WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tizer]

At the end of the 1980s I could see the future and jumped ship well before redundancies began. I missed out on redundancy pay but also missed out on the stressful years working for an employer when you don't know from one day to the next whether it would happen soon. Also you don't have so much competition when you're moving to your next job!

[Tizer]

Breaking news...Donald Trump has cancelled his plan to build the wall. No, not that wall, this one was to protect his gold course on the west coast of Ireland from the encroaching sea. Who stopped him building it? A protected species of small, rare snail! So now the Mexicans know what to do, go out and scatter rare snails along the US-Mexico border.

[David Whipp]

Sentence in BBC report of withdrawn Trump plans for wall to protect golf course:

"At 4m in height and 20m wide, the 200,000-tonne structure would have required some 200,000 tonnes of rock for construction."

[Big Kev]

Keep your eyes open for one of these £5 note worth £20k

[Stanley]

Kev. Does 'redeployment' mean moving? This is prohibited!!
I note that as usual in the run up to Xmas there are reports of a disease that could decimate the Turkey flock. Isn't it funny that this pops up without fail every year......

[Wendyf]

We heard on the radio yesterday morning that we had to keep the hens inside for the next month.

[Big Kev]

Kev. Does 'redeployment' mean moving? This is prohibited!!...

The potential new role is closer to home which suits me, official guidelines state the following;

They must consider offering you any alternative work that is available and suitable and they must tell you of any vacancies at your company. If a suitable job is available you will not be entitled to a redundancy payment

[Moh]

The true spirit of Christmas.

I got my first Christmas card yesterday. One of my regulars, and always first, and very welcome. It had a robin in front of a sprig of holly in the snow. So far so good - however the robin was sitting on top of a sheathed kukri which was plunged into the snow. The card was for the benefit of the Ghurka Welfare Trust. Ghurkas by the way, I believe are largely Hindu.

We got our first card 29th November and have about 12 up to now - the possibility of a strike has woken people up. We don't send many now because of the price of postage.

[Tizer]

In the Autumn Statement Hammond failed to mention his sneaky attack on redundancy pay but it's hidden in the details...
`Workers fired on the spot could lose a fifth of their redundancy payout to the taxman under new rules hidden in the Autumn Statement'
"A basic rate taxpayer given £10,000 after losing their job — a £5,000 standard payout and £5,000 in lieu of notice — will lose £1,600 to the taxman under the changes, according to figures by accountancy firm Deloitte. Currently, they get the full £10,000." LINK

[Big Kev]

In the Autumn Statement Hammond failed to mention his sneaky attack on redundancy pay but it's hidden in the details...
`Workers fired on the spot could lose a fifth of their redundancy payout to the taxman under new rules hidden in the Autumn Statement'
"A basic rate taxpayer given £10,000 after losing their job — a £5,000 standard payout and £5,000 in lieu of notice — will lose £1,600 to the taxman under the changes, according to figures by accountancy firm Deloitte. Currently, they get the full £10,000." LINK

I will pay tax on the lieu of notice payment if I don't take the redeployment, the redundancy pay out would be tax free...

[Stanley]

I hope it all works out OK Kev.

[Big Kev]

I hope it all works out OK Kev.

Hopefully so, I've usually been lucky and found something. I am happy to do (almost) anything if someone is willing to pay me to do it

[Stanley]

.
I note from the BET that in order to 'save money', the Council is considering closing the recycling sites in the area. This strikes me as not only stupid but dangerous. Don't they realise that there are some things you can't put in the bin at home? Are they really serious when they contend that this will 'reduce fly-tipping'? All right, this might be true at the sites but I predict that the countryside will suffer from this.

[Wendyf]

We are considered too remote to get a recycling collection and have to take our recycling to the nearest site....

[Marilyn]

We get recycling collection once a month and our bin goes out full. ( full to bursting!)
We used to have it fortnightly in the city.
We used to get green waste collection fortnightly in the city too, but again, it is once a month here.
We have a recycling depot close, so don't mind doing a run ( such as when you have a new appliance delivered and have all that extra cardboard etc).

[Moh]

Kirk Douglas 100 yrs. old today.

[PanBiker]

Sally's Aunt Margaret's funeral today at Long Preston Church. Went off OK as they do, they tolled the bell which used to be at the Alms Houses where she lived for a time before going into care. Caught up with a few of Sally's cousins on that side.

[Tizer]

We get recycling collection once a month and our bin goes out full. ( full to bursting!)

You must have very big recycling bins, Maz. Ours are emptied weekly which is OK for the two of us but most of the bins in the village are overflowing on every collection day. Mind you, some of that is because people don't squash plastic bottles and cans or fold cardboard boxes flat. They could get twice as much in if they did.

Our recycling site was closed a few years ago. The council started charging and closed it because not enough people were using it. What a surprise!

[Stanley]

It takes me two or three months to fill my recycling bin, largely because I buy very little processed food so hardly any packaging. Not everyone is like me and I fear that fly-tipping will increase.
Daughter Susan is online again. When they got home to Carine they found that the builder had cut the cable. Bloody typical!

[David Whipp]

30 odd years ago, campaigning for recycling facilities was one of my big issues and I remember the jubilation when we succeeded in getting our first bottle bank. After that, an extensive network of recycling skip sites were developed. The one in the centre of Barlick being on the main car park off Wellhouse Road before we shifted it because it was such a mess next to the War Memorial.

At the new Rainhall Road site, there's been persistent problems with stuff being dumped there. Although intended for domestic recycling, a lot of the waste is commercial. One nearby takeaway has been fined for dumping empty drums of cooking oil at the dead of night (which in turn have been used in several fires started at the site). A year ago, local councillors resolved that if the situation didn't improve, we'd ask for it to be taken away (irrespective of any need to save money).

Nowadays there are over 30,000 recycling sites in Pendle - with the kerbside collections at almost every home. By law, each business is required to have arrangements in place to handle their waste responsibly (including recycling). And in Barlick, we still have the benefit of the large household waste recycling site on West Close Road.

Given the five million pounds still needing to be slashed from Pendle Council's budget (after already cutting over £7 million since 2010), ending the 'bring' sites is a sensible saving. Though when this was considered at the meeting on Thursday, I did have a nostalgic word to say about our bottle banks.

[Wendyf]

Do you think it's worth the Harden folk trying to get our recycling collection re-instated David? We are hardly "remote" and we get notification from Pendle every year that our recycling will be collected on a certain day...we were even given a green bin and recycling boxes but the Colne collection actually stops at the old Lancashire border. Those of us who used to be in Yorkshire, on the same BB8 7ER postcode as properties that get a collection, have to deal with our own recycling. We still get black bin bags for our normal rubbish which gets collected from the roadside weekly by a pick up truck.

[Tizer]

The ditch on the far side of the lane outside our house is a district border. We have a neighbour on the other side and his house is just in the other district but is remote from any other houses in that district. There has always been an agreement that our district collects his rubbish and recycling, which is a good example of joined up thinking.

[David Whipp]

Have asked the question Wendy.

[Wendyf]

thanks David!

[Stanley]

Thanks from me as well David. I got the impression that the West Close Rd site was being closed as well but was evidently wrong. I agree entirely that people should be responsible.
While we are on the subject, the street waste bin attached to the railings at the bottom of the steps into the car park at the end of Co-operative Street was vandalised and destroyed and has not been replaced yet. There is a build up of litter at the end of Co-operative Street and at the bottom of the steps. People who can't be bothered to use the bin at the end of the Memorial Gardens. There is heavy pedestrian traffic there form 'grazers' who have been to the Pioneer store.....
Also the dog bin nearest the bust stops on the Green was uprooted again after being re-fixed. God knows what is in these people's heads, certainly not connected brain cells.....