New job, new beginnings.

patman99

Had a good weekend so far.
1. Thanks to my mate, I have discovered 'Showbox' which is similar to 'netflix' and runs on Android. Thanks to an emulator called 'Bluestacks' I now have 'Showbox' running on my PC.

2. Made £100 selling my old PC & monitor to a mate.

3. Watched 2 movies via showbox so far, with 2 more to watch later in the week.

4. Earned myself 2 bottles of fruit cider by resetting the passwords on a workmate's PC after he locked himself out.

patman99

Writing this update whilst waiting for 'portable apps' to update.
Have another computer repair to do on Saturday. This is for a proffoundly deaf fellow member of my local camera club.

I had no idea it was him though as he uses a textphone and the conversation was routed via a text relay service. It was the first time I had come across such a service and will keep the number in my phone so that if I need to make contact with someone who only has a textphone, then I can at least get a message across.

Finally getting used to Windows 8.1 but am not happy that when the 8.1 update installed, it removed any means of making a set of back-up media in case Windows (or the HDD) fails.
My PC did not come with a Windows key, but I have managed to recover it using Belarc Advisor. Having done this, I have discovered that Microsoft's official guide to creating a Windows 8.1 full install DVD using your Windows 8 activation key doesn't work for me as I don't have a retail version.

A quick search of the HP forum threw-up a link to their RTM build ('Release To Manufacture' in case you were wondering) iso image.
All I need now is a PC to try it out on.

patman99

Been a busy boy.

Managed to remember to purchase some threadlock to stop the screw that holds my front door lock together from keeping working loose.
Also fixed my phone case.

That just leaves trying to work-out what the heck is wrong electrically with my car. The horn works (sometimes) as does the centre display. It is an earth problem, so will require a good day to find and fix.

patman99

Spent this evening updating YNAB and have taken time to actually calculate how much goes out of my over-drawn account each month.

I have now set up a standing order on the account my wages get paid into (separate bank to over-drawn acc.) to transfer a set amount across each Friday from my wages.

I can then top this up as required depending on the bills I have to pay.

Was having trouble with flushing the toilet today (well, to be honest, over the last week or so) so investigated the issue to see which part needed replacing (the one advantage of having the cistern converted to a 'Fluidmaster' eco-flush a few yaers back. As you can replace the individual parts rather than the whole mechanism).

Lifted the lid and decided to start with the lever that is linked to the chain that lifts the stopper from the hole and lets the water out. The chain promptly broke, so now I know why it was a sod to flush.
Simple fix in the end using a cable tie and a quick adjustment of the chain at the rod end and not works as it should. Well pleased with my handy-work.

Jobs for the week -

1. Phone Council to find out why I'm still getting Council Tax Subsidy despite being back in work 6 weeks.
2. Have a look at central display in car as it has stopped working.
3. Get my parents edging iron welded back together (I really do not know my own strength).
4. Finish edging my parents lawn (without busting the edging iron again).
5. Borrow my dad's sash clamp to force my front door back together again.
6. Have a nice cool cider and relax.

patman99

patman99 wrote: »

1. Phone Council to find out why I'm still getting Council Tax Subsidy despite being back in work 6 weeks.
[STRIKE]2. Have a look at central display in car as it has stopped working.[/STRIKE] - Now appears to be working.
[STRIKE]3. Get my parents edging iron welded back together (I really do not know my own strength).[/STRIKE] Done.
4. Finish edging my parents lawn (without busting the edging iron again).
5. Borrow my dad's sash clamp to force my front door back together again.
6. Have a nice cool cider and relax.

Ended the week with a stinker of a cold, so have not been to my parents to finish edging the lawn.

Have had to replace the insides of my loo. Took 3 hours of swearing and cursing to finally get it all water-tight and back in use.

patman99

Can't believe it. As of now, I have completed 11 full weeks in my current job.

Also, thanks to another MSEer I have discovered nectarads. Have now watched every available advert.

patman99

Clocked up 200 Nectar points just by watching adverts. Thats around £2 of spending power.

patman99

Nectaradpoints seems to have dried-up. Only 60 points this week.

On the plus side, I did match 2 balls on the Euro-millions, so that's £3.19 to claim.

Listerning to the Bernie Kieth show on the radio. Never before have I heard a rock'n'roll rendition of OMD's 'Enola Gay' until tonight. Very strange.

patman99

Started a new challenge thread in order to inspire me to save an emergency fund of £1,000. Already got it it to 2.69% of target.

Been working hard to prove I'm worth a permanent contract, but still no luck there. So now looking elsewhere.

Nectar ad points are drying-up. Having earned 162 points in week one, the weekly tally has dropped to just 28 this week.

patman99

Well, having had a discussion with my manager I now know that there is no chance of a permanent contract due to the cost of paying the Agency their finders fee.

The tight gits won't even sanction overtime (which is a breach of the AWR(2011)). Now looking for a permanent role elsewhere.