Walking the dog down a country lane, I found a safe that had been prized open.
No cash but documents and cheque books, receipts and business paraphernalia.
I called the owners and they came straight out to salvage what was left.
They had been burgled the night before.
They couldn't thank me enough, there was their entire business laid on the floor. Backup hard-drives, the lot.
The thieves had 5.5K in cash but wer'nt interested in the rest

Now for the good bit. It was a brewery that was robbed.
They asked me to call down for a reward.
48 pint bottles of assorted porter.
I wasn't sure what porter is.... it's like Makeson, very dark and rich
It's also all 6.5 %. Way too strong for me.
Dabutt would probably like it

Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 23rd August 2017, 6:20 PM

I couldn't post on here last night and kept getting an error "you do not have permission to post on our forums" and just wondering why that is. Was it a fault with the website?

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I was asked to actually sign in! Outrageous!! I will be writing to The Times.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 26th August 2017, 11:39 PM

I was asked to actually sign in! Outrageous!! I will be writing to The Times.

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I was trying to a post something (a response to your post in a thread) and I kept getting that error which seemed like a permissions issue and also looked a bit of an odd error so I checked my external IP on blacklists using mxtoolbox and it's flagged with one. This was news to me and it made me wonder if the error was because of that even though I was still logged in. I work in IT support and know customers who get in to hot water by getting blacklisted so it was a moment of panic but thankfully shortlived as I could post the next day. Phew!

I also realised a few minutes after posting that I should have posted it in the site feedback thread.

Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 26th August 2017, 3:09 PM

Walking the dog down a country lane, I found a safe that had been prized open.
No cash but documents and cheque books, receipts and business paraphernalia.
I called the owners and they came straight out to salvage what was left.
They had been burgled the night before.
They couldn't thank me enough, there was their entire business laid on the floor. Backup hard-drives, the lot.
The thieves had 5.5K in cash but wer'nt interested in the rest

Now for the good bit. It was a brewery that was robbed.
They asked me to call down for a reward.
48 pint bottles of assorted porter.
I wasn't sure what porter is.... it's like Makeson, very dark and rich
It's also all 6.5 %. Way too strong for me.
Dabutt would probably like it

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Do you want my address or shall I come up and collect it?

I've already 're-distributed 12 bottles. One bloke told me this morning 'it's like drinking paint stripper'

Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 27th August 2017, 12:35 AM

I work in IT support

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Not that you would admit it, but I'm desperate - wouldn't by any chance be with Virgin would it?

Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 28th August 2017, 1:19 PM

I've already 're-distributed 12 bottles. One bloke told me this morning 'it's like drinking paint stripper'

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At 6.5%? I'd consider that a medium-strength beer at best. I just brewed a wee heavy that will come in very close to 10% and I expect it to be very tasty.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 28th August 2017, 2:45 PM

Not that you would admit it, but I'm desperate - wouldn't by any chance be with Virgin would it?

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Nope but Virgin are a supplier so I've dealt with them before. When you say you're desperate do you mean you have a network issue?

I'm getting slightly irritated that Virgin keep sending me a big glossy info pack for joining up. I've had five or six in the last year and never replied but they will persevere. I read through the offers which look ok and it would be nice to have one of those recorder boxes but I just don't want to be tied down to a 12 or 18 month contract. My trusty freeview box does just fine and all for the low low price of nothing a month.

Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 28th August 2017, 3:22 PM

Nope but Virgin are a supplier so I've dealt with them before. When you say you're desperate do you mean you have a network issue?

I'm getting slightly irritated that Virgin keep sending me a big glossy info pack for joining up. I've had five or six in the last year and never replied but they will persevere. I read through the offers which look ok and it would be nice to have one of those recorder boxes but I just don't want to be tied down to a 12 or 18 month contract. My trusty freeview box does just fine and all for the low low price of nothing a month.

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Where do you get your Broadband from? Mine is with BT and I get the TV with BT Sport.

Quote: Chappers @ 28th August 2017, 3:26 PM

Where do you get your Broadband from? Mine is with BT and I get the TV with BT Sport.

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I connect to the internet using a USB dongle because there's no landline installed. There is a wall socket that has a Telewest Communications logo on it but I think I'll struggle to get hold of anyone there

The dongle is handy because I can switch it between my PC and laptop and it has a very fast 4G EE speed which is not good enough for online gaming but enough to watch youtube videos smoothly and it's 10Gb of data a month for £22 which isn't bad. I should probably look in to combining TV, internet and phone in to one package but I doubt the internet speeds would be as consistently good as they are with the 4G dongle.

That comes from living in the wilds!

Quote: Chappers @ 28th August 2017, 5:23 PM

That comes from living in the wilds!

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In more ways than one because there have been quite a few stabbings in my 'hood' recently. I was thinking about getting juiced up and I'm in a fibre area but am putting it off now because I might have to think about moving somewhere a bit less stabby.

Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 28th August 2017, 3:22 PM

Nope but Virgin are a supplier so I've dealt with them before. When you say you're desperate do you mean you have a network issue?

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More than a network issue.

For years I have been happy with Virgin (previous NTL), and on reflection it is my son I suppose who is indirectly causing my two now major problems

Virgin had an offer whereby if you took on one of their Tivo boxes they would knock off about £5 a month AND (where my son comes in) give you 200 mbps internet speed. (previously 100, which I was quite happy with). OK, so we now have a nice fast internet speed BUT the Tivo box is crap in that it is technically inferior to the old V+ box.

Secondly, and most piss grippingly, about 4 years ago my son cancelled one of his email addresses and now for the last six months we have been getting a letter from Virgin to say that that email address is being used for spam and that they have changed all our passwords for security reasons. WHY this should all surface 4 years later is anyone's guess and you would have thought a simple phone call would resolve the issue BUT NO. We get promises via an Indian call centre, then one in the UK that Yes, the email address is definitely deleted and we should get no more trouble, but this is all a load of bollocks because here we are six months later and still have the same problem. The outcome being that every week they change our passwords and nobody does f**k all about it. The security department that actions this has no phone number available and the f**king twats we speak to on the phone do not communicate the problem to them - just make empty promises that it will not happen again....................but it does..............every week................for six months.

I got a job!

I had a three-round interview today, and the first one with the CEO went brilliantly, so I got called back for a second a few hours later. That one was odd because the interviewer was interviewing me and this other girl at the same time. A question would be asked of both of us, and the girl would give a horribly cynical, slightly smug/superior and possibly sociopathic answer to the question. For instance, she was asked to give an example of how she performs in a leadership role, and she said that when she used to work in catering at her community college, she would smash plates of food into the bin and demand that the cooks start over from scratch right away. And she said she didn't know she had it in her, but that she really enjoyed that kind of power. By contrast, I was asked to explain what I thought made a good leader/manager, and I talked about things like having close relationships with those who work under you so that you know their strengths and weaknesses, can utilize their strengths, offer constructive feedback regarding any weaknesses, and to have the trust there to make them feel comfortable coming to you with any concerns or new ideas. And also the organisational skills to draw from the work of everyone involved in a project and assemble it into a coherent whole that not only would each member of the team be happy to present, but that would meet my own high standards for myself and exceed the expectations of the client.

All throughout the second interview I thought the sociopath was saying all the right things and I was saying things that businesspeople would consider bullshit.

Then was interview 3, with the CEO again, it was brief. Discourageingly brief, like 3 minutes. I thought she had written me off already by then.

But I got a call an hour or so later and she said I've got the job and she really liked my ideas and thinks I'm a perfect fit for their company. So yay!

I'm a little scared because I'm going to have to be very confident, professional, and socially graceful. Those are all things I very much want to be, but I'm not...yet. Hopefully the learning curve is steep.

This job potentially pays way the eff more than I've ever made in my life. For the first 2-4 weeks it's 200-400$ a week, then it goes to 500-1000$ a week, then you get salaried and bonuses and travel opportunities and expense accounts come into play, then supposedly you can be making 6 figures by about the 2-year mark.

Also (and this is the key part for me) the company has just started expanding into London (and probably other parts of the UK) and so.....uh...work visa? Transfer? Please!?!?

I might crash and burn in the first few weeks, but I have literally nothing to lose.
My life is a shambles, with no food, clothes, car, or money, and student lenders calling me 5x a day demanding money I don't have. But I'm optimistic. I've been vaguely optimistic through all of this nonsense, and I have to say, it seems to be serving me well!

Here's a serious question though. I have two more job interviews lined up for the next two days for (low paying) caregiver jobs. Should I even bother going to the interviews? If they were to offer me a job could I table it and say, 'not right now, thanks, but I might be available to work for you sometime in the near future?' Or does it not work like that?

I guess you could try it? You'd probably ace the interviews, since you wouldn't be nervous, having the knowledge you already have a job. (Just make sure when you turned them down you didn't let slip that you already knew you wouldn't be taking it.)

Congrats on getting that job! Woo for money!!