Grumble Thread

[oddoneout]

Our local War Memorial has acquired a backdrop of a couple of England flags behind it in readiness for the Remembrance Sunday parade in a sop to the current mood of patriotism (whatever that is).

Perhaps those taking part might like to read Wilfred Owen's 'Futility' and reflect in what contempt those lads whose names are on the Memorial would have for such nonsense.

With the passing of the generations, I've increasingly felt uneasy at what seems to me to be less a Remembrance and more of a celebration of war, or at least a fostering of the very nationalism that leads to war.

I don't think I've ever felt that comfortable about the various ceremonies and I agree that over the years the approach seems to be less about mourning the loss and more about glorifying the cause of that loss. In part I think it may be due to the persistent interest in WW2, and also the increased access to material relating to that conflict - the 'true stories' and the vicarious horror at suffering.
But then, I was the small child at Sunday school who thought that all the focus on the crucifixion - revelling in the goriness - was unpleasant, and didn't accept the 'he died for you' justification.

[smittims]

I share S-A's view of the news media. there is far too much speculation and too little straight fact. I stopped watching BBC news when I saw Andrew Marr standing outside no. 10 Downing Street at 9 pm in the pouring rain, broadcasting 'live' because there may have been a meeting there earlier in the day at which something may have been discussed. They could have told us that from the studio.

More and more the 'news' is entertainment. Reporting a storm some years ago thet told us 'Crewe Station has been closed after the roof has blown off'. The roof is still on Crewe station as it was in 1863, but 'roof blown off' is more 'sexy' than 'roof hasn't blown off'.

And I share Petrushka's unease about Remembrance day. I've stopped wearing a poppy as I feel it's come to be abused. I supose it was inevitable that when no-one was still alive who remembered the First World War there would be a change of emphasis, but it seems to lack direction and even sincerity.

[teamsaint]

"Patience is a virtue"... and is anyone called Patience in any case, these days?

However, my main grumble today is about all the media speculation over whether or not Rachel Reeves will be announcing tax raises in the forthcoming autumn budget. Either she will or she won't. So, what is the point of it? Is it to put the heebie-jeebies up the speculators (who have far too much power in any case) encouraging arm-twisting pre-emptive currency selling that will cause further damage?

Oh yes, and why has it become de rigueur for politicians making announcements to flank themselves with stupid looking flags folded to resemble restaurant table napkins (or serviettes, if you prefer)?

On the long two hour drive to work today I listened to that speech. Even 5 live gave up on it eventually .I think it was the most vacuous speech I have ever heard.
the contrast to Georgie Fame at the BBC which I popped on after this nonsense was stark. Something really worth listening to.

[kernelbogey]

....Oh yes, and why has it become de rigueur for politicians making announcements to flank themselves with stupid looking flags folded to resemble restaurant table napkins (or serviettes, if you prefer)?

I'm fairly certain that this fashion, aimed at the tv screens, is the invention of the current White House team (or possibly that of the last but one presidency).

[Andrew Slater]

More and more the 'news' is entertainment. Reporting a storm some years ago thet told us 'Crewe Station has been closed after the roof has blown off'. The roof is still on Crewe station as it was in 1863, but 'roof blown off' is more 'sexy' than 'roof hasn't blown off'.

I don't think the roof has actually been blown off but sections of it definitely seem to have been removed - above the tracks at the main through platforms 5 and 6 there seems to be a lot of ironwork with no covering. (Or is that how it was designed?) It all looks rather odd (and rusty)!

[LMcD]

I don't think I've ever felt that comfortable about the various ceremonies and I agree that over the years the approach seems to be less about mourning the loss and more about glorifying the cause of that loss. In part I think it may be due to the persistent interest in WW2, and also the increased access to material relating to that conflict - the 'true stories' and the vicarious horror at suffering.
But then, I was the small child at Sunday school who thought that all the focus on the crucifixion - revelling in the goriness - was unpleasant, and didn't accept the 'he died for you' justification.

The Cenotaph is dedicated to The Glorious Dead, and I would like to think that it is still they who are remembered. I'm not quite sure what the difference is between 'true stories' and true stories.

[smittims]

I'm not sure what you're refrerring to, Andrew, but the roof has never 'blown off' Crewe Station. I've been there regularly for forty years and none of it looks at all 'odd ' to me. The canopy of Platform 12 was renewed some years before the storm incident I referred to, but that was purely routine. Platforms 5 & 6 still have their own canopies , unless something has happened in the last few days since I was last there.

The station began in 1837 and has been enlarged and rebult piecemeal over the years,so the roof has never had a 'one-piece' or uniform appearance as has, say, S, Pancras.

[Andrew Slater]

I'm not sure what you're refrerring to, Andrew, but the roof has never 'blown off' Crewe Station. I've been there regularly for forty years and none of it looks at all 'odd ' to me. The canopy of Platform 12 was renewed some years before the storm incident I referred to, but that was purely routine. Platforms 5 & 6 still have their own canopies , unless something has happened in the last few days since I was last there.

The station began in 1837 and has been enlarged and rebult piecemeal over the years,so the roof has never had a 'one-piece' or uniform appearance as has, say, S, Pancras.

There are some uprights in the trackbed between platforms 5 and 6 that support sort of flying buttresses to the main platform canopies. They look as if they might have been extensions to the platform canopies to cover the trains and that at some point the covers were removed. I've been aware of these for at least the last ten years.

The photo here shows them:

https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/04/83/11/4831104_24edb2cf.jpg

[oddoneout]

Oh the joys of modern life, with its assumption that not only does 'everyone' possess a smartphone but also that they spend all day checking messages on it.I got home from my garden volunteering to find a card from dpd to say they had tried to deliver my parcel. They had sent an email about 10 minutes after I had shut down the PC and left the house so I didn't know it was due to be delivered today. Even if I had a smartphone I wouldn't have been any the wiser as I wouldn't be looking at messages when gardening and by lunchtime it would have been too late to get home for the delivery. It has been left at the post Office they say and in order to collect it I need the QR code they have emailed. Well that's not much help as I have no way of showing it at the counter. As it's a box of books it means taking the car(and I have no other reason to use it as shopping etc has been done) and hoping I can pick it up using the 'failed delivery' card with its number - and proof of ID if necessary.

[LMcD]

Oh the joys of modern life, with its assumption that not only does 'everyone'

I'm coping perfectly well without a smart phone, and if all else fails I produce my passport as proof of identity.

[oddoneout]

I'm coping perfectly well without a smart phone, and if all else fails I produce my passport as proof of identity.

Well I manage fine as well until, as today, I come up against the need for using a QR code and no alternatives offered. I checked the website and there is no information as to what to do in that situation, which I don't think much of. That last time I ordered some books they were sent by a different carrier and I had plenty of warning of the delivery so was able to make arrangements as I wasn't going to be in.
I always have my photocard driving licence with me so ID is always to hand.

[Serial_Apologist]

Well I manage fine as well until, as today, I come up against the need for using a QR code and no alternatives offered. I checked the website and there is no information as to what to do in that situation, which I don't think much of. That last time I ordered some books they were sent by a different carrier and I had plenty of warning of the delivery so was able to make arrangements as I wasn't going to be in.
I always have my photocard driving licence with me so ID is always to hand.

Don't get mugged!

[Serial_Apologist]

I'm fairly certain that this fashion, aimed at the tv screens, is the invention of the current White House team (or possibly that of the last but one presidency).

After years of accounting for racism as a product of bad educational grooming on the "benefits" accrued through the British Empire I find it deeply ironic that we* now are expected to bow down to the great American cultural eminence now extending further even than language.

*Well, not all of us do, obviously.

[Petrushka]

Oh the joys of modern life, with its assumption that not only does 'everyone' possess a smartphone but also that they spend all day checking messages on it.I got home from my garden volunteering to find a card from dpd to say they had tried to deliver my parcel. They had sent an email about 10 minutes after I had shut down the PC and left the house so I didn't know it was due to be delivered today. Even if I had a smartphone I wouldn't have been any the wiser as I wouldn't be looking at messages when gardening and by lunchtime it would have been too late to get home for the delivery. It has been left at the post Office they say and in order to collect it I need the QR code they have emailed. Well that's not much help as I have no way of showing it at the counter. As it's a box of books it means taking the car(and I have no other reason to use it as shopping etc has been done) and hoping I can pick it up using the 'failed delivery' card with its number - and proof of ID if necessary.

You could, if you have a printer, print off the email showing the QR code and present that as additional proof. Failing that you can take a photo and take that along. Either should be perfectly acceptable.

I get regular deliveries from DPD and they usually send two earlier emails to say 'we are awaiting your parcel from xxxxx and will email again when we have it'. They will send another when they actually have the parcel and another with the expected time of delivery, usually a two hour window.

On the wider question of smartphones, I'm afraid that most people do indeed have them (and I'm doing this on mine) and the danger is that refusniks get left behind. Unfortunately, that is a risk you take and only you can decide that you are willing to take it.

Regarding your DPD delivery as an example, you can have your emails come through on your phone and set a tone to sound to alert you to the email arrival so you wouldn't miss it. You don't need to be glued to the phone in order to see it but pick it up when you are able. If you have one of these doorbell camera things it will sound on your phone and if not in you can even talk to the driver when they press your doorbell. (True story: I was at home one evening when the bell rang. I wasn't in a position to open the door and my phone wasn't within reach. My brother, who also has access, was on holiday in Jersey and he spoke to the caller from there!).

The technology is increasing at a frightening rate and unfortunately it is only going to get more difficult for those who refuse to engage with it. I'm 71 and learnt much from computer use at work and I'm very glad I did!

[oddoneout]

You could, if you have a printer, print off the email showing the QR code and present that as additional proof. Failing that you can take a photo and take that along. Either should be perfectly acceptable.

I get regular deliveries from DPD and they usually send two earlier emails to say 'we are awaiting your parcel from xxxxx and will email again when we have it'. They will send another when they actually have the parcel and another with the expected time of delivery, usually a two hour window.

On the wider question of smartphones, I'm afraid that most people do indeed have them (and I'm doing this on mine) and the danger is that refusniks get left behind. Unfortunately, that is a risk you take and only you can decide that you are willing to take it.

Regarding your DPD delivery as an example, you can have your emails come through on your phone and set a tone to sound to alert you to the email arrival so you wouldn't miss it. You don't need to be glued to the phone in order to see it but pick it up when you are able. If you have one of these doorbell camera things it will sound on your phone and if not in you can even talk to the driver when they press your doorbell. (True story: I was at home one evening when the bell rang. I wasn't in a position to open the door and my phone wasn't within reach. My brother, who also has access, was on holiday in Jersey and he spoke to the caller from there!).

The technology is increasing at a frightening rate and unfortunately it is only going to get more difficult for those who refuse to engage with it. I'm 71 and learnt much from computer use at work and I'm very glad I did!

I didn't get any interim emails, just the despatching company saying the parcel was going to dpd, and then the delivery one from dpd.
In terms of not having a smartphone it isn't so much a case of refusenik - ie making a statement about being against - as not seeing an overriding need as yet. I don't need QR codes for my life at present - eg I don't eat out or need to use pay carparks, and for the rest family communication via emails, or telephone if necessary, works well enough. The only thing that it would be useful for is the camera function as my small digital camera is on the way out - so taking a photo of the QR code isn't an option as there are lines across the viewing screen. I don't have a printer, or rather that function stopped working a long time ago(and so took the photocopy facility with it which was rather more tiresome once the copy shop in town shut up shop - retirement not lack of demand) so the '3-in-one' machine sitting beside my desk is just a scanner, which does still get used.
There are I believe a couple of phones now which are more like my existing dumbphone but with some limited extra function such as 4G and a camera, so small(smartphones are just too big for either convenience or comfortable use for me) and cheap to buy and run(PAYG not bundles), which might be an option to look into.