A LETTING OFF STEAM THREAD

[karl]

OK here's a thread for letting off steam about ANYTHING and should divert comments away from the CHRISTMAS thread.

As L&H mentioned affordable housing, a new block of flats was built on the site of Capital Suits inEdinburgh just a few years ago, if I remember correctly prices were from 250 thousand to six hundred thousand.

I would love to know just who can afford such a home, and it doesn't stop their ias you have gas. electricity, council tax etc on top. Just what are those people earning?

[Lena & Harry Smith]

Well, I get annoyed with envelopes that are only glued up half way for sealing, so there !!

[Eman]

Yeecchh i hate when traffic is diverted to other back road routes with no detour signs especially because of those silly marathon competitions. Why should our lives be re-routed for that!!!

[karl]

I get annoyed with sellotape that splits!!!!! :

[mariana44]

Going back to a topic in the latest "Christmas " thread on "Bedroom Tax"-----

despite being a single mother and on benefits, my niece Juliet, has managed to get her daughter Jessy through University, with honours, and Jessy graduated just last month. At times holding down 4 part time jobs to help pay her fees etc.

Now that Jessy has left home to get a job, Juliet now has to pay "Bedroom tax", as she has a spare room--never mind that the spare room is barely the size of a cupboard--and it would be impossible to move Juliet somewhere smaller, as there could not be anywhere smaller.

Although Juliet has no imcome or jpb, she spends her time doing voluntary work for the needy people in Liverpool, helping them with their housing problems, printing out the forms they need, loads of stuff, sometimes out till 11.00 at night---and she has now applied to be a Councillor to help these , sometimes desperate people--and this is how a grateful government treats her, by cutting what was a meagre benefit at best, so she barely has enough to live on.

[karl]

Fats cats being paid ridiculous salaries are dreaming up there preposterous rules, do they expect people to move when a child moves out the family home?

Another thing that really bugs me is theatres and concert halls charging booking fees, a new 12,000 seater has just opened in Glasgow and they are charging £4.50 per ticket when the tickets already cost a small fortune. I refuse to pay it so I don't go, you can buy a dvd of the artists playing for around £12. SUrely £1 would be adequate. I would like to know who made this rule and if it's actually legal?

Can you imagine when I worked in M&S saying to a customer we are now charging you £4.50 to serve you? Some of them made a big enough fuss when we started charging 5P for a bag - even although the money was going to charities - they didn't care!

[Eman]

Bedroom tax if you have a spare room? Geez..that's totally bananas!!!

[Lena & Harry Smith]

It means kicking people when they are down, mainly of the less well off or the disabled who need the extra space for a wheel chair etc, or sometimes those who have lived for many years in their current homes and raised families and now have to move to smaller accommodation or pay extra for a spare bedroom that may have become available.
How low can this government sink..

[karl]

I'm not sure if this law only applies in England as I haven't heard anyone here talk about it.

[mariana44]

I think if it applied in Scotland you would have heard about it--I know that a lot of Scotland's laws are different to ours---
including the fact that Scottish students do not have to pay university fees, whereas English sudents do--up to £27,000 I believe.

As for the bedroom tax, Juliet has already been on an all-night sit in, with many others in the same position in Liverpool.

By the way Eman, just to clarify--the only people to pay "Bedroom Tax" are those on benefits, who have the least money to start with, and basically their benefit is cut. Who can make sense of that.??

Millionaires with umpteen empty bedrooms are not affected.!!!

[mariana44]

Karl, I agree with you about the extra charge on tickets--but what is more annoying,even if you book up to 6 tickets--all sitting together, [as I have done] each ticket has to pay a booking fee.

Why don't they just add the booking price onto the ticket--at least everyomne would know where they are !!

[Lena & Harry Smith]

Yes, how can charges on theatre tickets be justified when the price of tickets have already shot sky high. This can often be a gamble too, although generally stated, sometimes when you arrive, you are greeted with an apologetic announcement that the star of the show is unable to appear... Just what you want

[karl]

Karl, I agree with you about the extra charge on tickets--but what is more annoying,even if you book up to 6 tickets--all sitting together, [as I have done] each ticket has to pay a booking fee.

Why don't they just add the booking price onto the ticket--at least everyomne would know where they are !!

Marian that's exactly what I said that partcular venue is charging £4.50 per ticket not per transaction which would be bad enough. Talk about bleeding you dry, they then charge at least £7 for programmes which you never look at again and £20 for T shirt etc; etc: I no longer buy programmes I'd rather put the money to the artists cd or dvd.

[mariana44]

As far as i know, they all charge a booking fee per ticket--and i think that some are more than £4.50.I was paying that 25 years ago !