Bury Times, They Are A Changing....

The Bury Times is a local newspaper that has seen so much slimming down over the recent years that it became positively anorexic. Newqust, the American owners, have decided to get rid of some of the key staff and moved practically all the rest to their Bolton office. The printing of the BT won't be affect the lads at the Bolton press because it has been closed down they have been made redundant and it is being printed somewhere in Wales!! Meanwhile the Bury Times is being printed in Glasgow!!
Newsquest own over 300 local newspapers and this is not the first instance of them cutting back and it won't be the last, so if you work for Newsquest it may be a time to start looking for a new job.
My mate Simon has set up a Keep The Bury Times In Bury group on Facebook and it has amassed over 700 members and still rising. Members include MPs MEPs journalists PR people and many ordinary people local and abroad. search it out on Facebook for lots more info.
Latest addition to the things people say:
Girl playing on a pub quiz machine: Napoleon......That a type of ice cream.
I honestly do not make these up.

Fame at last....

I have been asked if I minded my blog being used as a teaching aid so as I said OK I suppose I should keep it up to date.
My mate Simmy has got a new hobby, it is kick boxing. The other night he was showing off his new moves after a beer or two and the result was Simon getting a bust lip, Me getting a whack on the nose and a bruised knee and Simmy landing on his backside in the middle of the street breaking his finger. So a good time had by all.
I have finished my rant on the congestion charge only to mention that Firstbus had a plan in place in case it didn't go through, they put the prices up by 10.8%. Nice move.
I finaly got a joke on my mobiles that actually funny opposed to sexist or racist so here it is.
Saudi Arabia TV are having second thoughts on showing The Flintstones on television over there. They think that people in Dubai would not understand the humour but Abu Dabi do.
Later.

Congestion Charge Update. Gutted..

The votes are in on the "Going To Work Tax" have been counted and the answer is NO!
Firstbus shareholders must be gutted that they can't take £1200 per year off people who are not as well off as they are.
53.2% of the people voted so a good turn out. It just goes to show that people could see through the lies we were fed and the fact that this was not thought through properly.
Incidentally Edinburgh voted against the congestion charge as well but they still got their tram system and the most you pay for a bus ticket is £1.10 whereas the minimum you can pay around here is £1.20 and that will get you approx 3 stops.

Feeling Congested pt3 It's going to get you.....

I recently heard that there was a meeting on Tuesday night where it was said that if the 'going to work tax' does not raise enough money to pay back the loan then the congestion charge would be introduced to other towns in the area. So if you are one of the people who doesn't work in Manchester and think that the charge would not affect you then think again.
If this is intorduced to my town then we would have to pay six times each day. Once to get to the motorway, then again when we leave the motorway and then to enter the city, then the same on the way home. Where we live it is impossible to get to the motorway without crossing the town centre. We would all like a cheap, efficient public transport system but to be honest the system doesn't work at the level it is at now. Expand the system, expand the problems. two breakdowns on the tram system this week alone that I know of.

Feeling Congested pt2 "Just say NO!"

It's nearly time to vote on the 'going to work tax' and I am far from convinced that a Yes vote is right. They tell us that trams will run with two extra carraiges to make travel more comfortable for commuters. I recently caught a tram from inside 'the zone' and it was like squeezing into a sardine tin. I just got inside the doors and had to get off the tram at a number of stops in order to let other passengers off. It occured to me that there were a lot more people standing than sitting, so if you put on an extra two carraiges most people would get a seat but there would still be people standing. Not much of a problem you may think but TIF works with the idea that people would be put off driving their cars to and from work and get public transport instead. So when all these extra passenger get on the tram to stand with the others already on what do you get? A sardine tin.

In The Pink....

It's cancer awareness day in the college so students are using this as an escuse to dress in pink. I didn't because I don't have anything pink so I told them my T shirt was khaki pink. Later when asked why I wasn't wearing pink I said "I am wearing my girlfriends underwear". Then after the initial response I added "No I'm not, that was last week"!!.

Student: "I look damn good in a TuTu".

It's been a while....

Nothing much happening at the moment, the students are being boringly well behaved.
The only problems we have had so far this term are all IT based, so nothing new there and the strangest thing I've heard on the bus was a cat meowing all the journey in.
main topic of conversation is the vote on the Manchester congestion charge which I refer to as the "going to work tax". The referendum is happening soon on the largest (100 Sq miles) congestion charge area in Britian and it will cost some people £1200 a year just to go to work. The thing is I quite often travel inside the "zone" and all the congestion I see is outside the "zone". The people who work in Albert Square who make the decisions do not travel by public transport and will be exempt from the charge and if they were charged they would just claim it back on 'expenses'. when it comes to the vote go all Grange Hill and "Just say NO!".
Funniest student related thing lately was a lad who came in with his wrist strapped up. "What happened to you?" I ask. "9 hours of Xbox" was his reply. I think I will stick to Mob Wars on Facebook.