twobears

considering I'm bigger than my dad - thats not going to be difficult

Ok Andy. You win, your son is cleverer than my daughter, if you say so p.s. but my Dad is bigger than yours

chirag1998, that's a really interesting and informative reply, thank you You sound very employable and I bet you would do well in any career because you have a great attitude as well as both academic and practical ability You also neatly prove my theory that being academic doesn't mean you necessarily have to follow and academic route to its logical conclusion. At the risk of getting battered with someone's briefcase, I too can't imagine anything more boring than being an accountant

Thanks everyone benjy88, your reply is really informative. I think, on balance, you probably have benefitted from gaining a degree (not to mention a wife ) and good luck with your future career scobie140, I completely agree that apprenticeships are the way forward for a lot of people and we should be providing more if we want to get our economy back on track. ioneabee, I have to disagree slightly because in terms of being a bookworm, my daughter would give your son a run for his money I'm certain She has always been a very academic child, gained very good A levels and had a place to read English at a redbrick university. However, she eschewed this in favour of gaining qualifications that are both practical and academic. She's currently knocking spots off all the other students, mature ones included, and has got top marks in every single assignment she's completed to date. Yes, I would have liked to think of her studying English and, as a Larkin fan, I was thrilled she'd been accepted by Hull but, at the end of the day, it's her life and career and I think she has made the right decision for her. Not having an English degree doesn't diminish her in my eyes and, with luck, she will be far more employable in a couple of years time Just because someone is intelligent doesn't mean they HAVE to follow the uni route. I did myself but I am fine with her choosing her own way through life How I am going to adequately express my thoughts in Spanish is my next question

In my Spanish lesson this afternoon we are going to be discussing youth unemployment in Spain. I've been given a couple of newspaper articles to read which say that being female, under 24 and with what they call 'a basic education', means that one's chances of employment are slim and that, even with a job, wages would not be enough to live on. The situation is not much better for young men. Seems like a very sad state of affairs to me I am assuming that it must be similar in this country but am not sure to what extent? I feel that there may be the beginning of a backlash against higher education here, or certainly amongst some members of the middle class whose children are effectively being priced out of higher education, and private education too for that matter? My own daughter turned down her place at a redbrick uni in favour of attending a land-based college because she wanted to obtain more practical skills alongside her academic ones, for instance. I realise that a degree is still necessary to enter the professions or any specialised job but I have no recent experience to inform my opinion on whether or not a degree is a prerequisite for employment here or not? Personally, I think that going to uni has become a knee jerk reaction these days and is often unhelpful or downright damaging to young people's lives due to the amount of debt it leaves them with just as they should be starting eagerly on the employment ladder. Does anyone have a view?

Because I am really two hirsute gay men, obviously

Hm, I'll get me coat I never thought that badminton was such a risqué sport. On the plus side I have definitely improved this week and managed to win all three doubles matches with a borrowed club racquet which, fortunately, I didn't manage to break

But I didn't think I'd said anything that could be misconstrued until my last post? I know that talk of shafts etc will always lead to 'misunderstandings' but I really wanted to find out which racquets to look at and not do my usual blundering about on here and making gaffes that always get turned into double entendres

I don't understand about the condoms I daren't say anything else now. Flamez, no, it's not carbon. It gives the weight, flexibility and balance stats on the handle but they mean very little to me. I think I am just going to have to go to a larger sports shop than the one I originally went to and swish the racquets around until I find one that, ahem, fits nicely in my hand and feels right

Um, I do have big biceps for a woman but nothing like that

I'll warn him that he needs to learn how to duck next time he annoys me I was told today that I play more like a man. Not quite sure that is meant to be a compliment?

Thanks both of you They are quite easy to find but I wasn't sure how good they were. The one I have just broken the strings on is Adidas so I thought that would be ok but obviously not

I've just taken up badminton again after a long break due to hurting my shoulder (think more than a decade ) and I bought myself a cheapish racquet (£25) which has broken after only a couple of hours playing It's the strings that have gone and the shop have said they will replace it as a gesture of goodwill but I am wondering if I should get something better? I am quite a hard hitter and there's no point paying to get my racquet re-strung after every match Does anyone here play who can give me some advice on the best brand to choose please?

Thank you again Commander Lots of very relevant things to think about there. I will read it again and have a good think about what I am trying to do with my business and the best way in which to do this. I have received a lot of help from Coldel too and I feel that maybe I can finally write a proper business plan which, in all honesty, I have never done for this business

Commander, thanks for that My business is garment decoration e.g. anything from industrial embroidery onto work polos to printing slogans onto hoodies via printing personalised mugs/keyrings and decorating things with diamantÄ—. Because the sector is very competitive with large corporate firms taking a large slice of the business I am thinking of moving upmarket and offering more exclusive and luxurious items rather than grubbing about at the lower end of the market with everyone else. Margins in this sector are pretty low and I can't compete with embroidery factories for obvious reasons. The quality of my work is much higher than the big firms but I can't produce nearly as many garments as they can because of their superior staffing levels and numbers (although not quality - we all use similar machines and all mine are top of the range) of embroidery machines. I am very interested in the partnership idea. I wonder if there would be anyone suitable to partner with? The problem that I might face is that a high quality embroidery machine only costs 12K so if firms need embroidered garments it wouldn't be difficult for them to get the machinery for themselves p.s. I tried being an assassain but, as you can see, I couldn't actually spell the word so my business cards were rubbish

Yes, I agree rabbitstew. Most of the corporate blogs I've seen are deadly dull but I do like some of the blogs I've read from smaller businesses. Have to confess I've never 'followed' any though. If the business does take off in the way that I would like, then blogging would be hard to fit in as I will be too busy making products but at the moment I have plenty of time on my hands to research and try various things out

Thanks again coldel. I don't feel confident about doing a business blog as you can probably tell so maybe I should practise on my personal blog to try to work out what type of content would be useful for my customers and encourage them to "engage with the brand", to lapse into corporate speak for a moment? Like you say, I can't imagine how it can really help me to gain new customers unless I turn out to be as entertaining as Stephen Fry or as controversial as, I don't know, Richard Dawkins? And even if I were, how would anyone actually find my blog? Do any SEO companies try to push traffic to your blog? Do SEO companies actually do a good job? I used one once and it was an expensive waste of time and I got better results doing the SEO work myself, although it is very time consuming and Google are always changing the rules, rules which, of course, you are never allowed to know

coldel, you have hit the nail on the head there, I too have seen so many 'corporate blogs' that say nothing and are a complete and boring waste of time. I can't see how that sort of thing will help my business at all so I want to avoid it at all costs. Graham, is it wrong that I have to confess to not understanding the point of LinkedIn? I know that Mr TwoBears has a work profile on there and that people link to him but I have never really understood what it means?

Thanks everyone and don't worry, I'm not in the least offended by the constructive criticism as it is all perfectly valid What I am trying to achieve is to learn how to write a blog for my business web site once I relaunch it. I thought I would cut my teeth on a personal blog first and I don't want random strangers finding it and posting inane comments. I will, of course, need to make the business blog visible or there's not much point in writing the thing!! When I launched my first retail website back in 2002 everything was much simpler and getting your products noticed was far easier. Things have changed hugely since then and I really struggled to get anywhere on line with my current business, relying instead on an advertising board outside my workshop and word of mouth. That's fine up to a point but I really need to get orders through the website if I want to get enough work to make the business viable. I am not sure if a blog will help, I suspect not and that is why I never got round to doing it before but since everyone else has a blog and a Facebook page I think it may be a necessary evil these days? I was thinking that I should keep it factual and with maybe a little bit of personal detail? I quite like reading small business blogs where the owners talk about themselves but that may just be my nosey ( I prefer the word "enquiring" ) nature coming out? Like you, Sipar, I am not sure if giving everyone a voice is actually a good thing. It irritates me hugely when I read a piece by a writer whose work I enjoy only to find a plethora of stupid/offensive/threatening/moronic comments added underneath by members of the public.

After years of thinking about it I have finally created a blog. So far all I've done is set up my profile but since I am pretty opinionated I'm sure my muse will visit me soon Nothing to read on my blog yet but I'd be interested in reading someone else's from the forum if you want to share and/or have any tips and hints? I am not going to allow comments to be posted on mine because every single site I see that allows comments seems to attract total ar$es with their moronic 'thoughts' and I really can't be doing with that.

Zeus, I'm sorry to hear about your accident and I too hate people using their mobiles whilst driving. I don't even use my hands-free if I am driving because I know I can't give my full attention to the road if I am chatting on the phone at the same time.

Thank you to everyone who has commented I have a plan now so let "Operation Damp Removal" commence

Thanks Andy. No, this formerly exterior wall is right in the centre of the house now and doesn't form a gable at all. That's why I am wondering if water is coming in from the roof now, especially if the ingress and egress points can be so far apart like you have explained. I have had builders in to look before but no-one has ever found the source of the problem. Since it is getting worse though I think I must try again. How do I find a reputable surveyor in my area? I have had the misfortune to deal with a few cowboys since buying this house and I am anxious to avoid getting conned by another one. It would be so much easier if they actually wore stetsons and spurs

Ah, thank you, I understand. No, it isn't exposed anywhere. I am starting to wonder if there could also be damp coming from the roof? What sort of expert would I need to employ to find out where the problem is coming from?

I know, it is worrying me Andy. I haven't actually seen it this bad before but it was getting progressively worse 12 months ago before we moved out. I'm not quite sure what you mean by another part of the wall being at a higher level outside? The house is built on a level piece of land so there aren't any walls or earth banks or anything above it, just the rest of the same wall, if that makes sense? The land forms part of a salt marsh that was drained by the Dutch a few hundred years ago and there are still dykes criss crossing the land all around our cottage. All my friends in the area have the same problems with their old houses but mine seems to have got worse and worse over the years and I think I need to do something now before the whole place falls down