Issue 16

The next part of Health & Safety training is the two ticks for safety, the training will take place over the next few weeks your cooperation is very much required and appreciated. Let’s carry on our good habits and stop the bad ones

A Word from DARREN

Thank you to Sean for the above Photo.

A Word from Our Leader Well gents we are now officially Heidelberg Cement, We have a visit scheduled for October by an auditing team so brace yourselves. Apart from that we have taken off stock a couple of weeks and put on stock the other two, so we’ve pretty well stayed the same. Our manufacturing levels are falling well below budget so we need to make a real big effort over the closing months. We have fox plant coming in over the next few weeks to put down a new stockpile. Health & Safety Again well done on the accidents another zero month please keep it up. There is a health and safety awareness day at Howley Park on the 11th September which C Shields and C Farnell will be attending this year. We have also put forward two applications for the Ceramic Pledge Awards and two for the companies Quest Awards; hopefully we might be in the medals. New Factory Please don’t listen to the rumours being spread, about this not being built. We have just submitted all the follow up material requested by Leeds and are pushing for an October planning meeting. We remain on course for a “Yes” decision by the end of the year. 1of6

I want to talk about something that can comfort and soothe us in our most intimate and passionate of times as well as tear us and devour us when we deny its wishes. It can strike when we are most vulnerable or most guarded. Love is something we cannot define. It's an organic being that attaches itself to us and we have no idea how it will affect us. We can neither predict its causes nor can we rid ourselves of its influence. It is incomprehensible yet we live everyday knowing of its existence. As I look back upon the past and the things that I have done, I realize the things I should have done. It can be difficult to foresee the correct decisions we must make in life when we must simultaneously build the road of life as we walk it. I believe life is filled with deceit, a belief I stayed true to by deceiving myself and lying to others. I am constrained by my fears and doubts. The one thing I wish I could have in my life is love. Now, love has been something that I've wished I have since I could remember. Stories of star crossed lovers have always floated in my mind. But as I write this, I think for the first time I am truly experiencing love. Who truly knows what love actually is? I'm willing to share with you my personal tale

of what I believe is but one example of a miraculous thing called love. I have met a girl, her name is Amy - The Bunny Boiler. She was gorgeous and funny, and we had so much in common. Since the day I first talked her I knew that she was special and I wanted to be close to her. I will never forget Saturday 1st September the day that I met her. Life can be quite strange sometimes. This day has changed my life and I feel so in love, she is so hot and she has written some lovely things in her texts. In fact when I went down to Lincoln I was wondering why people in Lincoln talk so sexy, I am just so happy, I have had to get a spare inhaler because I cant stop talking about Amy The Bunny Boiler. Someone came into the office this morning looking for a brick match and instead of sitting there trying to ignore there presence or sending them to see Mad Mick who knows [nothing] about bricks I was really helpful. I told them all about my life and how happy I am now, they looked a little bemused at me because they had only come in to enquire about buying some bricks. I even laughed at Mick Branford’s jokes, the one about this bloke who has just been told he has a big arse and the bloke replied that he needed a big hammer to knock a big nail in… Oh I am so happy and Ill tell you what shall I; I have even written a poem about how I feel, here it is… Loving you is something that comes easy, Like walking in the sunshine to a song, Like being in a place where you belong, Like finding reasons when you know you're ready. Nor do I care that working days are dreary, The pay's a pittance and the hours are long. Knowing that you love me keeps me strong, The light within that lets me see life clearly. Why is love the music of our meaning, The lilt that makes our labour worth our living, The loveliness no platitude can bear? In you I have a harvest past all gleaning, A gift arrested in the act of giving, A moment of delight that's always there

NEW SMOKERS SHELTER 2of6

It took 3 fitters 3 days to build this architectural miracle. Our fitters at Swillington took two attempts, Dennis Fox, Colin Whiteley and Chris Shields feel however that the end product looks rather majestic, only problem now is that everyone has quit smoking and maybe this is the lesser of two evils when compared to the danger faced by standing under the canopy.

LIVING IN THE “NOW” How many of us tend to waste our consciousness by living outside the present. In the run of the day, my thoughts are so often fixed upon either the past or the future, that my mind registers only a minimal amount of what is taking place in the 'now'. As a result of this tendency to function on autopilot, much of the wonder and beauty of life passes us by unnoticed. When I, for example take my dog Rosie for a walk on an evening, for instance, I am more likely to spend the walk thinking about getting back home than appreciating the scenery, even though I am walking through the fields. And how often do I find myself replaying the events of the day while eating dinner, mulling over 'what-ifs' and 'should-have-said’s' as we chew and swallow our food absent mindedly? In fact, I think most of us are so intent on looking either forward or backward at life that we go through much of it as if in a dream, with a limited awareness of present reality. When I was a kid I experienced life to the fullest. I had little reason to concern myself much with the past or worry about our future, and I experienced the fresh edge of wonder at each

new discovery of my world. I existed in the present. As I have grown into an adult, however, that feeling of awe has diminished because I have become caught up in the effort of survival and the demands of time. I spend at least eight hours of every day at the Swillington despatching bricks with Mick Lardner, Mick Brayford, Darren Bell and today Boris. When I am not thus employed, I must concern myself with other necessities shopping, social commitments to AA, the demands of my son Luke and niece Rebecca and I increasingly engage the autopilot, which allows me to physically function while we mentally jump ahead to the next task. After a while, this becomes a habitual mode of existence and my awareness of the world around me narrows because I am rarely fully present in the moment. In effect, I begin to function like a sleep walker in my waking life. How do I break free from this habitual mode of functioning? How do I regain that sense of newness that will expand my mind and awaken me from the dream? I need to do it with intent. That is, I must exercise the full power of my human will to become mindful of every action that I undertake. I must constantly remind myself to pay close attention to my actions-to relish the sensation of chewing and tasting my food, for example, to feel my hands on the steering wheel and revel in the synchronistic movements of changing gears. Even the simplest gesturesmiling, shaking hands, looking at our watchesmust be undertaken with my mind fully focused on the task if I am to awaken to my own existence in the now. This is no mean feat. The habit of living in the past and/or jumping into the future inside my own head is a difficult one to break. Once I have allowed the consciousness to fall into a state of disuse, it requires a good deal of effort to regain its focus, but the will becomes stronger the more it is utilized, and if I persevere, the rewards will be well worth the effort as my consciousness expands. I will keep practising and maybe eventually the lights will be on and I will no longer be absent.

JOKES 3of6

The world is divided into two groups. There are those who know, and those who don't know. Those who know are no problem. Those who don't know are also in two groups. One is those who don't know and know they don't know. Well, they can learn! But then, there are those who don't know, and don't know they don't know. And they become managers! Lesson 1: A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?" The crow answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it. Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up. Lesson 2: A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy. "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree. Management Lesson: 'BS' might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there

STATISTICS Week Com 22/07/2007

Produced 281,280

Sold 304,420

Stock 15,440,852

30/07/2007 06/08/2007 13/08/2007 20/08/2007 27/08/2007

369,736 442,664 453,864 401,992 365,184

325,744 452,620 403,628 442,948 256,096

15,484,844 15,474,888 15,525,124 15,501,188 15,610,276

Like our wonderful generous leader said in his fabulous report during August we had two weeks taking off stock and two weeks putting on stock and during August we sold 1,758,158 bricks which takes our 2007 total to 13,245,563. The production so far for 2007 is 14,530,550 which means that during 2007 we have put on stock 1,284,987 putting our stock up from 14,325,289 to 15,610,276 at this rate of about 160,000 per month we will have 16.25m on the yard by Christmas and 17.5m by this time next year so lets hope sales pick up a bit. Top 20 For Aug 2007 Last mth > > > ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▲ > ▲ ▲ ▼ ▼

1 2 3 6 4 8 14 9 10 19 22 11 7 12 20 16 28 33 18 13

pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Name 73 Class B 65 Man Red 73 City Mlti 65 Swale WC 65 Golden Brwn 65 Cream Sm 65 Farm Brwn 73 ClB Jews 73 Golden Brwn 73 Victorian 65 Red Rustic 65 Riding Rus 73 Farm Brwn 73 Red Smth 65 Red SF 73 Cap Mlti 65 Victorian 65 Red Smth 73 Red SF 65 Rydale Rus

Quantity 346,752 188,032 186,624 118,804 110,740 63,732 62,376 60,288 51,840 51,072 47,912 41,132 37,632 37,632 37,064 34,176 32,544 30,736 29,184 28,928

Our top 5 on the brick sales chart account for 54% of August sales and the entire chart accounts for 91% of the sales for the month. The Manchester reds hang on to the No2 position but only just after they came within striking distance of pole position during July Po ▲ ▲

4of6

4 10

1 2

Aug-07 Name Stumpy Keith Chicken

Total 120,624 115,012

▼ >> ▲ ▼ ▲ >> >> ▼

1 NE 21 2 8 NE NE 9

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

>> >> >> ▲ >> >> >> >> >> >>

NE NE NE 35 NE NE NE NE NE NE

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Harry Potter Alan Douglas Jeff Rudge Shadrack Bruce Forcyth Archers / Trevor Padgett Ken & Barbie Maximum Moaner / DX04DOH YJ06WCM / Ian Archers / Ian Dicky Lord Archer YJ53KCK / Barret T4BPS / Staniel Potts YH02CLY / Andy DK51EFR / Hallam

94,644 63,440 51,980 50,452 48,971 30,093 29,756 26,169 25,400 20,064 19,612 18,844 18,432 18,080 16,896 15,361 10,848 10,848

Stumpy claims pole position again for the most prolific driver followed by a healthy return to No2 by Keith Chicken. Harry Potter it seems though has had a spell cast on him after loosing at quiditch mid month and has sadly been too ill to drive since which has placed him at a distinct disadvantage. Sadly Shadrack managed to write off his wagon on the M1 after crashing into the back of another HGV carrying a full load of our bricks; happily none of our bricks were badly damaged. It is rumoured now that Shadrack may retire and concentrate on running his pub – this information was brought to me by a source who wishes to remain anonymous but likes to holiday at the same time as me near Bridlington. This week we feature Jeff Rudge as the winner of the most depressed driver of the week

MORE STUFF ? I reserved the next bit of space for Daniel Lumb’s gossip pages but after repeated requests none was forthcoming, I then pleaded with his dad for an interview just after dinner but he ran off shouting “no way!”. I asked Chris Shields if he would say a few words and he did but they wasn’t nice, were aimed at me and I interpreted them as a no. I begged Mick “Mr Wilks” Brayford just to write a piece for our newsletter and he jokingly said I will talk about the pleasures of retirement but it’s a while off yet then disappeared. So I am left with nothing and because I am sat on despatch here I don’t know much gossip that goes on out there. We have managed to source Bob Jolley a Hi Viz T Shirt though to fit his 6 foot girth but they have had to take extra labour on at the factory to put it together so it might be a while coming.

The COW, The DOG & THE MONKEY "Today I have created you! As a cow, you must go to the field with the farmer all day long. You will work all day under the sun! I will give you a life span of 50 years." The Cow objected "What? This kind of tough life you want me to live for 50 years? Let me have 20 years, and the 30 years I'll give back to you." So God agreed. On the second day, God created the dog. God said to the dog, "What you are supposed to do is to sit all day by the door of your house. Any people that come in, 5of6

you will have to bark at them! I'll give you a life span of 20 years!" The Dog objected. "What? All day long to sit by the door? No way! I give you back my other 10 years of life!" So God agreed. On the third day, God created the monkey. He said to the monkey, "Monkey has to entertain people. You've got to make them laugh and do monkey tricks. I'll give you 20 years life span." The Monkey objected. "What? Make them laugh? Do monkey faces and tricks? Ten years will do, and the other 10 years I'll give you back." So God agreed. On the fourth day, God created man and said to him, "Your job is to sleep, eat, and play. You will enjoy very much in your life. All you need to do is to enjoy and do nothing. This kind of life, I'll give you 20 years of life span." The man objected. "What? Such a good life! Eat, play, sleep, do nothing? Enjoy the best and you expect me to live only for 20 years? No way, man!...... Why don't we make a deal? Since the Cow gave you back 30 years, the Dog gave you back 10 years and the Monkey gave you back 10 years, I will take them from you! That makes my life span 70 years, right?" So God agreed. AND THAT IS WHY..... In our first 20 years, we eat, sleep, play, enjoy the best and do nothing much. For the next 30 years, we work all day long, suffer and get to support the family. For the next 10 years, we entertain our grandchildren by making monkey faces and monkey tricks. And for the last 10 years, we stay at home, sit in front of the door and bark at people.

Dr. Bernd Scheifele

Finally as most people probably know by now Hansons has been bought out by the German company Heidelberg Cement and for those who have not yet read it here is the greeting from Dr.

Bernd Scheifele who is Chairman of the managing board Dear employees, A warm welcome to HeidelbergCement! Under the motto build2gether, we intend to build a shared and exciting future. HeidelbergCement and Hanson are a perfect fit. While our emphasis has been on cement, Hanson has built leading positions in aggregates and heavy building products. Not only are our products complementary, we are also a perfect geographic fit. Our combined business will give us long-term strength in the important markets of North America and the United Kingdom. We are also gaining a presence in new and attractive regions such as Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Israel and Spain, where HeidelbergCement has, until now, had little or no representation. The confidence we have in our outstanding joint potential is not based solely on strategic grounds; we are convinced that we are also an excellent match in terms of our business culture. Hanson has an excellent management team and committed employees and we hope to benefit from your comprehensive knowledge and expertise. We are especially looking forward to Alan Murray joining the Managing Board of HeidelbergCement. Together we are closing the gap on the global players: HeidelbergCement and Hanson will be the global market leader in aggregates and have leading positions in cement, concrete and building products. As a fully integrated building materials company, we will generate further outstanding opportunities to strengthen our customer partnerships. In the coming months, we will get to know each other better. As we shape the integration process, you will learn more about HeidelbergCement and we will learn more about you and your business. We will inform you as best we can about the integration process and answer your questions wherever possible. We created a special website www.heidelbergcement.com/hanson, so that you can find out about HeidelbergCement and ask any questions that are relevant to you. Why not take this opportunity to get to know 6of6

HeidelbergCement and its business culture better? The timetable for accomplishing the global integration is an ambitious one. We believe that by dealing openly and fairly with one another, we can overcome all the challenges facing us in the coming weeks and, together, successfully complete the integration process. We look forward to undertaking this journey with you and working together to successfully shape the future of our Group.

MAD MICKS POEM

I love my job, I love the pay! I love it more and more each day. I love my boss, he is the best! I love his boss and all the rest.I love my office and its location. I hate to have to go on vacation. I love my furniture, drab and grey, and piles of paper that grow each day! I think my job is really swell, there's nothing else I love so well. I love to work among my peers, I love their leers, and jeers, and sneers. I love my computer and its software; I hug it often though it won't care. I love each program and every file. I'd love them more if they worked awhile. I'm happy to be here. I am. I am. I'm the happiest slave of the Firm, I am. I love this work, I love these chores. I love the meetings with deadly bores. I love my job - I'll say it again - I even love those friendly men. Those friendly men who've come today. In clean white coats to take me away!!!