Reply to: Elf and safety innit...

[Old Greg]

I admire the Daily Mail for the way it takes stories about Insurance firms withdrawing cover or increasing premiums or making daft stipulations and blames it on H & S 'busy bodies' (preferably from the Council). It's neat - it makes the killjoys look like those nasty leftie nanny statists rather than large faceless capitalist firms.

[Mich the Tester]

Tellys with 3 button tuners?

I can remember when you only had two.

In fact the first telly we had would only receive the BBC... (single channel tuner...)

Actually, coz it was on a piped system, we had the luxury of Westward TV as well as TWW...

A telly? I can remember when we lived in a hole in the ground, worked 25 hours a day at mill and had to pay t’ millowner for t’privilege of working!

And you try and tell that to young people today…

[Mich the Tester]

My kids are going to be amazed when I tell them the first computer I used had 16k of RAM, which will probably be about 1000x smaller than the RAM in their phone (or personal communicator or whatever they'll be called)...

You never used the ZX80 with 1K RAM?

[Moscow Mule]

I remember not having a telephone and I'm not even 40. Mind you, we had a telly with 3 buttons and no central heating in those days too.

kids today - tsk tsk...

My kids are going to be amazed when I tell them the first computer I used had 16k of RAM, which will probably be about 1000x smaller than the RAM in their phone (or personal communicator or whatever they'll be called)...

[ratewhore]

Why would you expect an old lady who can probably remember a time when telephones weren't commonplace to work a chip & pin machine?

I remember not having a telephone and I'm not even 40. Mind you, we had a telly with 3 buttons and no central heating in those days too.

kids today - tsk tsk...

[Mich the Tester]

You might be lucky enough to be old one day son.

Yes, and I hope there'll be people to help me, as I've suggested there should be. We have an ageing population in western Europe; businesses that plan for that and provide service aimed at old people will do well.

[threaded]

Little old ladies present a hazard for anyone in a hurry. Standing at the train ticket machine where they can’t figure out how to buy a ticket, then searching for their purse as they’re surprised that the thing asks for money, then searching through the coins to pay precisely because they can’t figure out how those newfangled PIN cards work. I say we should have special ‘pensioner kiosks’ at shops and railway stations where a trained psycho-geriatric nurse assists the oldies in basic day to day tasks.

You might be lucky enough to be old one day son.

[oracleslave]

Little old ladies present a hazard for anyone in a hurry.

Must be scary being old, when 'everyone else' represent a hazard to oneself.

[Moscow Mule]

Little old ladies present a hazard for anyone in a hurry. Standing at the train ticket machine where they can’t figure out how to buy a ticket, then searching for their purse as they’re surprised that the thing asks for money, then searching through the coins to pay precisely because they can’t figure out how those newfangled PIN cards work. I say we should have special ‘pensioner kiosks’ at shops and railway stations where a trained psycho-geriatric nurse assists the oldies in basic day to day tasks.

We were discussing this over dinner last week - basically, how do you think you'll cope in your old-age?

By the time I get to 80, (45+ years from now) we'll most likely have things unthought of now - I expect to be confused.

Why would you expect an old lady who can probably remember a time when telephones weren't commonplace to work a chip & pin machine?

[Mich the Tester]

Mats appear to be problematic for the elderly. Someone laid a couple on the ground floor lobby to protect the carpet here and at the first AGM it transpired that every single one of the elderly women had tripped up on them, so we got shot of them. The mats that is.

Little old ladies present a hazard for anyone in a hurry. Standing at the train ticket machine where they can’t figure out how to buy a ticket, then searching for their purse as they’re surprised that the thing asks for money, then searching through the coins to pay precisely because they can’t figure out how those newfangled PIN cards work. I say we should have special ‘pensioner kiosks’ at shops and railway stations where a trained psycho-geriatric nurse assists the oldies in basic day to day tasks.

[oracleslave]

Are boat prices buyoant or sinking ?

They are floating along, some have been cast adrift, most are anchored at 2007 levels though.

[AlfredJPruffock]

Are boat prices buyoant or sinking ?

[DimPrawn]

It's nuggets like this that give my profession a bad name

The type that want to cover backs, ensure the paperwork is ship shape and proper.

There is a certain amount of risk implied in the job when working for any of the emergency services. For boats and especially helecopters and planes, there will already be checklists that you must complete, devised by people who know their job that can be executed efficiently prior to setting off on their rescue. The elf and safety policeman should let the professionals get on with their job, working with them to iron out the riskier elements of the role where appropriate and focusing at all times on the end purpose, saving the lives of people in distress!

Do you have a John Major type voice and a clipboard?

[Bagpuss]

No sign of a coastguards houseprice anywhere in that article. Is it definitely from the Mail

boat prices

[TimberWolf]

I remember during my military basic training we had a H & S brief before commencing PT. The instructor pointed out that the jump mat represented a trip hazard. Since then I've had absolutely no time for the H & S brigade as it is my experience they are a bunch of muppets stating the bleedin obvious.

Sorry thelace but there you go. Go and get a proper job.

Mats appear to be problematic for the elderly. Someone laid a couple on the ground floor lobby to protect the carpet here and at the first AGM it transpired that every single one of the elderly women had tripped up on them, so we got shot of them. The mats that is.