United Kingdom chat thread V3: We still miss our empire
5,001 replies, posted
It's somewhat worrying that the people who handle data capture for roads and rails don't want it to be done accurately going forward because it would invalidate all of the data from previous years.
[editline]15th March 2017[/editline]
Its one of those things you realise as you become a grown up, no one has a fucking clue, everyone's winging it
all i've ever done is wing it lmao, it's been working out pretty well so far tho
[QUOTE=The Genie;51963912]I've spent the last 2 years winging it but I realise more and more lately that I'm failing. I feel like there is absolutely nothing for me in the UK -- it is a dead end. I'm currently at a "prestigious" university doing Computer Science and I've honestly never felt this miserable in my life to the point where I contemplate suicide much more than any reasonable person should.[/QUOTE]
Seek professional help. I know it sounds harsh, but posting about how suicidal you are on an internet forum isn't going to help anyone, least of all yourself.
[QUOTE=The Genie;51963912]I've spent the last 2 years winging it but I realise more and more lately that I'm failing. I feel like there is absolutely nothing for me in the UK -- it is a dead end. I'm currently at a "prestigious" university doing Computer Science and I've honestly never felt this miserable in my life to the point where I contemplate suicide much more than any reasonable person should.[/QUOTE]
You're still young bro. Hang in there, everything will turn out okay. I didn't know what I was doing with my life till I was about 23. Obviously you've got something going for you if you're studying comp science at uni
In the mean time try and get help, register with the NHS (you'll probably be waiting a while for it) and try and speak to a counsellor at your uni.
And to add to that, if anyone ever feels that way and needs someone to talk to any time of the day or night.
[url]http://www.samaritans.org/[/url]
Call them.
[QUOTE=Doozle;51964113] try and speak to a counsellor at your uni.[/QUOTE]
This is definitely something you should do.
Use the resources handed to you at University. Those sorts of things are much harder to access once you leave.
[QUOTE=Doozle;51963706]It's somewhat worrying that the people who handle data capture for roads and rails don't want it to be done accurately going forward because it would invalidate all of the data from previous years.
[editline]15th March 2017[/editline]
Its one of those things you realise as you become a grown up, no one has a fucking clue, everyone's winging it[/QUOTE]
This all over. I'm aware of certain things within the transport industry that "just are because they have always been" - stuff that is designed today using the safety argument of "we used it on the last one and it was safe so we shall not change it" and when you follow the paper trail (or lack thereof) backward you end up at some old timer engineer who tells you its probably fine and you shouldn't question it because it would invalid the safety case on thousands of things already in service, even though the number was just something someone made up 80 years ago and isnt documented anywhere.
[QUOTE=metallics;51964261]This all over. I'm aware of certain things within the transport industry that "just are because they have always been" - stuff that is designed today using the safety argument of "we used it on the last one and it was safe so we shall not change it" and when you follow the paper trail (or lack thereof) backward you end up at some old timer engineer who tells you its probably fine and you shouldn't question it because it would invalid the safety case on thousands of things already in service, even though the number was just something someone made up 80 years ago and isnt documented anywhere.[/QUOTE]
A lot of the safety things in the transport industry are things which have been imposed as a result of previous fuck ups though. We have a very safe railway in this country and that is simply because what we have works and it does it well.
Read this report - [url]https://www.gov.uk/government/news/serious-signalling-irregularity-at-cardiff-east-junction[/url]
That 'near incident' was as a result of new technology being introduced which could not detect a train entering the wrong section of line. Had the old track circuit system still been in use and the driver failed to notice the points being set incorrectly, the system would have immediately detected the train entering the wrong line and the train could have been safely stopped.
[QUOTE=metallics;51964261]This all over. I'm aware of certain things within the transport industry that "just are because they have always been" - stuff that is designed today using the safety argument of "we used it on the last one and it was safe so we shall not change it" and when you follow the paper trail (or lack thereof) backward you end up at some old timer engineer who tells you its probably fine and you shouldn't question it because it would invalid the safety case on thousands of things already in service, even though the number was just something someone made up 80 years ago and isnt documented anywhere.[/QUOTE]
I won't go too deep into it, but we're assessing a level crossing as a sort of test, it was last assessed in 2014 and it was used by 800 vehicles, we reckon it's actually five times as busy. I'm guessing they normally get some old biddy with a clicker or something, but that's probably how it's always been done. It's possible there's another reason for it road closures or whatever but I'm not sure
[QUOTE=Bengley;51964750]A lot of the safety things in the transport industry are things which have been imposed as a result of previous fuck ups though. We have a very safe railway in this country and that is simply because what we have works and it does it well.
Read this report - [url]https://www.gov.uk/government/news/serious-signalling-irregularity-at-cardiff-east-junction[/url]
That 'near incident' was as a result of new technology being introduced which could not detect a train entering the wrong section of line. Had the old track circuit system still been in use and the driver failed to notice the points being set incorrectly, the system would have immediately detected the train entering the wrong line and the train could have been safely stopped.[/QUOTE]
When I say "transport" I'm thinking a bit broader and a bit more safety critical than trains.
[QUOTE=The Genie;51965106]I'm sorry if it seemed like a cry for help or attention - that certainly wasn't the intention. I do receive help through the university counselling service and other means. I'm riding it out until the end of the year when I'll then have a couple of weeks/months of free time to reassess my life and what I want to do. I'm wondering if anyone else here has more or less been in this position, and if so, how did they power through it?[/QUOTE]
After the incident where I got held at gun point I was practically a shutdown.
Months flied by without me even realizing due to the shock of what happened.
It took someone to actually sit me down and bring me back around to realize I wasn't doing anything and I wasn't going anywhere, from that point I decided the best thing to do would be to take a break from working and go back into learning and from somewhere I was comfortable being at, 2 years pass and now we're here with me waiting on getting into Uni or that college again to get my Degree year done. From there its either looking for work or maybe something else, I'm not really sure.
What I'm saying is what worked for me was having a good talk with someone close who brings you back to reality, think about what you liked and move in on that, for me I did enjoy working at that Post Office but after that situation, I likely will never do counter work again but that doesn't mean I shouldn't throw out doing Customer Service jobs in the future, as for the choice of going back to college, it was entirely the choice that going for the Degree would both be a good break for me and it would help me out later on, they look good on applications and most of the time people wont even ask what the Degree is in or what you got unless you're aiming directly at a job related to that subject, plus I took something that I'm genuinely curious in and enjoy so yeah, that's what I did. Dunno if its any help for you but thats what worked for me.
Plus I've got another potential interview for a job coming up in two weeks that I'll likely either do part time or full time until the course starts which will give me something else to do, if I don't have something going on I end up reverting back to how I was before which isn't good at all (its why when I was asked about getting mod on here I was kinda giddy, give me something else to focus my boredom on).
[QUOTE=The Genie;51965106]I'm sorry if it seemed like a cry for help or attention - that certainly wasn't the intention. I do receive help through the university counselling service and other means. I'm riding it out until the end of the year when I'll then have a couple of weeks/months of free time to reassess my life and what I want to do. I'm wondering if anyone else here has more or less been in this position, and if so, how did they power through it?[/QUOTE]
oh, no, I wasn't calling you an attention seeker or anything. I just think it's genuinely for the best for you to talk to a professional instead of some cunts on the internet.
But I've been in a similar position, I'm retaking my second year at uni at the moment, my mum was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer last June and it really knocked me for six. Honestly, the best advice I can give is to just throw yourself into work/your social life. I made a conscious effort to be a lot more social starting this January, and I've noticed that I'm much happier now I don't spend every evening at my computer.
[QUOTE=The Genie;51965106]I'm sorry if it seemed like a cry for help or attention - that certainly wasn't the intention. I do receive help through the university counselling service and other means. I'm riding it out until the end of the year when I'll then have a couple of weeks/months of free time to reassess my life and what I want to do. I'm wondering if anyone else here has more or less been in this position, and if so, how did they power through it?[/QUOTE]
Well, it's only a week until a month off, and the summer term is only another 2 months or so. If you can stick it out you'll have a great degree but obviously your own mental health comes first.
[QUOTE=metallics;51965032]When I say "transport" I'm thinking a bit broader and a bit more safety critical than trains.[/QUOTE]
It doesn't get a lot more safety critical than trains
[QUOTE=Bengley;51965645]It doesn't get a lot more safety critical than trains[/QUOTE]
Judging by the report you linked, the engineering gets treated as if it's slightly less safety critical than designing a toaster
[editline]15th March 2017[/editline]
(your earlier comment that whatever old guesswork is in place works just fine also implies the same)
The latest windows update has broken mpeg2, one of my guys computers updated last night
I've got two spare computers that come from another office but are password protected, no one knows the passwords for them, the useless manager who's office it came from keeps fobbing us off saying other people should know them
People and computers do my head in
My scholarship money came through :dance:
We were gonna look at house after work that only went up yesterday but someone already put an offer on it
It was perfect, big kitchen, big garden, didn't look like someone died there :(
[QUOTE=Doozle;51969065]We were gonna look at house after work that only went up yesterday but someone already put an offer on it
It was perfect, big kitchen, big garden, didn't look like someone died there :([/QUOTE]
So what was good about it?
In all seriousness that really sucks man, there are plenty of other house fish in the housing sea.
[QUOTE=metallics;51965829]Judging by the report you linked, the engineering gets treated as if it's slightly less safety critical than designing a toaster
[editline]15th March 2017[/editline]
(your earlier comment that whatever old guesswork is in place works just fine also implies the same)[/QUOTE]
The problem is the lack of communication because of the number of contractors used to do engineering works. We generally have an extremely safe railway in this country but these things do happen and it's just lucky that someone noticed. Lesson learned from that incident and one would hope it doesn't happen again.
It's hard to explain how many safeguards we really have in the industry to an outsider but yeah believe me, as a train driver I can tell you that there are a lot of things which happen to protect the safety of trains and people. Our overspeed and SPAD prevention system is fairly new - it was only introduced in 2000 or something like that. It's so safe that it often brings you up in a heap even if you're not speeding or likely to have a SPAD.
Anyone got any idea if you can ignore private company parking fines?
I remember you could get away with it a few years ago but not sure if thats changed. Stayed too long on a car park without realizing and just got the letter through now
[QUOTE=Thechuz1337;51969887]Anyone got any idea if you can ignore private company parking fines?
I remember you could get away with it a few years ago but not sure if thats changed. Stayed too long on a car park without realizing and just got the letter through now[/QUOTE]
I was told the same by my supervisor while working a few months back, but that's Scotland. As far as I see it, if they haven't clamped you then they can't enforce shit.
[QUOTE=Thechuz1337;51969887]Anyone got any idea if you can ignore private company parking fines?
I remember you could get away with it a few years ago but not sure if thats changed. Stayed too long on a car park without realizing and just got the letter through now[/QUOTE]
IIRC Completely civil matter, they can take you to civil court to get you to pay but most of the time it's not worth it for them.
(i'm not a lawyer, take with a pinch of salt)
[QUOTE=Thechuz1337;51969887]Anyone got any idea if you can ignore private company parking fines?
I remember you could get away with it a few years ago but not sure if thats changed. Stayed too long on a car park without realizing and just got the letter through now[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.pepipoo.com/[/url]
post there about it. the users on there are experts in this field.
there's a good chance of you getting out of it but it will require a bit of work and patience on your part.
[QUOTE=Doozle;51968506]The latest windows update has broken mpeg2, one of my guys computers updated last night
I've got two spare computers that come from another office but are password protected, no one knows the passwords for them, the useless manager who's office it came from keeps fobbing us off saying other people should know them
People and computers do my head in[/QUOTE]
As a programmer - Windows 10 does my head in.
Everytime, without fail, after every "major" update (i.e non security) it uninstalls things without telling me. It's already uninstalled CCleaner 3 times, AVG twice and MalwareBytes once.
It just said "We've taken care of programs which may not work with Windows 10". Excuse me M$. Those programs have been running on 10 for a while [I][B]BEFORE [/B][/I]you decided to uninstall them for me. It doesn't even tell me what it uninstalled. I've got to search them out myself (or have to repair existing installs (i.e Malwarebytes)).
They've said before that it's not a bug and never happens but without fail - it happens all the time to me. Hell, it even deleted the webcam drivers on my laptop so it no longer works or appears in Device Manager (all thanks to that Redstone update back in Nov 2016).
[QUOTE=Zenamez;51970098]As a programmer - Windows 10 does my head in.
Everytime, without fail, after every "major" update (i.e non security) it uninstalls things without telling me. It's already uninstalled CCleaner 3 times, AVG twice and MalwareBytes once.
It just said "We've taken care of programs which may not work with Windows 10". Excuse me M$. Those programs have been running on 10 for a while [I][B]BEFORE [/B][/I]you decided to uninstall them for me. It doesn't even tell me what it uninstalled. I've got to search them out myself (or have to repair existing installs (i.e Malwarebytes)).
They've said before that it's not a bug and never happens but without fail - it happens all the time to me. Hell, it even deleted the webcam drivers on my laptop so it no longer works or appears in Device Manager (all thanks to that Redstone update back in Nov 2016).[/QUOTE]
get rid of avg anyway it's shit
[QUOTE=Crumpet;51970194]get rid of avg anyway it's shit[/QUOTE]
I've tried other Anti-Virus programs in the past and they either broke (Avast), or didn't work properly (Comodo). I just stuck with AVG even though it's a whale in memory.
[QUOTE=Zenamez;51970283]I've tried other Anti-Virus programs in the past and they either broke (Avast), or didn't work properly (Comodo). I just stuck with AVG even though it's a whale in memory.[/QUOTE]
I find Panda to be pretty good. Gets out the way other than an easily-dismissable tiny popup info box thing in the corner daily.
[editline]16th March 2017[/editline]
Actually you can turn it off in the settings.
[QUOTE=Bengley;51969865]The problem is the lack of communication because of the number of contractors used to do engineering works. We generally have an extremely safe railway in this country but these things do happen and it's just lucky that someone noticed. Lesson learned from that incident and one would hope it doesn't happen again.
It's hard to explain how many safeguards we really have in the industry to an outsider but yeah believe me, as a train driver I can tell you that there are a lot of things which happen to protect the safety of trains and people. Our overspeed and SPAD prevention system is fairly new - it was only introduced in 2000 or something like that. It's so safe that it often brings you up in a heap even if you're not speeding or likely to have a SPAD.[/QUOTE]
What if you weren't explaining it to an outsider?
[QUOTE=metallics;51971090]What if you weren't explaining it to an outsider?[/QUOTE]
I can name a few safety measures. Want me to?
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