chrismac – Full Member
If it’s doing the same job in the same company then I was advised not to go down to 4 days but go for 3.

That’s a good point. I’d rather apply for 3 days than 4 days.

Thanks for the positive stories, it’s made me feel a lot easier about the situation. My job can be quite demanding and the learning/re-training is constant so some of the nervousness is likely coming from me around keeping pace while reducing hours. I actually really like my job (the good bits anyway), but there’s more to life.

For those that have reduced hours, have you had to push back on being asked to work on days off or fit 5 days into 3/4? I’m open to being flexible but I can foresee this might happen with limited scope to take time back and I don’t get overtime.

Great memories. I spent a week there in either 94 or 95.

On a positive note, I think the barrier to entry has never been lower. When I started in IT I managed to scrounge some outdated CCNA material from a friend and studied that. Nowadays you can pick a subject to learn and between YouTube, Udemy, Pluralsight, ACloudGuru etc the learning resources are so easy to get to.

I do a fair bit of interviewing and one thing I’ve noticed is attention spans are dwindling and a lot of the younger folks struggle to maintain focus and learn in depth concepts. I would have no issues hiring an older candidate if that person brought a load of life/work experience and showed proof (portfolio, demo etc) that they were able to learn. It would be refreshing and make you stand out in a sea of grads.

Got the letter yesterday. I live in Perth and Kinross, but have been summoned to Dundee. I’m assuming it’s a bigger court than Perth. Lived here 7 years and this is the 3rd citation. Turned down the second as it was only a year after the first. Wife has had no summons in the same time, but she is a fifer so maybe makes sense

I’ve got Echos in the house and still use old Pure DAB radios in both garage and workshop. Dust, woodchip, paint, grease, oil have all been chucked on them. Wouldn’t want anything with fiddly buttons or screens. Big knob (ooh err!) to push and switch on and turn it to change station. In answer to the OP, I’ve never had an issue with the Pure DAB radios. Mine don’t have the bluetooth but i’m pretty sure they have models that do.

Great to hear it worked out and welcome! I’m a few miles up the road. Loads of great biking on the doorstep. You can even get your haircut in the back of a van at the outlet

Location is becoming less important for large companies hiring a lot of devs which then has a knock on impact on smaller companies in cities/towns outside London who used to rely on attracting folk on lower salaries with the benefit of lower cost of living.

I work for a large company as an architect, not a dev, but the hiring process was open to remote workers if we were struggling to find someone with the right skills close to an office (most large UK cities), however now location is not really a consideration as long as the person is legally allowed to work in the UK and has a stable broadband connection. I had a new boss start 7 months ago and no-one in the team has met him in person yet.

@dazh – In your location, with those skills, you’re competing against companies willing to pay 2-3 times that for a senior dev.

Just to add, that as @footflaps has said, money isn’t everything and I would much rather have a great work/life balance and enjoy the work I do rather than have a job I hate and be a slave to a higher wage. If you’re going to work for a lower than industry average salary there should be a good reason.

I had a pickup 10 years ago (Ranger) and was looking for another a couple of years ago. I drove most of them (L200, Hilux, Ranger, D-Max, Navara) and decided to go with the Navara NP300 due to a combination of fuel economy and handling which was better than the rest due to the combination of coil and leaf. I wanted VFM, so specifically looked for non mega jizzbuster fantoosh models and went for a no frills Accenta with cloth interior and basic stereo. Ex privately owned, factory fitted canopy, Euro5 engine (no adblue). VAT already paid, and only 20k on the clock. Chucked some heavy duty seat covers in and it’s been grand. 5 year warranty. I bought it at 3 years old (£14k no VAT), main dealer trade in and haven’t had any issues. Pickups are definitely a compromise, but it suits me. Chuck whatever smelly pile of, sometimes literally, crap in the back then hose it down.

Perhaps thats because they used to be charged to cross the bridge into Fife when it was free to cross from Fife into Dundee

My Dundonian mate living in Fife used to say “best 50p I ever spent!” 😃

I’ve never lived in Dundee but grew up just up the road and visit regularly. There’s definitely been a huge change to the city in the last 10 years. Great walks along the riverside, nice pubs and restaurants. Harbourside has changed massively. Agree with the comments on looking at the Ferry or west side of the City. I would also look over the Tay in places like Tayport, Wormit, Newport-on-Tay

Had mortgages on three houses. Not got any plans to move soon and fortunate that we can save some money every month to over pay the mortgage. Hopefully it will be gone in the next 3-4 years. Would love to move further north to Speyside and work part time.

Small world. That’s my old house, sold it about 8 years ago and i think it’s had a couple of owners since then. The views from the top of the decking are cracking as you’ll know. It was a really nice house and neighbourhood. Enjoy your new home!

EDIT – if the small pond is still there then enjoy the neighbours knocking on the door returning buckets of frogs that are roaming the area.

Work for a large cloudy computing company. I work from home anyway and cover EMEA, so main thing is that i’ve binned all travel. Work is busier than ever due to helping organisations rapidly expand their IT infrastructure to cope with demand. I work in public sector so it’s very real working with staff who are under huge pressure and putting in long hours to help the public.

No idea how i’m doing this week. I’ve been out for a few runs, but also spent 5 nights in a hotel with free food and drink. Travelling for the next 36 hours so will have to do weigh in on Sunday

It depends on who the exam benefits. If it’s work related and benefits the company then they should cover the cost of the exam, time off to sit it and any expenses. If it’s only to further your own agenda then that might be different.

Finally converted the bomb shelter

Not sure i’d trust that to save me from a bomb. Stiff breeze maybe……. ;-)

I did something similar a couple of years ago, albeit before my daughter was born and only took three months off. I quit my job, handed in my notice (3 months) and left in September. Started a new job in the January. Some things I found:

The first few weeks were great, but then I started to look at new jobs and was soon applying on the basis that it can take a while (months) to go through the recruitment process for a lot of companies. This meant that I was fairly regularly checking online job boards, replying to emails and then preparing for interviews which all detracted from the nice time off I was supposed to be having. It can start to get like squeaky bum time and it’s difficult to turn concrete job offers down if they are not 100% right fit when you don’t know when the next offer is going to come

Although I had savings and could have stayed off work for about six months, any new job I started would then have to wait a while for the first pay.

At the time of year you are looking at, most companies in my industry (IT) shut down recruitment in the lead up to the holidays and don’t start again till mid January. I’m lucky enough to work in an area in demand, but regardless there was definitely a downturn in available jobs from mid November onwards.

It’s important to track the conversations you have with the agency. Keep a solid log

scuttler

Member
I have an Orange Clockwork 129 which might fit the bill but would be tempted by a steel or Ti equivalent for all day and bikepacking.

Cheers, I have looked at the Sonder Signal. Will take another look.

jonnytheleyther

Member
My Cotic soul will be up for sale in next few days as I’ve gone back to full sus. Amazing spec too.

If it’s a large send me the details

LittleNose

Subscriber
MrGrim – Rutland currently have a sale on 2018 model

Thanks will take a look

steveh

Subscriber
my cotic bfe is an amazing all rounder.

I just sold my BFe. It was great going down, but struggled to climb.

as Weeksy says… suggest checking out a 905 – I think there’s some on discount just now too

Any idea where the discounts are? Most i’ve seen are around £1600.

Thanks for the replies so far. I’ve sent Bird an email to get some advice on Zero AM vs TR

I want something I can chuck down rocky technical trails but will also be comfortable for 60 mile day. Doesn’t need rack mounts, but does need to be comfy with luggage strapped.

27.5 or 29er. Geometry for a 130mm-140mm fork would be good.

All of them, none of them, any of them

You say that but so far most i’ve looked at are either racing snakes or hardcore hardtails which weigh a ton

Walk away with the smug satisfaction that you definitely made the right decision to leave and that you wouldn’t have wanted to continue working for someone that treats their staff that way.

Baby due any day now so working from home more than usual waiting for it all to kick off. Two weeks paternity leave and some holidays so mainly focusing on writing a handover for my colleagues as I’ll hopefully not be back till early June.

Definitely got the same come down after a weekend out walking, biking, and sitting in the sun

I’ve worked as an IT contractor in several banks in across the UK. Definitely normal culture to head out for a few pints at lunchtime, especially on a Friday, then back in the Pub at 4pm. It was mostly the old guard though and not younger (<40’s) generation. In my experience, it’s definitely magnified in London.

Dalgety Bay to Aberdour goes through a section of trails and woods. It doesn’t turn to all tarmac until the path from St Bridgets Kirk to Aberdour. From Aberdour to Burntisland it’s mostly hard packed trails with little tarmac until you reach Burntisland itself.

It might be worth looking at cars that have a longer warranty than the standard 3 years. After much deliberation I bought a new (to me) truck last night. It’s coming up for 3 years old but 2 years of the 5 year 100k warranty remaining. It’s depreciated by about £13k on the list price from new. Buying something that’s taken the depreciation hit, but still has some warranty might be the best of both worlds. That’s if, like me, you don’t care about having a shiny new car etc.

I don’t think you’re mad. I had a 2011 Giulietta a few years ago. It was the 2.0 JTDM-2 and it was great. Handling was brilliant, fuel economy was good and stayed pretty consistent however I drove it. Downsides were that the usual Alfa poor quality interior bugs came out later on when the dash had a bit of a rattle. Also, the tracking was a pig to sort and I had to get 4 wheel tracking and alignment done. According to the guy who did it, many arrive brand new needing sorted. Overall it was a brilliant car, but definitely a decision of the heart and not head. I lost quite a bit selling it on due to the depreciation, but I would have another. However, I had a Mito as a courtesy car when the Giulietta was getting serviced. It was a horrible thing to drive.

Whereabouts in Perthshire?

Slight thread hijack. Any experience of how the XC60’s and 90’s compare to the estates? I’ve been looking at replacing my well loved and used Freelander2 with something newer for work and play. I’ve looked at the later FL2’s (2014) and the Outlander (Diesel not PHEV). I did start to look at the XC70’s but there are not many around and the SUV style seem to have taken over. Ideally looking for 4×4, durable, fairly economical.

Docrobster – Sounds a lot like mine

Sorry to hear about Nelson.

The problem (or good thing) about Lurchers is that there are so many different mixes and varieties that it depends on the individual dog.

I’ve got an 11 year old Beddy x Greyhound that likes a lot of exercise and also is quite happy snoozing away.She’s also very happy left at home to the point where sometimes you feel like you’re interrupting her snoozing when you come home. A Greyhound or a Lurcher without the terrier mix might not be as energetic

Sorry to hear you didn’t pass. It is what it is. You just have to take the feedback into consideration and get it re-booked. It doesn’t matter how anyone else rode that day. Just concentrate on the next test. It sounds like you are ready and on a different day you would have passed.

I’ve been using Daysoft for the last 10 years. No idea how they compare to the current other brands, but not had any issues.

I sold a motorbike a few weeks ago and the number of time wasters was crazy. There must be some folk who’s hobby it is just to text people selling stuff and place stupid offers or arrange to view then never turn up.

Don’t text or email. If you’re keen then pick up the phone and talk to the seller. They are more likely to take you seriously. I know it’s a generational thing, but I just feel it’s easier to muck someone about when you’re not actually talking to them.

You could try IPF up at Whitehill. I’ve never used them, but a friend recommended last time I was looking for similar.

http://ipf-powdercoaters.co.uk/home/3730271

I’ve used Morrisons in Stirling for Land Rover. If the folks at the SEAT place provide the same service then I’d definitely recommend.

I’d stay clear of Fife SEAT in Glenrothes. Their customer service was shocking.

Thanks for the offer, that’s really generous of you. I’ve booked a campsite in Skye for the night before the Uig ferry and thinking about it more and more I think my original route would have been too rushed especially hitting Ullapool and then trying to make it to Inverness and get a bike space on the train back down. It’ll turn a trip of just stopping when I want and making the most of the scenery into trying to hit a timetable.

What are your plans in Benderloch? Hope the weather is kind to all of us!

with that timescale I’d maybe consider a loop from Uig. Out to Lochmaddy. A couple of days in the Uists, ferry to Leverburgh and a couple of days in Harris before the ferry back to Uig. I prefer the West coast of Harris but you’d have time to ride both.

Thanks for this. I’ve decided to head on the Sunday night and camp at Broadford before catching the early(ish) ferry from Uig to Lochmaddy and go from there. I’ve added the Balranald site to the list. Hopefully the weather is kind!

It just adds to all the other chain outdoor shops in Aviemore for me. If it means more employment opportunities then I see it as a good thing. I think that the local bike shops will still get the business of mountain bikers, but I can see Alpine Bikes grabbing a chunk of the rental market for visitors who just want to hire a bike and head to Rothiemurchus for a couple of hours which is a shame.

Unrelated – I noticed that the folks at Silverglades are retiring and selling off all their bungalows after October.