Things that don't deserve their own thread

[Grandpa]

Our school PE kit was standard kit... so everyone had the same. For the final two years of High School though we could wear what we liked as long as it was a shade of brown... the school colours. I think they should have made us wear uniform... it's a good protective mechanism. We were pretty poor so I used to wear my dad's old clothes a lot once I was old enough. But I hated wearing dad's clothes to school as some of my mates recognised stuff I wore as being my dad's... bit embarrassing. But in the end it probably toughened me up.

I was so glad when I got to intermediate/high school to have uniforms because like you, we were pretty poor (Dad was a grossly underpaid methodist minister) and stood out in our hand-me-downs.

That must have been an interesting upbringing... I've always wanted to ask you... how did you end up in Japan? Did work take you there?

[Kiwias]

I was so glad when I got to intermediate/high school to have uniforms because like you, we were pretty poor (Dad was a grossly underpaid methodist minister) and stood out in our hand-me-downs.

That must have been an interesting upbringing... I've always wanted to ask you... how did you end up in Japan? Did work take you there?

My Dad was an amazing man who worked incredibly hard to look after his four children, nothing but respect for him, especially because along the rough journey he also beat his addiction to alcohol and stayed sober for 40 odd years till his death.

I started to study Japanese in the 6th form at high school and continued at varsity, doing a double major in French and Japanese, but after my second year, I realised that I was not going to get anywhere meaningful in either unless I lived in that country. My best teacher from high school (French and Latin) and a man I respected enormously and met regularly in those two years at varsity told me I should go to whichever country I wanted to specialise in.

As luck would have it, during the first year at varsity I had become very 'friendly' with the young Japanese lass (3 years older than me) who was my teacher at high school. One thing led to another and I decided to follow her back to Japan. That was early-1974 and the rest, as they say, is history.

[Grandpa]

I was so glad when I got to intermediate/high school to have uniforms because like you, we were pretty poor (Dad was a grossly underpaid methodist minister) and stood out in our hand-me-downs.

That must have been an interesting upbringing... I've always wanted to ask you... how did you end up in Japan? Did work take you there?

My Dad was an amazing man who worked incredibly hard to look after his four children, nothing but respect for him, especially because along the rough journey he also beat his addiction to alcohol and stayed sober for 40 odd years till his death.

I started to study Japanese in the 6th form at high school and continued at varsity, doing a double major in French and Japanese, but after my second year, I realised that I was not going to get anywhere meaningful in either unless I lived in that country. My best teacher from high school (French and Latin) and a man I respected enormously and met regularly in those two years at varsity told me I should go to whichever country I wanted to specialise in.

As luck would have it, during the first year at varsity I had become very 'friendly' with the young Japanese lass (3 years older than me) who was my teacher at high school. One thing led to another and I decided to follow her back to Japan. That was early-1974 and the rest, as they say, is history.

So you have been there for almost 50 years! Do you still have a Kiwi accent? I thought I was doing well with over 30 years in the UK, but that's nothing compared to you. You had a completely different culture to adapt to. And you embraced it by the sounds of it.
My dad was an alcoholic as well... but he never stopped. He never saw it as an issue... and actually only Alzheimer's slowed him down during the last ten years of his life.. he became more pleasant.. but was not really the same person either. He's probably the reason I don't drink much. For some reason all three siblings don't like the taste of alcohol (because of him?). I have to force myself to drink it when I do. Your dad did well.

[Kiwias]

So you have been there for almost 50 years! Do you still have a Kiwi accent? I thought I was doing well with over 30 years in the UK, but that's nothing compared to you. You had a completely different culture to adapt to. And you embraced it by the sounds of it.
My dad was an alcoholic as well... but he never stopped. He never saw it as an issue... and actually only Alzheimer's slowed him down during the last ten years of his life.. he became more pleasant.. but was not really the same person either. He's probably the reason I don't drink much. For some reason all three siblings don't like the taste of alcohol (because of him?). I have to force myself to drink it when I do. Your dad did well.

Thanks for the comment on my Dad. He was an absolute star and was always my hero -- something I made sure I told him heaps of times before he died.

I have moved around a bit, spending time in the States, back in NZ, in Australia, and in HK in the 49 years since I first came here but I reckon the total elapsed time in Japan is about 38 years.

My accent has become pretty neutral as I worked with several nationalities in the finance industry.

[Grandpa]

So you have been there for almost 50 years! Do you still have a Kiwi accent? I thought I was doing well with over 30 years in the UK, but that's nothing compared to you. You had a completely different culture to adapt to. And you embraced it by the sounds of it.
My dad was an alcoholic as well... but he never stopped. He never saw it as an issue... and actually only Alzheimer's slowed him down during the last ten years of his life.. he became more pleasant.. but was not really the same person either. He's probably the reason I don't drink much. For some reason all three siblings don't like the taste of alcohol (because of him?). I have to force myself to drink it when I do. Your dad did well.

Thanks for the comment on my Dad. He was an absolute star and was always my hero -- something I made sure I told him heaps of times before he died.

I have moved around a bit, spending time in the States, back in NZ, in Australia, and in HK in the 49 years since I first came here but I reckon the total elapsed time in Japan is about 38 years.

My accent has become pretty neutral as I worked with several nationalities in the finance industry.

I have two mates who left NZ at the same time as me... we travelled around Europe together, but they both ended up in Canada marrying Canadians... and both sound Canadian now. For some reason, I kept my Kiwi accent... not sure how. I'll probably end up living back in NZ at some point... so a Kiwi accent will help me re-assimilate...

I would love to see my dad as my hero. I do for some things, but ultimately he was a bit of a drunken tyrant. My mother is my real hero... I see her how you see your dad probably. You sound like you miss him. Do you get to see much local rugby in Japan?

[Kiwias]

I have two mates who left NZ at the same time as me... we travelled around Europe together, but they both ended up in Canada marrying Canadians... and both sound Canadian now. For some reason, I kept my Kiwi accent... not sure how. I'll probably end up living back in NZ at some point... so a Kiwi accent will help me re-assimilate...

I would love to see my dad as my hero. I do for some things, but ultimately he was a bit of a drunken tyrant. My mother is my real hero... I see her how you see your dad probably. You sound like you miss him. Do you get to see much local rugby in Japan?

My son reckons my Kiwi accent emerges pretty soon when I am in NZ on holiday, and like you, I will end up in NZ so that will help.

My Dad was a right bastard when we were kids but he recognised his demon and took steps to overcome it and become a decent father. It has been over five years since he died and I still miss him quite badly at times.

My mother was evil personified and I had no contact with her in the last 20 years of her life, don't even know exactly when she died as my siblings knew better than to let me know.

I watch some Japanese rugby on tv occasionally but prefer watching NPC and Super Rugby.

[Grandpa]

I have two mates who left NZ at the same time as me... we travelled around Europe together, but they both ended up in Canada marrying Canadians... and both sound Canadian now. For some reason, I kept my Kiwi accent... not sure how. I'll probably end up living back in NZ at some point... so a Kiwi accent will help me re-assimilate...

I would love to see my dad as my hero. I do for some things, but ultimately he was a bit of a drunken tyrant. My mother is my real hero... I see her how you see your dad probably. You sound like you miss him. Do you get to see much local rugby in Japan?

My son reckons my Kiwi accent emerges pretty soon when I am in NZ on holiday, and like you, I will end up in NZ so that will help.

My Dad was a right bastard when we were kids but he recognised his demon and took steps to overcome it and become a decent father. It has been over five years since he died and I still miss him quite badly at times.

My mother was evil personified and I had no contact with her in the last 20 years of her life, don't even know exactly when she died as my siblings knew better than to let me know.

I watch some Japanese rugby on tv occasionally but prefer watching NPC and Super Rugby.

I lost my dad 4 years ago... but he started struggling with Alzheimer's back around about 2012.... so I lost him then really. He was one reason I left NZ in 1990... to get away from him...
A shame your mother was evil. But at least one of your parents was good! My mum is still here.. just. I have to care for her 24/7 now. But will hit me when she goes... she was the one who always backed me through my life. I will feel it like you miss your dad I am sure.

[Kiwias]

Filthy fucking northern scum.


https://www.scotsman.com/read-this/nort ... ns-4105309

[Blackmac]

Filthy fucking Scotsmen


https://www.scotsman.com/read-this/nort ... ns-4105309

Ehh, Northern Rail is north of England. Doesn't operate in Scotland.

[Kiwias]

Filthy fucking Scotsmen


https://www.scotsman.com/read-this/nort ... ns-4105309

Ehh, Northern Rail is north of England. Doesn't operate in Scotland.

I took the site name as indicating it was happening in Scotland. My bad.

[mat the expat]

If we could manage a tie in with hiking boots and school uniforms we could have a mega thread.

Is that a round-about way of telling us that you wore hiking boots to school?

I went to school in North Wales, many's the time I turned up having hiked down from 1200ft in the snow to find school closed as the teachers who lived in the next village couldn't drive to the school.

Back up the hill then!

I took advantage of being one of the exam-passing group to rebel against all of the uniform (unsurprisingly, I know)

Long hair
Earring
Leather jacket instead of Black blazer
"Wrong" type of white shirt
Tie tied wrong way around with badges on it
Blue Cords instead of black trousers
White socks
Desert boots

[Kiwias]

I went to school in North Wales, many's the time I turned up having hiked down from 1200ft in the snow to find school closed as the teachers who lived in the next village couldn't drive to the school.

Back up the hill then!

I took advantage of being one of the exam-passing group to rebel against all of the uniform (unsurprisingly, I know)

Long hair
Earring
Leather jacket instead of Black blazer
"Wrong" type of white shirt
Tie tied wrong way around with badges on it
Blue Cords instead of black trousers
White socks
Desert boots

Did you have a cause?

[inactionman]

The Brecon Beacons national park is undergoing something of a corporate rebrand - now to be known as the Bannau Brycheiniog, and references to flares removed from branding (not that many people I knew called it the Beacons, I always referred to it as the Brecons).

I utterly love the place, many happy days and weekends away there when we lived nearby, although not not quite sure what the CEO is doing with rebrand - some odd choices of phrase:

The park authority CEO, Catherine Mealing-Jones, said: “The more we looked into it the more we realised the name Brecon Beacons doesn’t make any sense. It’s a very English description of something that probably never happened. A massive carbon-burning brazier is not a good look for an environmental organisation.”

It's a what?

Anyway, silly parochial nonsenses aside, it's encouraging to see there's drive to address some of the issues even if the actual solution is well outside the gift and ability to a park to deliver. There are real challenges for communities in the Brecon area, not least by second home ownership (not always entirely a terrible thing, but it is when only occupied for a month or two a year) and by lack of meaningful employment. Quite what the parks CEO intends to do to tackle this is a little beyond me - ironically, making it an even more attractive area is only going to make the second home issue worse.

The only real contribution the CEO could make is to the environment of the park itself, and she's indicating there will be effort put into rewilding and sorting some of the water pollution - I'd worry some of this is due to farming, which does clash with a desire to increase employment. Problems with littering (which is in some areas utterly appalling, particular against the context of the natural beauty) and wild fires are people issues, and I'd think they'd unfortunately be harder to fix.

TLDR - the CEO has got her hands full, given her plan, and I'd suggest rebrands shouldn't really be top of list.

[mat the expat]

I went to school in North Wales, many's the time I turned up having hiked down from 1200ft in the snow to find school closed as the teachers who lived in the next village couldn't drive to the school.

Back up the hill then!

I took advantage of being one of the exam-passing group to rebel against all of the uniform (unsurprisingly, I know)

Long hair
Earring
Leather jacket instead of Black blazer
"Wrong" type of white shirt
Tie tied wrong way around with badges on it
Blue Cords instead of black trousers
White socks
Desert boots

Did you have a cause?

Not specifically, I've always been rebellious

[mat the expat]

The Brecon Beacons national park is undergoing something of a corporate rebrand - now to be known as the Bannau Brycheiniog, and references to flares removed from branding (not that many people I knew called it the Beacons, I always referred to it as the Brecons).

I utterly love the place, many happy days and weekends away there when we lived nearby, although not not quite sure what the CEO is doing with rebrand - some odd choices of phrase:

The park authority CEO, Catherine Mealing-Jones, said: “The more we looked into it the more we realised the name Brecon Beacons doesn’t make any sense. It’s a very English description of something that probably never happened. A massive carbon-burning brazier is not a good look for an environmental organisation.”

It's a what?

Anyway, silly parochial nonsenses aside, it's encouraging to see there's drive to address some of the issues even if the actual solution is well outside the gift and ability to a park to deliver. There are real challenges for communities in the Brecon area, not least by second home ownership (not always entirely a terrible thing, but it is when only occupied for a month or two a year) and by lack of meaningful employment. Quite what the parks CEO intends to do to tackle this is a little beyond me - ironically, making it an even more attractive area is only going to make the second home issue worse.

The only real contribution the CEO could make is to the environment of the park itself, and she's indicating there will be effort put into rewilding and sorting some of the water pollution - I'd worry some of this is due to farming, which does clash with a desire to increase employment. Problems with littering (which is in some areas utterly appalling, particular against the context of the natural beauty) and wild fires are people issues, and I'd think they'd unfortunately be harder to fix.

TLDR - the CEO has got her hands full, given her plan, and I'd suggest rebrands shouldn't really be top of list.

Most of my Welsh speaking friends fully support it - along with Yr Wyddfa

Can't say I blame them

[inactionman]

The Brecon Beacons national park is undergoing something of a corporate rebrand - now to be known as the Bannau Brycheiniog, and references to flares removed from branding (not that many people I knew called it the Beacons, I always referred to it as the Brecons).

I utterly love the place, many happy days and weekends away there when we lived nearby, although not not quite sure what the CEO is doing with rebrand - some odd choices of phrase:

The park authority CEO, Catherine Mealing-Jones, said: “The more we looked into it the more we realised the name Brecon Beacons doesn’t make any sense. It’s a very English description of something that probably never happened. A massive carbon-burning brazier is not a good look for an environmental organisation.”

It's a what?

Anyway, silly parochial nonsenses aside, it's encouraging to see there's drive to address some of the issues even if the actual solution is well outside the gift and ability to a park to deliver. There are real challenges for communities in the Brecon area, not least by second home ownership (not always entirely a terrible thing, but it is when only occupied for a month or two a year) and by lack of meaningful employment. Quite what the parks CEO intends to do to tackle this is a little beyond me - ironically, making it an even more attractive area is only going to make the second home issue worse.

The only real contribution the CEO could make is to the environment of the park itself, and she's indicating there will be effort put into rewilding and sorting some of the water pollution - I'd worry some of this is due to farming, which does clash with a desire to increase employment. Problems with littering (which is in some areas utterly appalling, particular against the context of the natural beauty) and wild fires are people issues, and I'd think they'd unfortunately be harder to fix.

TLDR - the CEO has got her hands full, given her plan, and I'd suggest rebrands shouldn't really be top of list.

Most of my Welsh speaking friends fully support it - along with Yr Wyddfa

Can't say I blame them

I've no problems with it, using a local language for a local place. My reservation is the parochialism of the bolded quote. But that could of course be the Guardian on their usual identify politics trip, with a bit of selective sampling.

I'm hoping they get a grip on the litterers, on more than one occasion I've had to tidy up beercans some ned has left around a patch of scorched earth beside one of the waterfalls. I understand that a few beers around a BBQ in an idyllic landscape is a nice way to spend a summer's evening, but for god's sake tidy up after yourselves.

[GogLais]

The Brecon Beacons national park is undergoing something of a corporate rebrand - now to be known as the Bannau Brycheiniog, and references to flares removed from branding (not that many people I knew called it the Beacons, I always referred to it as the Brecons).

I utterly love the place, many happy days and weekends away there when we lived nearby, although not not quite sure what the CEO is doing with rebrand - some odd choices of phrase:

The park authority CEO, Catherine Mealing-Jones, said: “The more we looked into it the more we realised the name Brecon Beacons doesn’t make any sense. It’s a very English description of something that probably never happened. A massive carbon-burning brazier is not a good look for an environmental organisation.”

It's a what?

Anyway, silly parochial nonsenses aside, it's encouraging to see there's drive to address some of the issues even if the actual solution is well outside the gift and ability to a park to deliver. There are real challenges for communities in the Brecon area, not least by second home ownership (not always entirely a terrible thing, but it is when only occupied for a month or two a year) and by lack of meaningful employment. Quite what the parks CEO intends to do to tackle this is a little beyond me - ironically, making it an even more attractive area is only going to make the second home issue worse.

The only real contribution the CEO could make is to the environment of the park itself, and she's indicating there will be effort put into rewilding and sorting some of the water pollution - I'd worry some of this is due to farming, which does clash with a desire to increase employment. Problems with littering (which is in some areas utterly appalling, particular against the context of the natural beauty) and wild fires are people issues, and I'd think they'd unfortunately be harder to fix.

TLDR - the CEO has got her hands full, given her plan, and I'd suggest rebrands shouldn't really be top of list.

Most of my Welsh speaking friends fully support it - along with Yr Wyddfa

Can't say I blame them

Good idea doing it but the stuff about burning beacons is a bit OTT. As regards priorities, I’d hope a CEO can handle more than one thing at a time.

[mat the expat]

It'll all come out in the wash.

Re CEO's, um plenty I've worked with would struggle to find their own arse with a map sometimes....

[inactionman]

The Brecon Beacons national park is undergoing something of a corporate rebrand - now to be known as the Bannau Brycheiniog, and references to flares removed from branding (not that many people I knew called it the Beacons, I always referred to it as the Brecons).

I utterly love the place, many happy days and weekends away there when we lived nearby, although not not quite sure what the CEO is doing with rebrand - some odd choices of phrase:



It's a what?

Anyway, silly parochial nonsenses aside, it's encouraging to see there's drive to address some of the issues even if the actual solution is well outside the gift and ability to a park to deliver. There are real challenges for communities in the Brecon area, not least by second home ownership (not always entirely a terrible thing, but it is when only occupied for a month or two a year) and by lack of meaningful employment. Quite what the parks CEO intends to do to tackle this is a little beyond me - ironically, making it an even more attractive area is only going to make the second home issue worse.

The only real contribution the CEO could make is to the environment of the park itself, and she's indicating there will be effort put into rewilding and sorting some of the water pollution - I'd worry some of this is due to farming, which does clash with a desire to increase employment. Problems with littering (which is in some areas utterly appalling, particular against the context of the natural beauty) and wild fires are people issues, and I'd think they'd unfortunately be harder to fix.

TLDR - the CEO has got her hands full, given her plan, and I'd suggest rebrands shouldn't really be top of list.

Most of my Welsh speaking friends fully support it - along with Yr Wyddfa

Can't say I blame them

Good idea doing it but the stuff about burning beacons is a bit OTT. As regards priorities, I’d hope a CEO can handle more than one thing at a time.

I'm going to take a punt and assume they haven't got a bottomless budget or limitless resource.

I'll come clean and admit I've worked in a number of places subject to rebranding, and despite assurances over positive impacts on culture and perception etc it's never made a jot of substantive difference.

[Slick]

The Brecon Beacons national park is undergoing something of a corporate rebrand - now to be known as the Bannau Brycheiniog, and references to flares removed from branding (not that many people I knew called it the Beacons, I always referred to it as the Brecons).

I utterly love the place, many happy days and weekends away there when we lived nearby, although not not quite sure what the CEO is doing with rebrand - some odd choices of phrase:



It's a what?

Anyway, silly parochial nonsenses aside, it's encouraging to see there's drive to address some of the issues even if the actual solution is well outside the gift and ability to a park to deliver. There are real challenges for communities in the Brecon area, not least by second home ownership (not always entirely a terrible thing, but it is when only occupied for a month or two a year) and by lack of meaningful employment. Quite what the parks CEO intends to do to tackle this is a little beyond me - ironically, making it an even more attractive area is only going to make the second home issue worse.

The only real contribution the CEO could make is to the environment of the park itself, and she's indicating there will be effort put into rewilding and sorting some of the water pollution - I'd worry some of this is due to farming, which does clash with a desire to increase employment. Problems with littering (which is in some areas utterly appalling, particular against the context of the natural beauty) and wild fires are people issues, and I'd think they'd unfortunately be harder to fix.

TLDR - the CEO has got her hands full, given her plan, and I'd suggest rebrands shouldn't really be top of list.

Most of my Welsh speaking friends fully support it - along with Yr Wyddfa

Can't say I blame them

Good idea doing it but the stuff about burning beacons is a bit OTT. As regards priorities, I’d hope a CEO can handle more than one thing at a time.

Yeah, completely weird that it is causing such a stir, but the mention of burning beacons just to squeeze in a bit of greenness was idiotic and seems to be the root of most of it.

[inactionman]

If they can fix the littering issues that would be an immediate win, although I appreciate it's not just proving more bins etc but changing the culture of lazy sods who don't give a shit. On that point, maybe I'm being harsh on the branding bit, as perhaps a rebrand can get both locals and visitors to respect the environment a bit more - although I'm not holding my breath.

I'm afraid they're shit out of luck with regards to excessive visitor numbers though - in many ways it's a victim of its own success, and the only solution I can see is to try to distribute visitors a bit more, by advertising/renovating/developing facilities for relatively unvisited areas of the park.

She seems to want to take on second home ownership and the broader challenges about sustainable communities, which is something that has been a real problem for many decades, but it is bloody hard (it's a complicated issue and any 'fixes' are complex, hard and require joined up governmental directive) and I'd query a park authority's ability to tackle it. They can e.g. influence government policy (indeed, they should), but it's so much bigger than national parks.

[GogLais]

Most of my Welsh speaking friends fully support it - along with Yr Wyddfa

Can't say I blame them

Good idea doing it but the stuff about burning beacons is a bit OTT. As regards priorities, I’d hope a CEO can handle more than one thing at a time.

I'm going to take a punt and assume they haven't got a bottomless budget or limitless resource.

Well no I’m sure they don’t. I know it’s won’t make a huge difference to anything but I’m glad it’s been done.

[Jock42]

If they can fix the littering issues that would be an immediate win, although I appreciate it's not just proving more bins etc but changing the culture of lazy sods who don't give a shit. On that point, maybe I'm being harsh on the branding bit, as perhaps a rebrand can get both locals and visitors to respect the environment a bit more - although I'm not holding my breath.

From the interview I saw they don't provide any bins at all and won't be. It seems counterintuitive to me but perhaps they find there is less mess if people don't have a place to dump their rubbish in the first place and leave it to overflow.

[GogLais]

If they can fix the littering issues that would be an immediate win, although I appreciate it's not just proving more bins etc but changing the culture of lazy sods who don't give a shit. On that point, maybe I'm being harsh on the branding bit, as perhaps a rebrand can get both locals and visitors to respect the environment a bit more - although I'm not holding my breath.

I'm afraid they're shit out of luck with regards to excessive visitor numbers though - in many ways it's a victim of its own success, and the only solution I can see is to try to distribute visitors a bit more, by advertising/renovating/developing facilities for relatively unvisited areas of the park.

She seems to want to take on second home ownership and the broader challenges about sustainable communities, which is something that has been a real problem for many decades, but it is bloody hard (it's a complicated issue and any 'fixes' are complex, hard and require joined up governmental directive) and I'd query a park authority's ability to tackle it. They can e.g. influence government policy (indeed, they should), but it's so much bigger than national parks.

I agree with all this, changing the kit doesn’t make the team play better.

[GogLais]

If they can fix the littering issues that would be an immediate win, although I appreciate it's not just proving more bins etc but changing the culture of lazy sods who don't give a shit. On that point, maybe I'm being harsh on the branding bit, as perhaps a rebrand can get both locals and visitors to respect the environment a bit more - although I'm not holding my breath.

From the interview I saw they don't provide any bins at all and won't be. It seems counterintuitive to me but perhaps they find there is less mess if people don't have a place to dump their rubbish in the first place and leave it to overflow.

Bee in bonnet time - if they’ve carried a full can there they should be ffykin well able to carry an empty one home.

[inactionman]

If they can fix the littering issues that would be an immediate win, although I appreciate it's not just proving more bins etc but changing the culture of lazy sods who don't give a shit. On that point, maybe I'm being harsh on the branding bit, as perhaps a rebrand can get both locals and visitors to respect the environment a bit more - although I'm not holding my breath.

From the interview I saw they don't provide any bins at all and won't be. It seems counterintuitive to me but perhaps they find there is less mess if people don't have a place to dump their rubbish in the first place and leave it to overflow.

I can see a logic, but my reservation is that responsible people will be responsible and lazy people will be lazy.

[Jock42]

If they can fix the littering issues that would be an immediate win, although I appreciate it's not just proving more bins etc but changing the culture of lazy sods who don't give a shit. On that point, maybe I'm being harsh on the branding bit, as perhaps a rebrand can get both locals and visitors to respect the environment a bit more - although I'm not holding my breath.

From the interview I saw they don't provide any bins at all and won't be. It seems counterintuitive to me but perhaps they find there is less mess if people don't have a place to dump their rubbish in the first place and leave it to overflow.

Bee in bonnet time - if they’ve carried a full can there they should be ffykin well able to carry an empty one home.

I don't disagree and I'm quite happy to carry my rubbish home. Although do get frustrated with the lack of dog shite bins.

[inactionman]

If they can fix the littering issues that would be an immediate win, although I appreciate it's not just proving more bins etc but changing the culture of lazy sods who don't give a shit. On that point, maybe I'm being harsh on the branding bit, as perhaps a rebrand can get both locals and visitors to respect the environment a bit more - although I'm not holding my breath.

From the interview I saw they don't provide any bins at all and won't be. It seems counterintuitive to me but perhaps they find there is less mess if people don't have a place to dump their rubbish in the first place and leave it to overflow.

Bee in bonnet time - if they’ve carried a full can there they should be ffykin well able to carry an empty one home.

Absolutely - it's not exactly asking much of them.

[Slick]

If they can fix the littering issues that would be an immediate win, although I appreciate it's not just proving more bins etc but changing the culture of lazy sods who don't give a shit. On that point, maybe I'm being harsh on the branding bit, as perhaps a rebrand can get both locals and visitors to respect the environment a bit more - although I'm not holding my breath.

I'm afraid they're shit out of luck with regards to excessive visitor numbers though - in many ways it's a victim of its own success, and the only solution I can see is to try to distribute visitors a bit more, by advertising/renovating/developing facilities for relatively unvisited areas of the park.

She seems to want to take on second home ownership and the broader challenges about sustainable communities, which is something that has been a real problem for many decades, but it is bloody hard (it's a complicated issue and any 'fixes' are complex, hard and require joined up governmental directive) and I'd query a park authority's ability to tackle it. They can e.g. influence government policy (indeed, they should), but it's so much bigger than national parks.

I watched an interesting scenario play out on the beach on Sunday regarding littering and lazy cunts. There was a big bin with a lid which people were using for rubbish and bagged dog shit. One bloke (Irish) came along and just lobbed his bag of dog shit on to of the lid and walked off, 2 hours later there were about 8 bags of dog shit on the lid as people copied it. So depressing.

[Slick]

If they can fix the littering issues that would be an immediate win, although I appreciate it's not just proving more bins etc but changing the culture of lazy sods who don't give a shit. On that point, maybe I'm being harsh on the branding bit, as perhaps a rebrand can get both locals and visitors to respect the environment a bit more - although I'm not holding my breath.

From the interview I saw they don't provide any bins at all and won't be. It seems counterintuitive to me but perhaps they find there is less mess if people don't have a place to dump their rubbish in the first place and leave it to overflow.

I can see a logic, but my reservation is that responsible people will be responsible and lazy people will be lazy.

True, but I think in most cases providing a bin just makes more people lazy. I've seen it plenty of times in the Pentlands where huge amounts of rubbish is left near overflowing bins which I think a lot of people would take home if there was no option.

[GogLais]

From the interview I saw they don't provide any bins at all and won't be. It seems counterintuitive to me but perhaps they find there is less mess if people don't have a place to dump their rubbish in the first place and leave it to overflow.

I can see a logic, but my reservation is that responsible people will be responsible and lazy people will be lazy.

True, but I think in most cases providing a bin just makes more people lazy. I've seen it plenty of times in the Pentlands where huge amounts of rubbish is left near overflowing bins which I think a lot of people would take home if there was no option.

This really, the lazy/filthy won’t use bins anyway.

[Enzedder]

This is mainly for Kiwis but others may be interested - I have come across a great NZ Rugby history site

This collection celebrates rugby in New Zealand as it has been seen onscreen: from classic bios and tour docos, to social history, dramas and protest. In the accompanying backgrounders, broadcaster Keith Quinn looks at the on air history of rugby in NZ; and playwright David Geary asks if rugby is a religion, and argues it is a good test of character.

http://bit.ly/3mv8qUt

[fishfoodie]

Do we have a; "What would you get it you won the lottery" thread ?

After watching a few of this guys videos, a few Highlands is definitely on the list; fabulous temperament, & it looks like looking after them is therapeutic; they'd certainly be pets, & not cattle.

[Kiwias]

True, but I think in most cases providing a bin just makes more people lazy. I've seen it plenty of times in the Pentlands where huge amounts of rubbish is left near overflowing bins which I think a lot of people would take home if there was no option.

This. I developed a 40,000sqm park for local residents and as the home ground for my rugby club and we deliberately did not install rubbish bins. In their place, we have a small notice stating that the absence of rubbish bins is an indication that we desire all users to take all their rubbish home.

It has worked really well and there has been effectively zero rubbish in the subsequent 20 years.

[Happyhooker]

Re the brecons or whatever they're calling it, it will always be a place of hatred for me, I've run over it too many times carrying heavy shit.

But yes, the binless point has been proven to work. I realise japan is culturally different, but they don't have street bins.

An acquaintance runs a large estate for the NT. The house is charged to visit, but the gardens aren't and picnickers were causing a massive litter problem.

They replaced the bins with larger ones, but because of an administrative fuck up, there was a month between the original bins being removed and the new ones arriving. Pretty much everyone came back to the house with their rubbish asking where they should put it

[tabascoboy]

the first comment "Heard his wife complained he had no wood."

[Grandpa]

the first comment "Heard his wife complained he had no wood."

[Niegs]

The laugh is the best!

[Kiwias]

And the wave at the end.

[Niegs]

Rugby: “Thou shalt not criticise the referee.”

Hockey: @$%!