I switched to the Times when the Daily Sketch went bust in the late 60's (?) tried all and felt happiest with the Times.
Dad never forgave me as he only ever ever read the Daily Mirror, the paper for the working class.

as you say €5 is alot for a £2.20 paper, printed locally with heaven knows what missing - including all the magazines.
will be subscribing to the online version

surely its better to have your paper delivered to you on the patio than in bed ?
does he still iron it for you ?

Graham
not taken as a criticism, its a statement I have made that has attracted your interest and should be treated as such.

as I said it is a matter that could cause lots of discussion.

Delivered to me on the patio - I wish! I have to walk down to town with him to buy it.

As for the ironing, I don't think he's ever switched it on, either in the UK or here. My breakfast in bed on a Sunday used to be a trade-off for me doing his ironing, I took my eye off the ball when we moved, must be getting soft. He still does his own cooking and half the housework, though (oh and all the DIY as well as I can't so much as change a lightbulb - well that's my story and I'm sticking to it) so it could be worse.

I do the cooking, some of the washing up
oh does the washing and ironing - prefers that to the cooking
oh also walks the dog (sometimes with me) usually when I am cooking

if it works for you then thats fine,

My father used to be an engraver on the daily Sketch. Now there's a job gone the way of many old techniques.

just one small part of the lost manufacturing heritage of the UK if not the world we live in

If we were talking about 3-400 years ago fine but this is well within living memory

Really? I remember the newspaper pics of the day, grainy, and in close up like a pointillist image. It's a bit better today, but at the cost of computer imagery rather than a dozen blokes like my dad with an engraving system.

its jobs bil, its jobs

we spend a fortune on getting the latest gizmo etc etc and once its in 15 guys get laid off, no prospects, bring up their kids the same way

thats not progress thats annihilation


I had you down as an occaisional sci-fi reader

I used to be quite a serious reader of that genre, as long as it didn't get too silly. My favourites were always first contact stories.

So what do we do, ban JCBs and have everyone digging trenches by hand again?

We used to have a card school with several printers in a pub in Whitechapel. We started playing at closing time and played through until 3am. All the printers were on the night shift and had loads of money.

Try the on-line version, it has to be paid for but it's not as much as buying the paper here!

well the way Andalucia and Granada in particular like digging up perfectly good roadways and pavements in little narrow streets its all manuel labour. (yes pun intended)

when they actually get the tramo finished theres going to be some serious civils peeps laid off.
most of the guys who "know" trench shuttering are in their 60's and retiring, so where goes the knowledge, its not passed down.

the govt are fighting hard to stop people from retiring early, but they cant get jobs when a couple of years from 65, and what happens to the knowledge ? Colleges want "bright young things" teaching the students of the day - why? The kids see them as a father figure, don't listen, the only one they ever listen to is Grandad, but they wouldnt let him near a classroom, too old. Ageism is alive and well, and not just for female TV Newsreaders.

like the Anne McCaffrey Dragons of Pern books, where they have lost most of the technology and have trouble recovering it. have almost complete set and reread about once a year.

There's some truth in that. Decision at Doona was a nice first contact one of hers. If you want a cracking SF by a female author try Racoona Sheldon aka James Tiptree Jr, "I'll be waiting for you when the swimming pool is empty".

Simply brilliant.

I have thought about it but, just as I don't fancy a Kindle because it's not a "real" book, an online paper just isn't the same as paper and ink (although it wouldn't come off all over my hands!). I probably would if I lived somewhere where I couldn't buy the printed version easily, though.

I'm serious about reading and I'm on my third e-reader, a Kindle. I broke the first two.

Hard as I try, I can't get comfortable with those screens and prefer the real thing. I suppose the printed Sunday Times is more of a tradition than anything else, I used to look forward to it in Spain even when it came out on a Monday.

In those days when English papers were a day late, an entrepreneurial Spanish newsagent in tiny Albir somehow got the London Evening Standard on the same day. I was queuing behind a guy one day who had driven down from Denia to buy it.

Living in an expat area, I can get second hand (and new) books all over the place. I don't really like markets or boot fairs, or the latest craze, charity shops, but when she drags me along I'm happy when I find a book stall. I once saw two copies of War and Peace, side by side, translated by two different translators. I bought them both but haven't finished either, and that was years ago.