First, an IQ test

We have been aware for some time that our pond has a leak. I think it may have been due to the fact that roots of the water Irises have a strong desire to search for nutrition and they may have found a small crack in the rubber lining which they are exploiting. I decided to do an experiment, I let the water drain down to a stable level. It should be clear that the leak is not on the bottom of the pond but just above the present level of water. This makes my task much easier. When the weather is better I will ferret around and find the hole

Bad news and good news (depending on your view point)

On the news today I heard that Germany was trying to broker a peace deal between the Ukraine and Russia where Ukraine gives in and the war will cease. This was vetoed by the USA. Obviously, the profits from war are a part of their equation so who are we to argue? I wonder if we are in the first steps of World War III with talk in the UK of a call up, conscription. Not all news is bad. See the European-wide rebellion against the carbon tax based government edicts. The Farmers have blocked every highway into Paris.

To my (private) dentist

Off I go this morning to my beloved dentist. It is an odd appellation for a dentist but he has been very helpful to me over the last ten years or so and helped me recover from the string of indifferent treatments that I’ve had over the decades. My top right wisdom tooth broke into three pieces. You would expect this to be painful but the root had been removed so there was no pain, only the shards or fragments from the tooth which were biting into my tongue which is not particularly pleasant.

A few minutes into the 10 o’clock appointment, a quick examination lasting one minute, a numbing injection, a few tugs with the pliers, cracking sounds and a piece of cotton wool inserted with instructions to bite. Ten minutes, that’s not bad, thank you dentist.

Overall, UK dentistry is not enjoying a very good reputation. particularly NHS dentistry, where it is almost impossible to get yourself on a list never mind being treated. I know that NHS dentists have very little time to complete their operation so let us say the time for doing a filling is 10 minutes, get paid for this and if they go over the time they get no recompense for it. There are actually three levels of charges depending on the complexity but I can see dentists working for the NHS having to cut corners due to time constraints.

There are three local dental practices who demand money in advance for what reason I have yet to determine. I know one of them that has a private person come in once a week but the charges are the same as for private practice. The condition of the teeth of children with their bad eating habits are a disgrace and I wonder how many youngsters will keep their teeth until adulthood.

Anyway, I was in time to go to my normal Tuesday coffee morning at All Saints Church in Paulton. The weather was good so I took a nice country drive from Bath via Timsbury to arrive shortly after 10:30. The conversation at this event is every day but has its points of interest. My friend Chris, who is a teacher, has started a new job with five to six-year-old children at a school in Frome. Evidently three of his small class have severe mental disturbances. One cries all the time, and another one rolls around on the floor, making any sort of teaching very difficult. Chris’s mother says that he has to be a combination of adjudicator to fighting, psychiatrist, social worker and mediator, leaving little time for any actual teaching.

He also reported that he takes his sandwiches and other personal items with him and puts them in the drawers of his desk at the front. On one occasion he turned around to find that the children were rummaging in his desk. He had to put a ‘no entry’ sign up!.  Chris is blessed with a laid back personality which is the only thing I can think of that will help him to survive in this new remit. I commented to his mum that these are ‘lockdown children’ who must have missed out in their development in one way or another.

A lady whose name I did not know was talking about the time she spent working as a room cleaner for Center Parks. She was let go because she did not work fast enough. She wanted to get back to her original interest of archaeology. She explained that most archaeological jobs are contract jobs and of these, some are voluntary.

They take place all over the country and so she does not particularly want to pay rent on property where she is not there. I suggested she buy a mobile home like a snail transports it’s shell around with it and she had indeed been thinking along these lines.

Do you hate application forms?

She was talking about application forms and how difficult they were to fill in even with cut and paste. I have always held that people who designed forms should be forced to fill them in. If I were talking to a compiler of forms I would ask relatively few questions. I would first of all start by explaining the nature and scope of the job and what is expected. I would then write to the applicants asking them to feel in what way they could contribute to the greater cause and what their strong and weak points are. I know that when you do window dressing, you stand a risk of exaggeration, but this could be clarified at a later point with a personal meeting or along chat by ZOOM or on the phone.

Some people are very good at filling in forms but have the strange habit of omitting certain factors which may not be in their favor. I would be suspicious of someone who changes jobs too frequently and I would always ask why someone left a job. I would rather rely on my own intuition and judgment than look at references because I know that these days employers are afraid to be critical for fear of being sued. People sue anyone for any reason these days. I call it sewage.

With a tranche of new politically correct rules and regulations there will be ‘diversity and equality monitoring’ questions so you should not leave those blank. You might get away with it with making applications to small companies. It’s up to you to give answers to what may be in many respects stupid and brainless questions. I would also disclose any disabilities or difficulties you have at the same time I feel is it is legitimate to mention your achievements without sounding hubritic.

Two English words examined

In connection with my great love of the English language, two words have attracted me in the last hours, coax, and dote.

‘coax’ is a transitive verb which means to carefully manipulate someone or something into a particular desired state,  situation or position. With objects, it is something that requires delicacy and attention for example coaxing a wire through a pipe. On the human level, it’s about making a pet of, to fondle, to caress, to treat endearingly with the desire of changing our modifying behavior. On the level of animals, you are coaxing sheep to go into a pen or perhaps you would choose to use the word herd. I suggest that ‘coaxing’ is more animal friendly than ‘herding’ or ‘corralling’ which is used more with large group of bovines or wild animals.

‘dote’ was a word that came to mind when I saw a grandfather doting on his grandchild. The word dote however has mixed meanings. It can show excessive fondness or love, it can relate to foolish actions, or finally it can be to be weak-minded, silly, or idiotic: to have the intellect impaired especially by age so that the mind wanders or wavers.

It was used from the late 13th century from the old French aage, eage from the words age, life, lifetime, lifespan, maturity, so this is definitely associated with older people. It does not mean that the object of the attention is worthy of it. Rather it describes the overarching attitude of the one who dotes

Can I ‘dote’ on this diary? Not really. Its more for people. My interest is more pragmatic.   I can think of some words that I can use. I could say cherish or love but I don’t say either of these things. I would rather be the safeguarding officer. Perhaps I am the keeper or the perpetuater of the idea of diaries. I am a sustainer and upholder of the values.

Doting applies to people and animals.

And finally…

I had a very good lesson in management technique from Trailfinders whom I called yesterday to ask about a visit somewhere. Last time I contacted them, 2014, I noted that they greeted me by name. In other words there’s a connection between the customer and their phone number. I started my conversation with the young lady by asking if this system was still in operation. Her reply was ‘ you last traveled with us in 2014 when you went to Cape Town’. I had no answer to that.

I heard about a very bad lesson in management on the news this morning. The army are having great difficulty in recruiting and retaining. The reason so I am told and it does make sense is that they have outsourced their recruiting to a company who is obviously mainly interested in numbers. They find the recruiting rate is lower and the retention rate is lower. The reason was that they did not get to meet real army or navy people and so did not feel a sense of connection. On paper this move to outsourcing may have saved money but in practice it did not work.

If you are entering a crowded market with a new idea you have to find some way of distinguishing yourself from others in order that the word can get around. Word of mouth is the most powerful thing and I got my last set of clients from a chance meeting with a woman called Barbara who was at Chalice Well during a celebration. I want to have any people take notice of advertisements these days. The best is person to person contact. It always has been and always will be.