I lost my mobile phone at the weekend, then I managed to scrape my on my gate trying to avoid a temporary road sign that's been put outside my house. Then today I attended a reduncancy fair, where even those people who were giving advice about reduncancy were likely to be losing their jobs.

I am so angry about libraries and other public services closing down I feel in a permanent state of anger and stress. The latest is that our local theatre may have to close down because of lack of funding. We will soon have no culture left and no one to help people get out of debt or get a job. On top of all that my son will have to pay ?9000 a year to go to conservatoire. If he had been born two weeks earlier he would have had to pay ?3000.

My colleague who is being made redundant was told she will have to pay ?6.50 a fortnight on the bus to go and sign on - there is no job centre in the rural city where she lives (yes, it is a city, just not a very big one). Not much fun for a hard working great grandmother who has legal custody of her great grandchild.

Isn't life great?

Oh this all sounds so grim


I know it's not much but my "arrrghhh" is that I've caught a cold and I've been awake all night with it - it's now 4.20am The worrying part is that I visited my elderly parents yesterday and if I've passed it on to them they could really suffer!! My mother is very frail.

I didn't know but I should have stayed away from them - cue guilt trip!

Oh yes... we've had that one..... my son is supposed to have extra time and doesn't often get it! And he is supposed to do his exams on his laptop/ on larger paper. Maths teacher "He didn't answer all of the questions" Well- there wasn't enough room for him to do that as the paper was small print and he CANNOT write small! Also- apparently, he doesn't copy formulas quick enough from the board - copying from the board is a complete and utter nightmare for him!

Thankfully there are some wonderful teachers out there- I'd just like a cloning machine - then all his teachers could be as accommodating to his needs!




I hope things get better Chris!

Re. your friend- I do believe that the money gets refunded for the days you have to sign on. I live in a rural area and my friend was unemployed for 18 months and I'm sure he told me that on the days he had to sign on, his travelling expenses were reimbursed!

We asked the people at the jobcentre plus stand and they said you could only claim money back if you were called in to the jobcentre on a day when it wasn't your signing on day.

Sorry about the rant, by the way, I'd just had a very bad week

On the subject of dyslexia, please fight to get the extra time for your children. I have a collegue who is dyslexic who got a masters degree in spite of it, and he's one of the most creative and dynamic people at work. I have known quite a few dyslexic adults, and I am possibly generalising, but they seem to have creative skills that more than compensate for the dyslexia. I don't know if there are any studies about this, it's just my personal experience, and I may be over generalising from my own experience.

Found out yesterday when I tried to pay for petrol that someone had ripped off my card details and gone on a little internet shopping spree, and my very alert bank had (fortunately - though it caused a problem at the garage) put a temporary stop on my card. I now have no way of getting any cash from my account until the new card is issued....

This happened to me this week and the bank told me to get money I could go into the branch with my card or chequebook and two forms of ID before I got my new card. The card arrived within 48 hours, so hopefully you will be up and running soon.

A little better this week, but I've not been feeling right this week ... some points I've just randomly had to go to the toilet in uni, so I can cry ... ... that's strange, right? ...

I don't think so. When you're stressed, worried and maybe hormonal emotions can be all over the place. I guess it might be worse if you're on medication as well. I know I get the 'weeps' some weeks!

Take care of yourself!

My argh is that I'm getting really sick of reading about tarnated laundry tablets...

mmm no. I have frequently had to do that.

or maybe I'm also strange

Hope it picks up soon for you.

Aaghhhhhhhhhh....... Noooooo.........

I've damaged a pad and can't play anything below G.

Need the pad doctor ASAP.

Noooooooo, have come down with another streaming cold - only just recovered from the last one

I have to accompany several people at a competition tomorrow, and I can't actually get through two of the pieces without sneezing and needing to mop up.

Damn.

Nope, not abnormal... I cry randomly quite often I think it's pretty normal for stressed female university students... and people in general, for that matter. Also sleeping trouble, which is my current aargh... intended to use Friday night to catch up on sleep, instead woke up after 4 hours (which I suppose isn't really that little, but it adds up after a full week). Now too tired to work and too stressed to sleep... Sometimes I think the worst part is that I don't really have anything to be upset about, but that just makes me more upset knowing that I'm being silly about being upset, and the cycle continues...

HUGS to all

oh dear all round. I find that being over tired through lack of sleep makes everything harder to deal with depressed/ stressed in itself. Hope you get some sleep soon Lily which makes everything seem better, and hope things pick up for you too Heslop.

Pushpull - arggh...how annoying. On a Saturday too....hope you can get it fixed soon, or will you do it yourself?

Thanks all x Your concerns mean a lot

heslop01 - I've only been on the Forum very sporadically and selectively recently due to work and only just picked up on this. Poor you! I hope you find a way to manage this soon. And good for you for not letting it get you down too much and keeping up with all your musical and linguistic interests.



Commiserations!!!

Now that's no way to talk about Bag

But, good thoughts to everybody who needs them, as for once I am in here in a supportive capcity only

No she'll be off to Mr. Fixit. Top joint could do with re-corking anyway I think.

You're doing well Hang on in there

katica, barry-clari - many thanks

Off to another assessment centre tomorrow, which will also take up all of Tuesday. Initial report for stupid-laundry-tablet design has to be handed in on Wednesday, so need to get it finished tonight. I already lost two days of the time I had to do it at another assessment centre. So far it is not coming together, and what is in the report is pretty rushed and shoddy. I hate handing in ###### work, but what am I supposed to do when I'm trying to complete it in less than half the time I should have had?

*rather panicky Tamsin*

I thought you had a job now Tamsin? Or are you going to more assessment centres because you're not sure you want the job you were offered?

This other assessment centre was arranged and booked in before I got offered a job. As the offer was made by telephone, I have nothing written down to say it has been made. Until I have a contract in hand, I'm not very inclined to pass up the other opportunities. Job offers have a nasty habit of getting withdrawn when they are made 4 or 5 months in advance of the anticipated start date...

The other factor is location. I have a long term boyfriend, and while the position I have been offered is fantastic in every other sense, it would mean running a long distance relationship for 3 or 4 years... Some of the other positions I've got through to assessment centres for are a little more location-friendly.

I entirely understand. Think you're being sensible.

I always seem to be horrifically sensible. At the moment though I'm wishing I'd been completely non-proactive on job hunting, and had left it all until the degree is out the way. Trying to balance final year workloads with time consuming recruitment malarkys is no laugh. I might have a job at the end of all this, but I don't think I'll forgive myself entirely if I land up without my first class degree because of it.

Sometimes I just wish I could actually throttle myself for being so irriating!

Righty, 3 hours to finish this piece of coursework and then I've got to get on a train and go to dazzle some nice HR people. If anyone catches me on the forum in the next 3 hours, poke me!

Aaaargh - I've got a policy to write for my placement setting which needs to be well on its way by the staff meeting at the beginning of March, this is my last day off this week and I'm going to lose a week next week due to being at home (won't be taking my laptop with me and was intending to have the week off anyway).

So why am I sitting here with nothing more done than half a page of scribbled notes, written a fortnight ago, and no motivation to do any more?!

Aaaaarggh!

Tamsin - having just seen your post, I'll poke you if you poke me, deal??

Ah, but she's a YOUNG Bag!!!

Aaargh! Piles of work due tomorrow - or should I say today? It is currently 4 AM and I have been struggling to handle this computer for hours... thank heavens for 24 hour tech service...

4 AM !? Up early or late? its 10:29 pm here and I'm heading to bed. Hope you get all your work done =)

Up late, though it's not unusual for me to be up this early either... I've actually been awake for 24 hours at this point And still "miles to go before I sleep"... *sigh* But thank you and good night!

I seem to be appearing on here rather a lot....
but ARGHHHHHHH!

I'm working in a shop on my gap year and while I do really enjoy it and have made quite a few new friends of a similar age, there is one lady there who is just being ridiculous. She was nice when I first started, but then she found out that I'm off to university and since then she's been awful and I don't understand! For example, she has made up some petty rumours about me and a boy who works there too (we are friendly, but nothing more than that, and anyway, even if we were an item its none of her business). Also, there is a rota system in the shop and she very often is put down to be on the till when I go on break....but she never shows up so I'm always stuck there. Oh, and she accused me of smoking in the staff room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (which is laughably untrue). I don't really know what to do... if I go whining to a manager I think she will just become more underhand but it's just all a bit playground for my liking. I'm 18 and she's well into her 50s and I'm always pleasant to her... what IS her problem?!

Arrrrgh!! I have just given up on ecology. For 9 months of the year I dry our washing on an outside line. But we sometimes get weeks of wet weather which makes the possession of a tumble drier inevitable. We had to replace our old tumble drier because the door broke and after mending it several times it became unusable.

So we went out and dutifully bought an expensive Class A drier that was supposed to be energy saving. We were told that like our new washing machine the cycle would be longer but that the electricity consumed would still be less on account of new technology. We were told there were humitity sensors to recognize when the load was dry - bla bla bla!!

So not only does it take half as long again as the old machine but it doesn't even dry the washing. If I put it on "Ready to iron" it comes out really damp. If I put it on "Ready to put away" it is not dry enough to put in away unless we want everything to smell mouldy.

The solution is to put it on "Ready to put away" then to put it on for the 15 minute "Hot" programme, then to take the stuff out and spend hours with a hot iron ironing it dry. So much for saving electricity - let alone my time. There is nothing "wrong " with the machine and I am not overloading it. Next time I shall by the cheapest and highest energy consuming machine I can find.

I feel another anti ecology moan coming on about dustbins and sorting rubbish but I had better leave that for another time!

ARGH

awwww whats up??

Everything's gone wrong today and becuase of the last thing that went wrong, I have to get early again, even though it is my day off tomorrow.

Awwww poor you, hope this evening improves and tomorrow is better than today!!

Pure and simple jealousy

Speak to a manager about it and tell them you don't want to make an issue of it but don't know how to deal with it. Any manager worth their salt will want to know if a staff member is making another unhappy. And remember, it's a gap year so if the worst comes to the worst, youonly have to put up with it for a few months more, then off to better things than her pettiness


Oh no, sorry to hear Nicki

And there is no chocolate to comfort eat

I hate being a perfectionist. I don't know anyone else who is beating themselves up about their essay results, but I just feel like I've failed. </whinge>

Nicki - *hugs*

You're not whinging...I was exactly the same, especially as you've put lots of effort in and then it hasn't quite paid off. Let me know if I can help.



I could go to the shop but it closes at 8, it's raining and I'm in my pyjamas.

I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so tired :/

*passes some of the chocolate brownies which have just come out of the oven*


It's entirely understandable for you to be disappointed by not getting the mark you wanted and know you are capable of. That said, given the circumstances you've been working under, even scraping a pass is a remarkable achievement which few people would be capable of. You have a lot to be proud of, Floss.

Have now done one full day in placement - shame it feels like I've been there a week

Thank you, Flossie. That really means a lot!

Celeste, it's around this time last year that I got the worst essay mark I've ever received. I was devastated, but if it helps, it was a sort of transition mark, I think, and I pulled my marks back up right after. I'm sure the same will happen to you (and as Flossie said, you're working in very difficult circumstances!)

I've just been contacted by my bank too. Turns out someone has tried spending almost ?3000 on my card this morning. Luckily the account for this card is my business account and once cheques have cleared the funds immediately get transferred to my current account so there is never a balance of more than ?100 in there.

My suspicions tell me that the fraudsters got the details from the Orange website as I bought a phone from them at the end of last week, and although the order went through orange, the last page took forever. I stupidly left the page hanging, went and did something else and came back to it around 10 minutes later. From now on I'll give the website 10 seconds and immediately close the internet down.

Edit: sorry, tried to get Saxophiles original quote on card fraud on here but only Andante's came out.

Fuzzy head after drinking last night made my lunchtime practice session a fair bit less productive than usual.

Me too. Last assessment centre (third in less than two weeks) was... interesting. Was so exhausted by the end that I rather bit the head off the silly HR-lady when she messed us about in the last activity. Still, at least I can gleefully tell her how badly she handled the situation herself when she phones to give me feedback and announces I haven't got the position because I A) stood up for my group when she messed up and argued with her and B) stood up for them rather less diplomatically than I would have if I hadn't been chronically sleep deprived!

The rest of the group appreciated that someone told her where to stick it, but I still feel rather rueful for coming so close to loosing my temper! And that none of them were also prepared to put voice to their equally vehement objections to her behaviour.

On the plus side, I did manage to get the coursework completed and handed in this morning (although its pretty rubbish) and the company that has offered me a position seems to be working very hard to encourage me to accept (tricky when still no paperwork!). Going to visit one of the other sites over the next few weeks, to investigate whether its definitely a position I want and discuss possible opportunities blah-de-blah. It seems likely from the telephone discussions I've held that the first year I'd be based somewhere fairly boyfriend-location-friendly too, which I guess it as much as I can hope for.