Michael Eavis and his social housing project

[eFestivals]

3 minutes ago, oneeye said:

Affordable social housing has always been the key solution, unfortunately Thatcher fucked it all up leaving us with greedy bastard landlords.

I'm no fan of Thatcher, but she built more council houses - not even 'social housing' - in one year than Nu Labour did in a decade.

Meanwhile, the needs of new housing have been inflated a *LOT* by the number of immigrants, and housing needs cannot be addressed without moving 'output' from nice things for you and me towards those new houses.

Some of us are willing to give up some of our lifestyle to sort it, but most haven't even realised that a 'trade' of what's available is the only option, and that there can be no magic that gives both houses and iPhones*.

(* at the same availability as now).

[glasto-worker]

1 hour ago, oneeye said:

Glad to hear it all ended well for you gw, though all too often it's not the case nowadays.

Affordable social housing has always been the key solution, unfortunately Thatcher fucked it all up leaving us with greedy bastard landlords.

 

Thanks - it was a struggle - I was lucky because people were put off because unlike a Council flat a Housing Trust demands ' 5 weeks rent to be paid on the spot ' { I had to transfer the money over the same day I signed the lease } and there is a weekly service charge for storage heaters and hot water which is £10.44 and its not covered by Housing Benefit - now this charge applies even if I don't use any heating or Hot water - I was lucky as I did have savings so I paid the up front rent and also paid £550 to cover me for a years service charge - without a doubt if there had been no up front money or compulsory service charge there would have been a few hundred after that flat - anyone can look on Home Connections and see how the bids work for your area - flats that have no advance fees get hundreds of bids but my flat only had 22 after it.

what they don't make clear is ' if you are classed as Homeless and staying in temporary accommodation and you are offered a property ' if you turn it down for whatever reason ' the Council can ask you to leave temporary accommodation and they will offer no further help - Now that clause is well buried certainly on my Council web site.

that clause must catch out a lot of people - the Council did send me a letter but that was posted after I had taken over the lease and that did warn me about ' the one offer clause '

I still cant believe I won - any second now ' I may wake up and discover its a Morphine dream ' { I was being injected with Morphine every two hours for weeks after my last
Operation }

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

13 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

it should make sense at the end . 

now I have only rented in the private sector but you may be interested in this.

I was renting from a private Landlord for 14 years - there was no issue over the rent but '  right out the blue ' I was hit with a Section 21 Notice - now I am not going though all the  court cases but ' I fought back ' and it delayed things for 18 months - now at one time the Landlord produced a ' second lease ' to the Court

At this point ' I cant say why they claimed there was a second lease ' because I knew this was a forgery as I had not signed it - I could prove where I was on the date it was supposed to be signed by me ' and sure as shit I was not in London on that date ' and I had over 200 people willing to back up my claim that I was at Glastonbury .

Now its a big puzzle why they even bothered - as it did not give them any advantage  and in fact ' this delayed things for them ' 

The Court tossed the case out due to the second lease as they had to admit ' there had been a administration error and perhaps the second lease was never offered to me '

I thought I had won but they issued a new Section 21 Notice and it all started again.

By sods law this all mixed in with my Operations and just to really nail me to the wall the landlord got a eviction date ' while I was in Hospital '

but I then had a lucky break as my Consultant contacted the Social work department
within the Hospital and they contacted the homeless unit within Enfield Council.

I was declared ' unintentionally homeless ' - I was moved to a temporary studio flat but I then was allowed to bid using ' Home Connections ' and amazingly I won a bid and was offered a Assured Shorthold Tenancy for 6 years { recurring } with Metropolitan Housing Trust 

its a cracking 1 bedroom flat - red dot is my flat - yes I know it looks Rubbish from the Outside but the inside is far better than the Outside + its connected to a large shopping mall with more shops than you can shake a stick at.

On NYE I had a problem with the Hot water { I pay a separate fee for heating which includes Hot water } - called up their emergency line and they sent a Plumber out just before Midnight and he sorted the Problem out.

If they had been a Private Landlord I would be still waiting for it to be fixed.

So I am in full support of Registered Social Landlords and with any luck I will never have to go back to renting from a Private Landlord.

I will be the first to admit that I was incredible lucky to be offered that flat

If I had been classed as ' intentionally homeless ' I would have been stuffed

even although it was a big hassle fighting the Section 21 Notice I made sure ' the rent was paid up to date ' as that played a big factor as to if the Council was willing to help me.

I am glad I don't have a Private Landlord any longer and while they may think they have won seeing they always wanted the rent to be paid in cash - a clear sign they have not told HMRC they are renting - I will be sending proof { as I have all the court documents to prove that I paid them rent for 14+ years } to HMRC and they can jump all over them - No doubt they will claim it was a administration error - HMRC will hit them with penalties { I used to work for the Inland Revenue { now called HMRC } so I know  what will happen to them }

The more Registered Social Landlords the better and I do hope Michael Eavis and his social housing project gets expanded. 

if anyone is having problems with a Section 21 Notice please send me a PM as I may be able to give you some tips but for God sake keep paying the rent - Get down to Citizens Advice and they will give you a list of lawyers who deal with Housing matters - these Court cases are a legal minefield.

 

Hello glasto-worker,

You are completely right in saying that your story might interest me. It made for an excellent read. Oh, and how fab for you at the time that they produced a forged document. That you were able to smite them with 200 references saying that you couldn't have signed it - another hoorah for Glastonbury and it's folk. That the landlord did this, and that by doing so cost them a delay in their ambitions of no less than 18 months is exquisite natural justice. In fact I think my schadenfreude-O-meter has just gone off the scale and exploded! 

I'm really happy to hear that your consultant, Enfield Council, and The Metropolitan Trust were able to sort you out with a lovely flat. I had a friend who lived in a high rise block of flats many years ago now. To look at it from the outside you would have thought that the flats inside might be a bit grim. I recall going to her flat and being amazed at the size of it and how nice that size had allowed her decorations to work within the flat. I had many a happy time in that flat (*).

Just as aside (and I don't want to frighten you here), it is a high rise flat, and (as we all know now) should have the appropriate fire protection in place. It doesn't look clad from the photo, so that's a benefit. I suspect that all councils and other RSL's have done an audit on their high rise flats now, but just to be sure it mightn't hurt for you to ask them to confirm that;

(1) Your front entrance door is at least half hour fire rated.

(2) That that door (or the frame) is fitted with at least a half hour fire rated intumescent strip, with cold smoke seal. And that the gap around the seal meets the current regulations.

(3) That any glazing above or to the side of the door is at least half hour fire rated.

(4) That the door closure fully works ie the door goes back in to the frame fully on closing and is not

(3) That any fire protection systems (eg fire detection, emergency lighting, sprinkler system,dry riser) is up to standard, and is also serviced regularly.

 

(*) - I was once at a party at that flat and was in the hallway when I heard the door bell go. I'd not have heard it in the lounge because of the loud music that was playing. Although no further guests were expected and it wasn't my flat to be answering the door, I took it on myself to just open it (without looking through the doors spy hole). There stood in front of me was a very large well honed man dressed only in a loan cloth, holding a very large machete in one of his hands. He said to me 'Turn the fucking music down'. I said something along the lines of 'Certainly sir. Consider it done'. And it was done too. It put a downer on the party, but we all felt it appropriate to meet his requirements!

 

[glasto-worker]

2 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Hello glasto-worker,

You are completely right in saying that your story might interest me. It made for an excellent read. Oh, and how fab for you at the time that they produced a forged document. That you were able to smite them with 200 references saying that you couldn't have signed it - another hoorah for Glastonbury and it's folk. That the landlord did this, and that by doing so cost them a delay in their ambitions of no less than 18 months is exquisite natural justice. In fact I think my schadenfreude-O-meter has just gone off the scale and exploded! 

I'm really happy to hear that your consultant, Enfield Council, and The Metropolitan Trust were able to sort you out with a lovely flat. I had a friend who lived in a high rise block of flats many years ago now. To look at it from the outside you would have thought that the flats inside might be a bit grim. I recall going to her flat and being amazed at the size of it and how nice that size had allowed her decorations to work within the flat. I had many a happy time in that flat (*).

Just as aside (and I don't want to frighten you here), it is a high rise flat, and (as we all know now) should have the appropriate fire protection in place. It doesn't look clad from the photo, so that's a benefit. I suspect that all councils and other RSL's have done an audit on their high rise flats now, but just to be sure it mightn't hurt for you to ask them to confirm that;

(1) Your front entrance door is at least half hour fire rated.

(2) That that door (or the frame) is fitted with at least a half hour fire rated intumescent strip, with cold smoke seal. And that the gap around the seal meets the current regulations.

(3) That any glazing above or to the side of the door is at least half hour fire rated.

(4) That the door closure fully works ie the door goes back in to the frame fully on closing and is not

(3) That any fire protection systems (eg fire detection, emergency lighting, sprinkler system,dry riser) is up to standard, and is also serviced regularly.

 

(*) - I was once at a party at that flat and was in the hallway when I heard the door bell go. I'd not have heard it in the lounge because of the loud music that was playing. Although no further guests were expected and it wasn't my flat to be answering the door, I took it on myself to just open it (without looking through the doors spy hole). There stood in front of me was a very large well honed man dressed only in a loan cloth, holding a very large machete in one of his hands. He said to me 'Turn the fucking music down'. I said something along the lines of 'Certainly sir. Consider it done'. And it was done too. It put a downer on the party, but we all felt it appropriate to meet his requirements!

 

sorry to divert from the thread but I am well pleased with my new flat

the daft part is the female Landlord knows I work for the WBC and I am always at Glastonbury - and she and her boyfriend run a Business that supplies equipment to festival so she knows the dates. 

as I always paid her in cash at the end of the Month ' apart from the festival season '
so I would have paid her early ' before Glastonbury ' so she must have knowing I was there.

so I cant explain why she put down that date ' but I suspect the document was made up just for the court case '

and the best part is ' she never mentioned a second lease in the application she made to the court - I was sent all those documents and she even ticked a box ' confirming there was only one lease '

it did not make any sense but there was a difference. 

the real lease was ' renting a Unfurnished flat ' - the forged lease was for a ' furnished flat '

I jumped on that straight away - my lawyer asked them to produce a list of what they claimed was their property - I knew it was all bollocks - they never produced a list.

I moved in July 2003 and I did sign the first lease - after the first year she never asked me to sign a second lease - the forged lease was claimed to have been signed in London Saturday 28th of June 2008 - I dug out my Team list for that year - allocation that year was 21 places so I had 20 people who all camped with me who could verify  I never left Glastonbury then there was bar full of staff and all the staffing

if she had dated the day I paid her the rent then that would have been more difficult but the signature was nothing like my signature.

I even produced my Glastonbury pass to the court - the Judge said there would be no need to produce anyone as he was satisfied there was only one lease.

The landlords Agent then tried to backtrack by claiming it was a error

My lawyers and I were baffled because ' it did not strengthen their case '

One thing I did gain from the Court action was ' everything had to be 100% accurate ' if she made a mistake just by one day - the case would be dropped ' but she then can bring a new section 21 ' so the clock starts again .

My Lawyers were keen to get it delayed further but I could not see the point + at that stage I was more concerned they were about to amputate my leg and I was warned that  there would be a long recovery period  I Knew the court action would reinforce my claim that I was ' unintentionally homeless '

just lucky I did because if  we had delayed it by 2/4/6 months I may have not ended up here.

What I missed out ' on the day I was Discharged a ambulance drove me to the Homeless
unit and I had a ambulance man help me into the Homeless unit ' - so there could be no argument that I had not been in Hospital for nearly 6 weeks - they had been called by the Hospital social work department so they already had a file prepared for me.

---------

hallway 42 feet x 3 feet 4 inch { this includes utility room }

living room is 15 feet x 10 feet 4 inch

bedroom is 11 feet 8 inch x 10 feet 4 inch

kitchen is 9 feet 9 inch x 7 feet 4 inch

bathroom is 6 feet x 6 feet

now to me that is a good size flat

thanks for the advice about fire precautions - in the next few months they are fitting  a sprinkler system - they have already inspected the Outside so there is no cladding

from the lift there is massive fire doors and heat sensors all over the place { and inside as well }

Now I am not at all nervous about staying here - if a alarm goes off - I will be down the 9 flights in minuets  

---------

re your story about the guy with a large machete - it reminds me of a time I was in 
Manhattan - I know people who live there but they were not due back until the next day so I had to find a cheap Hotel - this was in the 80's - someone said that the ' YMCA ' was not bad - now I cant recall the address but it was near Time Square - Now to get in you have to walk though the Gym - it looked very suspect but as it was only one night I thought what the hell - anyway I was allocated a room - later on I went to a Irish Pub near ' the old ' Madison Square Gardens on Eighth Avenue as I know the bar owner - anyway he also knows my friends so he was surprised they were not there - I explained they were in LA but I would be seeing them the next day - he then asked me where was I staying and I said YMCA near Time Square and as soon as I said that I thought he was going to have a heart attack - it turns out that YMCA had a ' Mad Axeman ' who had ' over a period of time ' chopped though a few Hotel rooms and tried to attack whoever was inside - he offered me a sofa for the night but I knew he does not close until 4am so I said ' don't worry I will be sure he will not get though my door - that night as I got to the room - I double locked the room and pushed the wardrobe against the door.

As it happened he did not appear that night ' but he did attack 8 months later ' 

Now that YMCA was huge - must have had 300 rooms so really I would have to be dead unlucky + I also had to pay the room in advance so No Mad Axeman was going to make me 
move.

---------

its the location that is so handy ' black dots are the two exits ' and blue and red dot is the two bus stops. 

best room is the kitchen as it has a fitted kitchen { there is three other wall units you cant see }

all I had to do was get fitted carpets  - I used a local company because they already knew the flats - the owner was able to sketch out to his mate as soon as I said what side I was on ' and it was 100% accurate '

I have never stayed in a high rise - I cant hear anyone above me ' nor the flat next to me - the only thing I do hear is ' when someone walks though the fire door ' but I can live with that.

The Metropolitan Trust even asked me if I wanted ' their social worker ' to come in  to check how I was but I explained that I can look after myself.

I will be 65 this year so the long lease gives me security and as I wont be trying to sub let this flat or beat up neighbours its highly likely they will renew it.

just what I need.

Hope you are well 

 

 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

10 minutes ago, glasto-worker said:

sorry to divert from the thread but I am well pleased with my new flat

the daft part is the female Landlord knows I work for the WBC and I am always at Glastonbury - and she and her boyfriend run a Business that supplies equipment to festival so she knows the dates. 

as I always paid her in cash at the end of the Month ' apart from the festival season '
so I would have paid her early ' before Glastonbury ' so she must have knowing I was there.

so I cant explain why she put down that date ' but I suspect the document was made up just for the court case '

and the best part is ' she never mentioned a second lease in the application she made to the court - I was sent all those documents and she even ticked a box ' confirming there was only one lease '

it did not make any sense but there was a difference. 

the real lease was ' renting a Unfurnished flat ' - the forged lease was for a ' furnished flat '

I jumped on that straight away - my lawyer asked them to produce a list of what they claimed was their property - I knew it was all bollocks - they never produced a list.

I moved in July 2003 and I did sign the first lease - after the first year she never asked me to sign a second lease - the forged lease was claimed to have been signed in London Saturday 28th of June 2008 - I dug out my Team list for that year - allocation that year was 21 places so I had 20 people who all camped with me who could verify  I never left Glastonbury then there was bar full of staff and all the staffing

if she had dated the day I paid her the rent then that would have been more difficult but the signature was nothing like my signature.

I even produced my Glastonbury pass to the court - the Judge said there would be no need to produce anyone as he was satisfied there was only one lease.

The landlords Agent then tried to backtrack by claiming it was a error

My lawyers and I were baffled because ' it did not strengthen their case '

One thing I did gain from the Court action was ' everything had to be 100% accurate ' if she made a mistake just by one day - the case would be dropped ' but she then can bring a new section 21 ' so the clock starts again .

My Lawyers were keen to get it delayed further but I could not see the point + at that stage I was more concerned they were about to amputate my leg and I was warned that  there would be a long recovery period  I Knew the court action would reinforce my claim that I was ' unintentionally homeless '

just lucky I did because if  we had delayed it by 2/4/6 months I may have not ended up here.

What I missed out ' on the day I was Discharged a ambulance drove me to the Homeless
unit and I had a ambulance man help me into the Homeless unit ' - so there could be no argument that I had not been in Hospital for nearly 6 weeks - they had been called by the Hospital social work department so they already had a file prepared for me.

---------

hallway 42 feet x 3 feet 4 inch { this includes utility room }

living room is 15 feet x 10 feet 4 inch

bedroom is 11 feet 8 inch x 10 feet 4 inch

kitchen is 9 feet 9 inch x 7 feet 4 inch

bathroom is 6 feet x 6 feet

now to me that is a good size flat

thanks for the advice about fire precautions - in the next few months they are fitting  a sprinkler system - they have already inspected the Outside so there is no cladding

from the lift there is massive fire doors and heat sensors all over the place { and inside as well }

Now I am not at all nervous about staying here - if a alarm goes off - I will be down the 9 flights in minuets  

---------

re your story about the guy with a large machete - it reminds me of a time I was in 
Manhattan - I know people who live there but they were not due back until the next day so I had to find a cheap Hotel - this was in the 80's - someone said that the ' YMCA ' was not bad - now I cant recall the address but it was near Time Square - Now to get in you have to walk though the Gym - it looked very suspect but as it was only one night I thought what the hell - anyway I was allocated a room - later on I went to a Irish Pub near ' the old ' Madison Square Gardens on Eighth Avenue as I know the bar owner - anyway he also knows my friends so he was surprised they were not there - I explained they were in LA but I would be seeing them the next day - he then asked me where was I staying and I said YMCA near Time Square and as soon as I said that I thought he was going to have a heart attack - it turns out that YMCA had a ' Mad Axeman ' who had ' over a period of time ' chopped though a few Hotel rooms and tried to attack whoever was inside - he offered me a sofa for the night but I knew he does not close until 4am so I said ' don't worry I will be sure he will not get though my door - that night as I got to the room - I double locked the room and pushed the wardrobe against the door.

As it happened he did not appear that night ' but he did attack 8 months later ' 

Now that YMCA was huge - must have had 300 rooms so really I would have to be dead unlucky + I also had to pay the room in advance so No Mad Axeman was going to make me 
move.

---------

its the location that is so handy ' black dots are the two exits ' and blue and red dot is the two bus stops. 

best room is the kitchen as it has a fitted kitchen { there is three other wall units you cant see }

all I had to do was get fitted carpets  - I used a local company because they already knew the flats - the owner was able to sketch out to his mate as soon as I said what side I was on ' and it was 100% accurate '

I have never stayed in a high rise - I cant hear anyone above me ' nor the flat next to me - the only thing I do hear is ' when someone walks though the fire door ' but I can live with that.

The Metropolitan Trust even asked me if I wanted ' their social worker ' to come in  to check how I was but I explained that I can look after myself.

I will be 65 this year so the long lease gives me security and as I wont be trying to sub let this flat or beat up neighbours its highly likely they will renew it.

just what I need.

Hope you are well 

 

 

 

That flat looks alright to me glasto-worker. The communal space looks well kept too, which speaks volumes for the Trust, and the residents in that area.

I'll not bang on about maintenance matters, but just to say that there should be no need for the fire doors to 'bang' closed. The tension in those overhead door closures may be able to be altered to stop / reduce the bang, and still fulfill their purpose. Anyway, maybe you don't want to rattle the Trusts cage at such an early date after moving in.

As I kind of said before, it makes me happy to know that you are sorted with a nice place.

I'm well enough this end, thanks. I've spent most of my life (apart from one year) living in Birmingham, but moved away from there in September last year. I have now moved to a quaint English town which has the magnificent Severn River running through it. To be honest, it's a bit of a culture shock. In the last year in Birmingham we ran (or tried to run) a vintage clothes shop. The area was well scussy and we got burgled / robbed eight times in one year. That's enough to break anybody's heart - especially as we weren't insured. Anyway, I have high hopes for 2018, but I now know that I'll only meet those hopes if I pull my finger out to achieve them. I have no intention of becoming a bread head, but know that I've got to earn some money somehow, in order to stay afloat. 

Wishing you the best of luck for 2018.

Yog

PS - Happy 65th for this year too. Something tells me that that's not a milestone that I'll reach, but we'll see. 

[glasto-worker]

On 03/01/2018 at 2:16 AM, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

 

That flat looks alright to me glasto-worker. The communal space looks well kept too, which speaks volumes for the Trust, and the residents in that area.

I'll not bang on about maintenance matters, but just to say that there should be no need for the fire doors to 'bang' closed. The tension in those overhead door closures may be able to be altered to stop / reduce the bang, and still fulfill their purpose. Anyway, maybe you don't want to rattle the Trusts cage at such an early date after moving in.

As I kind of said before, it makes me happy to know that you are sorted with a nice place.

I'm well enough this end, thanks. I've spent most of my life (apart from one year) living in Birmingham, but moved away from there in September last year. I have now moved to a quaint English town which has the magnificent Severn River running through it. To be honest, it's a bit of a culture shock. In the last year in Birmingham we ran (or tried to run) a vintage clothes shop. The area was well scussy and we got burgled / robbed eight times in one year. That's enough to break anybody's heart - especially as we weren't insured. Anyway, I have high hopes for 2018, but I now know that I'll only meet those hopes if I pull my finger out to achieve them. I have no intention of becoming a bread head, but know that I've got to earn some money somehow, in order to stay afloat. 

Wishing you the best of luck for 2018.

Yog

PS - Happy 65th for this year too. Something tells me that that's not a milestone that I'll reach, but we'll see. 

if you look at the shot of the Fire door - that left hand wall is my sitting room { and hall } so when I am on my PC - I am directly behind that wall so its no surprise to me that I can hear it - 

+ beyond that door ' there is only 3 other flats ' so its not as if its in constant use

I only mentioned it to ' highlight how quiet inside the flat is ' 

The three families are mainly adults but one family does have a few kids { as far as I can see well behaved kids }

I have met all of them { well the adults } - even although its such a short time ' two of the flats has asked me in for a chat !!! ' so its a very friendly place.

the rent splits up like this

Basic Rent     £104.37
Service Charge £35.22
Heating Charge £10.44

as you have spotted ' its well clean ' - I got the timing just right because ' they have only just replaced the two lifts ' so they are brand spanking new.

have no idea how long it took them to replace them.

super lifts 

---------

re ' we got burgled / robbed eight times in one year. '

that is shocking news - Fuck sake where do these people come from ?  its difficult enough to run a small enterprise without all this shit.

so what are your plans for the future ?

so which town ? as I know the River Severn is a bloody long river 

By the way many of my WBC team come from Birmingham - they are teachers  at Birmingham City University 

the plan was to expand it to include some of the Students but I decided it was not worth the risk.

all it takes is a few young idiots being caught stealing and that would be bad news.

A shot from last night { some of my WBC friends have been trying to catch the Moon - cant find my tripod to use my digital camera just now so it was a hand held shot using my phone }

that is Lee Valley water reservoir in the distance

---------

Re ' Happy 65th for this year too. Something tells me that that's not a milestone that I'll reach, but we'll see. '

Well I did not think I would even reach 25 

I was 25 the first year I went to Glastonbury { 1979 } - I certainly did not think Glastonbury would still be running now ' and 100% I would never had dreamt I would still be about '

Sure I have slowed down but I don't feel any older + apart from two friends all the others on Our team are Younger ' who fall over themselves to do things for us '     

I must have the only team who argue ' when I tell them they don't have to work '

at Latitude 2016 - team of 6 - on the Friday night I had allocated myself and one other to work the last shift - so I was expecting one person to join me ' but 5 showed up ' all telling me ' they wanted to work my shift '

anyway - I came out with a Compromise - 4 would sit and drink and 2 would work and after one hour we would stand down and 2 others do the next hour .

Now that is a Team.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

49 minutes ago, glasto-worker said:

if you look at the shot of the Fire door - that left hand wall is my sitting room { and hall } so when I am on my PC - I am directly behind that wall so its no surprise to me that I can hear it - 

+ beyond that door ' there is only 3 other flats ' so its not as if its in constant use

I only mentioned it to ' highlight how quiet inside the flat is ' 

The three families are mainly adults but one family does have a few kids { as far as I can see well behaved kids }

I have met all of them { well the adults } - even although its such a short time ' two of the flats has asked me in for a chat !!! ' so its a very friendly place.

the rent splits up like this

Basic Rent     £104.37
Service Charge £35.22
Heating Charge £10.44

as you have spotted ' its well clean ' - I got the timing just right because ' they have only just replaced the two lifts ' so they are brand spanking new.

have no idea how long it took them to replace them.

super lifts 

---------

re ' we got burgled / robbed eight times in one year. '

that is shocking news - Fuck sake where do these people come from ?  its difficult enough to run a small enterprise without all this shit.

so what are your plans for the future ?

so which town ? as I know the River Severn is a bloody long river 

By the way many of my WBC team come from Birmingham - they are teachers  at Birmingham City University 

the plan was to expand it to include some of the Students but I decided it was not worth the risk.

all it takes is a few young idiots being caught stealing and that would be bad news.

A shot from last night { some of my WBC friends have been trying to catch the Moon - cant find my tripod to use my digital camera just now so it was a hand held shot using my phone }

that is Lee Valley water reservoir in the distance

---------

Re ' Happy 65th for this year too. Something tells me that that's not a milestone that I'll reach, but we'll see. '

Well I did not think I would even reach 25 

I was 25 the first year I went to Glastonbury { 1979 } - I certainly did not think Glastonbury would still be running now ' and 100% I would never had dreamt I would still be about '

Sure I have slowed down but I don't feel any older + apart from two friends all the others on Our team are Younger ' who fall over themselves to do things for us '     

I must have the only team who argue ' when I tell them they don't have to work '

at Latitude 2016 - team of 6 - on the Friday night I had allocated myself and one other to work the last shift - so I was expecting one person to join me ' but 5 showed up ' all telling me ' they wanted to work my shift '

anyway - I came out with a Compromise - 4 would sit and drink and 2 would work and after one hour we would stand down and 2 others do the next hour .

Now that is a Team.

 

Hello glasto - worker,

I now live in Bridgnorth. Well, my plans were to build a log cabin at the end of our secluded garden, and have solar power to it, and a compost toilet, and rent it out on Air B&B. There are tourists here all year long (just at weekends in the winter months though). I was going to tap in to that market, as one source of income, and have even bought the log cabin which is outside waiting to be erected. I had done this after asking the previous owner of the house if it ever got flooded as it's not a million miles away from the river. He indicated that he'd been here for 12 years and confirmed that it never got flooded. This was confirmed after talking to a neighbour who said he'd been here for 11 years, and that it hadn't flooded in those years. Anyway, I took a parcel in for a third neighbour (a policewoman) yesterday morning. She came around to the house yesterday evening, and to my dismay my wife invited her in (I was upstairs at the time). It's a good job that we hadn't had a smoke on the go - or even worse. To cut a long story short this lady said that both the last owner of our property and the other neighbour were talking bollocks. She said that she rented their property and had moved in a four or five years ago. Their first act was to put a large shed at the back of their garden on a concrete base, so that her husband could store his power tools etc. Then in their first or second winter (2014) she came back home from work to find that the river had risen and that the garden (which is sloped  - as is ours) was half covered in water. She said she the water came up to her and her husbands waist when they went to try to salavage his power tools from the shed, which was half under water.

So, I now find myself in a bit of a  pickle, to say the least. If I put the log cabin where I was going to, then they'll be some years that it'll get flooded. I could put it on stilts, but that would raise it's roof above the tree line, and wouldn't go down well with the neighbours - or the planners for that matter. Our house is Grade II listed and also in a conservation area. To be honest, we aren't really allowed to have a cabin type structure with all the rules and regs that govern our property, but I was going to risk it as our immediate neighbour (we have only one immediate neighbour) said that he didn't give a fuck if we built a cabin and rented it out. Now it turns out that he may have been lying to us about the river hitting the bottom half of the garden. But then again, he travels the world a bit, and may have been away when the event happened a few years ago.

So, I'm scratching my head at the moment. In the meantime, my savings are dwindling. I do have an idea for an on line business which may take off. I started at it about two years ago and it was successful from day one, but I only did it for about a month because we went down the lets open a vintage shop route and just drink and take drugs all day. That cost us heavily that did. It was an experience that I'll never forget, and that I'm glad we had, but the number of thefts and burglaries got to us in the end.

Anyway, got to dash.

[grumpyhack]

My elder daughter lets her house out via Air B'nB and reckons the income from one weekend rental a month covers her mortgage.  Admittedly she's got a lovely big four bedroomed house in a desirable location in Cardiff but Air B 'nB can work well.  We always know if she's got a rental weekend lined up as it's "Dad, can we come and stay with you for the weekend?"

She lets out her whole house, not just a shed at the bottom of the garden, and it can accommodate eight, so rentals go well at times like international matches.  Worth considering but you need to check on your house insurance will cover such lettings.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

7 hours ago, grumpyhack said:

My elder daughter lets her house out via Air B'nB and reckons the income from one weekend rental a month covers her mortgage.  Admittedly she's got a lovely big four bedroomed house in a desirable location in Cardiff but Air B 'nB can work well.  We always know if she's got a rental weekend lined up as it's "Dad, can we come and stay with you for the weekend?"

She lets out her whole house, not just a shed at the bottom of the garden, and it can accommodate eight, so rentals go well at times like international matches.  Worth considering but you need to check on your house insurance will cover such lettings.

Hello grumpy,

Yeah, I'm really not entirely sure on the insurance thing. It's already an exorbitant figure because it's a Grade II listed building - and that's just for buildings insurance only ie not contents. And the reason for this? Well, when you put in to the normal insurance search engines that your property was built in 1590, the computer says 'No'. Our house is actually one third of the original manor house for the area. When the major landowners decided to build a new manor house many years later, they split up the old manor house in to three to staff the servants. Ours, apparently, was the cooks house, which is why it has a large open stone fireplace (which has grooves in the stonework - presumably where they sharpened the knives). Our neighbours was the wash house - which is why he was allowed an extension to the back, as it links to the old wash house. The third house (now rented by a member of the fuzz) must have been for servants etc.

[glasto-worker]

17 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

 

bloody hell - your not having much luck - see PM !!!!

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

1 hour ago, glasto-worker said:

bloody hell - your not having much luck - see PM !!!!

Hey, glasto - worker. 

Two points to make;

(1) I've not received PM?

(2) No worries, I'm cool about everything now.  I'd forgotten all about my congenital stupidity, and how ridiculous it is to worry about such trivialities - when you compare it to life overall. It still goes on doesn't it. Until the end bit that is.

Have a lovely weekend. 

[glasto-worker]

9 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Hey, glasto - worker. 

Two points to make;

(1) I've not received PM?

(2) No worries, I'm cool about everything now.  I'd forgotten all about my congenital stupidity, and how ridiculous it is to worry about such trivialities - when you compare it to life overall. It still goes on doesn't it. Until the end bit that is.

Have a lovely weekend. 

what a pain - I made sure I sent it ' before posting that post '

anyway have sent a second message - if it does not reach you send a e-mail to

wbc.organiser@gmail.com

you will understand when I reply.

----------

jumping side ways ' as I do ' - if you are after web hosting check out 

www.1and1.co.uk - in fact the odds are that at least 50% of the sites you look at are hosted by them 

Think small - there is no need to spend a fortune but if you want to test the water # look at Facebook Marketplace #

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

12 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

what a pain - I made sure I sent it ' before posting that post '

anyway have sent a second message - if it does not reach you send a e-mail to

wbc.organiser@gmail.com

you will understand when I reply.

----------

jumping side ways ' as I do ' - if you are after web hosting check out 

www.1and1.co.uk - in fact the odds are that at least 50% of the sites you look at are hosted by them 

Think small - there is no need to spend a fortune but if you want to test the water # look at Facebook Marketplace #

Hello glasto - worker,

I got the PM. Very interesting. Have responded by PM.

Thanjs for the steer on the website hosting. I'll make a note of that. 

[glasto-worker]

4 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Hello glasto - worker,

I got the PM. Very interesting. Have responded by PM.

Thanjs for the steer on the website hosting. I'll make a note of that. 

funny how the other one vanished - I should have mentioned I am a retired University Lecturer in Computer Science and was into Mainframe Computers before the World Wide Web was even invented in 1989.

banging out a website is easy but steering people to that site is very difficult.

so we can chat by PM before you register any domain name - will explain more when I have some time.

Edited January 6, 2018 by glasto-worker

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

28 minutes ago, glasto-worker said:

funny how the other one vanished - I should have mentioned I am a retired University Lecturer in Computer Science and was into Mainframe Computers before the World Wide Web was even invented in 1989.

banging out a website is easy but steering people to that site is very difficult.

so we can chat by PM before you register any domain name - will explain more when I have some time.

Oh wow. Nice one glasto - worker. That's beyond the realms of kind. Any advice would be welcome. I may well (ie do) have a domain name that might interest you. Will go PM with it though. Sorry folks.