Other What currently makes your life awesome?

Reindeer meatballs and mash.

And no I didn't ask if there was any gluten in them. I know! Frickin hardcore

My body will later tell me, hopefully not mid-flight, if there was....

 

I once had to remove the sump from my E46, the job took a total of ten hours, doing it solo on my driveway. I now have an old Landy and when I needed to take the sump off it it was a five minute task and I didn't even have to jack it up

I tell you what though, it's more fun to work on a car that's a toy than one you need to get you to work the next day.

 

Stretched my ear piercings to 10mm. Haven't set a limit so 12mm will happen early next year

 

Finally have a shiny and clean light fitting in the kitchen that I can actually touch without wearing disposable gloves



The old one is quite literally caked with grease and filth, and it's been that way since we moved in.



I know the ceiling still needs cleaning but we've been trying to clean that since we moved in. Problem is it's not just dusty, there's grease and grime and filth on the ceiling too, and that just traps the dust making it look even worse.

I have absolutely no idea what the arsehole who was here before us was doing in that kitchen, but we've been trying to clean it fully for the 8 years we've been here. So much stuff is just encrusted with grease that I cannot shift: the backsplash, the extractor fan hood, the extractor fan filter, the ceiling around the extractor fan, the oven, the hob... The hob is so bad that the gunk is now literally burnt in; I've tried all the cleaners I can find and it seems nothing short of a chisel is going to remove it. The oven's not much better, every time I clean it all I'm doing is taking it back to its baseline level of "baked-on stuff that will never come off again". The entire house absolutely stank like the kitchen in an Indian restaurant when we moved in and it hadn't been cleaned at all. The upstairs toilet bowl was entirely black and not even wire drill brushes have been able to fully clean it, it's still partly grey and dirty below the water line.

I know a couple of people here have had problem tenants they've struggled to get rid of and recover from, but when you're in a situation like ours where the landlord has done absolutely nothing to help since day one it can really make your lives a misery sometimes. On move-in day my other half was in tears because of the state the place was left in, but by that point it was too damn late for us to change our minds. We did complain to the landlord on the day, but their response was to come round with a vacuum cleaner and some cleaning sprays. The number of problems in this house is still depressing now but by this point we're just used to it; over time the baseline level of "depressing stuff we have to live with" has got higher.

If I have a choice in the matter, I will never rent again.

 

Dude, yeah there are problem tenants but there are a shed load of awful landlords.

Feel for you mate, I've been in both situations (probably why when I ever hear the name Birmingham I have a cold shiver run down my spine and my anger levels rise. Horrid house, horrid landlord).

Hopefully things will look up for you at some point.

 

I forget the name of it, but I’ve got some excellent degreaser that comes in a five litre plastic thingy. I’ll get a picture of it soon. But, it is excellent at removing baked in grease and grime. I’ve put some in a paint tray and used a roller on the ceiling, as like you’ve experienced, the previous tenant left grease and grime everywhere and this stuff was damn good at removing it.

 

Gunk?

That will get rid of grease fast. It will also degrease your hands until they crack /don't ask how I know. So rubber gloves are needed.

 

https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-heavy-duty-degreaser-5ltr/88668

This stuff, mind you was £8.99 when I got it, cozzy livs mate.

 

Sooooooooooo got a call. Surgical consultation is coming up in mid December. Actual origami date is maybe six months away, doesn't really matter at this point

My brainmeats are wibbly wobbly

 

Gave my notice in yesterday. Woo!

Got my confirmed exit date today. Boo, because it's three months from now. Three month notice periods suck, especially after the freakin' day I've had today. Judging by the candidates we've had in recently it seems to be getting pretty common in tech roles.

 

It's very common in Germany in general. I understand why this was introduced but I really don't think it's smart and there should be more willingness to "leave early" if both sides agree.

 

IIRC some places will do that... they'll just pay for the 3 months, in @Byron C's case [which seems like a long-ass notice period], 'in lieu of notice' and you part ways immediately.

 

Seems pointless to make someone stay for that long, when many would just lose interest in doing the job properly. A disinterested employee, just marking time until they leave, is never a good employee.

 

The last few people to leave from my place all got put on garden leave for their notice period. They were all heading off to one of our competitors though, so that may have had something to do with it.

 

A 3 month notice period really does suck, but I’m pretty sanguine about it. Very little chance of negotiating an early exit or garden leave, my team is already pretty slammed and we have some pretty hard deadlines that coincide with my leaving date.

I don’t want to burn any bridges by pushing for early release or garden leave. I’m already going back to one former employer, so parting this role on poor terms will only be shooting myself in the foot later on. Plus there’s honour and professional pride to consider: my team really needs all the resource it can get and I’m still being paid until my exit date. I respect the people I work with and hold them in high regard, I’m going to do what I can to support them.

 

We do similar. If your reason for leaving is "Hired by competitor", you're standing in the carpark with a cardboard box within 30 mins.

 

*changing career to work in a BMX shop*

"uh, I was hired by a competitor?"

(three months paid leave)

 

Usually the conditions of garden leave stipulate that you can't start working for the competitor until the leave period has ended.

 

Wonder how enforceable that actually is... weren't non-compete clauses found to be largely unenforceable bollocks?