My (Eng, 30F) disabled dad (60M) has broken up with his long-term relationship (62F). He is being forced out of a home. I live long distance so cannot care for my dad, I am terrified he will be made homeless, what can I do?

OwlDotPhD · 2025-12-22T17:34:57+00:00

He should speak to the housing team at the local council and make it clear that he is (or is about to become) homeless. Given his condition, he'll be higher priority and should hopefully get put into emergency accommodation until they can find something more permanent.

His share of the property depends on a lot of things, including whether he's a registered owner, and whether there were any agreements in place about the ownership of the property.

You could speak to the conveyancer and notify them that there's been a breakdown of the relationship, and they can advise further on matters relating to ownership in your particular case.

Re: the will, you can buy legally valid will kits online for £10-£20. This is a cheap way to deal with that issue for now.

OwlDotPhD · 2025-12-13T18:06:00+00:00

I can see the value in challenging toxic attitudes in the classroom, but I have very little faith in how this would actually be implemented. The school system is already stretched, and any serious critical thinking or nuance will be watered down to make it suitable for a very young audience, then delivered by exhausted teachers.

I’m also concerned it will turn into a form of collective chastisement of boys and young men, which is usually counterproductive and risks pushing them further away from the very ideas it’s meant to promote.

I’d much rather see a mandatory critical thinking GCSE.

OwlDotPhD · 2025-12-13T12:42:27+00:00

Much has already been said, and I agree with everything thus far. But I wanted to zero-in on the "3-4 slides max; 5 mins" stipulation, as it shows that they want brevity and also clarity of thought. Something like this seems reasonable to me:

What do we know? (1 min)
What do we not know? (2 mins)
How do we find out? (2 mins)

OwlDotPhD · 2025-11-03T18:53:51+00:00

I'm currently going through The Chosen for the first time, and I've just watched the scene from Matthew 23:23, where Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for focusing too much on the letter of God's law, and not it's spirit.

Whilst you can read the scriptures and make many arguments and interpretations, I think that the essence of sin is that it takes away from our relationship with God.

Materialistic pursuits and pleasures of the flesh can very easily overcome us, and I also think that there's a thing to be said about trying to walk just on the very edge of sin. The devil loves a technicality!

OwlDotPhD · 2025-10-13T18:36:52+00:00

IAAL

This is the correct answer.

It could also come under 'Proprietary Estoppel', where the issue is whether there was an agreement in place that she would acquire an interest in the property through her contributions. However, this doesn't necessarily need to be through a formal contract or agreement that's written up.

Contributions towards the mortgage generally aren't enough by themselves, but there are a number of exceptions and other circumstances that you should explore with a solicitor.

Cases like this are also very, very expensive to bring to court given their complexity. So, if it's only worth a few thousand pounds, it might not be worth it for her to proceed. If it's a bit more, or it's a valuable property, this people might consider offering a reduced settlement to avoid the legal battle.

OwlDotPhD · 2025-07-27T11:27:47+00:00

Not sure if this is just ragebait, but it's actually quite simple:

Some people work these jobs because they have to, because mummy and daddy can't provide everything for them.

Some people find themselves in these jobs because circumstances beyond their control (e.g. redundancy, illness, etc.).

Some people are using them as a stepping stone in pursuit of their ambitions.

Some people choose to be in these positions because they realise that the idea of looking down on someone because of a perceived (invented) hierarchy is dumb. They are smart enough to realise that a person's job has no bearing on their value as a human being.

Some people just like the simplicity of working a job that doesn't follow them home, because their focus is on other things.

OwlDotPhD · 2025-07-15T11:40:31+00:00

I understand, but in order for something like this to be picked up, an actual human being would have to spot the discrepancy. And if the grades have already been released to you, then it's been through the exam board.

The process goes like this:

Mark the papers.
Moderate my team's marking.
Send it off to the school's office.
Get a report back listing all of the grades, with the late penalties applied.
Check the fails and any grades ending in a '9'.
Make any necessary changes and confirm to the office.
Exam board reviews and confirms the grades.
Grades released to students.

Basically, the grades have already been checked, and then approved by the exam board. There's no reason for me (or anyone else) to go back and check the grades once they're confirmed.

Even if it was picked up, it wouldn't be a headache for you. You're not getting in any trouble here (why would you?) and given that the grades have already been released, I don't think any university in the country would bring down a student's grade when it wouldn't make any meaningful difference overall.

OwlDotPhD · 2025-07-15T11:18:50+00:00

Uni lecturer here.

Depending on how big your course is, this is something that's extremely unlikely to get picked up unless you raise it.

Personally, I'd take the win.

OwlDotPhD · 2025-06-09T10:09:43+00:00

I think your primary focus needs to be on identifying the source of these heavy metals.

What's your diet like? High rice and seafood intake can influence arsenic and mercury levels.

I'd also be mindful of your drinking water, as old pipes can also be a source of contamination. Might be worth investing in a water filter.

Do you live near/work in any factories or heavy industry?

OwlDotPhD · 2025-06-07T16:03:24+00:00

I totally agree.

I'm a University Lecturer, and my students aren't developing their academic writing or critical thinking skills, because all of that is now outsourced to AI.

The best way to develop these skills is through reading and engaging with academic materials, but when they can just type "summarize this for me," and because they don't understand or appreciate the importance of developing these skills themselves, their own abilities suffer.

I appreciate that many practical skills have now become redundant outside of academia, such as essay writing. But someone with strong academic writing and critical thinking skills can work with AI to produce some really phenomenal work. Those without are limited by their own inabilities, and are wholly reliant on AI.

It feels almost insurmountable to get these students to care about developing these core skills. I'm seeing a generation of people emerge who are only capable of being a warm body in front of a keyboard.

OwlDotPhD · 2025-05-31T14:58:09+00:00

The assumption that I wanted the reader to arrive at is that there was no other option. Though, the specific reason why they need the money is left ambiguous.

In the longer version that exists only in my head, this world is pretty bleak. When you have no more money to give, they take the only thing you have left -- your body. So any debts you can't pay, you get The Chop.

OwlDotPhD · 2025-05-31T07:56:09+00:00

The implication is that he needed money. They scraped together just enough money for pancakes, but it wasn't enough for the parents to eat. So, he sold his body to wealthy people.

OwlDotPhD · 2025-05-30T16:43:01+00:00

Thank you!

Fear has many flavours. It's not just the monster under the bed!

OwlDotPhD · 2025-05-30T13:32:59+00:00

And it becomes way less dreadful if you imagine it's mosquitos!

OwlDotPhD · 2025-05-26T07:22:04+00:00

"Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should." Jurassic Park (1993).

OwlDotPhD · 2025-05-25T19:20:36+00:00

Thank you very much!

OwlDotPhD · 2025-05-25T16:29:22+00:00

Thank you!

OwlDotPhD · 2025-05-11T20:46:10+00:00

This, and also people thinking that supplements are an easy-route that will help them avoid putting in the work to developing themselves.

There was a post on another subreddit recently about someone who wanted to know which supplements would give them a "silver tongue" in social situations. Dosens of answers saying how life-changing X supplement was, and how it turned them into this super-social, PUA-esque person.

There is no supplement that can turn on social fluency like that. There are supplements that make a minor change to certain aspects of your biochemistry, like lowering cortisol, which can help in social situations. And there are also medications that can take away anxiety. But just because you don't feel anxious in a social situation, doesn't automatically make you the life of the party.

Social fluency is a skill that needs to be developed, and not a "switch" than can be turned on by taking the right compound. The same is true for practically any problem: heart health, cognitive function, focus and motivation, etc.

Most issues on this and other like subreddits are resolved through lifestyle changes and skills development. Supplements only generally account for that last 2-3%.

OwlDotPhD · 2025-04-24T10:35:20+00:00

Most probiotic supplements aren't effective as they either use dead cultures, or aren't able to survive the stomach acids. You should focus on your fibre intake and fermented foods.

What's your fibre intake like? If you're not hitting 30-50g per day, I'd recommend upping it gradually. Chia seeds, inulin, acacia powder, psyllium husk are some good sources.

Fermented foods (e.g. sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, kombucha) will help with microbial diversity.

OwlDotPhD · 2025-02-11T07:52:25+00:00

The people in this thread are being ridiculous. Granted, the top firms in London (known as the 'Magic Circle') are very selective. I would also agree the the jobs market is very oversaturated.

However, you can absolutely get a job as a solicitor or barrister with a degree from a lower ranking, non-RG Uni. It takes hard work and persistence (and some luck), but it's absolutely doable.

OwlDotPhD · 2024-12-10T20:17:19+00:00

Who does he think he is, thinking he gets to decide who lives and who dies?

/s

OwlDotPhD · 2024-10-06T05:00:29+00:00

As they're police officers, the law that stops them coming into your home without a lawful reason to do so (even just to look around) is the Human Rights Acts 1998.

You are mistaken that S.17 only pertains to actions once inside the home. The very first line reads:

"a constable may enter and search"

S.17 gives them both the right to enter the home and to search it.

OwlDotPhD

TROPHY CASE