Nostalgia?

[Specs]

 

[XTreme]

Yeh....that's a great old clip!

Wasn't life so much simpler then?

[Catteeclan]

Bit early for me but I'm being told of social pressure on our youngsters now. I don't get it but there must be something going on as locally we've had to young girls kill themselves, both walked into the sea.

[Tym]

I wish they would bring back Earl's Reptile Farm and Gift Shoppé on Rt 66, that place rocked! 

[Pedro]

That must be hell on the kid, Bruce, it's a real shame he's going through that but I don't think that wouldn't happen in other countries.

[XTreme]

41 minutes ago, BusBoy said:

1:100 ginger

Did I mention that my youngest grandson (10 weeks old) in Poland seems to be a ginger! 

Very, very rare there apparently........until my DNA started spreading! 

[Specs]

1 hour ago, BusBoy said:

Kids of today have is monumentally worse than we ever did. From brand advertising creating class distinction and identities through to the fact that with mobile internet they can never ever escape. In 8 years of schooling my son has been unable to secure a single friend because he is different with Asperger syndrome. Well that fine enough but his mobile and internet never stop pinging with taunts and cruelties and he's had to be picked up more times than I have fingers or toes from the bus stops, cut, bruised, bleeding or unconscious from beatings for being different.

What do you say to a child when you ask him what would he like for his Birthday or Christmas and all he can come with is can he have a friend and  can he come and play for the day.

There are many days I feel I would be quite happy to just torch this blight, just hand me the big red button for me to push. Anyway, it's a major reason we now keep a cruising boat. If it wasn't for the fact the kids have to go to school both legally and to develop, I'd never bother with land. All our free time is on the boat these days.  100% of the time 100% of people are more that 70% selfish self serving bastards and not this, we deserved to be saved we have good qualities too,  bullshit you get from Hollywood.

How dreadful. I seem to have dust in my eyes. 

[Catteeclan]

48 minutes ago, BusBoy said:

Of course not. However the point I probably didn't quite make is he's got Asperger's. What's that 1:100 kids today? When you start totting up all the 1 in a hundreds you get quite a significant proportion. 1:100 Aspergers, 1:100 ginger , 1: 100 fat, 1:100 ugly etc and all of them are subject to some form of bullying and social peer pressure that they cannot switch off. When we were kids, street light come on, you're home, day is done. These days with smartphones etc there simply is no done. If you're lucky enough to be in the 50 percent normal it doesn't let up either. Girls. Unfuckingbelievable just how nasty they are to each other from age 11 onwards. Mine was shunned from her friends, unfriended on Messenger, whatsapp. hangouts, discord etc etc etc and why? I consented to let her have her ears pieced to conform to social pressure on entering high school. One ear got an infection and after watching this child cry herself to sleep from the agony I demanded she remove them now. Oh no, no earings, you're not worthy of this group, bye......

You laugh and say to the child, they werent worthy of being friends then, but it's little solace and then the creep into social pariah starts. Next stop she is self harming, having a gender identity crisis, calls herself a boy with a boy's name. Cuts her hair shorter that her brothers and comes home to dress in girly girl clothes and is actually the girliest girl you'd likely meet. It's so fucked up. And most parents seem to be blithely unaware of the shit their children are going through.

It's always been like this, kids are cruel and much worse than when I was younger. Is it made worse with this social shit that's all around us.
I was bullied at school because my dad didn't"t have a lot of money so I was a scruffy bugger in "hand me down" cloths. Got in plenty of scapes but never got the beatings that go on today, and you're right about the girls.

[Muddy]

When I think back on some of the cruel things I said at school, I cringe. There were always targets of abuse, that's how kids form their hierarchies. That said, there were limits. If the decent alpha lads caught you bullying too often or being too nasty, you'd get a talking to. There were codes of conduct that we don't see so much today, if at all. You solved your disputes after school and they were fair fights. No kicking and certainly no weapons. I remember being shamed for wanting to hit a kid with a piece of metal conduit. Never made that mistake again. We also had a boxing club in a mate's garage. He was one of the best fighters in the school and so it was prestigious to do well and anyone who competed got respect. I was small for my age, but I could box well and that message got out, so I was rarely picked on. Now you get knifed if you diss the wrong kid. No sense of honour or fair play.

Social media is a curse for kids and adults alike. It's turns boys into bitches and bitches into evil c#nts.

[Renegade]

@BusBoy Try a private school.

[Renegade]

2 hours ago, BusBoy said:

 The alternative is boarding school 

 

 

 

No not that.  I feel for you and him with this dilemma

[boboneleg]

I feel your pain Bruce, growing up is hard enough without the burden of being different.  My son has apergers, he was lucky as we got him into a special needs school so he didn't suffer as those kids don't judge.

I can only say that it gets a bit easier (but not simple) as they get older.  Paolo is 26 now, he sings in a choir , he goes to college one day a week to learn languages and generally keeps busy.  He's not interested in a mobile phone (phew) but there's still a lot of anxiety at times.

[XTreme]

That's a sad situation Bruce! Have you looked at other areas to live where they may have better schools?

[XTreme]

Instead of area - school.......have you tried school - area?

What I mean is finding highly recommended schools (wherever those may be) that have a history of helping children like him? I'm talking based on real people testimonials rather than parent-teacher soundbites.

Then sounding out the areas near to those places to see if that suits the family as a whole.

[XTreme]

From what you've said it doesn't sound a very nice place to live Bruce.

I'm sure there's more pleasant places to be.......we moved around a lot because we wanted an environment that was more in sync with us.

And ultimately we never found it in Britain.......which is why we came here. It's not running away......it's making lifestyle choices that you feel will give you and the family a better quality of life.

 

[Renegade]

1 hour ago, BusBoy said:

Let's forget schools then. How does one go about finding good communities in which to live with a SEN child. Because ultimately it's the community not the school that will dictate social behavior in this day and age.

Fast forward I have always lived in the most prestigious of postcodes while in the UK.  The street I am on now the most expensive in Wales according to one rag although another contests it's the one round the corner.  Small differences, probably due to the fact the street I live on isn't much of a street and is actually wholly privately owned. What the hell constitutes a nice area then

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/welsh-homes/were-10-most-expensive-streets-17430176

The Cowbridge area is the place to live down here.

[XTreme]

Certainly an option Bruce.......I've known a few people who've lived on boats! Magnum was one.

But there were no children to think of........and in your case that's a critical factor in terms of schooling etc.

Do you know of any others who've done a similar thing who could advise?

[XTreme]

29 minutes ago, Renegade said:

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/welsh-homes/were-10-most-expensive-streets-17430176

The Cowbridge area is the place to live down here.

Yes that's a nice spot!

The only thing with basing choices on areas by gauging them on affluence etc is that even though the people could have money doesn't mean they're not complete and utter cunts.

In my experience they are......they're over-entitled and think they're something. People who speak like me are looked down on as low class. 

I'd prefer to be around solid, decent, working class people with no airs and graces.

[XTreme]

12 minutes ago, BusBoy said:

You are 100% on the nail there. I have always been overwhelmed by the gracious hospitality of down to earth Welsh. However actually moving into "working class" neighbourhood presents it's own challenges not least of which if you are seen with wealth you are viewed with suspicion. Where I live the catchment actually reaches across the spectrum and actually it's the (ag I hate social classifications) the working middle class that are far and away the worst. They are the most class conscious and embittered.  And here we go with class again. Not born to it I dont notice class. We had a different means of segregation

 

Yes, that's the holdup and the only hold up. Both passage makers I showed have 4 cabins if the kids decide on a blue water lifestyle. That'll be my fall back for them. Crewing for private yachts. As a chef the boy could earn good money without the stress of a restaurant kitchen even if he couldn't command or engineer a vessel.

Would you sort of park the boat up somewhere on a longterm basis......or move about?

[XTreme]

1 hour ago, BusBoy said:

Longterm is classed as Live Aboard. Full Time Cruiser moves about. The distinction is relevant to council taxes, NHS, etc etc. No I would move about. Not necessarily on the constant go but not too long in anyone place. I could not be liveaboard. I loathe Marinas. They're a crossover between car park and ghetto. The only time my boat enters one is to take on fuel. Why change that.

Would you still be able to work as you're doing now?

[XTreme]

12 minutes ago, BusBoy said:

Yes. All I need is broadband and I have better broadband on my boat currenty than I do at home. Go figure

I'd definitely consider that as an option!

Hell......we're only here once.....go with what you feel is right.

We did 15 years ago.....no regrets whatsoever!

[yen_powell]

At 5 minutes and 21 seconds in that video you will see a bloke in the 59 club who looks like Donald Trump in a leather jacket. That is Ted and today he turned up on his Honda Dullville and was showing me some pictures from old holidays we have been on as a group that he has dug out whilst bored in lock down.

[XTreme]

13 minutes ago, yen_powell said:

At 5 minutes and 21 seconds in that video you will see a bloke in the 59 club who looks like Donald Trump in a leather jacket. That is Ted and today he turned up on his Honda Dullville and was showing me some pictures from old holidays we have been on as a group that he has dug out whilst bored in lock down.

Is that him? How old is he now?

[Pedro]

Bruce, to lighten things up, you'll be moving into what is officially a Yacht 

[yen_powell]

9 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Is that him? How old is he now?

70 or 71 I think. It's his birthday next week. That picture is a bit iffy in the colour department (or my eyes are) cos he is a ginge, we have to keep him out of the sun. Whenever photographed he cannot help but strike a 1970's catalogue pose, he doesn't even know he's doing it. It's a bit of a running joke so this is the card I made on Moonpig for him.