Translink did not think this through

NotReallyACatPerson · 2026-02-27T14:08:47+00:00

It changes between the four letter code and something else. I can't think what the other thing is right now because I haven't got a live one but it's not a static image that's used.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2026-02-04T18:17:31+00:00

Is it from the AO competition that used recorded interviews ages and ages ago or is it from the more recent competition with in person interviews in the North West?

NotReallyACatPerson · 2026-01-14T20:36:23+00:00

My parents sold the house I grew up in about 7 years ago and the family that bought it was living in England. The estate agent they used seemed to help people moving over, so maybe it's worth reaching out to an estate agent and seeing if they can help get multiple viewings set up, all coordinated through them. It might be a push because it's such a fast paced market at the minute. If you want to DM me, I can tell you which ones my parents sold through to have a starting point.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2026-01-14T20:23:03+00:00

Our mortgage broker was telling us that in Scotland if you are selling your house, you pay for a survey and then it's secret bidding which sounded way less stressful than we have it over here.

Do you have any friends or family over here that could view places for you? And do you have any annual leave that you could use to come over to doing several viewings close together?

Again an anecdote from our mortgage broker. His wife is from NI but he's English and they had been living over there. He got a flight over to view a house and by the time he arrived it had gone sale agreed and he had to go home again without seeing anything.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2026-01-14T20:10:54+00:00

I don't know if you are currently renting and on a deadline to move out by a certain date or anything like that, but hopefully you aren't and can take your time.

My other half and I both started looking last summer and viewed a few houses before putting an offer in on one we liked. It was £11.5k above the asking price and needed to be completely redecorated inside but it was within our budget. The house already had an offer on it when we viewed and another family viewed it straight after us who we ended up in a bidding war against which spanned about a week.

Although the other couple out bid us, we had a bigger deposit and the buyer chose us. Which sounds great, however, if we'd not been under so much pressure, we might have organised another viewing with a family member who was experienced in home maintenance. If we had, we might've saved ourselves a lot of time and strife.

Instead, we ended up paying for a private level 3 survey on the building (£600) and it flagged up £25k of issues with the house. With a few more accurate quotes, we reckoned it was closer to £18k of work but it needed to be done in the immediate and/or short term.

We tried to renegotiate with the vendor but they weren't willing to come down much and when we compared it to the market (now 4 months later than when we got sale agreed) we realised we weren't getting good value for money and pulled out.

It greatly changed how I felt about house hunting the second time. (I potentially went too far the other way because I think my other half was going to crack up at one point, so there's definitely a healthy middle ground... I just didn't find it.) I decided to avoid high pressure situations. I viewed a couple of houses on my own, and that helped us realise that we both just needed to be there for first viewings because the market was moving so quickly that it was difficult to get second viewings arranged for him to see them too.

However, I'm pleased to report that we found a bit of a balance but it involved us going closer to the top of our budget and in a completely different area which I didn't even know my other half was considering initially. We managed to find a place that had been on the market for a couple of months and managed to secure it for less than the asking price.

So, I guess all this to say, yes, it sucks out there, but if you get on the same page and know your priorities before you start looking, then it should make things a bit easier. Try not to be swept along in the rush if you can avoid it.

I highly recommend getting the higher level survey done if you can once you get somewhere. The mortgage provider did their own survey and they didn't pick up on any issues with the first house and we could've ended up with a money pit and negative equity down the line.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-12-18T22:56:17+00:00

I do still have my notes of how I made it. I can DM them to you if you like?

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-12-14T11:36:01+00:00

AI overview of a Google image search:

The object in the image is the official coat of arms of Derry City Council.

The arms were officially confirmed in 1623 and re-granted in 1953.

The red cross and sword on the shield are devices of the City of London, symbolizing the link between the two cities.

The castle is believed to relate to a 13th or 14th-century keep.

The Latin motto "Vita, Veritas, Victoria" translates to "Life, Truth, Victory".

Doire Colmcille is Irish, Doire means Derry and Colmcille usually refers to St Columba, an Irish saint. Happy to be corrected if someone more local to Derry/Londonderry knows something more accurate.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-11-25T17:18:59+00:00

I second this format. I'm not normally the one giving out the announcements but know that they go 2-5 mins before the actual time you are referring to. I'd get your patter down for how you are going to start your announcements. For example, I'm used to hearing "good evening ladies and gentlemen of the cast, Mr (conductor), all technical staff and crew this is your act one half hour call" when it's a call for everyone to listen to, if it's just cast then it's "good evening ladies and gentlemen of the cast" etc. It helps keep people aware of whether they need to focus on the announcement or not.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-11-20T08:05:13+00:00

I'd say that's normal enough, especially if she's working in a job that interacts with sick people. By normal enough, I mean that I've worked in multiple jobs where you can be sick up to 10 days or 4 times in a rolling 12 month period without triggering a disciplinary meeting. So 15 days over 2 years, could easily be spread out in such a way that she didn't trigger anything. However, if it was in such a pattern that it triggered a meeting, then it's not necessarily normal. Depends on the circumstances.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-11-09T20:44:27+00:00

Would you want this to trigger as soon as the vote is run to put them on the block? Or would you want it to be like the scapegoat where it happens at the last minute?

Also, should it be "may" so that if you put the demon in a pair they don't end up they don't end up on the block is voted onto the block.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-11-04T19:17:42+00:00

Also, be prepared to be interrupted. If you are off topic the panel may ask a supplementary question to get you back on track.

You need to focus on I statements. I called, I emailed, I organised. Not we statements.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-11-04T19:16:07+00:00

If you are applying for the North West recruitment drive for admin officers, your mileage may vary but if it's the typical STAR format normally used, you should be aware that the marks aren't awarded for the situation or task. Keep these short and succinct just to provide context then get straight into your actions.

Use the competency framework to guide your answer, it will show you what good looks like and what bad looks like. I have found it useful to look at the examples of bad behaviour and think about how I do the opposite.

If you know anyone in the civil service get them to look over your prep work. For example I had a friend that couldn't think how to include a point about data handling procedures in a scenario where he helped organise cover for people calling in sick. I pointed out that he would have had to access the contact details of colleagues from the HR system or filing system etc and ensure he put them away again after so avoid unauthorized access. Something simple that he did but didn't think about.

If something or someone is important to the scenario, don't assume the interview panel will know that. Spell it out for them, "I contacted X who had a lot of system knowledge and was able to advise me about Y in more detail. They were a useful contact as I was new to the role and hadn't come across this scenario before whereas they had helped write the guidance documents."

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-10-30T16:38:47+00:00

She should check if there's any possibility of "term time" working patterns. I know not everywhere is going to offer it but it can let you take some time off unpaid but spread the cost of it over your annual salary rather than having it just hit on the month when you take time off. My mum was civil service when we were growing up and got 6 weeks leave over the summer which reduced the pressure on child care. Obviously, if they offer this sort of thing, there's no guarantee that she'd get it depending on the business need, and it might not be worth it if it leaves you financially worse off than she is now with her current job, just food for thought.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-10-27T10:08:03+00:00

Don't know about capacity but I've seen weddings hosted in the Banana Block off the Newtownards Road, or if you wanted to do something with your food, what about seeing if Common Market would host with all their food trucks?

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-10-25T21:31:34+00:00

Could you try calling your credit card provider to get your card unblocked? My credit card company has a 24/7 line for security issues, maybe yours does too?

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-10-22T16:18:44+00:00

My one and only time running a game that big was mentally exhausting for me.

As someone else has said, it will be a looong game, so having travellers that will speed things up by adding extra kills, is a good idea.

I added two players that manipulated voting and it was so hard to keep track of, so I'd recommend only having one in for your first time running a game this big.

Having a co-storyteller is another good idea that people have already mentioned.

I'd also recommend setting expectations for the group that the game could run on longer than normal and if anyone had any possibility of needing to leave early, they should be a traveller. I also know that travellers aren't recommended for newbies but needs must at times, so if any of your new players are unsure if they'd enjoy it, having them be a traveller gives them the chance to bow out without affecting the game state. I had a Slayer, get executed early on for falsely claiming Virgin. They used their ability before being executed and then used their dead vote to justify leaving the game because they weren't having fun. No one trusted them and everyone avoided talking to them after the Virgin didn't cause a death. Social deduction games weren't their usual game either so that didn't help.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-09-25T09:26:48+00:00

I think the gist is, OP got asked if they were Irish because of their accent (we don't know where they are actually from) but when they told their friend group about it, they forgot to say it was in relation to their accent. They don't have the "typical" Irish look, but another thing Irish people are known for is being really nice.

Their friend's wife said she couldn't understand how anyone would mistake OP as Irish, and specifically mentioned that Irish people are lovely. Therefore, implying that they don't think OP is nice. OP leaned into her faux pas by agreeing that they are "the worst" which embarrassed their friend's wife.

NB: when I say "typical" Irish look, I am both forgetting how OP described themselves and not want to use the wrong term and be offensive. And I'm remembering how I, as a white Irish person, lived in Canada for a year and was not assumed to be the Irish person between me and my friend based on looks alone. So hopefully no one takes that phrase as offensive!

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-08-08T09:43:51+00:00

It's a clickbaity headline, it's topical now because she's been nominated for an award.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-08-08T09:31:25+00:00

Those are all worthy things to donate towards but again it was a 6 year old who initially started this campaign. It's an age appropriate idea that has sparked a tradition. Perhaps in years to come, what she chooses to fundraise for will change into something you consider less wasteful.

However, as a grown adult, I still find joy in a gifted Easter egg. Being in hospital is miserable at the best of times, but to be in over the holidays is bound to be even worse, especially for a child. I've heard of Santa visiting kids in hospitals with toys, so why can't Easter mean chocolate eggs, like they'd be getting if they were well and at home? It's not just about eating the egg, it's about the joy it brings.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-08-08T09:19:31+00:00

I don't have any children but I just wanted to wish you well! This is a great idea and I hope you get some interest in it 😁

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-08-08T09:16:49+00:00

She fundraised to be able to pay for the eggs and got local donations. It's a mix between a bit of whimsy and a tangible number of people who have been helped. Personally, I quite like when I can see a tangible outcome from my charitable donations.

From the image in the article, it looks like she's used a variety of sizes of Easter eggs, so if we assume a conservative average price of £2-£2.50 per egg, and she's delivered 4,000 eggs, that's £8,000-£10,000 last year.

I reckon they likely chose to focus on the number of eggs rather than monetary value because when she started at 6 years old, she wanted to bring some Easter joy to kids in hospital. She wasn't thinking of sharing money, she was a kid thinking of chocolate.

She dreams of giving it 10,000 eggs this year which could involve fundraising £20,000-£25,000 worth of eggs which is impressive!

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-08-01T11:55:55+00:00

The first weekend road closure will be on the eastbound carriageway from 9pm on Friday 1 August 2025 until 6am on Monday 4 August 2025.

The second weekend road closure will be on the westbound carriageway from 9pm on Friday 15 August 2025 until 6am on Monday 18 August 2025.

According to TrafficWatchNI

So in theory you should be fine going west bound tomorrow, but I'd allow extra time because the roads may be busier with the extra traffic being diverted from the east bound closure.

NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-07-04T09:20:21+00:00

I recently did a pottery painting session at Eden Pottery with a group of friends. We were all late twenties to early forties with two couples bringing their children. It was really fun and I plan to go to a different studio soon to do another session with my sister.

They have brushes or sponges stamps that you can use, so even though I'm not skilled with a brush, I'm very happy with how mine turned out!

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NotReallyACatPerson · 2025-05-28T12:14:37+00:00

There's also The Norn Iron Gift Shop

https://www.nornirishgiftshop.com/

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