Good news thread..

[northernangel]

2 minutes ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

Hills overlooking Isle of Cumbrae and Arran, a regular walk for me . Photo taken from an Iron Age hill fort. 

Ah a little away from me lol. I guess with Ayrshire Chris I should have guessed lol

[Ayrshire Chris]

Up early this morning, as usual,  and discovered who had been wandering about our garden in recent days. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

On 3/19/2024 at 11:54 PM, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I'd not heard of Millport before your post. Looks like a nice quaint place from the photos I've just looked at.

 

 

 

[Ayrshire Chris]

54 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

 

 

 

Sounds like my teenage years over there, only one copper on the island and he didn’t bother about us having a bevvy😊. 

[Crazyfool01]

Happy Birthday to our leader …. Michael Eavis  89 today … 

[Ayrshire Chris]

1 hour ago, Crazyfool01 said:

Happy Birthday to our leader …. Michael Eavis  89 today … 

Yes, happy birthday, always up for a photo when pestered for one

by an efester!

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

 

Happy birthday Michael Eavis. The man behind it all. 

[Ayrshire Chris]

2 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

 

Happy birthday Michael Eavis. The man behind it all. 

Nice!
that mysterious hand on his shoulder in the photo I posted is mine but I’ve cropped my old image out of it. I’m not worthy! 😊😉. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

2 hours ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

Nice!
that mysterious hand on his shoulder in the photo I posted is mine but I’ve cropped my old image out of it. I’m not worthy! 😊😉. 

 

Fabulous. I was a little too 'away with it' earlier to notice the hand. Now that you have pointed it out, I think it an excellent 'item' to retain on the photo. Nice 'n' weird looking. 

[MrHew]

Just had my annual post cancer test results. No spread, all clear 😁

[Ayrshire Chris]

19 minutes ago, MrHew said:

Just had my annual post cancer test results. No spread, all clear 😁

That is truly good news. 

[parsonjack]

28 minutes ago, MrHew said:

Just had my annual post cancer test results. No spread, all clear 😁

Wonderful news for you.  A ray of sunshine on an otherwise dull and damp day.  Enjoy every moment of it.

[guypjfreak]

I hope everyone is well and hopefully had a great summer 🏝️ 🌞 

If you want to watch a good thriller watch this 

Money Heist

2017 ‧ Thriller ‧ 5 seasons

[Ayrshire Chris]

Guess where we are having a wee break at the moment!😊😉😉😉

Beautiful walk up the Tor this morning, chilly but lovely. Lots of flooding on the levels

Edited November 25 by Ayrshire Chris

[Ayrshire Chris]

The woods were a lot quieter this morning than they were back in June!!!😉😊

 

[Ayrshire Chris]

The site looked ok bearing in mind how flooded the levels are. Of course there’s just a couple of hundred sheep wandering about compared to a couple of hundred thousand festival goers! 

[sedra]

Confirmed my official date for early retirement will definitely be 31/03/25 and put my last day in my outlook calendar for 28/03/25!😀 Was meant to be this year but due to changes in team and other people leaving I agreed to stay until end of financial year and see through a couple of programmes. 
 So currently planning a month in Australia after Easter next year 😀Life’s too short! To be fair nearly 40 years in local authority children’s services is enough for anyone so am very happy with my decision! 

[Ayrshire Chris]

4 minutes ago, sedra said:

Confirmed my official date for early retirement will definitely be 31/03/25 and put my last day in my outlook calendar for 28/03/25!😀 Was meant to be this year but due to changes in team and other people leaving I agreed to stay until end of financial year and see through a couple of programmes. 
 So currently planning a month in Australia after Easter next year 😀Life’s too short! To be fair nearly 40 years in local authority children’s services is enough for anyone so am very happy with my decision! 

Well deserved!

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

4 hours ago, sedra said:

Confirmed my official date for early retirement will definitely be 31/03/25 and put my last day in my outlook calendar for 28/03/25!😀 Was meant to be this year but due to changes in team and other people leaving I agreed to stay until end of financial year and see through a couple of programmes. 
 So currently planning a month in Australia after Easter next year 😀Life’s too short! To be fair nearly 40 years in local authority children’s services is enough for anyone so am very happy with my decision! 

 

I would bet my conkers on the fact that you will not regret this move. I found myself incarcerated in a single work environment for 28 years. My own fault, mind. I just gave up at an early age. I don't regret not going far. I never intended to get far. In the end though, I just didn't want to be there anymore. So, I fortunately managed to orchestrate my own redundancy. It was a skillful little manoeuvre. Probably my best work to date. Anyway, I digress (as ever). What I'm trying to say is that you now get to go to the ball. Have the time of your life. 

[sedra]

16 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

 

I would bet my conkers on the fact that you will not regret this move. I found myself incarcerated in a single work environment for 28 years. My own fault, mind. I just gave up at an early age. I don't regret not going far. I never intended to get far. In the end though, I just didn't want to be there anymore. So, I fortunately managed to orchestrate my own redundancy. It was a skillful little manoeuvre. Probably my best work to date. Anyway, I digress (as ever). What I'm trying to say is that you now get to go to the ball. Have the time of your life. 

I did try to apply for voluntary redundancy earlier in the year but they said they didn’t want to lose my post- now they are going to change it anyway and upgrade it 🙄 Still going🥳

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

42 minutes ago, sedra said:

I did try to apply for voluntary redundancy earlier in the year but they said they didn’t want to lose my post- now they are going to change it anyway and upgrade it 🙄 Still going🥳

 

It's a shame you can't get redundancy and also retire. When are they proposing to change and upgrade your position? If you hadn't said you were retiring would you have had to have applied for your own job, or any job where you work, so as not to be making yourself redundant? That's what happened to me - they said that you had to apply for a role within the new structure. I was also told (on the QT) that me and 3 other people wouldn't be got rid of. That's because we could do the other people's jobs but they couldn't do ours, So, they fully expected me to apply for my own job, but I applied for a directors job in another field. As one had to apply for 'a' job as not doing so was deemed to be making yourself redundant and they wouldn't pay out on that condition. So, I applied for a job that I was ill equipped to do. I had to go for an interview , do a written exam etc, with me knowing that I wouldn't get it, and them knowing that I was pulling a stroke on them. A case of having to do what needed to be done. I'm just wondering if there was any way for you to back peddle , pull off redundancy and then retire anyway, is all?

Edited November 27 by Yoghurt on a Stick

[philipsteak]

1 hour ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

 

It's a shame you can't get redundancy and also retire. When are they proposing to change and upgrade your position? If you hadn't said you were retiring would you have had to have applied for your own job, or any job where you work, so as not to be making yourself redundant? That's what happened to me - they said that you had to apply for a role within the new structure. I was also told (on the QT) that me and 3 other people wouldn't be got rid of. That's because we could do the other people's jobs but they couldn't do ours, So, they fully expected me to apply for my own job, but I applied for a directors job in another field. As one had to apply for 'a' job as not doing so was deemed to be making yourself redundant and they wouldn't pay out on that condition. So, I applied for a job that I was ill equipped to do. I had to go for an interview , do a written exam etc, with me knowing that I wouldn't get it, and them knowing that I was pulling a stroke on them. A case of having to do what needed to be done. I'm just wondering if there was any way for you to back peddle , pull off redundancy and then retire anyway, is all?

 

Imagine if they'd called your bluff and given you the directors job!

[Ayrshire Chris]

Ta ta for now, see you in June when you are dressed!,

 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

On 11/27/2024 at 9:45 PM, philipsteak said:

 

Imagine if they'd called your bluff and given you the directors job!

 

I'm not sure that I have ever thought of that before reading your post above. I certainly can't recall doing so Mind you, it would appear that I have compromised my own memory, so don't know where accuracy really resides on this one. Shooting from the hip now, I'd say that I'd have been able to hack it.

 

I was a Building Maintenance Surveyor under the Maintenance Department. The directorship was for someone currently to head a new combined maintenance and development function department. So, the Maintenance department was merging with the Development Department, under a new overall name as the Asset Management Department. To cut a long story short, I observed many of the Development Department just cruising along, as they farmed all aspects of the project out to external companies eg Architects, Structural Engineers, - you name it, they farmed it out. Don't get me wrong though - all I ever did was farm work out, kind of. I did also have to identify faults with buildings and their services. However, my job meant that I had to know a lot about many types of buildings. The Development Department's job appeared to not necessitate having such an understanding.

 

The Maintenance Department were continually having to spend some of their budget helping the Development Department out, as they had f**ked up their figures, or some such and had no money to finish their projects. That meant our budgets were reduced. However, that's not what used to enrage me. I used to get enraged because when it  happened it meant that the tenants would have less spent on their property than was properly to be the case. The tenants had paid for the original sum that was granted to the Maintenance Department on the basis it was to be used for maintenance of their buildings. It was against all policies and good working practice It was wrong.

 

Anyway, I went a little off course there above. I do think that I could have pulled the combined departments job off.

 

PS - Thanks for providing me with that notion to have a wonder about. 

[Ayrshire Chris]

19 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

 

I'm not sure that I have ever thought of that before reading your post above. I certainly can't recall doing so Mind you, it would appear that I have compromised my own memory, so don't know where accuracy really resides on this one. Shooting from the hip now, I'd say that I'd have been able to hack it.

 

I was a Building Maintenance Surveyor under the Maintenance Department. The directorship was for someone currently to head a new combined maintenance and development function department. So, the Maintenance department was merging with the Development Department, under a new overall name as the Asset Management Department. To cut a long story short, I observed many of the Development Department just cruising along, as they farmed all aspects of the project out to external companies eg Architects, Structural Engineers, - you name it, they farmed it out. Don't get me wrong though - all I ever did was farm work out, kind of. I did also have to identify faults with buildings and their services. However, my job meant that I had to know a lot about many types of buildings. The Development Department's job appeared to not necessitate having such an understanding.

 

The Maintenance Department were continually having to spend some of their budget helping the Development Department out, as they had f**ked up their figures, or some such and had no money to finish their projects. That meant our budgets were reduced. However, that's not what used to enrage me. I used to get enraged because when it  happened it meant that the tenants would have less spent on their property than was properly to be the case. The tenants had paid for the original sum that was granted to the Maintenance Department on the basis it was to be used for maintenance of their buildings. It was against all policies and good working practice It was wrong.

 

Anyway, I went a little off course there above. I do think that I could have pulled the combined departments job off.

 

PS - Thanks for providing me with that notion to have a wonder about. 

All those building and construction related services being ‘farmed out’, up here most of that gets decided and contracts agreed at Masonic meetings😊😉