Making ends meet

[HSR 286]

13 minutes ago, DJ360 said:

...and anyway... why did some houses have a sort of concrete shelter. just for the Bin?

I remember those..thought the same thing at the time..in reflection fallout shelter phase 2? ..the HIV advert in the 1980's more than made up for it however!

[Brew 5,408]

12 hours ago, DJ360 said:

It probably wasn't wise long term for the blokes doing it, but then again  a hundredweight on the back isn't impossible. As with all weight lifting exercises.. 'good form' is important...

I was quite weedy as a youth (still am..) but I could do it.  And of course knowlege about things like 'repetitive strain injury' etc., wasn't so hot.

When aah wur a Coal Board apprentice, we useter 'ave whole lessons in 'Kinetic Liftiing', to reduce injury from poor lifting technique. Basic principles along the line of. 'Bend knees not back. Back straight, legs together..' etc.

When I worked on assorted building sites, but mostly on the Basford Flats site, we were often called upon to unload whole wagons of cement. It was in 56 lb bags and still warm/hot from the manufacturing process.  Carting a couple of tons of those on one shoulder or the other often resulted in pretty sore shoulder..  Not from the weight, but from the heat. Also, unloading great wagons of bricks by hand.  Rough edges, bits in your eyes etc.

 

Very character building though...  I now have a character as rough as raw bricks and as cool as cement..

 

I've done a lot 'handball' loads. 22tons of bagged cement, as you say still hot - full 40' trailer of 1cwt bags of plaster - trailer full of McCarthy bricks from Bulwell - 2cwt hessian bags of sugar beet (they damn near killed me) - raw brown sugar in 1cwt bags, sticky and as rough as sandpaper - building blocks  - concrete paving slabs... the list goes on and on all unloaded by hand. The beer barrel I now carry around my waist was once quite an impressive six pack.

Thank god for palletisation

[Waddo 921]

44 minutes ago, Brew said:

The beer barrel I now carry around my waist was once quite an impressive six pack.

That's the thing though, when your younger you only need a six pack, but when we get older we need more, so hence the barrel !!.

[DJ360 6,721]

Indeed.  Done my bit too.  Try 'drossing off' a 50 ton pot of molten scrap lead which has a foot thick layer of wire, bits of brick, old plumbing fittings, general crud etc on the top.  Just breaking into it was a nightmare and then just a slog of dragging, ladling etc.

[benjamin1945 16,139]

Done my bit too........Ounce of Yeast  Mrs Williams ?

Pound of Dried Peas.......Mrs Griffiths ?

Half pound of Tub Butter......Mrs Carling ?

Qtr of Potted Meat..........Mrs Robinson ?

 

And it went on all day,,talk about hard Graft..........thank-you ladies thats 4/8............

[nonnaB 4,894]

This thread reminded me of todays attitude when shopping, not so much in supermarkets but in local shops where people shop daily for their needs. I tend to shop in bulk for basics and shop for fresh as needed but do tend to go to super markets because in local shops you get into a mass of people who don't understand queueing. Then they want some ham, only 3 slices, no thats too thick/ thin. No I don't want them , cut them again.  Ask for 200 gr of ham/ cheese or whatever . Slightly over, ok? No I asked for 200 gr . The assistant getting a bit peeved asks what do I do with the extra slice, and gets the reply well I don't want it. Then they see someone that they've not seen for a while. Oh ciao , how are you, hows Sara ? And Giovanni . Then you hear almost all of their problems . Finally when its your turn the assistant can't hear what you are saying because everyones talking at once . In desparation you walk out. Oh the joys of living in a small community. But I like it apart from local shopping. Piemontese women are very fussy.

[benjamin1945 16,139]

Ah Lady Nonna ,just slip me a little note with your requirments on,,,then go home and put the Coffee Pot on.....i'll deliver your needs later  

[loppylugs 8,427]

I don't think I'd last long there, Nonna.  We had a mobile phone shop for seven years, until we sold it.  We were selling one particular mobile phone service.  Most folks were good to deal with, but some came in with a chip on their shoulder about the service.  I didn't own the company, only that store but they'd take it out on us because we were the reps. One moaning twerp can spoil your whole day.  I'd finally had enough.

[nonnaB 4,894]

Always the gentleman Ben. The only way I can get food delivered is by ordering fro British corner shop. We can't even get a pizza delivered. Forgot to add the coffee is very strong is that alright?

[nonnaB 4,894]

I agree Loppy people are a pain in the proverbial. The local market was the worst. Every time I asked for something it was "its a bit over" what do you say when its a slice of very thinly cut ham After a while I understood what this woman was doing and finally found another stall to get my cheese and ham.

[loppylugs 8,427]

I've learnt from it, Nonna.  I always try to have a smile for those in retail even if I'm miffed over the product or service.  They're trying to earn a buck and I don't know the pressures or quota's they are working under.

[benjamin1945 16,139]

Coffee stronger the better thanks nonna,,

Most customers in my few years in retail for Marsdens/Farrands were very nice,,if you had a sense of humour,,

[loppylugs 8,427]

Yeah!  I had a sense of humor.  Told one not to let the door hit him on the way out.    He went down to my competitor's store (With whom I was friends) and told him what I said.  He said he had the hardest time not laughing 'cos that's what he wanted to say.

[benjamin1945 16,139]

First day as Relief Manager at Farrands, Mansfield rd,Sherwood,,i was just a boy 18,,

Man comes in 9am,,

Man,,wheres the free balloons with the Quash i bought Saturday?

Me,,sorry sir,,don't know,,ive just walked in,,the other staff will be here soon,if you can hang on a bit,

Man,,not good enough,i want them Now,,

Me,,really sorry,just hang on,, 

Man,,who do you think you are talking to?

Me,, if you can't wait a minute or two,, go away,,(in Bulwell speak f off) 

He left saying he woukd be reporting me,

9am next morning General manager mr Vaughan (dad of one of the paper lace group) comes in shop,,i thought ey up sack coming up Ben,,

Told him what happened and said "what would you have done sir?

I'd have told him to f off Ben,,

Great bloke. Lol,

[benjamin1945 16,139]

Memory is a strange thing.........whilst relating the above.......names of other staff from that day in 1963 came back to me,,and a full memory of what the customer was wearing....IE    Light coloured suit and he had an ''hair lip''.......the Manager i was standing in for was Mr Coleman,,who had a broad Norfolk accent,, and the two staff members were Rob Farrell and Elsie Taylor...........from one day 56 years ago,,, feel very old now..............

[MargieH 7,599]

Ben, I'm so impressed with your powers of recall... 

 

[benjamin1945 16,139]

Thanks Margie,,strange how some days from years ago seem like only yesterday,, 

Remember many of the lady customers from my Teen years, many had songs written about them,, already mentioned Mrs Robinson,,then there was Mrs Jones,, we had a thing going on "" not forgetting Mrs Brown,,who had a lovely daughter,,  lol,, 

[LizzieM 9,507]

On 3/16/2019 at 11:05 AM, philmayfield said:

Often the coal came in enormous lumps which you had to attack with a hammer to break it into useable pieces. 

I remember as a little girl being intrigued by a black ‘thing’ on my uncles’s cheek and asking him what it was. He told me it was a piece of coal, embedded into his face when he was smashing some coal up at home, he wasn’t a coal miner.  I suddenly remembered about that in recent years and apparently the coal had worked its way out of his face after a few years.  

Years ago we were in the process of buying a new home and the seller rang us up and said he was nearly out of heating oil and would we be prepared to purchase a tank full and in return he would leave us some coal.  We paid for the oil and on moving in we found just ONE massive lump of coal in the ‘coal house’.   

That pair of tight wads were so well-connected and wealthy, it’s easy to see why and how.  

[Brew 5,408]

I was thinking of this thread a few minutes ago. I like fresh crusty uncut bread made myself a ham sandwich. Without thinking I flipped the bread knife over and used it to spread the butter. It's something I saw my gran do when I was about 7. Why did it suddenly come to mind? Strange things memories...