Bedding the "H" Barrel SMLE

[Peter Laidler]

For the benefit of the non English readers, those NVQ qualifications you read about are one of the 'qualificatioins' that are meaningless but look good...., a bit like GCSE's. The NVQ actually stands for '.......not very qualified......'

In our local newspaper there was a big thing about new apprentices starting somewhere. It was a second hand cycle repair shop for 6 weeks...... 6 weeks................ I spent that amount of time filing great lumps of mild steel into stupid 4 way shapes!

The GOOD bit about the old apprenticeships was that if you went further and to Uni, then you were pretty well exempt the first year of rubbish that you already knew and had practiced for years and years..............

But many years down the line, I recently went to our technical stores to get a box of light bulbs to do the general maintenance things myself instead of waiting....., you know the sort of thing.......... To be told that now that commercialisation and whatever else they call it has taken over, I can't do these jobs because I'm not qualified and a contractor has to be called in. I said to the girl behind the counter............. Well, I can't tell you in polite company what I said to her but later that afternoon I took down and showed the Tech Stores manager my paperwork starting at school and onwards. Sadly it didn't include a bulb changing certificate and licence. But it's Sunday morning, it's warm and sunny so you've got to laugh..........