TV Licences for Students

Added to the tripling of University fees, you will need to find money for:

• accommodation, approx £5,000pa
• set books plus stationery odds and ends, £200pa
• depending on your course, you may need
• computer (e.g.Apple Mac, accessories, software, £2,000)
• other accessories: special clothing, personal equipment (£?)
• everyday food and hygiene products, approx £30-£40 per week
• additional sets of pots, pans, food storage boxes and other items
• TV Licence!

If a student wants to play PlayStation or X-Box that requires a TV, a licence is necessary, even if no TV programmes are watched. If a student doesn't have a TV but watches live broadcasts on a computer, a TV licence is necessary. Here is a link to TV Licence Rules.

Some extracts:
"Your hall's licence won’t cover you, and you may not be covered by your parents’ licence. Thankfully, it’s easy to buy your own." Easy? Not if you don't have the money, it isn't!
"...you may need your own licence if your accommodation is self-contained – i.e. you have exclusive access to washing facilities..." What the hell does an en-suite have to do with a TV licence?!!

A total rip-off in the case of students in halls or sharing an apartment where a TV licence is already in place for the apartment - just because there is a private washing area in your bedroom? Unbelievable!

Posted on behalf of angry, broke and getting poorer Student

Reading, Comprehension and Writing

Not long after my son started school, he was given a book and asked to read the page. After a minute's silence, he was asked "Can you read it?" to which he replied that he already had and was then quizzed on the content to test his comprehension. The teacher told me this because it is apparently unusual for young children to read without sounding out the words.

The teacher further commented that some of the children whose reading skills seemed to be ahead of the others did not take in the text and were unable to answer questions relating to the passage they had just read so beautifully.

My son enunciates very well and his comprehension is good. His writing, however, let him down and the primary school provided additional coaching in English and literacy to help him pass his SATs. Since today's focus is on using computers rather than pen and paper, he is thriving and is self-motivated to correct spelling or grammatical errors. In fact, as there are no longer any demands for pages of hand-written submissions, his writing has become neat and legible.

Good result, all round.

Halloween Music ♪ ♫ pumpkins & party

Music ideas for your Hallowe'en Party:

WITCHES
Witchcraft (Frank Sinatra), Ding Dong The Witch is Dead & Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered (Ella Fitzgerald), The Witch (The Rattles), Bewitched theme

MONSTERS
Scary Monsters (David Bowie), Monster (The Automatic), Monster Mash

GHOSTS
There's a Ghost in my House (R Dean Taylor), Ghost Town (Madness), Casper the friendly ghost

DEVILS
Devil Woman (Cliff Richard), Devil in Disguise (Elvis), Devil went down to Georgia

WEREWOLVES/full moon 
Werewolves of London (Warren Zevon), Howlin' (The Black Keys) and finally...
one of my favourite songs from Credence Clearwater Revival in the late '60s ♪ ♫
I see a Bad Moon Rising ...



Oh all right then... and this one!



Beyond the Music
Pumpkin carving ideas: Cute or Extreme!
Try Novelties-Direct for halloween ideas.

Happy Halloween!

Not Impressed, Dad.

Yesterday afternoon, a man at the bar in a village pub ordered a pint of beer and a half-pint of bitter-shandy and took the drinks into the garden where he handed the half-pint to a boy, aged about 8 years old, who said "thanks, dad". The pair had the same again before driving away in an Audi convertible with personalised number plate.

Invasive Porn, thanks Google.

I ventured into blogging in 2007 and was almost instantly scared off! While trying to find my way around blogger, I clicked on 'next blog' at the top right of the screen - it was a very explicit porn blog. In sheer panic, I hit the back button but it wouldn't go away, it kept refreshing. Aargh! What if it's a virus that permeates my computer? What if there's a trace on people viewing porn sites? What if... lots of things. How could Google allow this???

I closed the browser, tried to clear my mind, opened up the browser again and immediately cleared all history and cache, then closed it again and ran all the anti-virus software. I have never, ever, clicked that link since.

What Can Old People Do For You?

Think not what you can do for the elderly but what they can do for you because, in many cases, what you can do for them is to enable them to feel useful, wanted, valued.

Older people are not stupid, it just takes a little longer for bits of the brain to connect. Many older people have much wisdom. If you are patronising, they know.

So consider whether your attitude should be along the lines of helping to enlighten an elderly person that you know or fetching them cups of tea so they don't have to move - or whether it might be better to form a more natural give-and-take relationship.

Remember when you were young and your grandparents loved doing stuff with you, FOR you. It's natural to want to reciprocate as you become the stronger one but there is a danger of chipping away at their independence and self-worth if they become reliant on others. This is one of the major failings of some care homes - residents are generally not allowed to make hot drinks or butter some toast.

If you visit an elderly friend, please don't automatically jump in and do everything for them. If they can do something for you, please let them.

Moving home - many times

I think I must have nomadic genes. I've lived in some really great places yet I always have an urge to move on even though I don't necessarily want to. Why is this?

The first two or three moves were 'up the ladder' but after that it was just a change for no real reason which, financially, wasn't always for the better. For example, we moved from a modern house that we'd totally re-built to an old thatched house a mile away.

Since we married, we've bought and done up 7 houses and rented one for over a year while we re-built our previous home. Our current home is almost perfect so why have we spent the past couple of years looking for somewhere else? (Which, I might add, has proved difficult because we like where we are so much.)

When we first moved here, it was because we needed to be in the town and the choice of houses available was slim so it was a compromise. Our previous five houses were in rural locations so there was a lot of new stuff to get used to in a town: more noise, street-lights spoiling the dark of the night, neighbours a bit too close... However, there was the excitement of being able to walk to shops, restaurants and even a football stadium!

We must have got used to the noise and artificial light as they seem to be acceptable now and we are very lucky to have reasonably quiet neighbours who don't intrude. There is rarely a reason to walk into town but we sometimes do and we are also near to a countryside walk. This is, in fact, a near-perfect location - which is why we're having trouble moving on... but we're looking!