Life with Nat - EP81: Tony talks #5

Episode Date: January 20, 2025

Nat and Tony discuss January, Tony gives out some great advice as always and they have a good laugh. We hope you enjoy it. Please subscribe, follow, and leave a review. xxx You can find us in all places here; https://podfollow.com/lifewithnat/view INSTA: @natcass1 We're also on Facebook now too: https://www.facebook.com/lifewithnatpod A 'Keep It Light Media' Production Sales, advertising, and general enquiries: [e-mail] SHOW INFO: Life with Nat - it’s me! Natalie Cassidy and I’ll be chatting away to family, friends and most importantly YOU. I want to pick people's brains on the subjects that I care about- whether that’s where all the odd socks go, weight and food or kids on phones. Each week I will be letting you into my life as i chat about my week, share my thoughts on the mundane happenings as well as the serious. I have grown up in the public eye and have never changed because of it. Life with Nat is the podcast for proper people. Come join the community. ♥️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Get groceries delivered across the GTA from Real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit Superstore.ca to get started. Hello and welcome to Life With Nat. Tony's here tonight, how are you? I'm good, how are you? Yeah, I'm good. Great to be back.

Yeah, it's been a while. It has, yeah. Before Christmas. Yeah, was it two weeks before? A couple of weeks before, wasn't it? Yeah, ten days, something like that. Yeah, yeah. Goes quick timed, doesn't it?

It does, yeah. We all wish our lives away, don't we, this time of year? I know that we all hate January, but when I look back to our podcast talking about Christmas memories and looking forward to Christmas, I do feel like it's whizzed by. It has, yeah, and it seems a long time ago as well, when we were talking about it. Longer than four weeks, I think it is.

Well, everybody's missed you. Oh, that's lovely. Claire Ayres said, I love you and Tony together. Can't wait. So thank you, Claire. Brilliant. Hello, Claire. Thanks very much.

The lovely Natasha said, yay, I've missed Tony. Ah, bless. So there you go. Thank you very much. Can I call you Tash? Is that allowed? She'll have to get back to us. She will, sorry.

If I've faux-parred there, I apologise. It's a funny one, isn't it? Name shortening, actually. That's a subject in itself. Yeah, I've got a customer who's a Natasha. Does she like Natasha? Can you call her Tash? You can.

We could after a while. I did feel that calling her Tash too early was a little bit presumptuous, a little bit, you know, over-familiar for that client-contractor relationship. Yes. So, yeah, there's a, but I do generally refer to it as Natasha, but the odd Tasha does get in there. Slip in. Slip in, yes, right.

How long does it take people after they employ you to do a job and they say thank you Tony and what have you and then you're there in the kitchen

and they get rushing about with the kids and they go oh cheers Tony do they do that yeah some people do I think it depends on the person

depends who you know who you're working for and stuff I'll be honest I'm big on not being over familiar yep I think it depends on the person. It depends who, you know, who you're working for and stuff. I'll be honest, I'm big on not being over-familiar. Yep. With my customers.

Yeah. I believe, I mean, I know I've spoken to people in the past. I've gone to Price's job and I'm speaking to the lady at the house. She says, oh, yeah, we had, you know, last house, you know, we lived such and such, we had these buildings and we used to have a glass of wine with them every Friday and all this sort of stuff. And I'd think, sorry, that's not me at all. I mean, every job people say to me,

when we're finished, we're going to have a big party, big barbecue, you're coming. And I go, no, I'm not. They go, sorry. I said, no, I'm not coming. And they say, what are you talking about? I said, no. I said, I firmly believe there should be a client-contractor relationship.

We're pleasant. We're civil. we have a little laugh and a joke, but there's got to be a point where they need to be able to come to me and tell me there's something wrong. It's true. And I need to be able to respond to it in a professional manner. Yeah, or vice versa. Or vice versa. I need to go to them and say there's something wrong

and they need to be able to respond to me in a professional way. And when you cross that line of going from client-contractor to friends, it doesn't work, in my opinion. And so I've always tried to keep it professional. Wise words. Well, I don't know. There's probably other blokes, builders out there, or other tradesmen, male and female, whatever, who would disagree with me and say, oh no, I've had wonderful friendships with my customers and, you know, I've been to weddings and I've been to this and done, been to the kids of, you know, their bar mitzvah or whatever.

Yeah. It's just not for me. I just believe that there should be a, there should be a line and we're able to conduct a proper business relationship. Yeah. No, I like it. Always wise words. This is why people like you.

Well, what did you know? Christina. Yeah. Actually messaged me yesterday. Right. She must be a little bit psychic. It's a little bit physic.

Yeah. Hey Nat, when's Tony going to be on again? Here I am. So. It's amazing. I'm like an apparition. She Tony going to be on again here I am so it's amazing I'm like an apparition she's going to be thrilled old Christina

here's our first voice note of the evening fire away hi Nat it's Laura from Essex please tell me I'm not the only person who seems to feel

that January is a hard struggle I don't know why um but I just feel mentally and physically drained and I have got nothing else to give I don't know whether it's just me or whether it is a thing that everyone seems to struggle in January if you could just pop it out there and give me your thoughts, that would be great. Speak to you soon. Bye.

Well, I tell you what, darling, I feel mentally drained at the moment. I think we all do. I really do. And I have touched on January, but we're in January, so we can touch on it again and have a chat. And obviously I have the wise words of my brother here. So what would you say about January? First of all, Laura sounds really down.

So I do hope that it's not quite as bad as that. I mean, she sounds like she's really had enough, which ain't great. I was having this exact conversation with Evie, my daughter, last week. And she was almost saying exactly the same thing as Laura. It's January, it's cold, it's dark, I can't get going. I just feel like I'm treading water and all this sort of stuff. And so my advice to her was just accept that January is shit. Yeah. Sorry, is shit. Yeah.

Sorry. It is. Yeah. You've come off the back of Christmas. So you've got all the excitement leading up to Christmas. Can I intercept there? Interject all you like. What I want to say is I was listening to Rob Beckett on parenting help.

Cause I listen in the car. Yeah. He hates January. And he was talking about how terrible it is and all of that. But what I've come to realize, and I'd love to hear from you laura please respond to me if you are a huge lover of christmas january really hits quite hard it does yeah because you really really love it and you look forward to it yeah and you go all in all in yeah you got your debts and your music yeah emotional but you just love it yeah love all go all in all in yeah you've got your decks and your music yeah emotional but you just love it yeah love all your family and all the everything about it is the films and

just everything time off work it's brilliant yeah it's just amazing it's amazing yeah but the fall from it going away yeah gets harder i think even as you get older and you know that you know each christmas comes and goes. And it's another year gone. And it can get quite melancholy and quite nostalgic. But I find it generally very, very difficult. Right. So there's a real old cockney sound.

I don't know if you've heard of it. After the Lord's Mayor show. No. Right. So my granddad used to say this and we never met unfortunately so after the lord's mayor show basically means a massive come down from a big exciting event so the lord's mayor show is i think it's in november it's it's it's the lord mayor of london puts it on it's a procession it's like mark films it yeah mark films it's a

procession so you've got you know the scouts and the sea scouts and the girl guides and all, you know. Costumes. Costumes and floats and all that sort of stuff. And funny enough, when I was a kid, I held the flag for the Cub Scout movement at the head of the. Brilliant. Yes, which was quite nice at the time.

So I've actually performed in it once. Yeah. So this very old saying, Cockney saying, after the Lord Mayor's show. And what it means is after the Lord Mayor's show comes the shit cart. Right. So basically the Lord Mayor's show was traditionally, it would be military as well as everything else. And there might be financial institutions.

So now it's all mechanised. But years ago, it was all horse-drawn. Yes. So you'd have all this wonderful pageantry and all this stuff going on through the square mile in London. And then once it's all gone, you'd have a bloke and his mate in a great big horse-drawn carriage picking up all the horse poo. Yeah.

Yeah. So I'm afraid, unfortunately, January is, it's after the Lord's Mayor show because you've had this great, wonderful high and you've just come down with a massive bang. And unfortunately, my only advice to Laura, as was to Evie, was just accept it for what it is. Times are going to get better.

Spring will come. Summer will come. The days will get longer. They'll get brighter. You will start to feel better about things and just accept where we are in january and i know it sounds boring but we're here yes we're in january and it may be a bit dark but we are here and there's been a quite a few shocking you know past you know things that have happened people have passed um now i've had loads you know on my in my life honestly i've got a very good friend of mine shamus who he was a plasterer but he's a family member he's waiting for a big cancer diagnosis

at the moment you know it's in it's sort of coming quite soon and i had a wonderful wonderful customer that passed away last year she was the most beautiful lady yeah and had a pain they found something inoperable she was yeah you know passed away nine yeah so again at times like this i know it's all relative everyone's situation is relative but you have to try and be a little bit positive if you can you have to you've got to you have to absolutely and january is it's it's all about new and tony's right laura it's about thinking well look once we get through jan yeah we're into february then we can start talking about spring and yeah you're looking at east have you got a little garden have you got a little patio could you get yourself some nice bulbs yeah could you have a little something to look forward to did you listen to my pod on Monday with Donna Ashworth

who said write a little few little words down each day to make yourself feel something that you like to do but just try and find

a little bit of joy in each day even if it's for two minutes and it will make you feel better be that a walk be it eating something

that you really like that makes you feel good something healthy whatever it is look if you're fed up with the colour of your bedroom walls, go and cut the pots of paint.

Put the radio on. Put the radio on and paint your bedroom walls, you know, something that makes you feel like you've done something, that you've progressed in some way. Yes. It's really easy to say that, I know, when we're sort of sitting here. But trust me, you know, I have to do this on a regular basis, you know, when you work for yourself and things are tough and times are hard

and you've got nowhere to turn to and all the rest of it, you have to sort of almost learn to think, hang on a minute, things are really not that bad. That's right. And although it's pretty shitty at the minute, things will get better and you will start to feel a bit better. But I understand where she's coming from because, you know, she might be running a home, you know, kids are back at school.

Well, we don't know her. We don't know her situation. We don't know. We don't know, no. I thought tonight I wanted to mention, I wanted to mention this because it came into my mind and it really did. I didn't sort of make it up for this, but I was working today, worked, got home. Now, Mark was at home today, so he's cooked the dinner, which is important.

So the dinner's on the stove. He did a chilli. So I haven't got to think about that. But I've walked in the door, knew we were doing this. I've got stuff to organise for tomorrow. And I had Joni wanting my attention. in the door knew we were doing this i've got stuff to organize for tomorrow and i had joni wanting my attention as soon as i walked through the door they want you which is absolutely normal and eliza has got an audition tomorrow for a play and she's got a debating thing she's doing

so she also really wants me to sit look at the lot and i had lots and lots of things to do myself even though i've got in i've still got stuff to do yeah and I went oh it's just a lot as soon as you walk through the door then you feel guilty yeah because I've been out all day but I did the stuff with Eliza so we did that till seven we've had the bowl of chili all together yeah then we've we've done it until seven and then I've brought Joni up she wanted to do do times tables, reading, we're talking. That was until eight. And I sat there and I thought, Jesus Christ, what do single mothers do or fathers where they're doing everything?

Because the dinner was done tonight and I thought if I was on my own tonight and I then had to cook a dinner as well and just do all the things that Mark's done today because he's helped, he's put a wash on and done whatever it must be really tough

so I just wanted to shout out actually to all parents that are on their own yeah don't no idea how they do it sorry and it's amazing

yeah just total unbelievable respect for these people that have to do that on their own because I just I couldn't do it I just couldn't

I don't think I could so I just couldn't so absolutely don't think I could. So I just couldn't. So absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Fair play. And, you know, much respect. Absolutely.

I've got a message here from Shazza. Okay. Shazza. Shazza. Hi, Nat. We are literally about to renovate our kitchen and dining room to become one. Right, okay. All right.

Sounds like a bit of structural work involved, yep. I'm dreading it as I'm such a clean house person and I'm getting anxiety about it all. Okay. He's already moved my whiteboard for shopping lists. How am I going to cope? Sounds like fight and talk to me. How am I going to cope? I'm just trying to think of the end result.

Love the pod and your chats with Tony from Shaz. So what would you say to people who are starting some work and are very organised and a bit like me, I suppose? Yeah, okay. So kitchen, diner, number one. So you're in one of the most important rooms of the house that's the first thing so i would be looking at number one if you're she's she's very concerned about the upheaval and the dust and all the rest of it so first thing i would do

is i would pack away all your knickknacks and bits and pieces downstairs right pictures uh um anything that gathers is going to gather loads of dust anything's going to cause problems with cleaning books ornaments ornaments all that stuff you will get there will be dust then there'll be dust and there'll be dust on dust and you won't be able to stop it right sorry it's it's a fact i mean we've got customers that buy these zip up things they put over the doors and you know to try and keep the dust out of the rooms and you just can't keep it out you can keep it down and you can you know you can do something but generally you're going to get so i would if she's really concerned about you know keeping being able to clean quickly get all your nicky

stuff put it in some boxes stick it in the the loft, put it upstairs, whatever it might be, number one. Number two, I would make sure that she commandeers another room, so maybe dining room, maybe garage, don't allow it at the house. Maybe she might have another reception room and set up a mini kitchen. Right. So I'm talking about... Air fryer? Paste table or whatever.

Oh, yeah, like a wallpaper. You know, or something a bit more substantial. You can use an old garden table, anything. It doesn't matter. Right. So you want a table, reasonable size, air fryer, a couple of gas hob rings, or you can buy a small electric hob that you can plug in.

Right. Yeah. Microwave. Yeah. Sort some temporary storage out for your cereals and your cans and your bits and pieces and all the rest of it. Yeah. So make sure you can survive in an environment that's not the kitchen because the kitchen is going to get wrecked. Mm-hmm.

Third thing, make sure you speak to your builder and make sure you've got a washing machine at all times. Right. Never, ever expect you've got a washing machine at all times. Right. Never, ever expect to not have a washing machine. Right, okay. Even if it means plumbing it intemporally, running a pipe out through the wall somewhere and sticking it in the front garden for now, you know, whatever it means. You know, if you're a family and you've got children, which you might not have. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. But even if you're a couple on their own or even if you're on family and you've got children, which you might not have. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

But even if you're a couple on their own or even if you're on your own, it doesn't matter. You are not going to want to be traipsing down to the laundrette or whatever two or three times a week. Rigging it out Victorian style. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, you just, yeah, absolutely. Get the mango out.

You don't need that. So washing machine. You can do without a dishwasher. I know people that will wash up in the bath or they'll use paper plates or whatever. way out it's not you don't need that so washing machine you can do without a dishwasher yeah i know people that will wash up in the bath or they'll use paper plates or whatever so again if you can fit a little sink in somewhere um temporary great if not you can you can put a kettle and a bowl of water do a little bit of washing up and chuck it in the garden afterwards so the washing up is not an issue but definitely you want a little temporary kitchen,

you want to be able to cook, cup of tea, make some food and also make sure you've got a washing machine. Yeah. Because if that work takes up to three, four, five months, you don't want to be, A, you can't afford to eat takeaways every night

and you don't want to be doing that. No, you don't want to be doing that. No, the odd one now is fine. Yeah. And unfortunately, again, you've got to think about the end result and she's got to suck it up a little bit i'm afraid yeah there's going to be upheaval there's going to be ag there's going to be dust there's going to be mess it's going to be cold if if there's sort of things that are open and they can't you can't keep the you know the house

completely closed up and stuff yeah so i think there has to be a little acceptance that there's going to be this upheaval but if you've got a decent builder and they could you can work with them and you can say to them look i am a little bit concerned about this then there's no reason why they shouldn't be prepared to do a little bit of temporary whatever to make your life a little bit easier fantastic there you go shaz so letaz. So let us know how you get on, Shaz, anyway. Yeah, please do. Yeah. Please do.

Right, I thought this was a very good one. Go on. Hi, Nat. It's Jenny from Welling. Previously where? Where? Where? Like it.

Like the joke. I'd love your brother Tony's thoughts on how to deal with rubbish workmen. Do I get the man in question to return to the house to fix the work or do I bin him off and get a new person? Thank you. Right. Well, generally, my advice on this is as soon as you lose confidence in a tradesman, a builder, whatever it might be, and you feel that you can't trust them or can't work with them

or don't feel comfortable that what they're doing is what you want, then you get rid straight away. Now- Harsh, but fair. The only issue I've got with that is if it's for smaller jobs then you can do that so when if you're talking about someone's doing some painting and you don't like what they're doing you know or or you've got someone in doing a bit of tiling or they're putting a shelf up for a shelf yeah or they've done a bit of flat pack furniture and it ain't great you've

got some more to do i would always say that If you're in the middle of a big renovation, much more difficult, much more difficult because you've got to think about if you sack who's there and you've got half a house, you've then got to try and find someone to take that work on and that really is a can of worms. So I think generally for me me after what i've seen over 40 odd years or whatever it is if you've lost faith in someone and you believe that you're in a situation where you can get rid and you and you can recover the situation definitely get rid yeah yeah if you're in the middle of a big renovation. You've got to sort of tread carefully.

You've got to tread carefully. Really difficult. I've seen loads of people sack builders and sack tradesmen in the middle of big jobs and it never really ends well. It's a real shame though, Tony, isn't it? Because just let's talk about in general people. Yeah, people, yeah. It's just a shame that people are rubbish.

It is, but I think. Because I go to work, right? Yeah. And's just a shame that people are rubbish. It is, but I think... Because I go to work, right? Yeah. And I want to do the best I can. And everyone should want to do the best they can, shouldn't they? Well, if you're brought up like we were, then you do, because it's sort of in you. Yeah.

You don't like letting people down. You want to make sure that people view you in a certain light. You want to feel like you've done the best for people. But there's loads of people that just don't care, you know, in all walks of life, not just in my case. I know, this is what I'm saying, yeah. It's everywhere. It's everywhere now.

I mean, the customer service, we've talked about it before, the customer service in most industries is absolutely shocking. Yeah, yeah. So, but getting back to the building industry or what, you know, the, a lot, a lot of what people go through,

some of it is unlucky. Yes. But a lot of it isn't. And, and, and the reason why it isn't is that what I find is you get people, they want to do an extension. They spend a year planning for it, getting the drawings done,

getting it through planning, da, da, da, da, da. The drawings are ready in May. They want someone to start in June. So they're impatient. So they're impatient. That's me. Right? Yeah.

They're impatient. Yeah. And what happens is they will inevitably, they will end up choosing someone that's available rather than someone that's good. The quality. Yeah. So again, my advice to people is to try not to get in that situation is always take advice and wait for people.

If you're thinking about doing a reasonable sized job, you've got to be looking, booking someone in six months in advance minimum. Right. Anyone who's good. To know they're good. Anyone who's good in our game. Will be booked up. Will be booked up will be booked up unless unless they're really unlucky and they've had a job cancelled or there's a massive recession and no one's got any work but generally good people will be booked up right okay

and you have to factor that into your overall time scales not just you might spend 18 months with an architect deciding what you're going to do or you might spend a month with a bathroom designer to decide what you're going to do in your bathroom. And then you expect someone to start on the following Monday and it just doesn't work. So what people do is they then jump into a relationship with a tradesman or a builder that's not right because they want it done in a hurry. They want it done now.

And I've seen so many problems because of it. So a little bit of patience. Well, planning, I would say. Yes. I've had people many problems because of it. So a little bit of patience. Well, planning, I would say. Yes. I've had people wait a year for me. And that's not being bigoted. It's just they've come to me and said, I would like you to do, we want you to do our job.

And we say, well, we can't do it this year. And most people walk away. Yeah, yeah. They're not willing to wait. Some people don't. They say, that's fine, we'll wait. And then we book them in and then we get to them at some point. Yeah, that's nice.

That's good. Which is nice, but it's rare. So there are some really good people out there and there's some really rubbish people out there. So again, you've got to be really careful on how you choose people. I think it's really, really, like you say, potluck. You're playing Russian roulette. You are.

Letting people in your house. You are. I've been ever so lucky with Matt, my painter. He's lovely, Matt. And he comes round, you know, it's only, you know, a little bit of painting, a little bit of decorating or whatever. But it's nice to have someone who is respectful of the home, has a little chat, gets the work done, very honest,

and can paint a wall all right. Yeah. And you go, well, I've done all right now. Done all right. And I'm charging you a complete arm and leg and ripping you off at the same time. So that's been quite good.

Yeah. Well, so you found someone that you can trust for a particular thing, which is brilliant. Yeah. And the only way you're going to find those people is personal recommendation. So it is the only way you're going to find.

I did. I found that through Becky, my hairdresser. Exactly. This is the only way you're going to find people. I did. I found that through Becky, my hairdresser. Yeah, exactly. This is the only way you're going to find people. All these other ways people find, you are literally, you know, it's sort of pin the tail on the donkey or you're chucking a dartboard and seeing what number comes up. So, yeah, personal recommendation as well.

But going back to the original question question if you feel if you feel you can definitely get rid because as soon as you've as soon as that trust has gone you don't want them around you don't want them around well it's like any relationship and you don't feel comfortable yeah not be it is it's like friendship yeah yeah or a boyfriend or a girlfriend yeah if someone treats you badly and you feel, you know, that they've really crossed you, you don't want them around anymore. No. It's no different to this.

No. So be strong. Don't bring him back is my thing. If you can, like Tony said, if it ain't too big a job. Yeah. Just get someone else to fix it for you. Alternatively, and also if you are going to do it, then maybe have a contingency. Maybe speak to someone before you are going to do it, then maybe have a contingency.

Maybe speak to someone before you're going to do it and see if you can line someone up. So box a little bit clever. And I would say for safety, if you are going to complain about him or he knows that you've already got the ump, he or she,

sorry, knows you're a bit cross or what have you, if you are going to allow him back in or you're going to have a conversation, have someone with you if you are on your own. Yeah, definitely. Just for safety. Yeah, definitely. Because if they know or you're going to have a conversation, have someone with you if you are on your own. Yeah, definitely.

Just for safety. Yeah. Because if they know that you're a bit annoyed about something, they could come in. Things can turn. I've seen stuff. Things turn, yeah. So that's what I'd do.

Yeah. Here's for the next voice note. So on the last episode of Nuts Nieces, you or your niece kindly read out the message that I'd sent to their Instagram about buying a house solo and the first time I've bought a house on my own split with the other half in Covid excited but nervous now I was thinking about doing a small single-story extension on the back of the property so the back of the house has been extended half the width out so the kitchen sticks out the back of the house further than the dining

room if that makes sense so what I want to do is square off the back of the house I would love to know a rough price I've got some really rough dimensions like a square metre price. Now, I understand that the costs in Dan, where you guys are, are probably, well, will be more than the cost of builders in the East Midlands, which is where I am. However, it would be really interesting and helpful to get some tips and advice from the expert. Oh, that's nice. That's lovely, isn't it? Who's the expert? Is that you? That's you. Did I tell you I did a building call? Yeah, yeah, it's my new thing's lovely, isn't it? Who's the expert? Is that you? That's you. Did I tell you I did a building call? Yeah, yeah, it's my new thing. Doing a documentary on it.

Right, okay. More questions and answers on that one. So I think the problem is straight away, there are so many variables. You know, I get this quite a lot, people saying, well, how much do you think this is? There's so many variables. So even with a simple job like that,

so straight away I'm thinking, if you've got a a bit sticking out you're going to add to it to make it twice the size what it is at the moment does the you know have you got are you taking walls down what's the floor made out of is it timber is it is it solid do you need a complete roof over the lot have you got roof lights are you having aluminium uh doors you having plastic doors have you got to put no kitchen in um is the roof pitched is it flat is it render is it brickwork and all of these things are cost drivers um so it's really dangerous what's also dangerous is if i said a figure now that young lady there would remember that figure forever and that would be the figure she thinks she's going to pay so it's quite

it's quite dangerous. I mean, there's stuff on Facebook I look at where there's forums and stuff, and people say, oh, you know, budget £2,000 a square metre. Well, it doesn't mean anything unless you know exactly, not exactly, but you've got a really good idea about what you're doing. I'll tell you what I'm going to do, Hayley, because we've got your number. Send me, please, a few more details, maybe a couple of pictures, and I'll get Tony to look for you.

And he will have a little look. It's still guesswork. It's still guesswork. But at the moment, we don't have any info, do we? No, and I think it is a different geographical area. It's different to London. I don't know whether I think everyone's busy up there. Don't know.

That has an impact. If there's loads of work, it's more expensive. If there's less work, it's not to london i don't know what the work whether i think everyone's busy up they don't know that has an impact if there's loads of work it's more expensive if there's less work it's not as expensive yeah so we're more than happy to try and help but what i do advise people to do most of the time in this situation is just try and find a couple of local builders just have them around for a chat just say to them look i'm thinking of extending yeah i think i want to do this this this and this what do you reckon yeah ballpark yeah and because what hayley's going to want to know is is it 15 grand or 50 grand of course of course because her budget is going to be fixed she's going to she's going to well she's going to have an idea she's got an idea about what she wants to spend yeah and so before she's going to have an idea about what she wants to spend. And so before she goes to spend it, I mean, you've got architect fees,

planning fees, structural engineering fees, building control fees. You know, with these jobs, these little jobs, people go, you do it for two pounds, whatever it is, 18 grand. You can have three grand in fees. Just what you've got to pay professionals. Especially if you're doing it properly. If you're doing it properly, yeah. So that would be my suggestion is to just gauge from a couple of local builders what they think a decent ballpark is.

And if you did three or four, Hayley, I know that's a lot, but if you got three or four in, then you're going to find some sort of average between them. You might get someone who's really cheap, really dear, couple in between, and then you've got an idea of what you're going to find some sort of average between them you might get someone who's really cheap really dear someone who's really dear couple in between and then you've got an idea of what you're looking at but most people what they need before they start committing to like having some drawings done or getting an engineering or whatever that they we normally do as part of the pre-construction process they just want to know are they in the ballpark? Yeah. So, for instance, if Hayley was thinking about doing, if it's three metres square, this little extension,

let's say it sounds it could be that sort of size. Yeah. Yeah, three by three, three by four. So let's say it's three by three. Yeah. If you put this 2,000 pound a square metre that people seem to quote on Facebook, that's 18 grand to build an extension. Yes. I'm telling you now, in London, where we are,

18 grand don't buy the materials. No. No, that's right. So that's what I'm saying. It's dangerous to start just… Flying numbers about. Just chucking numbers about randomly. I think you need a little bit of local knowledge.

You need a little bit of… A little bit of guidance know a little bit of guidance a little bit of guidance to see whether or not it's financially feasible and then if you think well actually i've had a few rough ideas and it's about 30 grand and i think i can afford that then you will go to the next stage and get some drawings done and get some proper prices yeah perfect well listen we can't do a pod all night about building sorry yeah you're right don't apologize um but we've had so many lovely questions from all of you and i'm gonna keep what we've got a folder me and tony got a folder i am quite organized believe it or not so anything that

i haven't got to tonight we'll keep in the folder and the next time we're on we're gonna do a few more but i love it i love the fact that he does know what he's doing, my brother. I'm not just saying that. He's very, very good at what he does. So it's lovely that you're sending in your questions for him, and he can give you some advice. I think it's really lovely. I feel that I'm 56, and I've been around a bit,

and I've got quite a lot of good stuff in've got like quite a lot of good stuff in this old brain yeah and I'd like to help people if I can impart a bit of knowledge if I can give someone a bit of advice people regularly get in touch and I know I can't do their job but I will spend half an hour on the phone or I've even gone and seen people said look I can't do the job but I'll give you a bit of advice yeah that's lovely and I like to do that because i feel if the shoe was on the other foot and i was scrabbling about not knowing what to do how on earth do you go about doing this thing how brilliant would it be just to have someone to give you yeah so let's see how it goes i would like to think that in the next few months we might be able to set something up where i can answer everybody well i think it would be lovely i mean we're chatting about it tonight weren't we

downstairs we were and if people if people feel that are listening if they feel that they're that that would benefit them i just think you need a little instagram page maybe yeah honestly yeah maybe i know we were chatting about it but i think we could do a little tony's instagram tony talks instagram page and then the advice goes on there we can still talk about a couple of them on the pod yeah but it means we get around to everyone and then tony because i feel bad that people have written in previously yeah and we sort of haven't had we've not had a mechanism in place to deal with we've had sort of 10 and 12 at a time i know i know we haven't been able to talk to them all on the pod

because there's just not enough time. And we're learning. We're learning. And I didn't, I don't know how many people are going to message, but so many people do. Yeah. And it's brilliant.

So don't think we're ignoring you is what we're saying. And we are, I reckon a little page for you about your building and advice. People would love it. Let us know if you think that's a good idea. Yeah, because I don't want to go down that route if people think it's a bit of a pointless exercise, you know. Well, I know, but just set it up and if no one, it don't matter.

Yeah, true, yeah. It doesn't matter, does it? It doesn't matter, no. It's irrelevant. Yeah. But 07788 201919, Tony likes giving a bit of advice out. So if you think that'd be a good idea, let us know. Here's a lovely message I got.

Hi Nat, absolutely love the pod today i've been following donna on facebook for a few years and it was a real treat to hear her speak i'm a big fan of you and i've been listening since day one absolutely love your family interactions question for you and tony if you weren't doing the profession you're in now, what would be your dream job? Lots of love, Helen. From where? What a great question. What a brilliant question. Brilliant question.

I know what mine is. Helen, I've got a couple, a couple of things that I really like. If I wasn't doing what I was doing, I would like to be an art historian. I'd be a curator and I would work at the National Portrait Gallery quite high up and I would have gone to university and I would have done art history and I'd know all about beautiful artists and I would have travelled around Florence and all the places and that's what I would love to have done. The other thing I would have done is because I love food, I would have loved to have worked in a Michelin star restaurant.

So they're my two. Wow. They're my two. Okay. What would I do? If I'm honest, I think I've always been a lover of the countryside. Yep. Even as a kid, even growing up right smack bang in the middle of London.

I've always loved the countryside. I've always loved the countryside. I've always loved fresh air. I've always loved, that's why I love my fishing, you know. It comes from that, I think. I think I would probably want to do something to do with conservation, maybe fishery conservation, um yeah something i think what's going on at the moment with waters and rivers and chalk streams that fergal shark is massively ferg was massively into it you know the pollution thing and all the rest of it i think something out you know outside in that in that sort

of arena i think would be probably what I would love to do where I'm out in the open and I'm out doing something I think is really important. What do you think about them, when I say them, but just pouring a load of shit into our rivers and seas? It's absolutely disgraceful. It's a national disgrace. And I've seen it.

Sorry, I've seen pollution. I've seen industrial processes discharge into watercourses, into rivers, streams and canals. I've seen what it does to the wildlife. Decimates it. Yeah. Decimates it. But how are they allowed to do that? Because obviously I know to the wildlife. Yeah. Decimates it. Yeah. Decimates it. But how are they allowed to do that?

Because obviously I know this goes on. Yeah. But I don't look into it. How is that allowed? I don't get it. I don't understand. Well, there's probably a hundred things you could say the same thing about in the world. Well, yeah, of course.

No, how is that allowed? Yeah, of course. The fact of the matter is, for the life of me, I can't understand how you've got, this is not a political thing, but you've got a business that was privatised to make it better. Fair enough. Okay. They give loads of money to somebody because they invested in it every year. Yeah.

Shareholders. But they're going skint. Like Thames Water is basically bankrupt by the sounds of it. Yeah. They've got to put water bills up 60% while people are still taking money out of it for whatever. Yeah. And they're pouring billions of gallons of raw sewage anywhere that they can get away with. I don't understand it.

You've got, you must have, you know, off water or whatever it is, how to regulate it, just totally ineffective. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Completely ineffective. Obviously it doesn't work. You know, the only way you would deal with it is by making the people in charge personally responsible for that company's actions.

And as we know, it just doesn't happen. Legally, that is just a minefield, so it's not going to happen. No. So, absolutely disgraceful. But, you know, there are people that are living near the sea who have stench after stench in their hometowns. Yeah, there's people who go swimming and are ill for two weeks afterwards with parasites in their stomach and stuff.

And as you say, the wildlife, you know, what it's causing. It's just ridiculous. And if you, you know, I mean, I watch Paul and Bob, you know, go fishing or whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Obviously, because I'm an angler and I like Paul Whitehouse anyway, and Bob makes me laugh because he can't fish, but it's funny. Yeah.

And they bounce off each other and it's good. I think there should be more fishing and less talk about death, personally, but anyway, it's just me. But, you know, I think they've touched on this. I think Fergal's been on one of the shows. And I think it's brilliant that someone who you wouldn't expect really i mean you know you wouldn't expect fergal sharky who's a you know he's a pop star whatever to pick up the baton and and and go for these people and what they do

yeah and you know to water courses and to chalk streams and to rivers i don't know if fergal sharky is is that bad oh sorry no so Fergal Sharkey was in the undertones so my perfect sorry Teenage Kicks it was John Pills it was on my bloody radio

today on my playlist there you go so John Pills favourite ever record is Teenage Kicks by the undertones and Fergal was is the lead

or was is I don't know if they're still going but is the lead singer of the undertones that's the weirdest thing my Spotify today I put the Wannadise on, you and me song,

and then it makes sometimes a radio playlist, and that came on the Undertaker. There you go. So that's Fergal Sharkey. Okay. There we go. Yeah. What a great man.

That's great. Yeah. Yeah. Talking of fishing, there's another question here from lovely Helen, who sent us about the dream jobs. Actually, I've got another question, and this is coming in right now. This is right here, right now. Right here.

It's like proper radio. Right now. If you could go fishing with a famous person, dead or alive, who would it be? She's coming out with some corkers, Helen. Blimey. If I could go fishing with a famous person. If I could go fishing with a famous person. If I could go fishing with anyone, Helen, it would be Tony.

And I do think we should definitely, please, once the weather turns, I think we should record an episode because I've got my microphones and everything and I come to the lake with you and I'll just sit there and we have a little chat while you fish. We can do that. I'd really like to do that. Yeah. It to do that yeah lovely yeah that would be nice yeah that would be nice so who would i um never been fishing but have you never been fishing no never who would i that's a really really difficult it's a bit it's like a dinner That's a really, really difficult question. It is. It's like the dinner party.

It's a bit like the dinner party, yeah. And I've got some mad dinner party guests as well, which probably wouldn't go down too well with some people. But I would, I think for me, I would probably go back to when I was a kid and there was certain, I match fish, competition fish, so certain match anglers I absolutely idolised

and never got to even be close to right so it would be somebody like Ivan Marks who was probably one of the greatest match anglers

that England's ever produced and somebody like that so not Elvis or no no no because I don't no no I don't think elvis would have been very good at fishing fine i think they made too much noise all that wiggling hips

and shouting a lot it's no good no you gotta sit still he couldn't sit still elvis could he no so he wouldn't be any good um jesus uh jesus will he be walking on the water wouldn't he and then aggravating aggravating and then when i every time i caught a fish he'd have 5 000 of them yeah so i couldn't be i wouldn't be able to beat him so then every time I caught a fish he'd have 5,000 of them yeah so I couldn't be I wouldn't be able to beat him so Jesus would be no good

because he just because I'd catch one fish and he'd turn them into 5,000 wouldn't he so that's true I'd be there drinking me Evian

he'd be sloshing wine down it's true it's true he'd be legless before we know it walking down the water alright Tony look at me yeah there's me trying to catch fish

and he's walking past me float yeah you know no no definitely not no no he'd aggravate you wouldn't he no I would

I would definitely keep it to professional fishing professional fishing probably yeah okay yeah brilliant

absolutely brilliant we're only joking about Jesus if anyone's religious by the way yeah sorry we're not we're not casting

aspersions on the son of God we just I mean a minute ago we were idolising him because it was his birthday so you know yeah hey nat just seen the call on instagram for tony talks not a renovation question just to say that i love listening to you both and i know tony's mentioned before that he quite likes going out for an indian and i just wondered what both of you's favorite indian order is because i'm going for an indian tomorrow night and i always have the same thing so give me some inspo loads of love love the pod love everybody on it um and from

rachel in lincolnshire bye oh thank you rachel thanks right that is a cracking question superb question isn't it great? Yeah. I want to know if your order at home as a takeaway is the same as in the restaurant. No. And what are they? Because I think it changes when you're in or out. I think I agree. I think also it depends. I'm going to be a bit of a curry ponce now.

Sorry. So I go to two or three different ones with mates yep and it depends what i have depends on where you are i am so there's one i go to that does give it a shout out the curry house you might get a free poppadom well i'll cut down so it's a new curry center in barnet in north london right yeah it's quite an old-fashioned sort of proper old-fashioned curry house they've done it up a bit now it looks a bit mad you know i'd preferred it with a flock wallpaper and they've got all neon lights and stuff it's all a bit odd but they do probably the best prawn dish i've ever had so they do a king prawn chili masala and i don't even i don't even like prawn curries right but

this what they do when it's good it is absolutely fantastic right um and then there's another one i found in just just up the road um called coriander which is in oakwood right again north london sorry for anyone that doesn't know where we are but um and they do um i like a a naga lamb so naga's hot so naga chili yeah but if you get it right it's hot and sweet right so it's not sort of like sometimes you have a vindaloo and it's just, you know, it literally is just chilli powder and whatever. If you get a really good naga lamb, it's hot, but it's sweet as well. Okay. So all that kills you.

You just want to keep eating it. So for me, depends on where I am. Yeah. And then if it's a takeaway or i'm not sure and i want to just go for something that's a little bit that's just really nice yeah but i don't want anything hot let's say i've got a next day i'm a bit worried about it being a you know you're in someone's house you don't know very well yes yes yes yes yes or you know the toilet facility is not great um so i would probably my go-to if it wasn't hot and whatever,

would be probably a lamb or chicken sash lick and a nice curry sauce on the side. I like it. Yeah. So that for me would be... Very tame. Yeah, very tame. Very tame.

Yeah, but I think it depends what mood you're in as well. But sensible because you're always thinking of the client. Even when you have a curry, you're thinking of the client. Well, I'm thinking about implications and ramifications. That's what I'm thinking about. Trust me, in my game, you don't want to be caught short in certain situations. So a naga lamb on a Thursday is not a great idea. But... If I'm in a restaurant, very rarely we go to an Indian restaurant.

I think it's better, sorry. It's so much better. Of course it is. I do. I mean, I like a takeaway, but it's not a patch on in there. It just isn't. It isn't, and we need to do it more often. But if I go in, I usually just go for something different if I'm in a restaurant.

And I'll think, well, I'm going to for something different if I'm in a restaurant and I'll think, well, I'm going to try something new and I'll go for a special or something like that. Right. I like hot. I, if at home, usually get a lambuna,

but I'll have it madras hot. Madras hot. Yeah. Lambuna, madras hot. Yeah. I like some saag on the side, a bit of spinach on the side, and 28 poppadoms with all the dips.

I'm not interested in potatoes. I'm not even really bothered about rice, but I do love a poppadom with a good lime pickle. Yeah. I really do. Yeah. I think some curry houses I've been to, the poppadoms are the best bit. Yeah. I've been to some bad onespadoms are the best bit. Yeah.

I've been to some bad ones, trust me. I do think you can tell with the dips as well, how fresh it is. Yeah, I think you can. Because there is a huge disparity between a mint dip in different places. Yeah. Through colour. Yeah. You know, it's huge. No, it is, yeah.

Some's orange, some's green, some's yellow. Yeah, neon. Yeah. You look at it and you think, hmm. Not so sure about that. It's all lovely and fresh and the onions are fresh and it's all. Yeah. That's a great question.

Yeah, terrific question. Let us know what you had. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why doesn't everyone tell us your order? Why don't you let us know any dishes that you can recommend that might be a bit different? Because everyone loves a curry. It's a great idea yeah

07788 2019 19 hmm oh it's been lovely tonight it's been yeah it's been it's been nice

been a welcome respite from uh cold feet I had cold feet all week last week there's nothing so cold

honestly what now why were that now I would imagine that you wear sort of caterpillar boots, or do you wear trainers? I wear trainers a lot because of the work I'm doing. If I'm doing heavy work, I'll wear proper boots. But a lot of the time I'm wearing trainers because I'm doing sort of finishing work

and you don't want big steel toe cap boots when you're doing bathrooms and stuff like that. You just don't. Or kitchens or finishing off stuff, you know. It was cold last week. Oh, it was minus six one morning. I was up a scaffold. It was brutal, but it wasn't windy. Thank God it wasn't windy.

No. Yeah, it was horrible. There's nothing worse. When we're on the lot at Albert Square and it's cold, there's nowhere colder. You know, you think, is there anywhere colder? And you're up there and you're standing around and usually you're dressed for kind of eight weeks' time,

six to eight weeks' time. So at the moment it's okay because you've got your jackets on and that. But I've had times. Like March when you're supposed to be in June. We've done march for the end of may beginning of march for the end of may yeah where it's snow blizzards and you're in a summer dress yeah and of course we've got beautiful costume people who look after you there's only so much they can do and you are standing yeah thinking please goodness um but it's

the coldest place in the world i i've always said i'm i'm a winter person and that i like the winter and i do like wrapping up i now realize i'm a christmas person it's bollocks yeah i'm not a winter person no you're just a christmas i like september november december that's it and the rest of it you're just counting down the days until spring spring yeah but yes it gets freezing, freezing cold on Albert Square. And the same vice versa, you can be really, really hot. Yeah, yeah. Putting on coats and scarves.

Here's something for you, though. Go on. That I do find funny because I feel like in our costume department, and I don't know if it's like it for most jobs, but I kind of believe it probably is in telly they've stuck with the seasons from 25 years ago so as soon as it gets to september they say i think sonia will have a coat on and you go it's only september theth. It could be 35 degrees. Yeah. You know, but it's kind of that very old-fashioned seasonal picturesque calendar.

I think that's to do with scheduling as well, isn't it? What do you mean? Well, because the telly's always shit over summer, basically, isn't it? Like, all the soaps are rubbish because everyone's on holiday and whatever. Cheers, Tony. No, it's true. No, no, Coronation Street.

It's quiet. They're all weird storylines and all that you know nothing happens really everyone's treading water until the kids go back to school and the autumn schedule's around it's wallop

have that let's have an explosion and a death and a whatever and some you know yeah whatever so I think a lot of that scheduling

it's almost saying to people it's autumn you know yeah yeah yeah yeah this is where the serious stuff starts I know what you mean no it's autumn you know yeah yeah yeah this is where the serious stuff starts i know what you mean no it's good i think that's what it is yeah i think you're right because all the good progress you know sort of graham norton comes back on the telly in september or whenever it is after he's had his few he's cut the months off and goggle box comes

back or all these things yeah that you want to watch tend to sort of have a bit of a rest in the summer. One thing I'll say about January. Yeah. Traitors. Don't watch it. Oh, so good. Don't watch it. Tony's good.

I know they all love it indoors. Oh, it's brilliant. It's absolutely, honestly. I don't. But for January. Yeah. Where there's nothing going on and you're feeling crap. It's bloody brilliant.

Claudia looks amazing every night. She always does anyway. But I'm obsessing over what she's got on tonight, what boots, what gloves, whatever. So that's brilliant. And then you've just got all these characters lying or being really genuine and they don't know what they're doing and missions and it's just got a little bit of everything.

It is really good look you know if that's what you love I've never I can't do any of it Big Brother when you was in it

I didn't watch a second of it I've never ever watched a second of Big Brother I've never watched a second of Love I've never watched a second of any of it no

it's just not me it's just no I'm not a reality television person no unless someone paid me a hundred grand to go on one of them

that's different I'd love it obviously yeah absolutely I'd love it could Tony get it in your bag could Tony eat a kangaroo bollock now No, no. Unless someone paid me a hundred grand to go on one of them. That's different. No, of course. She wouldn't mind. Yeah, absolutely. I'd love it. Could Tony get it in your bag? Could Tony eat a kangaroo bollock now for 250 grand?

He'll eat two. I'll eat two, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So it's not really my thing, but I can understand why people love it because it grabs them. It's escapism. And it is escapism. And I completely understand. Yeah.

It's just not my sort of escapism. No. One thing I will say is, and I completely understand. Yeah. It's just not my sort of escapism. No. One thing I will say is I saw a picture on the television. You know, the sky, you know, you're going through. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know what's wrong with me. The menu. Going through the menu and you see the pictures.

Yeah, yeah. And it said Love Island All Stars. Yes. And there were six or seven men on there that looked like bodybuilders. Yes. And there were six or seven men on there that looked like bodybuilders. Yes. And then there was the women who all looked like absolute supermodels. And I thought, and again, this conversation has been going on for a long while, but I thought, that's really fucking out of order in January

because people feel a bit rubbish about themselves. Yeah, Yeah. And it's enough pressure when that's on in the summer that programme. Now they're putting it on in January. I know.

And I just think everyone just looks too perfect and it really worries me for the people that watch it that feel that that's the norm because it's not normal. Well it's

it's not normal to look like that. I just want to say that it's not normal. It's brilliant. Fantastic. Lovely. I'm not going to go at anyone. I'm not going to go at the programme. I'm not normal to look like that i just want to say that it's not normal it's brilliant fantastic lovely i'm not going to go out anyone i'm not going to go out the program i'm going to go the people but i'm just saying it is all too much yeah but it's just you know for young boys and girls and look i look at stuff online and it makes makes me feel in 56 it makes me feel inferior

i'm not a billionaire. I ain't got a Lamborghini. I haven't got a side hustle that earns me £300 million a week. All this crap that they've got on there. There's all of this stuff now, whether it's social media or it's television-based, is all about portraying this unattainable, almost, lifestyle. Yes, I know.

You know, you're weak if you're not doing that or you're worthless if you don't look like him or, you know, you're no good if you don't look like her. And I think it's incredibly dangerous. It's really damaging to people. Yeah, but, you know, that aside, fair play to them. If they, you know, they want to spend a load of money to get on television and look like they look

and try and make themselves famous and that's what they want to do, good luck to them. Good luck to them. Good luck to them. Yeah. Again, I can't, for me, it's just kiss chase. Yeah, yeah. It's just kiss, it's playground kiss chase, basically.

Well, it is. It's playground kiss chase. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Does she love him and has he kissed her and all that? It's just rubbish. I can't do it myself. I don it's just rubbish I can't it's just infantile rubbish I can't do it myself

I don't like it I can't do it but yeah give me Traitors and Michael McIntyre's big shows back on Saturday and again it's a programme

that we all sit down and watch so that excites me it's nice Eliza likes it Joni likes it to get a 14 year old and 8 year old

at the television at the same time with interest yeah they love the traitors I you know and I really like Michael McIntyre

with all these game shows and a bit of a quiz and a bit of whatever and going through the phone harmless fun Saturday night telly it's proper Saturday night variety isn't it

and I really like it and that's back on this week so happy days. Lovely. There you go. Yeah, brilliant. All right, Tone. Well, I shall see you very soon.

Okay. Yeah, I can't wait to come back. Thank you so much. That's all right. Thanks for having me. And we will have a little chat about sorting out a little Instagram, I think, just for the building side of things and advice. Think it'd be great.

Yeah, well, if people think it would be worth doing and you know they they think there's any mileage in it then let us know absolutely and you know we'll do something in the next couple of months yeah i'll sort it out we'll sort it out okay all right then it's goodbye from me and it's goodbye from me did the two ronnie's say that what did they say now they used to say and it's goodbye from me and it's goodbye from him. Goodbye. Or goodnight. Goodnight from me and it's goodnight from him. That's right.

Very good. I think that's right. They were great, weren't they? Yeah, they were brilliant. Yeah. Yeah. I've sort of watched some of it over Christmas.

Phantom, the Phantom Raspberry Blower of old London town. Got any O's? That's the one, isn't it? Yeah. Got any O's? Got any O's, yeah.

That particular scene was remarkable. Yeah, brilliant. Fantastic. What a genius he was, wasn't he? Ronnie Barker. Ronnie Barker. What a genius. David Jason's mentor.

Yeah, I know. I've been reading one of David's books. Yeah. Yeah, he really was a big influence on him. Huge. But, yeah. That's for another pod. Another pod.

All right. Love you. And love you too. See you soon. See you, bye. Thanks, everybody. Have a great weekend. See you Monday.

Cheers. Bye. Hi, this is Chris McCausland. And this is Diane Boswell. And we've got a new podcast, haven't we, Di? We do. What's it called? Winning Isn't? Everything.

Every week me and Diane are going to be having a little catch up on the back of Strictly, aren't we Di? We are. I've missed you Chris. I've missed you too. We're going to talk some nonsense so why not tune in? Available everywhere you get your podcasts.