That Do It all thing is good, but I agree about the need for lots of original certificates. My dad received a letter addressed to my mum about a month ago from a company which had been asked by his gas & electric supplier to do a boiler check, luckily our family has a sense of humour, as it said that they had tried unsuccessfully to get hold of her on the the phone and asked for her to get in touch with them as soon as possible because they'd like to speak to her (Dad thought she'd have found that quite funny) but that could have been quite upsetting for some people. I rang the energy supplier, who apologised and said they'd raise a complaint to find out how this could've happened so long after the account had been put in my dad's name.
Magggzzz & VWC, so sorry to hear of your loss ... my apologies for coming late to this thread but I have been away for a couple of days. Even when it's expected, the loss of a loved one comes as a shock, and VWC how very sad to find your partner's grandad. Hope you are both ok, look after yourselves xxx
Magggzzz, I lost my mum just over 2 years ago and I think my dad was really in denial about how unwell she was in the last month or so of her life. Perhaps it's a defence mechanism when you know in your heart what is going to happen but you close your eyes to it and then it comes as a terrible shock when you are told by a doctor that your wife is dying. Perhaps when someone is deteriorating a little every day, you just don't notice it. I also think we played along to some degree to try to protect them both, as a result there were things I wish I had said to her but didn't because I knew she was fighting to stay with us and I didn't want her to think I'd given up on her, even though I knew it was coming to a natural end. There's no point in having regrets, but I do wish I'd been a bit more honest with her.
It's a horrible time for you and your parents Magggzzz, elderly parents can be so stubborn and resistant to getting help which everyone else can see they need, thinking of you xxx
I was originally against the concept of another referendum, but I do think perhaps that's the only answer to find out what the people want, now that they have more facts about the implications and all the bull**** is out of the way. It could end up with an even bigger majority wanting to leave, in which case the government knows it needs to settle for nothing less. It's not anti-democratic to hold further opportunities to vote, it would be more anti-democratic to say that parliament will do whatever they want without asking the country. After all, people change their minds about which party they'd like to be in power regularly - we have General Elections every 5 years
I think we'd all have more confidence in Parliament if they didn't all behave like a bunch of school kids at a pantomime. In business, if you were in an important meeting which affected the lives of millions of people, you wouldn't get people braying and booing! It's a disgrace!
I think the food thing may especially apply to fresh produce, eg lettuces from Spain, because the lorries will be held up at the docks because of new border arrangements/driving & insurance requirements, the produce may rot/go off before it reaches the shelves, so presumably the supermarkets won't want to risk buying and then not being able to sell produce and the producers/delivery lorries won't want to absorb those costs either.
We have all got used to having food available in the shops which is grown abroad so available to us when it's not in season locally, that may possibly change.
On the subject of farmers' fields, I saw a thing on the news yesterday about the potential detriment to insects/birds/wildlife because if those fields/edges of fields which currently have to be left alone are ploughed, it will reduce the places they can live/nest/find food etc.
I am not sure about the potential shortage of drugs etc, again I think it's because they're predicting chaos at the docks.
It's such a deeply divisive issue, it's split communities, families, friends & work colleagues, perhaps not surprising that it's also split the political parties too. It's been badly handled from the start, there was misinformation (by both the Leave & Remain sides) and the era of austerity we went through made a lot of people dissatisfied with what was happening in the country and given the chance to vote in a referendum gave them the opportunity to express that dissatisfaction. I don't believe anyone was really made aware of the full potential consequences to the economy of leaving the EU, there were soundbites about stopping immigration, having lots of extra money for the NHS etc which appealed to the majority who voted in favour of leaving, when there was never really any proper plan to how we'd do it.
OH LOVES Marmite, he would have it for breakfast, lunch & dinner ..... I am not at all keen, but I like peanut butter (which I wouldn't want ruined by Marmite!)
Oh my gosh Moi, you have just demonstrated by the experiences you have had with guns being used close to you that something drastic needs to be done. There have been a lot of stabbings in the press over here in the last few months, a very different kind of crime in that to shoot from a distance away (knowing they are most likely to die) seems a lot less personal than physically sticking a knife in someone (which presumably takes a bit of effort - I can't even bear cutting up chicken breasts, can't imagine what it would be like to stab someone) and feeling the blood leaving their body .... both absolutely ghastly and a tragedy for the victims. The absence of police on our streets must have some bearing on why people can get away with carrying knives as well as the gang culture which affects so many of our communities.