I’ve been watching Ghost Town Living for a few years. It’s essentially the video diary of a guy who bought the uninhabited mining town of Cerro Gorda in the Inyo Mountains in California. You see him learn to live up in the mountains in a desolate part of California as he had to move there during the Covid lockdown.

Videos cover the history and significance of Cerro Gordo, increasingly ambitious construction projects as he maintains and renovates the town, and exploration videos of the miles of mines underneath the town.

It doesn’t sound that exciting on the face of it, but you’ll find yourself gripped and absolutely rooting for him.

It’s not a great look to lose your B-Corp status:

Thanks guys. I’ve sent Calibre a message.

That’s what I did thecadian.

I don’t imagine everyone is waiting for an update, but the answer is that I’m fine. It’s standard policy to scare people like this:

“That’s okay- you do not need to worry as we send standard letter to our customer that was not issue a tax return notice at start of the year- we have your tax return for 21/22 on time and no charges”

It’s mad isn’t it? Can you imagine any private sector company having its helpline down from (I believe) June until September? The issues I’m having with self assessment are bad, but the nightmare I’m having with child tax services is even worse.

Being a grown up is rubbish!

I panicked that I might not have submitted it then, but have the email confirmation. Thanks @nickjb

Just done that now – thanks for your reply. Fingers crossed they sort it quickly and don’t tell me it’s my fault and keep adding the daily fines!

Ok, discussed with my family

I’ve decided I need to leave. The stress of staying is (I guess) worse than the stress of looking for a job at my leisure .

Being kind and giving 2 months notice would make it more difficult for me to get a job in the short term.

I’m going to offer to work 6 weeks with the acceptance I’m looking for a job in that time.

I know it’s right but handing in my notice with no job to go to feels very unnatural!

geetee1972 – that’s probably the best summary of the situation and you’re right that looking at it like that makes it clearer.

I really appreciate all of the advice.

is your boss fit? Need to know this kind of information.

Nope, not at all.

I’m thinking of handing my notice in with 2 months notice and looking for a new job to start from when I get back from my honeymoon.

I think you are in a better bargaining position than you think.

I suppose this is the nub. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to be. I want to be allowed to look for a new job, but to agree to let this happen on the best possible terms.

I have a strong position in that although she can get rid of me in 1 week, I can do the same putting them in a bad position. I don’t really want to have to do this though – I don’t want to get a bad name, or for her to have cause to give me a bad reference.

Ideally, I need to agree to something that lets me look for a new job, but that protects me in the short term. She wants to put a time limit on it so she can recruit to replace me. I think this is fair really.

Additionally, I’m getting married on 9th August and am away for 2 weeks from 16th – 30th Aug. We can get by on my wife’s wage alone and have some savings, so I’m almost tempted to agree to leave as I get married, try to line something up before then or just look in earnest once I’m back from my honeymoon.

Why not just take a day’s leave?

She has to sign off leave and can refuse. If I asked for a day off and she declined then I ‘d have to call in sick which looks even worse than a transparent lie about why I’ll not be in on Wednesday morning.

Why did you tell her you were at an interview?

She asked me directly and I didn’t want to lie. Perhaps I’m wet behind the ears. I’ll still need a reference from her if I leave.

I’m in advertising. We’re very busy at the moment so they couldn’t cope with the workload if I were to leave. Also, when people leave you tend to need a handover period to bring someone up to speed on your projects.

Additionally, it would look bad to our clients if I left, having been here a relatively short time. She’d also be reluctant to let me kick off new projects if she thought I was going to leave in the short term.

She needs me to be here, and to be able to trust me.

I need to not be sacked in the short term, but still to have the ability to look for a new job.

Why would you do that?

I don’t want to force her hand and make her get rid of me with the 1 week’s notice my probation period dictates, but I also don’t want to tell her I’ll stop looking, because I want to go.

It’s a small firm – 12 people – and my boss is the owner which makes the politics even more intense.

“Speak softly, and carry a big stick”
Theodore Roosevelt

I went a few times growing up and we’ve been to Paris three times as a couple.

We went last year with my family (Mum and husband, sister and BIL) and had a great time.

We’ve booked to go in August this year as our Honeymoon. We’ll stay the first 3 nights in the Hyatt Grand Regency as it’s reasonably luxurious, has balconies and is next to Downtown Disney for good food etc.

From there we’re staying at Disney’s All Star Music resort for 7 nights so we can take advantage of the benefits of staying on property (book dining 180 days in advance, free transportation etc).

Finally, for our last four nights we’re going to the Hard Rock hotel which I’m really looking forward to.

Thanks everyone. Perfectly happy to rev the nuts off it – it seemed happy doing that.

Obviously I’m comparing two totally different engines but I just wondered if there was a quick improvement to be made.

Make “vroom vroom” noises as you press the accelerator. That will help a lot.

Definitely trying that too.

Someone else has just given me even more money out of nowhere. I’ve got about $250mil now.

I’ve spent a bit but am fully expecting it to be taken off me at some point. Got a lovely apartment with a 10 car garage and a collection of nice cars.

Hopefully, as I didn’t request it or agree to it, I’ve not really done anything wrong.

Was just playing online (only level 6). A user called who_wants_money just gave me $69mil. Is this normal?

Captain Slow – that’s the one.

I liked it well enough. I’m really not that good on the guitar, very much a learner.

Most of my playing will be playing along with the chords to a song, picking out solos by copying tab I find online, trying to learn a bit of technique. I’ve no desire to ever play for anyone other than myself.

I suppose I’m after something that’s not going to be difficult to play, but where if I decide I shouldn’t have bothered this time next year, I’ll still be able to sell it and get most of my money back, like this one here:

Gibson SG

I’m in Manchester, not keen on the Strat shape (sorry), and am fully aware that this level of guitar is overkill for what I need!

Cheers Stoner – really helpful.

Ask them to create a competitor analysis, and keep adding competitors to it.

I might have found the answer myself:

Do they do them in pink?

OK, tyre repair kit’s a good one. Any more?

Leicester tells you that you are killing Jay Norris so he can make money buying shares when they bomb. I think you are supposed to sink as much as you can into Lifeinvader shares.

Yes, but after they’ve dropped.

I waited for the missions with Franklin and Lester – you make a killing on shares for Debonair Cigarettes and a pharmaceutical company. Make sure you switch to Michael and Trevor to get them to do the same though.

I’m really warming to Trevor. Sure, he’s a psychopath but he’s the most fun. I switched to him last night and he was chasing strippers out of the club in his pants.

My RM Blizzard.

I love it, and it’s perfect for the riding I do.

But if someone offered me £800 I’d gladly take it.

Ours is an 1890 mid terrace.

No deaths confirmed, but when we moved in a few things went missing. Specifically a couple of small kitchen knives.

My girlfriend decided it’s a ghost, I suggested it was more likely that we used the knives to open boxes etc and accidentally threw them away.

I read somewhere that iheartradio is owned by clearchannel, so you’re right that it’s advertising that causes the issue.

I just wondered whether there’s a way to create a link or something that fools it into thinking I’m using an American isp.

All sounds good then.

+1 for checking the DPF – might get it removed and have a remap at the same time.

I’ve got a 1.9 tdi Fabia atm and the engine’s been mostly fin – it’s more the suspension that’s showing its age.

Our local chippy has got 3 stars. I felt a little uneasy (if I told ‘er indoors she’d insist we move).

They’ve since taken the sticker down and I feel much better about it.

Regrettably, I didn’t bet on the horse.

Mmm, with £550 I could buy many Caramacs, and a Scotch Egg, and maybe a small pack of Sushi

open msconfig and stop some programmes opening on startup.

Hmm, I do work at an ad agency, so I’m surprised I didn’t think of the coke myself…

RC heli – already have a Chinook type one.

Could be legit – the reg plate checker on confused.com says it’s SEL.

I’ve emailed them for a viewing and a snoop on Saturday.

I saw that, but it’s only 1 review so not particularly representative. If there were 10 reviews all like that I’d steer clear. Just wondered if anyone had had an average experience and hadn’t been moved to comment online?

Great, thanks.

Is ‘blow moulded watercraft’ a euphemism too?

Thanks stw. You never let me down

We stayed in a basic room atthe GJS and found it a little cramped, but the facilities make up for it. I imagine this would be much better with a bigger room.

Raddison is great and has a nice (but very expensive) bar.

If you can stretch to a suite the Malmaison is nice although not particularly central.

Value wise the Macdonald is great but, as above, not central and not boutique.

That’s it!

Thanks!

Story is…

No profession can have that many members with so few who need to be sacked.

The training for, say, GPs is more strict than that for teachers and more are ‘struck off’ despite there being a similar number of each (according to google).

Sacking doesn’t just need to be for gross misconduct, it can be for failing to work to the expected standards. Although remedial training is used, there is less of a link between job safety and competence than in other professions.

My fiance is a Primary School teacher, and I know that there is an acceptance that some teachers aren’t that good. The training does little to remedy this, yet they simply don’t progress rather than being sacked.

I can’t speak for Secondary teachers (and I suppose am not in an position to talk with authority on Primary teachers, just offering my opinion) but there are some who enter the profession to be educators, and are a credit to their schools, whilst others see it as an extension of childminding and shouldn’t be left to teach and inspire a love of learning in our kids.