The Advice Thread

[Dazza]

Similar thing happened to me.Friend got married over in Boston as he was from there and expected myself and a few other mates to pay for our flights and accomodation.I didnt go over there as i was unemployed and couldnt afford to go over there and he got upset.Must have expected me to row across the Atlantic.

 

[Son of Cod]

Being 97 from South Korea I'm not sure if it'll help....

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

I guess it all comes down to how good your local service is, a couple of my friends have used them and helped them get into careers. Both have been pretty ordinary jobs though so it may not be what you're after.

Yeah, like Dave says try the National Careers Service. Does it have to be an online service? . I used to work as an employment advice & guidance officer for a small project in my town.Part of the job entailed helping people compile CVs and identify their transferable skills. Is their something like that where you live? There's an organisation called Prospects that help people with CVs, but I don't think they offer online support http://www.prospects.co.uk/
There might be an office where you live. I might be able to help and would be happy to take a look if you want.

Sorry, I didn't reply to these from ages ago. I did look at that site initially Dave, but wasn't sure if it would be specific enough. What I want ideally is to speak to someone generally who can then refer me onto someone with a better knowledge of where I want to be heading. I actually got more direction from a PM exchange with Cas than I did from Google, so there you have it... Cas...better than Google.
Red, thanks too. It does have to be online really, as I'm not in the UK at the moment. Are you in recruitment or careers guidance or something similar then, Red?

How do you tell someone that you can't attend their wedding?

I would love to go, but I can't justify a £1000 flight back to Glasgow for a long weekend...

Welcome to my world. I'm always getting invited to weddings it seems. Got one at the moment that I would like to get to but it's just not feasible. I never tell them straight away either. I always leave it late, but I hate letting people down. Went back last August specifically for a wedding. Since then I've been to Japan and New Zealand too, so if I make it back for this wedding that'll have been some serious cash dropped on flights in the last year. For me, at least. This guy is quite possibly my best mate though. It's a shit situation. Had other mates texting me saying he'll be gutted if I don't go, etc. Missed the stag do last weekend too.

 

[Blitzballer]

Where to start ...
Yesterday I received a letter and debit card from the Halifax bank, all in my name ect. I have never banked with Halifax in my life. So today I get some more mail, this time from Vodafone, 3 accounts opened in my name, big contracts to, £54 month line rental??????.
Went to nearest Halifax store today and spoke with the manager after confirming a few things I closed the account, and he told me to report the incident to the police. Whilst closing the account you get a statement, and there was a DD setup with one of the vodafone accounts.
Next went to the police and basically they didnt want to know??????? Said Vodafone and Halifax have their own fraud squads.
Not sure what else to do. These accounts were all setup in an area of Devon. I've never been Devon.
Expecting a phone call back from Vodafone, I think they are the guys who have lost out. Honestly head gone shit

 

[SALTIRE]

So the last week or two, sometimes when I load up my computer, one of my drives fails to get recognised when in Windows (7), but on a reset its back and works fine. Last night I had the same issue again only now two of my drives don't appear (I have 4 HDD's running including the one running the OS which is an SSD drive). I load up the computer today and everything is fine, both drives are back and they are running fine. My question to anyone here is this, I don't think the drives themselves are failing because as I said, when they are recognised, they work fine and there is no clicking sounds from them which is indicative of failing drives (I've had my fair share go since I got my first pc in 1999). Could there be connection issues, maybe loose cables that I could check, or even cables or power connectors that are failing and are causing these issues - or could it even be a software issue?

Anyone who is pc tech savvy have any ideas?

 

[ArmchairDiehard]

Has anyone on here been to Edinburgh Zoo?

I'm taking the little one over the Summer, and I don't know anyone who's been to give me their experiences of it.

 

[yellow]

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attrac...Reviews-Edinburgh_Zoo-Edinburgh_Scotland.html

 

[Aber gas]

Where to start ...
Yesterday I received a letter and debit card from the Halifax bank, all in my name ect. I have never banked with Halifax in my life. So today I get some more mail, this time from Vodafone, 3 accounts opened in my name, big contracts to, £54 month line rental??????.
Went to nearest Halifax store today and spoke with the manager after confirming a few things I closed the account, and he told me to report the incident to the police. Whilst closing the account you get a statement, and there was a DD setup with one of the vodafone accounts.
Next went to the police and basically they didnt want to know??????? Said Vodafone and Halifax have their own fraud squads.
Not sure what else to do. These accounts were all setup in an area of Devon. I've never been Devon.
Expecting a phone call back from Vodafone, I think they are the guys who have lost out. Honestly head gone shit

You've done the exactly the right thing . If anything I would go back to the police , they might not want to investigate your case as a priority but it would be usefull to get an official record and perhaps a crime number for future peace of mind . It might be an idea to change your security arrangements for Internet banking , email , Facebook ect just in case . I've been done with Identity fraud before and it was a ball ache to sort out .

 

[Blitzballer]

You've done the exactly the right thing . If anything I would go back to the police , they might not want to investigate your case as a priority but it would be usefull to get an official record and perhaps a crime number for future peace of mind . It might be an idea to change your security arrangements for Internet banking , email , Facebook ect just in case . I've been done with Identity fraud before and it was a ball ache to sort out .

I should have posted an update, sorry.
I had a letter off Vodafone two days ago basically saying I've been a victim of identity fraud. Because of data protection act they couldn't give me in depth details but said they have identified those responsible and their teams are dealing with it

 

[SALTIRE]

Has anyone on here been to Edinburgh Zoo?

I'm taking the little one over the Summer, and I don't know anyone who's been to give me their experiences of it.

I went about 30 years ago if thats any help!

Actually I'm going back to it later on in the year for my mum's 70th as she wants to see the fucking waste of space panda's - I'll go and look at snakes or something.

 

[Veggie Legs]

Has anyone on here been to Edinburgh Zoo?

I'm taking the little one over the Summer, and I don't know anyone who's been to give me their experiences of it.

I went last year, it's a really good zoo, plenty of stuff worth seeing. Obviously there's the pandas, it's also the only zoo in the UK with koalas, and if you like penguins then they let them walk around a bit once a day. If you want to see the pandas then you need to book a time when you arrive at the zoo - slots go fast if it's a busy day (and it will be in the summer holidays) so you need to get there quite early. Also, the site is on a big hill so that might be worth bearing in mind if you've got small kids.

 

[ArmchairDiehard]

I went last year, it's a really good zoo, plenty of stuff worth seeing. Obviously there's the pandas, it's also the only zoo in the UK with koalas, and if you like penguins then they let them walk around a bit once a day. If you want to see the pandas then you need to book a time when you arrive at the zoo - slots go fast if it's a busy day (and it will be in the summer holidays) so you need to get there quite early. Also, the site is on a big hill so that might be worth bearing in mind if you've got small kids.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll try and sort the panda stuff out.

 

[Roly]

Where to start ...
Yesterday I received a letter and debit card from the Halifax bank, all in my name ect. I have never banked with Halifax in my life. So today I get some more mail, this time from Vodafone, 3 accounts opened in my name, big contracts to, £54 month line rental??????.
Went to nearest Halifax store today and spoke with the manager after confirming a few things I closed the account, and he told me to report the incident to the police. Whilst closing the account you get a statement, and there was a DD setup with one of the vodafone accounts.
Next went to the police and basically they didnt want to know??????? Said Vodafone and Halifax have their own fraud squads.
Not sure what else to do. These accounts were all setup in an area of Devon. I've never been Devon.
Expecting a phone call back from Vodafone, I think they are the guys who have lost out. Honestly head gone shit

Google action fraud, it's the new government agency for reporting fraud. It's an online thing that takes around 20 minutes to do.

 

[blade1889]

Looking for a new phone but don't want to spend loads...any suggestions? I mainly use it for internet and the camera.

Am always breaking mine so gonna invest in a good phone case haha

 

[blade1889]

Re paying for flights/weddings I think its ridiculous when people expect you to attend when youd have to travel that far. Know someone who got married in Spain despite living in London, fair enough her family is from Spain so that makes sense but to then expect friends and family to make the trip over when they cant really afford the flights and accommodation is unfair.

 

[Veggie Legs]

Looking for a new phone but don't want to spend loads...any suggestions? I mainly use it for internet and the camera.

Am always breaking mine so gonna invest in a good phone case haha

You might get better responses in the mobile phone thread. I asked a similar question recently so there's a few suggestions in there too.

 

[nousername]

Has anyone ever got back in touch with someone they've not spoken to in years?

I was thinking of someone recently, my best friend in primary school. It's probably been the best part of 15 years since we last spoke - I'm 28 - but for some reason it crossed my mind recently to send him a message and see what he was up to.

I dunno. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic? I've not lived in the UK for 5 years, so it's hardly like we're going to bump into each other.

Someone must know, or have experienced a similar situation?

 

[Veggie Legs]

Does anyone know anything about whisky?

 

[blade1889]

I dont like it and my Dads not allowed to have it or he gets argumentative apparently. Does that help?

 

[Saddlerrad]

Does anyone know anything about whisky?

It's absolutely fucking disgusting.

 

[Habbinalan]

I prefer a drop of Irish when out and Islay at home. A taste of peat with a hint of sheep dip is my treat when celebrating a play-off final.

 

[Pyeman]

Has anyone ever got back in touch with someone they've not spoken to in years?

I was thinking of someone recently, my best friend in primary school. It's probably been the best part of 15 years since we last spoke - I'm 28 - but for some reason it crossed my mind recently to send him a message and see what he was up to.

I dunno. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic? I've not lived in the UK for 5 years, so it's hardly like we're going to bump into each other.

Someone must know, or have experienced a similar situation?

My best friend from school got in touch with me out of the blue recently. I'm 26 now, we haven't really spoken in 10 years. Was nice to hear from him, if not slightly awkward.

 

[SALTIRE]

It's absolutely fucking disgusting.

Get tae fuck, its water of the gods! Absolutely beautiful nectar and one of life's great pleasures!

 

[nousername]

My best friend from school got in touch with me out of the blue recently. I'm 26 now, we haven't really spoken in 10 years. Was nice to hear from him, if not slightly awkward.

Yeah, I've decided against it. Fleeting moment of drunken nostalgia. I'm living in HK anyway, so completely pointless.

 

[SUTSS]

I got a message on facebook from a guy I went to first school with a couple of years ago. Hadn't seen or spoken to him since we were about 7. We went to the snooker hall and played a few games together and it was a decent laugh. Soon after he got a job in Reading so I haven't seen him since then.

 

[mistermagic]

Does anyone know anything about whisky?

It's dangerous. Very dangerous.

 

[CFC91]

Not sure if this is the right place but hey ho.

Work look like they are offshoring our department to Guernsey for business reasons come September/October time. Just wondered has anyone been? Is there anything to do? Is it expensive?

Obviously from my research it seems i'd need a pretty hefty package to go and make it worth my while but do think it would be an experience and a good opportunity as it would include a better role for myself I guess.

Got around 6 weeks to deliberate and have a fair few pros and cons but the clincher for me would be the individual relocation package.

 

[smat]

Never been but my friend's from there and he's a cosseted idiot.

 

[Abertawe]

Yo, which one would you choose to work?

5 days a week, 7.5 hours per day

or​

4 days a week, 3 of which are 10 hour and the other 7.5

Thanks for reading.

 

[yellow]

Option 2.

 

[blade1889]

Yo, which one would you choose to work?

5 days a week, 7.5 hours per day

or​

4 days a week, 3 of which are 10 hour and the other 7.5

Thanks for reading.

4 days

Used to work shifts and if i could I'd get them back-to-back and have more free days