Friday, May 19, 2006

what's on my mind...

Big Brother 7, Doctor Who battling with the Cybermen and Eurovision in one week! Can I cope? Well, yes actually, but blimey what a week! Much fun was had last night hurling incredibly cutting remarks at the Big Brother housemates as they were revealed one by one! Its amazing how we continue to fall for these formulaic shows - I mean, in reality (pardon the pun!) this year will be exactly the same as last year and the year before etc... all thats changed is the names, the wallpaper and diary room chair! But we loved last year and the year before etc, so were bound to love it again this year!!!

I'm hoping the conclusion to Doctor Who is better than part one which was sleep inducing!!!

Then its Eurovision! Such a scream! But I have to say, i do take it a bit seriously too - many countries see it as a bit of fun and their act's often reflect that, but some of them take it very seriously and as a result there are always a handful of good pop songs performed by talented people. I like to think I have a bit of respect for it therefore and trying to spot the talent amongst the panto is all part of the enjoyment!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Update - car industry woes...

Vauxhall (GM) have confirmed 900 job losses at Ellesmere Port. Comments from the management also convey ongoing concern about the long term viability of the plant - i.e. 'the need for further productivity improvements' - I hate being right about this...

Monday, May 15, 2006

whatever happened to 24hr drinking?

As Max Bygraves used to say on that factual documentary series conveying interesting facts about the British, 'Family Fortunes' - 'I want to tell you a story' ;-) I was in the Mailbox last night (for our international viewers, the Mailbox is an exciting mixed-use development consisting of shops, bars, hotels, offices etc...) with a couple of dear, dear friends looking for a relaxing sunday evening drink. Unfortunately we seemed to have gone to the wrong place. We arrived at 'Penny Black's', bought a drink and got comfy, yet within minutes the main doors had been pinned open, i'd got goose pimples and our conversation was being drowned out by the dragging of patio furniture in from the canalside. The time? 10pm.... At quarter past we downed our drinks and decided to move on. We headed to Bar Epernay as the rumor was it was open till 1am. Sadly this was not the case - 10:30pm to be precise... 'No worries' i said, 'we've still got ten mins till the bar closes and half an hour before they kick us out'. Plus they weren't dragging furniture around... Approaching the bar, the solitary barman looked at me and said 'sorry lads, we've closed the bar' (as he continued pulling a pint for another chap at the bar...also one of our party was female...) 'It's not 10:30 yet' I retorted (this is getting more exciting than a Jackie Collins!) 'Sorry, we've closed the bar...' he replied with a look that could easily have been fatal. Believe me I was close to combustion. Britain's biggest city with international aspirations and Tony Blair's controversial licensing reforms and here I am, aimlessly wandering the streets looking for somewhere that will serve me half a lager at 10:20 on a Sunday... Absolutely, bloody ridiculous!!! - And the Daily Mail was predicting a social meltdown with us all sat in bars 24/7 - yeah, right, chance would be a fine thing. Finally we gave in and headed to 'Liquid Fusion' at Zinc. Sure they were open and I got my drink, but the idea was to have a couple of relaxing beers and a chat discussing weekend happenings, rather than 'going clubbing'. But no, this is Britain, a country that clings to the past like a man to a cliff who earlier in the day was going to commit suicide but later changed his mind.... pretty much a daily occurrence for me. ;-) My days in the UK become more numbered by the minute... Cheers!

y'cant stop progress!

As 'Bill the Battler' said in that well known factual Australian documentary 'Muriel's Wedding' -you can't stop progress... ;-) And looking today at Birmingham's much loved Rotunda building, that's certainly true. Anyone who's lived in the shadow of that building and come to identify with it, cannot fail to be very slightly emotionally distressed at its current state. It's quite bizarre that despite being grade 2 listed, you can still strip a building back to its concrete core...what does listing actually mean if you can remove the majority of its fabric, change its use, and give it a completely new identity? The Rotunda that will re-emerge a year or so from now will essentially be a completely new building. I hope the designers, Urban Splash, do not let us down...

Thursday, May 11, 2006

...the car industry and the British economic model.

You'll probably detect a slightly downbeat mood to this blog, which is to be expected. I'm a bit of a cynic and started this as an outlet for my frustrations with the way this world functions. One of these frustrations is mis-information and the way we are often only given 'half the story' - spoken to as though we are school children rather than adults. Where is this going? Well, i've read today that GM is looking to axe a thousand jobs from its Ellesmere Port plant on Merseyside. This is a third of the workforce. To cut a long story short, this is the beginning of the end for this plant. Although GM has made no such announcement, we know they are looking to axe 12,000 jobs in Europe and this will include plant closures. Peugeot has closed Ryton in Coventry using exactly the same approach - a slow wind-down. The reality is that Ellesmere, like Ryton for Peugeot, is a small satellite operation for GM. It has bigger plants employing far more people in Germany and Belgium and it makes perfect business sense to consolidate production there. So what is going wrong for the British car industry? I think we (or should I say successive Governments) decided to turn our\their backs on the car industry nearly 30 years ago. We were told that decline was 'inevitable' and that manufacturing could not compete with the 'cheap labour' economies of the new world. This argument was then used to change employment legislation in the UK to allow for lower wages and greater flexibility (i.e. the ability for employers to change your job or sack you with a moments notice). Again we were told this would ultimately safeguard jobs and attract new industries scared of setting up in 'high cost' Europe. For a while this seemed to be true. Indigenous car companies across Europe were struggling and our own continued to decline. Yet, at the same time, we were attracting Japanese car companies to open new plants here. The plan appeared to be working. However, at the same time governments in Europe (especially in France) continued to support their own car companies, providing much needed investment. Employment legislation too continued to offer greater protection than in the UK. If we fast forward to 2006 its clear we've been hood-winked.

Today 'high cost' Germany and France produce approx 6 and 3.5 million cars a year respectively, compared to a deteriorating 1.8 million in the UK and workers there enjoy greater employment protection and healthcare. I was shocked to learn that Spain makes more cars than we do at approx 3 million. Our high cost neighbours are home to four of the world's biggest, strongest and most profitable companies - Renault, PSA (Peugeot/Citroen), Volkswagen and BMW. So much for 'inevitable decline' eh? and the need to free up the labour market. After an initial surge thanks to the Japanese, expansion in Britain ground to a halt. We've allowed our indigenous car company to die (once the biggest in the world) and we are now nothing more than a satellite assembly location for several multinationals. Coupled with our weak labour laws, announcements like those at Ryton, Dagenham and Luton before and Ellesmere port to come, are - dare I say it - 'inevitable'.

I don't believe our car industries decline was inevitable 25-30 years ago, but today it is a fact. We were fed a line back then. Government's of both colour struggled with the trade unions and the car industry became public enemy no.1. In another 30 years there will be little or no car production in the UK. Have a nice day ;-)

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

...what a difference a lunch makes!

You know how I said nothing was happening in the world? Well a: I didn't mean it literally, obviously! and b: well i've just had lunch and read my paper to find that the HP sauce factory here in Birmingham is to close! This is the end of yet another era for Birmingham. HP has been synonymous with the city for over a century and its factory a landmark on the M6 approach. HP sauce was bought by Heinz last year and from now on it will be made in a factory in Holland. After the loss of MG Rover and now HP, let's hope Cadbury isn't the next to go!

...midweek status report.

It's a quiet week isn't it? I feel like nothing is happening in the world or in my life. Truth is though I'm still not 100% after my party weekend and have had a couple of early nights to compensate - not sure its working though. Tonight is the start of another weekend though so I have to pretend I'm fine. (Yes, i'm one of those modern city folk who thinks the weekend starts on a wednesday!) Spanish lesson first, that kicks it all off (haven't done my homework, again!) and what do you do when the lesson finishes? why go to the pub of course! We've been doing a bit of a 'crawl' thing recently, trying to have one in all those bars we've been promising ourselves we'll have one in one day! The night ended with us disturbing two 'hoodies' trying to steal a car at my local station...my car is parked there today so i'll let you all know tomorrow if its in one piece when I return!

If I was to make a social comment, it would be how these lads had an audience yet no one intervened. Sensible yes given that they may have been armed, but at the same time giving out all the wrong signals to these would-be crooks - do what you like and no one will try and stop you...Hmmmm....

Monday, May 08, 2006

what happened to the weekend?

Sometimes you can have too much fun. I've not stopped since i left work on friday and today i'm paying for it! My head is pounding and my eyes are sore...early night tonight for sure. As a result i have no idea what has happened in the world, all my angst about not knowing the results of the local elections has disappeared (thanks to Chig for filling me in!) - i'm quite looking forward to reading my paper this lunchtime to re-engage! All have picked up on is that the Labour party is about to comit political sucide by turning on itself - rest assured chaps, the british public will punish you dearly...

Global issues aside, a special mention to Chig who's 40th Birthday formed part of my blur of a weekend! - Check out his Blog http://chig.blogspot.com A good night was had by all and I especially enjoyed the Eurovision Karaoke!! - Shame I didn't get to enjoy the yorkshire bricklayer, but hey, you can't have everything ;-)

Friday, May 05, 2006

...on the third day.

Well its the morning after the local elections and i'm still trying to ascertain what has happened here in Birmingham. The BBC have let me down again as although they have declared Birmingham as NOC (No Overall Control) they haven't said who won what. So much for their up-to-the-minute web site! The result here will be interesting, as the local media have been very critical of the Conservative/Lib Dem administration. However, nationally the Labour government is under attack which seems to have benefited the Conservatives. Did Brummies vote on national or local issues? I guess I'll just have to wait and see...

In other news - Its official, on average I send 184 text messages and use 50 mins of talktime a month! My peaks are 253 texts (last month!) and 110 minutes of chatter. As a result, Vodafone Anytime 125 or O2 Online 50 tariff's seem the most appropriate - T-Mobile and Orange are just too expensive - haven't looked properly at Virgin or 3 as yet.... Getting exciting now eh?!

Thursday, May 04, 2006

SOAPBOX ...and another thing!

1. Why is the Birmingham Post's only food critic a vegetarian that doesn't eat desserts? I think the idea of a weekly vegetarian review is a great idea, but as a meat eating, dessert loving restaurant goer, I think the paper is failing the majority of its readers and the establishments concerned, by not having more comprehensive reviews. If they would like to offer me an expense account i'd be happy to offer my taste bud's own written opinions!

2. Why, when I go to the toilet in a bar or restaurant, are the locks always broken on the cubicle doors? I must live in my own little niaeve world...what goes on for them to get broken in the first place and why are they never repaired? Perhaps users would like to update me? Drugs bust? Raids by the 'No sex please we're Brtish' police? Everywhere I go seems to be the same and frankly i'm sick of it. I'm paying a fortune for the bloody drinks, i expect locks on the door, paper in the holder and hand driers that work!!!! Is it really too much to ask? Ever heard of hourly checks??!! Its not rocket science!!

Phew...that's better. Lovely day! :-)

Day Two...to vote or not to vote??

Its local election day today...a chance to 'possibly' change who runs this fair City...as only a third of the seats are ever up for grabs, a change of political colour in the council house is usually a gradual thing. We've had a Tory/Lib Dem coalition in charge after years of Labour dominance and I have to say they're doing a pretty piss poor job. So when it came to voting today it should have been easy, however, things are rarely that simple. The incumbent Conservative Councillor has visited my home, left a leaflet and has his name on every lamp post. This guy actually seems to want my vote! He cares! - But by voting for him, i'll be supporting the current administration which I don't want to do... The Labour hopeful has done nothing... no visit, no leaflet, no posters...i only found out his name this morning when looking at the ballot paper!!! - Clearly this guy doesn't care whether you vote for him or not, so why should I? - Because Labour are the only party capable of removing the current administration... Arrrrgggg! Lib Dem? Again the candidate has done nothing and a vote for him is again a vote for the current crowd, so that's a 'no brainer'. The only other options are BNP or Green...Hmmm Fascists or Communists? - Again a 'no brainer'. I could just not vote, but I try not to do that. Turnout for local elections is always low and low turnout allows extremist parties to get a foothold - back to the Fascists and Communists again... So guess what? The Labour man got my vote....and I hope he's bloody grateful too. Infact if he's reading this, leave a comment and I'll meet you down the local. There you can say 'thank you' with a big box of Cadbury's Milk Tray (I always believe in supporting local industries! - Don't get me started on Rover) Apologies to the Tory guy - I really appreciate your efforts but the bigger picture here is the future of my city.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

..the day the blog began.

Downtime at work and you find yourself doing all sorts of crazy things. My mobile phone contract is up for renewal next month, so much of my time will be spent analysing my annual usage and looking for the nicest phone with the bestest tariff...you can tell this is going to be an interesting blog ;-) Come back soon for 'hot' updates on the search for the perfect package! (see I can put a bit of spin on even the most boring of subjects...)

And so the blog began...10:31am Wednesday the 3rd of May 2006. How long will I be able to keep this up? I give it a week....