SimonBradshaw

Mister Drone - YouTube Mister Drone filming Manannan today - intro from inside the new terminal building.

Perspective is everything. It requires common sense. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi0gLb_tYOEAxXhUkEAHRKcAboQtwJ6BAgaEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DMMiKyfd6hA0&usg=AOvVaw0dgGEOozkk-aSHF5mOTNu4&opi=89978449

But this wasn't Friday in Berlin - the picture above was posted at least 20 days ago on various outlets.

These discussions remind me of Douglas Adams and the story of the Babel Fish. "The Babel fish is small, yellow, leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe. It feeds on brainwave energy received not from its own carrier, but from those around it. It absorbs all unconscious mental frequencies from this brainwave energy to nourish itself with. It then excretes into the mind of its carrier a telepathic matrix formed by combining the conscious thought frequencies with nerve signals picked up from the speech centres of the brain which has supplied them. The practical upshot of all this is that if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language. The speech patterns you actually hear decode the brainwave matrix which has been fed into your mind by your Babel fish. "Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that something so mind-bogglingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. The Babel fish talking to Arthur Dent "The argument goes something like this: 'I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, 'for proof denies faith, and without faith, I am nothing.' 'But, says Man, the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and, by your own arguments, you don't. QED.' 'Oh dear,' says God, 'I hadn't thought of that,' and vanishes in a puff of logic. 'Oh, that was easy,' says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing. "Most leading theologians claim that this argument is a load of dingo's kidneys, but that didn't stop Oolon Colluphid from making a small fortune when he used it as the theme of his best-selling book, Well That About Wraps It Up For God. "Meanwhile, the poor Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation."

Almost reached the med - nearly home.

I think we will have to disagree. This isn’t a statement re. workload but the reality of employment contract. Teachers receive monthly 1/12th of their salary (which only includes the statuary number of paid holidays under employment law). You could apply most of the statuary holidays during the summer for arguments sake - but this would still mean that during a weeks closure in October / November they are unpaid for that week - its just the pay has been spread out equally across the year. It doesn’t generally apply to teachers but pro-rata contracted employment often means employees get paid across more days / weeks / months than they actually work so it seems they attract holiday pay during a period they aren’t actually receiving it. So with term-time only support staff in schools and colleges it can look like employees are receiving holidays above and beyond the norm, they aren’t and their salary is proportionally lower than that of a person working a full year with normal holiday entitlement. I’d also make the point that an argument is sometimes put that teachers should work more weeks - this might be a reasonable request but the contract salary would have to be increased accordingly (which would also mean a typical additional 22-24% on-cost for the employer).

There is a misconception re. teachers and holidays that most (including teachers) are probably not fully aware of. Teachers are contracted to work 195 days per calendar year with directed time set at 1265 hours plus a requirement of additional work to reasonably discharge their duties. They receive paid holidays at a statuary rate. All other time not working is not paid holiday - however, their salary is applied equally over 12 calendar months so this gives the impression of more paid holiday than other professions. Most contracts of employment will refer to holiday entitlement (which is often something a little more than statutory entitlement) but teacher contracts and subsequent terms and conditions (known as the burgundy book) do not refer to holiday entitlement. The result is that teachers don’t get 13 weeks paid holiday but there paid holiday sits inside school closer periods but isn’t specifically identified.

Just watching the briefing. I'm relatively new to all this but my understanding is that the unwillingness of Tynwald to agree to hear Supplementary Order Paper No 2 means that any procedural amendment to borders policy cannot be undertaken over the summer months (ie until Tynwald subsequently meets) as this paper would have given authority for such changes and no journalist has picked up on this.

Met Sam in my local chippy once - I can concur.

Had an email back this morning stating that the testing centre usual hours are 9-4.

Love Shoprite On the Liverpool morning sailing so pm arrival - and so you have referenced something I’ve been thinking about - travel overnight and be able to get the children tested first thing in the morning or travel during the day and risk waiting for a test.

In the same position - re. a more recent post by yourself, we also have children travelling with us. Have emailed a couple of depts. to get official opening/ closing times to be able to plan better. Appreciate booking is needed to get time for a test for the children, but need to plan if it's not going to be the day of arrival.

I think you need to go here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/covid-pass/get-your-covid-pass-letter/ Got mine 4 days later in the post after submitting.

Worrying - any specifics? Wouldn’t material shortage hit multiple developments. The development is almost all sold with a small amount remaining unreleased.