jasper123

Tanto,
Please dont ever think that people on here will ever think when they are reading your posts that you are boring, I am boring myself at times I think, but still everyone reads my posts and many respond,
Barb said it right ---- on here we can just be ourselves, nobody is expecting anything from us at all, just to air our feelings about the fears/concerns/doubts/no doubts, happiness, like trottytrue the founder of this thread often says --- we all have something in common, we all are either thinking of going back home to UK, or others have made definite plans and dates, and others have already left the nest and are now over there living there dream, and we live our dream through (THEM) --- we all live in different parts of the world, but were all expats, a few are not though, those people live in UK but they often give us much valuable advice about life in UK now, we help each other through the hard times that we go through, and we are full of happiness when someone is happy for whatever reason like everything is starting to come together for them, and we are sad when things are not going so good for other people,
We give advice when we can and you will be absolutely amazed on here all the helpful information on a vast amount of subjects that people give, we are all in a certain age group that we as a large group of people ---- now especially that we have grown so big on this thread, each have there own experiences of life that we share and each with there own brand of knowledge,
As The saying goes knowledge is wealth ---- and on here we are soooooo Rich,
Rich cause we know each other,
Welcome Tanto and also to all the other new posters welcome, and to all you lurkers out there that often read our posts on here --- but dont post at all, well all I can say is you can jump in anytime you know --- we are a very friendly bunch on here, I bet most of you are oldies like us too
Take care ya all,
Rodney.

jasper123

Hi ED,
I bet you are beside yourself now with all these holidays, but I think that putting up with the North American work to death system and mentality for most of our lives, you and everyone else returning to UK and to work ---- deserve it, dont you think?
Take care Ed and keep up the good work and I am so looking forward to your post when you tell us all that you and your husband and doggies are together as a family again, --- not long now right !!!
Take care,
Rodney.

Derrygal

Yes the US doesn't give much in the way of vacation or sick time. It's work, work and work here. I work for a large Fortune 500 company (there's actually a few left in Ohio - not many) and I get 3 weeks of vacation a year. I've been there over 11 years though - it took me 10 years to get that much time off. I get 5 sick days a year. I am much more fortunate than a lot of people here. The woman who cuts my hair gets one week of (unpaid) vacation a year!!

dontheturner

Know that feeling well - 12 hours for us! No, They convert to any Funds, we pay £562 each, but settle in Bahts.(taking excess baggage too.) Any idea, if I can get free upgrade, by pleading age? I am over 80, and worry about Legs. Forgot to mention, www.kayak was good too, and was cheaper, weeks ago, but we didn't have the readies then. (Take a look) Take care Don

dontheturner

Beware - A used TV will be of no use, as the whole business is chabging in the UK, only a new one will be any good. don

jasper123

Barb I cant really add too much to what Fish has said here --- except that (EVERYTHING) HE HAS SAID HERE IS THE HONEST TRUTH ABOUT USA,
I will never trash the US cause although its a real hard and tough country to live in employment wise, I have been happy here on the most part, as fish has too, but this country does for sure toughen you up a lot, Americans are pretty tough like that all the time cause thats all they have known, but we know a much better and fairer system, same as health care in US --- Americans are soooo brainwashed here by all governments in US since the early 1930's that they really think that they have the very best health care system in the entire world, how funny is that !!!
If only they new the truth,
Me and fish have been living in US for about the same time, 34/36 years, and in all that time I have never received more then 3 weeks paid vacation per year either and that was after my 8th year in same company, like fish said first year is one week then 3rd or in a lot of companies 5th year is two weeks paid vacation and it stays at 2 weeks until your either 8th or 10th year depending on companies, but as fish said no firm has to give you any paid holiday here in US if they dont want to, nothing is enforced by the governments past or present,
And as far as sick time yes you accumulate that like at the rate or one day for every 2 months of service, so you may be lucky to get 6 days per year but I never got more then 5 days sick pay per year, ---- so if you are sick for longer then 5 days per year you really have to go back to work cause you need your pay check to pay the mortgage/rent/ and bills, and its nice to be able to eat now and again too,
So in other words here we are literally programed by the system to just know that even if you get really sick or are in hospital and having an operation (if you have insurance?) to get your butt back to work ASAP, no choice,
About 6 years ago while I was working for a company that I paid for there health care plan, affordable only about $100 per month out of my pay check, I had a hernia operation, I had to have it cause the pain was so bad that I could not stand it anymore, so in the hospital I went, 45 minute Operation and as soon as I woke up from the anesthesia I was able to go home, the very next day I returned to work even though the pain after the Op was severe for a couple of weeks after, I had to go back to work cause I only had one day of sick pay left for the year, I already used 4 days up about 5 months prior trying to get over a bad dose of the Flu, I had no choice but to return to work in pain, cause you cant put your bills on hold can you, and the government here dont give you nothing, --- unlike UK when your sick, the government gives you so much and your employer makes up the difference to your normal weekly pay check, they have to by law, all you need is a doctors note, --- which means one can stay at home until they are heathy enough to return to work right, so you see (thats the big difference) I would say that is wonderful, I havent experienced that kind of care from a country in 36 years, --- thats the difference between the UK that really looks after there people in a big way to the USA that is a 100% capitalist country that cares nothing of there people, keep em working, keep em poor, and may the rich always become richer,
Even if the current British government do there best to cut a lot of benefits to the poor like we do over here, the UK will never be in the terrible state that America is in, and the people of UK will never be as hard up and poorly treated as the middle class people are here in the good old USA,
It seems Barb with what you say about the Australian system now its very much like the UK system, I think cause its still a part of the British Commonwealth, thats why you still drive on the left over there,
As has been said many many times on our thread --- British people living in UK all there lives young or old have absolutely (NO) Idea at all how good they have it,
Take care,
Rodney.

sallysimmons

Never a truer statement was made. I would just add "keep 'em stupid" to that list. That way they'll keep voting for the people who want to keep them poor ... and actually come to believe that the people who want to help them get out of poverty are really socialists bent on destroying their way of life.

cheers

I have been told on more than one occasion by CEOs that unless you have the mentality to fire your widowed mother working in the mail room to exist you aren't going to make it as a CEO. Said another way, you have to be brutal to be a CEO.

The CEOs work for the stockholders and if they don't perform they are ousted by the Board of Directors.

I'm not justifying their actions, quite the contrary. Like the weather we can talk about all day long but in the end it wont change anything.

jasper123

Very well put indeed Derrygal,
The woman that cuts my hair works for a very large national chain of hairdressers and she gets absolutely no paid or unpaid vacation, she has worked there for 7 years at the same location, and if she needs to take a week off every few years she has to put it in writing and also state the reason why she should need a week off that particular year, and of course like your hairdresser also does not get paid for that week off --- even if the management gracefully grants it and actually gives them the express permission to take that week off, --- but my goodness when they return to work they better be ready to work twice as hard to make up for that one week that they were away in that year
Yes we are truly talking slave labour over here in USA and at $8.50 per hour if you are lucky, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and in a truly 100 per cent capitalist country that the USA has become where the only thing that matters is money and more money to the rich corporations, the only way that they can continue on this lucratively profitable brain washing path is to first brainwash all there employees and then once that is done its really easy to screw everyone that works for them. The American way !!!!
yes you can just quit that lousy Job and try find another --- but you will find much the same thing going on in your next employment --- so from the frying pan into the fire so to speak, and I have seen an employee over here at a place I worked at once absolutely terrified by the place she worked at, scared to be a minute late for work of have a day off sick cause her young daughter has a fever of 106 and she needs to take her to the hospital, scared cause it was a non union Job and she just knew that she would be fired, ---- you see no one to take her place for that shift --- so productivity would be down for that day, they cant have that can they, OMG what has this country become?
Rant over, sorry!!! but I do feel so strongly about this, but I still am not trashing America, and I will never do that, I have no regrets,
Rodney.

Mummy in the foothills

Oh yes it's all totally true, no one here seems to believe me when I tell them what the UK system is like. Dh will get a generous 3 weeks paid holidays starting next year after 6 years in a Union shop. I've never had a paid vacation living here, I've always worked not quite the 40 hrs a week required, so they've never given me holidays.
I made sure over the years that we always had a savings account with enough in it. Not to pay the bills but to ship the whole family back to UK. That money has sat untouched for 17 years (now earning only 0.3%). The emergency fund is separate, six months of living expenses, Should that start to whittle away, we will just head home. We should have done it when I said too, back in 2000, but Dh was bull headed (every time we butt heads over money like that, we look back and I was right ). So now we sit on a house worth not much more than we paid, but at least it'll give us something once we sell and move.
Dh is no longer allowed to make financial decisions

cheers

I've forgotten. I think Rodney flies out on the 30th or is it the 29th?

jasper123

Hi ED, WELL ITS ABOUT 4 AM Scotish meantime and I am wishing you a very happy birthday, and many more to come, you are probably working today but I hope you have a nice glass of wine or like me a nice triple shot of Rum,
Take care Ed,
Rodney.

jasper123

30th cheers

jasper123

Mummy very good post indeed, and I totally agree with all you said, and I know its not at all funny,but the funny part though was right at the end I had to chuckle when you said that DH is no longer allowed to make any more financial decisions I like that!!!

jasper123

Hi Sally,
Yes your right that has to be added --- keep em stupid too, but what you are missing is this, it dont matter in the least what government is in power in US at the time ---- either party --- it makes no difference at all, they all are so freaking always on the side of the big corporations and not at all for the working what they call here middle class --- (I call us blue collar working class) or poor working class,
all Governments thinking over here is the corporations are the heart of the system, and the mentality has been for a very long time of all governments here to brainwash from birth, that way we can keep the people ignorant, and as long as we tell the people that all the other countries systems are bad and ours is the best and we are the richest and most powerful country in the world, then throw in the religion too then they have it made,
And they tell everyone that we have the absolute best and most affective health care system in the free western world, then everyone will believe them, --- well everyone except the Immigrants from every other western country in the world who have experienced and know about universal one payer heath care, or socialized health care,
Very Sad what this country has become,
Rodney.