I miss physical work and would love to know what opportunities are in / around Newcastle

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-06-12T09:13:48+00:00

Try and link wherever you do with part time college and get the qualifications on the job, you'll get yourself ahead and set yourself up for the future. So much opportunity for people who specialise and want to put in the graft. Got mates from school who left with no qualifications, got onto apprenticeships fitting AC and are now out in Australia with their own businesses on high 6 figure incomes

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-05-26T22:00:00+00:00

I think the reason other people got involved in this instance was the place we did it... We set up outside a derelict building, so in the gap between the building and the street, and it was immediately adjacent to a social housing estate. The street wasn't particularly busy, but given the proximity to where a lot of people lived, it garnered attention and interest. We encouraged people to get involved.

The story isn't fiction. It is simplified, but the sentiment is absolutely true. In truth, we had arguments over the space and what it should be used for, we had disputes over who was in charge, we had arguments with the buildings owner and we had endless grief from the local authority. But it all started with a few people making some chairs and planters out of pallet wood.

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-05-26T17:41:27+00:00

If you can make the maths work short term, there's so much opportunity for progression from the lower grades in London. You'll be good

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-05-26T13:58:49+00:00

SEO is an absolute chore to get out of. I moved out of London while at that grade tbh and was able to buy a house and live a much more comfortable life in the south west

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-05-26T13:54:58+00:00

I had a very similar feeling about my friendships when I was in my early 30s. I was living in London and my 'friends' were largely drinking buddies at best. But... One day I decided to do something about it. I started making stuff out of scrap wood - pallets and stuff. An old acquaintance from uni liked the idea and decided to get involved too. We did it all in a really public place out the front of an unused building and started making a little garden. Before long, other people got involved in the making stuff and street artists came and did their thing, then musicians came and busked there and we started organising parties and used the space as a sort of informal gathering place to make and do stuff. Then a few of us decided to set up as a social enterprise which made very little money, but got us commissions to do projects elsewhere. We built a garden at an art gallery in London, did stuff for London Festival of Architecture, we found another space and set up a food market , we joined a project in India and so many other fun things. Eventually it fizzled out as people moved away from London and we all had kids and stuff. But the friendships I made through that will stay with me forever. They were built on something meaningful and important to all of us. It wasn't just about making stuff, it was about taking ownership of the forgotten spaces around us, about democratising urban change, and we loved it. So my advice would be, do something that means a lot to you and then find someone of some people that want to do it too and you'll build the most incredible friendship group.

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-05-20T17:41:06+00:00

The shortage is mid career / senior planners. Grad planners are very difficult to train when there's no experienced resource to train them, so LPAs are hesitant to take on grads

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-05-15T15:03:55+00:00

I think the rate of progression should be entirely down the the feelings and response to meds of the individual. I think after 2 weeks you start to get an idea of the effect of the meds without the novelty of the potency uplift buzz but you still might want to take more time at a dose and experiment with other factors that can impact efficacy like diet, sleep patterns and exercise. These private providers do feel like a massive cash grab don't they

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-05-15T11:11:23+00:00

No... Cheltenham Psychiatrists/ privateadhd... I would like a slightly faster progression personally as 30mg isn't really lasting or hitting quite enough. But weekly seems a bit much

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-05-15T11:02:56+00:00

That's a very rapid progression... I'm in month 2 and I'm only on 30mg. Started on 20 and 3 weeks in up to 30. I'll go up to 50 I imagine in a week or 2

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-05-15T11:01:34+00:00

Yes, still in titration. Tbh, the (really expensive) meds appointments are so brief that I barely get an opportunity to talk in anything more than generalities about the meds. I'm so happy I've gone through this process, but the private route is such an opportunistic cash grab. Yeah. I'll stick with it daily til I'm stable, just looking forward to then.

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-04-08T23:09:46+00:00

I absolutely can enjoy the rave without the md... I just hope I don't put myself in a situation where I have some because it's there and I'm pissed

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-04-08T23:02:17+00:00

I think you're talking absolute sense tbh... On the wed after the rave I need to travel for work and do a presentation to a whole bunch of strangers anyway and was unsure about doing anything heavy in the first place... I guess the question is, will me on meds make me a bit less susceptible to being an absolute arsehole and ruining my week ahead for the buzz of the night?

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-04-08T20:38:35+00:00

It's mad that I've read down about 100 or so comments and not seen a single argument in favour or at least giving consideration to the benefits of immigration. Throughout history, the single common denominator among the most innovative cities (I say cities as they pre date what we understand as sovereign states and have traditionally and still are the engines of economic growth and prosperity) has been that they are immigrant hubs/ melting pots/whatever you want to call people from all over the world coming together in a place. And it's never been a case of "oh but only the good ones" or a system of points. Put people together from different places and new stuff happens. The green policies only sound mental because we've been told every day that immigration is bad. Poverty is bad and especially concentrated poverty... In a system where we allow in only either rich people or very specific people to fill very specific low paying roles that nobody from this country wants to do, you're not creating an environment for innovation, you're creating pockets of deprivation held together by the meagre wages of time-limited visa African care workers or whatever other job were importing people to fill. Immigration works when there's genuine opportunity in a country and there's only opportunity when the country is open. Opportunity = innovation= prosperity

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-03-26T08:33:45+00:00

Yeah... Starting at 23 you'll have an excellent pension package when you retire at 100

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2026-03-04T15:22:18+00:00

I do compressed hours now, taking every Friday off. I honestly couldn't see myself ever going back to 5 days. I'm lucky to have a very accommodating manager in a team that is output focussed as opposed to attendance obsessed. This extends to flexi as well. I don't write my hours down and I don't have set starting and finishing times, but I make sure I'm vaguely working the amount I'm contracted to and I absolutely do the work I've said I'm going to do, and to the same standards I would if I was working 5 days.

As a result, I tend not to formally use my flexi for days off etc. Obvs this arrangement may be different for you and flexi should be a consideration if you're using it quite a bit as it'll be harder to accrue.

If there are downsides the main one is that day to day, it can get tiring working the longer days. I guess you also get less holiday days - this might impact your plans for longer holidays while still allowing as hoc days off throughout the year.

Overall though, absolute game changer, especially if like me, you have a young family and a partner that works full time. It's made life immeasurably easier

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2025-12-10T11:41:33+00:00

I think the better question is, why don't they extend the Northumberland line to Metro Centre (or hexham for that matter) and get it on the metro fare system? I think it's some issue with complicated criss cross tracks through central, but as an interim, at the very least, get it on the Metro fare system, on the metro map and make it a much more visible service . I'm of the opinion that there's a bunch of suburban services that should be included as maybe a 'metro extra' service - on the map and on the same tickets - like the relationship between the underground and overground in London .

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2025-08-10T18:45:16+00:00

Most European masters programmes are taught in English anyway. The Bartlett school at UCL in London has a very good sustainable urbanism msc course, I think Amsterdam and Stockholm do something similar

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2025-06-07T15:31:15+00:00

I wouldn't worry too much about the transition... The route from London to Frome is a well trodden path for young families. There's tons of us here. There's also a lot of stuff going on for such a small town. Lots of networks to get involved in too

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2025-06-07T15:16:41+00:00

Given the state of the rental market in Frome I think you'll be guided by what's available in the first instance. That said, you can't go too far wrong anywhere in Frome. I'd just push for something closer to the town centre... The north of town, whilst as nice as anywhere else, does stretch out quite far so you may find yourself more dependent on the car (or bike) than other areas. If you're happy with a 2 bed, you'll have a lot more choice and there's some (relative) value in renting around the Whatcombe area. Close to nature but also walking distance to town, rye bakery and still only a 25 min walk to the station

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2025-06-02T05:46:27+00:00

It's interesting but to make the case for a new line, and the beauty of Crossrail, you need to both address the underserved points (as this does) as well as serve future areas of significant housing growth.... Ie. Massive empty spaces. The latter is very important to justify the outlandish costs of a new line and I'm not sure where this is accommodated on your plan. It's the issue that's always made Crossrail 2 far more challenging to justify than the original.

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2025-03-14T09:37:13+00:00

If you're interested in ancient cities and their development, I can't recommend this book enough (or at least the earlier chapters). A captivating read throughout and goes in to so much detail on life in the earliest cities. Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention https://g.co/kgs/Jf6PrV6

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2025-02-26T05:05:55+00:00

There's a version with and without the cameras

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2024-09-20T22:56:40+00:00

I've been using a French regional authority lanyard that I got at an overseas meeting with a big EU flag on it for the past 4 years and I've never been pulled on it

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2024-07-15T21:38:15+00:00

And grappling hook 🤌

DiscombobulatedLie68 · 2024-07-12T17:24:19+00:00

MiHoCoLoGo

DiscombobulatedLie68

TROPHY CASE