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Post by Animae on May 9, 2010 19:30:02 GMT
I do, thats for damn sure.
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Post by tangent on May 10, 2010 1:04:13 GMT
I use the shower to get up under the nail. Or a bar of soap (you press your nails into it).
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Post by Emily on May 12, 2010 20:28:20 GMT
Today I had a conversation with a certain someone who I asked to stop phoning me in their lunch break because I don't have time for chitchat. their reply was "but I thought you only work fridays and saturdays" ... ... SELF-EMPLOYED IS NOT THE SAME AS NOT WORKING.
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Post by stokerino on May 12, 2010 20:47:59 GMT
I kind of want to go "...yeah it is Em, you deadbeat slacker", but it's almost too easy.
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Post by Ally on May 12, 2010 22:16:51 GMT
You wouldn't say that if you were within shoe range.
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Post by stokerino on May 12, 2010 22:36:36 GMT
I probably would. These things are funnier in person.
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Post by Emily on May 13, 2010 9:06:05 GMT
I wouldn't if I were you, what with that and the children acting up, and the insomnia I spent most of yesterday as a seething ball of rage.
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Post by tangent on May 13, 2010 10:23:42 GMT
I thought your hair looked redder than usual. It went from ginger to flame. ^^;;
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Post by Ally on May 14, 2010 18:03:53 GMT
I had to be evil today and it made me sad Edit: It actually turned into a good situation, because I just found out I can let them off! So I've had some practice at being evil, which will be useful for the future, but I don't actually have to fulfil the evil of today, which is good because I don't think they really deserved it, it was just silly bureaucracy.
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Post by Emily on May 16, 2010 10:34:06 GMT
I had to be evil too. I had to SPEAK TO PARENTS ABOUT BEHAVIOUR... it was frightening and I felt bad for the kids.
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Post by Ally on May 16, 2010 13:47:25 GMT
Yeek, I hope none of them ended up ranting "My little angel would never do such a thing!" even though you know the little angel did just that... (I'm really glad my job forbids me to speak to the parents, so if an angry one does ring up to complain I can just say "I'm sorry, we can't give out any information on our students" over and over again until they hang up in disgust)
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Post by tangent on May 16, 2010 14:02:29 GMT
As for Hate? I fething HATE Boston Tolls. I swear, they mined the entire northern approach to Boston with tollbooths. The only way to avoid them is to get on I93 ten miles north of the tollbooths... and if you try for the most time-effective route? Zapped with $4 tolls. Bastards. They don't toll people LEAVING Boston.
What's even worse? My GPS led me to the tollbooth. Even though it is supposed to avoid tolls (and has it marked "No Tolls" on its little computer), suggesting the tollbooth opened up after the GSP map was built in. Or that the GPS company is in cahoots with the bastards in Massachusetts.
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Post by Emily on May 17, 2010 8:14:08 GMT
I don't mind tolls... but I suppose it depends how much change I have in my pocket.
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Post by tangent on May 18, 2010 12:30:08 GMT
It's a discriminatory toll. They took down all the tolls for South Boston, and for leaving Boston. But they punish people living North of Boston because we're near the New Hampshire border and have a tendency to buy stuff in NH rather than pay 6.25% sales tax while the Mass. legislature continues to squander and waste money rather than behave responsibly. Mos Eisley has nothing on the Mass. Legislature, most of whom are firmly focused on Boston and the Cape. (Western and Northern Mass. are used for money and then ignored in terms of legislature and the like. It's been that way for decades.)
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Post by Ally on May 19, 2010 17:02:08 GMT
Speaking of discrimination, I am LIVID about the proposed changes to the student loan system and increases to top-up fees, and the Russell Group's campaign to allow universities to set their own fee limits. Yes, universities are strapped for cash at the moment. Yes, the money needs to come from somewhere. But it should NOT come from people who don't have it! Higher education should not be available only to the rich - that's an idea that belongs in 1910, not 2010.
Tim, please tell me I've got the wrong end of the stick about this and it's all going to be fine...
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Post by stokerino on May 19, 2010 17:55:17 GMT
No, that's pretty much it. Welcome to a US-style system where tuition fees are typically in the region of $10,000 to $25,000 per year depending on where you go. This progression towards higher tuition fees underlines two things: a) The whole "getting more poorer kids to university" pledge that New Labour started (after they ended free tuition in the first place...) simply has further evidence to show how laughable it really is. This is on top of the stats released yesterday about how this really hasn't worked, and raising the fees will only of course make things worse. Student debt will become large enough to be nearly comparable to a mortgage...you know, for them to have instead of a real mortgage because none of them will be able to get into the ever-inflated housing market. b) Way in which the Baby-Boomer generation is screwing everyone else over #3: They had free university tuition. Now the youth of today are to be saddled with debt to protect their tax bills.
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Post by stokerino on May 19, 2010 18:21:13 GMT
Know how I made a post in the Love Thread about how much I like the World Cup 2010 mascot? Well, the mascots for the 2012 Olympics were just revealed. ...Brace yourselves. You wouldn't think it were possible to out-do the logo for sheer stupidity, but they found a way.
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Post by Ally on May 19, 2010 19:03:01 GMT
Oh dear God, it's like a toothpaste company teamed up with the people who made Tellytubbies and took over Doctor Who...
As for the fees: HOW can they not see how STUPID this is?! It's like when the company my dad used to work for went bankrupt, because their policy when they lost a client was to fire half the workforce and double their prices (I'm not exaggerating - plus, when they realised they couldn't do the work with so few engineers, they hired the ones they'd fired back as consultants - who are much, much more expensive than a salaried workforce). I know nothing about business or economy and even I could see how insane that was.
And this is a similar level of insane. "Let's help kids from poorer families get into university by RAISING TUITION FEES" - what the hell are they thinking?!
I am really, really angry about this. Hopefully the Lib Dems will manage to put the brakes on this somehow (although last I read, they don't get to vote no on this one, so how they'll fight it I don't know)
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Post by Emily on May 19, 2010 19:42:43 GMT
This whole 'lets get the poor into education' is so deeply deeply flawed.
They shut down most of the grammar schools- the only *free* way to help intelligent kids get ahead- don't say it isn't because no amount of pouring money into colleges and rubbish schools has really improved them- if you can have special schools for kids who need extra help or have disabilities, why on earth shouldn't there be schools specially for kids who can go further with their studies? I am so glad I had the chance to go to a grammar, it saved my miserable life... because after Ally left my school to go to Akeley I was indeed miserable. Then they scrapped student grants in order to bring in increasingly lucrative loan systems. I have just under 20,000 pounds worth of debt for the 3 years I spent learning my trade. What makes it worse is that people are always whining on about what a bunch of slackers we all are... wasting our free money and sleeping all day. Well it clearly *isn't* free money and I worked like a DOG.
Not everybody needs to have a degree, obviously, and I think the government should be expanding practical and trade apprenticeship courses if they wanted to get everyone working and doing their best- but if Unis want to cut costs I think there are a lot of *courses* that could do with being cut, rather than making everyone pay more. I'm not disincluding myself here- I would have far rather done a practical illustration and design apprenticeship where I could have earned my way into the skills I need rather than spending 3 years being academic about it- and I think a lot of art courses should be organised that way instead- but it was the only route open to me. Do you know you can do a BA in science fiction and anime? I love anime but I don't think I could come up with any kind of justification for a degree in it. what possible career path requires a BA in anime? Now that is a waste of money. /rant
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Post by stokerino on May 19, 2010 19:51:16 GMT
I do concur that all the attempted social engineering via university targets are just utter failure. Trying to get 50% of all kids to go to university doesn't improve social mobility; it just makes degrees worth less so that they get let down when they realise that the £15-20k debt they amassed doesn't give them as much of a leg-up as they thought. If I could find at least one example of social engineering from the last 20-odd years that actually succeeded in narrowing the wealth gap and/or improving social mobility then I would give it due credit...but I can't think of any.
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