kids today!

[Zigenare]

DIY seems to be dying out generally. My local Homebase closed recently. Wasn't surprised, never saw many people in there.

I blame the modern philosophy of "Everyone Should Go To University" - which in my opinion should be changed to "If you're clever enough and you want to then there should be nothing stopping you from going to university"!.

There are those that are destined for blue and those for white - there's no shame in that.

[Snooky]

DIY seems to be dying out generally. My local Homebase closed recently. Wasn't surprised, never saw many people in there.

Homebase's problems were mainly caused because Wesfarmers bought them and tried, very unsuccessfully, to turn them into the Australian Bunnings format, losing £1bn in the process. They then flogged them to a VC firm which started asset-stripping them, then along came COVID and the writing was on the wall.

B&Q and Wickes are still making a (small) profit and they're always busy whenever I go in them, so I think there's still a strong market for DIY, but of course competition is so much fiercer and profit margins so much narrower for DIY retail outlets, now you can buy most or all of the same stuff cheaper online. Our local Homebase is still hanging on by its fingernails, I have no idea how.

[WTFH]

"If you're clever enough and you want to then there should be nothing stopping you from going to university"!.

There are those that are destined for blue and those for white - there's no shame in that.

Absolutely no shame in it, unfortunately university is so expensive now that if your child is intelligent and you are not wealthy, then either they will be burdened with a massive debt of years to come, or they are financially prevented from going to university. Before the mid 1980s, most people went to universities and polytechs free, many even got grants to study. Then the grants were removed and loans came in, and now while (allegedly) anyone can get a degree in fluffology, university is too expensive for most UK students and their families.

[Gibbon]

Dunno what's wrong with em, keep reading news about days off sick, mental health problems, back pain etc. Think evolution is now in reverse, in 10,000 years mankind will be swinging on trees shouting ug ug.

When I was a lad, you just wanted a job any job,

Yosser Hughes - Wikipedia

I ended up joining the RAF, and had the time of my life (pre middle east tulip).