The Official "Ramblings of a daft old bugger" Thread

[donny lad]

chears mate
much apprieciated

 

[Matt]

I wasn't gonna inflict my life story on you but since you ask.

I'm 27 so I far into the third category.

Like Donnylad I was pretty much bullied through school for being fat however I was pretty intelligent and got a few awards (in some cases for getting the highest mark in exams in scotland!). Anyway, I lost interest in school about 15/16 and was kicked out due to my poor grades, about a month later I fell out with my dad because he wanted £20 for booze which I didn't have since he took all my money previously and so he kicked me out the house. I ended up in a homeless shelter for a few months with my mum and she eventually got a flat - sorted

He died a when I was 19 - unfortunately we weren't on speaking terms and later got ripped off by his brother and former employer - I haven't seen any of his family since the funeral.

From 16 to 24 I worked in a nursing home kitchen, I ended up losing about 7 stone in weight (in a year...and as some of you have seen it's back on lol) and became a total chick magnet ...eventually I decided to call time on the kitchen job and fooked off to France for a few month, it was amazing apart from the bosses gf being a bitch and absolutely detesting the gobby jock lol.

At the same time I went back to college, got my arse in gear and passed an HND in Civil Engineering, onto uni and got a BSc Honours in Construction Management. For 6 months I tried to get a job but to no avail so I went back to uni and completed a MSc in I.T. (complete change) and straight away walked into the job I'm in now.

Now I have contacts everywhere a friend recommended me to a construction company doing CAD and eventually engineering, I start in 2 weeks so it looks like it's all working out.

Just sorting my finances and hopefully have a flat and no debts (other than mortgage) by the time I'm 30 and my own business by 40...no plans for wife and kids as yet though

As Rob stated earlier:
"I didn't plan any of the above but it's how you deal with it all that matters. Plans can seem like good things, but quite often, life is so random and surprising that the best laid plans can soon be thrown into turmoil and be a complete waste of time.

Targets are more restrictive than people realise and we should really take each day at a time and carry some hopes and aspirations, but ultimately be prepared to deal with the unexpected."

This is my way of thinking exactly, I'm pretty much laid back about everything - sh*t happens

 

[patrick]

With all those degrees and stuff, you would think you could spell "fooked" correctly

Just goes to show that maturity doesnt always come with age, but with the life you have lived. Seems we have some tough battlers on this forum and maybe thats why even guys who have left the fold keep popping back, its cause we got a wealth of experience around here.........not as much as me of course

 

[M@rt1n]

If you are aged 30 or below, the question is "do you have any life plans"

Well being 21, I'll kick it off for the young un's...

Currently I am employed in a local secondary school as an Assistant IT Manager. I am engaged to the most beautiful and wonderful girl in the world (yeh shes reading this!!) and I drive, in my opinion, a great little car!

Future plans, to progress in my career, hopefully become MCSE or MCP accredited and move out of the education sector, but continue working in IT. God knows why!!
I plan to get a place of our own in 2 to 3 years, being very ambitious and going to go for a semi-det if possible) and will hopefully marry and start having kiddies in 4 to 5 years.
As for the car, I'm hopefully gonna have something a bit sporty, preferably a convertible, but I'll always have a Bravo tucked away somewhere I think!

Anyway, enough about me, come on guys n get your plans down, it would be interesting to see how people of a similar age compare!!

Cheers,

Martin

My Member Page

 

[Matt]

"With all those degrees and stuff, you would think you could spell "fooked" correctly"

English was never my strong point you cheeky old git lmao

 

[Roberto]

Hardly surprisin' for a Jock

Rob
Mk.2 Marea Weekend 1.8 16v 115 ELX

 

[Matt]

Watch oot or I'll send down my killer haggis to take care of business, och aye the noo!!!

 

[patrick]

Don't bogart that joint, my friend
Pass it over to me.
Don't bogart that joint, my friend
Pass it over to me.

Roll another one
Just like the other one.
This one's burnt to the end
Come on and be a friend.


Yes, its time to come clean and admit that I am a member of that social class that will soon be looked on as lower than a child molester, lower than a saxo owner even, I admit it, I am a smoker.

I would class myself as a social smoker (if there is such a thing) my wife doesnt smoke, so I dont smoke in the house or the car (neither would I would in someone elses house or car, unless they were smokers) nor would I smoke in a cafe or anywhere else food is served. However I do think they are using sledgehammer to crack a nut with all these new laws coming out in

Just look at them......" Smoking in smokefree premises or work vehicles: a fixed penalty notice of £50 (reduced to £30 if paid in 15 days) imposed on the person smoking." So that means if I light up in a pub that what I could get fined ok?

But

"Failing to prevent smoking in a smokefree place: a maximum fine of £2500 imposed on whoever manages or controls the smokefree premises or vehicle if prosecuted and convicted by a court. There is no fixed penalty notice for this offence."

So that means if I went into a pub, bought a pint and then went into the games room and lit up a crafty fag, the landlord could end up with a bigger fine than me. Just where are all the smokers going to go (before they all die out,lol)? Most pubs in my village dont have beer gardens, thats a soft southern jessy thing, the most you could hope for is a roped off section of the pub car park, either that or they will be standing outside the main door smoking, not forgeting of course that in most places you cant drink in public, so where are all the drinks going to be?

Research has already shown that loads of bingo halls in scotland have had to close and they expect the same in england. There is a cruise ship company and amongts their fleet they have one totally smoke free boat, and guess what? Yep, that boat gets fewer booking than any other one.

 

[patrick]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3Ogu3773PFE

 

[Matt]

This is a huge can of worms you've opened Patrick, I've just witnessed a huge argument on alfaowner about this subject.

You know I live in Scotland and as such we are pioneers (ie guinea pigs) for such trials and all these so called downsides pro-smokers have for not instituting these laws have yet to materialise after 14 months+.

It is daft that the smoker gets a slap on the wrist whilst the premises get huge fines, however I cannot think of one instance of this happening up here.

Get with the times, smoking ain't cool - you don't live in France you know

 

[patrick]

Hey, if smoking was good enough for fred (same age as me) its good enough for me,lol

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NAExoSozc2c

Seriously, I was up in glasgow last year for a weekend break with the wife. Yes, we went for a few beers, yes, it was nice to drink in a non smoky atmosphere, but no it wasnt nice seeing huge piles of dog ends outside pub doors or seeing people trying to huddle up out of the rain (which happens quite a bit, north of the border). I just cant understand the logic of the goverment cracking down on normal smokers whilst at the same time, if I walked past a copper smoking a joint, he would probably trun a blind eye to it.

 

[Matt]

You'll get fag ends outside smoking ban or not, at least now there are actually ashtrays for them. Although 1 downside is having to squeeze past the smelly addicts to get in and out - some people seem to forget what doors are actually there for.

You just reminded me of something I saw the other day while on the bus - at some traffic lights beside a pub this old guy was loitering about, when the smokers go back inside he's right into the ashtray raking about for usable fags. I bet he's having much more luck these days with regards to having a puff.

 

[patrick]

On the bus???? What happened to your car???

I was on holiday in new york last year, and things are so much more civiliesed over there. In most bars you actually pay as you are about to leave, they seem to trust you not to do a running after half a dozen drinks, and also, if you go outside for a smoke (its also non smoking) you can just leave your drink on the bar/table, leave a five dollar bill on the top to signify you are coming back in and guess what.......when you do come back in, the drink and the money are still there,lol.


What I have noticed on my travels, is that if I am rolling a fag on ther strret, I get far more people trying to scrounge one of me in manchester than anywhere else

 

[patrick]

Whilst on the subject of healthy living ect, I have noticed my allowys wheels get very dirty lately, esp the front ones. Now I have been told its because modern disc pads dont have asbestos in them any more and so are softer compund and make more dirt. Wel, I have nothing against mechanics as such, but if its a toss up between some spotty youth at kwik fit suffering some horendous death from doing my brake pads, and me keeping my allows cleaner for longer, I know which I would choose

 

[patrick]

Rules requiring churches to display no smoking signs when a ban comes into force in England in July have been criticised by a senior London cleric.

The Dean of Southwark the Very Rev Colin Slee said the sign regulations were "daft" and that historic religious buildings should be exempt.

A ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces begins on 1 July.

The Department of Health previously said providing an exemption "would have created a dangerous precedent."

Heritage entrances

Mr Slee claimed one church had been threatened with closure by the council if it failed to comply.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme he said: "All Deans have received a very formal letter and been instructed that it's mandatory to put up these signs, even on wonderful Grade I listed heritage entrances."

The Archdeacon of Down in Ireland, the Ven Phillip Patters, has previously raised similar concerns describing the rules as "overkill" and "unnecessary".

In response to this the Department of Health spokesman said: "I accept, without reservation, that there is a long tradition not to smoke in churches but, as I am sure people will appreciate, to have provided an exemption would have created a dangerous precedent."

Mr Slee also insisted that smoking was not a common problem in church.

 

[patrick]

As Britain prepares for the introduction of no-smoking laws, interesting news arrives from New Zealand, where a woman has been convicted of biting another woman for smoking – in a designated smoking area.

Annie McCullum pleaded guilty on Monday to one charge of assault, after she clamped her teeth on the woman's thumb after a booze-fueled dispute on St. Patrick's Day.

The bitey incident began when a group of smokers sat down at the same table as McCullum, in the beer garden of Paddy Lynch's Public House in Feilding, on New Zealand's North Island.

McCullum, who had been drinking all day, objected to the fact that they were smoking, despite the fact that the beer garden was the designated smoking area. The court heard that she became aggressive, and started flicking the group's cigarettes.

Things really kicked off when one woman suggested McCullum should go inside if she didn't like the smoke. It was at this that McCullum bit her on the thumb.

The woman was taken to hospital with a badly bleeding thumb, and McCullum was arrested by the police, who found her to be abusive and incoherent.

She later said she couldn't remember anything about the biting.

McCullum was fined $400.

 

[patrick]

I see smokers in uk prisons will be given smoking cells, complete with extractors fans for cells that dont have windows, non smoking prisoners will be given non smoking cells and prison officers will not be required to enter smoking cells unless in an emrgency. This raises the question of what happens if a guy is sent to jail, is a smoker and there are no smoking cells available. Will he be able to sue for loss of smoking rights? Will the cell be changed to a smoking cell and if so, what happens when he leaves and a non smoker arrives, you cant expect him to move into it

 

[Martin]

Quite enjoying these ramblings through society as a whole, and being of a similar vintage to Mr Paterson I thought I'd make an observation...

Whilst I am and never have been a smoker, this subject of smoking signs.... If I was the proud owner of a listed building, and had to comply with legislation by erecting said signs, yet had to apply for listed building permission to erect them, which was subsequently refused by English Heritage or whoever because it was not in keeping with the buildings character...where do I stand then if I intend to throw open my doors to the Great British public for our mutual enjoyment and appreciation...

 

[Matt]

"On the bus???? What happened to your car???" - I commute on the bus because it's much cheaper than taking the car

With regards to smoking in jails, drug abuse is illegal also but it still carries on. I can't see prisoners giving a toss really.

 

[patrick]

.........being of a similar vintage to Mr Paterson.......I like that