So an observation from the regulars would seem appropriate, and it goes like this:
Victims of bullying are like spilt milk - not worth crying over. As we have said all along.
All the Forces of Excellence have to do is apply a bit of heat, either with a blowtorch or a P45, and the stuff evaporates leaving nothing but a stain and a bad smell.
Then if they can string things out for long enough, even that disappears!
Friday 31 July 2009
Wednesday 29 July 2009
Who Pays Wins! ...
... is the motto of the"Special Excellence Service", or SES as some would have it.
Down at the D&D we reckon that this is in fact a load of bollox, as WE were the ones who paid for it all, and we most definitely did not win!
Anyway, for anyone who wants to see what the legal system does when someone without representation goes up against someone with unrestricted access to our wallets ... click here.
(WARNING! Link should not be attempted by miners or people suffering from high blood pressure, or indeed anyone who would rather that their illusions remain intact. Ed.)
Down at the D&D we reckon that this is in fact a load of bollox, as WE were the ones who paid for it all, and we most definitely did not win!
Anyway, for anyone who wants to see what the legal system does when someone without representation goes up against someone with unrestricted access to our wallets ... click here.
(WARNING! Link should not be attempted by miners or people suffering from high blood pressure, or indeed anyone who would rather that their illusions remain intact. Ed.)
Friday 17 July 2009
Somerset's Lottery
Like our legal system, SAP in Somerset is something of a lottery. And it seems you don’t even need to buy a ticket!
A couple of winners were celebrating in the D&D last night, buying drinks all round, after finally being paid.
OK, so they had to wait 4 months, but to compensate them, SAP paid twice. Apparently this made up for all the extra administrative charges and interest they had incurred in the struggle to get paid at all.
Halfway through the evening, another yokel rolled in with an even broader grin on his face. He had also been paid, and, wait for it, hadn’t even sent in an invoice! Drinks all round once again.
Now if I tell you that all this merriment and drunken revelry was taking place at the North end of the bar … then perhaps you can guess what happened next?
Because down at the South end, sullen losers whose payments are four months overdue were still drowning their SAP sorrows, and hearing that someone had won the SAP Lottery without even buying a ticket, their mood turned even uglier than usual.
According to Daffer, the ensuing fracas, and the landlord's panic stricken 999 call to the Police ("no-one in the area, sorry", needless to say), were instrumental in helping Jonesy to finally admit that the game was up.
So he's given a paltry 2 weeks notice, and after this month's payday will leave us a memorable legacy:
Chaos;
Confusionism;
Jonesian Mathematics (aka x+y=200 million);
Discredited Local Democracy; and
The SAP about to hit the fan!
It's hard to believe they're all being so polite about it. Consensus down at the D&D is
A couple of winners were celebrating in the D&D last night, buying drinks all round, after finally being paid.
OK, so they had to wait 4 months, but to compensate them, SAP paid twice. Apparently this made up for all the extra administrative charges and interest they had incurred in the struggle to get paid at all.
Halfway through the evening, another yokel rolled in with an even broader grin on his face. He had also been paid, and, wait for it, hadn’t even sent in an invoice! Drinks all round once again.
Now if I tell you that all this merriment and drunken revelry was taking place at the North end of the bar … then perhaps you can guess what happened next?
Because down at the South end, sullen losers whose payments are four months overdue were still drowning their SAP sorrows, and hearing that someone had won the SAP Lottery without even buying a ticket, their mood turned even uglier than usual.
According to Daffer, the ensuing fracas, and the landlord's panic stricken 999 call to the Police ("no-one in the area, sorry", needless to say), were instrumental in helping Jonesy to finally admit that the game was up.
So he's given a paltry 2 weeks notice, and after this month's payday will leave us a memorable legacy:
Chaos;
Confusionism;
Jonesian Mathematics (aka x+y=200 million);
Discredited Local Democracy; and
The SAP about to hit the fan!
It's hard to believe they're all being so polite about it. Consensus down at the D&D is
Good Riddance!
:-)
We also think it would be nice if he could take some of his noodly appendages with him. Or is that just being greedy?
Thursday 16 July 2009
A lesson for us all ...
... as Paul Buchanan is convicted of Organisational Terrorism in Taunton's first ever Show Trial, and confirming the validity of the Dog & Duck Code of Conduct for Somerset County Councillors!
Presumably this puts any of the new members who may have been considering asking questions "on notice".
It also confirms that it really wasn't worth getting out of bed for last month's elections.
Don't want to be smug or anything ... but we were right all along!
Presumably this puts any of the new members who may have been considering asking questions "on notice".
It also confirms that it really wasn't worth getting out of bed for last month's elections.
Don't want to be smug or anything ... but we were right all along!
Wednesday 15 July 2009
Flushed with Exc**ment?
Now is this really a £4 million headline?
Somerset taxpayers (all 190,000 of us) pay £20 each a year for Council spin, and we really do deserve better.
Even Alan (the 21st Century's answer to Judge Jeffreys?) wrote a better article on famous Taunton Toilets.
Perhaps the inspiration came while he was trawling? That might explain where the evidence of willingness came from!
Somerset taxpayers (all 190,000 of us) pay £20 each a year for Council spin, and we really do deserve better.
Even Alan (the 21st Century's answer to Judge Jeffreys?) wrote a better article on famous Taunton Toilets.
Perhaps the inspiration came while he was trawling? That might explain where the evidence of willingness came from!
Friday 10 July 2009
Taunton Terror Trials - End Game?
The "incompetence or malice?" issue should finally be resolved in Taunton next week.
Let us be confident that the judges will do their jobs properly and establish who's who in the world of Somerset Terror, with no more evasion, distraction, distortion or spin.
Incredible as it may sound (especially to the regulars down at the Dog & Duck who have had experience), the story this time is that the Forces of Excellence were in fact the victims of bullying. Yep, that's right, same as perpetrators, but in reverse!
Now this may sound like a sick joke, but let us remember that an acknowledged "culture of bullying" was one of the building blocks of Excellence as Somerset knows it. Also, a lot of people now have experience of living under Excellence. They will know that it is has been standard management practice for anyone who asks unhelpful questions to be branded a "bully".
However, up until now, that has been a purely internal procedure. To the outside world, dissenters have always been presented as "Organizational Terrorists", at least since Venice. This implies some sort of subversive underground movement, rather than a display of jackbooted authority. And it's pretty obvious why - imagine headlines in the Sun:
Mouse Terrorises Cat!; or
Somerset Worm Scares Birds!
Anyone who wants the full background to the sordid little saga could do worse than check out Hansard. (P.S. - nice to see someone standing up for a political opponent for a change!)
As for next week, everyone at the D&D says:
Let us be confident that the judges will do their jobs properly and establish who's who in the world of Somerset Terror, with no more evasion, distraction, distortion or spin.
Incredible as it may sound (especially to the regulars down at the Dog & Duck who have had experience), the story this time is that the Forces of Excellence were in fact the victims of bullying. Yep, that's right, same as perpetrators, but in reverse!
Now this may sound like a sick joke, but let us remember that an acknowledged "culture of bullying" was one of the building blocks of Excellence as Somerset knows it. Also, a lot of people now have experience of living under Excellence. They will know that it is has been standard management practice for anyone who asks unhelpful questions to be branded a "bully".
However, up until now, that has been a purely internal procedure. To the outside world, dissenters have always been presented as "Organizational Terrorists", at least since Venice. This implies some sort of subversive underground movement, rather than a display of jackbooted authority. And it's pretty obvious why - imagine headlines in the Sun:
Mouse Terrorises Cat!; or
Somerset Worm Scares Birds!
Anyone who wants the full background to the sordid little saga could do worse than check out Hansard. (P.S. - nice to see someone standing up for a political opponent for a change!)
As for next week, everyone at the D&D says:
Good Luck Paul!
Tuesday 7 July 2009
£200 million .... it's contagious!
Poor old Albert Einstein!
The list of mathematical mysteries awaiting his return from the loonybin is growing and growing.
None of the rest of us is a comparable internationally famous genius, but we can see the makings of yet another mathematical conundrum.
The list of mathematical mysteries awaiting his return from the loonybin is growing and growing.
None of the rest of us is a comparable internationally famous genius, but we can see the makings of yet another mathematical conundrum.
According to press reports Essex County Council is planning to follow us down the IBM / SAP crevasse, and guess how much they expect to save?
£200 million!!!!
What are the chances of that? With three times the population of Somerset (and three times the budget), they are going to save exactly the same amount!
Of course it is always possible that Essex did actually do one of those Business Case things, perhaps even in advance of the decision to go down the route of chaotic innovation (or should that be "innovative chaos"?). It's also possible that they have got a load of sums and evidence and whatever that could explain the £200 million.
It's possible.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)