25-05-2011, 09:13 AM
Hi,
Well said Al, I don't know what is involved these days in a school leaver obtaining an apprenticeship in the gas and electrical industries; when I left school I I went straight into the pit as an apprentice mechanical engineer; I wasn't faced with £9,000 per year tuition fees but not only did the NCB pay for everything I was also earning money right from my first day.
A friend of ours has a son who recently left school and started on a training course to become an electrician but for some reason decided it wasn't for him; a refrigeration engineer was at my friends work one day and the outcome is that this refrigeration engineer has now taken my friends son on in full apprenticeship and it appears to be going well. I feel this too will lead to long term future employment.
We do indeed live in a throw away society Luke. Five years ago our washing machine broke down requiring nothing more than a mass produced circuit board; the machine cost around £200 brand new and the circuit board cost around £100 so the machine went to the local tip. We now buy Beko washing machines; five years ago our first Beko cost £199.99 and a week ago our second Beko cost £199.99 including delivery and disposal of the old one.
I've repaired appliances in the past but given the cost of spares these days it often works out much cheaper in the long run and less hassle just to buy new again.
Modern cars are now similar because a new car can be bought with a five or seven year guarantee then dumped as soon as the guarantee runs out because the amount of electronics on a car these days renders all but the basic repairs impossible by the home handyman/woman.
Give me the old equipment that can be repaired with a handful of tools at little cost. How many young drivers were encouraged to do their own repairs years ago going on to bigger DIY projects as they married and got their first home?
Its time I got cracking in the garage because the high wind has finally dropped after a week of it.
Kind regards, Col.
Well said Al, I don't know what is involved these days in a school leaver obtaining an apprenticeship in the gas and electrical industries; when I left school I I went straight into the pit as an apprentice mechanical engineer; I wasn't faced with £9,000 per year tuition fees but not only did the NCB pay for everything I was also earning money right from my first day.
A friend of ours has a son who recently left school and started on a training course to become an electrician but for some reason decided it wasn't for him; a refrigeration engineer was at my friends work one day and the outcome is that this refrigeration engineer has now taken my friends son on in full apprenticeship and it appears to be going well. I feel this too will lead to long term future employment.
We do indeed live in a throw away society Luke. Five years ago our washing machine broke down requiring nothing more than a mass produced circuit board; the machine cost around £200 brand new and the circuit board cost around £100 so the machine went to the local tip. We now buy Beko washing machines; five years ago our first Beko cost £199.99 and a week ago our second Beko cost £199.99 including delivery and disposal of the old one.
I've repaired appliances in the past but given the cost of spares these days it often works out much cheaper in the long run and less hassle just to buy new again.
Modern cars are now similar because a new car can be bought with a five or seven year guarantee then dumped as soon as the guarantee runs out because the amount of electronics on a car these days renders all but the basic repairs impossible by the home handyman/woman.
Give me the old equipment that can be repaired with a handful of tools at little cost. How many young drivers were encouraged to do their own repairs years ago going on to bigger DIY projects as they married and got their first home?
Its time I got cracking in the garage because the high wind has finally dropped after a week of it.
Kind regards, Col.
