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My eye! Sweet Jesus, Ouch!


Sledge

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An old friend of mine just graduated, and was moaning about his degree being worth nothing. After I asked what he studied since I hadn't seen him since he went away he told me.

 

"Film studies".

 

 

So you watched movies for 3 years, and are surprised when an employer doesn't want to take that into account?

 

Apparently he's doing another degree now. God knows what in.

 

 

EDIT:

 

Also, Lovefilm reps, that are clearly on commission.

 

Their rep said it was a free trial, it wasn't.

 

Their rep also didn't explain that you don't actually pick the films you get. A vital detail I feel.

 

Reimbursement coming my way, and account cancelled.

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What do you mean, you don't pick the films you get?

 

You make a list of the films you're interested in, and they send you the discs. Okay, unless you've only got 1 film on your list, you're not going to know exactly which ones you'll be sent next, but you know what's on the list because you put it there...

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So you watched movies for 3 years, and are surprised when an employer doesn't want to take that into account?

 

Apparently he's doing another degree now. God knows what in.

It's a real shame that the 'degree' has become so diluted.

 

Once upon a time, if someone had a degree (except 'sociology') it was almost a guarantee that they were 'clever'. Even if they didn't come with 'a clue' or 'common sense', at least you could virtually guarantee they had the ability to 'learn & retain'. Thus, graduates were sought after, as it was believed that stuck in any given situation, they would be able to 'figure out' the 'best' solution.

 

Shame.

 

I spent a lot of time in the States back in the '80's & they were so impressed with UK education because they saw their degrees as being the equivalent of a single UK 'A' level.

 

It would appear that we have attained a similar standard: Talking to an 'academic' friend of mine (professor at a local 'uni', that used to be a 'colege of higher ed', where the thick kids went to get a City & Guilds, because they were unable to get any qualifications at school,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, but I digress); he has just finnished a 2 year 'side project' to 'proove' what a sham our current degree system is: He now has a degree in,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,KITE FLYING!

 

Yes, apparently it's possible, he acredited the correct amount of units in the relevent feilds in just under 2 years of part time study & has a completely useless degree to add to his totaly relevent doctorate & profesorship.

 

He said he was bored lecturing & hearing about the arguement about the value of degrees, so set out to see just how quickly a completely useless degree could be attained, if at all.

 

Nice one DAVE: Soon to start a new term, lecturing phisics, at a uni near you! ;)

 

 

Greg.

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I hear you can get degrees in such academicly demanding subjects as Basket Weaving, Conversational Klingon and... *shudders* David Beckham Studies...

 

And people still say there's nothing wrong with our education system. <_<

 

Every year the GCSE and A-Level results come out, and every year the pass rate is higher, every year people defend them as not getting easier. Despite the fact that when I was doing my A-Levels, my physics teacher showed us a past exam question from an old O-Level paper, and we hadn't got a clue about it. The material the question was covering isn't on most BSc courses now, it's MPhys level at least. But 30 or 40 years ago, it was routinely taught to 16-year-olds.

 

More to the point, of course, is that with the foolish emphasis on League Tables for schools, exam entries are carefully managed to produce the highest pass rate possible. If kids are unlikely to pass an exam, they don't get entered for it. If you're borderline between a Higher Level paper and a lower one, you get pushed into the lower one, even though you can't achieve as high a grade even with 100% score, because you *might* fail the Higher paper and not get ANY grade.

 

I don't blame the schools for this - they're essentially forced to play the system set up by the governments of the past. Why anyone in their right mind wants to become a teacher in the current UK educational system is beyond me...

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I really hate those 118 adverts.

 

I also really hate how on certain channels, when ever a film cuts to an advert, it has a sponsor who advertises at the begining and end of the advertising brake. :waggle:

 

Another thing about modern advertising brakes. Years ago, the film/movie would cut to an advertising brake, at a certain point. For instance, one such old style brake:- "Predator", on itv1 (Way back when itv1 was called Granada for me and everyone else). Just after the Predator holds a scorpion in its hand, it would cut to an advertising brake. When the advertising brake ended, we would cut back to the good guys, running through the jungle (Just after they have destroyed the militants base). This is how sad I am, another advertsing brake would start, just as Arnie has finished saying "He couldn't see me...", then, when the adverts had finished, would cut back to him looking at a tall tree, planning his ambush. :D

 

These days, they throw an advertising brake in anywhere, even in mid-scene or conversation. <_<

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It's a real shame that the 'degree' has become so diluted.

 

On a partially related note, in the third year of the degree I experienced a serious depreciation of both my motivation and my commitment to the degree.

 

The actual 'music' (playing guitar) component of the course was completely covered in years 1 and 2, leaving year 3 as the 'academic' component, where all the written work and exams would take place. This also meant it was the most important year, as all the marks were there for the taking.

 

This also made it the least interesting year, with barely any relevance to music or a career in the industry as I saw it.

 

Due to my aforementioned motivation downer, and also to amuse myself in the accustomed manner of my own warped sense of humour, I decided I would conduct an experiment. We had around 10 pieces of coursework to hand in as well as exams. These ranged in length from 2000 words to the 10,000 word dissertation.

 

To see if getting a degree really had become as easy as people said it had, and because I had become lazy and disinterested in essay writing, I decided to write each piece the night before it was due in. I'd already done my research, and compiled my quotes and references, so it didn't seem that hard.

 

I sat down at 8PM exactly the night before each deadline, and typed through the night, well into the next day. The hand-in closed at 5PM, and I finished each piece in time.

 

This may seem unorthodox, and indeed, slightly masochistic to some of you, but I find I work best under pressure, and although those weeks of late nights nearly killed me, I still got a degree.

 

Was it easy? No. Can you do it the night before? Yes, you certainly can.

 

The most useful tool for me was Google Books - no need to leave the house to go to the library, as you can pull quotes straight out of the previews of the books.

 

Ben.

 

EDIT:: My reasoning behind the night before thing was simple - most people write essays in bits. They sit down, and put an hour of typing in, then go away, come back later, do another little bit, etc. I reasoned that, even though this process takes a few days or even weeks for each essay, they only put between 12 - 24 hours of actual hard typing in. Therefore, if I have my quotes ready and a vague idea of what I want to say, I can do it in circa 18 - 20 hours of typing and still pass. And I did.

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Exactly what I did for every exam I sat in my entire life.

 

Mind you, I got thrown out of uni for a non-work related issue.

 

I wouldn't worry about the dilution of the quality of degrees. The high level employers still know the difference between a degree in playstation from some polytechnic compared to a degree in physics from Cambridge.

 

Just sign up for a good one.

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The University of Salford's Physics Department actually got a better grade on the Ofsted report than Cambridge University's Natural Sciences (they want to sound posh by calling it that) Department did the same year... :P

 

Of course, Salford then closed Physics and Chemistry down to free up funding for 3,000 Media Studies places. <_<

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This may seem unorthodox, and indeed, slightly masochistic to some of you, but I find I work best under pressure, and although those weeks of late nights nearly killed me, I still got a degree.

 

EDIT:: My reasoning behind the night before thing was simple - most people write essays in bits. They sit down, and put an hour of typing in, then go away, come back later, do another little bit, etc. I reasoned that, even though this process takes a few days or even weeks for each essay, they only put between 12 - 24 hours of actual hard typing in. Therefore, if I have my quotes ready and a vague idea of what I want to say, I can do it in circa 18 - 20 hours of typing and still pass. And I did.

It is a fact that some of us work 'better' under pressure. It's why some folk do well in pressure environments & others don't.

 

Like you, I thrive on it & therefore generate pressurized situations to get the best out of myself.

 

I kind of go all 'matrix time' when the *suitcase* starts to fly. I'm sure it's been proven scientifically & to do with adrenalin or something.

 

It is a handy thing to recognize in yourself, especially if you are prone to boredom or depression. To be at your best, you need to be doing stuff, don't sit & stare for too long. :)

 

The funniest example I had was on a diving course, where to demonstrate the mental effects of high pressure (pardon the pun) we all took a test out of the water & later the same at 40m. The result for all but me was a complete slow down or even incapability. Low & behold, my result was quicker!

 

& you're right about continuity.

 

So, I was meant to start work half hour ago, thus will probably do a better job & have a great day.............

 

 

Greg.

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Todays rant,,,,,,,,,,,,,, & a warning to you all:

 

Age & my teeth.

 

So I'm getting even older & as the days go by, my body becomes less & less useful. My sex drive is minimal & despite having it on a plate I'm literally *fruitcage*ed for a few days after a good sesh. Adrenalin sports are more a chore than exciting but I carry on, as I know no better.

 

This year's crop of problems have been my teeth! Until now, one of my most reliable tools.

 

A few months back while eating some chocolate one just exploded into bits, resulting in a £200 bill for a fairly uncomfortable but serviceable cap. A month later another did the same. In this case we went for a £45 filling, as this tooth has a root canal job with an active but non painful absis (how the heck do you spell that?) & can't be capped until it clears up.

 

The absis has been producing puss but no pain for about a year & the dentists can't offer anything but more antibiotics or removal, followed by an implant, best price £2400. It's not too painful but uncomfortably swollen. If I milk the puss, it reduces the swelling but hurts & the puss tastes & smells like the death it is. If the absis ever clears up, they can re root canal it & cap it for £200. All of which I am fortunate enough to afford, but it's hassle I don't want & money I'd rather spend on something more pleasurable.

 

This isn't a moan at dentists, just my disappointment & dismay at my own body for not lasting the course.

 

They don't tell you this stuff at school & really should. It kind of lessens the blow, if you know it's coming.

 

So, if you're a young 'un & reading this, be aware your body wont last for ever. Make the most of it now, & take care of it. Make provisions to enable you to live a good quality life when it does start to pack in.

 

 

Greg.

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Greg, be very careful with that absis, as if any of that puss is shallowed, it can cause problems for your kidneys, as it can be pure posion. A girl I worked with had the very same problem and had huge problems with her kidneys due to it (Now sorted). I would sugguest getting the work done, if you can, to get rid of the absis.

 

An infection in your mouth can lead to other problems, for your body.

 

Rant:- Women/Girls, who swear at their babies:- "Put your *fruitcage* arm in", "*fruitcage* off - insert childs name - ". Absolutely shocking. :angry::waggle:<_<

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1, Greg, be very careful with that absis, as if any of that puss is shallowed, it can cause problems for your kidneys, as it can be pure posion. A girl I worked with had the very same problem and had huge problems with her kidneys due to it (Now sorted). I would sugguest getting the work done, if you can, to get rid of the absis.

 

An infection in your mouth can lead to other problems, for your body.

 

2, Rant:- Women/Girls, who swear at their babies:- "Put your *fruitcage* arm in", "*fruitcage* off - insert childs name - ". Absolutely shocking. :angry::waggle:<_<

1, Thank you for pointing that out. I had thought it myself, toxic shock & all that. The dentist is aware of what's going on but had not mentioned anything like that.

 

I should follow it up, as I suspect you could be right.

 

2, Don't get me started. :angry:

 

 

Greg.

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Rant.

 

People who can't spell abscess.

 

Only joking, it's not a common word so I'm OK.

 

My wife has been bugging her bosses for months for an extra day's work, she was promised the next bit of extra work but her "friend" has poached it, worse, her "friend" asked to work on the same day as my wife since she doesn't get on with anyone else who works there. I wonder why.

 

Her "friend" got the work because she is self-employed but the wife used to be self-employed and the company said she had to switch onto a contract if she wanted to keep working there.

 

She is furious, I might go around and have a word in her boss' shell-like.

 

 

To make things worse the money poacher is a disgusting breeder with two of the ugliest babies I have ever seen who also have stupid names. She would have left her husband by now if it wasn't for the kids and she didn't even have to try for them.

She is a wretched excuse for a human and her husband is the worst person I have ever met.

 

 

This is why there is no god, if there was we would have kids and they wouldn't.

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If the short-sighted whiny do-gooders would just shut the hell up and let the "evil" scientists carry out their research, we could all get these things sorted out with gene treatments and things in the future. You grew a new set of teeth once, right? Just tinker with your DNA a bit until you grow a new set every 15 years. No problems there.

 

Lost your leg in a car accident? No problem, just rub on some stem cell cream and you'll grow another one.

 

Old age getting you down? Well, with genetic resequencing, the human lifespan can be prolonged to 400 years, give or take.

 

 

But no, they've got to whine about the "ethics" and "moral implications" of cloning research, stem cell research, genetic manipulation and Christ knows what. Shut the hell up! Let 'em figure out what's possible, THEN worry about the ethics of doing it...

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So, if you're a young 'un & reading this, be aware your body wont last for ever.

 

 

 

Between my ear, nose, lungs, liver and mental problems, my body's barely lasting into next week :P

 

Plus my reconstructed right knuckle may be working itself apart :( Which will suck spectacularly if I lose the use of it, as I need my right hand for writing, shooting, gaming and masturbation.

 

 

In other news... do gooders going on and on about that lawyer getting shot by the police.

 

 

Ok, so they could maybe have got his wife to talk to him on the phone... but the guy was waving a shotgun at police, it's not exactly bloody rocket science what was going to happen. He didn't leave them much option.

 

 

As for me... why does the taxman have to take 20% of my income? I'm technically a student still, I'm earning under 10 K a year, but I have to wait till the end of the taxable year to get it back... I'd much prefer it if they didn't take it at all :( lol.

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Spetsnazdave87, regardign your 20% tax, is it your employer saying you have to pay this, or have you rang the inland revenue and they have told you this?

 

My Dad found out the hard way, a long time ago, that each and everyone one of us, is responsible for ensuring we pay the right amount of tax. You can tell your employer what your tax code is, fill out a form (Forget its name, maybe P65/P67 or something), and thats them covered. If you only earn 10,000 a year, the first 6-7 thousand is none taxable and then the next 3 thousand will be at the taxable rate. I am not too sure what the level is set at, so I would advise ringing the inland revenue. So that means you should only be paying £600 a year for tax (This is a rough estimate and as I said earlier, best to ring up the inland revenue. Get it from the horses mouth, as it where). Good luck ;)

 

Greg, always best to get a second opinion with health, if at all possible. Your nerve might be dead due to the prolonged exposure to the infection. :o:(

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What do you mean, you don't pick the films you get?

 

You make a list of the films you're interested in, and they send you the discs. Okay, unless you've only got 1 film on your list, you're not going to know exactly which ones you'll be sent next, but you know what's on the list because you put it there...

 

 

Yeah, and are you always in a mood to watch any given film? No. The last one sat on the shelf for ages cause we didn't fancy it. I guess thats really why they have no late fees.

 

 

Besides, it wasn't mentioned at all.

 

 

 

 

Today, I mostly hate employers who let slackers take the ######. The 2 lads at work were caught sat in a circle with their mates hidden in the corner of the carpark without their hi-viz vests on, and weren't really told off much. And its not like its the first time they were caught slacking off.

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Yeah, and are you always in a mood to watch any given film? No. The last one sat on the shelf for ages cause we didn't fancy it. I guess thats really why they have no late fees.

 

 

Besides, it wasn't mentioned at all.

 

 

Seriously, though - what else did you *think* they were going to do?? :unsure:

 

Besides, me I just... *ahem* make a backup disc and send the original back to them. I'll watch it when I get around to it.

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People who can't spell abscess.

Blimey, that's a lot of latters. :blink: *

 

1, Greg, always best to get a second opinion with health, if at all possible.

 

2, Your nerve might be dead due to the prolonged exposure to the infection. :o:(

1, Agreed. 3 of the dentists at my local practice all chipped in to give me my current options. :rolleyes: I suppose I have currently had 3, 'opinions' but I wonder if they kind of count as 1, as they are all from the same practice?????? I'll get my finger out. Any one know exactly how you go about getting a second opinion via nhs dentists? Do you have to find & register at another nhs practice, 'cos that will prove a real problem in my area.

 

2, The nerve was removed about 5 years ago via a rout canal job. Thus there is very little pain. I think I would be much more motivated if it hurt. :D

 

 

Greg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Deliberate spelling mistake for comedic effect. ;)

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If the short-sighted whiny do-gooders would just shut the hell up and let the "evil" scientists carry out their research, we could all get these things sorted out with gene treatments and things in the future. You grew a new set of teeth once, right? Just tinker with your DNA a bit until you grow a new set every 15 years. No problems there.

 

Lost your leg in a car accident? No problem, just rub on some stem cell cream and you'll grow another one.

 

Old age getting you down? Well, with genetic resequencing, the human lifespan can be prolonged to 400 years, give or take.

 

 

But no, they've got to whine about the "ethics" and "moral implications" of cloning research, stem cell research, genetic manipulation and Christ knows what. Shut the hell up! Let 'em figure out what's possible, THEN worry about the ethics of doing it...

Remember, all the things you suggest would only be available for a small minority. Probably not you or any other Arnie contributor & definately not the likes of scum like me.

 

Just sit back & spend a few days thinking about what this would genuinely mean for global sociaty as a whole. Don't we have enough division already?

 

Wouldn't the evil scientist's time, be better spent trying to close the gaps, not make them even wider? ;)

 

Mind you, long term you could have a point: Aftersay 1000 years, there could be very few of the scum under class leaft alive, thus solving most, if not all of out current overcrouding problems. This in tern would cause a whole heap of other social problems but hey, I doubt I could debate that one online in less than 10,000 words. :D

 

Greg.

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Go to your local Dental Hospital - they should have more skilled dentists, and won't have a vested interest in whatever your practise was telling you.

Local dental hospital??????

 

What is that?

 

Do we have that sort of thing in West Landern?

 

Thanks, I'll check it out on the net, see what pops up.

 

I tried my gp, he just told me to go to my dentist. :rolleyes:

 

 

Greg.

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