h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Carol singers who bang the door and sing (out of tune usually) one verse of I wish you a happy Christmas and then stick out their hands

I've been unemployed on several occasions myself and my brother has been out of work for nearly 2 years. Even upon re-reading my post I find it hard to see it as offensive . I was visualising more the 3rd generation unemployed who the job centres have long given up on. And don't tell me they don't exist, are tabloid creations, or are rare; I've seen those perfectly healthy but ingrained bone idle people for myself, as has my brother (watching them Swan in and out of the centre after a quick unchallenged signature, whilst he gets grilled on details of his umpteen job apps that week) .

Anyway regarding Netflix,it's not so much the auto-play function I'm referring to but the auto-shrink-credits at the end function. This ruins that moment of reflection and thought that obviously not everyone considers important, after a good film or episode.

The auto-shrink-credits can also shrink the critical last few words of the film, the bit where you're told what eventually happened to the real-life characters.

I was under the impression the DWP had debunked the notion of there being lots of 3rd generation dole families?

If anyone knows where I can find the numbers, I'd be interested to see it.

It is a myth Sho. These days everyone has to apply for a set number of jobs, and if they don't the DWP will sanction them, which means their benefits will be stopped. Even so, people seem to believe what they want to believe about the unemployed. Perhaps they see a few playing the system and then extrapolate that to the unemployed as a whole, and nothing will shift what they prefer to believe.

"These days everyone has to apply for a set number of jobs, and if they don't the DWP will sanction them, which means their benefits will be stopped. "

I agree and am equally mystified how they do it. I was hounded for evidence of job applications every week when I was unemployed and my brother has had his benefits stopped recently because they think his efforts in self-employment do not meet some criteria they have dreamt up. But the fact remains that there are still people who manage somehow, to play the system.

I'm not getting this info from tabloids; never read 'em, ever. Or tabloid TV 'documentaries'. I'm getting my 'beliefs' as you put it, from first and 2nd hand observations. My daughter-in-law lives in what is often considered to be one of Britain's most deprived areas in north Edinburgh. She personally knows neighbours who have never worked a day in their lives, or their parents for matter. Yet still they manage room-fulls of Christmas presents and to can run a car. They do claim benefits, but may or may not also have illegal revenue-streams.

When I signed on I saw some pretty shambolic unemployable looking characters in the waiting area before me. They typically went up to the desk, there was a short conversation whereby the DWP person barely looked up from the sheet the benefit-seeker was signing. Job done and off they went. Meanwhile I got the usual grilling.

My supposition is that DWP employees, like the rest of us, want an easy life and will pick the path of least-resistance in their work. Why go through a weekly rigmarole of abuse and hopeless efforts towards job-seeking, when they can just get rid of them quick and make something up on the form.

Yea! I can relate to that, seen it myself a while ago, when they were hounding me?

Apart from that, my latest hate is, being alone all the time?

Smudgef.

Dunno about multi-generational but I have two brothers-in-law who certainly got the most out of the system. One is 51 and he has worked for under two weeks in his entire life - as a trainee manager at MacDonalds. Didn't like the experience and so resolved never to risk it again. Periodically he was sent on training courses (such as "commercial music recording") which technically broke up his unemployment into shorter lengths of time. But left school at 17 and 34 years later has worked for less than 10 days.

My other brother in law is a smart cookie. Holds at least two degrees and one Masters and has held two jobs in his life. Two months with HM Customs and 20 years as a P/T Saturday assistant in a sports shop.

Oh and my petty hate - lightbulbs. Used to be if one blew, you just went to the cupboard for a replacement. Nowadays the blessed things come in umpteen sizes and shapes, bayonet, screw-in, push in nnnnnaaarrrghh!! The only thing you can be sure of is the spares you have won't be the same as the one that blows.

My bathroom light went the other day and my spare bulb was a dud, so I put lightbulbs on my list for Christmas eve. I got to the supermarket and stood there by the bulbs. I knew exactly what I needed - a 60 watt normal sized screw-in. Hmm. I had the choice of the energy savers, which looked like they might be too big to allow the "lid" back on, or halogen. I thought halogen were a completely different type of fitting so I read the box, picked up a few energy savers, looked around for a member of staff. No-one, not even someone trying to sign me up for gas/electric or a credit card. In the end I decided the halogen one looked about right so thought I'd risk it. Of course it worked fine. But it shouldn't be that hard to buy a lightbulb!

Deb

Irritating so many design engineers of the current generation have apparently no concept of standardization, less of ergonomics and apparently never try out their (trash)ware themselves at the prototype level before going into production with their market mistakes.

Oh! For the good old days of Underwriters Laboratories.

I hate next doors cats, why can't they c*** in their own nasty little gardens

PH The overexposure of Grayson Perry, especially on radio 4. I really don't need to know anything else about his unremarkable childhood, and I'm sure there are countless other artists who could offer their opinions on art, so why do we keep hearing from him?

Kasdog
1. Because they are cats.
2. Because they can.

I know and it makes me hate 'em even more

Don't have any pets in this house, don't need one, I can hear and smell all the neighbours pets, ........cats and dogs, ...Oh! Aye" ....and a crazy cockrill?

Smudger.

all those leaflets inside my newspaper on Sundays

Ice.

We're halfway up a hillside in Orkney and need to go catch a ferry back tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, the track down the hill, and then out to the main road, is a solid sheet of thick ice.

So we've got a 4am one mile trek with all our luggage to get somewhere the taxi can pick us up.

Could you slide the luggage down the icy slope?

PH the way people have started saying "I'll risk it for a biscuit", when those of us with longer memories know it should be "...for a Swisskit".