The Grumpy Old Blog

It defies belief the corruption, back-handing, bonuses for mediocrity, crooked Councillors, bent Boroughs, putrid planning applications and on and on and on that are reported in Private Eye every fortnight, yet no one in authority seems to take a blind bit of notice. For example, in this issue, five Network Rail directors reduced their bonuses to £350,000 after train performance targets were not met. Why are they even getting a bonus in the first place? Unless it's because of the entertainment we, the suffering public get as a result of the railways being such a continual joke. £197 one-way for a trip from London to Leeds. I'd expect part-ownership in the train for that price.  Even paying myself 50p a mile, the congestion stealth tax, parking in London and petrol, I'd still come out with money to spare. Yet Megabus or National Express can do it for change out of a tenner. OK, the journey takes twice as long. Atos, the medical con-sultants are highlighted issue after is...

As the wild and wacky world of HR descends into its ever-increasing own little downward spiral of the "3D's" - Dysfunctionality, Darkness and Dishonesty - a new 'lark' is emerging to help the job phishers (the less than forthright agencies, but as they say on the BBC, "some  extremely good agencies are available") save time and effort as they cream off a huge percentage for placing someone in a job that the company HR person should have done. "Due to the volume of applications we receive we are unable to respond to unsuccessful candidates." So, by this perverted logic in customer service, if you browse in a bookshop and don't buy anything, unfortunately, the staff wont see fit to talk to you. Or "Those six tables in this restaurant aren't mine, so they can die of thirst as it's not my job". Or "You're not a parent at my school, and as the official lollipop lady here, I'm not going to acknowledge you exist,...

Like many freelancers do, I scan the People Per Hour (PPH) freelance work site - by all means register and try it yourself (click here) - to see if there's a little bit of extra work I can pick up when there's a lull in my mainstream freelancing. However, it never ceases to amazes me not only the often straightforwardly parsimonious rates people offer to pay for their jobs, but more, the sometimes crass idiocy of some of the freelancers who apply for those jobs. They fail to realise that by acceding to ridiculously low rates, they are sustaining the cheapskates who use the PPH site not as a recruiting ground for freelance professionals to help get a job done, but as a shop window to get jobs done on the absolute cheap. It seems to becoming a haven where the unscrupulous take advantage of the unwary. Let me explain. I was alerted to a copywriting job today. Looked interesting, but demanded a pound, going on near 20 kilos of flesh. The job-poster wanted someone to write,...

Graham Walker, the "wild" man of the Grumbleweeds tragically succumbed to cancer this week. Graham, together with drummer Robin Colvill (who I am delighted to add is very much alive!) were a wickedly funny and entertaining duo - not that the rest of the group were slouches when it came to entertaining people! I grew up in a house that adored the Grumbleweeds - good old fashioned entertainment, a little bit of innuendo and plenty of laughs - never for one moment suspecting that I'd ever "sort of" get to know them a little. I first "crossed swords" with Graham (in a very amusing and charity way I might add - and apologies the exact circumstances are now a little hazy) as a result of a fund-raising gig for the RNLI the late Bernard Manning had 'sponsored' at his Embassy snooker club on the Rochdale Road in Manchester ['Embassy', yet Bernard never smoked!]. What happened was that Bernard 'handed over' his club for nothing for...