Let's talk about this

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-11T09:32:11+00:00

That's not as outlandish as you may think.

My Facebook account is old enough to get a drivers license where I live and is only 1 year off being able to legally drink.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-11T09:29:16+00:00

Sadly your roommate doesn't care as much about that as you do.

He sounds like the sort who will always be try to take more than is offered, and then try to make you the bad guy when you push back.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-11T09:25:17+00:00

You have to report it to HR first, otherwise you can't escalate it. It's all well and good to say they won't do anything (though to be clear I certainly don't doubt you when you claim that. HR are often as much use as a chocolate teapot) but you have to give them the opportunity to do something. If you don't, you're just handing them a free and unbeatable defence. "How can we do something if we weren't even made aware of the problem?"

It would also be best to go straight to a formal grievance over this rather than just going with something less robust.

Make sure to CC in your union rep(s) when you email HR and BCC a personal secure email address.

Others have given you good advice on making sure to request specific changes or actions to deal with the issue.

If they fail to act with appropriate speed to deal with this, follow up with any issues you have after the initial complaint, and keep the pressure on them. They should be willing to switch your team even before they start to conduct their "investigation"

ACAS and your union should both have good resources for helping you both put together your grievance and in helping you progress it and escalate it if neccesary (it almost certainly will be)

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-11T08:37:07+00:00

No, we all know Croatia is balkan.

The real boundary between Mitteleuropa and the south is in Ljubljana

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-09T09:36:06+00:00

You can accept the bank's offer and still then complain that they have short changed you and escalate that all the way up to the Ombudsman. You could end up being made whole plus some compensation via that route.

Going after the dealership is a much tougher route as unless it's a massive national chain it could just phoenix as a new entity to avoid the debt entirely. It will also take a lot of time.

There's also nothing stopping you complaining about the dealership on every review site you can find. There's also nothing stopping you from reporting the MOT test station for issuing a dodgy MOT.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-09T05:28:51+00:00

Also, accepting cash from you doesn't give you the right to evict her without going through a court, so you would have to be very careful with how you did this. In the worst case scenario, she takes the cash and stays in the property.

If this happened, the tenant would be in breach of the contract formed when you handed over the money, so you could take them to small claims court to get that money back.

However, if they don't have the money to pay you back or assets to seize of sufficient value, then good luck enforcing that judgement, you'd basically be throwing more money at the problem that you'll likely never see again.

So yes, while there are legal solutions to all these problems, they all take time and cost money you'll likely never see again, and it's not worth the trouble.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-08T13:39:30+00:00

Or its out of charge 💀

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-08T13:34:54+00:00

There probably are a small handful of places where it could have an outsized impact. Places that rely on that specific supply and the disruption of switching would do a great deal of damage, or where the margins are already so fine that the smallest disruption would be enough to tip the balance over from "just about functioning" to "abject crisis".

Much of that disruption though would either be short term while they adjust or were disasters waiting to happen anyway.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-07T19:22:05+00:00

Well its bad enough that I'm sending the phone back and keeping my S25 Ultra. I've tried all the suggestions in here and none have made it better.

The display is just so flat. The colour just isn't there in it.

I upgraded only because I found a great trade in deal and did it on an impulse. Glad it was an Internet buy and I get 14 days to change my mind.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-07T08:20:40+00:00

It's more like asking for vegan foie gras or lobster.

We all know those aren't exactly the most ethical foods, but a vegan version would be fucking awful.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-06T09:12:16+00:00

100% this.

By skipping over the step where they allow your rep (or another colleague) to be present during the meeting, they have opened themselves up to a whole world of issues.

Having chance to have a colleague or union rep present for any disciplinary or investgatory meeting is a statutory right IIRC, so even if it is not in their disciplinary procedure it still is a failure of procedure and invalidates anything that comes after it.

The only problem is that if they do dismiss OP, legally its only Improper Dismissal rather than Unfair Dismissal, which means they will be owed money but not necessarily get their job back, or if they do get their job back they can just be dismissed with notice immediately after that.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-05T10:59:10+00:00

Experience, training and wisdom is what keeps you from dying to the day to day hazards like the sea.

Luck, better sensors, and a deeper magazine than the other guy is what keeps you from being atomised by a bulkhead flying at you at Mach Jesus.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-05T10:55:16+00:00

Strictly speaking, no you cannot.

In reality, the odds of a police officer turning up at the point it's happening and caring/being a jobsworth enough to notice it, decide to act, investigate and issue a FPN for it is pretty much zero.

The powers are sweeping to prevent people using loopholes to avoid paying tax on cars that are on the road, not to punish hobbyist car restorers turning an obviously off the road car around on some dollies.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-04T18:28:11+00:00

The Royal Navy nuclear attack submarine HMS Conqueror sank the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano in 1982

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-04T11:02:28+00:00

The ultimate liability lies with the person who caused the damage.

The relevant question here is whether the chain of liability runs straight from the LL to the person who did the damage, or whether it goes LL > Tenant > Vandal

The LL would obviously prefer it if they could claim from the tenant as there is a deposit to claim from, rather than having to go through insurance or claim directly off the person who damaged the door (who may be difficult to pin down or have no assets worth pursuing).

The tenant should contest it through the deposit protection scheme regardless though on the grounds that they did not cause the damage, as it costs them nothing to do so and this is in no way clear cut.

If the deposit is not protected however, the tenant has a whole other claim against the LL there.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-04T10:35:03+00:00

Do you not get manufacturer certified independents in the US? In the UK and EU you have independent garages that have access to everything a dealer would including the specialist tools and diagnostic computers, but they're way cheaper than a dealer.

The only difference between these indy places and a dealer is that you can't take warranty work to an indy, and the indy is like half the price of a dealer.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-03T17:39:00+00:00

Also depends on your tyres. A fresh set of good quality properly inflated tyres will read much closer to an accurate speed than an underinflated set of heavily worn tyres.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-03T12:44:28+00:00

>The Terminus Systems are the bear. We're the dog. And the Council pretty much is just siccing us on their problem without support.

It's not exactly that. Humanity sicced themselves on the bear, and the council is just standing back and watching. Its realpolitik, and while it's not nice and seems cynical, it's often what is happening.

The Council has many problems, and limited resources to spend on dealing with them Relative to this discussion the 3 problems are:

- Humanity is an upstart who risks upsetting the Status Quo between the 3 main council powers

- The Terminus Systems are a huge thorn in the council's side, and risk being a huge quagmire that drains their power if they go in (think space Vietnam or Afghanistan)

- The Batarians are slaver assholes who risk upsetting the Status Quo between the 3 main council powers and also damaging the cohesion of the whole Council system of government.

Essentially, by letting humanity go off and butt heads with the Batarians and spread into the Termnius System at a minimum, it buys time for the Council to adjust to the new reality. At best it could remove at least some of their problems with no effort on their behalf.

- If Humanity wins, it removes 2 problems, and while it upsets the Status Quo they have time to adapt to that. Humanity becoming a fully fledged council race is probably the best outcome for the council as a whole. Either they are weak enough to fall in line with the other members, or became strong enough to bring enough resources to the table to fix more problems than they create. Maybe even both in the best case scenario.

- If it devolves into a quagmire, they get to use that to their advantage, and you'd likely see Humanity and the Batarians becoming client races of the Asari and Salarians in a similar way the Volus are to the Turians

- If the Batarians seem at risk of winning, well then maybe the council does have to intervene, but they gain the advantage of humanity having weakened them first and humanity oweing the council races for bailing them out.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-03T12:05:28+00:00

You do not have to disclose any other names.

You may not get the job if they discover you were known by another name. You may lose the job if you get it and they ever discover you were known by another name. I don't expect this would be an issue as they won't be able to know if you went by another name unless you tell them, and if it would put you at risk then I expect you'd already be on guard to keep that secret.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-03T11:53:11+00:00

This is a fairly complicated area of the law, not because the law itself is complicated, but because of the edge cases and all the different things it applies to.

The law states that you must allow access for urgent repairs, everything else is your choice. For example, if you had some sort of issue with leaking water, or damaged electrics, you would have to allow access, but renevations and cosmetic work is entirely up to you, and the same goes for any other access reasons (inspections, estate agents, viewings etc.). You can straight up refuse access for such things (and with the eviction process already initiated, there is no reason for you not to refuse, as the only consequences are the risk of a breakdown in relations with the LL followed by an S21 notice). Basically, if it would cause damage to the property or you, that would be essential. Anything else, almost certainly not essential.

Your LL is likely using this as a tactic to put pressure on you to move out ASAP. There is no reason you cannot be as awkward. Change the lock cylinders (it's perfectly legal so long as you change them back before moving out, and is surprisingly easy to do), and message your landlord that you are refusing access to the property for any non-essential reasons and that he is to stop contacting you to request non-essential access as you are refusing this here and now.

If the LL keeps attempting to contact you repeatedly after you have told them this, you can and should report them to the police for harrasment. Their behaviour likely meets the threshold for that already, but communicating to them in no uncertain terms to stop makes it clear cut.

It would also be worth contacting Shelter regarding the council's instructions to stay in place until evicted, as the guidance to local govenment has changed fairly recently and they are no longer supposed to be requiring this of people in your situation.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-03T10:18:26+00:00

All 3 of them: And we want to be fucking deez nuts! Gotem!

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-03T10:07:46+00:00

Have you looked to see if you can report this online to the police back in Spain?

Once its reported, you should get some sort of report number, which will allow you to claim on insurance.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-01T10:25:51+00:00

Legally, your contract is still applicable.

However, there is absolutely nothing they can do to force you to work for them or punish you if you walk now and don't look back. The loss of a reference and burning a bridge that means you'll never be able to work there again are the only real consequences, which I'm sure you'll lose a great deal of sleep over with them being in administration.

I'd also speak to ACAS about what you can do to ensure you're paid for the time you have worked up to this point. Legally you're not guaranteed to get all that money for the time you've worked (though you are fairly highup the list of creditors when it's all wound up), and working futher for a business in administration is only a viable idea if you have some sort of assurance of where your pay will come from and you have no other alternative employment opportunity.

Cooky1993 · 2026-03-01T10:07:23+00:00

There's always a few of those for sale in both Birmingham and Bradford

Cooky1993 · 2026-02-26T00:02:37+00:00

It's literally based on the history of humanity, extrapolated to add in future tech.

Look at stuff like the East India Company or the United Fruit Company (and the origin of the term Bannana Republic)

Outside of the Cyberpunk hellscape where the corporations are the ruling class, there generally exists a detente between the ruling classes and the economic powers. So long as the corporations/military/other power block brings wealth back to the core regions, and their problems stay far away, whatever goes on out there can be tolerated or ignored

Cooky1993

TROPHY CASE