jayseven

I didn't realise it had come round again already! Been out of touch with chess. Carlsen won fairly easily against the then-world champion Anand, and this year as far as I've been aware Anand's slipped down the rankings. Because it's not a match of world #1 vs world #2, Anand managed to win the challenger's tournament, and as such I think Carlsen is probably happier to play him than aronian. Last year I managed to watch quite a few games live, so I'll probably try and do it again this year!

I think it's brilliant to see Saints prosper despite losing their 'best' players. Pretty much every player that was bought has under performed so far this season. Sure, Southampton haven't had many big games yet but they've done very well. Man U spent a lot this year - di maria started well but against city he wasn't great. Van Persie wasn't fed all game, and actually I thought Shaw had a pretty bad game -- but compared to the other defenders he did ok. It must be worrying for Man City to have not been able to fully control the game. Sure, they could've had a could of pens buut they went an hour with a man advantage and failed to capitalise. Chelsea on the other hand looked ever-strong, and arsenal showed that their investments are slowly melding together. I think chelsea get the title but the champs league places are very competitive this year. Spurs, city, arsenal, united, with outsiders (now) liverpool and saints. I'd hazard a guess the final finish is chelsea, city, united, arsenal..!

when i got to the end of a jar of salsa and a pack of doritos I used to pour the crunched up chips into the salsa and put in a sandwich. Cheese and ham and lettuce with this is gorgeous. Love coronation chicken in a sarnie.

4 dates to find out she's not into you? Wow.

It could be brilliant - there's going to be so much expectation. I have no idea what I'd want from this, just that I hope they don't try to be too fan-serving and just do a great and innovative story. What was great about the first seasons was the lasting impact and influence it had. The cult memes that were generated do not need to be revisited... though I'm sure we'll see log lady and some 2nd-generation characters... I dunno! Guess just gotta have faith!

We're about to be audited by the MOJ and suddenly management is kicking up a fuss and changing a lot of policies and re-shaping how things are done. A large portion of these things are issues I raised months ago -- including one thing that I raised in may last year. Our job role is about to have a fairly major shake-up, I feel, and everyone is stressed and freaked out about it. Again people on my team are drawing closer to me and what I've been saying because I've predicted a lot of things, and because our project manager simply does not know how to relate to us on a personal level, and has no real idea of what we do day-to-day. Plus side is I've found a course I want to do, and the MD previously said he'd pay for me to do a course. If I can get him to sign off on it then it will mean great cv-stuff... if he doesn't then the price of sitting the exam is way worth it anyway considering basic jobs with this certification are above and beyond anything I've earned so far.

This week I've had several of my developments/ideas implemented, and basically a big step was made towards saving something close to 50% of the admin team's daily workload. For this to happen I have one hurdle to cross, which I snagged on the solution today. The project manager loves his spreadsheets and essentially I just have to convert him to working off of an online version of what he works off of, and I'll be able to basically stop admin from having to do the same job twice. It's a common-sense move but nobody's spotted it but me so far. If this happens then I'll have the recognition, and essentially I'll be able to look at two other areas of our company and (hopefully) be given relatively free reign over these. If I continue to prove an increase in efficiency and revenue then I can theoretically get involved in the MAIN company (telecoms). I've also had a finger in the pie of another subsidiary company... Basically I'm closing in on something, which at the least will be a great CV booster but at the most mean I get a significant foothold on a controlling seat of any future development of any area of the company. This was part of my 3-year plan and it's 6 months down the line, so it's looking good so far!

It's a different kind of funny. Dry and droll!

I know how you feel moogle - I was told about being promoted a few months back and it's not happened. Did some job-hunting and there are some viable options out there... but I'm sticking with the devil I know. I've not been officially bequeathed any additional responsibility or authority but I've been allowed to implement things and act as though I've been promoted. The real thing is, of course, the lack of a pay rise to go with it. I've been given a nice bonus this month as a thank you/sorry, and ultimately I know that I can move up in this company. I can't risk the uncertainty of moving sideways just yet. Sad thing is my IT manager is almost certainly quitting soon, as he can get a job paying him a hell of a lot more in an area closer to his girlfriend. He's helped me move house, spent the day taking me to the eye hospital in london and has motivated me to build my own PC. He'll be sorely missed- but on the flip side the damage he'll cause if he leaves could be a good platform for me to make motions for a promotion (I don't work in the IT dept so it's not like I'm wanting to take his job!). I still really enjoy my job. It's just tough when you're in moogle's position and, actually, the idea of promotion has actually driven you for a long time to excell day-to-day.

Screwfix is a big deal! Massive company, so mad props eddage!

@Josh64 here I was about to say that even 'voluntary'/job experience placements with the job centre will give you dole money plus lunch money and travel money... when you spring the success story :P If the job is enjoyable and rewarding then working those hours will not be a real issue. Good luck! ... My job sitch; worked like a mofo for ages. Been trodden on about 6 times in the last fortnight. Repeatedly kicked ass, yet failed to receive any recognition. Brought to light major issues with the way we operate - these were resolved quickly and severely badly. Essentially it's gotten to the point where I know I can do a better job than our project manager, and he's undermining me and making up bullshit about the work I've done so that the upper management thinks differently of me... had 'powers' rescinded for no real reason, had meetings postponed, have had no response to repeated emails about urgent industry-related changes... had curtails and blockages added to the 'extra-curricular' work that I've been doing that just slow things down. Basically I've worked my arse off to not only save my company money, but also to save the employees time and make their jobs easier and therefore increasing income. I've also brought changes in legislation to the attention of my bosses, and taken the initiative in contacting banks and companies to make our jobs easier and cheaper - I've built relations with these other companies, I've instigated further changes to our literature... BUT yet I am not praised and the work I do is not recognised, simply because individuals are protecting their own jobs. Lots of long stories. Best example (and probably boring);

Rummy appearing in every shot was genius. I will try to turn up next year for the drunkpark bit!

I can see where you're coming from about Arsenal needing to fill those positions. Essentially they don't have a Viera or a Henry, but they have six men going forwards who look like troublemakers and are ready to put the effort in. They don't have a guaranteed goalscorer or complete security at the back but they have a lot of loaded guns to play the roulette with. They won't have a top scorer with 35 goals but they'll have four players on 15+ goals by the end of the season!

but it doesn't - that's the point! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is not passion it's pressing a button, and I don't think it's the best way to transmit any meaning of love or sympathy. The best way to do that is to do so in a meaningful way - and most meaning is derived from the cost spent in time on the message in question. i.e. I mean what I say because I just spent a paragraph saying it.

I only watched the charity shield highlights and I thought that arsenal's new signings looked sloppy -- but I put that down to them being new. They showed a hell of a lot of potential as well. Wiltshire and Ramsey look shit hot at the moment, and I have to admit this arsenal team is full of potential and looks pretty strong. I do think MOTD ripped into arsenal a bit too much -- but that's just because alan shearer had to do what hansen did best - plus I wondered about the relationship between shearer and gullit as they reputedly did not get on back in the late 90s when gullit took charge of newcastle.

To be honest Flinkster that sounds like good news -- your landlord Got Shit Done. It must've been frustrating not knowing it was going to be an all-day event though - you could've planned a day out to avoid being around all that!

Me and my lady don't use x's. I really, really, think they're overused and entirely meaningless in every which way. It's texts ending with c's that are a bad sign! Lazy fuckers.

A two-bed property within 2 miles of brighton centre is about 250-300k. 4 miles out it's 200k. Mortgages basically don't exist for first-time buyers! Everyone who wants a mortgage is moving 8 miles out so they can get a mortgage 150k or less, and these are 1-beds. No working class person buys a house down here without inheritance.

Ripley's odditorium is brilliant. So weird. Lots of cool stuff! Bit pricey for entry though.

I spent a year in an australian suburb - living with relatives so that was easy. There were a lot of ex-pats living in the area too - again met them through my family. Didn't really make any friends but wasn't bothered as it wasn't permanent. Lots of opportunity to do so though - went and met up with 60+ people one day and quite easily could've stayed in touch with many of them. I don't think it's too difficult to make new friends in a strange place, but it is easy to miss old friends from home!

Lol sorry dude! :P I think it's just a great feeling to know that the work you are doing means time well spent, and that you will be directly benefiting other people. Your working life has been an interesting one for a while -- you're in high demand and rightly so! You're clearly decent as fuck at your job - and I'm glad you're proud of your work too I've just been buzzing all day. It's ridic how much I like my job, and it seems that you don't mind yours either!

I'm sure nobody remembers, but back in february I raised a fairly serious complaint with a large bank about how they deal with letters of authority (which enable a third party to act on behalf of a mutual customer); how they are phrasing their letters to customers when talking about us; the information they provide when we issue a Subject Access Request; the period of time they construe 'authority' lasts.. etc. Well it turns out my letter sparked a massive project in-house at this bank and they are now changing the way they process SARs and how they decide whether an LOA is valid or not, and how they relate with third parties. I've literally single-handedly done something massive through well-chosen words and veiled threats. For our company it should mean a small increase in income and also a small decrease in wasted time! This was told to me by the head of their PPI complaints team... which is awesome! AND I had an 11-month battle come to an end with another bank, during which time I had to raise a complaint with the Information Comissioner's Office (which was fun and novel!) and got a call from their head of SARs apologising. It's just been fantastic to have the resolution to two big investments that have taken me nearly a year in one case and nearly 6 months in another instance. Definite CV boosters. This whole 'promotion' is still unconfirmed and unspecified. I know there's been a new shift plan arranged for august, which the rest of the team doesn't know about, so we'll surely have a meeting at the end of this month to discuss this. If there is no mention of any kind of promotion, or promise of additional responsibility... then I need to consider things once more. I want more money! I deserve more money!

As goafer said, there are external factors to all of our lives not present in the posts we make, and these factors can affect how we both read and post on these forums. I do not think you should be happy with that amount of progress in three years (or nine, if you count the full run-down of events), and I think that the non-positive wall of posts exists because other ways of trying to get through to you do not work. Ultimately many of us are faced with having to deal with huge personal shit. The sort of shit that we can't do alone. People need the help and support to make the steps towards change, however they can only made the decision to make the step themselves. It is impossible to do it alone, but only you alone can do it. My last bit of advice; don't make excuses. Don't be defensive. Look inwards and... don't believe all that stigma that therapy carries. I believe everyone should 'do' therapy.

here's a post from over three years ago where Serebii first mentioned his dry spell and people started to try to help by giving genuine advice. In those three years since, I've spent a year abroad, broken up and dated another girl, broken up with her then dated the first girl again. I've got a job, got a place to live, got some new scars and new friends. And I long since stopped trying to help serebii. And kinda wish others would, too, because it clogs up this gossip-ful thread!

My recent work positives have taken a knock, from my perspective. First; taken on the training of the newb. During his interview stage I wasn't impressed but he was shot up here by management... Well after 2 weeks he's walked out. I've spent so much time prepping, writing up documents, setting up his workstation, training, guiding, teaching etc... far enough to say that I've spent a full week out of the last two dedicated to helping him in any way. And he's basically lied all the time. Office manager pulled him aside and he said "I can't be bothered" and "I have no interest in [this job]". And it pisses me off. During the interview stage I raised concerns but they were brushed aside... and they've come true. He's walked out and it makes me look bad. My colleagues say that they know it was nothing to do with my training, but the thing is I know that the next person promoted is being trained by someone else. They don't know this. So when the next person comes in and I'm not training them -- they'll see it as a sign; "jayseven's training is no good so we're getting someone else to do it". And the annoying thing is the next person is someone I thought would be totally awesome at the job... I've been promised the training role of the next person... and the work rotas have been changed so it's looking like the 'promotion' will occur at the start of august... however I've had no word about payrise, and I'm really starting to get paranoid that they're just unofficiallly promoting -- they may just shift more work onto me and my mate, without paying us any more. I've been sure to let my mate know that if this is the case i'll take teh job but I'll look elsewhere... I'm basically just preparing myself to face the facts that the project manager went off the hymn sheet by saying what he said to me 6 weeks ago. My gameplan has had to shift again... I may not be where I thought I was, and that's a bummer. If by september there's no recognition then I've got to start looking elsewhere. I'll chat with my bosses and explain the reasons why I feel I need more money -- but if they feel there is no job for me then I have to move. I am worth way more than I'm paid, I just made all the wrong choices this far. A very shit day, basically.