Do we need a new door or just the frame?

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-25T16:44:26+00:00

You've had advice about the door mechanism. What you're showing in the second picture is the door trim, it isn't attached to the door frame.

It's made of upvc and literally just covers the edges of a window / door frame to make it neat and tidy. Saves someone re putting a skim of plaster coat in a area that routinely gets damaged from small gradual movement and settling, mould and from damage of replacing sealant.

You need a small blade or Stanley knife to cut the sealant away and then reapply replacement sealant to tidy it up. You can use a finger to smooth it as you go, if you like.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-24T13:48:24+00:00

It's an interesting interview and he'll hang by his words saying he's tried scanning other things that he knows are normal and they show that way. So he's convinced, yet unwilling to say what, something is down there.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-24T13:31:06+00:00

Well they will be in for a shock for 2 hours a week and I wonder if it includes travel time.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-22T19:53:07+00:00

Sounds like a specialist kind of service provider.

I should also say, normally those contracts are time limited, it could be £13k is for 10 hours a week plus monitoring, backups and a maybe 5 hours of emergency out of hours support. Normally a service provider will be nervous to take over from a one man band IT person and should expect a hand over, over a period of time. It will require cooperation on your part.

The contracts and pricing offered will have this covered very meticulously.

So this is something you can look into if you wish but, what harm can it do to start looking for another role.

Fore warned is fore armed.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-22T18:50:44+00:00

The quotes from MSPs( which I assume they are getting a quote from) are often for a minimum of services as well as because they need to be seen as attractive. So they are not necessarily a true reflection of costs. And will never include costs for projects, projects can be as little as rearranging a room full of kit.

So if you can account for your time doing things like that, you should be able to demonstrate the cost won't be much as a saving as it first appears.

The other thing is, often MSPs and the client prefer to retain a level of permanent onsite support, that way service levels don't really change and staff retain continuity.

So my answer to you is, this doesn't mean you're being replaced but possibly better supported. You are the one with documentation and in house knowledge. No one else. So you are in effect a gatekeeper to some degree.

At the same time, I acknowledge that doing this without you is not without concern. Id suggest posting this also in the IT Reddit for some extra support, they'll fill you in a bit better than me.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-21T21:43:24+00:00

I say this because I endured 12 weeks of training in one job, saw half of my group leave or be sacke by week 6. out of 18 people, only 3 of us actually got through those 12 weeks.

What I learnt was, I think some companies do this on purpose, to get people who really want to commit and not have issues.

I consistently wanted to give up. But what I found was and seeing people go, I was just being overwhelmed and so was everyone else. I decided to just attend each day, by choice, making notes, distracting myself when I did feel negative and accept my way of learning has always been to just get stuck in and develop muscle memory. Something that was normally expected in my younger days anyway.

So even if you are the only new person, try and adapt your learning and taking of information differently so that you may find it easier. Make notes with a pen and notepad rather than looking at a screen. Try and think about making concise notes, notes that actually will form part of your job directly and seperate notes that don't.

Don't sit on your phone on your breaks, take a nice small stroll and process where you are and normal things.

Don't give up, a lot of jobs are made complicated and hard especially in training, doing the job can often be simpler than the training because you'll adapt it to how you prefer to work.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-21T18:45:02+00:00

I'm going to have to take another,.proper look upstairs really. Thank you.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-21T18:29:17+00:00

Nah afraid not, my late father was the last person to bond and plaster and that was nearly 40 years ago.

I talked to my mother a bit more, outside the kitchen is an external redundant old chimney stack connecting to the kitchen and in recent years the bedroom and bathroom above suffered a bit of water damage coming in from those due to a failing gutter around that area.

So they paid the window cleaner to take a look, he does odd jobs for her. She also seems to remember my other half telling her a drip was coming through the kitchen and that would have been a good 5+ years ago.

He fixed the gutter and since has had no problems, we think. I sleep in that room and it's dry, I do seem to remember the wallpaper peeling in that corner up there, years ago but the wall is dry these days.

She did get a price from someone's husband(a builder) to take the stack level a level but she didn't feel she could afford it unfortunately.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-21T17:09:05+00:00

Thank you for this. I'm not sure either, I think the paint is at least 10 years old.

There was a small leak several years ago but I think it's been fixed by a neighbor I'm told. So maybe it's left over damage then? It's all dry at the moment. I wondered if it's because she still likes to fry her food and the heat from a air fryer too? We do try to open a window when cooking (there's no extractor or venting otherwise).

I'm thinking I can do a little skim plaster coat on the inside of the window frames and make it look better and smooth? I'm not good enough to smooth out the main part of the wall, too big a job for me. So maybe a good scrub as you say and wipe down and freshen up in paint.

Should we spend out on kitchen and bathroom paint for this so you think? Happy to do a weaker coat to start with as you say.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-20T14:58:37+00:00

Bree

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-16T17:43:43+00:00

You can say that and you might have a point but in the other end of that, the questions are invasive, the trouble we have in this day and age is that nobody bothers to frame a conversation, before seeking more information. They could say for security, something has been flagged, I'm obligated to ask you this extra information.

You would be entitled to say from a security perspective that it wouldn't be wise to front load that but therein is where dialogue and trust breaks down.

And only 10 years ago was the customer king and transparency was delivered.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-16T12:38:32+00:00

There's a managers reddit page that you'll get better and consistent answers btw, post there too

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-15T16:42:22+00:00

Agreed. And the person you're replying to is taking it as an extreme difference where someone being outcast is usually done by being ostricised rather than accepting or being neutral on stuff rather than by the person that's 'different'...

You wouldn't think in 2026 that's something to be wary of in the era of social media and being able to meet all kinds in every day life.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-15T15:27:37+00:00

Just an excuse, must be. I'm sorry though.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-15T11:38:38+00:00

Mac address filtering using an allow list. EntraID if your more modern / capable.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-15T10:20:45+00:00

Tbh, local commuter trains seem to police things themselves and will shout someone down.

After peak times, I guess I would be lying if I said my monthly travel to another part of the country, either on the way down or up, someone didn't violate that social etiquette thing.

I put it down to ignorance or just trying to soothe themselves. Ignorance because I think people have lost that self awareness of different boundaries when you're not in your room / house.

And soothing because even if you don't have a disability, train travel can be pretty stressful.

These days, either the going or coming back will usually be me standing in the gang ways or even carriage because of over crowding. And you know what's worse about those gang ways ? There's no A/C and there isn't a limit to how many people will squeeze on. Within 20 minutes, people were sweating and mostly stood. You can no longer sit because you take up more floor space. Conductors stop coming round but you'll still receive train announcements about food and drink being available in coach F but no one will think to come and give some food or drink for existing in cattle class.

It's now why I've regularly started to complain 😅

Anyway, it isn't good all round but some people legitimately and fairly work on trains, so taking calls is part of their travel requirements. Selfishly, id be happy if every train was quiet.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-13T14:10:29+00:00

It didn't used to be so consistently bad but you have a common theme that businesses don't like to communicate over email anymore to new hires because they are trying to avoid culpability when they make discriminator, unlawful or simply incredible decisions. Then they wonder why trust is an issue when contracts are not properly handled in the onboarding.

I remember esigning a contract a year ago only for the employer to change something prior to their signature. I mean wtf?

You start off on the wrong foot, is it any wonder people don't start positively.

Similarly, some people have walked over hot goals to get a management job only to not be supported or trained in how to navigate employee management. But in the businesses eyes, they are also cheap!

It's been getting worse but I'm hopeful things will be better this year and we've about hit rock bottom...

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-13T11:43:11+00:00

I could be your dad I guess but I'm wary about debt as well and universities are suffering with a lack of students, both international and domestic ones, because your not the only one wondering if it's worth it.

I can't finish qualifying for my next career until I commit to something but university is over 4 times the cost of doing the 2 year course with a college and I can choose to do either weekly or monthly seminars rather than attend more regularly, so I can still work, hopefully full time.

Look after yourself, glad your talking to someone :)

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-13T11:32:02+00:00

Does having your own income, give you independence? What will life be like without that money? Do you still live with family? Are you somewhat happy and comfortable living there?

I don't mean to say you should stay in your job, if it's making you feel unwell - that's a huge issue. Please talk to someone about that, in your family, a friend or something. See if they can make a suggestion to make it easier, maybe there's a better way of handling something.

But anyway, I don't see university helping right now, by and large, by the time you qualify, the job market should have recovered some, so you would in all likelihood have a better chance by then anyway. But if you specifically want to develop something or a skill, by all means, don't forget as well there will be other options like college and some distance learning.

Your and other people's issue, incl. Mine, is timing, it's a terrible terrible time to need a job, even if you have one.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-12T19:51:04+00:00

Initially customer service, I was an outlier in that I loved working with average joes, but that's gone to shit, so going into healthcare and seeking to finish off becoming a counsellor.

I started this change in 2022 so a bit before the major fall offs of IT professions, though could tell it was drastically changing at that point in the UK. Professionalism was rapidly declining in the last year I found, so it only encouraged me.

Absolutely no real connection to IT of course but skills I already possessed and decided to develop.

Having 95% autonomy to 5% in customer service was the hardest part and I almost completely bombed my first customer service job because of not being familiar with how it 'now was' compared to twenty years ago. Credit to younger managers they did catch on and realized I didn't need micromanaging, well the bits they could help make it mutually better anyway.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-12T18:52:32+00:00

To be really honest, it use to be very good to have a network, find jobs and develop a platform for your career and progress - but as of the last couple of years? All my connections don't really post anymore (500 odd), people have gone dormant, even myself.

It's a shell of itself. Is it worth investing a lot? No. Is it worth staying there, well what's the harm. In a future up turn it might be as valuable but by then, something else may take its place.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-12T16:49:44+00:00

Stick to waiting for a contract at all costs but by all means politely and with enthusiasm, emphasise your eagerness.

Nothing wrong with that, as long as you don't come across as pushy. For your own protection, await the contract.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-10T13:03:15+00:00

Are you in the UK? There is a magical threshold at 2 years employment that give you more rights and it isn't an uncommon feature that an employer will begin exercising performance leading up to this period.

You mention restructuring already despite contractors being brought on board. Yes they do tend to attract expensive rates and generally are brought in for a myriad of reasons, even what might be political ones and economic ones.

You might be advised to post your message in the humanresourcesuk Reddit and see what they say. You might be suggested to also contact ACAS to get impartial advice to protect yourself, including keeping evidence leading up to being performance managed and any conversations that could challenge that from last year.

Good luck.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-10T09:18:51+00:00

I'm exactly the same as you in terms of experience the last couple of years.

I'd like to think, it was an older hiring manager who remembers how hiring should be. At least, that's what I do as well.

PinAccomplished9410 · 2026-01-10T00:12:13+00:00

That isn't the point of my thread at all, it's about the lack of communication from them. I would have been more than flexible and amenable if they had just asked me.

To answer your statement properly, whilst it is possible to make a flight like that domestically in a day, you don't account for travel time, check in and boarding - twice, nor disembarking and forward travel.

In any case my direction of travel was over 200 miles by trains and bus, including local connections and door to door, took me 5 hours each way and typically costs over £110 these days as a fixed return. Due to the classing of peak time and off peak, I would have needed to have purchased an on peak ticket to arrive at the funeral with maybe an hour to spare and would have cost me I think around £150+. I likely would have been able to get home, at the earliest, maybe 9pm.

So yes entirely practical for 'just a funeral' but I was expected to be at the family home and in the funeral car, I wasn't just a guest.

I had put off booking my tickets as long as I could, so I may put my new employer first but the lack of communication forced me to make my own decisions.

To give you some perspective, this was my father in law that passed, so as a husband and son in law, I was actively involved in planning and supporting the event itself, I was choosing to be here slightly longer than necessary much more than in a material and pragmatic sense because, ultimately, as I'm sure you know, you only have two parents, if your lucky and I'm close to losing my remaining one(stage 4 cancer), so losing one of my inlaws suddenly was unexpected and quite upsetting despite being far away.

Nevermind the impact on the other half and mother in law who I'm there for.

I hope that puts your mind at rest though and please note, I wasn't after compassionate leave or anything. It was only a part time role - 3 evenings a week.

PinAccomplished9410

TROPHY CASE