Fierce_LiNk

Congratulations, you sexy fuck!

I adored the first game and it's one of my favourite early-PS4 memories. For some reason, the trailer for the second one didn't connect with me. I loved the setting of Chicago and it had a sort of grimy/noir type of feeling to it. It wasn't the most colourful game, but that worked in its favour given the espionage type of feeling and atmosphere that it was trying to convey. I loved that vibe. I didn't get that same sort of vibe from the second trailer and it almost doesn't feel like the same series. I'll wait and see.

I bought this and have only had a brief chance to play. I love it, though! I love the movement, the visuals, the movesets and the options. I'm definitely glad that I've waited and I hope that the game just continues to grow. Yaaay.

There needs to be a plan in place or at least a clear indication of things coming together by the end of the summer term. I can understand that plans do take time to formulate, so I'll be reasonable. But, I'm not a mug and there are other jobs and great schools to work out.

Whoa, that's a quick rise to the top! Impressive. Well done! I think I've made the right choice for now. I'm the Year 6 teacher now and I'm in the middle of building links with Year 5. We've started "setting" for Maths and Literacy, for example. I feel that I still have more to offer here and if I were to leave right now, I may regret it further on down the line. Plus, as you say, the drive would have killed me. I couldn't do that job effectively due to that. I feel that I could do a good job at the other school (first job offer), but it hasn't got a good rep and I would literally be jumping at the first job that came my way. Not always the wisest thing to do. We'll see how this goes. I'm Key Stage 2 and 3 trained and have experience teaching everything from Reception to Year 10. We got bought out by a group in April and we are partnered up with a school not too far away from us. My degree specialises in Transition, our current school goes right from 2 1/2 to 16 and the partner school only goes up to 11. So, the thinking is that I could help transition children from that school to this one once they finish at 11. Also, I'd build links (which I'm already doing) from Year 5 to Year 6, and then on to Year 7. There's bits and pieces in there and it could actually be something incredible. Whether it materialises or not is down to the Head. If it happens or something equally as important comes my way, I'll stay. If not, then I go.

As mentioned earlier, I had a job offer on Tuesday. An acquaintance contacted me on Tuesday and told me that she knows somebody who works at the school and apparently the staff turnover is really high (which I sorta knew anyway) and that the morale there isn't great. On Wednesday, I had my interview for a year 5/6 phase leader. The day didn't start off well with me waking up early to find out that Trump was the new American President. So, that wasn't great. What also wasn't great was the 1 hour and 10 minute drive just getting to the new school. I knew in the car on the way there that this was too far and I couldn't see myself doing this everyday. Imagine if there was an accident or I leave during rush hour. I could be spending 3 hours a day in a car! I arrived at the school on time and met the other two candidates, one who just happened to be an internal candidate. I didn't let that bother me and just carried on as normal. We were given our schedules of the day and it looked pretty busy. The first activity they made us do was to analyse 3 pages worth of data, which were school results compared to the national average and broken down by gender, ethnic background, free school meals, looked after children, English as an Additional Language, etc. I had to analyse this data, spot trends and suggest plans of action by writing a report. We had 30 minutes to do this. Next activity, analyse three children's books and scrutinise the work AND marking of the teachers when compared to the mark scheme. Again, 30 minutes, write a report. Third activity: I had to present a five minute presentation in front of... the executive headteacher, deputy head, two junior heads, head of teaching and learning, another teacher, school secretary AND the other two candidates. Of course, I was told I had to go first. We weren't allowed to use any powerpoints or illustrate this in any way and were rigidly timed, with one guy letting us know after each minute had passed. After that, I had my lesson observation and then finally my interview, which lasted for around 40 minutes. As you could imagine, I was absolutely fucking exhausted. The executive headteacher is a complete dragon. She has a reputation for taking failing schools and making them outstanding, but she pushes you to your limits. That's both exciting and "frightening" as the internal candidate mentioned it. There were hardly any staff older than their mid-30s or 40s. That was very noticeable. I was called back into the office after around an hour and I, somehow, got offered the job! To get an offer from a school of this quality is a huge compliment. So, I was obviously delighted. Now, I had a decision to make. I was scheduled to be on evening duty at my school (working with the kids who live there, helping them with homework, etc) and drove straight there after getting the offer. I was given 24 hours to make a decision. A few of my friends were still about, so I talked it through with them. By this point, I decided I had to go speak to the headmaster directly. I had three options in my head: 1. Take the first offer. 2. Take offer 2, despite it being so far away. 3. Reject both and stay. I walked into his office and talked about the week up until that point. I mentioned both job offers, what the jobs were entailing and made it clear that I'm not just a classroom teacher, but can offer a whole lot more. We talked about some of the plans for the school going forward and I told him that I would be rejecting both jobs offers. Again, I reiterated that if I were to leave right now, it would be out of complete anger and disappointment, which is not how I want to leave a place that I hold very dear. We've started talking about going forward from here and offering me more, so I do genuinely think this is on the cards now. It could go in one of many directions, so we'll see what happens. As much as he's pissed me about with this instance, he's still probably one of the top 3 people I've worked with and has come through for me before. I've made it clear that he has to make it worth it or I'm off! I spent the rest of the week telling people about the two interviews and offers. It's been quite a nice ego-boost in a lot of ways. I know that I'm valuable and have loads to offer. We'll see what happens next but I'm hopeful that the outcome will be positive. I sorta knew if I jumped on either of these job offers, I would literally be going for the first thing I was offered. At least now I can cherry pick a bit and see what else is out there and definitely choose the right one for me if the right one comes. As good as the second job would have been, it's in completely the wrong area. I'd be spending most of my life in a car just getting there and back. Not worth it. Plus, it would cancel out the extra money with the money spent on petrol. Nope.

This is on sale on PSN for £25, which also includes the season pass! To me, that sounds like a no-brainer. Is there any reason why I shouldn't go for it? Apparently they've added more features now, including the Vs. Cpu mode, which is what I wanted.

I tuned in at regular points, along with @Eenuh and just think that all of you guys are amazing for doing this. Things like this are why I keep coming back; the sense of community here is amazing. Well done, everyone. Arcade Club looks utterly sublime! We watched the video on his website and were blown away. Desperate to go there now!

Lessons have to be learned from this. Why did the British vote for Brexit and why did the Americans vote for Trump? The political landscape has altered over the course of this year and its effects will last for decades. Trump didn't just scrape through...he won by quite a distance. Questions need to be answered. 2016 sure is memorable, if for the wrong reasons.

I can't believe it. Still in shock, disgust, repulsion and a million other things. How has this been allowed to happen? The consequences of this are going to be huge. I thought America had learned after Bush, but clearly...welp. Fucks sake, Earth.

I'll be interested to see how many votes went to third party candidates.

How? How?! He has no knowledge or expertise in this area. He has literally bought his way to the top. Disgusting.

How old are you, brah? How did you work your way up to this position? I'm a (lowly) Year 6 teacher. Got any words of advice to help a brother succeed?

Yeah, can't say I've noticed any PSN issues at all lately. Certainly not this last week. Sorry, 'Ferret.

Kinda wish I could stay up all night to see how this progresses. What time will we see the votes start to come in?

Oooooh! This just got interesting! Are you a head of department or head of school? There is something that I love about working at an independent school. The freedom that you have to explore ideas that wouldn't get a look in at the majority of state schools, for example.

I had my first interview yesterday. I've bought two new suits recently, although the trousers haven't arrived yet for the second one, which is annoying as that's the one I prefer more. Yesterday was my chance to wear the new one and it felt pretty good, tbh. I felt sexy as fuck walking into the new school wearing that! First of all, we did my lesson observation. It was a year 3 class, so they're around 7/8 years old. The lesson went fine and the class all did what I wanted to do. It was strange having a teaching assistant in the room as we haven't got one of those at my current school. I was invited to go to their whole school assembly before having our interview. I'd researched the types of questions that could come up beforehand and so had the majority of bases covered there. They seemed really interested in what I had to say, so that was nice. I had to let them know that I had another interview on Wednesday as it's the polite and respectful thing to do. They took that on-board, although their faces dropped slightly when they knew it was for a Phase Leader job as they can't offer me that at the moment, but will have major roles coming in September. So, all I had to do was wait. They called back around 30 minutes ago and told me that I was "outstanding" in both my lesson and interview and that they would love to offer me the job. They did say that "I'll probably get snapped up by the other school on Wednesday" and that they're "sorry that they can't offer me anything more than class teacher in January, but that more roles will be coming up in September, which I'll be in line for". Some quick info about the school: It's not in a great area of Bournemouth. There are over 30 languages spoken by pupils at the school and there are 27-30 children per class. They are partnered up with 6 other schools and so can offer loads of potential for career development, which my current job can't. I've got my other interview tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. I'm mulling things over and it's going to be a very hard decision. The one good thing about my workplace is that, being an independent school, you deal with less children and there is less government pressure than you'd get in a state school. The downside of my current school is that there's no major opportunities for career progression. If I were to leave, my workload would definitely become more difficult and that would probably affect my quality of life. I'm weighing things up, but it's proving to be hard. It'll real fuck things up even more if I get offered tomorrow's job! That'll make things even more interesting.

Sorry to hear about the bad news, Danny. Am around if you want to chat.

I'm not surprised. The TV options are ridiculous. It isn't even comprehensive! If you can't make it to games and want to still follow your team, you have to have access to BBC, ITV, BT Sports AND Sky. The kick in the teeth is that not all of the games are even broadcast live anyway. Imagine if you're a Southampton fan, for example. The prices are crazy, too. Football is just too fucking expensive. I tried getting tickets to watch a Bournemouth game when Ine's family came down and we couldn't get the tickets and they were too expensive even if we could manage it. Football is definitely in danger of alienating itself from its fans. I'll be watching these figures to see what happens next.

I cracked up when I saw that. It wasn't an amazing game. I love how the commentators always try to get out of calling games shit by using words like "intriguing" or "cautious" or words to that effect.

I wish somebody had changed it to "bob please"!

You had to take out a second mortgage on your house if you wanted to buy an N64 game. I remember wincing at Majora's Mask and WWF No Mercy's prices in store. Hnnnnnnggg games, but urrrrggghhh prices.

I definitely felt that MKWii was too random, at times. In almost every other Mario Kart game, the best racer or the one who raced well during that circuit is usually the winner. Not so in MKWii. There were times where I felt like I was getting screwed over by the weapons to the point where it became unfair. I can't say that I had a major affinity for the game. MK8 was definitely more of a step in the right direction. It was back to being a racer first and foremost, which is what it should be. At its core, it's a racer. I feel that MKWii lost site of that. It was too whacky and random and very, very messy for me.

3-1 up against Swansea with about 15 minutes left. Ibra and Pogba both one yellow card away from missing the next game - against Arsenal. You'd obviously take them both off, to save them both and ensure they can play in the next game. Nah, leave Ibra on to get booked. Our team can be as thick as shit, sometimes. Can't believe the coaching staff didn't take him/both off. Edit: Overall, we did the business in the first half and were a bit lazy in the second. Pogba was much better today and Rooney was probably the Man of the Match. One of his better games.

My first console was the SNES. I had Super Mario All Stars as my first ever Nintendo game. Dat theme music. Soon after that, I had FIFA96 and Starwing as my next round of games. I loved both. Found Starwing really hard at the time.