Thatcher. The Iron Lady Page 6

Quote: Griff @ June 19 2008, 11:59 PM BST

On a lighter note. My favourite thing I've seen on a job application form, which was shown to me by a friend. The form contained the question "How would you get to work", requiring a one-word answer along the lines of Car, Bus or Train. The applicant wrote something like "I would get the number 19 bus along the Hagley Rd, walk across to the other bus stop, then get the number 38 and get off at the roundabout."

They then sent a letter in a couple of days later to clarify the situation further, saying "When I filled in the application form I did not realise that the number 19 goes all the way to Edgbaston and I could get off at the shops and walk the rest of the way thus saving a further five minutes".

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Aw, bless!

Quote: sootyj @ June 20 2008, 12:03 AM BST

I have a very powerful personnality, and easily bend others to my will.

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Quote: Griff @ June 20 2008, 12:09 AM BST

let alone being able to manage their personal finances etc.

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Personal finance and money f**king confuses me. All I know, and what I stick by, is:

Get your pay into the highest interest bank account you can get.
Spend less than you earn.
Save as much as possible.

That's about it.

Quote: sootyj @ June 20 2008, 12:18 AM BST

With new legislation on compulsory therapy in the Mental Health Act an option. Conceivably he could be dragged from his home, and forced to do Yoga against his will. Unlikely, but...

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And that's why an overbearing, protectionist Government (as is so common with the 'left') is such an evil.

Quote: sootyj @ June 20 2008, 12:29 AM BST

You like yoga? You truly are an enigmatic chap.

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Yoga classes aren't cheap my friend! Plus.....tons of hot ladies bending this way and that.

Yoga tends to be the past-time for OAPs, around here. If you're into that kind of thing, I suppose...

OAPs?

Old age pensioners. You know, 65+ years old.

Really? Not here it's the opposite.

They had a GCSE maths question in Wednesday's Guardian.

Supposed to take 3 minutes, I did it in about 40 seconds.

David Webb did it on 6 seconds. He claims he maintains his calculus in case of emergencies.

What's so wrong with vocational training from an earlier age, with more money in adult education. Plumbers, and trained builders earn more than teachers, and most IT types.

I say promote the 3 rs, and IT all the rest is commentary.

Quote: sootyj @ June 20 2008, 8:35 AM BST

I say promote the 3 rs, and IT all the rest is commentary.

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IT? Seriously? I don't know what the course was like when you took it but I assure you it's a parody of a lesson nowadays. The majority of the course is spent on coursework which requires barely any technical knowledge. It's basically a hard slog to see who can churn out the most pages of printouts and 'designs.' Complete waste of time really.

Quote: Griff @ June 19 2008, 11:49 PM BST

I also have extreme reservations about coursework as a way of granting qualifications, given that it is probably all written by a combination of Prince Harry's art teacher and the Internet, and that the most telling sign of plagiarism (according to a friend of mine who works on an exam board) is a correctly punctuated sentence.

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Lies. We're not all cheats, we're not all stupid and moving back to tests wouldn't necessarily solve this problem. Thanks for generalising my generation as a bunch of slackers though.

There's nothing wrong with generalisations. Especially when they're largely correct.

It's OK Griff - our generation IS stupid, and most kids do plaigiarise.

Interesting thread this as you learn how old everybody is

Whether you hate her or not obviously depends on what happened to you during her reign.

Personally (I think I must be the same age as sootyj) she took away my milk (I actually remember that, one day it was there the next it wasn't), was responsible for numerous teachers strikes (I was hardly in school during 84-86)and of course the G.C.S.E which is the only exam I could have passed after all those days lost through strike action.

Strangely my parents love her, I think they made their money during her reign and was obviously their priority over my calcium deprived bones and lacking education

Thatcher was a big soft moo who thought it was okay to use unemployment as a weapon.

So is Aaron - that's why he likes her.

Fair play to her, though, she invented Mr Whippy ice-cream.

Quote: Griff @ June 20 2008, 12:57 PM BST

No Aaron your generation is not stupid, or at least, no stupider than any other teenagers in the history of the world. Evolutionary biology doesn't work like that. You have exactly the same intellectual abilities as generations before and generations to come.

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Shows how much you know!

I fear for the future.

Quote: Sofa_Matt @ June 20 2008, 12:58 PM BST

Personally (I think I must be the same age as sootyj) she took away my milk (I actually remember that, one day it was there the next it wasn't)

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That's just plain wrong, and more than a little misguided. She was the education minister at the time, and had to deal with treasury cuts to education funding (probably because of striking unions stopping the country from working and generating tax income, but nevertheless). Would you have preferred to keep your precious milk and lose books instead?

Quote: Sofa_Matt @ June 20 2008, 12:58 PM BST

Strangely my parents love her, I think they made their money during her reign and was obviously their priority over my calcium deprived bones and lacking education

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Pity they couldn't provide you with milk then, eh?

Personally, I'm thankful for the removal of milk.

My mum says it was all warm and horrible anyway.

Quote: Aaron @ June 20 2008, 1:05 PM BST

Shows how much you know!

I fear for the future.

That's just plain wrong, and more than a little misguided. She was the education minister at the time, and had to deal with treasury cuts to education funding (probably because of striking unions stopping the country from working and generating tax income, but nevertheless). Would you have preferred to keep your precious milk and lose books instead?

Pity they couldn't provide you with milk then, eh?

Personally, I'm thankful for the removal of milk.

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Yes Aaron at age 5, I did prefer the thought of a nice chilled carton of milk to reading books. You dont expect a 5 year old to be thinking about the good of a nation do you?