and Wales and £43,662 in Scotland (and an additional 2% on top) the people they are taking nearly half their earnings from are hardly wealthy. Who's had the longest period in power in our working lives and hasn't addressed this?
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 23, 2023 14:03:49 GMT
Anyway, this government has run out of ideas and steam. Probably let someone else take the wheel of the bus and drive us off the cliff. This is about where we are. I get (as per the comments above) that fear of change and fear of the unknown are big drivers behind the continued re-selection of the Conservative party (change and fear of the unknown are pretty much conservative traits) but as history shows every so often a shake-up is required to rein-in the creeping complacency and the blatant abuse of the [political] [social] [taxation] system. The biggest issue is that politicians in the history of the filthy career have only ever had one agenda and that is to remain in office because it allows them to play the game that they want to play. That game can differ amongst many: Atlee used the desire for a more vocal public voice by the masses following the war to get elected. That the US (who were handing out money at the time) saw him as leading a party of "commies" and treated the UK with suspicion in their (the US') most fruitful years was inconsequential. Given his social background (he once write a paper attacking striking taxi drivers; benefitted from inherited wealth and lived a lifestyle akin to the current front bench of the Conservative party) he was hardly a natural Labourite. If you check back to the introduction of the Common Agricultural Policy in the UK and see how many politicians suddenly became farm owners and understand the long term level of system abuse. Thatcher used the militancy of the unions to gain power (as was also common, but not as vehemently reported, in the rest of Europe). That the policies of her government probably increased the lot of a far greater number of families than the vociferous many that regale the issues they feel are "working class" that she opposed says much about the political and media landscape. There was no them and us in the late 70s: everyone was fucked with the well-off being taxed at 83% and the rest of everyone wearing clothes that made static sparks if you rubbed them together. Major was probably the last true Conservative political leader as far as the general population were concerned. He came from a relatively normal background (as did Thatcher compared to the alternatives of her time) and understood what most ordinary people wanted most of the time, something that is sadly lacking in all parties today. He was never a glory chaser and became leader in an era of party turmoil. His electoral success was probably as hated by the Tory grandees as by the foaming lefties and his undoing was brought about by the excesses of the type of Conservative we see today, storming out of election halls as bad losers. Blair used that middle ground that had been built by the Thatcher and Major years to gain power. The left despised his centralism; the right were suspicious of any left wing possibilities. Since then there has been a farcical situation at No 10 on all fronts. Brown was a lost cause with the centre ground voters and his much-publicised brush with a common or garden member of the public did him no favours with the working classes either. The Cameron hung-parliament was toilet and he had to resort to playing on the anti-foreigner atmosphere to get the next GE over the line by promising a referendum. Some will point at the Johnson GE success as a pointer of stability of direction in the polls but his tenure was an exact illustration of my point above above about politicians only being there to stay in. So a change is required. It may be that there is a mad lurch to the left and we're all enslaved at 20mph; maybe taxes will go up more (although remember who currently made them this high); maybe there will be a flight of business from the UK, but there is already. The tax issue is the biggest gripe for me: I'm not concerned about my tax percentage neither am I concerned about it going up or down 5%. What pisses me off the most is seeing it being utterly pissed against a wall with no benefits for society as a whole visible no matter which side is in power at a local and national level. Pete's analysis is largely correct: carry on with the same, knowing it's shit or; change not knowing what shit will come. I suspect many will be looking at the latter and gritting their teeth that they can stand it for five years if it makes the other side understand where the limits are.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 21, 2023 19:11:07 GMT
The Conservatives forced the entire country to vote on a matter to resolve a decades-old internal party argument; they knee-jerk reacted to the far right because they feared a politician that had never won a parliamentary seat ever. Many people who voted for Brexit wouldn't consider themselves "far right" or anything like it. People like me. I was a traditional Labour voter from a working class and traditionally Labour voting area which voted decisively for Brexit. As did many similar areas and people. To link people like this with anything "far right" is simply wrong. However the definition of "far right" nowadays seems to include anyone who isn't a member of Hamas. Tongue in cheek but you get my point. I'm afraid you've demonstrated everything that's wrong with modern society, from social media keyboard warriors all the way to those in Westminster setting the rules under which society lives. There was no mention by me of Brexit at all: I pointed out the reason for the Conservatives calling a referendum. I did not mention any Brexit voters from any historical political background at all (although the figures for votes in traditional Labour constituencies showed at the Boris Johnson election that the "foreigners are being nasty to you" approach had some tangible effect and anyone that thinks otherwise is lying to themselves) because there is no black and white; them and us; two sided argument for the running of a nation of 67M people yet that is how everything in society is approached. Some examples: You're a homosexual yet you refuse to accept that transexuals can be women in the same sense as a woman born with no Y chromosome - you're a TERF and need to be killed. You're a white person in a fight with a black person; you defend yourself robustly and injure the other party. The argument was about a girl / spilled drink / football but you are a racist. You think that carpet bombing the civilian population of Gaza is atrocious - you're an antisemite. You think that taxing the better off more is going to result in the flight of wealth and loss of tax income - you're a greedy capitalist. You think that making sure that the wealthy pay their share of tax yet can maintain their lifestyle - you're a raving Marxist. As to the remark about the "far right" and Labour voters, Labour being the party of socialist ideals, the power of the common man and the rights of workers - the National Socialist German Workers' Party was exactly that. Apparently they were also "far right". Sorry if I've come across as a bit bate-y in this post, but this country is in a shocking state and even if, as I said, Count Binface became the leader of the ruling party it couldn't be any worse than the current shower of utter shit. That coming from a reasonably well-off boy from a Surrey schooling background that's quite some criticism.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 21, 2023 16:02:45 GMT
I can never make my mind up about these. I look at them and think “oooh yeah” one day the look at them the next and go “meh”.
Then Pete posts a photo of one with full sexiness and I think they’re fab. 😂
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 21, 2023 15:56:01 GMT
Out of interest, what does the Sunak government offer that’s so preferable to anything other than a violent, murderous purge?
The Conservatives forced the entire country to vote on a matter to resolve a decades-old internal party argument; they knee-jerk reacted to the far right because they feared a politician that had never won a parliamentary seat ever; they forced rules upon the country including imposing huge fines then ignored the rules themselves; they’ve imposed immigration laws that defy the history of the nation; the PM has pushed several decisions that benefited his wife’s finances; he recently single-handedly overturned an act of parliament (HS2) with no debate (as per a dictatorship) and they have overseen the imposition of levels of taxation making them the biggest tax-raising parliament on record with no discernible improvement to services or benefits.
Whatever you fear coming don’t worry: it’s already here.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 20, 2023 11:03:04 GMT
Had to share.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 20, 2023 10:47:35 GMT
Yes, we all know that by- elections can be just a local or mid- term protest vote but these were huge swings.
The mid-Bedfordshire result was a huge swing but the Tamworth one is far more significant. The Bedfordshire one involved a level of voting for Lib Dem’s to swing the majority so far in Labour’s favour whereas the percentages for Tamworth are not far off a straight swap from Conservative to Labour. Some social media suggestion that the Conservatives may yet try to oust Sunak before a GE but one assumes their PR department will suggest that swapping yet another leader in the run up to a GE after the disaster of the past contest is ill advised.
Speaking to my naturally conservative friends with no real political leanings they are of the opinion that if the opposition put up Count Binface as their new leader they’d still be preferable to the current status quo - a change of any kind for the need for change is currently on the cards.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 16, 2023 9:36:52 GMT
Looks like the boss man of ALPINA has passed away. Top car maker. Top cars.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 13, 2023 18:51:03 GMT
Deer need proper husbandry but like most things the hand wringers cry louder than they should. W2.1’s father was the forest manager in his designated area for about 40 years. Every year he’d make sure the animals were safe, fed, vermin controlled ( and yes - like renowned animal lover Beatrix Potter his view of foxes is that they carry the most diseases and should be shot on sight, along with wild boar) and then that numbers were contained. Each season he’d give the hunters the markings of the deer that were to be killed and if they hadn’t by the last week he’d be in the hide all night every night and shoot them himself. We eat a lot of deer meat (“venison” has no equivalent Slovak word) and wild boar. Each other forest manager did the same for their bit.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 12, 2023 16:01:02 GMT
Too right, the huge drop in hedgehog populations is as much due to badger population explosion as to farming (which of course gets all the blame). Quite. WWF put some ad in Facebook about bird population decline. The number of birds killed per annum in the UK they gave pretty much matched the number estimated to be killed by domestic cats. They didn’t reply to my proposal on a cull.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 12, 2023 9:01:41 GMT
It awaits to be seen what happens, at what should be the bespoke end (Rolls / Maybach etc), when specifiers finally work out that a screen with same build and tech as a five year old’s tablet device is neither premium or bespoke.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 11, 2023 10:16:04 GMT
W2.1 and I were discussing this over breakfast but more along the lines of: imagine you're in the airport watching the fire; then being told your flights are all grounded. So you're not going on holiday / visiting family / work and you're not going home either because your car is parked over there. Or what's left of it is.
I wonder if the trapped and burned out cars are racking up additional parking time charges......
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 10, 2023 8:02:24 GMT
It's Coldstream, doesn't everyone just stand in the middle of the car park and pee there? As I said that’s the reason they’re free to use in France.
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Teaching
Oct 9, 2023 15:03:49 GMT
via mobile
Post by Big Blue on Oct 9, 2023 15:03:49 GMT
Yep: unless you get a decent Trust / Head Teacher / Board of Governors teaching can seem a bit secondary I reckon. Also being an old guy with young kids I see the world far differently to the teachers that are barely a year or two older than the girls’ brothers!
Interesting that as part of Black History Month T4 had an assignment to review a Steve McQueen film. I automatically took the “LeMans” Blu-ray off of the shelf until I was told this Steve McQueen is the director of “12 Years a Slave”, which is a decent film anyway.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 9, 2023 14:33:30 GMT
What a superb collection of cars of all types. Excellent.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 9, 2023 14:31:37 GMT
Very nice. I bet that's built like nothing else available. Fits your brief as well, which as we all get older and more set in our ways is a hard job.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 9, 2023 14:27:15 GMT
Does it still cost 50 cents to use the bog at European motorway services? yes: quite a German / Austrian / Czech thing. In the past I've been in Czech services where they hand you a rationed quantity of toilet paper after you've paid to enter the toilet - a hang over from the communist era. The French don't dare charge for the toilet as they know the locals will just shit and / or urinate by the side of the building. Always remember to go to the toilet BEFORE going to the snack shop as the receipt from the toilet gives you a discount at the till. It's infuriating when you have a handful of toilet tickets from a road trip but the service station you're currently at doesn't match the company that issued the discount tickets on previous stops!
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 7, 2023 9:23:12 GMT
Lovely.
These are completely off my car-radar but this would be ideal for W2.1.
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 7, 2023 8:23:24 GMT
Better start him a thread before there’s no point.
So, was he stressed about his position on the grid or did he see Lawson laughing with the Aston mechanics at the back of the garage?
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 6, 2023 8:22:22 GMT
There is a combination of cost of living, business expectation, average salary etc.
We’re always shocked that items we buy in the U.K. as routine purchases are the same price in countries where the average income is less than half that in the U.K. don’t even start on German cars in Central Europe.
I’ve always been shocked at the small business mentality of the U.K. which is “charge more and retire early” as opposed to “charge fairly and pass the business on”, which is affected by various administrative issues and local psychological make-up. Then there’s business rates, salary expectations and energy costs which all have an effect on the cost of a cup of coffee or a breakfast. When you then extrapolate up again the cheaper breakfast in a cafe means the cafe sells more breakfasts or breakfast out becomes the norm whereas an expensive breakfast seller might think they’re covering their costs better but in reality they’re under utilising their staff or employing fewer of them.
Obviously there’s other issues: in London you want to get in, eat and get out and your relative salary is high enough not to be that fussed that a Pret sandwich consisting of a slither of smoked salmon and two slices of factory-produced bread costs more than a full English in a dirty caff. So because your income has been changed in relative terms everything else has gone up as well so the status quo is maintained. Given that a few years ago my mother remarked that she liked coming to Waitrose when she visited the U.K. because it was so cheap we can see that everything is relative. I don’t think I’d command my income anywhere else in Europe but then I don’t think I’d pay over £3 for a latte every day either.
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Cardle
Oct 3, 2023 7:58:54 GMT
Post by Big Blue on Oct 3, 2023 7:58:54 GMT
First time playing this for some time. Have they run out of cars to use?
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Post by Big Blue on Oct 1, 2023 12:12:13 GMT
Current one. On the Autobahn.
I can’t remember the last car of my own that I didn’t. Probably the LWB transit I had to ferry the 250 production bike in.
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Post by Big Blue on Sept 27, 2023 18:35:18 GMT
Hmm. I’ll temper the excitement by saying:
The back end is fucking horrible. The interior is utterly contrived with that binnacle and giant physical switches that look like they’ll have your eye out in a minor prang.
Other than that, very nice. I’m seeing a few older 4Cs about Westminster and StJames’. They’re not ageing well.
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Post by Big Blue on Sept 24, 2023 19:05:11 GMT
Nice. Great choice - probably one of the prettiest cars on the road from the past decade.
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Post by Big Blue on Sept 21, 2023 16:19:04 GMT
Drive the 440i and the XE - pick your favourite. This , but..... ....don't ditch the 4 pot Alfa. Try it as well. The Tesla is unmitigated shit. Zero emotional appeal.
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Post by Big Blue on Sept 19, 2023 20:38:20 GMT
Yes mental. But then classic car prices don’t have any rules.
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Post by Big Blue on Sept 19, 2023 14:48:55 GMT
I loved Malta. One of the few places you get a decent cup of tea.
My dad spent some time there in the late 50s / early 60s so when we went there and came back with photos he regaled us with navy tales based on each one.
Yes: they love a car but we used the old owner-operated buses which are now replaced by an Arriva provided actual service.
Must go back.
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