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March 27, 2006
Everybody Out!!
Tomorrow I'm on strike. Well not just me, there will in fact be 1½ million of us across the country in dispute over central government's proposed changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme.
So we're downing tools (in my case pen and calculator) in an effort to force them to agree to protect the pensions of existing council workers against the massive changes that will take effect by 2013. Well it worked for the Civil Service!
At the time of the last all-out strike, in 2002, I was an active union steward and spent the day on the picket line. Tomorrow I'll probably just spend the day doing housework. I don't think I have the heart for the fight anymore. Our working conditions have been gradually eroded over the last five years, we don't enjoy anything like the job security we did when I first joined the Council a mere 12 years ago. No-one seems to have much fight in them anymore and the unions don't have the power they once did. Let's hope, this time, there really is strength in numbers.
Posted by lilliebet at 07:45 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
March 23, 2006
.... and those who can't teach, work for the council
Those lovely lock guys have been around again. Our back door has been kicked in a couple of times recently (don't you just love drunks? ). Every time it happens it buggers up the door entry system so the lock guys are visiting on a regular basis. Today they came up with the bright idea of fitting a mortice lock (so much for door entry systems). So I get back from the shop to find a bright shiny new lock and one of Sefton Council's finest standing in the hall with several bright shiny new keys in his hand....
Only he doesn't think I "qualify" for one due to the fact I own my flat.
I was calm, I was polite, but I was bloody assertive.
"If you think you're leaving here in one piece, having locked me out of my own home, you have another thing coming" says I.
"But you're not locked out, you're inside" The pond-dweller replies
*sigh*
"And the first time I go out of the house, I will be locked out, and then I'll have to come and live at YOUR HOUSE"
Would anyone like to see my bright, shiny new key? :-)
Posted by lilliebet at 11:53 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
March 12, 2006
"Light snow" the BBC said...
Light snow?
You should see it! It's like the tundra out there. The BBC may be foremost with the news but they're pants at weather forecasting. What I can see out there is best described as a blizzard.
The awful thing is, we're supposed to be going to Huddersfield today for the rugby. But we have to cross these to get there. The BBC forecast's heavy snow for Huddersfield so I'm think Huddersfield might not even be visible by now.
I know rugby's a tough sport but ....
On the upside, not going to the game will give me time to prepare for work tomorrow. If I start walking now, I might just get there tomorrow morning :(
Now, where are me wellies?
Posted by lilliebet at 07:37 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 03, 2006
Dum de dum delightful
Yes the weather outside is frightful.
Yesterday it snowed and it seemed as though the entire Merseyrail network ground to a halt. This morning, we had freezing fog (at that point I think I ground to a halt.)
Blue skies and bright sun burnt away the fog during the day but just as I left work it started to snow again... and I'm off to the rugby in a minute. Standing on the terrace for two hours in the snow, is it worth it?
Ask me at full time!
Posted by lilliebet at 05:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 01, 2006
Sheila Goes to Venice
Sheila (or mum as I more often call her) was due to fly to Venice on Sunday morning for a short break with friends. Lovely stuff! She hasn't had a holiday for quite some time.
So Friday night, 8pm, I'm at the rugby when the phone goes....
"Errrm.... is the passport office open on Saturday?"
Yeah, you guessed it, her passport had run out.
Eliminating the four-letter words, my reaction was "I don't know, but I'll check on the net when I get back from the rugby."
So back home, it's midnight and I'm desperately trawling the UK passport website for some help and guidance on how to renew a passport at a moment's notice.
There are only about a dozen passport offices in the UK but, luckily for us, one of them is in Liverpool. Our luck seemed to be holding when I discovered it was open on Saturday but only for appointments and only until 11am. It's all going well so far.
I phoned her and gave her the number. "Be on the phone the minute it opens, I doubt you'll get through to anyone now." I told her. Just on the off-chance, she tried the number anyway and, lo and behold, got a reply. Unfortunately the reply was that there were no appointments left for the Liverpool office on Saturday. Damn!
"Not to worry," she tells me "they've given me an appointment for 9 o'clock in the morning"
.... in DURHAM!!!!
That's a 300 mile round trip.
It's now the wee small hours and she phones her sister's partner - because neither of us drive do we? Our hero is willing to take her and consults the AA website for a route planner. He figures they'll need to leave about 5 am, it's already nearly one. Only he hadn't factored in that it was 5 am on a Saturday and the motorways were empty. They arrived just after 7am and had to hang around waiting for the passport office to open.
Job done, documents completed, and she's told the passport would be ready at 1 o'clock... another three hours spent hanging around in Durham. Still, she got her passport and they arrived back in time for tea. At least her trip wouldn't have to be abandoned.
The really awful thing is that the cost of the emergency passport; the travelling; and food and drink while they hung around came to more than the trip.
There's a moral to this tale and it's this....
.... when my mum calls.... don't answer!!
Posted by lilliebet at 09:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack