Nice people thread part 5 - nicely does it

lostinrates

We have settled, we settled for a nominal cash amount (really doesn't cover the costs of persuing, but that wasn't ever really the point) and an apology. The apology cost us some money but means any other person in the same property has the written acceptance registered that there is a problem there that may not have been resolved. That was a huge part of it for us, supporting the oppressed tenant. He also asked his lawyer to ask dh if we wanted to buy the house, rofl.

He has 27 days to settle, and if not, we all go back ti the funfair of the italian justice system

vivatifosi

lostinrates wrote: »

I had thought of the local primary school, but then thought childless woman offering to help with reading stories or something might be seen as someone looking to pick one to nick:eek::D

A lot of volunteers with children are childless women because the women with kids are too busy to volunteer because they are stuck at home with said kids... It isn't just schools you can volunteer with, libraries as mentioned earlier, plus children's centres will also ask for volunteers, however you would be asked for a CRB check in order to work with children.

Another good option is to act as a trustee. Many charities find it extremely hard getting trustees, there are a lot of responsibilities involved, however you could use your business running skills and possibly also tap into fir's legal skills.

Not sure if anyone's posted a link to Volunteering England, but that would be the best place to check opportunities.
http://www.volunteering.org.uk/

lemonjelly

vivatifosi wrote: »

A lot of volunteers with children are childless women because the women with kids are too busy to volunteer because they are stuck at home with said kids... It isn't just schools you can volunteer with, libraries as mentioned earlier, plus children's centres will also ask for volunteers, however you would be asked for a CRB check in order to work with children.

Another good option is to act as a trustee. Many charities find it extremely hard getting trustees, there are a lot of responsibilities involved, however you could use your business running skills and possibly also tap into fir's legal skills.

Not sure if anyone's posted a link to Volunteering England, but that would be the best place to check opportunities.
http://www.volunteering.org.uk/

Excellent post & suggestions Viva!:T

Particularly liked the bit in bold.

Nikkster

PasturesNew wrote: »

What does this mean?

Thanks for asking that - I was wondering too!

misskool

vivatifosi wrote: »

I saw Adam Lambert last year at the Shepherds Bush Empire. He is a phenomenal singer - almost, though not quite - in the Steven Tyler/Freddie Mercury league. He has great power in his voice and truly outstanding range. However until now I think he has suffered from weak material. Seeing him let loose on the Queen songbook with the surviving band members will be quite a treat, I hope.

On a totally different level, I've also got tickets to see this:
http://swingoutsister.com/shows/swing-out-sister-big-band
Swing Out Sister is a fantastic band to see live. They are technically very good and I love the way they chuck in bits of Lonnie Liston Smith, Ramsay Lewis, Earth Wind and Fire and all sorts of other acts into their set. When you see them, it's a real treat for anyone who likes that type of music as they'll be playing and you'll get a riff from Sun Goddess or a bit of Roy Ayres and you get an "oh yeah, I remember that smile" before they move back to the song. I'm an ageing soul girl, so it's right up my street.

If I haven't recommended yet, try to find time to go to great escape in Brighton. It's an urban festival of up and coming artists and it's great to see people being enthusiastic and working their way up the music ladder

Nikkster

misskool wrote: »

meh. you have achieved what you should have achieved

No need to compare yourself, I've always found it too depressing and really not very useful as your own life is yours.

and i'm older than you without any children. Planning is also impossible as I'm only employed until Dec 2013.

Thats one of the things that really bugs me about working in (mainly academic) science - I know 'jobs for life' aren't really available anywhere, but in science its definitely just short or medium term contracts. Anything over 3 years is pretty impressive. Had this discussion with my supervisor ages ago, and he said he'd never found it a problem in terms of getting a mortgage, having kids etc, but for me personally I think its would always be at the back of my mind that the end of the contract was looming.

Nikkster

chewmylegoff wrote: »

My 30s so far have been much better than any point in my 20s. I didn't particularly enjoy turning 30, but you get over that in about a day...

Once you hit 30 it is acceptable to start acting like a grumpy old git, which is why I am enjoying it more. Also around 30 is the point where, as a professional anyway, you start earning enough money to not have to worry about anything. I wouldn't want to spoil that by throwing some children into the mix at the moment, they can wait until I'm 50 or something.

Excellent - I'm pretty good at being a grumpy git so I should have a head start on that one. Have taken a bit of step backwards regarding the earning side of things, but then I have also knocked most of my outgoings on the head too so its not all bad!

misskool

Nikkster wrote: »

Thats one of the things that really bugs me about working in (mainly academic) science - I know 'jobs for life' aren't really available anywhere, but in science its definitely just short or medium term contracts. Anything over 3 years is pretty impressive. Had this discussion with my supervisor ages ago, and he said he'd never found it a problem in terms of getting a mortgage, having kids etc, but for me personally I think its would always be at the back of my mind that the end of the contract was looming.

There are lots of good and bad things about being in fixed term contracts. I can see why it's good to have because you push yourself like no other, having security means you may not be performing at your best.

Also, you need to be at the top of your gain to progress and gain more knowledge and you can't afford dead wood around so again, that is a way of trimming it.

There are the obviously bad vibes, women who want children but have to time their pregnancies with great precision, work hours that are absolutely not family friendly and stresses which are best left unsaid.

I don't think it will change (not in this life time and certainly not in the next with the way the budgets are working) so it's working your way around it or choosing very positively jobs outside of academia where your skills will excel.

(more later, I have some experiments to run and MUST stop procrastinating)

Nikkster

sss555s wrote: »

30 isn't a great age in my book but 40ish onwards is.

30 just seems to be the time when you feel you haven't done enough and things are creeping up on you. This is just a normal feeling and by the time your nearer 40 you will have a better feeling about everything.

:beer:

I think thats exactly it - feel I should have got further with everything. I guess making some rather large life changes in the past month doesn't really help that. I'll get over it - it could all certainly be a lot worse!

Nikkster

lemonjelly wrote: »

So NP's, do we give suggestions? How about:
http://www.svr.co.uk/

Day out on a steam train, shopping & lunching with mum &/or friends?

Thanks lj - feeling much better about it all today. I generally am a 'my birthday is just another day' kind of a person too.

Steam train not my kind of thing, and I don't have any friends around here any more. I think thats one of the things that is playing on my mind too - I'm terrible at keeping in touch with people and have lost contact with the majority of people who used to be friends. I have a habit of thinking that if they wanted to keep in touch they would so I won't bother them, then time passes etc etc...

I think my bro is going to head back up on the Saturday and weather permitting (ie so long as its not raining really heavily) we might have a bbq or something. That'll be just fine