Think of this Mr. Salmond and all those Yes voters

[Jim Brady]

Brian lets forget about people on benefits (your pet subject) I am talking about people in work on £7.00 an hour,there ARE people who work you know.40 hour week £7.00 an hour £280.gross after deductions how much could they save out of that for a deposit on a house.I bought my first house (small terraced) on asst/stwds wages of £36.00 per month,I was lucky joined a King boat that was in a bad way so plenty of overtime good pay off gave me the deposit and paid off at £2.10.0.pw that house sold and gave me the deposit for this house so I got lucky.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[cappy]

a couple working she puts money away 3 years .....ie deposit ...thats on min wage...280 times 52.....14664times 3.....43992......he keeps her or her family help .......its putting money away for youself and future generations regards cappy.....thats a big deposit

[cappy]

the last 2 vyears i was at sea i saved she saved ......i lodged at her house ...we saved a big depositb bought our own little house as a starter......did without her mother bkept us for almost nothing .....we didnt piss up all our money but we did go out.......its hard but so is paying rent for the rest of your life ...regards cappy

[Braid Anderson]

Last few years I had no hope of buying a house. So I bought a 2-acre block of land in the hills 2 hours from Lae, real cheap from my brother-in-law. Built a 'weekender' on it, then started building the 'big' house. Cut down a few of my trees, got a walkabout sawmill to cut them up into required size timbers, and built a 4-bedroom house. It's a bit rough, but it's solid and liveable. Still short of money, but I hacked a garden out of the hillside, and now have fresh vegetables most of the year.

[Keith Tindell]

My first few years ashore i was in a Fire Service house, cheap rent. but quickly realised that years down the line i would have to get out of the house and that left an uncertain future, so as quickly as we could we saved hard, and eventually bought our own bungalow. Owning your own house is not the end of the story, as its constant maintenance, just the same as a ship, but a lot cheaper than renting, and you have pride in it, kt

[Captain Kong]

People who work on Low Incomes do get Benefits. including Housing Benefits and many others. plus child benefit for all their kids. It is all on the NI site.
People are responsible for their own lives
If I did not want to be on £7 a week I would be doing something about it.
A lot of people do not educate their kids into getting a Good job when they leave School/College etc..
I could barely read and write when I went to Secondary School. I rarely attended school during the war, my school was closed due to the bombing.
So when I left school at 15 I did my best to Educate myself. I attended Night School after working in a factory all day, I learned English, Maths and Technical Drawing.
I worked in a Cotton Mill for a while and looked at the men there, I didnt like what I saw, that was my future??
So I went down the Pit, as the wages were better, again I looked at my fellow miners and thought is this how I want to be for the rest of my life??
.
So I went to the Vindi and the rest is history.
I went ashore when I got married, lousy wages for long hours, job closes and then get another one. and so on.
Is this what I want for the rest of my life??
I had children ,, Is this the life I want for my two sons.??
I paid a School Head Master to teach my two sons in the evenings three nights a week at his home.
It was hard financially , but I stopped smoking and drinking, My sons future was worth far more than fags and beer.
So they passed for Grammar School and then to University and I still made them study hard, backed them all the way, Think of the future lads, your mates are all in dead end jobs, you will be on good Salaries, a big detached house nice cars and good holidays, while they still have nothing on minimum wage.
They both succeeded, one is a world famous Hepatologist and the other is in a very high security position dealing with NATO and the US Military.
So my hard work for them has paid off, I spent years pushing them, making them work at their studies so they would not be on a minimum wage like their mates are now.
They now resent my sons success. BUT they all had the same chance in life,.
If you have kids, surely you must want the best start in life for them., you have to make a lot of sacrifices, nothing is handed on a plate apart from the Benefits.
Young teen age lads, obviously not working, with young teenage girls pushing prams walk past my house every day. They have no chance of improving their lives.
If I was there today , I would even join the T.A. and could even learn a trade in there while getting extra money as well. just a few weekends a year, two weeks in Germany and one evening a week,
Learn to be a Mechanic or get an HGV licence, Communications and so on.
Every one is in charge of their own Destiny. BUT you have to try hard.
Cheers
Brian.

[Jim Brady]

You could find yourself in Afghanistan for 6 months never mind a weeks holiday in Germany and a couple of weekends playing soldiers.The TA is a different ball game now to what it was.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Captain Kong]

My two Nephews have each done three tours of up to Seven months in Aghanistan.
They studied hard and one is a Major and the other a Captain. so are both well paid. They both love the Army, the eldest one is now 50 and is taking retirement with a good Army Pension in October. it was all they wanted to do since leaving school, both joined at the age of 15.. and they have done it.
Joining the TA was only an example of what someone could do to improve their way of life, there are other ways to improve a lads lot. You have to keep working at Life. Dont like a situation then change it, even if it means leaving home.
About four years ago a son of a family friend was an out of work electrician, coudnt find a job, married with two kids. I suggested to him to go on the Rigs in the North Sea, be away from his family for four weeks on and then off for four, at first he said No, he said he could get by with the Benefit he s on and Child Benefit.
I lent him £600 to take the Helicopter Survival Course at Fleetwood Nautical College, he got the Certifcate and he has not been out of work since, He is self employed, flies out to different Rigs and does electrical maintenance. on contract.
He is now making a fortune and happy. and I got my £600 back.
If people took the trouble to look around there are still oportunities. If a guy is happy on £7 an hour that is his choice but do not whinge about it. If he doesnt like it get out and do better.
Cheers
Brian.

[Don Rafferty]

You could find yourself in Afghanistan for 6 months never mind a weeks holiday in Germany and a couple of weekends playing soldiers.The TA is a different ball game now to what it was.
Regards.
Jim.B.

Is it?

My Dad was in the TA in 1939, because of his TA service he ended up Sergeant in the regular army...........and four years holiday in Germany.

[robpage]

I am going to agree with Jim to some extent here Brian , I am watching Grandchildren from 9 - 28 year old , at various stages of life , I if I did not like a job walked into another one , we had a work ethic too , the education system has changed dramatically but so has employment , zero hours contracts being the one huge differential , as well as all hours are flat rate , unscrupulous employers are taking advantage and screwing around with all age groups , backed by the job seekers Mafia , who are about a much use as an ashtray on a bicycle . Zero hours means you might get five hours this week , six the next, thirty the next . The two weeks Jolly with the TA might be six months away . I agree with what you say too , but to do that today is ten times harder than it was thirty + years ago , if not impossible . When you talk to college aged youngsters today , living at home , thy fail to understand why they as students have no money when there are people on the estate they live on appearing to do well , admittedly they steal a bit and sell the odd wrap of dope , and my grandchildren don't , but to support their college life they are ;looking for jobs , a lot aren't , the big employers like McDonald's , the supermarkets , and the likes of KFC , Burger King , Argos , these employers expects young kids part time to work ll the odd hours that no one else wants for basic rates , the reason the full timers don't want the Saturdays and Sundays and late nights is because it is flat rate . part timers have no choice ,. Talk to some of the Unemployable , and at the dairy we interviewed a lot for seven day roster working 1 1/3 rd time for anti social hours , and all you heard was I aint working Saturdays or Sundays . My grandchildren will they want the money