Tony Le Mesmer

4 hours ago, Bridgford Ram said:

On the subject of toilets, people who can't aim really annoy me.  Twice I have used a cubicle at work this week (they have got rid of the urinals now) we what I can only assume is pee on the floor.  Now I ain't cleaning it up but on both occasions someone was waiting for the cubicle as I left it.  Obviously they will be thinking I left the puddle.

That's par for the course in pretty much every men's bogs I've been in sadly. Always takes a good wipe and clean before I sit down on a seat and even then I cover it with tissue. No way would I sit on a bare seat. There are some real scrubbers around.

Christmas telly.

Just had a rifle through the tv guide and it's truly shocking.

Hundreds of channels and still nowt worth watching.

Like that most nights really.

Anyone seen anything they will be not missing on telly this Christmas? If so please do enlighten me and if I'm swayed I may give it a try.

1 hour ago, Bridgford Ram said:

I agree, EE collared me twice in Argos yesterday and the AA do it a lot at supermarkets.  These are massive brands but I think the approach leaves them looking amateurish and desperate.

Agree. I don't mind them having a presence at all. It's the approach that I find intrusive. For example, at the bottom of the escalators in our Tesco you always get someone with a stand such as AA or something or other.

Not a problem. The problem is being asked questions by them when you've just got off the escalator with your shopping or having leaflets shoved in your face.

It's the big organisations now. It's become big business to try and get money and custom from people.

IMO though such tactics undermines the integrity of the organization and out of principle I will not give / ever be a customer and I'll recommend friends and family not to either.

They aren't that fussed anyway, they'll always get others by these methods who apparently don't seem to mind.

Ran the usual gauntlet of chuggers in Chesterfield town centre today.

One particularly from talk talk.

"Who is your broadband with sir? How much are you paying?"

NONE OF YOUR F*&%#@G BUSINESS!!!

I mumbled some sort of apology for my foul language outburst as i passed but seriously.

2 hours ago, Phoenix said:

Don't get me wrong, I admire people who take time out to raise money good causes, but....

8.15 pm, Friday night. It's been pitch dark for 4 hours. The door-bell goes. It's some bloke trying to get us to sign away money every month to the British Heart Foundation.

Good cause, but no thanks. Believe it or not, as a pensioner, I get nervous about answering the door, at night, in the dark.Why can't they come in the daylight?

I wouldn't give to any charity who doorstep collect. In fact I did stop contributing to one purely because of this reason. Don't agree with it. Turning up on your doorstep effectively begging for money. It's wrong.

1 hour ago, Wolfie20 said:

Envelopes with so little glue on them that they won't stick down. Pathetic!

I always use sellotape just to make extra sure.

8 minutes ago, ronnieronalde said:

I find myself reading this thread more than the main forum these days.

Everybody is different, everyone of us handles things differently. I'm at the stage similar to @David managed to turn things around but still occasionally angry with myself for "losing" the 2 years I lost.

Like Ramit, I find writing poetry helps a lot and it was probably writing and then reading back this over and over that helped me snap out of it, made me remember that underneath it all, I'm a good lad.

Love You

What do you do when you've stopped loving you?
When you hate yourself for the things that you do and don’t do.
When you keep punishing yourself for all that you’ve done.
When those you loved have left you. When they've long since gone.

When you see your own reflection and hate the way that you look.
When you’re ashamed to admit that you couldn’t give a ****.
When you don’t go to bed 'cos you can’t face the dreams you have while sleeping
When you hate the thought of waking up cos all you do is keep on weeping.

When you can’t stand to look at yourself through your own eyes.
When your disgust is focused on one person and it’s you, you despise.
When you open your own mouth and all you hear is lie after lie
When you’ve given up on yourself so badly, that you don’t even try.

When you tell those around you, that of course you’re alright.
When you’re secretly wishing they’d just get out of your sight.
When you can’t admit that you’re not feeling well to anyone who asks.
When you can’t even begin to complete the simplest of tasks.

When it’s been so long since anything went right.
When you know deep inside you can no longer fight.
When you go four or five days without taking a shower.
When you can’t move from your room, cos you don’t have the power.

So please God come and tell me what should I do?
Have You ever been to that place when You’ve stopped loving You?
Why can’t I stop hating everything about me?
Why can’t I open my eyes to the good stuff, why can’t I let myself see?

When will I stop trying to hide?
When will I stop dying inside?
Whatever it is that I’m trying, I’ve still had no luck.
I’m still lying, I’m still crying and I still don’t give a ****.

What do you do when you no longer love you?
Please don’t ask me cos I haven't got a clue.
All I can do is keep my eyes open day after day.
And hope the self-loathing vanishes, keep praying it goes away.

Must have taken some balls to write that and put it down for all to see. Very poignant in places Ronnie.

There was only one but that stood out though for me amongst all

'Im a good lad......'

Your words not mine nor anybody else's. Use this simple phrase and build on it because there is a strong possibility that it's true. You just have to believe it more. Believe in yourself.

6 minutes ago, Paul71 said:

I always try and have sympathy with those working, I have seen the same recently in Toys R Us, i just felt sorry for the girl obviously has been thrown in with inadequate training.

I time the reduction in service with the financial crash a few years ago, there was a noticible drop in number of staff, you go in somewhere and htere are x amount of tills/checkouts that used to be full that arent anymore.

I hate the phones and receptionists too, but i can sympathise with them, i used to work serving the public and was under instructions from my boss to answer calls if they rang, which annoyed both the person waiting and the person who called when i said i would have to call them back.

Ha and yes food, my main gripes though are...1. Know what the specials are when you come and bring me a menu, 2. tell me whats not available then, dont wait until i have looked at the menu then tell me when i ask for something you dont have. 3. Know a little bit about each dish, i.e what sauce or what it comes with etc etc.

 

 

You make some good points Paul. I do sympathise with staff who are under pressure that's why I go to management to complain and not rant at the person on the till as it's not their fault queues have been allowed to form. No point in having a go at them.

With the girl in toys r us though I disagree. I accept she will be learning on the job but she just lacked any form of basic communication skills which shocked me and it's not the first time either.

Why did your manager instruct you to put phone customers ahead of ones staring you in the face? Weird one that. You must have been under stress Paul!

It's usually shocking management and it's the ones lower down the organisation that are usually the ones bearing the brunt and helping save the business at the same time, for a lot less money.

14 minutes ago, Paul71 said:

Service Levels in this country.

I have been to a few weddings this year, all in nice hotels, but the bar service is shocking.

One person serving when you have loads of guests wanting a drink, ok i get that the bar maybe at times wont be busy so one will do, but surely its basics....you know roughly what time people will arrive so staff it up for that period, then after the service again.

Maybe later in the day as people buying their drinks becomes more spread out then 1 will suffice.

 

 

I agree. That and the standards of food in this country. When you go anywhere new for something to eat it literally is 50/50 IMO as to whether what you are dished up is even passable or not. It's ridiculous.

Often we're in a nice town or driving somewhere and spot a nice pub / cafe and eat and then wish we hadn't bothered. I tend now to go back to places I know if possible rather than take the gamble but sometimes it isn't possible.

It shouldn't be like this. If you are going to set up a business serving food then have some pride in your product or shut up shop!

Sometimes you look at trip advisor and you get idiots posting, 'we saw all the bad reviews on here but we thought we'd give it a try'. Then they slate the place!! If 70% plus of all reviewers think a place is terrible then the likelihood is that it probably is so why still go in and perpetuate their business!!

Take your point about service though Paul. What annoys me is when you're in a queue somewhere waiting to see the receptionist / person on the desk and they answer their phones BEFORE serving customers face to face that are stood in front of them! They should be sacked purely for having no common sense really.

Also staff who have zero customer service skills. Bought a load of stuff from Toys R Us and the girl was struggling with the transaction which I have sympathy for , especially as i think she must have been new but then instead of bring assertive and apologising and saying something like,'sorry about this sir. I'm new and not really familiar with how to do this so would you mind waiting whilst I get a member of staff to help me?'

Instead she says barely a word and sits there for 5 minutes looking round to catch the eyes of another member of staff.

I'm really just stood there completely baffled as to just how she managed to pass a job interview. She could barely speak.

Also I dislike it greatly when checkout operators are serving me then chatting with the one adjacent. Even more so when it's about what they did last night or boyfriends and things. This does happen a lot.

Also queues. Argos is the worst but in general. Why should I wait and be put at an inconvenience just to hand over money to a company that clearly isn't interested in putting customers first?

I can take a few minutes but often you're about 6th in line and there is one maybe two members of staff on. Do you want my money or not?!!

Occasionally I have gone shopping at a supermarket and been waiting so long to pay that I've asked for a manager and just handed him my trolley full of shopping and told him it's unacceptable and I'm shopping elsewhere.

Suddenly as if by magic a member of staff becomes available and a new till is opened up with me first.

Tough. Their loss.

Just get on the bloody ball supermarkets! You make enough flamin' money so get more staff and treat your customers better.

On ‎08‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 21:40, SillyBilly said:

Agreed, the key thing is just having someone to talk to about it.

My own "struggle" is the periodic return of a crushing sense of pointlessness of life, often coming from nowhere and seemingly completely independent of any external factors. This can sweep over me like a blindsided broadside and last for weeks, if not months; I tend to be in no mood for inspirational quotes or advice to exercise, my mind will leave that state when its ready to, as willing to leave as it was to enter. I can only describe it as an almost programmed futility response where I lose interest in hobbies, work, relationships and anything else I cared about the day before. This is not anxiety, loss of confidence, response to a loss or frustration at work etc., rather a pronounced disinterest in anything and genuine questioning of everything that life is about. What is the point of my job? What is the point of society? What is the point in having children? One learns to live with it over the years despite the fact it has got hairy at some low points. It does feel like living two lives at times. Being very analytical (some may gather this from my posting history) I have found to be both my biggest strength and success in life but also my achilles heel, it can be particularly pernicious and cruel when turned inward.

My own policy is to avoid (or sharply reduce) the internet and TV when I am in that frame of mind, it can help I find.

Great post sillybilly and one to which I can relate. I tend to be a deep thinker too and constantly wondering about the point of things or why is x and y. It drives me mad. If I could learn just to live my life and enjoy it for what it is then it would be more enjoyable and a lot easier.

I too analyse everything down to the last detail. I get days where I try to get on with people and just make inroads in life and then I'm back to square one for a bit questioning why this has to be this way or why such and such a person is a complete ********.

I have accepted that there is no ultimate point to being here. There is no meaning in life but we are here so why spend our whole lives looking for a definitive answer to a question that doesn't have one.

However this still doesn't stop me questioning things and being bewildered at times.

Life is literally a path and if you know you're on the right one I envy you people.

30 minutes ago, StivePesley said:

True - I say "just about acceptable" but it depends on how far your shop is and how desperately you need to go to the shop. Mine is literally dead opposite the house, so I can power in and out in an emergency (and it has to be said that I don't look out of place in there!) - but generally I would get changed first.
 

I've also seen mum's taking kids to school in their dressing gowns - and slippers!

What's the emergency purchase then?

Hogan was signed from Rochdale for peanuts and given an opportunity in the Bees first team.

Why would we spend millions on him when we could do the same with the umpteen players in the lower leagues with the potential of doing exactly the same?

I'd rather us found them than paying somebody else 5 million plus for doing the same thing.

33 minutes ago, StivePesley said:

Blokes who go out and about wearing soft cotton jogging trousers. In the house? Fine. Nipping to the corner shop? Just about acceptable. Any further? Unacceptable (unless it's to go and appear on Jeremy Kyle)

I was on a training course last week and it was "casual dress". A lad on there spent the whole week in the same pair of jogging bottoms. Have some self respect mate.

Haha Stive! Had to have a laugh at this ! Been saying this to people for ages. Tracky bottoms when out and about is just laziness. Don't get me wrong, they are comfy for slightly bigger men like myself and i love wearing thrm but I wouldn't been seen dead going out in them. Just wearing them changes my mentality to 'can't really be arsed'. Slovenly people.

If I may add to this tracksuit slating fest.

People who wear tracksuit tops with their hoods up in summer when it's about 28 degrees. Why?!!

And people who wear those sicky grey tracky bottoms and tops with hood up and white trainers. Have a day off will ya! You look ridiculous.

4 minutes ago, Bridgford Ram said:

If you saw my doctor you'd see her about anything you could :-)

I mixed it up a bit today and did some sprints rather than just distance.  Hopefully next week I'll be able to start cycling to work again (they have been refurbing the showers at work) so I can get back to running 10k a day (I am only doing 5k at the moment).

Makes me aware now just how little exercise I do.

11 minutes ago, Bridgford Ram said:

I always go for a run just after 6am and prefer the cold and dark for that.

Have you thought about seeing a doctor about this Bridgford?

Getting up when it's cold and dark.

Aftershave / Perfum ads at Christmas.

In reality it's just toxic chemicals being applied to the skin but I suppose they've got to make poisoning yourself look sexy haven't they?

Yes, concur with all the sentiments on here. Amazing effort from the 'flag people' as my kid calls them.

Positivity and willingness to improve thongs for others is what you guys bring to the club.

Quite the opposite though from the Forest players today.

5 minutes ago, Inverurie Ram said:

That bloke in the middle has got the most elongated neck I think I've ever seen other than on a giraffe.

Flags or no flags. From a relative outsider looking in, Derby are in a much healthier position both on and off the field to achieve future success than Forest are.

You can go on about winning the European cup an age ago but it's the here and now that counts and right now, derby have more fans than forest, more prospects than forest and whilst I'm at it.......

more flags than forest.

We know it and ask at random any football fan across the divisions who is best placed to get success in the future and they all know it too.

This is nothing to do with jealousy or even rivalry.

More do to with reality.

Great work from you flag guys and thanks for your efforts.

Chatty taxi drivers.

Anyone got any advice on dealing with difficult people or people who you have absolutely nothing in common with but have to spend time with?

If I have to work with people I don't share any common ground with I find it unbearable. The small talk can only get you so far.

I've left jobs because of this. Any advice anyone?

Difficult people or people who do and say things you don't agree with or are upset / offended by. In the past mainly I've just tried to avoid these types of people instead of really telling them what I think. I don't like upsetting the applecart. Similarly I take criticism personally and often get annoyed.

Lads who call their girlfriends 'babe'.

Alright babe?

Sickening, cringey and embarrassing.

1 hour ago, The 1884 Group said:

Much worse than just direct debits, are direct debits that you can't set the date for.

What use is a direct debit coming out of my account on the 15th of each month, Derby City Council???????????

Totally agree. If I get paid on the 28th then if every direct debit came out on the 29th happy days. Then by the 30th I would know exactly what I have left to play with. Makes my life easier.

Direct debits.

Fine if you've got shed loads of cash sitting in the bank but if you're living hand to mouth and everything under the sun is on direct debit all coming out on different dates then it can be a nightmare keeping track. Not only that but when one fails you ring up and still can't get it paid over the phone as it still shows up as paid at their end for a few days after trying to collect it!

Why can't everyone just have a good old fashioned payment book and then when it's paid you know it's sorted.

Convenient? For who?! Absolute pain in the arse.