Unemployment

[jimeve]

Well its that time of year for me, no work. I expect this every Jan/Feb so i have to work hard just to get work. Summer time I have to give work away. my job is a Domestic Painter & Decorator ! But I think its gonner be a bit slower this time round
thanks to the cut backs. have your say.

[fred]

I was a S/E decorator for years Jim.. I worked hard at getting my own domestic and commercial customers over the years.. Its tough to begin with but once I had reliable almost loyal customers they gave me enough work to keep me going all year...A bit like painting the Fourth bridge..
If I went back next week though I`d be back to square one.
Cheap local advertising is your best bet for starters..

[jimeve]

Thanks Fred, been a painter on and off since I was 15. and have been self employed for about 15 years. its just very slow at the moment, I usually go to the Phils for two months. but decided to stay here this year. going back next year thou

[Terpe]

Jim, surely it's gotta pick up soon??
So very sorry to hear about your situation. Believe me I've been there and know the feeling only too well.

Last time it happened to me and I actually managed to find another job (just a few day before disaster) both me and the wife cried together.

God Bless

[Jimbojac]

Loads of us on here eh!
Very slow here in Jersey too but come March it normally picks up.
Feast or famine i normally say! Sometimes i can take 2 blokes on for the larger jobs but barely have enough for myself now and really watching the pennies to go back to the Phils for a quick stint soon.
{ Best of luck Jimeve! }

[stevewool]

keep the faith there boys, if you was closer i would use you jimeve

[Pete/London]

Well its that time of year for me, no work. I expect this every Jan/Feb so i have to work hard just to get work. Summer time I have to give work away. my job is a Domestic Painter & Decorator ! But I think its gonner be a bit slower this time round
thanks to the cut backs. have your say.

Know exactly how what you mean, but I`m too old to care now. I have seen it all in the Heating and Plumbing industry and used to employ 25+ in the 1980s on various council and housing association contracts.
Advertising is a good way to blow money for little return and corporations have moved into my industry big time. Even the AA wants a slice of the action.
All made worse by programs such as `Traders from Hell` that delivered customers into the hands of the giants. I often wonder if they put up the money for the program.
I cant wait to see the `Customers from Hell`of which there are many.

Not to get on a thorny subject but the building and domestic services industry has been decimated by imported labour.

[jimeve]

Thanks guys, having a little moan, getting it of my chest, feel better now. the documentary about Manila touched a nerve, was very upset. we are so privilege and much better off, but there happy smiles and happy children. Gone off topic now.

[Rosie1958]

I do hope that your work picks up soon Jim, I always look for tradesmen in my local newspaper and coincidentally rang both a plumber and an electrician for a quote earlier this evening. Many people can't afford to move or go away on holiday this year so will be doing a few home improvements.. Since spring seems to be arriving earlier in the UK this year, I hope your work does too. Best of luck!

[jimeve]

Thanks Rosie, sure it will pick, its got seasonal the past few years. hope to retire to the Philippines in a few years.

[scott&ligaya]

I came back from three weeks at our place in Palawan a couple of weeks back and walked into a meeting with my local MD who told me that as I had built a strong team beneath me and as times were hard I was no longer required!!! great eh .. good news was that they have to breach my contract and compensate me.. So I have a tidy sum in the bank (which my clever wife will use to expand our interests in Palawan) and very fortunately have a choice of what to do next. My gut says stop working for multi national global companies who just burn you up and spit you out when they feel like it, go back to Palawan and enjoy a semi retirement with just some consultancy work ..

but I have a three yr old and a 18 month old so I will carry on being a coroporate slave for a few more years and then get the hell out of here. Our local orphanage will benefit from my windfall and I just have to decide if I work for British Energy, Airbus or GE Healthcare. I consider myself very lucky to have had a great career in my chosen line of work but just wish I did not have to be beholdent to so many corporate ass holes lol. A few more years and woo hoooo I am done with all that. It is a shame that the EU rules have allowed so much imported labour to destroy so many time served craftsmens jobs and livelyhoods but in the end everyone has to be able to adapt and find ways of delivering some added value that their customers are willing to pay for...or can afford to pay for. I hope you both see business pick up and are able to re visit the Phils as often as work permits. good luck

[jimeve]

Thats very generous Scott, your local orphanage is that in Palawan ? I already feel semi-retired, next winter going to Philippines to see out the quiet period. Yes its a shame the tradesmen are vanishing, due to the influx of eastern labour. good luck to you too, heard Palawan is beautiful I tend to visit some time.

[Dedworth]

May 2004 - Home Office forecast 13000 pa eastern European Migrants

Sept 2007 "British jobs for British Workers" Gordon Brown

June 2010 "We were wrong to allow so many eastern Europeans into Britain" Ed Balls Up

[fred]

Jim..I was usually OK because I have a feeling that my customers were not willing to allow these non English speaking Eastern European types into their houses alone whilst they were at work..
I had a woman call me once in tears asking for a quote to put right the damage one had caused.. It cost her double what he made her pay but I ended up with another loyal customer!!
Funny enough..One of my best customers was an old Polish fella that had been in the UK since just after the war.. I ended up working for his whole family for years..
We all get slow periods that sometimes drag on for months..Can get depressing but hang in there and it will start to flow again come spring..
Keep on trukin!!
fred.

[jimeve]

It will give me a chance to sort my van out, and my tools etc.

[scott&ligaya]

Hi Jimeve, our association with the orphanage started a few years back in 2006
We had not long bought the house and were having a wall/railings built when one day an old battered jeepney (are there any other types lol) turned up. it was full of kids and the driver asked if they could sing a song or two to entratain us and our workers, these kids brought us to tears and were just so happy to be doing anything to support themselves.

We invited the staff in and chatted, it seems that they 35 kids staying mainly in 3 rooms sleeping on the floor.... they were funded by a christian group of businessmen in Manila and had been going 2 years. We resolved that we wanted to help and the following Sunday at the local boat club where many of the semi/retired ex pats and some wealthier locals frequent for the great lunch/barbecue there I asked the English owner if we could bring the kids there to sing the next sunday

He said yes and the following week they turned up with their home made guitars and their smiles. They just melted everyones heart. A Dutch mate volunteered to provide fuel for the jeepney ongoing, another Kiwi mate offered to provide all the rice they needed, another offered to provide building materials, another provided a pig very month and so it went on. The local chief of police and the mayors son also made pledges of support and the boat club owner is providing swimming lessons and even dinghy sailing.

The community has really gotten behind this one little orphanage (there are many more deserving causes) and I feel deeply connected with there ongoing future. I am fortunate to be in a position to help and I use all my negotiating and influencing powers and skills to GOOD use to persuade my buddies in Puerto to help out. My wife and I derive great personal satisfaction from being able to do something to contribute as we have been blessed in many ways.. perhaps if you ever visit Palawan I can borrow your professional skills to add a bit of colour to the place. you and your honey are most welcome to stop at our place if we are there.

[joebloggs]

Hi Jimeve, our association with the orphanage started a few years back in 2006

where on palawan is the orphanage scott, puerto ?

many years ago i tired to convince the misses for us to try and adopt a child, but the time was wrong

not in a position to help anyone at the mo, but next time we go back to Palawan maybe i could take some toys etc..

[scott&ligaya]

It is about 10 miles out of Puerto Pricncesa in an area called San Jose. I have noticed that the kids seem happy to just have very simple/sturdy toys as they do get passed around a lot and some modern toys do not last, they need TONKA toys LOL remember thiose!!

[stevewool]

big tonka toys thats a name i have not heard from for ages, yes palawan is a place for us to see soon i hope

[joebloggs]

It is about 10 miles out of Puerto Pricncesa in an area called San Jose. I have noticed that the kids seem happy to just have very simple/sturdy toys as they do get passed around a lot and some modern toys do not last, they need TONKA toys LOL remember thiose!!

thanks
you can buy tonka toys still now, but they are not the tonka i remember made in china cheap plastic

[Sim11UK]

Hi Jimeve, our association with the orphanage started a few years back in 2006
We had not long bought the house and were having a wall/railings built when one day an old battered jeepney (are there any other types lol) turned up. it was full of kids and the driver asked if they could sing a song or two to entratain us and our workers, these kids brought us to tears and were just so happy to be doing anything to support themselves.

We invited the staff in and chatted, it seems that they 35 kids staying mainly in 3 rooms sleeping on the floor.... they were funded by a christian group of businessmen in Manila and had been going 2 years. We resolved that we wanted to help and the following Sunday at the local boat club where many of the semi/retired ex pats and some wealthier locals frequent for the great lunch/barbecue there I asked the English owner if we could bring the kids there to sing the next sunday

He said yes and the following week they turned up with their home made guitars and their smiles. They just melted everyones heart. A Dutch mate volunteered to provide fuel for the jeepney ongoing, another Kiwi mate offered to provide all the rice they needed, another offered to provide building materials, another provided a pig very month and so it went on. The local chief of police and the mayors son also made pledges of support and the boat club owner is providing swimming lessons and even dinghy sailing.

The community has really gotten behind this one little orphanage (there are many more deserving causes) and I feel deeply connected with there ongoing future. I am fortunate to be in a position to help and I use all my negotiating and influencing powers and skills to GOOD use to persuade my buddies in Puerto to help out. My wife and I derive great personal satisfaction from being able to do something to contribute as we have been blessed in many ways.. perhaps if you ever visit Palawan I can borrow your professional skills to add a bit of colour to the place. you and your honey are most welcome to stop at our place if we are there.

Nice story there Scott & nice to see you've been posting again.
I know if we lived over there, we'd end up with an animal sanctuary, taking in any old waif & stray.

[scott&ligaya]

that made me smile, one of my Swiss neighbours now has about 14 dogs LOL

[Sim11UK]

that made me smile, one of my Swiss neighbours now has about 14 dogs LOL

Haha I think we'd have hundreds of cats, all crying at night, when they were in heat.

[scott&ligaya]

was in your neck of the woods yesterday, Bristtol city centre has moved on loads form my last visit there 12 years ago, loved the Brigstow hotel with the floating restuarant directly outside, the pubs just up the street from there up some steps, the Cabot circus shopping centre/eating areas, might be moving down that way soon

[scott&ligaya]

hehehehehe
sorry that was directed to SimIIUK

[Sim11UK]

was in your neck of the woods yesterday, Bristtol city centre has moved on loads form my last visit there 12 years ago, loved the Brigstow hotel with the floating restuarant directly outside, the pubs just up the street from there up some steps, the Cabot circus shopping centre/eating areas, might be moving down that way soon

Yes Bristol is a nice City, though not keen on the new shopping centre, seems a bit disjointed. Only been there twice though...Not sure you'll find any orphanages nearby, if you move there.

[scott&ligaya]

well we are happy with what we do in the Phils hehehehe, plus I still need to work for a few more years, I have two little angels above to provide for