Jump to content

Log in or register to remove this advert

Big J

Veteran Member
  • Posts

    9,159
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    46

Everything posted by Big J

  1. A week of two halves here. Frosty and calm Monday and Tuesday. Warm and windy Wednesday and Thursday and then back to frosty this morning. Makes for entertaining and beautiful cycling to and from work. This photo is from this morning
  2. 😄 The issue with religious doctrine is that it can be used as an excuse/cover for other motivations. Best to give despots as few reasons as possible to oppress/kill each other.
  3. I think the one thing that almost everyone here can agree with is that religion is the poison that is fuelling this whole nonsense. Without religion, there would be far fewer reasons for people to needlessly hate and kill each other. It's funny, as you're younger and you grow up you naively and innocently believe that humanity is going in the right direction, but as you get older and more cynical, you realise we're just as stupid, bigoted, irrational and intolerant as ever. As a species, we're probably f**ked.
  4. Yeah, it's a completely f**ked up situation. Fundamentally, almost everyone involved is innocent and powerless, and it's the actions of war-minded men that are causing all the suffering. Whilst Palestinians might still be subject to oppression if Israel wasn't there, I cannot imagine that it would be worse than what they presently experience. And in 1948, whose bright idea was it to create a Jewish Holy Land in the middle of a bloody Islamic region? Surely it would have been about 99% less hassle to have given them an enclave within the US? You could fit Israel 11 times into Wyoming with space to spare.
  5. It's too late to be talking about that. It should never have been created in the first place. It's worth pointing that out, whilst at the same time acknowledging that it does, and will continue to exist. In order to have any chance of peace, Israel needs to respect the right of Palestinians to have their own state, as well as halting all land thefts. Reparations wouldn't go amiss either.
  6. Ah f*ck, it's an awful situation in Israel/Palestine. There is no good outcome that I can see. Firstly, Israel shouldn't be there. It came about due to the rise of Zionism in the early 20th Century and then Western guilt after WW2. And the post colonial dividing up of the Middle East that paid no heed to cultural borders. Whether or not you agree with the existance of Israel, it exists. I am in no way condoning the terrorist behaviour of Hamas, but it's important to understand it within the context of a 75 year occupation, with the systematic subjugation and belittling of the Palestinian people. Israel has defied international law with illegal settlements within the West Bank and continues to treat the Palestinian people as second class citizens. Set against that back drop, it's easy to understand the building of incredible resentment towards Israel, and how easy it would be for a terrorist organisation to radicalise young men and women to fight for them. A two state solution is the only way to go. It will require compromise on both sides, with each reluctantly acknowledging the other's right to exist, but it requires a significant change in policy too. The Israelis need to stop taking land from Palestinians and recognise that they're a nation borne out of conquest, land grabs and transparent inequality. The Palestinians need to recognise that Israel now has a right to exist, and that terrorist activities against civilians are never acceptable. I think it would be naive to look at the situation purely from the point of view as Israel being subject to a terrorist incursion. Israel is a war machine, whose existence within the currrent political status quo is predicated on it's ability to repress it's Arab population. It's grim. Truly.
  7. Did anyone catch the end of Penny Mordaunt's speech at the Tory conference the other day? It was bizarre, to put it mildly. The women at the top of the Tory party frighten me!
  8. Big J

    HS2 Over

    France's TGV network is nearly 2700km long. Spain's high speed network is just under 4000km long Germany's ICE network is 1658km long. The UKs high speed network will be 336km long when HS2 to Birmingham is completed. Just look at Spain's network - it's a thing of beauty. A country that's 4 times the size of England and the network still reaches all corners of it.
  9. Big J

    HS2 Over

    What a massively embarrassing episode for British transport history. A few of the major problems: 1) the insistence on higher speed (rather than settling for 'just' 300kph) hugely inflated costs. France builds it's HGV network for ten times less than the projected cost of HS2. 2) vast sums of money tunnelising the track through the home counties to appease Tory voters. 3) they didn't even ask the chief executive of HS1 to be involved, despite it being delivered on time and on budget. There are many more but it's humiliating that the UK cannot build just one arterial high speed line. Look at Spain, France and Germany. Industrialised nations with challenging topography and extensive networks build at a tiny fraction of the cost. Which ever government spearheads the next major transport project needs to take a long, hard look at HS2 and why it's gone so badly. On its original timescale, it wouldn't have reached Manchester until the 2040s which in and of itself I find staggering. Are they laying it by hand? What a flustercuck.
  10. It's so easy to do when it's fairly mild outside! Two or three logs too many and you're cooked. We're going to put up a lined curtain across the foot of the stairs (which is at one end of the kitchen. The stove is 15ft away) as too much heat goes upstairs and even when it's well below freezing outside, it can be far too warm in the bedrooms.
  11. Just lit mine. We had 3c yesterday morning at 06:30 and 5c this morning. Yesterday got up to about 17-18c and today is to be 21c, but it felt like the right time to wang it on. Immediate, lovely warmth Looking at the long range forecast, there is a slow slide in temperatures to highs of 13-14c in two weeks time. Even that is a bit on the warm side for this time of year here.
  12. Staying warm too. I can't complain really. It's delaying autumn, and honestly it's been warmer and more pleasant than August.
  13. It's bloody 25c here today. Sweating like a mofo. Going for a lake swim later and looking forward to it. It's been really warm for September here
  14. Spent the afternoon at the beach behind the school with my brother, his family, my kids and one of my daughter's friends. It was very nice indeed. Summer's last hurrah. 27c air, 21c water. Much swimming and diving was done by all.
  15. We had an extraordinary sunset last night, accompanied with parhelion (mock suns). First time I've ever seen them, though they don't come out so well on my shitty phone camera. The parhelia were not only quite bright, but also showing the full spectrum of rainbow colours. Something else to see when you're already enjoying a very fine swim. The photo of the set table is from a tourist group we're hosting, who are staying in a cottage 50m from the public swimming beach.
  16. Hot and sunny here in Sweden, but not silly hot (22-26c for the foreseeable). Took a while for the mist to burn off this morning though and my prework swim at 06:40 looked like this. Air was 9c and the water ten degrees warmer. It was quite disconcerting swimming in the fog as you genuinely couldn't tell where the water ended and the air began.
  17. Even in the non-physical roles, the work ethic of younger Brits coming up leaves a bit to be desired. I used to work a lot with a harvesting company in Scotland (used them for haulage mainly) and they used almost exclusively chaps from the Baltic states for harvester and forwarder operation, as well as mechanics. It wasn't to pay them less, far from it. They just worked harder and produced more, as well as being more reliable. It's interesting to hear your reflections on your hill climb in Shropshire. We had a family here a few weeks ago from near Brighton (we manage some holiday lets) and the chap hired a mountain bike from us. We have excellent mountain biking here in the village, and the ski slope here is part of a national enduro cycling series. He reflected on the fact that when he cycles on the south downs, almost everyone has an E-mountain bike. I've yet to see a single one here. Loads of folk from the village cycle (MTB, road and gravel) and not one has an E-bike. It's fairly hilly here too. The average BMI is certainly a lot lower here, but the lifestyle hinges more around sport and physical activity than it does in the UK. Part of that is the free and open access to the countryside and also that sports are heavily subsidised by the state.
  18. Yes, and because the work rate is low, the incentive to work is low. I used to love piece rate when cutting as I was younger, very fit and very good at my narrow niche (1st and 2nd thinnings on hardwood). I'm older and achier now, and whilst arguably fitter, only within the realms of cycling. It's hard to say exactly what's changed. Kids spend a lot more time in the virtual world and the things that we grew up doing to avoid boredom were often quite hard work (like fishing, building dens, sports). Consequently, we probably grew up fitter and stronger (on average) than the average kid today. Additionally, in the age before internet, our horizons were more limited. We'd be more inclined to be happy in our chosen job because 10,000 other careers weren't being dangled infront of us every day. This is speculation, but it's almost as if a plethora of choice can work counter to one's happiness. I can only reflect on my own experiences in Sweden, and the experiences of those around me. Where we live is (figuratively) a million miles from Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg. As I said, the consensus publically is that it was too many in too short a time, but here in our community, it's generally a good thing. Plus, as an immigrant, it's hard for me to complain about the border policy of my chosen country! I think it's sad that you're happy about your children not experiencing a multicultural education. I am personally very happy that my children are exposed to different languages and people from different cultures every day. Whilst we live in a small village, it reminds them that we're part of a larger world.
  19. I don't even think with higher wages that Brits would entertain the idea of fruit/veg picking. The issue is that it has to be tied to production rate and like with chainsaw operation, the difference between the best and the worst is massive and hourly rates can't be paid in such situations. Another point potentially worth noting is that Brits aren't very good at sticking at one job for extended periods of time. I recall seeing a TV show where German and British employees swapped jobs for a period. I don't remember the name of the programme, but the German company was Faber Castell (pencil maker). They spoke to an employee who operated a specific machine and had done so for over ten years. He was perfectly happy. The job was semi skilled, but he was very good at it, had excellent work conditions and took pride in his work. It is more common in the UK (and I include myself in this) for employees to see each job only as an entry on their CV. A progression to the next opportunity. That short-termist approach to employment means it's unlikely for UK workers to stick at fruit and veg picking for any period of time as they'll be looking at the employment horizon beyond. It's a generalisation I know, but I do feel that there is truth in it. I found it to be the case with chainsaw operatives in the UK. It was very difficult to find quality cutters who were technically adept, hard working and without ego. The best cutters were running or wanted to run their own squads, and there were a lot of lads that thought they were brilliant when really they weren't. As regards immigration here in Sweden, no one will argue that it was done perfectly. Too many in too short a time is the consensus. The problems are obviously worse in the cities and we don't see the kinds of issues that they do. I really like that our school has 30% kids with parents born outside of Sweden. It's about 10-12% German/Austrian, and my daughters are at school with kids from Syria, the Baltic states, the UK, almost every country in Europe and even America.
  20. The UK labour market was knackered long before there was full freedom of movement. Was it not the case in the 70s and 80s that unionised workers spent as much time on strike as actually working? And the productivity rate in the UK has always lagged behind the rest of the EU. It's an idealistic but arguably noble notion to say that without the option of cheap foreign labour that the youth of the UK will step up to fill the void. I just don't see it though. I work harder than most, and I'm fitter than almost everyone, but I don't have the grit to do the kind of work that agriculture demands. I'm not defending the working conditions either - it's hard brutal work, but then the remuneration is such that unless you're incredibly determined and hard working, you won't make enough money. How many people that have grown up in the UK do you know that you could see in that line of work? They have a more open attitude to immigration here because we live in a depopulated area. So much so that our council did a (really funny, especially if you live here) video to attract people to our area 6 years ago. They poke a lot of fun at themselves, but you get an idea of what it's like here (though we're not in Hultsfred itself).
  21. You're obviously at the coal face, being in Kent. You'll be far more affected by the boats than almost anyone else. The UK has a massive skills shortage and part of it is people growing up these days not wanting to work in jobs that are physically demanding. There literally isn't a single UK born fruit and veg picker. It's similar here, to a lesser extent. Fruit and veg picking is mostly done by foreign labour. My brother in law and his wife (from Thailand) came into Sweden through that route over ten years ago. My sister-in-law picks blueberries faster than anyone I've ever seen and will happily do it all day. She doesn't even do that commercially any more as she has a cleaning company now. But my point is that I feel that immigration is far less of an issue that utterly useless people that contribute nothing taking up resources and offering little back in return. You don't actually need to do that much to be a net contributor, but that seems to be beyond the means of many.

About

Arbtalk.co.uk is a hub for the arboriculture industry in the UK.  
If you're just starting out and you need business, equipment, tech or training support you're in the right place.  If you've done it, made it, got a van load of oily t-shirts and have decided to give something back by sharing your knowledge or wisdom,  then you're welcome too.
If you would like to contribute to making this industry more effective and safe then welcome.
Just like a living tree, it'll always be a work in progress.
Please have a look around, sign up, share and contribute the best you have.

See you inside.

The Arbtalk Team

Follow us

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.