WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[PanBiker]

Then I am glad the job went well with no incidents.
But without insurance, it would not be my roof they will slip from and end up debilitated or dead.

Insurance won't stop anyone falling off a roof Maz. A correctly deployed ladder and cat ladder used by by someone who knows what they are doing though will.

[Marilyn]

Well...here...our workers protect themselves with safety equipment ( harness etc) and insurance.
A home owner ( here) is liable for any accidents that happen on their property, including workers they have engaged. So checking any contractors have their own insurance is wise. It means they care about themselves and their clients enough to remove that burden from the home-owner.
It doesn't prevent accidents, but they do have a better class of misery afterward when they can pay for the care they need to continue living as comfortably as possible. Then again, we do not have the NHS here...

[Marilyn]

The roofers should also have public liability insurance. If their hammer fell off Stanley's roof and killed a child, who do you think the burden would pass to? Even worse if a lump of tile fell off with the same consequence. The tile belongs to Stanley. It fell off his roof. It killed the child. Whilst Stanley did not directly harm the child...indirectly he did, by employing the workers and giving them permission to be on his roof.

[PanBiker]

I cant speak for Mel and John on the status of their insurance because I don't know. They were not working for me, although I may have a job for then in the future. It's laudable that all your workmen are so efficient and carry insurance as you describe.

I can comment though on what I had when I ran my own business. Personal accident in case I plugged myself into the mains or did myself some other mischief of my own making and third party liability to the tune of £2,000,000 in case my work did something nasty to my customer, their property or environs. We do have legislation and regulation in this country also regarding safe working practices and other such niceties. I would imagine that Mel and John are also aware of that. Looking at the photo that Stanley put up I can certainly say that I have seen a lot worse.

[Stanley]

Maz is making the assumption they have no insurance. Nobody has ever said this is the case. What is the case is that they are competent and sensible men working with each other every day and are expert at their job. So best to stop making allegations that have no credence.
How cold and nasty the wind is this morning! It looks as though they were on the roof in the last good weather.

[Marilyn]

I never said they didn't have insurance...I merely asked if you had asked if they had insurance.
I am not making allegations of any kind. I am not suggesting they are anything but careful and professional people.

[Stanley]

Good! I was just getting a bit concerned Maz in case my joke about scraping them up and sending them back up had given the wrong impression. No doubt that was my fault. Don't take it to heart. I'm not falling out with you....
Listening to the further news about pension ages I am once more reminded that people like me who retired before 2000 are far better off than those who have had to do it since. As my father often said, there is a providence that looks after drunken men and idiots!

[Marilyn]

I taketh it not to heart. Nor shall I beat you about the head or body with my frypan...

( though I do not fail to see your wit in the last sentence about drunks and idiots needing only providence to look after them. Even they need insurance, dear heart!)

[PostmanPete]

Just got back from a few days in Liverpool (while the weather was nice...!) and I notice that Stanley has gone for the Olympus binoculars. A great choice and i'm sure he will have lots of great times using them once the weather improves and the visibilty is better than it is today. (Glad I don't have to deliver post in this...!)

[Stanley]

Good Lass Maz....
Ian, the bins are fine. Just used them to have a shufti at my neighbour's satellite dish which is mounted on a long pole from the wall so as to see over the roof. I'm afraid it's poorly! There will be a lot of roof damage today, this wind is serious, bins being blown about and I saw two children blown over this morning. Definitely a fireside day!

[Marilyn]

I do so love Postman Pete's " Laurel and Hardy" avatar.
It 's a right Bobby Dazzler...makes me smile.

[PostmanPete]

I do so love Postman Pete's " Laurel and Hardy" avatar.
It 's a right Bobby Dazzler...makes me smile.

Thanks Marilyn - it's just a pity that even with walking 10 miles a day I resemble Hardy rather than Laurel........!

[Tripps]

Local tradesmen at their best. The slaters are on the roof!

The Chancellor, George Osborne must have looked in here yesterday. He has just said in his Autumn Statement that "it is good to fix the roof while the sun is shining."

[Stanley]

We did just that.... Trouble is Ossie is repairing the wrong roof!

[Tardis]

Personal experience of the fragility of the train network yesterday at the hands of mother nature and the fact that Preston station is very draughty. I was lucky to get to my destination and back yesterday, albeit with a lot of delay, when so many had to abandon their plans.

Nice pictures of the sea at New Brighton too during the storm

[Tardis]

Wind speeds from the Forth Road Bridge Yesterday, released with the comment "a normal windy day now"

[Tardis]

Today of course, Barnoldswick has a visit from the Archbishop of York.

[Tizer]

We had a trip to London on Wednesday and Thursday to do more sorting of Mrs Tiz's parents' house and to visit them in the nursing home. We saw the warnings of bad weather but it was all in the north and on the east coast so we went ahead with the trip; but on the way back yesterday we were being buffeted about by very strong winds on the A303 so if that was supposed to be `no bad weather' I feel really sorry for all those folk flooded and blown about elsewhere.

[Moh]

I note in today's paper vitamin D supplements are a waste of time according to a survey.

[Tizer]

Don't believe all you read in the papers, Moh. What they are (or should be) reporting is a study by one group of scientists which seems to raise questions about the role of vitamin D in preventing diseases other than those affecting bones. They didn't look at bone disease because they didn't have any doubt about vitamin D being important for that as has been accepted for a very long time. But in recent years a number of studies have found links between vitamin D deficiency and other big diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes. In this new study the scientists weren't able to find a link and they recommend that other vitamin D experts take a critical look at their methods and results. This is how science progresses - they make the best conclusions they can from what can be achieved at the time but are always ready to adapt when new technologies allow more detailed investigations in the future.

[Stanley]

Moh, safest way is if you are already taking a supplement and you haven't noted any bad effects, carry on with them. Here's what Prof. Rod Bilton says. Tiz and I trust nim implicitly. Click on the image to enlarge it. The last source to trust is a report in a newspaper!

[Tizer]

There is now a Kindle electronic book edition of Prof Bilton's `Know What to Eat' available from Amazon for about £3 as shown on this link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/KNOW-WHAT-EAT-D ... hat+to+eat

Looks like Air Traffic Control in the UK has done a wobbly this morning! Not much fun for all those who expected to fly today. The BBC web site says:
"Flights are being delayed across the UK and in the Irish Republic because of an air traffic control centre fault. Affected airports include Heathrow, Stansted, Cardiff, Dublin, and Glasgow. The National Air Traffic Control Service (Nats) said its Swanwick centre, in Hampshire, was having "difficulty switching from night time to daytime operation". The Association of British Travel Agents said it was told problems would persist until at least 14:00 GMT. The airline Ryanair however says the air traffic control issues will continue until at least 16:00 GMT "affecting certain flights"."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25278163

[Marilyn]

Have been reading the live BBC feed on the airline problem.
Some of those poor folk sat on the Tarmac for hours...
It is very widespread. Total chaos.

I've been stuck on the Tarmac for an hour before and those planes get unbearably stuffy...and you cannot use the loos whilst on the ground.

[PanBiker]

"A day that will live in infamy", 72 years ago today, 7th December 1941 forces of the Japanese Imperial Navy made a pre-emptive attack on the United States of Americas Naval base at Pearl Harbour on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

I have just listened to FDR's address to Congress on the 8th November and Winston Churchill's speech to the nation via the BBC given on the same day.

A good listen if you are interested in this era of history.

1941-12-08 FDR's Speech To Joint Session Of Congress.mp3

1941-12-08 BBC Winston Churchill - War With Japan.mp3

[Tardis]

My consultant thinks that it is important for me to be prescribed a Vit D supplement (500mg) although I think it is mostly for the Calcium