Brilliant! We’ve all got our fingers crossed for her.
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Cheers everyone, really appreciate it.
It was ‘just’ a few words here and there, mainly ‘yes’, and ‘ok’ and a little half sentence ‘yes, but still…’ - really weak voice of course and you can tell it takes her a lot of effort and she seems frustrated about it (understandably of course), but it’s absolutely amazing. Keep in mind there was a real good chance according to the doctors she might never speak again (never gave up hope though). Fricking brilliant.
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Don’t lie. Her first words were “Damn. I was expecting a bedside visit from Jürgen Klopp!”
Seriously, though, it’s great news that she appears to be on the road to recovery. Let’s hope that she continues to improve.
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Wonderful news @anon27364116 , still keeping fingers crossed for Mrs Cologne-Liverpool. One day at a time for recovery, you guys have been through hell. Keep going and believing and keep the spirits up for Mrs.
We needed some good news.
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Just noticed that some bastards have stolen £200 worth of timber from the front of our business. Dangerous chair 
Superb news mate! May the road to recovery be smoothly paved and not too far. Enjoy the drive, every little improvement will bring so much joy 
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If it’s not tied down…they’ll nick it…they need a kick up the arse and national service.
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you got off lightly. I’ve seen 15k of lumber stolen out of a jobsite overnight
that’s great news, am happy for you. let’s hope progress continues.
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I’ve of heard National Service (NS) mooted as a punishment/deterrent? In my mind NS can only be good for the developement of youngsters/teenagers and would give us a ready and able workforce to be utilised in times of floods and disaster relief.
IMO it would be a great ‘leveller up’ for some youth. I can only judge by my own experiences of military life but a few points that come to me are firstly uniform. In civvy street amongst younger folk you can be looked down on fornot having expensive trainers or gear. In the military you are given a set of kit and are shown how to look after it and wear it correctly. You are encouraged to help each other out ‘buddy buddy’.
I’ll not go into a long winded post on the benefits of military training but I personally grew as a person. Found strength that I never knew I possessed and had opportunities for travel and adventure that I’d have never realised in civvy street. I also made many great friends from around the country. 
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NS is great. Being a smdll nation, Singaporean men all have to get conscripted to the military for at least 2 years when we turn 18. While some sees it as a waste of time but for many of us, putting aside all the political or strategic reasons for it, we love and miss our time in NS. It’s where you built lifelong friendships going through shit as a platoon, learning that you can push yourself harder you think you could, that there are many things worth defending for. It’s not an exaggeration here when in Singapore we say in NS it is where we truly become men from boys, not because of age but because of the aptitude and attitude we gain.
But in recent times, honestly, NS has become like a joke to some at least in Singapore, we have young men who got their domestic helper to carry their full battle order while walking on the way to booking into the camp after the weekend 
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Compulsory conscription is bullshit and a massive waste of human potential. Much better to channel it into something productive instead.
Fishing?
Sure. I be channeling your precious feedback to the relevant department. Thanks!
No worries! I see Singapore has already made some steps towards addressing that concern, by letting people choose what they want to do in National Service?
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Work trip 
. Preparatory meeting for an even we are going to organize. 
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Wasnt sure if this is the right thread but wanted to seek some advice on a botched job a contractor has done laying me a patio.
Against my better judgement, rather than go through the likes of Trust A Trader, we contracted someone who was recommended to my wife via Facebook (face palm) on one of the pages she frequents.
We were quoted around 7k for using around 60sqm of rainbow sandstone for the main patio which was to be split level, plus an additional smaller patio leading out of the living room doors; job started mid Sept.
We have a split level garden, so shifted the stairs to the middle which would also utilise the same slabs and putting up some sleepers for wifey to do some gardening against the Brick wall.
Well, with loads of excuses, stop, starts basically its all fucked and not complete; list of fuck ups in no particuar order:
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Slabs are basically ruined, no sealer up till now as job has been ongoing since Sept so have been exposed to the elements and look like they were laid 5 years ago with damp patches, cement stains, green/black spots all over and probably how its porous and reaction with elements.
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Patio has been laid like shit, uneven spacing between slabs all over and clearly not level with some slabs already loose - he is blaming supplier on how slabs are cut causing the spacing issues between the slabs.
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Pooling all over the fucking place, Im no DIY expert but a quick run through with a level I can see this fucker forgot the basics of dropping the patio to aid drainage, top patio is shaped like a bowl from what the level shows me, bottom patio kinda the same but a lot flatter so water has nowhere to go.
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Stairs and sleepers not done, stairs cut out but thats about it, sleepers not even started and have turf from the digging out of the patio just laying against the wall as we thought we could use this once the sleepers were put in.
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Paid more than 80% of the quoted price, kept on drawing more money for wages etc as delays necessitated this - im regretting this one massively, initial agreement was put half down before, rest when complete, we hesitated at certain times but managed to convince us each time.
So, I have alresdy raised the issues around the condition of the slabs and general shit looking patio although he hasnt acknoweldged the drop bit so waiting on his reply to this one.
He says the slabs need to be replaced by the supplier, not sure how he gets away with this as he didnt seal them and not surprised the condition has deteriorated and its happened to most of them considering the weather, poor drainage and how long they have been exposed.
A professional opinion I got basically thinks it needs all ripping up especially with how the area was prepared, it would be difficult to rectify the pooling.
So done some research and essentially, if botched, he should rectify this with no additional cost to myself, could report him to trading standards as he has no leg to stand on.
However, with such a shit job done, I am certain I dont want him anywhere near this, but I know he has the option to rectify this from what I have read.
With the obvious issues around consequences of poor drainage to the house and us, I should get this fixed asap but how the fuck do I try and get my money back?
Any advice on what you guys would do would be appreciated, especially @Kopstar if he can provide any legal advice, or any Traders out there who have advice on how I can squeeze this prick.
Clusterfuck of a day, missus getting emergency eye surgery in the middle of a cocked up real estate deal.
Re: @AfriKana
The balance of risk now seems to be in this guy’s favour if he has 80% of the fee in his back pocket already. The danger of paying in advance is that if the tipping scales of if/all work remaining, far outweighs what is left in the pot (20%)… If it was me in this situation, I would resign myself to the fact there is unlikely to be a quick resolution to these issues and begin collecting a paper trail of evidence against this guy and get any third parties completely on your side, for if and when worse scenario occurs, and this goes to court to seek recompense.
for eg,
- See if the slab supplier will defend his goods as fit for purpose, cut edges etc. Collect any brochure’s, pamplets, from them that outlines correct procedures for laying and sealing them… Compare this against the workmanship of the guy etc.
- You certainly need some timeline confirmation for works being completed by the guy, get this logged/confirmed e-mail etc… Tricky I know, but if you act out of frustration or desperation you might be handing this guy his ‘get out of jail ticket’ to hand to the judge, his argument being everything would have been finished to correct standard but wasn’t allowed to complete the works…!
- It really all does boil down to the agreement/s that were in place pre-works and if these agreements can now be proven to be broken…
- Judges and the solicitor you use will like nothing better than clarity… pictures, timelines, proof of conversations and agreements etc etc… Common sense really.! see videos below
If this guy catches on to you diligently preparing everything to go to court for you to sue him, it gives him food for thought that it is in his own interest to finish the works to a high standard… Is it possible to get a written quotation from a reputable company to rip up this yahoo’s work and start again with new materials… I ask, because that is the sum of money, on top of inconvenience money you will be asking the judge to award you…!
These JJ videos are typical of the ABC trail of preparing a case for the small claims court…!!!
Be careful watching them though because some of the stories in her catalogue will have you rolling around laughing. :0) Good Luck
Landscaper Took Her Money But Didn't Do the Work! - YouTube
Landscaper Never Seeded Man’s Lawn! | Part 1 - YouTube
Landscaper Never Seeded Man’s Lawn! | Part 2 - YouTube