Under Seige. I feel completely exhausted.

[Tim Hall]

I had thought the OP was going to be a moan about triumphant Scotland rugby fans spoiling his nice peace and quiet last night.

Whereas I thought he'd over indulged in a bit of a Steven Seagal movie fest.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Take comfort in the fact that you are fortunate that you do not need to use The services to which you contribute other than the waste collections, there are many who are less fortunate than you who require the police, social services, street cleaners, benefits, libraries, schools , street lighting, gritters, etc .

But that's the point - I do need to use services that the council should be providing. I can't because they've largely stopped providing them. The roads are shocking, streetlights often defective, waste and recycling collections totally unreliable, planning applications and completion certificates a bureaucratic jobsworth nightmare, they've napalmed many of the grass verges so they don't have to maintain them, city centre litter bins are few in number and often overflowing because they are not emptied enough, and - most annoying of all - they've closed most of the public toilets. Value for £3000 ? An absolute disgrace.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Unless we can get another referendum shortly and you ignore the propaganda from Better Together next time, I can't see any hope on the horizon.

By contrast I am completely chilled out about Sturgeon's posturing about another referendum. I see no threat there at all.

 

[Racing roadkill]

#5

 

[ufkacbln]

Don't panic about Diesel (yet)

Diesel was a Government approved promotion as the MPG was better

Given previous "scrappage " Chances are that there wil be a subsidy to scrap Diesel vehicles which could put diesel owners in a good position when replacing their present vehicles

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

You should try talking to people who no longer receive services that they really need.

You mean like public toilets ?

 

[Drago]

Or road repairs, streetlights, weekly refuse collections...

It all started to go badly South with outsourcing. The company taking over the job has exactly the same costs as the Council did before it, but then has to make a profit on top of that. Every pound spent providing services in-house ultimately went further than each pound given to a contractor.

 

[screenman]

Or road repairs, streetlights, weekly refuse collections...

It all started to go badly South with outsourcing. The company taking over the job has exactly the same costs as the Council did before it, but then has to make a profit on top of that. Every pound spent providing services in-house ultimately went further than each pound given to a contractor.

I could never work out why giving work out to profit making companies would be cheaper than keeping in house.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

You mean like public toilets ?

You have to wonder how the 3.8 million visitors to Edinburgh coped last year

 

[screenman]

But that's the point - I do need to use services that the council should be providing. I can't because they've largely stopped providing them. The roads are shocking, streetlights often defective, waste and recycling collections totally unreliable, planning applications and completion certificates a bureaucratic jobsworth nightmare, they've napalmed many of the grass verges so they don't have to maintain them, city centre litter bins are few in number and often overflowing because they are not emptied enough, and - most annoying of all - they've closed most of the public toilets. Value for £3000 ? An absolute disgrace.

So where do you think all the money is going. I am waiting for the highways around these parts to admit they have lost the pot hole battle.

 

[screenman]

I just googled where the money goes.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

But that's the point - I do need to use services that the council should be providing. I can't because they've largely stopped providing them. The roads are shocking, streetlights often defective, waste and recycling collections totally unreliable, planning applications and completion certificates a bureaucratic jobsworth nightmare, they've napalmed many of the grass verges so they don't have to maintain them, city centre litter bins are few in number and often overflowing because they are not emptied enough, and - most annoying of all - they've closed most of the public toilets. Value for £3000 ? An absolute disgrace.

Stand for election.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I could never work out why giving work out to profit making companies would be cheaper than keeping in house.

Because the idiot ideology of privatisation insists private enterprises are more efficient than government services.

 

[MarkF]

I feel completely drained. Our lives seem to be under constant siege from everyone else, politicians, criminals, developers, lobbyists. It's just exhausting to constantly be alert to the next threat, to constantly be ready to respond to their every move, to constantly be trying to anticipate their next move. Some examples.

Our council tax will be over £3000 next year - we only see a tiny fraction returned to us as services provided. Bin collection is particularly woeful.
The SNP and Greens have just increased our income tax by over £800 between the two of us, over and above what we would pay if we lived in England
Our investments and possessions are under constant criminal attack
Our internet details and bank accounts are under constant cyber attack
Our potholed and cratered roads look like the result of months of artillery siege
We can only buy aubergines and courgettes on the black market
The peace of our back garden is about to be destroyed by changes to Edinburgh flight paths
Our views and green spaces are under constant attrition from developers
Our diesel car, bought in good faith for its high mpg and low emissions, now appears to be the latest target of the environment lobby, I hear that some London authorities have already started to raise penalty charges against them.
Even our bird feeders are under constant siege, from grey squirrels - they've destroyed several so called squirrel proof feeders so far, we are constantly having to visit garden centres to try new ones.

Is there no end ?

I feel your pain, MrsF has let us run out of balsamic vinegar and now we can't marinate the tofu.

 

[screenman]

From what I see a good lump of your £3000 a year goes on pensions, that is very generous of you.