The new news 24 thread

[vulgalour]

On 14/04/2024 at 12:59, vulgalour said:

Today I made my first application for regular work in 17 years. 

 

Rejection letter achieved!  That's actually impressive in and of itself, I wasn't expecting anything on the first attempt.  Found a vacancy at a local bakery that would suit so I'm going to try that out next, they want applicants to go to the bakery in person, which is a bit old school and suits me fine.  Pretty sure I won't get it though, it's for the front of shop work and I can't remember going into a single bakery where that role was done by anything other than a woman of a certain age, which I am not.

Perhaps it's my absence from the mainstream workforce for so many years, or perhaps it's the area, but the requirements on a lot of vacancies are a bit moon-on-a-stick.  Minimum wage means minimum effort, right?  It doesn't mean the employee is expected to be working 'continental shift' which is a thing I thought had gone out of fashion and am horrified seems to be back again.  It's also weird how many employers expect a part time minimum wage monkey to be driving between multiple locations without any offer for covering that cost.  All your wage is going to vanish on fuel and insurance before it even gets to the rent.  Let's not even get started on the duplicitous way that wages are actually listed on a lot of vacancies, with things like 'pro rata' being an NHS favourite to obfuscate what you actually earn.

Not sure what the deal is with the 'must speak English properly' and 'must have permission to work in the UK' statements on the vacancies is either.  It could be good old Lincolnshire racism, that's been an abiding memory of the county since I was a child, or it could just be England being England.

I don't feel particularly optimistic about getting a job I actually want to do, I will say that much.  It's early days still, we'll see what happens.

[mk2_craig]

Changed a failed side lamp bulb on this shitheap today. Even a 2 minute job like this turned into a half hour battle, bulb holder seized so out with the jack/brace/pliers and wrench the damn thing out after taking the wheel off. 
 

Anyway, eventual success, and a free fix thanks to the box of reusable bulbs salvaged from scrap shitters. 

[High Jetter]

9 hours ago, vulgalour said:

Pretty sure I won't get it though, it's for the front of shop work and I can't remember going into a single bakery where that role was done by anything other than a woman of a certain age, which I am not.

You never know what it might lead to. Many years ago I had a guy who had just sold his business to retire early apply for a part-time job which was way, way below his capabilities (a stone mason). His big hobby was DIY and I had some refurb work in flats waiting to be done so we got along just fine. Moral is, you just don't know.

[beko1987]

I had a bakery job once. Was quite young so didn't appreciate it as much but it was good. Friendly customers, place always smelt nice, could make your own massive sandwiches at lunchtime for free. 

After a foot in the door you could ask about displaying some artwork with your contact details on it or something? 

[dozeydustman]

11 hours ago, Yoss said:

Mittenwald is lovely.

Indeed it is. I’m quite well rested after my 21 hour day yesterday. Everyone else is full of beans as they got to sleep on the journey.

There was even legroom on the plane.

Thankfully an empty row so I could sprawl out. We flew Lufthansa from LHR to MUN which included 1 cabin bag and a hand bag per passenger. Ryanair, Easyjet etc now charge for that so many of the flag carriers and premium lines work out cheaper, you get a bit more room in front of you and tend not to attract the undoubtedly annoying brummie who demands Fosters beer* and English chips when dining out in foreign climes.

Going into town shortly. Haven’t noticed any tat yet save a T5 with a misfire.

[vulgalour]

55 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

I had a bakery job once. Was quite young so didn't appreciate it as much but it was good. Friendly customers, place always smelt nice, could make your own massive sandwiches at lunchtime for free. 

After a foot in the door you could ask about displaying some artwork with your contact details on it or something? 

I made sure to staple a business card to my CV.  Do you know what, it was a woman of a certain age on the counter too.  I'm halfway between their two shops, distance-wise so I'm quite literally ideally placed for location and neither are particularly far away from current home.  There's been a couple of funeral director vacancies come up too, as usual the hours are the problem since they do tend to be a bit all over, which would be fine if the pay was a bit higher so I could afford to just have that as a job so I didn't need to worry about juggling current job and the weird hours.  Funeral work doesn't particularly bother me, it's a career path I've tried to get into before, but the hours and the need to have a very reliable car to get you where you need to be at short notice has always been the difficult bit.

Happily, not in a mega rush here so I can be a little bit picky.  Hopefully something part time will pop up that will work well alongside my current job and give me some work variety and wage security which is what I want most.  I'm literally looking for the sort of job that doesn't expect me to work towards climbing the corporate ladder, or Being Part Of A Team, or whatever.  Just a job that pays a wage and expects nothing more than my regular attendance and sunny disposition.

 

[Yoss]

47 minutes ago, dozeydustman said:

Indeed it is. I’m quite well rested after my 21 hour day yesterday. Everyone else is full of beans as they got to sleep on the journey.

There was even legroom on the plane.

Thankfully an empty row so I could sprawl out. We flew Lufthansa from LHR to MUN which included 1 cabin bag and a hand bag per passenger. Ryanair, Easyjet etc now charge for that so many of the flag carriers and premium lines work out cheaper, you get a bit more room in front of you and tend not to attract the undoubtedly annoying brummie who demands Fosters beer* and English chips when dining out in foreign climes.

Going into town shortly. Haven’t noticed any tat yet save a T5 with a misfire.

I always tend to use BA these days simply because Heathrow is so much more convenient from where I am. And there are regular normal service buses from all over west London. I've found a few areas five minutes off the end of the M3 with unrestricted parking, then get the bus into the airport. So it's £1.70 each way instead of whatever airport parking is. I'm usually only going for about 4 days so I travel light. Would obviously be different if I had proper luggage to worry about.

[wuvvum]

Well that was a more than averagely productive lunch break. 

[meggersdog]

Mot time for the Peugeot 206cc yesterday. I snapped the handbrake cable on the brake rollers..........bugger

Soaked everything in WD40 last night and just spent 20 minutes replacing the cable. Using the ramp at work during lunch break made it almost a pleasant job.

[Ghosty]

Argh, the Yaris wheels are too narrow - I briefly had some 15x7 et35 on there and it was spot on.

These MR2 wheels are 15x6/6.5 stagger et45, and you can just tell the track feels narrower and the car isn't as planted, and wants to lift-off in the corners. The rears sit way too far in (they do that standard), they need to go down to et35 to fill the arches, so I'll have to space them out 10mm.

This is all on the same 195/50/15s too. I'm on the lookout for something slightly lower offset that will counter the issue all round.

[SiC]

5 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Well that was a more than averagely productive lunch break. 

Zed for?

[hairnet]

9 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Well that was a more than averagely productive lunch break. 

 

lunch break a la francaise?

[High Jetter]

1 minute ago, hairnet said:

lunch break a la francaise?

Judging by your own standards? 🤣 

He strutted!

[wuvvum]

7 hours ago, SiC said:

Zed for?

Indeed.

[Boycie]

If your looking for work then a number of car hire companies will be looking for seasonal staff especially at the airports , if your licence is fairly clean then they'll be driving work , airports mostly moving dirty/clean and workshop , if a a del and coll site then del and coll cars from customers , I've been in the industry 25 years next month ...

try 

[andyberg]

8 minutes ago, Boycie said:

If your looking for work then a number of car hire companies will be looking for seasonal staff especially at the airports , if your licence is fairly clean then they'll be driving work , airports mostly moving dirty/clean and workshop , if a a del and coll site then del and coll cars from customers , I've been in the industry 25 years next month ...

try 

I will be starting exactly this on Monday. The airport has become too stressful with the new, American, management.

Glad to hear you have been doing it 25years, it must be ok then 😁

[JJ0063]

Our local Saturday market auction just posted their lots on their FB page and I saw they have these 3 in today, gonna see if I can go and pick up a bargain.. have no use for them but the Erde would be a quick flip on FB marketplace I’m sure 

[Boycie]

7 hours ago, andyberg said:

I will be starting exactly this on Monday. The airport has become too stressful with the new, American, management.

Glad to hear you have been doing it 25years, it must be ok then 😁

Like everything it has pluses and negatives , my job is 50% desk 50% physical so it keeps me interested , which company are you are starting with 

[andyberg]

1 hour ago, Boycie said:

Like everything it has pluses and negatives , my job is 50% desk 50% physical so it keeps me interested , which company are you are starting with 

Europcar. I'll be a driver picking up or dropping off cars. They have promised that I will never use public transport, there will always be a 'runner' to collect me. There will be some car cleaning, which I don't mind. I do like a clean car! I'm just after as minimal amount of stress as possible. I thought the airport was going to be it but then an American company took over the company I was working for and ruined everything.

[egg]

Autoglym are giving a 'free' tin of wheel protector with purchases on eBay at the mo. No idea if it's a good deal.

[artdjones]

41 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Europcar. I'll be a driver picking up or dropping off cars. They have promised that I will never use public transport, there will always be a 'runner' to collect me. There will be some car cleaning, which I don't mind. I do like a clean car! I'm just after as minimal amount of stress as possible. I thought the airport was going to be it but then an American company took over the company I was working for and ruined everything.

Ideal employee from the US point of view :-

"I don't have a social life, that would be like stealing from the company."

[eddyramrod]

On 18/04/2024 at 22:55, vulgalour said:

Found a vacancy at a local bakery ... it's for the front of shop work and I can't remember going into a single bakery where that role was done by anything other than a woman of a certain age, which I am not.

After decades of driving vans and lorries, and doing whatever I could get in between, followed by nearly four years in Cyprus, I got in at a local bakery here - mixing up the fillings for the sandwich counters in the two shops.  Six weeks later one of the drivers "had to leave" and my CV was still top of the pile, so I stepped into his van.  Over the following five and a half years I also did bakery cleaning, decorating (one of the shops has a rental flat above) and counter work in both shops, among the Women Of A Certain Age who are not to be underestimated!  Treat them with politeness and courtesy and you will never have better workmates.

On 19/04/2024 at 08:57, High Jetter said:

You never know what it might lead to. 

As illustrated above!

On 19/04/2024 at 09:16, beko1987 said:

I had a bakery job once. Friendly customers, place always smelt nice, could make your own massive sandwiches at lunchtime for free. 

Couldn't agree more.

On 19/04/2024 at 10:19, vulgalour said:

I'm literally looking for the sort of job that doesn't expect me to work towards climbing the corporate ladder, or Being Part Of A Team, or whatever.  Just a job that pays a wage and expects nothing more than my regular attendance and sunny disposition.

That's all I ever wanted when I was able to work.  Don't expect that wage to be of the "Living" variety but you can usually find compensations, however small.  If you don't find them, then you're in the wrong job, leave immediately.

[vulgalour]

I've been looking at what I can cut out of my current work responsibilities, stuff that I don't get paid for but do in the hope that one day I will, and there's enough hours I can get back to put into a part time position easily enough.  Part time work would be great for things like paying the rent, artwork could then pay for the rest and still make me better off so that's the current plan.  I suspect I'll drop the artwork completely if things don't improve drastically within the next two years and I'm definitely re-assessing it at the end of this year.  So having a low demand position where I can focus on getting on with my colleagues and generally being the best [insert basic job role here] I can be is going to be ideal.

I'm having to make some very uncomfortable decisions.  I'm running out of time.  If I don't pay some attention to money I'm going to be properly screwed when I'm actually old.  Worst of it is I've been given an opportunity to improve my lot in Wiltshire which I've so far declined because it's so damned expensive down there and if it goes wrong I definitely wouldn't be able to escape.  I've been homeless once, and close to homeless several times, so there's certain risks I just won't take no matter how good they look on the surface.

I just want to live a quiet little life and not worry about things like rent and bills and whether or not I can afford food from one week to the next.  I'm tired, I just want a nap.

[egg]

49 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

I just want to live a quiet little life and not worry about things like rent and bills and whether or not I can afford food from one week to the next.  I'm tired, I just want a nap.

Might be something you already know, but have you been through moneysavingexpert's income boosting tips?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/boost-your-income/

[vulgalour]

It assumes a level of financial solvency I've never experienced.  I am doing several of the things on their list already and the vast majority of it is stuff I simply can't do.  I'm not saying this to be awkward or dismissive, it's just how it is.  Until someone can suggest a way I can stop paying rent, my finances will continue to be a struggle until I get a better job.

[Boycie]

4 hours ago, andyberg said:

Europcar. I'll be a driver picking up or dropping off cars. They have promised that I will never use public transport, there will always be a 'runner' to collect me. There will be some car cleaning, which I don't mind. I do like a clean car! I'm just after as minimal amount of stress as possible. I thought the airport was going to be it but then an American company took over the company I was working for and ruined everything.

Ditto , which branch are you starting at

[andyberg]

Bath. But could also go to Bristol airport or Bristol branches if they are short staffed. I am actually looking forward to it, if only for the 8am start 😁

[Pat Earrings]

Several hours today were spent spannering.

Did the rear discs and pads on dads i20, but I found the shoes far too tricky to do behind the hub so I’m farming that job out. As expected both rear calipers were near enough seized as were the sliders. The second hand units were in fantastic condition, fitted them up and bled easily.

the difference in braking is night and day. Before it used to really need a firm press and took a while, now, it’s like a new car. The shoes when fitted will sort the slightly lazy handbrake as the shoes on the car at the moment aren’t down to metal but are worn quite a bit.

i then got to doing the Vectras rear drop links and bushes and my god, what a hateful job it turned out to be. Two sheared bolts (replaced now) and those bastard drop links…they are nigh on impossible to just push on. I ended up boiling them in water and it helped thankfully. All the knocking has gone and you could see how much the bushes had worn.

to get to the drop link bolt, I just ended up taking the rear spring out by removing the spring cup base bolt. Made things a whole lot easier. Everything greased up back together now.

Tomorrow the sensors will be fitted to the i20 too.

[mk2_craig]

Frig. 
 

 

Thats my favourite 17/19mm socket busted, used at the time for its intended purpose of tightening wheel bolts but after over 20 years service it finally cried enough. Sent me on my arse too, hope none of the neighbours (or my family) were watching 

[GeordieInExile]

Stupid lump of French luxury misery still doesn't have a working handbrake. The new module was fitted to the car, and the car didn't want to talk to it. Even more strangely, it turns out the old module wasn't knackered inside, either. 

At least the suspension and dodgy ABS sensor have been sorted, but still. I want my handbrake back.