June 08 - if your name's not down you're not coming in!

[EddieIzzardismyhero]

Welcome to our new cliquey thread !

Not sure of the cut off date but I think youight still get a vote. David was very good when talking to people individually at a dinner I was at a while back, but his speech was dull. Mind you, an Englishman at a Scottish burns supper is a pretty tough gig.

Lol at biscuits ( and I never lol so you are very honoured) - would you have been really miffed if someone x-posted and popped you to 901?

beneden health care is the private cover for most NHS/civil service isn't it? I've got it for us through my old job. It's a cheap private cover than only kicks in when waiting lists are too long (£26 a month for all four of us). It's not a benefit, but an option you can pay for yourself.

and poppy's comment about avoiding tax by paying a spouse applies to us - that loophole's been pretty much closed & everyone is very careful about it. Even if your spouse does your books (say 4 hours a month) which I always did for DH, he wasn't able to pay me for that without risking lots of trouble. Now that I am taking a salary from the company (because I'm working a bit) we're being very careful to document it all!

This budget is kind to businesses - we're not that much worse off than last year. But it's the review of legislation we're hoping for - it's so stressful and confusing at the moment. It would be a good stimulus for private industry just to clarify things.

Right - moving on from the budget - peppa pig yesterday was pretty good - I'd almost recommend it (it was better than the Tweenies) although it didn't manage to hold a lot of the kids attention and there was a ton of background noise. I also got kicked, sat on, and generally abused by the little girl sitting next to me who's mother wasn't paying any attention . Finally when she was sitting on the arm of the chair with her feet in my lap I had to tell her to move over.

p.s. am thrilled for you Deb. do let us live vicariously through your house hunt....

OK, here you go, this is our favourite house at the moment BUT it's not in our favourite villageit's in a different area altogether.The village we like has a shop, butchers, pubs, art centre being built, 1st school, middle school, preschool, playground, and 20 mins from Hexham - nice town, nice shops, etc, big tesco, waitrose, M+S.

Then to get things even more confusing I've started researching all the secondary schools in the area and the better ones are by the fave house. AARGH!!!!

Anyone fancy doing some house/guest sitting for us in the next few weeks so that we can come over and view some of these places? Boys only have 2 more weeks of school but then we have guests so we can't leave!

Deb, are you serious on house sitting? What would we need to do?
We have a week off 7th August onwards but no holiday booked...

That house looks gorgeous Deb! It's so exciting. You get a lot more for your money in the north don't you .

I think most of the partners' wives at DH's firm get 'paid' their tax-free allowance (if they are not working elsewhere) - what a ruse, they seem to get away with it tho. I would never do that - I'd have to do some work for them. And it seems the budget will hit us after all . Legal aid fees are being cut - DH says he will get paid 4% less this year for the same work followed by 4% less the year after and again after that I think. DH is a salaried partner so it won't actually affect his take-home atm but it may affect company profits so if/when he becomes equity partner there will be less to go round. What a shame! The partners take home about £300k atm so they can afford to take a cut. But poor dh is feeling the strain because he will be expected to bring in the same amount in fees in total which means doing more cases so more hours etc. That's private enterprise for you

Abdn, glad Peppa was ok. That is what I feared about ITNG - with my kids being the ones who wouldn't pay attention and be a PITA! I'm sure ITNG will be good though.

neenz you used to be able to do that more or less legally but they changed the rules a couple years ago.

And it's pretty hard to feel sorry for the partners - actually we had a big cut last year so my sympathy's pretty limited for anyone if they're in a secure job and didn't have too big (over 10%) of a cut.

I'm actually very very down - the company I was working for asked if I'd consider a permanent job rather than contract work (they're not offering, just thinking about whether they might want to, and it's a long shot) so I've gone and done the math and the nanny will cost the equivalent of me making £34,000 a year and that's with DH working short days on those days and me giving her less than I originally offered. The chance of me making enough to make it worthwhile is starting to look slim - since I'd still be in a training type position as it's a new field - which puts me right back where I was before - unemployed. All I can do is hope they decide that a regular contract is reasonable as the rates are higher.

p.s. Deb, I love the house!!!!

Gorgeous house Deb. Big dilemma over the village vs house though. Do many houses come up in the village you like? On schools, unless the school in the village you like is dire I'd be tempted to stick with the village that you like. School performance can change as a result of something as simple as a new Head. Sorry you're a teacher, that sounds like teaching my granny to suck eggs or something . My views are tempered by the fact that I hate, hate, hate where we live although I'm perfectly happy with my house.

Neenz, I think a lot of people across all income brackets are having to work harder for the same (or less) take home pay just now. With redundancies, staff not being replaced or, in the case of small businesses in the private sector, just having to work a lot harder to stop the business from going under. The paying partner's wives sounds very dodgy. I know that kind of thing went on where I work but it was all stopped quite a few years ago. Risky to carry on with it. But then lawyers are very good at circumnavigating the law

Abdn - I hope you can persuade the company to stick with contract work. Although, with my HR hat on, we would normally advise our companies against having an individual as a long term contractor as the law can get a bit grey and contractors can end up securing employee rights anyway. I really hope it works out for you though.

Deb - both the house and the village look gorgeous. I have some nosey questions tho:

1. Are you planning to make an offer whilst your sale is still going through, or would you consider renting? I guess you need to get the big boys settled in a new school sooner rather than later, and not change their schools if you rented and then bought in a different area.
2. Are you or Nigel going to get back into teaching when you are back on the UK? You aren't thinking of staying in the B&B business are you? I will show James the house and the village when he gets home as he is always interested in how you are getting on. He might know something about each area too seeing as it's not so far from where he grew up.

DGT the whole thing about long term contractors doesn't apply to us because we're a limited company and it's our responsibility to make sure that we're not seen as employees so the company's safe. It's an oil industry thing...

Gorgeous day here and I took the boys out "mountain biking" on a flat trail. Unfortunately I got a bit too adventurous and we ended up a mile from home and Fraser refused to ride any further. He walked home though but it took a very long time.

My moment this morning:

I was at the park and got chatting to a Dad who was there with his 21mo. He was a bit of a Sarf East geezer if that makes sense. He tells me that he DS's speech is amazing, I say that P's is fairly lacking. He says: "Well the thing you need to do is talk to him. I talk to DS like I do to my mates at the pub". Argh, yes, thanks for that, I don't talk to P at all. Hadn't even occured to me.

Spider! What a twunt

You're right DG, everyone is working harder now. I have no sympathy for the lawyers don't worry! DH just finds it a bit stressful because his productivity/earnings are so transparent. Whereas my work doesn't have an obvious monetary value to the company iyswim. But he is not the only one in that position and really as Abdn says he is not going to be one of the worst affected at all so he needs to suck it up! They probably don't do that thing with paying the partners' wives now if the rules have been tightened.

Best get back to work

Spider - I thought for a moment that Neenz was calling you names but then I read your post! In answer to your questions - we would obviously think about renting but it needs to be in the right place like you say as we don't want to have to move the boys again. Doesn't stop me window shopping at houses though

We might try and get something with a small cottage attached or buy a separate holiday cottage in the UK, neither of us is in a rush to go back to work f/t so we'll just have to wait and see.Nigel has registered family friendly holidays for us in case we do buy something suitable!

Dewin - yes I was serious about the house hunting but your dates wouldn't work for us.Sorry, but thanks for the kind offer.

Deb (ignorant question here) would there be bus or anyway to get to secondary school as know catchmenr area is larger in that kind of area?

Dewin have you tried totstotravel.co.UK to see if they have anything free that week?

Neenz- the law domestic referred to is the bit where I said you only get relief on 20k. Also if your dh is salaried the higher ni will catch him next year. And I suspect it's a matter of time before hmrc start to ask questions about payments to spouses so just cos it's worked for now doesn't mean it always will.

Spider - that bloke sounds like living proof that you don't have to be smart to breed. I would have been sorely tempted to say something sarcastic.

Neenz/domestic v interesting on leadership- as an outsider/floating voter(ie kind of person where change in leadership could mean I voted) would agree that diane abott lost cred years ago and andy burnham comes across as rude and patronising in public(did an interview with my favourite five live person shelagh fogarty and came across as rude and dismissive). But why one milliband over other?

Heat is sapping my energy - how is everyone else coping?

Oh and neenz jk Rowling was talking about going non resident which is differEnt to being non Dom which is special rules If you are foreign born abroad or from a foreign family (hence why that prettyboy goldsmith could be non Dom as his father claimed/spent years rowing with hmrc about not being of UK origin).

Allnew glad birthday sorted- it's cake and toys in garden here on Saturday for e.

Further bad news on house. I'm too depressed to even talk about it [drama alert!] So am just marking my place.

Oh Sybil, sorry to hear that you're still having problems with your sale.

Poppy, yes there would be a school bus wherever we choose to live. I think the only time they wouldn't provide one is if I wanted to send the boys to one that was out of catchment.

Sorry to hear that Sybil

Deb this is a semi serious suggestion, not just a joke. Maybe you should apply to go on Kirstie and Phil (location location location as it is properly called). Can't remember if you have Ch4 in Austria but assume you remember it from when you were in the UK as it has been on for a decade. I think your situation and requirements would make for an interesting show so I reckon there would be a good chance of being selected. Are you hoping to be back in the UK for the start of the new school year?

On the Labour leadership I have a unjustified soft spot for Diane Abbot. This is nothing to do with her politics and everything to do with her having gone to the same college as me. DH went to the same college as Nick Clegg, so it would even things up in our household. Possibly it is the Newnhamite feminist in me finding an outlet . In a funny sort of way (for a non Labour supporter) I would quite like to see the Labour Party have a more left wing leader and be a little closer to its roots. I am bored of all the parties trampling over the same ground, and the more Blairist or Brownist candidates just feel like more of the same.

The cynic in me thinks that most non-Labour supporters would like us to have a really left-wing leader to keep us out of power for generations to come

Sybil, sorry to hear your house woes continue.

Abdn - ah, sorry didn't occur to me that you did your contract work on behalf of your limited company. Thinking more about one-person operations where the line between contractor and employee can get blurred.

Glad you enjoyed the show. I'm contemplating postman pat for DS later in the summer - S is OBSESSED with 'Po Pat'.

Have all the budget thickies been revising the Fiscal Studies report? There'll be exam condition questions!

OMg I'd have to get back on the diet to go on tv again Spider!Nigel has already suggested it!!!!Location, location -not the diet!

Tristan still not right here, still got slight diarrhoea but every time he goes he's crying with stomach pains so we're off to the Drs tomorrow

Spot on DGT! Really though I would be quite curious about what a left wing labour party would be like today. I can't really remember what it was like pre John Smith. I can remember Kinnock being leader but no more than that. I do think that alot of people are very fatigued by New Labour and Cameron style Conservatives etc. All style over substance. I wouldn't be too surprised if more non party political people were keen to see politicians get back to their principles. It might have more traction with the electorate than you would imagine.

Nonsense Deb: you'd only just had a baby last time you were on TV and you looked fabulous. Even your mother said something to that effect IIRC!

Morning, rough night here,poor Tristan was up with diarrhoea every hour and there was also blood in it. So we're off to the drs in 15 minutes.

Poor Tristan Deb, hope he's OK.
I love that house you linked to.

Spider - that guy at the park sounds like an idiot.

We've had a busy week here, and it's taken me ages to catch up with you all. I'm sure there was load of stuff I wanted to say but I've forgotten!

We're going to a family wedding tomorrow that I am not looking forward to at all, typically I've left it until the last minute and need to go out today to get card / present / shoes, idiot.

I think you are all rather brave taking toddlers to kiddie shows, I am using the presence of H as an excuse to not even consider that kind of thing for a while.

Anyone else hate Crimewatch Roadshow? At least it prompts me to switch the TV off once the breakfast TV has finished.

Hi, he has a bad infection, we have immodium, medicine for the stomach pain, rehydration salts (which are making him retch)and a strict diet to stick to! He's much better in himself now, he's playing on the wii and hasn't had to dash to the loo for a while. Have cancelled friends who should have been coming over tomorrow for lunch!!