chrisp65

I don't think there is anyone on VT that genuinely thinks like that. There are a number of people on VT that will bait teachers and student teachers because they clearly have some sort of problem with it, a sensitivity to it. Teaching is an excellent and worthy profession and if my kids go on to become teachers I'll be proud. But its also a 'profession' and therefore is difficult to become established and expert, just as it should be. Remember, if you stay as a teacher and you're competent, you'll end up earning £50k a year by the end with a really good pension. Make career progress and become a head, there's every chance you could be bringing in a six figure salary. So yes, it's tough. Those early years are a monster to get through. But being a teacher is voluntary and eventually the salary and pension is significant. and the very very best of luck to her, without student teachers we're all doomed

it depends what week it is though, doesn't it Right now the majority of schools are through the exams and putting on sports day or the annual show or presentation evening - now is not an intense teaching period. If people took their kid away on holiday today for a week because it saved £800 and made the difference between having that holiday or not, best of luck to 'em. If you drop your kid out of school for the fortnight leading up to their GCSE's well best of luck to you all - you're stoopid.

if we want to compete, we can't rely on new attendees at the ground when even the likes of Spurs have TV advertising on the kids channels trying to get kids all over the UK to sign up to their Tottenham Turfies gaming app and website. Or when Liverpool have their own TV channel and even Newcastle can sell their shirts and water bottles in Exeter. All of which doesn't even mention rights and franchises that tie in with China or USA or India or wherever. It's tricky, but if we want to be a big player and sign big players, having somebody doing the right thing and encouraging local family attendance just isn't going to cut it. I'm not saying that's right, it's one path. One thing is guaranteed, if we are taken over by somebody that wants us to be top table, expect ticket prices to potentially take away the opportunity for grandad to take along the grandkids too often. I think I'm saying, be careful what you wish for.

Do they actually do that fine thing though? In my experience if you inform the school in advance they are ok with it. If you tell them its the only chance of a holiday or the only chance to see auntie doreen or anything, but just let them know then it is ok. Similarly, if it's last minute and a few days, it's a sick note. Perhaps it's different in different parts of the country, but I don't know anyone anywhere that's ever received a fine. Incidentally just for info, mine haven't missed a single day all year and are picking up a cash prize (well, vouchers) for managing that! So we've achieved the opposite of a fine, we've had money for turning up.

were you inspired by that story .... I can't remember it, Brucey the spider, Brucey the Scot? something like that, about a bloke watching a spider try and make a web over and over again and he watches it then he suddenly thinks 'I know! battered mars bars!'

I was persuaded by somebody yesterday to change my routine for getting into London. My usual m.o. is to drive down the M4 to Hammersmith and park all day for £6 at the secure multi storey at the Westfield Shopping Centre. From there it's a 2 minute walk to the tube to the centre of town. This has worked perfectly, half a dozen times a month for the last couple of years. Every now and again there's a glitch on the motorway or A4, but during that hold up you are sat there listening to your own music, air con set where you want it and a pepsi in the chiller. Yesterday, I was convinced to try something a little different. A hybrid of avoiding the £203 return fare to stand knee deep in other people's Burger King wrappers by driving down the M4 to Slough, parking at Slough and getting the train from there to Paddington. Except yesterday, somebody died on the line and all trains out of Paddington were cancelled / delayed for 2 hours - and my car was in Slough. I know FGW and all the others can't do anything about a fatality on the line, I know it's just bad luck that I haven't used that train service in 2 years because it was always awful. But why did I change a system that I knew worked? It'll be another 2 years before I catch a train again. I'm not even going to describe the stupid way they started the service back up, breweries and the inability to organise social gatherings spring to mind.

I like that you've let your garden go to shit to help nature and all the little bugs. So many people would trim the hedges and cut and tend the lawn and maybe think of a little landscaping and a nice path. But you've got a far more modern and informed approach, a sort of '**** it, let's see if we can attract bees, badgers, zebras and lions and shit'. well done

All the metal bits and trim bits to Northfield shopping centre car park have been painted claret. You can see from the chips and scratches that the last time it was painted it was blue!

I'm so old I remember the innocent old days of VT when the advice was always 'you could give her a pearl necklace'.

Did you by any chance get that literary street map from a company called Dorothy? I've got a version hanging on my dining room wall.

I really would be interested to know in what way I am a slave under the illusion of freedom. I promise not to be fatuous, if we are slaves and you know the truth you shouldn't be giving coded messages. Please tell me plainly how we are slaves and what action we should take to free ourselves. No more fatuous comparisons with conspiracy theorists, genuinely interested to see if you genuinely think we are slaves and what action we should be taking. This is your opportunity to show somebody the truth.

I think if it was me genuinely worried about being a slave and freedom being an illusion I'd like to think I'd do something about it, not be here alternating between Assassins Creed and VT. That would be a bit limp, being a voluntary slave. I genuinely don't feel a slave of the local education authority and their term time rules on unauthorised absence. I might be deluded, but I don't see their inset day rota as part of a greater conspiracy of forced compliance. If somebody can show me how that links in to slavery and conspiracy I'm happy to get more informed. I kinda presumed Mrs P would be coming with me, we get on quite well, and I didn't ask my employer if I can break free of serfdom because, well, I'm not sure asking permission not to be a slave would be a good start. There you go, perhaps I'm just so far sucked into the system I just can't see it. Or perhaps its the flouride in the water making me comply with my overlords.

Well the Mensch coffee thing is lost on me, don't know what that is. Surely if somebody is genuinely worried that we are slaves and our bodies owned by others and freedom is an illusion then they shouldn't be wasting their time on messageboards? What version of freedom would you prefer as an example instead of freedom of travel? The point on needing permission from Mrs P or the kids school isn't a serious one is it? We were worried about the state turning us into slaves and owning our bodies.

I might well be stating the obvious to be people here, but an observation: I use the hotel comparison sites to find a quick list of hotels in an area, then I phone them and book direct. I've never failed to get a better deal at an independent hotel by booking direct. Laterooms were offering a weekend at one place in 2 weeks time for close on £300 so I phoned direct and got it for £220. Not the first time that's happened, in fact, I don't think I've ever actually booked through Laterooms. This year is going to be a string of weekends away with a serious savings account started up for next year's hols which will be a bit of a big deal (comparatively for us anyway).

Interesting and somewhat strange jump in logic, as i post on a messgeboard and have the internet I obviously can't disagree with your point of view, I have jumped in my logic and presumed you are not perched in a tree eating grubs off a stick and opting out of the system. Therefore, my second jump is that as we do still have free will and you haven't bailed out to that tree in Bolivia you can't be that upset with the current way of things. Not that strange or jumpy is it? It's ok to protest at the current system, just don't make out like it's the Matrix.

Tiny tiny frogs hiding in the garden, about a dozen of them all about the size of a finger nail. Second pond pencilled in for construction this autumn - going for double the size of the first one whilst also keeping the first one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA7iGxV6rt4 hanging wallpaper music last time I was upstairs with just shorts and a straw weave cowboy hat was far more fun than this

Well, I guess the test is, if I was so taken with your post that I wanted to walk away from my life and go and live in the amazonian rainforest wearing just my spongebob underpants, I could. Equally, if I want to drink and eat myself into gross western oblivion whilst playing video games over the internet with strangers in Laos, then I can. Hell, i don't even have to work for the money for the burgers if i don't want to. It'll just arrive because I was born here. If I choose not to go to work tomorrow, I phone in sick. If I want to go to Ireland next Wednesday and take the kids with me, I can phone and book. Don't even need to pack a passport or ask the permission of anyone but StennaLine. But then again. If my kids get ill this afternoon I can arrange for trained experts to get here in 7 minutes and not worry about the cost. So whilst I accept it ain't anywhere near perfect. It's not quite bad enough to trade it for an unknown unexplained alternative where I get to live to the ripe old age of 37 but with toothache for the last 20 years of that. Just as government thinks it can quietly take away 'rights', if the people genuinely believe a line has been crossed then that government will be run out of town with its arse on fire. The incremental little changes and tweeks to freedoms by administrative slight of hand don't stop me being me. When they do stop me and 5,000,000 others being ourselves we will get off our lardy pale western backsides and sort it out. Incidentally, I'm not sating all is wonderful. I'm saying the alternatives aren't sufficiently enticing at the moment. Clearly as you have an internet service provider and a desire to shoot the breeze on a footy based messageboard, you can't really disagree too strongly.

Total freedom, or even restricted freedom whereby you do anything but you can't deliberately harm others would make getting down the hospital for an x-ray tricky. Seeing much of the world beyond where a horse could take you would be quite time consuming and the internet would be intermittent at best. Similarly, getting access to medicine that actually works, alcohol that doesn't blind you and food beyond turnips and barley would all be more difficult. Total anarchic freedom would, in my opinion, be a bit of a ball ache.

or covered in pig blood and causing the prom hall to burn down and destroy the cool kids that laughed at her

I don't know if I've had a fave bit so far, but it's interesting now mine are old enough for proper serious conversation the bits they remember as 'those' memories. Apparently the best holiday we ever had was staying in Watermouth Castle - reason? We all had 4 poster beds and the loo had a giant high level cistern and a long chain you had to 'pull and run away'.Apparently they thought that was great, oh, and the fact that we could cook our own toast in the room. So best holiday was down to a chain pull flush and toast in the room. Defining picture of dad? Running back and forth the allotment showering sparks across the dusk sky by waving a pitch fork of flaming dry grass around shouting 'aaaaargh'. So not all the presents, all the taxi rides, not getting them back stage access to Dr Who and not some serious investment in musical instruments or homework projects or working like a nutjob to get the only house in town with a big flat garden walking distance from the best school. No, it was my flaming pitchfork of doom dance. Kids are totally and utterly brilliant, just remember to enjoy it all now, today, and not postpone the enjoyment too much, 'cos it ain't long and they're working in Next and getting home after you've gone to bed. Staying in work all hours to get them a Florida holiday is not smarter than running around the garden with dry grass like a retarded viking.

This is an excellent post,especially the part that i've bolded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q3Rx4LoDmE

have you got a favourite stroke?