Maplin's Struggling

[Tony S]

I hated English literature and language, I got thrown out of both for being disruptive.

20 years later I was registered as a publisher by the British Library and ISBN.

Funny old word   :slap

 

[rapparee]

I hated English literature and language, I got thrown out of both for being disruptive.

20 years later I was registered as a publisher by the British Library and ISBN.

Funny old word   :slap

It wasn't the last thing you were threw out of for being disruptive  :B

Me too. I HATED Grammar but got forced to do the 11+ as my brother before me had passed. I wanted to go to the local comp with my mates!

Electronics club as well. 

Never understood it then let alone now!

Electronics....

I'm sitting in the house ordering transorbs from RS Components as we speak.

I was drawn towards politics and history at school. I managed 100% in one of my A-level modules 

 

[OnOff]

It wasn't the last thing you were threw out of for being disruptive  :B

Electronics....

I'm sitting in the house ordering transorbs from RS Components as we speak.

I was drawn towards politics and history at school. I managed 100% in one of my A-level modules 

I liked fighting and detention mainly!

 

[Tony S]

It wasn't the last thing you were threw out of for being disruptive  :B

I’ll treat that with the contempt it deserves.

 

[rapparee]

I’ll treat that with the contempt it deserves.

Nice to know I've hit my target.

:slap

I liked fighting and detention mainly!

That was left to the ruffians in comprehensive schools. We used to fight full scale battles. One class against another. It was actually encouraged on the sly by the form teachers. It was to build a no man gets left behind mentality. Considering some of my teachers transpired to be "volunteers" perhaps we were being groomed for something.

 

[Tony S]

I'm sitting in the house ordering transorbs from RS Components as we speak.

I had a nice little business going in the early 80’s using a network of GDT and MOV on the phone lines when I lived in the middle of nowhere. At the time all BT could offer was carbon arc gap diverters that didn’t work.

 

[rapparee]

I had a nice little business going in the early 80’s using a network of GDT and MOV on the phone lines when I lived in the middle of nowhere. At the time all BT could offer was carbon arc gap diverters that didn’t work.

And were you technically allowed to do this work. It was working on BT's infrastructure afterall

 

[OnOff]

Nice to know I've hit my target.

:slap

That was left to the ruffians in comprehensive schools. We used to fight full scale battles. One class against another. It was actually encouraged on the sly by the form teachers. It was to build a no man gets left behind mentality. Considering some of my teachers transpired to be "volunteers" perhaps we were being groomed for something.

We would be locked in when the local scruff school was spoiling for a fight. They would mass outside our gates and lob bottles over the fence turning the sky black like medieval archers! 

Good times!

 

[Tony S]

And were you technically allowed to do this work. It was working on BT's infrastructure afterall

No, what's that go to do with anything?

I got fed up with replacing the toasted fax and answer phone every year. This was the early 80;s and they were damned expensive to replace.

 

[binky]

One common issue with a lot of these failing high street companies is they are linked to private equity firm's who borrowed a lot of £££ to expand their high street portfolios at a time when the high st was in decline and now they are getting shot of them.

 The Equity compnies assest strip them. Toys R Us is a classic case in point, the 'owners' borrowed money to buy the buisness, then made the business pay back the huge loan, and of course spent 10 years trousering large salaries and bonuses. I truly believe they don't give a flying firk for the actual business itself.

 

[OnOff]

Mothercare now in crisis talks too.

 

[Murdoch]

Mothercare now in crisis talks too.

They have been been in trouble for a couple of years .... At least

 

[binky]

they were lettuced 20 years ago - I know this becuase my son was 21 last week. Just plain dam out of date and trading on an old name.

 

[MDJ]

a horrible time at the moment, Carillion started the slide south, I liked Maplins, but internet shopping is killing the high street, amazon prime has transformed shopping, next day delivery and so easy as well. A shame though

 

[Murdoch]

I have long thought that out of town Internet retailers should pay the same level of business rates as shops, on the same scales....

 

[Sidney]

, but internet shopping is killing the high street, 

Doesn't help with local government charging high local business rates and stupidly high parking prices. Our local car park costs more to run that it generates in revenue but the council see this as money coming in.

 

[MDJ]

yep true, I go to cribs causway now in Bristol for shopping or the internet, the internet usually, gloucester is a shambles, expensive and just pound shops, charity shops and mobile phone shops lol, a complete shambles

 

[Sidney]

We're overrun with charity shops but the only shop we need closed down year and was replaced by yet another tanning salon, it was a cracking little car spares shop. We have a  lot of pizza places as well.

My local Maplin was pretty pants, most of the stuff I needed ended up ordering online. Another thing that annoyed me in there was the staff, I'd go in for a quick browse and three of them would pounce, 'anything you need sir?', please go away politely... I hate been hassled in shops.

 

[Phoenix]

Not sure if anyone here will have heard of it, I expect that if you have ever used HAM radio in the east mids, then you will have, but in my local town, in the old part of the town there is a proper old school electronics shop, John Birkett's shop, it used to be piled high with all sorts of military suplus radio gear, compnents etc. 15-20 years ago it used to be reasonably busy for what it was, he had a couple of staff working for him and a ready stream of customers. These days its still here, but its just John who opens up for a few hours on some weekdays and saturdays, doesn't sell a lot and it seems he keeps doing it in order to chat to old friends who drop by, in order to have something to do in his retirement, quite sad, feel sorry for the chap

 

[Tony S]

Mothercare closing may stop some of the socket covers getting on the market. For years they’ve stubbornly refused to recognise the danger of them.