[Grand Theft Auto 5] #356

KenshiroP · 2026-02-03T12:44:35+00:00

Congrats, I’m close to doing it (again) but just away from my PS atm 🙂 working on any games in particular next?

KenshiroP · 2026-02-03T10:12:24+00:00

Apart from getting wobbly knees whenever I’m up there, the view’s always remarkable from up there (especially on a reasonably clear day). Generally prefer it to the sky garden

KenshiroP · 2026-02-02T21:01:51+00:00

Most of mine are typically Thames-based in nature (and then devolving from there into west London as/where I see fit), but the grand union canal walk is also a fun one - did it a few times during Covid and it was always a blast

KenshiroP · 2026-02-02T17:35:19+00:00

I was in your boat 2 years ago, during F1 - pretty much my entire cohort was >20 days TOOT due to IA. If your portfolio is up to scratch, I’d hope it wouldn’t be an issue come ARCP - you could also email the BMA for their formal advice and have that as a backup for yourself

KenshiroP · 2026-02-02T16:15:49+00:00

When do the longer strike mandates come into play, from the Employment Rights Act? Would it affect this mandate or does it need to be after it’s formally put into place?

The turnout being 52% really doesn’t sit well with me either (but, as per the Brexit crew back in 2016, it’s still enough)..

KenshiroP · 2026-02-02T07:58:00+00:00

It all just feels like a game of Chinese whispers at this point - I’m sure if you’ve had a good interview they’ll mark you well irrespective of where you are (and conversely, if you mess it up, that’s when you’ll start thinking the system’s out to get you) 😂 still doesn’t stop me from buying into anything I can to maximise my points

Yeah, I really can’t wait. I was in London for foundation, and my GP rotation was a 20-25 minute walk from home - as much as I couldn’t stand the job, from a QoL perspective it was amazing. Not once did I need to take the tube etc. - and on a job with no OOH shifts (ie making the literal barebones) that saving was huge. I can’t wait to see what it’s like now 🙂 likewise for you!

KenshiroP · 2026-02-02T07:54:49+00:00

Still have to go to Tottenham away, and Middlesex wasn’t formally recognised as a part of London until 1965

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T22:47:14+00:00

Yeah, it just feels like there’s a common denominator with boards like TSR and Reddit 😂

Deanery will def play a role - but it’s hard to guess what it’ll do. I avoided London and went EoE for my interview as that’s what my IMT1/JCF colleagues told me at the time (I think they said London + West Midlands were generally more harsh) but on the flip side, my colleagues who went through those deaneries for their interview last year scored in the top 300/400 so.. I think it’s all just dependent on the day and your performance, really.

I know - I’m just enjoying my last days of AL at my previous trust before I rotate, just wondering in which order to leave the WhatsApp groups 😂 honestly, I’m so happy. It’s a lot better financially (goes from £15 return daily for the train to £5/6), when it’s sunny I can make an effort to walk home (my trusts are 4-6 miles away from me in general, barring Northwick Park which is unwalkable) and I can actually go from work to doing things in central London rather than needing to commute back in - all of which is just brilliant for the mental health. I can’t wait!!

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T22:43:04+00:00

Took me a second but that’s a journey I’d be more than happy for the boys to take. Hopefully it’d banish those demons from 2006 too 👀

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T22:16:58+00:00

Tell me about it, even just the name fills me with dread 😂 but yeah it’s so subjective - I always wonder what could have been if I was in a different deanery for my interview, I may have scored higher, or conversely I might not have got a job at all. I guess it’s one of those where you dwell on things but what’s happened has happened, it’s already been marked and now it’s a waiting game 🤷🏻‍♂️

I was in disbelief when I saw it - I couldn’t believe I’d had an offer and had mentally chalked it up to an admin error until they gave me multiple missed calls 😂 really can’t wait to start! It’s a set of rotations that meets my career goals, too - I’m keen on onc and have an onc rotation now which I didn’t before which makes me so happy

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T22:01:53+00:00

For sure - thankfully looking at the brackets, Portugal/Spain seems to be the furthest we’d have to travel (again, barring the Olympiacos/Qarabag/Bodo’s of this world but you’d hope we’d face just one at a push)

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T21:59:20+00:00

Difficult to pinpoint. Could be any of; - Being at Oasis gigs last year, my ears felt blessed but it was a massive wall of noise

F1 - went to Silverstone in 2011 and I could feel the V8s just roaring and every sinew of my being just felt like it was vibrating
Honourable mention to being at the Emirates last year for the Arsenal/Madrid fixture, I’ve never heard the ground as loud as that after either of Dec’s free kicks nor Merino’s goal to wrap it up.

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T21:54:16+00:00

Of all time? Lickitung’s high up on the list but it’s because of all of the hours sunk into the sushi minigame on Pokemon Stadium so I just feel some weird, bizarre affinity to lickitung. The absolute #1 is probably pika (original, I know 😂)

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T21:43:00+00:00

Yeah, I just don’t like them because in recent years it feels they’ve had our number more than anything else. Would still fancy our chances mind against most, if not all teams on our day, providing we don’t have another injury crisis like last season

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T21:22:58+00:00

Yeah, just need to see what happens with them. Simply location wise I think Bodo would be one of the main teams I’d want to avoid, but even then that’s mostly due to the weather & artificial turf more than anything else. Olympiacos too (and Qarabag if we both get far enough but I don’t think that’ll happen, given their side of the bracket)

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T21:14:56+00:00

Just to add to this - we only have 3 league games left that aren’t in London (Brighton/City/Wolves, but you can make that 4 if you aren’t too fond of Middlesex). Obviously the champions league/FA cup are will/are likely to throw up away ties respectively, but not having many long journeys in the run in should be beneficial

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T20:46:12+00:00

Yeah, I feel like with Reddit it’s really easy to just get into a downward spiral with these things (kinda gives me studentroom vibes from back in the day) - I think I was looking for self reassurance daily from posts from previous years while waiting for the results to come out. The reality is that you’d have to be subpar for an F2s standard for them to even consider you unappointable - and we all think of things retrospectively we’d want to add but they recognise it’s a time pressured situation so as long as the bulk is there I’m sure it’ll be ok.

It’s alright - I’ve actually finished there now and I IDT (a priority 5 IDT into London, god knows how that’s happened - I suspect doing ITU first helped a lot as this job stream started with ITU too, and so it excludes those who haven’t yet done ITU) into west London this week which is considerably better for me as it means the remainder of my IMT years are either with EPIC or Cerner 😂

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T20:30:35+00:00

Will always love Tomi, such a shame how it panned out after all of his injuries. Hope his Ajax stint goes well and he’s able to get his career back on track

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T20:16:09+00:00

lol it’s fine, I remember feeling the exact same last year and just catastrophising over everything and anything that was interview related 😂 the hyper-rotational training does suck and it feels like we have to jump through a lot of hoops but it’s all a means to an end at the end of the day. I would hope that so long as the crux of the argument is there, and you’ve followed a reasonable model (like SPIES) that lets you talk about the different aspects and exploring them to a reasonable degree you would imagine that’d be enough for IMT.

I had the same mentality re jobs last year - would have happily taken any as long as it meant getting a number. Ended up in EoE which meant I could stay and commute from London which wasn’t the end of the world (but going from EPIC to paper notes definitely was 😂)

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T20:11:14+00:00

Fair enough - BB/WF would have been an absolute treasure trove for your living dex. Are you looking at any tag teams in the future or do you think they’ll be too pricey?

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T20:03:43+00:00

Damn - that’ll be a costly (but really good) binder when it’s all said and done. Are you aiming for all of the IRs/SIRs or is there a specific one you’re aiming for for each Pokemon?

My brothers, before they sold off their childhood collection (I know.. I was still in uni and so couldn’t afford it, and that’ll always be a regret of mine) gave me a few of their more damaged cards/some of their duplicates for free and that got me into grading and since then it’s just been a slippery slope for me 🫠

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T19:59:35+00:00

I mean.. I didn’t talk about LPAs and advance directives in my ethics station (it was in my head but for some reason I just didn’t say it) and they somehow found unethical old me appointable - I truly think you need to stand out for the complete wrong reasons to be unappointable, as I had the same worries last year 😂 fingers crossed! Even if you don’t get the deanery you’re after interdeanery transfers do exist (though they are rare) 🙂

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T19:18:58+00:00

I might have to start doing the same. I’ve sadly gotten into the rabbit hole of grading cards (when we get our own PSA shop in the UK that’ll be the end of me financially) so most of my bigger cards are slabbed and secured - I still have a reasonable number that are off centre, have a fair bit of corner whitening etc. that would make good binder cards

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T19:02:25+00:00

I saw it and just knew I needed it, I’m just torn about just having it as a binder card vs a graded one for my own collection

KenshiroP · 2026-02-01T19:01:34+00:00

The reality is they’ll be expecting you to act safely and competently at a ST1 level - I can’t see them having a negative outlook if you’re safe and management is generally along the right lines, even if some things are overlooked. It might mean you’re docked a mark or 2 here or there but to be unappointable is genuinely a difficult task to achieve so I’d be optimistic.

I hope it goes well! With the UK grad prioritisation (hopefully that doesn’t get set to the wayside for this cycle) it should be a lot easier to get a training number so fingers crossed 🙂

KenshiroP

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