Quick post

And back into silence… Well, not quite. I was on holiday. I meant to write a bunch of posts that would be published over the course of my holiday, but I just didn’t have the time with working too much.

Posts will come later today.

Expenses, expenses, expenses

MPs’ Expenses. Done to death, right? I’ve tagged this news, but is anyone else sick of it?

Yes yes, they’re using our money to pay for extravagant lifestyles, and taking the piss. Their earnings are already pretty high, especially considering they’re supposed to be in service to the people. I earn NMW (at both jobs), but because I have two jobs, on one of them I lose 31% in tax and national insurance, as well as some tax on my first job. So in one job, I come home with £3.95 (€4.64/$6.45) an hour.

But be honest for a minute: how would you react if your boss told you (s)he’d pay for your house, your bills, your phone etc? Would you say: no no, that’s our clients’ money. Or would you jump on it? (Actually, my boyfriend has that cushy deal, and does he say no?) I’m sorry, but they’re people who are taking advantage of what was offered to them.

I’m not condoning what they did, especially people like Jeremy Hunt, the shadow culture secretary, whose expense claims included a 1p phone call (for my American or European readers, that’s about 1c). But they are just doing what any one of us would do. Who here hasn’t added a wee 15 minutes to their timesheets? Or abused staff discount? Or even stolen office stationery?

Also, I thought this was interesting:

“And the £22,500 which Labour MP Margaret Moran claimed to pay for dry rot treatment on her second home, which prompted her resignation, has yet to be repaid.” (BBC). Now, what’s wrong with this claim? They get a second home allowance, fine. If your house has dry rot, it will only get worse, and could eventually collapse. Why should an MP live in a house that’s in a bad way? Would you? EDIT: I just did some more research on this, I see the problem. The house is over 100 miles away from her constituency.

On a completely unrelated note, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition makes me cry every time. Ugh.

Common sense rules again

Duffy ad cleared after criticism

Thank GOD.

A TV advert which showed pop singer Duffy cycling through a supermarket has been cleared by an advertising watchdog after health and safety complaints.
Eighteen viewers complained the singer, from Nefyn, Gwynedd, was not wearing reflective clothing and her bicycle had no lights in the Diet Coke commercial.

I am so SICK of people writing in and complaining about things that are meant in jest. Anyone remember the KFC advert with the women in the call centre singing with their mouths full? Banned because of complaints. I’m sorry, that advert was FUNNY.

Or this:

Banned because it encouraged homosexuality. You know, the Gay Agenda. Which I’m sorry, looks something like this:

7am: Kick out whathisname from that bar…I think.
7:15am: Coffee
7:30am: Showering, shaving, plucking, tweezing, waxing, pruning and scaping.
8:00am: Wardrobe experimenting, looking for suit that makes ass look best.
8:30am: Strut to office in heels
etc. etc. etc.

Banned in the UK because of Americans complaining. Heinz are so scared of the American religious right that they pull adverts that they’ll never see…

Then there’s this:

I have no idea why this was banned, but it’s funny.

Unless adverts are just plain offensive, like the Swiftcover car insurance adverts:

Royal Power

Taken from the BBC:

Should the power of the Royals be re-examined?
Architect Lord Rogers has accused Prince Charles of breaking a constitutional pact following a row over the redevelopment of the former Chelsea Barracks. Has the Prince overstepped his remit?

The site in west London is owned by Qatari Diar, the state of Qatar’s property investment arm, which is headed by the country’s prime minister.

The developer preferred Lord Rogers’ modernist glass and steel design, but in March, the Prince of Wales told Qatar’s royal family it was “unsuitable”.

In an interview with the BBC, Lord Rogers called for a committee of constitutional experts to be set up to examine “the powers of the Prince and his ability to change the political direction”.

Do you agree with Lord Rogers? Will the dispute put off foreign companies from investing in similar projects? Is it time to reconsider the role of the Royal Family in the 21st Century? Does Prince Charles have the right to express his views on commercial issues?

I’m in two minds about this topic.

1) Now, I’ve not seen the building, but from a quick scan of the internet, it sounds like it’s a pretty ugly building that a lot of people object to. And it seems like Lord Rogers just doesn’t like that people object to his design. And I really don’t think it’s necessary to set up a committee and spend taxpayers’ money on him being stubborn.

2) By doing this, Prince Charles has undermined the system we have in place to deal with these issues. Had he waited until the council asked the public if they were okay with it and objected then, this whole kerfuffle would have been avoided. He shouldn’t have gone direct to the Qatari royal family the way he did, it’s a bit too…well, corrupt for my liking.

The existence of the royals in general? Personally, I’m in favour. Sure, they cost us a lot of money and don’t do much, but they do bring tourists. And without the royals, what would be on our coins and stamps? And the inside of our passports would end up reading: “Gordon Brown’s Secretary of State requests and requires in the name of Gordon Brown all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.” And let’s be honest, nobody wants that.

Dammit

I keep saying I’m going to start actually blogging here, and I never actually do.  I’m so determined to actually do it now.

It’s not going to be all personal, because that’s dull and the vast majority of people that read this (i.e. just me) don’t really care.  Nor will it be all news stories, because that’s what news agencies are for.  But I probably will comment on them.  It won’t be huge amount of pop culture either, because I’m so out of touch with it…  

But a quick summary:  22, about to start my MA, working for a major hotel chain for minimum wage and a UK based coffee chain for, again, minimum wage.  Hurrah!  I don’t plan to talk about work though, that’s just so you know.  We all know what happens to people that blog about work.  I’ve been with Gordon for a few months now, and it’s great.  I’ll try not to be too gross about that though.  If I keep ruling things out at this pace, I’ll end up with nothing left to say…

Now, I know, no one ever liked the confused.com adverts, but the long hair guy in the new ones is SPECTACULARLY annoying, n’est-ce pas? Look:

Scrap testing for children?

So, for those non-British people, read this first:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7964005.stm

Scrap testing for children because it’s damaging for them?

Now, I don’t know about you, but at school I had constant testing.  In Scotland, the school system is broken up into parts: 5-14, Standard Grades, Highers, Advanced Highers.  Then you go on to university.  5-14 is compulsory, all people must take all parts.  It’s split into five levels: A, B, C, D and perhaps unsurprisingly, E.  After E you can move on to harder things to better prepare you for Standard Grades.

At each level there are three subjects, and at the end of each level, there is a test.  So that’s 15 tests in total.  Plus various spelling tests and things.  And it never did me any harm.  If anything, it was a good thing – it taught me how to prepare for tests and how to deal with tests.  That meant that by the time I got to Standard Grades (very important exams – you need a credit grade at Standard Grade to get on to the Higher, and you need Highers to go to university.  You also need Standard Grades for pretty much every job – even McDonalds), I was aware of my strengths and weaknesses, I knew how to cope in an exam situation if I was struggling or whatever.

And now, having had years of testing, I don’t get too stressed about exams, because I know how to deal with them, and I’ve got the experience of past exams and using the results of those to modify my learning.

The actual problem with testing is that teachers no longer teach the subject, they teach how to pass the test, which means that as soon as someone is faced with a real life problem, they have no idea how to deal with it because it’s not in the exact same format as in the exam.

This is why pass rates are constantly climbing in England & Wales (this debate is centred there, Scotland’s education is separate), but people are actually getting worse at the subjects they’re passing.  People on my course have A grades in English and French, then come to do a languages degree and don’t know what a verb is, they can’t conjugate a verb, and as soon as you mention cases (which I’ll give you, English only really has in personal pronouns) their eyes glaze over.  There are people in my year even who cannot spontaneously change a pronoun from singular to plural in Spanish, despite being in their fourth year of a degree based around Spanish language.

Of course, everyone gets annoyed when you suggest that testing is getting easier because they say it devalues the work students are putting in – but those students who do put in the work and would have done well in tests from years ago are a tiny minority.  This is why the introduction of the A* at A Level is a good idea in my opinion.  And yes, I’m sorry, but testing is getting easier.  In my exam preparation at school we did countless past papers, and the older the paper, the harder it was, without exception.  In papers from the early 90s, we would be a shown a graph of a format we’d never seen before and told to work out various things fom it with absolutely no hints.  By the time I sat my exams, we were given all the formulae and all but one variables and told to work out the one missing.

So, basically, keep testing, but make it harder so that people are actually prepared for the real world.  Because having three A grades means nothing these days.

These foolish games are tearing me apart

So, A.  I’ve decided he’s a flake.  We had a great first date, and kept agreeing to go on another date that kept not happening and not happening.

Then, and not that I’m not a trusting person or anything, but we finally agree on Sunday past.  Then, when I text him to ask where and when we should meet.  No reply.  No reply no reply no reply.  Then, on Monday, he comes online to tell me that he had had his bag stolen including phone etc.  Also, his car.  So things are fine, then we’re texting back and forth, and I ask about when he wants to go out.  Ignores the question.  Then I send him a message asking only: do you still want to go out?  No reply.  And while I did like him, this has put me right off him.  Grr.

But it’s okay, because on Tuesday I had a date with another boy we shall call S.  Which was nice.  S is French, which is always a bonus.  We chatted a lot, it was nice, comfortable etc.  But… I don’t know.  You know when you go out with someone and afterwards people ask how it was and if you’ll see them again?  And you just don’t know how to respond to any of it?

I have recently been speaking to another boy, who we’ll call A2.  How confusing, but it makes sense if you know who I’m talking about.  Anyway, the other night I had a really dirty sex dream about him.  It was amusing.  Well, it wasn’t him, but it looked like him, you know what I mean?  Anyway, I haven’t actually gone out with him yet, but hopefully soon.

Work has been busy recently.  Well, not really busy, but the few things that are on are big and hectic.  And of course, we have no staff but because of budget cuts, we can’t get any more.  Fun fun fun.

The new semester started, and my classes look like they should be quite good.  Obviously, I’ve only had one week, so whether it actually is remains to be seen.  For one of my classes though, I have to give a FORTY MINUTE presentation.  And it’s 20% of my final mark for that class.  Eww.

We like to party

So, I just had to write about this.

On Saturday, I worked a birthday party.  A first birthday party.  That cost the parents TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND POUNDS.  They turned our entire function suite and foyer into Narnia, flew in a band from Paris, had an indoor ice rink and everything.  It was ASTOUNDING.

But it’s sad: the child was asleep for most of it.  And even if the child were awake, the child would be too young to fully understand what was going on, and the child will never remember it anyway.  It just seems to wasteful to spend that much.  But then, credit crunch and all that, it’s people spending like that the keeps our economy ticking over (however slowly).

Awakened by the sun light, victimized by last night

So, my date.

Let’s start with this: we met on the tinternets.  Which I know, I know.  But see previous post for justification.

So we went to The Forth, a pub in the city centre and a few drinks.  We got there at almost exactly the same time.  And he was waaaaay fitter than in his pictures.  And quite tall.  Not much taller than me, but a little.

We got drinks and tried to find a seat (there were none) so we stood at the bit by the window.  Conversation flowed really easy from the very start.  And despite me dropping my drink all over the floor (and then him doing the same, the difference being that he got me with his drink, I didn’t get him with mine).  We laughed, a lot.  We really do have loads in common, more than I thought before.  And from the tinternets, I wasn’t sure if he’d be really funny or really weird.  It seems it’s really funny.

When time to leave came, I walked to the Metro (which was the same vague direction as his car), and came home.  Alone.  Alice did say something about ‘if/when [I] got home,’ the cheek.  I wasn’t even half way on the Metro when he texted me saying he was home and thanking me for an acceptable evening (which later got upgraded to enjoyable).  There have been a few messages since, and I’ve invited him to my favourite lunch place on Sunday.  Although I’ve yet to hear back about that, so we’ll see.

Where you gonna go, where you gonna sleep tonight?

So, tonight I have a date.  With a boy we shall call A.

People have always told me I would find myself a nice boy if I went down to the gay bars more.  Uhm… the boys in there are the disgusting screaming queen type riddled with disease. So no.

The other gay men I meet are always either in a relationship or incredibly stupid (probably due to obscene amounts of peroxide seeping into their brain).  This boy is nice.  We have quite a lot in common (neither of us like nightclubs, we’re both old, hate Fags and enjoy correct punctuation and grammar).

So yes, tonight, we’re going for a drink.  But first, I have to give a presentation and become fluent in the Chinese language.