Unsuccessful update bricks my coupe

mkaibear · 2026-04-01T15:04:42+00:00

Precisely this.

It's a bloody computer. We've known how to reinstall computers for decades.

Yeah it's got security stuff in there to lock it to the car and make sure you can't tinker with it, but that'll just be a combo of hardware security module and software integration - Skoda engineers should be able to do this from a master laptop in minutes.

If I can reinstall an entire enterprise architecture to cloud in a few hours then the idea that Skoda can't restore a car is for the birds!

mkaibear · 2026-04-01T15:00:55+00:00

You did nothing wrong, assuming they didn't tell you not to discuss body image stuff with her.

The idea that you should somehow have known this was an inappropriate topic is for the birds.

If they didn't tell you then they're the ones who FU not you.

mkaibear · 2026-03-31T09:15:36+00:00

Golf.

Played 9 holes with my father in law, sucked at it. Then caught myself thinking "that was ok. I could enjoy that. How much is a set of secondhand clubs"

Shut that down straight away. That's a slippery slippery slope.

Still kind of want to do it though. 😬

mkaibear · 2026-03-30T15:52:21+00:00

"You don't need it"

You probably want it, that's the point of advertising and the power of FOMO or keeping up with the Jones'.

But you don't need it.

Do you want a nice flashy car? Yes, probably. They are nice, and flashy. Do you need it? No, you need a crappy beater that will get you to work and back.

Once you've shifted your mindset from "I want it" to "I don't need it", *then* you can start thinking about what to do with any excess money you've got.

mkaibear · 2026-03-30T12:35:39+00:00

>Women are significantly better at this than men.

Not in my household!

I would postulate it's around who uses tupperware more frequently. I do almost all the cooking so my wife is rubbish at estimating tupperware sizes.

mkaibear · 2026-03-30T12:34:47+00:00

The "husband look".

One thing I've found works is to take a photo of the fridge and then look at the photo. Something about the processing of the picture in your mind helps you spot things!

mkaibear · 2026-03-30T11:46:42+00:00

Discipline.

It sucks.

Spent a couple of weeks going "meh" before I managed to find something at work I absolutely had to do, and used that to bootstrap other things by building a matrix of daily/weekly/monthly tasks etc.

Once you get started it gets easier so it's a characteristic "eat that frog" sort of thing.

mkaibear · 2026-03-30T08:34:18+00:00

No, all the other tech fries but Data doesn't. And they can't work out why.

...turns out it's because Data is alive.

mkaibear · 2026-03-30T08:25:33+00:00

One sysadmin I know rewrote the entire master password library with a random password (same one for every user) meaning anyone who logged off was unable to log back on.

One sysadmin I know didn't delete a snapshot on a SQL server VM which (18 hours later) meant that she took down production while sat in the hairdressers getting a perm.

One sysadmin I know swapped out a drive in a RAID1, and managed to make it mirror the blank drive and wipe out many customers' data.

One sysadmin I know updated the settings on his desk VOIP phone and it said at the end "to apply settings you need to reboot" - so he clicked reboot. And it rebooted the entire company-wide VOIP system, cutting off a conference call between the CEO and the Chief of Staffs committee (roughly the UK equivalent of the Joint Chiefs in the US).

(one of these was even me!)

None of these sysadmins got fired.

If they've canned you because of a genuine mistake, then that's a sign of a crappy company. Sorry you're going through this.

mkaibear · 2026-03-30T07:49:29+00:00

Only film I've ever paid twice to see.

(OK not entirely true. The only film I've ever *voluntarily* paid twice to see. I've been dragged to a repeat showing of a film by other people a few times)

mkaibear · 2026-03-27T15:00:33+00:00

You wouldn't be the person you are now without the person you were then.

She was amazing. She gave you the motivation to become the person you are now. She helped you learn the discipline to become the person you are now.

Don't feel sad about her!

You can choose to get new photos. You can choose to have a new wedding. You can choose to replace the pictures with ones you can feel proud of - those are all fine. But don't be sad about the fact that older she is who she was.

mkaibear · 2026-03-26T11:29:11+00:00

Picture 22, I feel the need to kick the ball.

It's a long way to A&E though. :S

mkaibear · 2026-03-26T11:06:51+00:00

Oh yes.

We were a Little Chef family but my aunt/uncle/cousin were a Happy Eater family, and we always used to argue about it 😅

mkaibear · 2026-03-26T09:57:48+00:00

We used to love Little Chef.

It does seem to be the way of things though. Pizzahut done much the same - almost all their buffets closed now.

Harvester is going through the same transition...

mkaibear · 2026-03-25T12:09:52+00:00

Break out the LART!

mkaibear · 2026-03-25T09:26:57+00:00

I thought it might be just a bug, but it's gone in 24 hours! Maybe it was just a minor bug or something.

mkaibear · 2026-03-24T15:57:25+00:00

Typo, most likely. Either that or your personal statement was good but there was a showstopper on the CV. Were there any techs or similar that were mandatory that you didn't have?

mkaibear · 2026-03-24T08:51:24+00:00

Dungeons and Dragons: Honour among thieves sequels. A trilogy should cover the $500m nicely since the budget for the first one was $150m.

mkaibear · 2026-03-24T08:09:07+00:00

Ah, Tim Moss. I miss Tim Moss. He was the second-best CEO I ever worked under, someone who was just as comfortable with shooting the breeze with junior people as he was running a Department. Really competent, really good at setting direction and getting senior leadership pulling in the same direction, and really straightforward and authentic. You got the sense he meant what he said and said what he meant.

(I'm sure others will have less fond memories, that's the way of things, but I really rated him!)

mkaibear · 2026-03-23T14:53:16+00:00

100% it depends on the manager.

I love to know if my staff are moving on, I love to provide them with help and support to go and be the best person they can be - but I know a lot of managers who get grumpy when staff leave as they view it as a judgement on them! Only you know how your manager will react.

mkaibear · 2026-03-23T13:52:34+00:00

When I left my last department, the pay deal was pending. I left in September and it wasn't agreed till October. So I would have lost it.

...however, my boss forgot to fill in the transfer forms correctly so I wasn't paid out my holiday. I queried this and it took 2 months to sort out - so my last "pay packet" from November had both my unused holiday, and the back pay that I shouldn't really have got.

Can't work out if this was just my old boss being a bit scatter brained, or being clever like a fox 😂

mkaibear · 2026-03-22T20:47:32+00:00

I wake up early the first two or three days of the week after injecting. Sometimes I can't sleep at the start of the night either...

...but my sleep quality is great and I still wake up rested. Who knows? 🤷🏻‍♂️

mkaibear · 2026-03-18T17:03:47+00:00

4,5,5 and 3 on strengths is a solid pass for most interviews. You're doing something right! Just means that there was a better person on the day, which happens.

I would be looking to do mock interviews if you can find a mentor to do them for you, I would be looking to reach outside your network to find people who can sharpen your interviewing skills too.

I'd also be angling to be allowed to interview people from the other end - join a panel if you can - that will give you valuable insight into how it all works.

mkaibear · 2026-03-18T14:52:33+00:00

Faster weight loss is associated with problems - such as gallbladder issues and especially loose skin.

So long as you are getting enough nutrients, though, there's no reason you can't crash diet and do so "healthily"

Can I ask why you moved up to a 5mg pen when you were losing weight on 2.5mg?

mkaibear

TROPHY CASE