20080615_2600NY T#3

20080615_2600NY T#3, a photo by ol'pete on Flickr.

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All the very best to all my friends around the globe for this year, next year and every year!

Christmas 2011.

Christmas 2011., a photo by ol'pete on Flickr.

Please enjoy a wonderful holiday wherever you are, whoever you are, whoever it is you are with, enjoy!

Unservicable Services.

Today has been one of those days I had hoped I would never again suffer!

I have spent many years trying to control myself, many years biting my tongue, many years keeping silent when words should have been said, but fearing my temper would win out and lose my battle.

Not good, any of it!

Not good for me, not good for the causes I wished to champion, and not good for those I should have changed!

A simple meeting today, residents and managers, to discuss our service charges for the next fiscal year. Simple enough, straightforward, yes, simple, yes, until we reached the point where the services we were not receiving was reached, and the lifts, yes those lifts again, those lifts we spent so much on to modernise, those lifts so unreliable, upgraded to modern day disability standards to cater for the deaf and blind with vocal announcements re doors opening, doors closing, floor number and etc.!!!!!

Still unreliable!

Still getting up, down and floors wrong!

Still saying doors are opening when they are closing!

Wrong, wrong and still bloody wrong!

And still breaking down on a regular basis.

That is without the lighting in the public areas that take weeks to repair and all those other ‘trivial’ matters that matter to no one that does not live here!

If it ever gets repaired it will have taken far too long! Most of the problems do not get seen to ever, apparently disappearing into ‘the system’!

It seems there is a little known clause in the Genesis terms and conditions that say that if a problem is not reported each and every month that the problem exists then the problem no longer exist! So if they can get away with ignoring the problem for 30 days then there is no problem.

Simple! NOT!

I should not have lost my temper today, and I do feel sad that I did! But, then again, the managers should have listened to what I had to say, not what they wanted me to say.

If people will not listen I will shout till they have to!

From top to bottom the employees of this organisation seem to have a major problem with their role in life.

Seemingly under the impression that we are elderly in need of their housing, and that we should be so very happy for their good grace in supplying that need!  

From where I stand they are so wrong! Again!

The majority, if not all, the leaseholders here have worked hard all their lives and have elected to buy a leasehold home in their later lives that might, and should, have provided a degree of support.

Unfortunately, that support is so sadly lacking.

We have paid for our leases. We also pay for service, a service lacking in all but the charges.

I have no desire to denigrate ‘social housing’, there is a great need as such, but Lucam Lodge is not a social housing scheme.

We pay Genesis to manage our homes. We contribute to Genesis staff wages. I really do feel we are entitled to a little in return! A little more, that is, than the sub standard and oh so very tired excuses we get everyday now.

Genesis Housing Association has let us all down so badly here at Lucam Lodge, and, it would seem, Genesis Housing Association will continue to do so long into the future.

Probably long after we are gone, simply because if last months problem is not reported next month the problem is no longer here!

Think on it!

Thin Skins and Union Leaders!

Following the recent 'Day Of Action' where our Public Service workers withdrew their services, I will not  call it a strike as only a few dedicated souls picketed their workplaces, while others joined the demonstrations in various city centers. But, it would appear, a large majority, particularly those with the young children that the schools and nurseries had locked out, put the day to good use hitting the malls and shops for more than a little light Christmas shopping.
Needless to say, there were a considerable number of people that chose to work, defying their coworkers picketing their workplace, crossing the picket lines and bravely working on.
Two items hit the headlines and both, to my mind, showed just how narrow minded and petty our so called union officials continue to be.
One was an e-mail that despite being rapidly withdrawn, drew condemnation from all sides, while the other was a comment on TV by a motoring correspondent, not known as a political animal, joking that the strikers be shot! Publicly!
The reaction? Beyond belief!

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2068742/Scab-jibe-workers-crossed-picket-lines-defy-strikers.html#ixzz1fPOKcREM

 My thoughts follow:-

Both this and the reaction to Jeremy Clarkson's joke shows just how narrow minded the current crop of union 'leaders' are! Were I still a union member I would be resigning right now. I would never support a spokesman so thin skinned and humorless as are this bunch! With a mindset based firmly in the sixties, I do not believe any of them have ever seen that great movie 'I'm alright Jack!' Definitely recommended for any would be 'Union Leader', they would see then just how sad they really are, lacking focus and consequently losing the plot! I have not forgotten there are many tragic situations around the world, and I do truly grieve for those that suffer so tragically, but please do come back to the here and now. These strikers were demonstrating to protect British workers rights & etc., and I think Mr. Clarkson might well agree that he can be a bit of a joke himself at the very best of times!

Dare I say it?  I could not make it up! No wonder we are in such a sad state!


Before I go, my apologies to Genesis Housing Association, I have not written about you for a few weeks now, but that is for one extremely good reason.
Nothing has happened! 
If ever anything does get done I will say so, I have promised, but to date, I am sorry to say it, but there is nothing to report!

Meantime, I remain,

'The Estate Of W. F. Richards!'

(ol'Pete to me friends!)

ME & AFFORDABILITY.

Were I at all paranoid I would surely believe the rest of the world was ganging up on me! As it is I am told it is only the top 1%, the richest, or, if we include the politicians of this world, maybe 2%, 3% with our civil servants and probably 5% with the bankers.

So, believing the rest to be on the same side as myself, why do I feel so pee’d off and isolated?

We are all (95% of us) getting screwed!!!

 

I might have it figured, or part way so.

I was brought up a set of values, which can be fairly set out quite simply as honesty and hard work do no harm and bring their own rewards. A tenet I have tried to follow all my life, probably with a hiccup here and there along the way, but I have never taken anything that had not been given, and spent not a penny that had not been earned. All that I have borrowed was no more than I could afford to repay, and that has been done with interest.

This has all been managed with one thought, one rule, if you like, the consideration of affordability!

Can I afford it?

That is the one simple question that has been forgotten by all those so clever ‘top o’ the pile’ high so’s!

The simple matter of affordability!

“Can I afford it?”

“Can my company afford it?”

“Can my organisation afford it?”

“Can my country afford it?”

“Can those I work for afford it?”

“Can those I represent afford it?”

“Can the ordinary folk afford it?”

No one up there is asking these questions, so no one is listening when we all say 

“NO WE CANNOT!”

We now have so many helping themselves to our scant incomes we are truly lucky to have any left for ourselves.

There is the local council, the county council, national government, the European Parliament, the European Commission, (and probably a few more I have missed!) all spawning committees and quangos like there was no tomorrow, all passing wonderful new laws that will cost us even more to implement, and getting fat on the expense accounts we cannot afford, while we at the bottom are out in the cold, losing our voices in protest because, let’s face it we ain’t got much else to lose!

Had I foreseen my current situation I would not have worked quite so hard, nor would I have saved the little I did had I known that some smirking banker was going to lose the lot!

I also would never have tried so hard to provide myself with a small extra pension had I seen it disappearing bit by bit, and also having to pay income tax on the little left to bail out not only our precious bankers but good half dozen or so countries as well!  

I would say enough is enough, but I know, as do most of you, that enough is never enough in this day and age!

Have you noticed how the big boys have ganged up on the little ones in Euro land? It was Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Greece all at fault? A whole lot of bullying there! Now Italy, somehow i cannot see a lot of bullying happening there, and, dare I say it? I have heard that the mighty France has more than a smidgen of housekeeping to take care of. I cannot help but wonder if Mr. So-cosy will get the now famous proverbial haircut?

And, one final note......I do not remember any of the euro states offering to help when the UK got into difficulty while in the euro, so I personally feel Mr. Sarcastic would be well advised to keep his remarks to himself in regard to the British Government. Please!

The Euro zone has become an exclusive club that only the big boys should join, minnows cannot afford the fees!

So....get out and stay out! At least until you have the bank balance!

My Friends, So Far Away.

 50 years ago I was stationed in Bangkok, Then widely known as 'The Venice of the East' it was a truly beautiful place, with tree lined avenues and canals throughout, a cool and pleasant place to live and work.

I made many friends there and over the years I have kept in touch with many of them and their families.

Easy going but hard workers I have shared many of their trials and tribulations over the years, including the numerous coup and struggles that have peppered the period.

Irrespective of whoever purported to be running their country the stoic 'khon Thai' carried on regardless, frequently with a smile, always with a ready sense of humour, along with an amazing sense of community, always ready to help each other in troubled times. 
In the interim uncountable millions of tons of concrete have been poured, the trees felled and the canals filled in. Very little thought appears to have been given to the possibility of today's problems.
Nature is not stupid. Those waterways so eagerly filled in were there for a purpose.
Well done all you money men. Congratulations to the so called entrepreneurs, and an especial vote of thanks to the city fathers that allowed so much uncontrolled development. A little more thought might possibly have prevented a large part of today’s problems.
Yet again money rules, the people lose!

Yet More of The Same Old Flannel!

So our managers have been, and gone, while we wonder was it all worth while! We remain frustrated and ignored, while they persist in the same tired old smoke screen of denials and excuses that we have heard so very many times before.

It all gets so tiresome and boring while so appallingly predictable!

They have promised yet again that improvements are on the way, we will have the long awaited works attended too very soon and service levels will be improved.

(I have been here since 2004 and have heard the same story annually!)

When any of these promises materialise I will be so very happy to publicise the fact, but, until then, well we will wait, patiently, being unable to do naught else, but we do, all of us here, hope it does happen in our lifetime. Please!

We have made our feelings clear; they said they appreciated how we felt, promised to look into whatever has gone wrong and to rectify matters as soon as possible.

We, on the other hand, are again most definitely NOT holding our breath! We have heard it all before and doubt very much they remembered all that was discussed any longer than it took them to reach the main door on their way out!

For now then, if any of you are contemplating buying a home on a lease within a Supported Housing scheme managed by Genesis Housing Association, be very wary friends, bear in mind all you have read here and in my previous blogs!

If Genesis wakes up I will be happy to publicise the fact, I promise, and I do keep my promises!

Again, I remain,

‘The Estate of W. F. Richards.’

Genesis' Indegestion.

Well we have heard from Genesis Housing Association. Or we have heard from someone in their offices that appears to believe we here are as daft as he! It is obvious all the training he has had came from is redundant predecessor! (We read his style!) Could almost be his mentor writing the letter it is so familiar. Same style, almost the same wording, and most definitely the same contemptuous style of his predecessor!

Unfortunately this young (?) man so obviously  has not followed recent history here at Lucam Lodge, neither does he know that we are just a little too long in the tooth to swallow the excrement he is so keen to feed us!

I really do feel that all those people in the Genesis organization, new old or recycled, could really learn far more if ever they all, just once, boarded a charabanc one fine day for a day trip out into our little corner of the Essex countryside, not necessarily for a picnic, though I am sure we could arrange something between us, but to spend a little time getting to know us here.

They would be surprised to find that we most definitely do not meet their preconceived and ill founded vision that is apparently of geriatric old codgers awaiting St. Peter’s welcome through those pearly gates. We are not sitting around awaiting the next handout from Genesis or anyone else, but, while trying to avoid belittling those less fortunate than ourselves, we do not, and hopefully, never will consider ourselves in need of the ‘social housing’ Genesis is so accustomed to providing.

We all enjoy ourselves here, take pride in ‘doing’ for ourselves as well as being a help to our friends and neighbours as much as we can while respecting each other’s privacy and space. We all take pride in our community, we are all proud to be members of our community!

Possibly most important is the fact that we, the leaseholders at Lucam Lodge, are united in having an unfaltering respect for each other, and, in spite of all the indications to the contrary, we do hope, one day soon, to receive a similar respect and courtesy from Genesis Housing Association and the people employed therein! I mean, well, we do help to pay their wages, we are not here in ‘supported’ housing to support them, but, as we see it, they are there to support us! Or is that yet another misconception?

Now, we beg you, please, lose the attitude! We are not stupid! Stop giving out all that guff! It did not wash before and it certainly will not now, so please explain to everyone here just how Genesis Housing Association is compelled by law to accept the lowest bid on a tender, when the next, more expensive, bid might well have been just as acceptable if, as it was, based on quality and service. We would love to know. And while you are at it, just who do you imagine could have legally, challenged the acceptance of a higher bid?

Do all your letters exit your rectum young sir?

Also (yes there is more), if you were so compelled to accept the lowest bid, maybe you would be so good as to explain (I really do hate to ask as they are the one part of Genesis organization that provides a good service!) but with Shenstone bidding one of the highest prices, how did they get our gardening? We heard of no objections there!

(Oh yes silly me, they are ‘in house’!)

To date Genesis has done nothing towards showing they are at all capable of managing leasehold properties. Considering it is such a low percentage of their business perhaps it would be to all our benefit, leaseholders and Genesis both, to consider a totally different arrangement. It is patently obvious that Genesis is totally unfit for purpose where managing leasehold property is concerned.

While that is offered up for your consideration it would be just fabulous to get some maintenance done, maybe even get to see some of you managing our lives, but, whatever, we are not holding our breath, any of us, but a surprise or two could brighten our days,

In the meant time, please stop trying to treat us like idiots!

My father, bless him, used to say to me “Son, I have only one good eye, but with that I can see right through you!” 

We see right through you too sir!

I have written this blog, and will continue to do so until I and my neighbours are treated with respect and are listened to by Genesis Housing Association.

I remain, rather annoyingly,

‘The Estate of Mr. W. F. Richards’.

(and how much longer is that going to run I wonder?)