Ollessendro
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- Joined
- Aug 13, 2009
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The forum has been so dark and gloomy with all the over the top, fickle negativity that I thought I’d try and lighten the mood with a little story. Even I, one of the biggest ‘knockers’, have been depressed by the levels of negativity since getting stuffed by Donny. Hence I’d like to tell a little fairy tale about the Famous Five …..
Once upon a time there were five incredible individuals that’s lives were strangely interconnected. The individuals all had one common goal (which shall remain a mystery) although they didn’t all know it and it what they were striving to achieve was in their subconscious.
The Gambler
The first of the famous five was a shrewd business who got himself into a pickle with gambling. This business man was intelligent and had integrity, but he let one of his sins overpower him. The business man one day decided that he would bet all his money on a horse. The horse was a hugely controversial one with a mixed to poor track record. Everyone tried to explain to the business man that the horse was no good, but the business man could not be swayed. Every person around the business man and in the world of the business man thought the horse was a duff, but the business man still plumped for it. All the hard work was undone when the business man backed the wrong horse and everything went tits up. He gambled and things were never the same afterwards.
The Judge
There was once a judge of a beauty contest that had to judge in the contest between these two women. The women were similar in ways, but there was a clear difference in the actual beauty. There were question marks around the judge’s impartialness and when he made the decision, he was accused (actually by the business man) of being biased. There was some slight confusion around the entry process to the beauty competition and the business man’s daughter only entered at the last minute. She was unsure of what was needed of her, but managed to get the application completed on time. The other girl had her application fully completed in plenty of time and really made her application look like what the judge wanted. Still, both participants entered the contest.
The judge chose the much uglier woman as the winner of the beauty contest. The woman was older, in worse condition and less attractive than the other. However, despite the business man’s daughter being much more beautiful, the other was picked. The reason cited by the judge was the application form not being completed properly and that the other woman had promised plastic surgery to make herself look more beautiful. The business man was furious and accused the judge of being biased, but his words fell on deaf ears.
The Newsagent
There was a manger that once ran newsagent and was well known for his business skills. He ran a newsagent for a while and with the help of a wealthy foreigner he managed to make the newsagent into a super famous, extremely wealthy and successful newsagent. On the back of his success the newsagent was head hunted by the business man. The business man, losing interest and enthusiasm after backing the wrong horse, decided he needed the help of the newsagent, to make his business great again.
The business man paid the newsagent an awful lot of money and the newsagent took up post. However the newsagent started to make some strange decisions and after several months the business had not improved. The newsagent was clearly there to attract investment, but his day to day running of the shop started to raise questions. The paper boys were old, limited in their ability to deliver papers and rude with the locals. A particular three or four of the old paper boys were particularly bad. They were getting near retirement age and to be frank, had never ever been up to standard. Yet, as they neared the end of the contract he offered them glitzy new deals. The locals were shocked when they saw that not only were they still delivering their papers (badly) but they were getting paid more than the few younger, more talented paper boys.
To add to all this the year before the business man and the newsagent had a meeting with locals and promised to improve things. Much was discussed at this meeting, but a lot focused around the newsagent relying paper boys, from out of town, on short term contracts. The newsagent and businessman categorically stated that this would improve, but alas six months later and the situation had gone from bad to worse. The disgruntled locals were confused at the offering of contracts to low, under performing paper boys and the ever increasing reliance on paper boys loaned from other newsagents and many questioned the value of the newsagent at all.
The Horse
As documented above the horse had caused the business man many problems, but even though it was a sad old thing it had experienced glorious days in the past. The horse was fantastic at racing on flat ground. It had won numerous honours and the hearts of the nation with its brilliant running on the flat ground. Naturally it tried to move across to steeple chasing, but most know that the transition is not always successful. Many good flat racing horses have failed and many average flat racing horse have succeeded at staple jumping. The horse tried its hand a staple jumping but was poor, with only a few successes. Still, the business man backed the horse at a crucial time. It was a poor decision and it cost the business man big time. Can the horse be blamed? Well the horse was obviously inept, so the blame lies mostly with the business man. But still the horse could have done so much better, with the talent it had. It later came out that the horse was drinking and had lost the plot in many ways.
The Mechanic
The newsagent and the business man now share a car and previously (before the newsagent turned up) the business man asked a mechanic to do some work on the car. The mechanic had a mixed track record, but seemed to may the right choice at the time. Not only that but he was cheap. The mechanic had learnt his trade from a controversial, but very good mechanic. Together they had done work for the business man in the past. Hence the business man turned to the mechanic (the 2nd one) when his car was having problems. On his own the mechanic had tried to fix cars before and he had done so poorly. In both situations he jumped ship after doing some damage. Still, he was cheap, familiar with the business man’s car and available.
The car was a beauty when it was first taken into the mechanic. The parts were all new and working well, but there were a few problems with small things. Initially the mechanic did a good job and the car started to work like a dream. However after a short while the mechanic started to change his approach. Rather than using the innovative methods, he started to become risk averse. He was still getting results, but the car wasn’t performing the way it could. Suddenly the business man started to lose interest in the car. One day he went in and demanded that the two piston rings, fine new one’s, should be sold. He got a great price for them and the mechanic was only too happy to oblige. The money was really useful for the business man and he used it to keep his business afloat and make a crucial payment to the tax man. He then gave the mechanic a small proportion of the money to replace the piston rings, but the mechanic bought a carburettor.
Gradually over time the business man got the mechanic to take out all the best parts of the car and sell them, in order to keep stop his business from going under. He gave the mechanic a small amount of money to replace parts, but the mechanic just brought in old, decrepit parts. He showed that he was really a poor mechanic by bringing in old parts that were past their sell by date. The mechanic got lucky for a while, but as he sold off the cars parts and replaced them with his own choices, the car started to fall apart. He also borrowed a number of questionable parts from other garages. These were expensive and down right awful. The mechanic had his hands tied in many ways, but he still could have done much better with the resources that he had.
In the mean time the newsagent had come on the scene. The newsagent clearly didn’t have any confidence in the mechanic and many thought the mechanics days were numbered. Still the newsagent allowed the mechanic to buy a host of new parts and then renew the contract/leases on several new car accessories. These accessories were a poor choice and many people in touch with the garage thought this was a poor choice by the mechanic. Then suddenly, out of the blue, the newsagent sacked the mechanic. The car was performing very poorly, but why on earth did the newsagent allow the mechanic to sign the parts and loan new ones? The finally result is that the car is in sorry shape and is barely running at all. The car chugs along and is getting the business man and the newsagent from A to B. However, there is a huge doubt as to whether it will have survived by the next May.
And they all lived happily ever after. Or not. Unfortunately the saga is still unfolding and the story has not come to an end. The horse and the mechanic are long gone but the problems continue. The newsagent and the business man got together and appointed a new mechanic. Another cheap option. This guy was a very talented apprentice working under the old (sacked) mechanic. He was an excellent bicycle repair person, but is unproven when it comes to cars. He now faces the uphill task of not only keeping the car running, but trying to rebuild it into a beautiful motor again (without any funds).
To be continued .........
Once upon a time there were five incredible individuals that’s lives were strangely interconnected. The individuals all had one common goal (which shall remain a mystery) although they didn’t all know it and it what they were striving to achieve was in their subconscious.
The Gambler
The first of the famous five was a shrewd business who got himself into a pickle with gambling. This business man was intelligent and had integrity, but he let one of his sins overpower him. The business man one day decided that he would bet all his money on a horse. The horse was a hugely controversial one with a mixed to poor track record. Everyone tried to explain to the business man that the horse was no good, but the business man could not be swayed. Every person around the business man and in the world of the business man thought the horse was a duff, but the business man still plumped for it. All the hard work was undone when the business man backed the wrong horse and everything went tits up. He gambled and things were never the same afterwards.
The Judge
There was once a judge of a beauty contest that had to judge in the contest between these two women. The women were similar in ways, but there was a clear difference in the actual beauty. There were question marks around the judge’s impartialness and when he made the decision, he was accused (actually by the business man) of being biased. There was some slight confusion around the entry process to the beauty competition and the business man’s daughter only entered at the last minute. She was unsure of what was needed of her, but managed to get the application completed on time. The other girl had her application fully completed in plenty of time and really made her application look like what the judge wanted. Still, both participants entered the contest.
The judge chose the much uglier woman as the winner of the beauty contest. The woman was older, in worse condition and less attractive than the other. However, despite the business man’s daughter being much more beautiful, the other was picked. The reason cited by the judge was the application form not being completed properly and that the other woman had promised plastic surgery to make herself look more beautiful. The business man was furious and accused the judge of being biased, but his words fell on deaf ears.
The Newsagent
There was a manger that once ran newsagent and was well known for his business skills. He ran a newsagent for a while and with the help of a wealthy foreigner he managed to make the newsagent into a super famous, extremely wealthy and successful newsagent. On the back of his success the newsagent was head hunted by the business man. The business man, losing interest and enthusiasm after backing the wrong horse, decided he needed the help of the newsagent, to make his business great again.
The business man paid the newsagent an awful lot of money and the newsagent took up post. However the newsagent started to make some strange decisions and after several months the business had not improved. The newsagent was clearly there to attract investment, but his day to day running of the shop started to raise questions. The paper boys were old, limited in their ability to deliver papers and rude with the locals. A particular three or four of the old paper boys were particularly bad. They were getting near retirement age and to be frank, had never ever been up to standard. Yet, as they neared the end of the contract he offered them glitzy new deals. The locals were shocked when they saw that not only were they still delivering their papers (badly) but they were getting paid more than the few younger, more talented paper boys.
To add to all this the year before the business man and the newsagent had a meeting with locals and promised to improve things. Much was discussed at this meeting, but a lot focused around the newsagent relying paper boys, from out of town, on short term contracts. The newsagent and businessman categorically stated that this would improve, but alas six months later and the situation had gone from bad to worse. The disgruntled locals were confused at the offering of contracts to low, under performing paper boys and the ever increasing reliance on paper boys loaned from other newsagents and many questioned the value of the newsagent at all.
The Horse
As documented above the horse had caused the business man many problems, but even though it was a sad old thing it had experienced glorious days in the past. The horse was fantastic at racing on flat ground. It had won numerous honours and the hearts of the nation with its brilliant running on the flat ground. Naturally it tried to move across to steeple chasing, but most know that the transition is not always successful. Many good flat racing horses have failed and many average flat racing horse have succeeded at staple jumping. The horse tried its hand a staple jumping but was poor, with only a few successes. Still, the business man backed the horse at a crucial time. It was a poor decision and it cost the business man big time. Can the horse be blamed? Well the horse was obviously inept, so the blame lies mostly with the business man. But still the horse could have done so much better, with the talent it had. It later came out that the horse was drinking and had lost the plot in many ways.
The Mechanic
The newsagent and the business man now share a car and previously (before the newsagent turned up) the business man asked a mechanic to do some work on the car. The mechanic had a mixed track record, but seemed to may the right choice at the time. Not only that but he was cheap. The mechanic had learnt his trade from a controversial, but very good mechanic. Together they had done work for the business man in the past. Hence the business man turned to the mechanic (the 2nd one) when his car was having problems. On his own the mechanic had tried to fix cars before and he had done so poorly. In both situations he jumped ship after doing some damage. Still, he was cheap, familiar with the business man’s car and available.
The car was a beauty when it was first taken into the mechanic. The parts were all new and working well, but there were a few problems with small things. Initially the mechanic did a good job and the car started to work like a dream. However after a short while the mechanic started to change his approach. Rather than using the innovative methods, he started to become risk averse. He was still getting results, but the car wasn’t performing the way it could. Suddenly the business man started to lose interest in the car. One day he went in and demanded that the two piston rings, fine new one’s, should be sold. He got a great price for them and the mechanic was only too happy to oblige. The money was really useful for the business man and he used it to keep his business afloat and make a crucial payment to the tax man. He then gave the mechanic a small proportion of the money to replace the piston rings, but the mechanic bought a carburettor.
Gradually over time the business man got the mechanic to take out all the best parts of the car and sell them, in order to keep stop his business from going under. He gave the mechanic a small amount of money to replace parts, but the mechanic just brought in old, decrepit parts. He showed that he was really a poor mechanic by bringing in old parts that were past their sell by date. The mechanic got lucky for a while, but as he sold off the cars parts and replaced them with his own choices, the car started to fall apart. He also borrowed a number of questionable parts from other garages. These were expensive and down right awful. The mechanic had his hands tied in many ways, but he still could have done much better with the resources that he had.
In the mean time the newsagent had come on the scene. The newsagent clearly didn’t have any confidence in the mechanic and many thought the mechanics days were numbered. Still the newsagent allowed the mechanic to buy a host of new parts and then renew the contract/leases on several new car accessories. These accessories were a poor choice and many people in touch with the garage thought this was a poor choice by the mechanic. Then suddenly, out of the blue, the newsagent sacked the mechanic. The car was performing very poorly, but why on earth did the newsagent allow the mechanic to sign the parts and loan new ones? The finally result is that the car is in sorry shape and is barely running at all. The car chugs along and is getting the business man and the newsagent from A to B. However, there is a huge doubt as to whether it will have survived by the next May.
And they all lived happily ever after. Or not. Unfortunately the saga is still unfolding and the story has not come to an end. The horse and the mechanic are long gone but the problems continue. The newsagent and the business man got together and appointed a new mechanic. Another cheap option. This guy was a very talented apprentice working under the old (sacked) mechanic. He was an excellent bicycle repair person, but is unproven when it comes to cars. He now faces the uphill task of not only keeping the car running, but trying to rebuild it into a beautiful motor again (without any funds).
To be continued .........
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