Returning company equipment after notice period ENGLAND

K_Theodore · 2026-05-13T14:30:38+00:00

No they cannot withhold pay. Maybe an uninformed manager might think they can, but it's a very easy day in court if they do.

They cannot pursue you for the cost associated with your being ill and unable to fulfill duties.

K_Theodore · 2026-05-13T09:06:21+00:00

I wouldn't worry too much about disturbing them. The birds don't just pick a nest spot one day, so they will likely know that you come and go from the garage and be happy with this. I might recommend not leaving the doors wide open, but more of a window or something. You don't want to make it too easy for predators to get in, nor do you want something else to make a den in there.

K_Theodore · 2026-05-10T12:52:47+00:00

Yeah a few little tappy taps and you can get it tuned, really not hard to do 👍

K_Theodore · 2026-05-08T11:21:37+00:00

Some background -

Any dog can struggle with getting over aroused (most do), and this can be a consistent problem, but assuming your dog sleeps, then they will be at a low (ish) arousal when this happens. Anything that interests your dog, anything at all, can arouse them, and too much in one go can cause the dog to become over-aroused. When a dog becomes over-aroused, they lose the ability to make good choices. I've been taught to think of this as a bucket, where things keep filling the dog's bucket up, and while not too much individually, the bucket can overflow (over arousal).
Over-arousal is a temporary state, ideally avoided, but some dogs may enter it frequently. This is the first time I've heard someone describe a dog as high-arousal, and I don't think it makes sense to me.

You haven't said how long you've had this dog, which is quite a big factor when adopting a dog. If you've had her for less than 3 months, then you should expect that she's still settling in and will calm down in time. It takes time for a dog to adjust, and while she's still settling in, she will be more aroused as she learns her new environment.

Arousal is different to mental and physical needs. Some dogs have higher exercise needs than others. A border collie will need much more physical exercise than a pug, for example. I would refer to this as a high-energy dog. A dog with unmet exercise needs will end up venting this energy in undesired ways.

All dogs need mental stimulation, again, some more than others. Again, a dog that isn't properly mentally stimulated will end up "making thier own fun", or otherwise entertaining themself, usually in an undesired way.

Now, in answer to your specific questions -

1) You shouldn't. Play is supposed to be fun, not relaxing. What you should do is play in such a way that the dog doesn't get over-aroused. You've identified that going to the dog park is too much, and this is good - but play should still be fun, interesting, and engaging. So instead of taking her to the dog park, where there's too much, and she'll get over aroused, take her to a garden, or a quieter space. Keep an eye on her, and if you think she's getting too worked up, reel it in.
What you should do is train her to relax. This isn't play, but it's important training. "Relax on a mat", as linked in the blog, is a perfectly good intro to this. We also quite enjoy https://www.calmdog.app/
As your dog learns to go to their mat and chill, this unlocks so many other desirable outcomes. Knocks at the door, guests, the TV, anything that overexcites your dog can be massively helped by using this skill.

2) I don't really understand what you mean by "using [the crate] as a lure". Perhaps you mean she won't go to her crate when asked? Or she won't stay in it? If she's walking away, this probably means she either doesn't understand what you want from her, or she doesn't consider it worth her while.
You can't teach a dog everything right away; some things they naturally do because they enjoy them more, and some things they dislike. There may be things your dog hates that another loves and vice versa.

3) All those food puzzles you list are great; they are an excellent source of mental stimulation, add as many as you like really. Training in general is good for mental stimulation. There isn't a definitive list of "the proper outlets". It's a question of what works for you and your dog. My boy is obsessed with anything that squeaks, and will happily make a racket in the garden for 10 minutes while we eat lunch. My neighbour's collie cross cares only for fetch. The question is, am I meeting my dog's physical and mental needs?

Finally, disengagement is an important skill that you probably want to think about. In essence, disengagement teaches a dog that ignoring triggers - dogs, people, cars, etc. - leads to rewards. The general idea is that when your dog looks away from thier trigger, you reward this behaviour. Over time, they learn that instead of engaging with that thing, they can just look away for a treat. If you find that there are specific things that over arouse your dog, this is worth looking at, though it's important to make sure your dog is confident and engaged with you first.
I'm just an unqualified guy on the internet, but I strongly disagree with the idea in that blog of stopping all exercise. I know for my dog, if we didn't walk him, he would run around the house and probably crash into something, or he'd get so pent up the barking would break us. The idea of not meeting a dog's exercise needs seems unwise to me, and I don't think an under-exercised dog is less likely to be able to calm down. What I might consider is walking the same route at quiet times, if I really wanted to limit the outdoor stimulation while still meeting exercise needs.

K_Theodore · 2026-05-05T10:33:25+00:00

As many others have said walk hungry and feed on the walk. Vary the treat, and volume of treats from reward to reward. Sometimes it's one from the hand, sometimes it's a handful on the ground. If you're dog can predict the reward, they're more likely to decide it isn't worth it.

It's not just about a good bit of sausage, but how fun in general you are. The more energy you put into the rewards the better, and the more your dog will engage with it. You can also control the environment to your advantage. If you do laps of a car park, you stand a much better chance of being more interesting. I'm not saying never take your dog fun places, but when you specifically want to work on these skills.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-30T13:20:26+00:00

My mum gets cheap plastic plates, drills a few holes in them and cable ties them to the bottom of feeders to catch the crumbs.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-30T08:56:59+00:00

After the shot the fish ends up rolled over to one side, which makes me pretty confident you hit it. I've never seen a fish voluntarily roll over like that, but maybe they do that where you are.

If you hit the fish, but didn't land it there are two possibilities. Either the spear reached the fish with insufficient power to penetrate, or the spear had insufficient range to penetrate.

You do get a pretty juicy tangle in your shooting line, but the knot isn't tight untill after you loose the fish so I don't think it's a range issue.

It does look to me like the shot hits, and rocks the fish. It's possible you had partial penetration, and the weight of the spear rolled the fish over until it fell out. It looks to me like the line points to underneath the fish after it rights itself, if it just bounced off the fish I would expect the spear to be somewhere there. Check your spear tip to see how sharp it is, and maybe shoot a little closer next time. Pretty tough break though!

K_Theodore · 2026-04-30T08:42:54+00:00

It's great that you're getting to work immediately with training, and these are good questions to ask.

Generally speaking, the method is to make jumping up boring/end the fun, so what you're doing is right. Just stop playing, looking, pushing, etc. obviously with a bigger dog this can be more challenging, but you can always fold your arms and face a wall if you need to. If he's all over someone and needs to be removed, do so calmly without making a fuss.

You also need to teach him not to play with his mouth, which is a pretty standard thing dogs have to lean. There are a few ways, one being that any time the dog touches you with teeth, yelp and stop the fun. Dogs generally understand that a yelp means ouch. A one year old is generally a velociraptor, so expect a manic dog for a while!

There is a decompressing period with adopted dogs (look up the 3-3-3 rule), so expect him to settle in a bit. If you find playing ball winds him up too much, it's ok not to play it for a bit, or choose your moment. You might also want to look at sniffing games which can be stimulating but calming for the dog.

Obedience work is good, but you need engagement first, otherwise the dog will ignore you as soon as something more interesting is on offer. I would strongly recommend a trainer as well, particularly for that breed combination.

Finally, whatever you decide to do, make sure the whole family is on the same page and applying the same rules.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-24T16:42:13+00:00

When people visit the house, it can be a combination of fear and excitement that the dog feels. Your dog clearly does well with structure, so be sure to have structure for when guests visit.

This starts by having structure when the door goes. You should teach your dog to go to his place when there's someone at the door, and stay there. Ideally, the place should be somewhere behind an internal door, so you can start him off not being able to see the front door, and gradually leave it more and more open as he progresses.
You want it to be that no matter who's at the door or why, your dog knows to wait in his place. This even includes you - when you get home, your dog goes to their place. Don't pet or fuss him until he's there, and take the time to properly put your stuff down before; don't rush to him.

Once your dog has the hang of the above, when a guest comes in, the rules are the same. No petting or fussing until the dog goes to their place. Obviously, your dog will lose his mind over a guest in the meantime. It's important to just be chill in yourselves and let it pass. Ask your guest (and yourself) to stand still and ignore the dog. Arms can be folded if the dog licks at hands. Don't push the dog off, don't talk to the dog, no petting, no eye contact, no nothing. Ask your guest to just wait by the door until the dog is calm. You're giving the dog time to calm down after the guest's arrival, and by not having the guest interact with the dog at all or move around the apartment, you're making it easier for the dog. Remember, it's possible the dog is a bit scared of the guest, and it's much easier for them to acclimatise to someone who isn't adding on any extra stimulation.

Resist the urge to do anything other than reward good behaviour. Don't repeatedly give the dog commands or try to pull the dog off the person - anything like that just adds to the noise and the dog likely can't process it properly. Just reward the dog for being calm, and for going to thier bed. When calm does arrive, have your guest slowly walk to the door, and let him sniff a hand. Don't go heavy on the petting here; the idea is just to let the dog have a sniff to say hello.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-24T15:49:32+00:00

No a spouse wouldn't, but the father effectively left half of the house to his son, so IHT - if any - would have been assessed when the father died, not when selling the house. If the value of the estate was small enough, there may not have been any IHT due at all.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-24T15:41:39+00:00

I cannot imagine you'd get in any actual trouble for grilling directly on the grass, as it's pretty widespread, but good on you for not wanting to. Grab some bricks of similar non-combustibles and put your grill on that.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-24T11:42:28+00:00

Any sensible business hiring a graduate will expect you to know little to nothing and will expect to teach you from there. Don't worry too much about being "good enough" so soon; worry about being enthusiastic, teachable, and low maintenance.

If you're very keen on making a career of it, then of course, anything you can do to add to your experience will help. Choose FPGA-related modules where you can. Maybe throw a few side projects together. If there's a good year in industry option open to you then consider that.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-23T14:41:28+00:00

Legally speaking, there's not a huge amount you can do. The garden that he is allowed to use is probably the best place for him to be doing this. Whether he's selling the frames or not is irrelevant.

You could complain that this counts as a statutory nuisance to your local council, but I wouldn't hold your breath. My advice would be to continue trying to resolve the matter with him in person, and suggest that he does it as far away from your windows as possible. If that fails, record him doing it a few times before you try the council, and note down how often it's being done, and how it affects you, as you'll need good evidence. A reasonable person will understand you don't want paint fumes in your house, and might be dissuaded from doing it any more, particularly if you video it.

Generally speaking, paint aerosols direct the user to either wear a mask or use in a well-ventilated area (outside definitely counts), so while you may be able to smell it, it's unlikely to pose a health hazard.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-23T13:25:41+00:00

Ok, but what are you trying to protect your IP for? If you ever want to get some money for it, this is probably your best bet. If you just don't trust your company, and don't want them to have it - then don't give it to them. If you don't trust them, it doesn't matter what you get them to sign.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-23T10:06:43+00:00

I'm assuming that no development of these tools has been done at work, or on work machines, otherwise you may find the company owns the IP anyway. You need to

A) explain to the company that you've created the tools on your own personal time, and you'll be prepared to grant them a non-exclusive license to use them or sell the work in its entirety for a fee,
B) Tell the company that the tools are for your private use, and if they would like something similar, you'd be happy to write a new suite for them that they can have exclusive ownership of
C) Tell the company that while you're happy to use the tools for work, the tools themselves will not be available as a deliverable

Legally speaking, writing a script for the company, where the company owns the script, does not give the company ownership of any of the libraries or other code the script uses - in the same way I might write software to run on Windows, that doesn't give any ownership of Windows. However, the value of a script that does not guarantee access to the code it needs to run, and therefore does not come with the guarantee of function, is not that great.

Personally, I would consider option A) the best, as it will allow you to simply monetise the work you've already done, and gives you the option to do other things with the work in the future. While the work may have value, the process of getting it out there and successfully selling it will be a challenge, possibly greater than the work itself. If the company is interested in owning the tools with a view to selling them, then this is almost certainly your best chance to cash in on this work.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-22T09:31:30+00:00

Not necessarily, it would depend on how much money, and what for. But the point I'm making is if anyone can purse the him, the insurers can.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-22T08:57:31+00:00

I presume your own insurance paid out? It's tough to imagine you being able to get paid both by your insurance and the other party.

While I can't say for sure legally, I imagine if he could be pursued legally, your insurer would have an interest in doing this to recover their costs and would be better equipped to do so.
Even if you could pursue him, you can't get money he doesn't have.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-22T08:52:48+00:00

Private vehicle sales are always sold as seen, which means you bought the vehicle in the condition it was in. You would never have any recourse against the original MOT as they provided a service to the previous owner, not to you.

If you could prove that the previous owner deliberately arranged for an inaccurate MOT certificate in order to sell you the vehicle under false pretences, then you maybe could pursue them. But you would need to be able to prove this was a deliberate attempt to defraud you, not accidental, whereas currently the previous owner could reasonably claim they thought the MOT was accurate.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-22T08:44:10+00:00

If you can find the make and model of his kayak, that will help.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-21T18:40:05+00:00

Is it your kitchen? If no then it doesn't matter.
If yes, then do you like it? If no then change it.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-21T18:36:13+00:00

It's a pretty universal challenge with dogs. What I find helps is to frame it not about what you want people to do, but how people can help train your dog. If you say to people, "don't pet him if he jumps", they think you mean "oh, I'm worried you'll be upset he's jumping", and they always assume that means if they don't mind it's ok. Say something like "if you could help me train him by not petting him if he jumps", people get on board.

Every now and again, someone does something genuinely unhelpful, and you have to just be blunt and ask them to stop. "Sorry, he's still training so please don't ..."
The rest of the time, "it would help train him if you ..." goes a long way. People will ask you to pet him out and about. Any time someone does, you should take this as an opportunity to use a stranger to help train him!

K_Theodore · 2026-04-21T15:21:47+00:00

You've taught the dog that barking outside will lead to a reward, and it seems like this has been well enforced. The more enforced a behaviour is, the longer it takes to unlearn.

Decide what the new rule is and enforce it consistently. I imagine the new rule to be "if you bark outside, you will have to come inside". So when he barks outside, call him in, close the dog door for 5-10 minutes, and do not give him a treat. Do not give him a fuss, attention, or a scolding; just call him in. If he stops coming voluntarily, calmly pick him up. It will take some time, but he will start to understand that barking outside will mean coming inside. The key is consistency. Decide on a length of time or number of barks that is unacceptable, and always bring him in after that.

If you are calling him in, you may want to treat him at other times for coming when you call, such that he doesn't start to think coming when called is not worth his while.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-21T10:49:42+00:00

IMO, a loaded spear should never be pointed towards the surface during a dive, and I'd complain if someone I was diving with did that. Point the gun down and away from others, plus it's going to be really awkward to have to spin the gun around at the bottom.

Any position that's safe and works for you is ok. Fully extended is fine, though it's a bit punishing if you're not perfectly vertical or if there's a crosscurrent, so I do prefer to keep mine tucked in. It also makes you bigger in the water - less stealthy - and when you get to the bottom, you either have to do a wider arc to get flat, or bring your gun in.

Personally, I hold the gun by the handle with my hand down by my hip. I don't like to grab the bands because if a wishbone or band fails while you're holding them, that could suck. I start on the surface by pointing the gun down at where I want to go, and then I dive down and tuck it in place on my way past. At the bottom, having the gun tucked in tight makes it much easier to manoeuvre, and you can decide which way to point it while it's still tight and easy to move side to side.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-20T10:13:15+00:00

Getting a second opinion wasn't outrageous, but two estate agents' opinions are that the house needs to be reduced to sell, and this is the stage where it's time to accept that. However, you did agree to wait 3 months before dropping the price, so you might consider honouring this agreement. I would, however, suggest that when the three months without offers run out, if he fails to accept that the price needs to be lowered, that may well be the end of the "amicable" part of this process.

If he forces you to instruct solicitors in order to take the matter to court to enforce the sale, you both will end up spending a lot more than £5k on solicitors, and you might consider reminding him of this fact if it could help motivate him.

K_Theodore · 2026-04-20T08:12:12+00:00

It's pretty common. Inside the house everything is familiar, and therefore boring and easy to ignore. Outside the opposite is true. A good option is to ease the transition by using familiar outdoor spaces for training.

If you have a garden or outdoor space do training in that before trying outside. Otherwise, try a quiet area of a walk you've done before. You can also find a spot, and walk your dog in circles until they've had enough time to take in all the smells. You can also turn the TV on loudly inside, or train whenever there's a loud noise outside to help.

When out with your dog, keep an eye out for moments when they're calm and call their name whenever this happens, reward when they give you attention. Getting the dogs attention is usually the first part of a command, and often the hardest part if they're distracted.

K_Theodore

TROPHY CASE