On Wed, 8 Jun 2011 15:19:08 -0700 (PDT), bobharvey
wrote:

On Jun 8, 6:19*pm, "David WE Roberts"
wrote:
I think you would be hard pressed to make a living at manual work these
days -

Oh I don't know. Sounds like there is plenty of experience for
jobbing gardeners...

....and plumbers, electricians, roofers, bricklayers, joiners, motor
mechanics, bus drivers, road workers...need I go on? The money, spread
over a career, wouldn't often represent luxury, but it's decent. I
think the difficulty is for unskilled workers: we do seem to need far
fewer labourers these days. And what becomes of those with shiny new
degrees in Pure and Applied Knitting Studies and Football History, I
don't know..."Do you have a Nectar card?" perhaps. A very interesting
taxi driver told me how the Union had helped him into university when
he'd been on the buses...and a house-clearer said he'd got himself
through university, but was still clearing houses.

--
Mike.