The Off Topic Topic

[mongers]

Been waiting all day for my meal kit - and it must have arrived when I was out and some bastard's nicked it

Have you considered occasional just shopping instead?   

[Sheilbh]

Have you considered occasional just shopping instead?   

Yeah - but I just cook the same stuff all the time

I either cook from my standard repertoire or I do a big special meal from one of my many cookbooks, but that's more rare.

This gets me doing some more interesting stuff and also I find is generally less wasteful in cooking for one than doing a shop.

[crazy canuck]

I am the opposite.  When cooking for others I fall back on my go to recipes.  But when I only cook for myself, I can go to the local grocer and pick up stuff I have never tried and experiment.

[Sheilbh]

Not only that but I am not creative at all in the kitchen. I cannot look at a fridge and cupboard full of stuff - the very idea stresses me out.

I've cooking but I need to know what I'm doing either as a recipe at the back of my head or from a cookbook (thought I don't really measure unless I'm baking where it's essential).

So that's another reason I find the meal kit a really useful thing.

[Zanza]

Progress! Working is overrated.

[Valmy]

Huh. Did Germans have a 10 hour work day back in the day?

[alfred russel]

I don't think the current global model is sustainable. Per capita wages are dramatically higher in western countries, but places like India work longer hours, and with increases in remote work can be as present in the workforce as anyone, and western educations are available remotely.

[Admiral Yi]

For reference 40 hours/wk times 52 weeks = 2,080 hours a year.

[Maladict]

For reference 40 hours/wk times 52 weeks = 2,080 hours a year.

Minus holidays and average leave (5 weeks) = ~1850 hours

I work more than an average American 

[Admiral Yi]

I assume the average includes the unemployed and part time workers.

[crazy canuck]

Huh. Did Germans have a 10 hour work day back in the day?

farm labourers - yeah at least that.  When I was growing up and working as a labourer 10-14 hour days were usual.  I would imagine in the 50s and 60s there were more people employed doing that as well.

What that graph mainly shows is the transition from agricultural work to modern day part time gig work.

[Sheilbh]

farm labourers - yeah at least that.  When I was growing up and working as a labourer 10-14 hour days were usual.  I would imagine in the 50s and 60s there were more people employed doing that as well.

What that graph mainly shows is the transition from agricultural work to modern day part time gig work.

Yeah, in 1950 agricultre was about 25% of the labour force in Germany compared with 10% in the US and 5% in the UK. That may certainly be part of why Germany was so high at that point.

But their achievement since in reducing work is excellent - if ever there's an argument for unions and sectoral bargaining power/labour power I'd point to that chart. Of course from a UK perspective we are particularly hindered by our comparatively very low productivity (though I think there's some theories that this may actually just be a statistical issue and not as bad as previously thought). The flat-lining since the financial crisis is part of this - it's the poisonous triangle of the British economy since then low productivity, more hours, same or less pay

I also wonder how much short working plays a role - the big falls in the UK seem to be rises in unemployment in the early 80s and early 90s recessions. It'd be interesting to see it rolled forward because we've implemented short working schemes during covid and they're generally seen as a success - I don't know if they'll become a permanent part of our economy, but possibly.

[mongers]

Huh. Did Germans have a 10 hour work day back in the day?

My old man was stationed in Germany in 47-50 and one of his abiding memorises was the work ethic of the Germans as they went about rebuilding their country. He admired them for it.

[Admiral Yi]

I was going to make a joke about Germans working their day job for 8 hours then clearing rubble for 2 more, but mongers beat me to it.

[Josquius]

I'm sure there's some kind of holocausty slave labour joke to be made too if you're so inclined.

We have to stop measuring hours worked as such a key thing.