We need one of these to cheer us all up

Thanks

I agree

*hugs*

Yes, I'm ok thanks.

Hope you feel less confused soon Soph.

Hope everyone is feeling better soon.

Coughing is making my tinnitus bad today

argh.

grrrr can't understand how someone can be so unfair and misguided ....

*hugs* To both of you

(Hello SaxFan - haven't seen you around here in quite a while!)

Hi Miss R
no, not been about - Life you know .... .. people's minds etc etc

Arggghhh.

I'm being bullied by a couple of people and I honestly don't know what to do about it.

Do I ignore them and walk away from the activity where we meet despite everything I've invested in it (and which would be a shame because it used to be fun)..?

Or do I answer back and therefore behave in the same petty way they do?

I don't want people like this in my life arrrrrgggggg but what to do about it!!! I don't even know why they're doing it but they're just constantly at it and it's like water torture, ruining my confidence and overlapping into other, more important areas of my life.

Perhaps I should confront them but I'm a pacifist/intellectual and they're aggressive, not-very-bright and quite frankly disturbed.

What do you do about bullies?

I generally ignore them; in a school the size of mine its easy enough to be elsewhere. Is there anyone in charge of this activity who could sort something out? You shouldn't feel that you have to walk away because of a few idiots.

Alternatively, if they're really bugging you you could make intellectual retorts and enjoy the whistling sound... Works best if you raise your voice so everyone else around can hear! Seriously though, talk to someone in charge. They should be able to help.

Refuse to be bullied!

There were always a few like that at school who'd get on my nerves, but after that, I decided I was never going to just put up with idiots like that again - and I never have

Just walk right up to them and ask them what they think playing at! It worked for me in a workplace situation once. It puts them on the spot and forces them to answer you.. if it's in front of other people it's even better. Add in something like "don't you think you're a bit old for this kind of behaviour?" If you haven't said anything about it to them yet it will catch them off guard and with any luck, embarrass them into wising up

You don't have to sink to their level by swearing or anything. In fact, choosing your words intelligently just makes them look even more foolish

Lottie,

You could try talking to someone about it.

Alternatively, and this works best when they are on their own, confront them, and ask them just what their problem really is.

And me?

argh

Not a real aaagh but younger daughter bought her elder sister a birthday card last Saturday and gave it to me to hide and I can't remember where I put it. Or at least I can remember where I first put it but then I moved it because I thought she might find it and it's her birthday tomorrow...

Hope you found it!!

Yes I did At about midnight! I left it on younger daughter's bedside table on the theory that she wakes up before everyone else and so would have time to write in it (which she did).

This week is getting worse!

Last night, we realised the washing machine isn't working properly. We have to decide whether to get it repaired or to get a new one.

And our credit card company has just rung with a suspicious transaction, which means they've cancelled our cards.

ARGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

They've started shutting down the refinery in Scotland and the fuel shortages are due to start kicking in on Sunday.

I'm terrified about not having petrol to get out or my medical team not being able to visit me at home as they normally do! What happens to the emergency services????

Apparently the panic buying has already started at the filling stations.

Why can't the Government step in and do something? I need my car just to buy a pint of milk I honestly can't believe they would risk fuel shortages - rural Scotland would collapse! I actually believe people might die.

p.s. My tank is nearly full so I'm not rushing to drive 10miles to the nearest filling station to try and top it up - that would be daft

Don't panic, lottie! I'm sure medical teams will get supplies as usual.

I don't think this government has shown much concern for rural areas, what with cuts in public transport and the closure of post offices, so it doesn't surprise me that they haven't done anything about a petrol shortage. I'd be more than surprised, though, if anyone died as a result - something will be done before that point is reached.

Reserves will be put aside for emergency services. So if the petrol stations are all empty, the ambulances, fire engines, etc will still be able to move about.

My husband is despondant - we are holidaying in Dumfries & Galloway in mid-May. He is convinced that Scotland will be ground to a halt for weeks, so while we could fill up here, and drive up, we then wouldn't be able to fill up there to either go out and about or come back home. So if it's as bad as he's convinced it will be, we will have our holiday at home decorating the house I'm remaining upbeat that if the shutdown does go ahead (and if they don't call off the strike by Wednesday, the complete shutdown has to be done, they can't restart it), it'll be fixed by our holiday...

I hope it's going to be ok...









I know this is very small, but...



I DON'T WANT TO BE IN SET 1 FOR MATHS!!!!

the teacher changed this term, and my old teacher didn't teach the set much, so I got a C in my mock module 5, when my predicted grade and the grade I want is an A. IT'S A MONTH BEFORE THE EXAM!!! I wish I was in set 2 or 3 now....

How would it help to be in a lower set? Do you mean you don't get on with your current teacher?

Just work through the revision guide without panicking, and I'm sure things will be OK. Good luck!

Think I might have been panicking just a little

But I'm still very worried

I think you have every right to be worried. It's really going to be a wait and see, but unfortunately if we wait and see and things don't work out well, then it's a little late for fixing them! I'm hoping that - like 90% of tube strikes - it gets called off at the last minute!

I have a friend in a different country, she is virtually bed-bound. Despite the fact she has carers come in three times a day - to feed her, help her to the bathroom, clean the house, prepare meals, etc - I can well imagine that they would not consider her support team 'essential' in a low-fuel situation. After all, she's not critically ill, merely severely mobility restricted. And she has a house-mate who can help...(not the point - and he's only been there about six months, she's been on her own for years before that!)

I met such an obnoxious woman in the carpark of a garden centre the other day, I was fuming with somthing she said - all because I wanted to get in my car and hers was blocking it. Anyway, I came home and punched my dad's spare wheel on his discovery a few times. My hand is now quite large and black and blue. Slightly worried that the swelling is not going down...

Who ever said musicians were sensitive creatures with a quick temper was right!!

My daughter has had several flute teachers... but we finally found an excellent one.... she has done wonders for my daughter... who just got 137 in her Gr 5. WEll... in the lesson in which she gave my daughter her mark sheet, we find out she's returning to her native country and will be stopping teaching here at the end of the summer term!!!
AAARRRRGGGHHHH.... we have to find a new teacher.....

Poor ClariNicki! This is every parent's worst nightmare - to find the perfect teacher for your child and then to lose him or her. Still, you have to see it from the teacher's viewpoint, and at least your daughter has benefitted for a little while, and still has a term's lessons to come with her teacher.

Do try to stay positive, for your daughter's sake, and tell her you're sure you'll find someone else just as good (even if you're lying through your teeth!) - a good starting point is to ask around among your daughter's musical friends and find out who really rates their teacher as excellent. Or visit a local festival and see whose playing you admire; then find out who teaches them.

I do hope you can sort something out. It's so frustrating, and difficult for your daughter to have several teachers in a short time span.

ARGH!

My mum promised to be home in time to let me in, so she refused to give me the key, and then she turned up half an hour late because "your sister looked like she was having such fun, I didn't want to make her leave". Then I was upset, and she said "well if you want lifts from me you have to understand that it's my car, my rules, and you have no right to shout at me". Considering I'd had a driving lesson and not asked for a lift at all I don't know what she was talking about! She got really angry - I hadn't done anything, except say "you promised you wouldn't be late", in a disappointed way, and she went on for half an hour about me being an ingrate! For expecting to be let into my own home!

Also, I was supposed to make a birthday cake for a friend, which everyone in the family knew... and my mum decided to have scrambled eggs for tea - out of spite I think. She knew it would upset me, because my brother had done the exact same thing a few weeks ago - again when I'd let everyone know that I planned to bake with the eggs.

Then I had a plate of stuff I'd cooked yesterday in the fridge to be warmed up, and my dad just ate it even though he knew it was mine, and since my mum hasn't been shopping for a while there's nothing else in that I have time to cook - not even bread! I have to go out soon, and so I'll be going hungry. For three hours of dancing and singing. I'll probably faint.

Great. It had been such a good day until I came home!

Sorry to hear all that. Sounds like it's time your mum gave you your own key. Not to mention your own eggs...

ah, that's sounds horrible. i've had the similar experience with my mum before (not doing anything wrong and she ends up getting angry at you for something you have no earthly clue about how the anger-causing situation arose when she gets annoyed at you of getting annoyed about it when you aren't even aware about how she came to the assumption that you did/said something about which you were angry at her which made her angry). it'll be over in a day or so! it's one of those petty things which don't mean much!

ARGH! found out my clarinet teacher submitted/is going to submit me for an exam next month and am NOT READY!!!

ARGH! English oral tomorrow!

ARGH! French Oral next week!

ARGH! Duke of ed walk this weekend! (therefore no time to revise for french oral next week!)

I did have a key - I was told to lend it to my sister one day - she promptly lost it and was left outside in the cold for ten minutes... and was cuddled and made hot chocolate and generally babied, because she's the youngest... Although my mum forgave her instantly for losing the key, the fact of its loss is still used against ME in arguments - ie "well I can't trust you kids with a key - last time you lost it!"

Sigh.

But I don't care because I've been to musical theatre group and am thus walking on air now! Yay!

Sorry to hear about all your exams Anisha... Good luck and I hope you find time to revise!

Clari Nicki1, I hope things work out for you.

Lucky, that sounds rather familiar. I hope you're feeling a bit better today.

Good luck with your exams and D of E, Nish.

ARGH. What is it about me that makes people (ok, not just 'people' in general but some of the first years at school) be so spiteful? And why can't I just ignore them? There are so many more important things!

The fact that they would like to be like you, and they're not. There's nothing at all about you that deserves anything less than decency and respect. 'First years' are sent to try us - they're the same wherever you go, I'm afraid... I'm sure there will be another victim, when you've left them, in hardly any time at all!

CN1, I hope you manage to find a good teacher - good luck with the search.

Best wishes to all facing exams.

I hope the key-and-egg situations have resolved themselves.

The week has suddenly got better. Our new credit cards arrived today, and a new washing machine will be installed on Friday.

Glad things are looking up for you, andante.

Arrggh! What, precisely, is so difficult about hitting reply and typing 'I won't be able to come this week' ??? Its not hard but it makes everyone else's life so much easier!!!! 2/3 of the orchestra couldn't be bothered to do that - so I spent an hour waiting for them, tried to play an orchestral piece with 5 people and then went home, when I've a million and one things I need to be doing!! I've got work by the truckload to do but there just aren't enough hours in the day! Some teachers seem to instantly assume that theirs is the only subject I do judging by the work they give me.... 30 hours worth of German over a 2 week holiday, but I do 6 subjects, so never mind sleeping!! Not all of them give me so much, but on the other hand theres so much that I need to do that isn't required to be handed in or tested on I just have too much!

Sorry for the rant, I just needed to get it down somewhere, and everyone else will say 'I told you so'

I know what you mean, I have a great day at school ...and then I come home. Any help?

thanks all for the g'lucks!

Lucky, this is a common situation that the youngest normally get molly-cuddled. but just brush it off next time, as you did yesterday, and everything will be all right *hands over a stress ball*

ooh, that's tough musicfreak. try having a talk with your parents and explain to them your frustrations (im sure you already have, so sorry if this advice is useless!), because in the end-they do worry have your best intentions at heart really.




hope everyone's problems sort out!

The key story has just reminded me of my brother. (This was in the days when even primary school children came home from school by themselves and had keys). My brother was always forgetting his key and would either sit on the doorstep till I got home or go round to a friend's house. One day he decided that he would put his arm through the letter box and open the door from the inside. He got it in all right - almost up to his shoulder but couldn't reach the handle and couldn't get his arm out again. By the time I got home he'd been with his arm through the door for about 20 minutes. I couldn't get it out either so I had to open the door (with his arm in it) and then go and phone my mother to get her to come and sort it out. Everyone seemed to think it was my fault - my brother complained about the length of time I'd taken to come home (despite the fact that my secondary school was on the other side of town and finished later than his local primary anyway) my mother seemed to think that I could have got his arm out if I'd tried harder.

It is My little sister is still "the baby" despite the fact that she's 26 and 5 inches taller than me

The AS year is really hard, not because the subjects are very difficult, but because of the volume of work. As you say, every teacher thinks their own subject should take absolute priority. Just hang on in there now, as you're very close to exam time, but perhaps aim to drop a subject next year - six is a lot. Make sure you prioritise the subjects you need for university; high marks in every module for those should get you offers from any uni you choose.

If it's any comfort, my son had to work much harder in year 12 than he has in year 13, although he's done five subjects throughout. If you're bright (which you obviously are) you won't find the A2 work particularly difficult, but many people do, so the teachers don't give quite the volume of homework that they do in year 12.

My brother used to climb through my parent's bedroom window, which was often unlocked - he could have broken his neck, he climbed up the drainpipe!

But I never lose my key... mostly because it stays in my pocket... My sister is always mollycoddled - she's five years younger than me, so my parents see her as the baby too - though she is taller...

Ah well, that's life.

It's not easy being a middle child!

Music freak - it sounds horrible, how old are you? Are your parents waiting for you to be a certain age before you are allowed home alone?

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I GIVE UP!

I just spent ages on my composition, I cant do it!!
The work I just did got lost when sibelius decided it had to close.
Why do I bother? I always said I couldnt do it, I think this proves it!
And considering it is due in now!!! I think it is reason to panic.

Don't panic!! You can do it Can you remember any of the work you just did?

I have shut sibelius off, it is doing my head in, and I was meant to give it in today.
I can, but it is going to take ages to do it all again.

All it proves is that computers are a pain sometimes! It doesn't mean you aren't capable

I remember losing coursework on an old computer the night before it had to be handed in - now I save everything every five minutes

Keep going!

Sibelius has auto recover - you should try that...

Go to - Open......Scores.......Backup scores.......Autosave.

It should be in there...

But I know the feeling, I have sibelius 5 on my laptop and it decides it needs to close after about 10 mins... You just need to get into the habit of pressing the save button evertime you stop to think!! Trust me, we all have to learn the hard way!!

Thanks. Havent found it yet though. Think I am going to have to do it again.

not a good day.

was planning to go home from school at 1. i then offered to spend 5 minutes looking through a friends as music coursework (baroque counterpoint). it was riddled with errors and resulted in me having to start re-doing it with her. i then got nabbed to help another student. this meant i left school having not had lunch at 3.20. i then went to pick my sister up from school and have a feeling i got a speeding ticket on the way home.

took her to dancing, and the teacher got stuck in traffic so i had to wait with her for half and hour before the teacher arrived. at which point the burgular alarm went off in the building and she didn't know how to turn it off so i had to drive to the local contacts house to pick up another set of keys to get to the room where the alarm keypad was.

i arrived home at 5 and had lunch where i went on to fall down the stairs and burn my ear on my straightners. grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

i feel surprisingly better having written that out! xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Oh dear...



Hope today's better.
I'm always getting minor burns from straightners...

I'm on a trip to London with the other GCSE music students. Leaving at 9:30AM on Moday, get there for tea and workshop/concert, and come back again to arrive at 3:30AM on tuesday!
I'm going to school on tuesday if the others do lol