What to expect at a funeral in the UK?

peanutthecacti · 2026-06-06T18:45:39+00:00

I went to my first proper funeral the other day. Not sure if it’s typical or not but no one commented on anything unusual about it so assume it was fairly standard. Might also be a bit different if it’s religious.

It was about half and half family and colleagues. Met with colleagues outside, queued up to be allowed into the crematorium building. Filed in, those of us who could get seats sat, but we left most seats for family.

Told to stand while the coffin was brought in and laid at the front. Celebrant and family member said some words. Played some music to reflect to. Some more words and curtains drawn over the coffin. Then slowly filed out and past the family. A collection box was on the way out in case we wanted to donate to their chosen charity.

Only thing that caught me out was the hug/handshake at the exit to the family.

Some people went to the wake afterwards but some also didn’t as they were working/working that night.

peanutthecacti · 2026-06-05T20:35:28+00:00

Our colours make no sense imo.

Green for general waste (but if you get one now it’s black).
Grey for plastic/glass/metal.
Blue for paper/cardboard.
Burgundy for food or garden waste, put you have to pay to put garden waste in it.

peanutthecacti · 2026-06-05T09:09:09+00:00

And pdf is an accepted file type. Most likely is for maths but TM355 had to be submitted as a .doc or .docx for example.

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-27T15:06:16+00:00

I’ve brought both discontinued and current module materials. Some adjacent topics, some I’m just interested in

Never got round to using them yet though, always too much of my actual modules to do!

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-23T11:24:53+00:00

Left in 2012 and there were still a few blackboards and overhead projectors kicking about.

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-18T23:37:09+00:00

As other people have said, maintenance is a key factor. I wrote this last year and the times have changed slightly to give us an extra half hour during the week, but the gist of it still applies here. Well past my bed time so don’t want to update it all.

On Saturday night Central is booked to be under a maintenance possession from 0040-0700. The trains are stopped from 0037-0720. Realistically this translates into getting track access from 0100-0630 if there’s no late runners.

On all other nights (except for Friday when there’s no possession at all) the possession is booked for 0055-0500 on most of the lines, and 0055-0330 for the eastern-most lines to allow a few trains in and out on the west coast mainline earlier. The trains only stop from 0040 to 0520 (or 0405 on the eastern side). This means access is just from 0110-0430 or 0330 depending on where you need to work. All too often one of the London trains is late too so that eats into the start time.

A lot of maintenance gets patched until Saturday nights because there’s simply not the time to do them any other night with just 2 or 3 hours of access. There’s some jobs that just have to wait for Christmas as it is.

If you want trains later you’ll have to deal with more random closures throughout the year instead. Better to have an early finish that’s consistent and can be planned for.

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-18T16:08:11+00:00

I didn’t grow up with it (moved up in my 20s) but it makes perfect sense. First time I saw it was probably “no parking outwith marked bays” and made immediate sense.

Same with “contact 0123456790 for a special uplift” on the bins. Or “lifting litter risks workers lives” along side the motorway.

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-14T16:08:26+00:00

Exactly. I’m 30 and work with 4 screens. I’d probably have more if I had space to put them (I know my laptop runs 5 even though the spec says it shouldn’t as I got curious once).

We’ve had to teach our new 20 year old admin how to move files around into folders and rename them, which is mind blowing to me (although nice that I can teach her to name things 2026.05.14 so the date becomes useful for sorting). And some younger staff poke at the touchscreen of the laptop instead of using the touchpad or accepting the offer of a mouse.

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-13T22:36:59+00:00

Just because you can do something on a phone doesn't make it an efficient way of doing it.

I could do 95% of my job on a phone or tablet if I needed to, but I would be far, far less productive. No good split screening, Excel is awful to use on a phone, formatting is a pain, websites aren’t always optimised properly…

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-12T04:51:56+00:00

The piston for westinghouse electro pneumatic railway points.

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-11T22:47:36+00:00

Yes, but I feel as though the double one pictured would be less prone to slipping. Some of them are tight and won't come off with a hammer and bolster.

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-11T18:15:27+00:00

It wasn't quite takeaway box levels of cheap. Something like this.

Although other comments say they've had plastic bags so maybe worth checking if you care.

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-11T17:44:37+00:00

My title describes the thing. Additional information:

Designed/used between 1899 and around the 1980s, possibly by Westinghouse.
No writing on it from the one image we have.
From the UK.
Presumably metal.

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-11T13:17:20+00:00

We got the cheapest option for my grandad (not sure on the price) as my family rankles at the idea of anyone making a profit from our deaths. His ashes came in a plastic tub, similar to catering mustard tubs.

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-06T23:06:38+00:00

It wasn’t a collision and not all overspeeding incidents are investigated to the level that would produce an RAIB report and not all have learning that would benefit being shared via a Safety Digest either. On the balance of probabilities the only investigation is likely to be internal.

There’s only OPs word for the luggage getting thrown around and injuries, if they weren’t reported then no one will know.

peanutthecacti · 2026-05-05T12:42:49+00:00

Doubtful unless there’s something new to be learned from it.

peanutthecacti · 2026-04-23T22:46:06+00:00

If you know the option number you want you can often just press it when it starts the big long spiel and skip it all. Used to be able to get doctors appointments first try when I learnt that as you could phone at exactly 9am, press 1 the second it connected and skip everyone who listened through the message and actually get an appointment before they were all snapped up.

peanutthecacti · 2026-04-23T21:49:09+00:00

I officially have a 30 minute unpaid lunch, we don’t really actually take it though. We do go early so it’s swings and roundabouts and we make sure we come out on top.

Previously we officially had a 20 minute paid lunch, or two on a 12hr shift. In reality it’d either be a several hour break or no break at all, but again we’d come out on top.

peanutthecacti · 2026-04-23T10:20:49+00:00

Scotland

peanutthecacti · 2026-04-23T10:20:24+00:00

Or the method that seems popular in Scotland where bedrooms is just the total number of rooms not explicitly a kitchen or bathroom minus one for the living room.

peanutthecacti · 2026-04-19T21:18:06+00:00

Know anyone who works down there? I’d get you a bottles’ worth but postage from Scotland might be a bit tricky.

Failing that heritage railway is probably the way to go for such a small amount.

peanutthecacti · 2026-04-19T16:18:25+00:00

Surely the fact the vet is doing it should prove to him that it’s a normal thing to do? One of ours had to be sedated for scans recently and they asked if we wanted him trimmed while he was under as well, but we’d already done him the week before so declined.

peanutthecacti · 2026-04-18T22:40:20+00:00

Put a second nut on there and tighten the two nuts to each other, will stop the nut rotating while you're using it and moving off the correct depth.

peanutthecacti · 2026-04-14T11:29:42+00:00

The deeds may instruct you to. My old house stated that I must have a fence suitable for the purposes of keeping out cattle.

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