The real spirit of Christmas

[jenkinsbrynmair]

This morning the officer who mans/womans the 'detainee reporting' desk asked if I could come downstairs to the front desk for a while - a long standing Zambian asylum seeker - who has to report to us regularly, had baked us a cake - but not just a cake!
When I got downstairs the interview room had been transformed with a table cloth,gold runner, candles and table displays, a lovely Christmas cake, plates and a knife (knife!! who let that in? where's the panic button where's me stab vest!)
She belongs to the 'Christ Embassy International' church and it is their mission over the festive period to call in to all official bodies (police,fire,ambulance etc) to show their thanks and appreciation for protecting and looking after society, she thought we deserved special thanks for protecting the countries borders and bearing witness to our compassion in dealing with people petitioning for leave to stay in this country - we might not have though this but she could see it in our eyes when she's waiting her turn (and this is from a person who is battling hard for permission to stay here after being refused leave once!) after serving us all a delicious iced cake laced with an appropriate tot of brandy to just catch slightly in the back of the throat, I popped out to take a report of one of our 'callers' and she'd gone in a flash of neatly pinned up hair and white lace.

It really does restore your faith in human nature.

 

[Erichalfbee]

A touching tale.
My first husband (now RIP) was a photojournalist based at Heathrow, one of only a few granted airside passes. His immigration friends were the best looked after through all seasons.....

 

[pargyle]

CAKE ? Cake ??? Who mentioned cake ?

 

[bees4u]

This morning the officer who mans/womans the 'detainee reporting' desk asked if I could come downstairs to the front desk for a while - a long standing Zambian asylum seeker - who has to report to us regularly, had baked us a cake - but not just a cake!
When I got downstairs the interview room had been transformed with a table cloth,gold runner, candles and table displays, a lovely Christmas cake, plates and a knife (knife!! who let that in? where's the panic button where's me stab vest!)
She belongs to the 'Christ Embassy International' church and it is their mission over the festive period to call in to all official bodies (police,fire,ambulance etc) to show their thanks and appreciation for protecting and looking after society, she thought we deserved special thanks for protecting the countries borders and bearing witness to our compassion in dealing with people petitioning for leave to stay in this country - we might not have though this but she could see it in our eyes when she's waiting her turn (and this is from a person who is battling hard for permission to stay here after being refused leave once!) after serving us all a delicious iced cake laced with an appropriate tot of brandy to just catch slightly in the back of the throat, I popped out to take a report of one of our 'callers' and she'd gone in a flash of neatly pinned up hair and white lace.

It really does restore your faith in human nature.

I shall be teaching these detainees bee keeping soon so they can take a trade back to their own country with a small handout from this government. It cost's £30,000 a year to keep one here, so £500 gift & a trade is a good way of saving this country money.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I shall be teaching these detainees bee keeping soon so they can take a trade back to their own country with a small handout from this government. It cost's £30,000 a year to keep one here, so £500 gift & a trade is a good way of saving this country money.

(Takes deep breath as he really can't believe what he's saying

I hope you'll be preaching the top bar gospel as lack of kit,suppliers and money means it's the only way for them to make a sustainable living from it in sub Saharan Africa

(in my defence it's o.k. to promote top bar beekeeping out there as it's suited to the country unlike a lot of places here - the clue is in the nake Kenyan top bar hive )

 

[VEG]

For shame on you JBM

 

[mbc]

(Takes deep breath as he really can't believe what he's saying

I hope you'll be preaching the top bar gospel as lack of kit,suppliers and money means it's the only way for them to make a sustainable living from it in sub Saharan Africa

(in my defence it's o.k. to promote top bar beekeeping out there as it's suited to the country unlike a lot of places here - the clue is in the nake Kenyan top bar hive )

haparently a log or bark hive is even more sustainable in some countries.
http://www.tropicalforest.com/Tropical_Forest/Tradition_Modern_Hives.html

 

[Pete D]

True meaning of Christmas . . .

To me this year is that I can shut the factory down for 11 days (unheard of) so I can install 2 new gas boilers and a CHP plant. Also dig up the road and lay gas pipe and a new 11kv cable to a new switch room, do work on heat recovery from our cooling towers and some water saving projects. 50+ contractors on site everyday, and a bloody great crane so hoping the wind keeps down.
Currently the factory is making approx 4m cans of soup and 4m cans of baked beans a week, if it turns cold the soup number can double.

I have always fancied a late night game of paintball in the factory, maybe this is the year to organise it

 

[Gilberdyke John]

True meaning of Christmas . . .

To me this year is that I can shut the factory down for 11 days (unheard of) so I can install 2 new gas boilers and a CHP plant. Also dig up the road and lay gas pipe and a new 11kv cable to a new switch room, do work on heat recovery from our cooling towers and some water saving projects. 50+ contractors on site everyday, and a bloody great crane so hoping the wind keeps down.
Currently the factory is making approx 4m cans of soup and 4m cans of baked beans a week, if it turns cold the soup number can double.

I have always fancied a late night game of paintball in the factory, maybe this is the year to organise it

Oh the joys of restarting a process plant after a shutdown to cold. Steam joints are always "interesting" as are compressed air lines in winter when you find the drains weren't checked as the schedules. Happy days, I'm glad it's behind me and I can turn over and go back to sleep.