What's made you smile today?

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What's made you smile today?

It hasn't been a fair split for a very long time though, a fairer distribution of wealth is long over due. They Tories have looked after me financially ok so far during this, if a was a member of the sod you jack i'm alright community i'd probably be very happy atm i am even allowed to still trade as classed as healthcare as long as i do it under strict control. but i am not one of them and i hate seeing others suffer.

It's never actually been balanced, that's not how it works never has been. Nevermind 1% versus 99%, the reason we have a good quality of life here is because we take resources from other parts of the world.

It's physically impossible for everyone in the world to enjoy the quality of life we currently have so equality would mean taking a significant drop in living standards to live within what is possible on a small globe.

We live a lot closer to the 1% standard of living than say a bloke in a random village in the middle of country where mains plumbing and electricity are a dream.

Not that I disagree with the fact that the 1% appear to have really benefitted from all financial issues since 2008 while the masses have suffered but a little perspective is also good.

Today what made me smile..First fill up in ages, looking at my records 30/03, because really begrudge using pin readers decided I'd download the garage app to pay so only thing need to touch with a gloved hand was the fuel nozzle. Made me a little nervous..just the garage doesn't have the more modern pumps where you put your card in so it looked like I did a drive off! But by the time I sat back in the car I had an email for fuel so it was apparently good. That should be made good for another month or so given it's doing about 47 to the gallon the now the temperatures have gone up.
 
If the NHS way of working was really so good, the rest of the world would have followed years ago. Nobody wants to touch UK's health system operating model.


The NHS has not been asset stripped. Every year, more money is poured in with no visible results

It's huge problem is the planned central control which can never work in a system the size of a small country. The Covid crisis has shown how the medical staff do amazing things in spite of incompetence by the managerial system.

We do not really know if the NHS actually has a PPE problem. Left wing press of course say we do. Others say we dont. Truth is likely somewhere between.
 
We do not really know if the NHS actually has a PPE problem. Left wing press of course say we do. Others say we don't. Truth is likely somewhere between.

No no no, There really is a PPE problem, hence why the GMC and NMC are telling there members that they are well within their rights to refuse to provide care without the right PPE. Oh and as Dave Pointed out, listen to the people on the front line who don't have the PPE to use. This is why virtually every 3d printer in the country is being put to use printing things that the NHS can use to try and keep staff safe.

Then there is the government themselves admitting they have problems with getting the PPE from abroad.. ?
 
A lot of people here don't have a good quality of life though despite having 2 working adults in a household

I get your point entirely Dave but there's a reasonable chance they have access to education, clean water, shelter, and healthcare.

This puts them a long way head of a huge number of the world population.
 
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I get your point entirely Dave but there's a reasonable chance they have access to education, clean water, shelter, and healthcare.

This puts them a long way head of a huge number of the world population.

some ares of the uk have a 2 year waiting list to see a dentist, people have ccj's against them for not being able to pay water bill, education can be a challenge for poorer families with no laptops pc or internet. and people with no homes are being told they cant even sit on a bench now.
 
some ares of the uk have a 2 year waiting list to see a dentist, people have ccj's against them for not being able to pay water bill, education can be a challenge for poorer families with no laptops pc or internet. and people with no homes are being told they cant even sit on a bench now.

Governments of all colours since Thatcher have held down day to day inflation and interest rates. That's pushed the inflation into capital items - stock market and property. End result is unaffordable homes, risky car loans and stocks teetering at ridiculous highs. Low interest rates have propped up wobbling zombie companies that should have been allowed to die.

"families with no laptops pc or internet." These are first world problems.

The NHS rations by queueing. The central controller do not consider dentistry is important so its ignored.
People who cannot pay water bills will have a fancy trainers, mobile phones and TV. Its personal priorities.
In the current lockdown, 30% of children in poor families are getting no education whatsoever. What does that say about their parent's personal priorities?

People sleeping on park benches etc is a constant issue. Maybe the virus will force some changes in what is considered acceptable. Though I suspect it will go back under the rug as soon as the lockdown is lifted.
 
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Decided to edit and remove this post. Because promised myself I’d try to avoid these conversations to avoid p*ssing people off who don’t see it the same way - not that intend to.

But I’d much rather have a good car related friendship with all you folks regardless of what we all think elsewhere :)
 
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Decided to edit and remove this post. Because promised myself I’d try to avoid these conversations to avoid p*ssing people off who don’t see it the same way - not that intend to.

But I’d much rather have a good car related friendship with all you folks regardless of what we all think elsewhere :)

Even I’m avoiding this one (y)
 
A wee while ago I noticed our clothes washing machine making a wee rattly noise when pumping out. I've never been one for just buying a new machine when it goes wrong and have carried out repairs on all the washing machines we have owned over the years. I've run into this noise on other machines and learned to fear it as, in the past, it has heralded the demise of the small pump which empties the machine, often accompanied by a water leak at the spindle as the bearing wear allows the spindle to "wobble" and the seal to leak. Usually it's a small insidious leak which you don't notice, as it's under the machine, until it's wrecked your laminate flooring and started to dissolve the chipboard flooring underneath. So, ignore it at your peril.

Thinking a new pump was going to be required and never having worked on this machine before (the machine's a Bosch bought in 2012, so it's doing quite well.) I called up a you tube video showing how to change the pump on this machine. Looks like a nice easy one to do compared to our previous machine. In the same video the chap showed how to strip and clean the pump motor and that's what brought this great big, ear to ear, smile to my face. The pump is completely different to the older pumps I've previously run into. For a start it's an induction motor without brushes and the whole motor/armature is sealed and runs submerged in the water - a little like a miniature central heating pump - so no shaft seal to leak and therefore no possibility of water leaking out under the machine no matter how worn the motor gets! Yippee!

But hold on, with the pump being so different is it logical that it should make the same noises as the older type? Maybe I should remove the pump filter because I noticed, last time I cleaned it, the impeller is visible behind the filter once you've removed it. I could try giving the impeller a bit of a tug and perhaps get some indication as to whether there is any spindle/bearing wear? So, spreading one of my "garage towels" on the floor I removed the filter and, hello, what's this? A wee miniature plastic fairy! Her left wing is slightly damaged where she's been rattling off the impeller. I really can't imagine how she has managed to get through right into the pump but I think I know who is probably responsible? Anyway, the pump spindle has no play in it and it now runs nice and quietly. I also know a certain young lady who will be delighted to see her fairy again - wonder how long it's been finding it's way through the machine's guts? Of course Mrs J has absolutely no "mechanical sympathy" so it might have been rattling away for months without her mentioning a word to me about it.
 
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