UKMT Spring 2022 - Beer for Keir, Beef for Keith

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > UKMT Spring 2022 - Beer for Keir, Beef for Keith

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

NotJustANumber99 posted:

If you asked someone for a copy of an invoice and contract as proof that a payment is due for some work, and they turned up dated for whatever date but the pdf creation date in acrobat reader is a month later and only a day before they were sent to you would you think something was up?

No, its most likely a copy that has been generated when asked for. Most accounting software generates on demand.

# ¿ Mar 1, 2022 20:11

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 21:19

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

ThomasPaine posted:

tbh I haven't seen him post for months if not years, I always thought he was a bit unfairly maligned

Then you don't remember what he was like and how he consistently spoke down to and thought he was better than everyone else despite being legitimately one of the dumbest motherfuckers I've ever seen on this forum.

# ¿ Mar 3, 2022 20:23

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

goddamnedtwisto posted:

https://twitter.com/siennamarla/status/1499472481786159104

Probably just a little bit of expectation management because they were polling >50%, I don't think the seat's in danger, but weird how bad weather is suddenly an issue, surely they've got loads of volunteers up there to get out the vote?

Wasnt this the election where they were forcing all potential candidates for council/mp seats to come out and campaign. Even if you were like 3 hours away?

# ¿ Mar 4, 2022 08:31

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

SSE currently have me projected to use 18,000 kwh hours of gas this year. There isn't even 18,000 kwh hours on the meter.

They cannot seem to fix this, so every month this year they've put my gas direct debit up to �300 until I get through to the complaints team to get it sorted out. The people in the call center literally cannot fix it as their computer system wont let them put it down below what it thinks is the minimum amount. The complaints team cancel my direct debit and restart it with the correct amount based on my past usage.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2022 21:29

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

The doubling of the standing charge is normal and those seem like the new rates I'm getting on SSE.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2022 22:23

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

We've all got 3 libelous stories.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2022 22:51

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

Doctor_Fruitbat posted:

Okay cool, I can manage that, thanks!

Give the wires a pull after you've connected them back up to make sure you've actually got them seated. Especially the earth wires. Its very easy to leave a wire loose if you don't double check.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2022 21:16

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

Jeherrin posted:

This argument feels like a microcosm of the left�s tendencies to paralyse progress through the incessant critique of each other on the nuances (the thing you argue isn�t written the way I believe it should be written!) whilst still agreeing about the most macro thing (capitalist greed is bad and destroys society!)

Deliberate foreign financially-leveraged interference in our country is bad because is panders to elite libertarians/capitalists who are easy prey for destabilising actors. A weaponised class system that systemically empowers that elite is also a bad thing. A press system that�s ripe for exploitation either through home-grown bigotry or ownership by people with demonstrable foreign investments in destabilisation of a European power is also very much a bad thing. All of these things can (and are) true. They have interdependent causalities.

People like Cadwalladr might be overstating deliberate, planned Russian interference. She might not be. It�s difficult for any of us to know. But going No True Scotsman on it all isn�t always helpful�and ultimately it�s off putting for people to be told that their introductions to systemic corruption are invalid because the person writing about it doesn�t conform to spurious standards about level-of-rightness.

I know that this thread has a tendency for cynicism (which largely I enjoy) but god drat, it�s getting into the realms of discounting people as The Wrong Kind Of People rather than deconstructing their arguments too often for (my) comfort.

Good post this.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2022 14:52

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

Jaeluni Asjil posted:

Facebook is filling up with misleading/scam adverts from various firms (probably the same one in different names) for claiming tax rebates for WFH. Headlining you get �312 but you don't, if you get it it's 20% of �312 so �62.40.

And these firms are advertising "no win no fee" and they'll take 36% as their fee 'if successful' with a minimum charge of �30+VAT (�36) or if you get less than that, they'll take the lot. So basically you'll get �26.40 instead of �62.40.

I'm reporting them as scams when I see them, don't know if FB will do anything about it.

Dread to think how many people are falling for it. And it's really riling up 'key workers' who think they're missing out on �00s.

I've been banned from the comments of this company for pointing out their policies previously. Its also worth noting that they take control of all of your tax rebates, not just this one. If you let them get you this rebate they then get 36% of anything else in the future unless you specifically write to them terminating that relationship. Even so much as asking for a quote gives them this power if not explicitly rescinded.

Might be worth mentioning to people you know, its incredibly underhanded.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2022 07:51

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

Regarding the P&O stuff.

I can say that the vast majority of their current senior leadership team did not know this was going to happen until this morning. They are also currently fearful for their jobs due to being cut out of all of this discussion.

Staff were threatened with this a number of years ago before P&O backed down but to see them actually go ahead with it is mind boggling. Its potentially illegal (depending on where their vessels are flagged) and certainly goes against their internal staff policies and HR Guidelines. This is literally a nuclear option and there is no-where for them to go after doing this.

Its also important to remember the ongoing pension case which could bankrupt them anyway.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2022 20:10

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

I also believe they haven't sacked the French workers. Since I imagine they don't want the ships to be firebombed every time they get into Calais.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2022 20:15

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

Jaeluni Asjil posted:

Real inflation Iceland (the shop) trip report:

Cleaned out my freezer yesterday and went up to Iceland to restock today.

1kg diced chicken WAS (before Xmas) �5 now �6 - inflation 20%
475g x2 lean minced beef WAS �5 now �5.50 - 18 months ago this was 500g x 2 for �5. Inflation approx 16%
Only the 900g of mixed veg still �1. (Iceland have pledged to keep this price to the end of 2022 apparently - also a couple of years ago, these �1 bags had 1kg in them).

Lots of other things that cost under �1 eg was 59p now 65p. Was 65p now 79p etc. Was 39p now 45p etc. 10-20% inflation on these type of things.

(Same story in Home Bargains).

Also noticed in Waitrose yesterday: baby milk powder (Cow & Gate first) now �9.50 per 800g tub. Before xmas it was �9. About 12 months ago it was �8.50. And I'm sure there used to be 900g in a tub. I believe there is some price control on baby milk powder. I'm not sure how long a tub is supposed to last and obviously depends on the age of the sprog.

So real inflation on day-to-day groceries stuff is 10-20%.

Supply chain side I've been getting almost all of my paper suppliers (Hand towels, tissues, toilet roll etc) sending out 10-30% increases. This stuff is incredibly energy intensive so thats driving it. Some Paper producers are halving production until gas prices come down so we will see real terms shortages in a month (earlier if panic sets in again) and unlike last time this wont be just until the deliveries catch up.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2022 18:42

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

kingturnip posted:

What ThomasPaine said - "don't be a dick".
Personally, I get on very well with the two people I line manage at the moment, but I tried very hard not to treat them any differently than the person I had basically no relationship with (before she left*).
Being equitable is hard, and gets harder depending on how inflexible the organisation is willing to be with the rules, but if there isn't a good reason why person x can do something when person y can't - even if the reason can't be shared - it shouldn't happen.

* - the person who left was pretty useless, and combined with this with a near-pathological inability to actually tell anyone how she was getting on. Towards the end of her time with us, as we became aware of the scope of how bad her work was, Line Management became excruciating because I'd give her opportunities to share anything she wanted to talk about, ask open questions about her work - knowing full well that she was really struggling to do anything of any quality - and get "yeah, it's fine" as a response to almost every question.

Dealing with people is interesting because you don't know what experience they've had at other jobs that can massively skew how they react to situations. We have one person at my place that is absolutely mortified if they make even a tiny mistake and I can't square it with the culture we have. I can only assume that they had an absolute horror show of a manager in a previous role and that shaped their work interactions to what they are now.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2022 22:43

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

Danger - Octopus! posted:

Are there any threads elsewhere on the forum about UK jobhunting (for permanent jobs, not contractor type stuff)?

Basically in a position where I've been working for the same financial firm for 15 years, so my experience of applying for jobs is very out of date and back then I didn't really have much in the way of useful skills to be honest so was just applying for anything I could find. Now I'm in a pretty specialised role so I have a bunch of transferable skills but would like to look elsewhere and have zero idea how the current job market works for people who've got a bunch of experience.

Like, I have no idea even where to look in terms of which websites are or aren't poo poo, if agencies are worthwhile for folk with transferable skills rather than qualifications/specialist skills. Most of my friends these days are contracting, at companies for the long haul, or at a way more senior level than I am where they just get headhunted to a new firm every few years, so aren't really much help when it comes to advice.

There will be a few recruitment firms that specialise in financial skill sets. Update your CV and include literally everything you do right now and fire it off to them with a brief message explaining that you've been employed by X for the last Y years and you're looking for something new etc.

You're not normally getting interviewed by idiots for technical roles so it avoids a lot of the sillyness thats around nowadays and being currently employed gives you a massive ability to just walk away if it doesn't suit you or you don't think it will click.

There's no harm in putting stuff out there. You don't have to take any interviews if you're not sure about the company. The job market right now is also heavily slanted in the employees favour. Its very very difficult to retain and recruit staff right now.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2022 19:32

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

Bobby Deluxe posted:

I think I've said before but I think there'll be 3 or 4 waves of people noticing. Wave 1 is the people who pay attention to the news, who currently know. Wave 2 is people who pay attention to their bank statements who will notice their direct debits have doubled, which will slowly happen over the summer.

Wave 3 will hit in about October when people on key meters can't afford to keep their homes going, and the 4th and final wave (the one where it pierces the middle class consciousness) will be when the weather gets bad and we get a bunch of articles about 'nice' familes saying the winter bills drained their account and now they can't afford xmas.

Bit hard not to notice when its front page news on most of the papers tbf.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2022 22:48

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

goddamnedtwisto posted:

Honestly I think since at least Christmas most of us are just completely burned out on politics. There's just so much happening, in every direction but somehow always away from good, that we'd all rather just talk about window handles, man engines, and hot asian babes.

I really only skim the entire forum these days but I do check in on this thread to see if I can be of any use.

Interestingly its clear the tories are briefing against Rishi.

https://twitter.com/UKLabour/status/1511763213586739200

# ¿ Apr 6, 2022 20:54

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

Dead Goon posted:

The local Facebook groups have been full of fuel panic posts for the last 4-5 days. The local Facebook groups are also full of loving idiots.

I was going to ask if anyone had noticed diesel shortages. A few of the supermarkets have run out by me, but they are nearly 10p cheaper than the proper garages.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2022 19:46

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1512184718401417229

Rips Sunak.

Also happy dead Thatcher day

# ¿ Apr 8, 2022 00:22

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

NotJustANumber99 posted:

LOL, the lady gonna pay the tax now, thats nice of her.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61045825

Don't worry, new scandal just dropped

https://twitter.com/Annaisaac/status/1512486351307902976

# ¿ Apr 8, 2022 20:31

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

https://twitter.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1512522619735711747

# ¿ Apr 8, 2022 22:02

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1512852666099118082

I wonder if he'll last the weekend?

# ¿ Apr 9, 2022 20:14

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

This will clearly get deleted soon

https://twitter.com/CrispinBlunt/status/1513603624164859918

'In defence of the convicted Pedo'

# ¿ Apr 11, 2022 21:51

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

WhatEvil posted:

ACKSHUALLY it's not.

It's �180k before tax to be in the top 1% (�119k after tax), as of 2019 (I think these are the most recent figures?).

QT man was protesting that he was earning �80k and definitely not in the top 5% (which he was, figures for 2019 say �81k for top 5% but those figures would probably not have been out at the time since I think they typically lag somewhat).

It was in response to Corbs and McD saying they'd raise taxes on the top 5% of earners.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/question-time-salary-row-thursday-17299148

Wasn't he another spectacular example of someone that doesn't understand tax bands?

From memory he was arguing that he isn't in the top 5% of the country's earners because he's 'not that well off' and why should have his money go to tax?

If you want to see how few people actually understand tax just look back on that policy and the reactions to it.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2022 20:53

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

ThomasPaine posted:

Whenever famous TERF Sarah Ditum gets brought up I always remember her husband is one of the Playstation Access Youtube guys who spends his days playing vidyagames and seems reasonably sound or at least hasn't expressed any objectionable opinions publicly, and I wonder what on earth they have to chat about over dinner every night.

She said her husband hates spending time with her so much and never lifts a finger to help that she couldn't let her cleaner stay home during the first lockdown.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2022 13:02

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

You do not spend �1300 a year on maintenance for a car, where did you get that figure from? I've never had a car cost that. For reference i've just put a car through a service + mot and even with 2 new tyres it still came in under �300.

And your estimate for fuel mileage is way off for what you're suggesting. I've done a holiday trip from the Bournemouth to Inverness this year and even with commuting I've not done more than 6k miles.

So if you remove nearly 2k from your estimate it leaves you with about �1k of available funds for vacations.

Depending on how expensive a vehicle you buy the repayments will also come to an end after a few years and you'll get that �1800 per year back as well. At that point its more expensive to not have it to continue what you want to do. Further the option of having a car opens up way more opportunities. You can decide on a Sunday morning to drive off into the countryside to go for a walk in places miles from train stations.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2022 13:46

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

bessantj posted:

All this talk of learning to drive. I haven't driven for nearly a decade but really want to get back into it. Has anyone ever had some type of refresher lesson to get their knowledge/confidence back up?

My wife did that after a decade of not driving. Would very much recommend.

happyhippy posted:

Driving chat. I said earlier I won't ever drive probably.
Forgot to mention I used to help others practice for their driving tests, especially the hazard perception test, which you can check out here:

https://www.safedrivingforlife.info/free-practice-tests/hazard-perception-test/

Had this couple in one time, husband and wife, and they used all the tests we had.
Then when Im closing, they left and I saw them get into a car that was parked outside and they left.
Mentioned it to my mum, she said the rumor was that they both lost their licence for repeated drunk driving, hence why they had to do it again.
The WTF was why they were still driving.

Im pretty sure theres a statistic around that something like 80% of disqualified drivers still use their car at least once during the period they're banned. The likelihood of getting caught is so minuscule these days and you still occasionally hear about people who've driven without a licence for 40 odd years.

serious gaylord fucked around with this message at 20:39 on Apr 17, 2022

# ¿ Apr 17, 2022 20:36

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

Make sure you shave every day if you're going to wear one of those masks.

And that you've been fit tested on them.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2022 12:51

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

blunt posted:

If you have the resources and ability to fit test and find the perfect mask that's great, but also if you don't pretty much any FFP2/3 mask is still going to be a substantial upgrade over a cloth mask.

I've been liking the 3m Aura FFP2 - https://www.medisave.co.uk/3m-9320-disposable-aura-respirator-mask-unvalved-ffp2.html - because it has a flap to go under my chin which holds it in place well. They're like £1.80 each, comfortable and last ages.

For a while Home Bargains were selling boxes of 16 Honeywell FFP3 masks for £4, dunno if that's still a thing though.

A mask that doesn't fit is still letting things in.

At that point you might as well be wearing a cloth mask.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2022 14:24

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

For the purpose that you are using it (viral protection) a mask that doesn't fit offers little to no benefit over a piece of cloth. FFP2s are also not rated for direct viral contact even if it fits correctly.

It is literally my job to teach people about this.

All it is doing is giving you the perception of safety while not making you safer. If that's what you want fill your boots.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2022 14:44

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

I hadn't seen those studies before and this hasn't made its way into industry and manufactures literature as yet.

I'm happy to be corrected on it.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2022 15:10

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

OwlFancier posted:

Again just thinking about it for five minutes makes it hard to see how a mask that attaches to your face better and has a better filter medium could be no different from one with neither, even if not perfectly fitted?

Because things aren't measured like that regarding respiratory protection. A fail is a fail. Someone working as a carpenter wearing a mask that doesn't fit will still go home with a nose full of dust. Does having the mask on reduce the amount of dust he snorts up? Yes and no. While it reduces the immediate impact of getting smacked in the face by stuff coming out the dust port, The person is going to spend longer in the dusty environment because it is less obvious they're breathing it in.

That's where the perception of safety causes the biggest issues and is really dangerous with things like asbestos work.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2022 15:29

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

sebzilla posted:

Latvia's song was amazing and didn't even get through the semis so the entire competition is a farce as far as I'm concerned.

Tbf they wouldn't let Georgia and Azerbaijan read out the votes in the final due to 'irregularities' so it seems like the semi finals were a massive fix.

# ¿ May 15, 2022 12:48

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

He had a lot of red flags too tbf.

# ¿ May 17, 2022 20:36

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 21:19

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

Boris tested positive for Covid 2 days after that photo was taken.

# ¿ May 23, 2022 18:57

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > UKMT Spring 2022 - Beer for Keir, Beef for Keith