Phantom jobs but real job losses.

The employment picture in Lowestoft has taken another hard knock (in fact its taken a few).Jeld wen,a major employer who make wooden furniture has gone down the pan and Elizabeth hotels who own a lot of property in lowestoft (some of which was to have been improved) have gone into administration.
The EDP and Lowestoft Journal can drivel on about the phantom 10,000 new jobs all they like but things are pretty bad for the town at the moment and it doesn't look as though in reality things are going to get any better.
Meanwhile,the ludicrous 'Waveney Campus' project has finally vanished without trace.Millions of pounds have been squandered on this monument to its stupidity by our council,the council tax payers of the county will be paying for something that never was,neber should have been and never now will be for years to come.

A huge red barge is moved into Lowestofts harbour getting ready to move one of the modules that have been built at SLP.Even though the firm has gone into administration it still has work to finish and will be a major employer in lowestoft for some months to come.

Phantom firms for phantom employees.

According to our easily conned local paper the EDP,Lowestoft has become the most enterprising town in the UK.So enterprising in fact that it has won a prize for establishing 5000 new firms provisding 10,000 new jobs.
How on earth can this be true?.(It isn't) There are no new shops,no new entries in the phone book or any trade directories,all we see are big firms in trouble like SLP,and more and more boarded up and empty shops and properties.
Its tripe pure and simple,pure invention put about to bloster the image of failed local and national policies and repeated ad infinitum by its tame parrot,the local press.
A shamefull lie hiding the real sorry state this town and so much of the UK has fallen into.

Old pictures revive old memories.

I found one of my old photo albums clearing out my parents house,inside were some pictures of some of the old cars I had a long while back.This one was an old Rover 14 I bought from a Norwich scrapyard.I seem to remember it was a pre war version.I spent ages doing it up then sold it.I fitted it with a Rover 110 engine and it was about as fast as it was lethal.I'm trying to resurrect some of the other pictures to see if I can find the registration number and see if the old thing survived.
These old cars used the whitworth and BSF spanners that I sell now and export all over the world from my shop in lowestoft.

I see no ships.

Another odd boat in the harbour,it's called FINDER.
In front of it are another couple of boats that have engines running all day and all night,seems a bit anti eco,its a wonder greenpeace or someone hasn't been and boarded them.

Its raining heavily here this morning.It might be good for the sales of sou westers but the sea side a drab place to be in the rain.The trawler basin has a fair number of tugs tied up to the quay,they might be sheltering from bad weather forecast later although some are working locally.
Its better than a few years back when the only boats seen here were waiting to be scrapped.

The council have been and tidied up.looks nice now doesn't it ?.

Litter and often.

This was the sight greeting me at the end of the road today.Bin bags full of letters,food and waste all over the road.The council have been looking through it to work out whos been dumping it,I hope they wind a few hefty fines into them.

I don't believe it !.

Funny sort of a day.
The other night I posted some auctions for car parts and tools etc on Ebid auctions.
I've put plenty of stuff on there over the years and without realising it one of the things I posted brought the total number of items on the site up to 3,000,000.As a result I won a prize in a competition I didn't even know I was entering.I got some e-mails from people and one from the auction site but I was convinced they were scams or some sort of joke.Finally the site got in touch with me and sent the payment.Never has my flabber been so ghasted.
I like ebid with its laid back approach and its low fees but to get this sort of bonus is pretty mind blowing.
They say there's no such thing as a free lunch,maybe but this is the closest thing to it
Thanks Ebid.

Did Victorians play Bingo ?.

This is what I can't understand about this town.I'm supposed to be in the middle of a conservation area.All around me are plastic windows,doors,advertising signs and placards and satellite dishes .I can't as much alter anything without permission,I can't have a car or van deliver to the shop let alone park outside and to obtain any planning consent etc is like getting blood out of a stone.

Yet the bingo hall can stick up contraptions like this and the big wigs in the council give them their own private pick up and put down area and a coach park right outside.

How can that sign be part of a conservation area,did the Victorians play bingo ?

Should I join the Masons?.

The erection just gets bigger.

The construction at SLP just gets bigger and bigger.The latest bit to be added is the box (presumably accomodation) on the top to the right.

Apparently this is some sort of transformer,all part of the 'green' renewable energy movement.

Wheres King Canute when you need him

I took the dogs for their constitutional but there wasn't much beach to explore with the tide nearly up to the wall.At last that means few people about,so its nice and quiet only the seagulls to make a noise.
Every so often our local paper carries letters from people complaining about the noise sea gulls make and asking that they be killed (they call it culling,it sounds better).They really need to get a grip,seagulls live by the sea side,the clue is in their names ,SEAgulls.

Tony Blair president of Europe.

I've been busy lately but this caught me eye..... Petition to Stop Blair becoming president of europe.
I don't suppose anyone would oppose this lying,conniving,greedy,grabbing,hypocrytical,warmongering cheat a multi million pound unelected job with his horrendous wife hanging on his coat tails as the gravy train picks up speed.
But,if the do they could sign this petition.

You can't have too much bling

More bling on the poor old taxi.Chrome bumpers front and back.More bling, just sex on wheels.

More hold ups than Dick Turpin.

An ambulance,blue lights flashing helplessly waits as another boat heads out to sea.Lets hope the patient waiting for the ambulance didn't mind waiting while Capn Pugwash meanders on his way.
A couple of hours later an another sailing boat splutters and farts its way out to sea,the bridge duly rises and half of Lowestoft splutters and farts its way to a halt.

.

Lowestoft more Jam than Hartleys.

For some time I've been thinking of going out and selling tea and snacks to the drivers stuck in Lowestofts traffic jams.
Since the folly of the sunrise scheme we now get a better class of jam the trustrated delivery drivers and the motorists who've been driving round and round for hours trying to find a place to park or escape the place all add to its cosmopolitan flavour.






Things to do in a Lowestoft traffic jam.
1.Start writing a novel or a letter to Aunt Maude.
2.Learn to play chess or speak another language.
3.Pull faces in the rear view mirror at the driver in the car behind you.
4.Read the Bible or War and Peace.
5.Send the passenger off shopping,you'll not have moved far when they come back.
6.Count how many empty shops you can see.
7.Start on this years Christmas present list.
8.Try and work out what song the guy in front is singing along to.
9.Stare at him untill he turns round and feels silly.
10.Try not to think about how long before you can go wee wee.

Pimp my ride.

I bought an old london black cab a while back.Made by LTI these are called Fairway taxis,the engine is a Nissan 2.7 diesel the body pretty much the same as the old Austin FX4.
I've been repairing,restoring and welding the thing ever since bought it.
Aftre all that I needed some light relief and when I saw some chrome hub caps advertised and thought I'd get them.You can't beat a bit of bling.

Sad picture from the caravan site.

I took the dogs to the beach this morning at the old caravan site.Someones pride and joy had burnt out,apparently the result of an electrical fault.Very sad.
I assume it is (or rather was) a renault motorhome.

Credit crunch,recession,we're doomed I tell you,doomed.

The credit crunch seems to be even hitting the car boot sales,I went to the one at Beccles and both the ones at Yarmouth.A total waste of time,most of the stuff would have been better off in a skip and that which was any good seems to give people a funny idea of its value.A grotty old compressor for £75 is about what I can sell a new one for and I also passed at a welder that smelled as though it had been on fire a time or two.

Here's another picture of the cars at the country fair.

Cars and more cars.

Had a day out at Raveningham Country fair.I've never been to one before,knights jousting,falcons,steam engines,model planes (great flying display) dog races and ferrets (thankfully both kept seperate),dance troups and lots of other things including the most expensive drinks cans I've ever resisted the temptation to buy.Nice display of cars in the centre of the field.Well worth the trip,just take your own drinks.