Nice People Thread Part 9 - and so it continues

SingleSue

PasturesNew wrote: »

I found at O level you had to choose - and you couldn't choose what you wanted to do, but what was available.

Firstly, a school doesn't have every subject, so that restricts what might be available at O level.

We were given a grid and told to choose one subject from each row. Not all subjects were on every row. So, you might be wanting to study A, B and C but find there was A-or-B on the first row, B-or-C on the second row, but if you chose A on the first and B on the second C wasn't repeated anywhere else.

Then, when you got to the classes you might get kicked out. I got kicked out of two:

- Needlework: chosen as I'd run out of subjects I liked, so chose it. Kicked out as I'd never done it before, so lasted one term and was kicked out for knowing nothing when others had done 1-3 years of it already..

- English: chosen as it's a staple. Kicked out as the teacher hated me and refused to teach me. I was then put into a CSE class, where I got straight As, so was then moved again to an O level class with another teacher.

There were also not enough O levels to choose from, so I had to choose CSE for Typing/Office Practice as no O level existed.

Then there was Art - there was a good teacher and a bad teacher. Everybody wanted the good teacher, but a teacher stood up in the middle of the first class and said "everybody to the left of my arm go with Mr ...." - and I ended up with the bad teacher, who didn't teach and rarely came out of his cupboard. So we just cut out magazines and made mosaics and did no actual Art. So, that meant submitting a portfolio of old rubbish for a CSE. I would have been good at Art if I'd been standing the other end of the room and got the good teacher.

That was my problem, I was good (really good, an A student) in physics but you could only do Biology and Chemistry or Chemistry and Physics...and I needed biology for my career choice. So I had to do the Biology/chemistry choice despite being absolutely useless at chemistry, by some fluke, I managed to get an 'O' level in it by dint of messing about with a revision book just prior to the exam and a (sadly no longer working), photographic memory for written stuff.

Could tell you begger all about chemistry now but it does look good on the old CV.

Edit - Office practice (RSA though, not CSE), that was my back up qualification if everything went wrong (which it did). Got the equivalent of an A in it and it stood me in good stead. I got my 'in' and my start in a corporate office setting because of it!

SingleSue

michaels wrote: »

There is some theory that you can get from any person on earth to any other using 7 'links' of people who know each other.

I was thinking that there 4 nice people who I am within 2 links of (ie we have an aquaintance in common) or 3 links (me - aquaintance - aquaintance - nice person). I suspect this probably proves that NP are not randomly selected from the population of the UK.

Any other NPs think they are only a few degrees from other NP?

My 4 are Lydia, NDG (and NDB), Viva and Spirit.

Edit: If anyone thinks this is too close to being personaly identifying please let me know and I can remove the names of the innocent.

I'm not sure I would have any links to any of the NP, no matter how far along we look!

neverdespairgirl

lostinrates wrote: »

I put them in different, named envelopes.

You are much more organised than I am - thank you.

lostinrates wrote: »

Kids wrote off a car outside our house last night. Luckily no one was hurt. Did rather interrupt our evening.

Not your car, I hope?

misskool wrote: »

Excellent programme, well researched, a bit oddly presented but full of enthusiastic people. They also produce a bit of you can do this at home too (some of them quite good). extracting your own dna (or perhaps some onions) using vodka and washing up liquid. (if you can't find it and would like to do it, ask me and I'll pm it, we do it a lot for littlies)

Please do - Isaac adores the programme, and watches it as often as he can. I hoped it wasn't filling his head with rubbish, and I'm glad to hear it's not.

lemonjelly

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I promise being without windows is worse. In the winter, it's a nice sunny day outside but you don't even get to see it! Courts very rarely have windows, and it's disconcerting when you actually miss daylight for the entire day in December.
.

Absolutely. I used to work in a no office window. It is borderline hell on earth to arrive at work in the dark, then leave in the dark too.
Far too easy to spend a day without seeing sunlight.
Horrible.

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I love that series in the BBC Magazine, all sorts of interesting stuff.

Have any of your clever scientific NP come across the BBC programme called Science Club, hosted by Dara O Breen? Is it reasonably kosher, solid information, or random and not terribly trustworthy?

Dara O'Briain (I must be very brave, that's the 2nd time I've had the nerve to attempt to correct NDG!:eek:)

Dara is big on his science, & married to a doctor. He's an immensely clever man (as well as hilarious as a stand up).

michaels wrote: »

There is some theory that you can get from any person on earth to any other using 7 'links' of people who know each other.

I was thinking that there 4 nice people who I am within 2 links of (ie we have an aquaintance in common) or 3 links (me - aquaintance - aquaintance - nice person). I suspect this probably proves that NP are not randomly selected from the population of the UK.

Any other NPs think they are only a few degrees from other NP?

My 4 are Lydia, NDG (and NDB), Viva and Spirit.

Edit: If anyone thinks this is too close to being personaly identifying please let me know and I can remove the names of the innocent.

I genuinely think there in little/no link between me & other NP's following your method.

lostinrates

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

You are much more organised than I am - thank you.



Not your car, I hope?



Please do - Isaac adores the programme, and watches it as often as he can. I hoped it wasn't filling his head with rubbish, and I'm glad to hear it's not.

Not our car, no, I would have been very much less calm!

In fact, the kids were rather sweet and scared. People crash there all the time, and no one has ever come and knocked on the door to apologise. Or ask for help. :rotfl:

The bf was going to take the rap, but it was the girls fault, and possibly her mum's car. It seems she'd been driving, and she was scared. Parents seemed reasonable, under the circumstances, and the car is still there. Cows had to be moved, much to their annoyance, and the girl cried a lot and wouldn't take a cup of tea. So once her parents had come to pick the kids up and the cows were moved we all went inside again.(we and the farmer both offered to give them a lift home but I think she wanted other people there when she told her parents......)

PasturesNew

michaels wrote: »

There is some theory that you can get from any person on earth to any other using 7 'links' of people who know each other.

I was thinking that there 4 nice people who I am within 2 links of (ie we have an aquaintance in common) or 3 links (me - aquaintance - aquaintance - nice person). I suspect this probably proves that NP are not randomly selected from the population of the UK.

Any other NPs think they are only a few degrees from other NP?

My 4 are Lydia, NDG (and NDB), Viva and Spirit.

Edit: If anyone thinks this is too close to being personaly identifying please let me know and I can remove the names of the innocent.

It'd be a very tenuous link to link me to any of you posh lot

PasturesNew

SingleSue wrote: »

...I needed biology for my career choice....

We didn't have career choices. Close to school leaving date we had 2 minutes to sit down and be asked "what do you want to do?" There was no planning/forethought. As a girl, I was offered: Nursing, Secretary, Work in the local factory or in a shop?

Boys were offered: Get an apprenticeship, join the army, work in the local factory?

lostinrates

Me trying to arrange some work done by someone today......


Them: we won't accept work order without the deposit paid
Me: Tell me when it will be done I'll pay and consider it a work order
Them: we cannot tell you when until you've paid
Me:I cannot pay you and order till I know when
Them: hmm
Me: so when?
Them: we cannot tell you when until..........


Really, I feel like selling up and renting at times.

neverdespairgirl

Nikkster wrote: »

Although, technically speaking, I think it is Doctors of Philosophy who are supposed to have more of a right to call themselves 'Dr.' I think.

Should I get that far, I will be changing my correspondence to say Dr. I won't care if it makes me an idiot, I'll be making the most of it . If I post things to any of my Dr. friends, I usually address the envelope to 'Dr' - they've worked flipping hard for it!

It would also let me drop the 'Miss.'

I think I probably would, too!

I could never, ever do a PhD. I need deadlines and last minutes, I couldn't work on one thing for so long. So I'm full of awe and praise for you.

PasturesNew wrote: »

No.
I have the telly on and a laptop... but it's pitch dark here; no nightlight/moonlight etc like in towns. I'm at the edge ..... of civilisation.

I'm pretty sure that moonlight isn't a feature of civilisation. Rather the reverse, surely? Harder to see in the yellow glow of London!

PasturesNew

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that moonlight isn't a feature of civilisation. Rather the reverse, surely? Harder to see in the yellow glow of London!

I meant no streetlights/houselights like in towns.... not no moonlight like in towns. There was just no moonlight