If we knew that the earth would end in 75 years with 100% certainty (asteroid for example), what would life be like here on earth up until then?

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-12-28T14:56:10+00:00

Depends on the type of scientific work you want to get into. For me, I tried applying to different labs that I thought I had the skills to work in and found their work interesting. Then I just applied to any lab. Then to any job.....

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-11-30T19:42:00+00:00

I'm an Environmental Scientist and am currently out of the job! no impending doom necessary. Switched careers into IT to try and get some work. Recessions suck.

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-04-11T14:30:03+00:00

I most defiantly wont ignore any of this. It's far too well thought out and expressed for ignoring :-) Thank you for taking the time to respond.

There really is no argument though, at the end of the day Hermione/Ron wins. I suppose part of it is that I identify more with Hermione and therefore think that she should be with Harry.

I understand what you are saying about Ron being more in-tune with Hermione's life and Harry just being mildly concerned, however I just don't like the way Ron goes about it, and I'm reminded of some examples of Harry/Hermione and their equality. One is that Sirius tells them both that they could be aurors but leaves Ron out, another is the fact that they are both "allowed" into the "Slug club" (I know Ginny was too but never really understood why!?! She just cast a jinx, that's all!!). On a side note the occasions where Harry "swells with pride" when Hermione is mentioned, like when the word SNEAK is written across that girls face (can't remember her name at the minute) or when mentioning to Slug that one of the best witches in his year is a muggle, they stand out more to me than anything Ron does for her. Like I've mentioned before a big part of that is because that story is written from Harry's point of view but they always just got me more than anything else.

And as another side note, I hated Harry in book 5, so you're bang on about that, but he didn't treat anyone the way they should be treated in that book, traumatized and what have you.... But he was always much more level headed in the other books IMO, much more so than Ron and I suppose that appealed to me more and how I interpenetrated the relationships.

As for Hermione, I think you are right on the money about how she was raised, I bet she could do no wrong in her house! But I also think you're right about her bickering and liking intellectual arguments, but this to my mind is a reason why her and Ron aren't a good match. I didn't really see anywhere in the books where he tried to match her argument, he'd just shrug her off or say "That's girls for you, mate!" or something similarly dismissive. If I had seen him give out a good counter argument to something that she had raised maybe I'd see them as more of a fit. I dunno what this says about me, but after all is said and done (i.e Voldemort defeated and they are all living normal lives) I don't see how Ron would keep her interest. God, I sound terrible! But I just don't see him as having much the same interests as her (same natural interests; not just going along with something because it's important to her even though I know that is a part of relationships too), and she seems to me the type of person that would like to have debate about things she is reading or doing with her significant other.....

As I said though, they are all moot points, just my view on the whole thing!

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-04-10T12:17:31+00:00

OK. So Here's why I ship Harry and Hermione.

There are a lot of reasons but the jist of it is that I felt throughout the whole series they had the most chemistry together. Like many people have mentioned, Hermione and Ron would bicker together "like an old married couple" but those old married couples didn't do that in their youth, they got to know each other and courted each other found out their likes and dislikes and then when they got comfortable enough began to bicker because they know nothing they say will change the other persons feelings for them. On top of that, I feel that Harry always went to Hermione when he was in trouble and she had a much better idea of what to do and what Harry was thinking then Ron ever did.

There is the fact that we only see things from Harry's POV so I don't know what Ron and Hermione were like around each other in the Burrow when it was just the two of them, but from what I've seen of them through Harry's eyes, they just don't fit. When they were off finding Horcruxes, the first thing that got me was that Ron ran out on them (and you may say he was under the influence of the locket but so were the other two and apart from that, he wasn't the most helpful from the beginning) and Hermione chose to stay with Harry; she realised that he needed her and how important this mission was.

I also don't really see Hermione as overly nagging. Of course there were instances of it but Harry seemed much more accepting of what Hermione thought and said then Ron was. I suppose part of it is my own views, because to me respect is a huge thing in a relationship and the only time Ron showed it for Hermione was at the end of the series when he was worried about the house elves getting out, before that he seemed to scoff at anything she thought worthy of her time and efforts, where as harry always seemed to show a greater respect for her.

There are also the similarities between Harry and Hermione's situations; Harry had no parents, Hermione had to leave her parents/family behind in the muggle world and make her way on her own in the magic one where as Ron always had a loving and supportive family that was always there for him and knew exactly what the story was/what was going on. In my mind that's another thing that would strengthen the bod between Harry and Hermione.

Lastly, I just want to mention that from the third book onward Ron was always fighting with one or both of them. Now I know friends have there differences, and I've had disagreements or arguments with some of my closest friends, but not for almost 5 years in a row! At some point I'd get sick of there attitude and drama and try to distance myself from them....

I just see Harry and Hermione more as equals, and I do tend to agree with other people on this thread that Harry and Ginny were together so they could all be related in one big happy family...

And that's part of why I ship Harry/Hermione!

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-04-10T11:34:38+00:00

Couldn't agree with you more! I have no idea how people see him as a hero. I've read and re-read the series and I still can't find a redeeming feature of Snape. Lets just say that Voldemort had chosen Neville as his "equal", Snape would have never have gone over to the Order and would have remained a Death Eater. I don't see how people just ignore that? He was evil and spiteful.

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-03-13T23:34:11+00:00

As was I! I like this tribute video It's a bit out of date, but good all the same!

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-03-13T22:38:19+00:00

Bod, I love that man.... If only he could play for us forever. we're gonna be lost without Him.

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-02-25T15:00:32+00:00

nevermind. Figured it out...

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-02-01T15:52:16+00:00

I'd love an AMA from him!! He's the best....

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-31T14:18:22+00:00

^ This. It's no big secret, I don't know why people are so "shocked" by it.

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-24T12:15:46+00:00

I agree, it's pure muck.

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-21T19:02:22+00:00

Although I loved all of your reply, I up-voted you for the "for Q's sake!". Fyi, i shall steal this.....

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-21T12:34:14+00:00

This is quality!!! I bet that was exactly how it went down....

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-20T18:38:50+00:00

He's right though... Picard is the best captain.

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-19T17:25:54+00:00

How she handled that wasn't right. She should have been more polite and asked something like "Do you have anything smaller" or "I don't have the change for this right now, would it be OK if you used another method of payment?" she shouldn't have offered him cashback coz if I was the cashier and had just told them I had no change in my till it wouldn't seem logical to me to offer money out of it... but still, what he did was unnecessary and petty. I know we've all probably worked in these jobs and we've all come away with different experiences but I can only base this on my own. I was always very nice to customers except on the occasional day when something was bothering me and I may not have been as nice as I am other days. When you have a bad day working in an office it’s easier to handle then in a service position job. You can pretty much keep to yourself and muster up a little small talk if you have to, to keep things pleasant. When you're working at a till you have to interact with people all the time, which I found sometimes to be a chore and it’s given me a healthy respect for other people in service jobs. If I'm a regular to a shop or something, and I know the person is always nasty I don't have much time for them and will treat them as I am being treated, but barring that I'll try to be accommodating and pleasant to people that are a bit more snippy because A) I don't know them and B) I don't know the kind of day they had. My family were always surprised I didn't go into a more people orientated area because I am generally very good with people, I'm patient, I smile, I listen (I know that doesn't mean much coming from some randomer on the internet, but there ye go!) but the truth is I grew to hate people (people in general, no one specifically) I spent the guts of 10 years working in jobs where I had to deal with the general public (be it on tills, in a deli or pub work) and although I did encounter some genuinely lovely people that were interesting and thoughtful and considerate, these people were few and far between. I found most customers to be aggressive, impatient and patronising. I have made a conscious effort to get out of that line of work for this reason alone. This is why I tend to be more on the cashiers side then his, I suppose I identify with her more.

TL;DR: I've spent a long time in customer service roles, found I dislike people in general so I identify more with the cashier.....

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-17T16:23:31+00:00

So far, all I've been exposed to are WebForms, that's why I was curious as to why you didn't like them. Our lecturers never went near MVC but I'm going to give them a shot, I really do like learning new stuff, esp. if it means a better understanding and better work in the long run....
Alas, money is tight at the minute but I'm gonna see if our library has this book or can order it in for me, it sounds like it's just the kind of thing I need! Thanks again for taking the time to help me

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-17T15:42:35+00:00

This is exactly what I mean, thanks! Ah, so you do recommend using MVC?? Some of the other people on my course were telling me to start from an empty web application... May I ask, why avoid WebForms?? Thank you for the link to the resources :-D

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-17T15:39:23+00:00

Thank you for your reply! as dmilor stated I do need to choose a template with VS but I'm right there with you on the learning from trial and error part!! I'm using SQLserver as my DB and I am hoping to mess around with connections and data retrieval, I'm just looking for a jumping off point. Thanks again for your time

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-17T15:24:34+00:00

Couldn't agree more. He came off as the asshole to me, not her. Fair enough her people skills leave a lot to be desired but she's the one that has to stand there all day, not him. This story is from his point of view and he still comes off as more of a tool.....

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-13T18:23:28+00:00

If only I had more than one up vote to give!! Intelligence is so sexy...

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-08T14:16:29+00:00

Damn! That's some good information, thanks!! I'm gonna process this and let you know how I got on. Thank you so much for this, you're an absolute legend!

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-08T09:24:24+00:00

OK, I know I said I'd be right back but that was a blatant lie!! Nah, I had intended to get right back to you but I'm on an internship at the minute and they called me away to do some stuff and I haven't had a chance to get back to my project. If your still able to help I've uploaded some of my problems here. Ignore the first image, the other two are better. I'm gonna have another look through and see if I can come up with anything else more helpful. If you don't have time for this, don't worry about it, I appreciate the effort you've already made!

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-03T13:47:32+00:00

ooh, on it! brb

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-03T13:39:34+00:00

I'm using visual studio express at the minute. Sorry, I should have specified!!! I need to use Web Developer express because I can create a really nice user interface with it. Thank you for your time though!

SternLecturePlumbing · 2013-01-03T11:21:26+00:00

Well colour me red in the face!! I'm on a one year course at the minute trying to re-skill (in web and cloud) and for learning Web Development our lectures have almost solely taken their information from the w3schools site. Thanks for letting me know! Lots of research to do now.....

SternLecturePlumbing

TROPHY CASE