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Previously on "I have a British workman in ...."

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  • vetran
    replied
    Originally posted by AtW View Post
    Adult chat line for £2 per minute and you make tenner a day?
    amazing social services pay £120 an hour for ASSGURU's analyst.

    Leave a comment:


  • AtW
    replied
    Originally posted by sasguru View Post
    Yes. It's a daily rate that works out at £120 per hour.
    Adult chat line for £2 per minute and you make tenner a day?

    Leave a comment:


  • Platypus
    replied
    Originally posted by hyperD View Post
    a Japanese soiled panty dispenser!

    Leave a comment:


  • DodgyAgent
    replied
    Originally posted by sasguru View Post
    If I leave the Balance of Payments gets ever so slightly worse.
    If you disappear the effect is precisely nil.

    HTH
    That is the best compliment I have had in years

    Leave a comment:


  • shaunbhoy
    replied
    Originally posted by tomtomagain View Post
    Maybe he just thought you were a muppet and an easy push over?
    You could hardly fault his logic if he did. We all reached that conclusion years ago!

    Leave a comment:


  • sasguru
    replied
    Originally posted by DodgyAgent View Post
    Apart from the fact that you are still here
    If I leave the Balance of Payments gets ever so slightly worse.
    If you disappear the effect is precisely nil.

    HTH

    Leave a comment:


  • DodgyAgent
    replied
    Originally posted by sasguru View Post
    ... installing new oak floors. It's day 2. Yesterday he left at 3 pm. Today he's had a 40 minute break between 11 and 11.40 but is readying himself for lunch. Of course he's had his tea and fag breaks too (seems to be a chain smoker). This is from a respected local flooring firm.
    Sadly my Poles don't do floors.

    And that in a nutshell is what's wrong with the country.
    Apart from the fact that you are still here

    Leave a comment:


  • SueEllen
    replied
    Originally posted by Runs With Scissors View Post
    I had Scissors Towers double-glazing replaced on Friday and Saturday. 6 Normal windows and 2 Velux. 4 young (they all look young to me now) Scottish guys who did a first-class job, tidied up after themselves, had 1 cup of tea all day and generally did their best to minimize any damage or disruption to my home. We talk down the quality of craftsmanship in this country but we can still produce tradesmen who take pride in doing a first-rate job.
    Young tradesmen regardless of Nationality tend to be keen to get the job done and are like what you describe. I noticed a lot of them actually don't drink tea or coffee, and rely on coca cola.

    The tradesmen I have issues with tend:
    1. To be over 30
    2. Do not own the company

    These people have a tendency to take lots of tea breaks and decide to "go to collect materials" as a way of going home early.

    The fact that I have a large number of trade counters and builder merchants within a 10 mile radius and also know the traffic conditions escapes their attention. It was more amusing when I worked out that one such slacker lived a few roads away from me.

    Leave a comment:


  • Goatfell
    replied
    Originally posted by sasguru View Post
    Eh? For that experiment to work, we'd have to take him back in a time machine and give him solid apprenticeship training with a respect for duty, perfectionism and craftsmanship.
    All true, it's hard to find craftsmen better at doing a particular task, fitting say, an oak floor. The problems arise when that same craftsman can't lay a mahogany floor.

    Probably a rather facile comparison, but in my experience British workers have been appreciated in Germany and across europe because of their skills, speed and flexibility. Didn't see many British managers though

    Leave a comment:


  • sasguru
    replied
    Originally posted by tomtomagain View Post
    Haven't read all the thread. Only the first post.

    I had British workmen in to build an extension, fit a kitchen, decorate and do some plumbing.

    Without exception they've all been excellent.

    I couldn't rate them highly enough. Turned up on time, polite, did the work to the original budget, were helpful throughout.

    I think that just because you've had a bad experience you shouldn't start castigating the entire working class.

    Maybe you need to think about how you approach people you have working for you? Maybe he just thought you were a muppet and an easy push over?

    People like you who continually talk down the country and the average working man should just get over themselves.
    Where do you live?

    Leave a comment:


  • tomtomagain
    replied
    Haven't read all the thread. Only the first post.

    I had British workmen in to build an extension, fit a kitchen, decorate and do some plumbing.

    Without exception they've all been excellent.

    I couldn't rate them highly enough. Turned up on time, polite, did the work to the original budget, were helpful throughout.

    I think that just because you've had a bad experience you shouldn't start castigating the entire working class.

    Maybe you need to think about how you approach people you have working for you? Maybe he just thought you were a muppet and an easy push over?

    People like you who continually talk down the country and the average working man should just get over themselves.

    Leave a comment:


  • sasguru
    replied
    Originally posted by Runs With Scissors View Post
    I had Scissors Towers double-glazing replaced on Friday and Saturday. 6 Normal windows and 2 Velux. 4 young (they all look young to me now) Scottish guys who did a first-class job, tidied up after themselves, had 1 cup of tea all day and generally did their best to minimize any damage or disruption to my home. We talk down the quality of craftsmanship in this country but we can still produce tradesmen who take pride in doing a first-rate job.
    I noticed when I lived oop North for a year (yes indeed I did) that thq quality of the work there was much highere than down south

    Leave a comment:


  • Runs With Scissors
    replied
    I had Scissors Towers double-glazing replaced on Friday and Saturday. 6 Normal windows and 2 Velux. 4 young (they all look young to me now) Scottish guys who did a first-class job, tidied up after themselves, had 1 cup of tea all day and generally did their best to minimize any damage or disruption to my home. We talk down the quality of craftsmanship in this country but we can still produce tradesmen who take pride in doing a first-rate job.

    Leave a comment:


  • Gibbon
    replied
    Originally posted by sasguru View Post
    Eh? For that experiment to work, we'd have to take him back in a time machine and give him solid apprenticeship training with a respect for duty, perfectionism and craftsmanship.
    Agreed. Plus unions being pragmatic and not waging class war.

    Leave a comment:


  • vetran
    replied
    Originally posted by sasguru View Post
    I have a council workman in ... installing new oak look Vinyl floors in my bedsit. It's day 2. Yesterday he left at 3 pm because my collection of BBW porn mags were stacked to the ceiling.

    Today he's had a 40 minute break between 11 and 11.40 (ran out of the room shouting he's mad I tell you) but is readying himself for lunch (he is going to the office to threaten to resign if they don't take him off the job because he finds the tenant scary).

    Of course he's had his tea and fag breaks too (seems to be a chain smoker). On second bottle of scotch after AssGuru shouted take me big boy at him.

    And that in a nutshell is what's wrong with my existence.

    FTFY

    I even added some paragraphs.

    Leave a comment:

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