The totally off-topic thread

[Princess Fiona]

Maybe... unless, and I quote them, "[their] lives will be ruined"....

Seriously:?:

The part that infuriates me the most is that they are outright shifting all the blame on this concert and One Direction and not accepting even one iota of responsibility themselves. And that's whether or not they attend the concert or not - just the mere fact the concert is on is apparently materially distracting enough for them.

Bl**dy oath.... :evil:

Anyone here with senior high school teenage children? What's your take on this?

*puts hand up feebly*
Fortunately my eldest daughter wouldn't go to a 1D gig if they paid her, her two youngest female siblings however ( aged 8 and 9) would happily go to see them and would think their lives ruined if the gig clashed with piano recital or Swimming Champs.
It's all a question of emotional maturity I think

 

[medhead]

I have a very strong view that all students should be required to take a gap year unless they can demonstrate they have a broad range of life experiences and will benefit from immediate university entry. .

And I can think of a couple of examples from school of people who might have benefitted from a gap year to work out what they wanted to do. As well as others who went to uni because it was the done thing and yet I'm not sure they did anything at all with it, if they even finished uni.


Sent from the Throne

 

[anat0l]

And I can think of a couple of examples from school of people who might have benefitted from a gap year to work out what they wanted to do. As well as others who went to uni because it was the done thing and yet I'm not sure they did anything at all with it, if they even finished uni.

My rant was more about personal responsibility (or severe lack thereof) than it was about wasting or not wasting the opportunity to set up for tertiary education (if even essential), but whilst we are on this tangent.

I'm of the classic 'school' who went straight from twelve-to-tertiary. Certainly I think my parents would have been vehemently opposed to my taking any sort of gap year (in those times, and with their upbringing, a "gap year" was only taken by those who were deemed either morally immature and/or pretty much failed high school and had too poor marks to enter university), and of course lacking a part time job of any sort I would not have the funds to do the gap vacation, so my "gap year" would probably be finding some small time job and doing it full time for a year. That in itself may have been a good experience, but we'll never know.

I actually feel a little ashamed and scared in a way - university is so "common" now and it seems rather hackneyed; even though broadly entry scores are getting tighter, I think we may have well passed the zenith where having a university degree was considered an achievement. Now, it's just a prerequisite for some jobs, and the tertiary education process is losing all of its respect from society.

Maybe if I had my time again I would've worked longer before starting my PhD, though since my in-between work was research the work there would have been quite scarce after my initial contract.

I tend not to try to dwell too much on hindsight, as in my life experience:

• Hindsight tends to be used (or overused, or abused) far too much by many people who try to promote themselves falsely as being superior, i.e. "they knew it was better to..." or "they knew this would happen..."
• My parents tend to remember and enjoy reminding me of all the 'mistakes' I've made during my life - what I didn't achieve, what I could've been, what I could've earned, what I could've done faster......

 

[medhead]

My rant was more about personal responsibility (or severe lack thereof) than it was about wasting or not wasting the opportunity to set up for tertiary education (if even essential), but whilst we are on this tangent.

Indeed. I was just commenting on that other aspect of the story. I think it is clear that you've used your opportunities. I just don't like this attitude that "we have to go to uni." Having seen someone who did that and didn't return to their original course in second semester and didn't return to uni in second year. They are a great person but I just don't know why they bothered.

Certainly personal responsibility says they should be ready for the HSC when the exams start as I mentioned.


Sent from the Throne

 

[tuapekastar]

Reading the headlines today, I came across this article in the top headlines and had to peek at inside

One Direction Clashes With HSC Exams

Then I thought, "You've got to be bl**dy kidding me..."

Of course I was reserving contempt for all those whiny teens.......

<Looks to the heavens and says, "God, why did you create such a bunch of idiots to grace this Earth...">


I'm guessing it will be up to Mummy and Daddy to write a good note for an application of special consideration for these teens, or at least to raise Hell with the school (e.g. legal action, or withdrawal of funding or P&C contribution) if the school refuses to reconsider poor performance or shift the exam dates due to the concert.

Bugger HSC! 1D may clash with AFF#7! :shock:

 

[anat0l]

Bugger HSC! 1D may clash with AFF#7! :shock:

Just as well they're not going to HBA

And the extra crowd they make take out of HBA by those fans going to the mainland (MEL) will make the town even more pleasant. :mrgreen:


Of course this is assuming that AFF #7 will be in HBA.

 

[tuapekastar]

Just as well they're not going to HBA

And the extra crowd they make take out of HBA by those fans going to the mainland (MEL) will make the town even more pleasant. :mrgreen:


Of course this is assuming that AFF #7 will be in HBA.

Looking the goods ATM but you never know, something may come from the clouds!

 

[Mal]

It's dreary and wet ....

Yep. VERY welcoming weather at the moment here.

 

[Flashback]

Yep. VERY welcoming weather at the moment here.

To match my poor phone.

 

[Mal]

To match my poor phone.

?? Did it take a dunking somewhere ?

 

[Mal]

... desperately scouring airline pricing sites . I want out of London this weekend. Christmas markets somewhere might be nice...

 

[Flashback]

?? Did it take a dunking somewhere ?

Nah, http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ase-protection-or-travel-insurance-45284.html

... desperately scouring airline pricing sites . I want out of London this weekend. Christmas markets somewhere might be nice...

Heh, Fi and I talked about the same a few days back. We have 90k Avios points. This is where they're good... 9k return each + £27 can get you to quite a few places.

 

[Mal]

Heh, Fi and I talked about the same a few days back. We have 90k Avios points. This is where they're good... 9k return each + £27 can get you to quite a few places.

Yeah, one possibility for me is AA points, but not sure yet.

[Just priced up an AA saver award - ouch. 20K points + $238 ... in Economy to Paris for example. Pass]

BTW - did you end up putting a claim in for EU travel delay?

 

[Flashback]

Yeah, one possibility for me is AA points, but not sure yet.

BTW - did you end up putting a claim in for EU travel delay?

Nope, haven't been able to get anything solid on it...

One thing I was annoyed about though, I paid for Club Europe and the reason was to have a few bubbles on the way to Naples to start the weekend break nicely. Anyway, with the plane turning back and us getting on another plane........ no catering (or alcoholic drinks!!) loaded, so basically had the whole flight with absolutely nothing except packets of nuts and water. What would you do?

 

[Mal]

One thing I was annoyed about though, I paid for Club Europe and the reason was to have a few bubbles on the way to Naples to start the weekend break nicely. Anyway, with the plane turning back and us getting on another plane........ no catering (or alcoholic drinks!!) loaded, so basically had the whole flight with absolutely nothing except packets of nuts and water. What would you do?

Whinge on Flyertalk, and have everyone there telling me about how I shouldn't be so precious and that nuts and water would have been suitable.

Lodge an online complaint, although they should have been proactive. There should be some threads on FT about similar cases and how people went about claiming.

 

[anat0l]

Lodge an online complaint, although they should have been proactive. There should be some threads on FT about similar cases and how people went about claiming.

EU 261 claims can be horrible (so I've heard) - so much so that service companies have been set up to file claims (for a fee, of course). Sometimes you have to get all the information by yourself then make sure you consult the regs to ensure you demand the correct compensation.

I'm not exactly sure what would be the definitive resource for getting the departure timing - I think "FlightStats" but I doubt that's authoritative enough.


As for cheap flights on short notice... Ryanair? Easyjet? Of course, if that is beneath you...... Skyscanner is not a bad launch point for some ideas.

 

[Mal]

As for cheap flights on short notice... Ryanair? Easyjet? Of course, if that is beneath you...... Skyscanner is not a bad launch point for some ideas.

Well Copenhagen is leading as a weekend destination ... although they are predicting lots of snow, so maybe it isn't the best place for me.

Now to work out the most efficient (lounge acess does play a part) way to get there and where to stay.

 

[Flashback]

Well Copenhagen is leading as a weekend destination ... although they are predicting lots of snow, so maybe it isn't the best place for me.

Now to work out the most efficient (lounge acess does play a part) way to get there and where to stay.

If it's snowing then that's more a reason to go! :mrgreen:

I was there a few months ago and it was quite the opposite. BA do daily flights I believe, the lounge in CPH is nothing special but T5 going out is OK at least!

 

[Blinky]

As for cheap flights on short notice... Ryanair? Easyjet? Of course, if that is beneath you...... Skyscanner is not a bad launch point for some ideas.

Thanks for the Skyscanner tip. I'm planning a brief hop over from LHR to DUB next March, and this seems to be a very good site.

 

[Mal]

If it's snowing then that's more a reason to go! :mrgreen:

I was there a few months ago and it was quite the opposite. BA do daily flights I believe, the lounge in CPH is nothing special but T5 going out is OK at least!

All booked .... Flying out late Fri morning, back Sunday night.

Sorting out travel insurance is a PITA though. Out of the two policies I've reviewed closely, both exclude me in the fine print.
1st one requires you to have lived in the UK for six months.
2nd one requires that you are registered with a doctor in the UK (Not sorted yet).

Hmm...