The Lemon Fool

1. Covid
2. The Suez Canal grounding
3. Brexit
4. China/US Trade War
5. HS2
6. £5bn social housing budget accelerated/brought forward by five years

So

1. Shortage of HGV drivers
2. Timber/MDF up by 55% with shortages
3. Bricks on 12 week call off
4. No cement in the country
5. Shortages of plastic goods
6. Skills shortages (QS's, Bricklayers, Electricians)

Snafu - situation normal all messed up!

Today we've started reviewing care homes for the F-i-L. And I thought my life was full of problems. We've cynically decided that many of the care homes out there are converted prisons. They simply removed the bars and sold them for scrap metal. And those care homes that look comfortable cost a fortune.

Clitheroekid mentioned that Tesco & most UK companies of a similar ilk have a huge infrastructure. We need to gear up for our old age and quickly. But I'm not sure we should want to make a profit about getting old.

Sorry to gripe

AiY

AsleepInYorkshire wrote:[*]HS2

Was chatting with a lovely boater friend of mine last night over a bottle of Glenfarclas 25 years and she, like me, thinks the money being spent on HS2 would be better spent restoring all the branch lines that git Dr Beeching closed back in the 60s. Not only that but she reckons there would be enough money from HS2 cancellation to not only restore all the branch lines, but to do it with STEAM TRAINS. How awesome would THAT be?! TOP GIRL!!!

Or more pertinenetly, HS2 budget be spent on a super high speed broadband roll out and subsidised existing localised public transport solutions to support both ends of the day etc rather than gladys-goes-shopping-at-11am-and-comes-back-at-3pm busses.

We dont need 60 year old closed rail lines that went nowhere from nowhere - but a bus service to get people from nowhere to the nearest existing railhead may be useful. Oh - and sort out the stupidity of rail fares being many times that of flying, if we are truly interested in improving ecomological wotsits.

AsleepInYorkshire wrote:Today we've started reviewing care homes for the F-i-L. And I thought my life was full of problems. We've cynically decided that many of the care homes out there are converted prisons. They simply removed the bars and sold them for scrap metal. And those care homes that look comfortable cost a fortune.
AiY

10-12 years ago, we were looking for a care home for M-i-L. We looked at a fair few private care homes and found that a lot of the staff had accents we had trouble with, so deaf M-i-L would stand no chance. Also staff turnover seemed to be quite high. While we were looking, she moved from hospital to a respite unit in a local authority care home, as a temporary measure. She absolutely loved it, even though she hated the idea of a care home. Her 2-week stay extended to 4 weeks, then 6 weeks, then a room became available on a permanent basis and she jumped at the chance to stay.
The staff were brilliant (one 25yo lad came in to the home on his days off to see if any residents needed anything from the local Morrisons), turnover was zero over 3 years, most staff were local with local accents, the LA invested time in ongoing training for the staff, and when I called in while passing 4-5 times a week, the chances were that M-i-L was sitting in the lounge with one of the carers next to her chatting away. Residents were taken on trips, taken out to lunch at a local pub, and entertainers came at the weekend. Glass of wine or whatever in the evenings.

We though that we would have to go private to get good care for M-i-L, I never thought a local authority home could offer such standards.

--kiloran

AsleepInYorkshire wrote: We need to gear up for our old age and quickly. But I'm not sure we should want to make a profit about getting old.

AiY

What's the patient's level of need? 24/7 intensive care, or just to have someone on-call 24/7 in case of emergency? In the latter case he doesn't really need an expensive care home, just a flat in a warden-supported retirement development.

For the truly intensive care needs, Japan, apparently, has a solution to the care home problem. More automation. More robots, so fewer human staff needed 24/7 for things the robots can't do, rapidly brings those costs down.

didds wrote:Or more pertinenetly, HS2 budget be spent on a super high speed broadband roll out and subsidised existing localised public transport solutions to support both ends of the day etc rather than gladys-goes-shopping-at-11am-and-comes-back-at-3pm busses.

Cornwall has a lot of that. Broadband way ahead of the rest of the country, courtesy of EU regional development funds. And some innovative local transport that's a halfway-house between bus and taxi.

We dont need 60 year old closed rail lines that went nowhere from nowhere

Many Beeching closures don't remotely fit that description. Example here in the southwest: we were totally cut-off in 2014 when the main and only line connecting us to Exeter and anywhere east/north from there was washed out to sea. We need a re-opening of the inland line between Exeter and Plymouth via Okehampton and Tavistock as a route for the whole region. And if we also had an upgrade to (say) half or even one third as fast as the trains east of Exeter - or other intercity routes in most of the country - we might join the modern world for a cost that's small-change in the HS2 budget. Call it our share of that HS2 budget and the other 99% remains for deserving projects elsewhere.

AsleepInYorkshire wrote:

1. Covid
2. The Suez Canal grounding
3. Brexit
4. China/US Trade War
5. HS2
6. £5bn social housing budget accelerated/brought forward by five years

So

1. Shortage of HGV drivers
2. Timber/MDF up by 55% with shortages
3. Bricks on 12 week call off
4. No cement in the country
5. Shortages of plastic goods
6. Skills shortages (QS's, Bricklayers, Electricians)

Snafu - situation normal all messed up!

Today we've started reviewing care homes for the F-i-L. And I thought my life was full of problems. We've cynically decided that many of the care homes out there are converted prisons. They simply removed the bars and sold them for scrap metal. And those care homes that look comfortable cost a fortune.

Clitheroekid mentioned that Tesco & most UK companies of a similar ilk have a huge infrastructure. We need to gear up for our old age and quickly. But I'm not sure we should want to make a profit about getting old.

Sorry to gripe

AiY

Don't worry. We may soon have other problems, far worse:

The Earth is trapping nearly twice as much heat as it did in 2005, according to new research, described as an “unprecedented” increase amid the climate crisis.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... -nasa-noaa

[*]Skills shortages (Ark builders)


Steve

UncleEbenezer wrote: And some innovative local transport that's a halfway-house between bus and taxi.

innovative for the UK maybe. A very standard approach in so-called "developing" nations decades ago...

UncleEbenezer wrote:Many Beeching closures don't remotely fit that description. Example here in the southwest: we were totally cut-off in 2014 when the main and only line connecting us to Exeter and anywhere east/north from there was washed out to sea. We need a re-opening of the inland line between Exeter and Plymouth via Okehampton and Tavistock as a route for the whole region. And if we also had an upgrade to (say) half or even one third as fast as the trains east of Exeter - or other intercity routes in most of the country - we might join the modern world for a cost that's small-change in the HS2 budget. Call it our share of that HS2 budget and the other 99% remains for deserving projects elsewhere.

Thats a fair comment - but it does equally apply to SOME lines eg the old devizes line, that once the london service got rerouted elsewhere basically connected nowhere to nowhere.

And some lines just can't be restored anyway now, as land that previously held the line has been sold off and now built on (Devizes line another example here).

I doa gree that theer are parts of the country that are woefully provisioned for, some of that down to beeching's report. Then the west coast of scotland the SW past bristol doesnt really feature atwestminster anyway, which is more of a problem id suggest overall...

didds

Snorvey wrote:There are things that the state definitely should do. Providing care for the elderly is one - whether its full blown care homes or simply cutting someone's grass, getting some groceries in, or just sticking your head around their door to see if their ok.

I dont disagree ... but then we are down to how to pay for all that, especially given the taxation pyramid is top heavy already... and as a nation we are clearly one that may like a Scandanavian level of services but doesnt want a scandanavian level of taxation to fund it.

Let alone also finding a workforce to actually do all that - it seems the hospitality indisurty is already having problems findign staff as it is, let alone bunging another several million jobs on top of that totally afresh and anew.

maybe all those 34 year old australians will do it once the angle-aus treaty is signed?

UncleEbenezer wrote:

AsleepInYorkshire wrote: We need to gear up for our old age and quickly. But I'm not sure we should want to make a profit about getting old.

AiY

What's the patient's level of need? 24/7 intensive care, or just to have someone on-call 24/7 in case of emergency? In the latter case he doesn't really need an expensive care home, just a flat in a warden-supported retirement development.

For the truly intensive care needs, Japan, apparently, has a solution to the care home problem. More automation. More robots, so fewer human staff needed 24/7 for things the robots can't do, rapidly brings those costs down.

Got any info on the Japan solution? Sounds interesting.

Mike4 wrote:

AsleepInYorkshire wrote:[*]HS2

Was chatting with a lovely boater friend of mine last night over a bottle of Glenfarclas 25 years and she, like me, thinks the money being spent on HS2 would be better spent restoring all the branch lines that git Dr Beeching closed back in the 60s. Not only that but she reckons there would be enough money from HS2 cancellation to not only restore all the branch lines, but to do it with STEAM TRAINS. How awesome would THAT be?! TOP GIRL!!!

I rarely agree with something 110% but I do in this case
My home town is served by a heritage steam railway - normal passenger services were ceased in the early 1960s

Snorvey wrote:There's no problem in paying for it (depending on your monetary beliefs). The problem is, as you say, is finding the people to do it. Especially when you think there are already 13 million unpaid carers in the UK (according to the BBC last week)

Well, most of us have been/will be unpaid carers at some time in our lives. I wonder what the BBC's source (and definition) is?

paulnumbers wrote:Got any info on the Japan solution? Sounds interesting.

Not really. It's just one of those things you get to hear if you have the radio on: Japan is way ahead of us in ageing population and has robots to do most of the care work for them.

I thought Snorvey had started this thread because he was dreading the approaching kick-off....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Snorvey wrote:Scottish independence to be decided by tonight's football result

Prime minister Boris Johnson, who proposed the wager to Nicola Sturgeon yesterday, promised that if Scotland win they will be granted immediate independence but if England triumph independence is off the table until 2051.

Ah, decisions decisions for Southgate. Play to win and we're stuck with them for another 30 years......

No-score draw - I guess Southgate was undecided too.

Teenager says I don't wamt to live to be 90
Great Grandad's response, try saying that again when you're 89

paulnumbers wrote:

UncleEbenezer wrote:

AsleepInYorkshire wrote: We need to gear up for our old age and quickly. But I'm not sure we should want to make a profit about getting old.

AiY

What's the patient's level of need? 24/7 intensive care, or just to have someone on-call 24/7 in case of emergency? In the latter case he doesn't really need an expensive care home, just a flat in a warden-supported retirement development.

For the truly intensive care needs, Japan, apparently, has a solution to the care home problem. More automation. More robots, so fewer human staff needed 24/7 for things the robots can't do, rapidly brings those costs down.

Got any info on the Japan solution? Sounds interesting.

The latest update I saw was here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjbfU7XkPoQ

regards

Howard

UncleEbenezer wrote:Many Beeching closures don't remotely fit that description. Example here in the southwest: we were totally cut-off in 2014 when the main and only line connecting us to Exeter and anywhere east/north from there was washed out to sea. We need a re-opening of the inland line between Exeter and Plymouth via Okehampton and Tavistock as a route for the whole region. And if we also had an upgrade to (say) half or even one third as fast as the trains east of Exeter - or other intercity routes in most of the country - we might join the modern world for a cost that's small-change in the HS2 budget. Call it our share of that HS2 budget and the other 99% remains for deserving projects elsewhere.

But would sufficient numbers actually use the train?

How many people need to go from Okehampton or Tavistock to Exeter or Plymouth - and who would do so by train rather than by car which will be cheaper and more convenient.

I commuted into London for many years and the trains were packed with commuters heading into London because there was no other choice and driving simply wasn’t an option.

However catch the train in the intervening eight hours between commuting times - well that was a different story. On a train that could hold 1,702 people (and would in the commuting times) you could often count the number of passengers on both hands.

It was utterly uneconomic to run the trains during the day for so few people, let alone on a regular 30 minute service. So why didn’t people use them - cheaper to drive to the next town and more convenient than lugging your shopping back on the train and then needing to catch a bus from the station home.

Howard wrote:

paulnumbers wrote:

UncleEbenezer wrote:
What's the patient's level of need? 24/7 intensive care, or just to have someone on-call 24/7 in case of emergency? In the latter case he doesn't really need an expensive care home, just a flat in a warden-supported retirement development.

For the truly intensive care needs, Japan, apparently, has a solution to the care home problem. More automation. More robots, so fewer human staff needed 24/7 for things the robots can't do, rapidly brings those costs down.

Got any info on the Japan solution? Sounds interesting.

The latest update I saw was here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjbfU7XkPoQ

regards

Howard

strangely terrifying.