Black Swan's Ballet of Blood(Lair)

Shiminay

How was your night?

I have awoken to some news that annoys me. The new Batman game that launched at midnight, and that's sitting preloaded on my pc after I pre-ordered it, has had a last minute change in its requirements and my pc is no longer powerful enough to run it properly. So frustrating.

Pay day on Friday, I don't care how many days of bread and water I end up on for the month of July, I'm dropping €400 on a new graphics card and that's that!

Angron

I believe you're justified there shim.

Gremlinertia

Bloody hell that's probably hit a few people so Shim.. I'd be raging..

Shiminay

I might see if there's a bank I can rob somewhere

I have Arcade Con, my mother's birthday and a trip to the west to factor in too. Fraking depression and it's fraking expenses - none of which are covered by my VHI. Country has a mental health and suicide epidemic, but let's make sure that waiting lists are dangerously long and private care in unaffordable even for people with insurance. :rolleyes:

Gremlinertia

I'm still very resentful of spending 144 yo yo a month before I get help with medication costs. No health insurance here, not that it's helpful for most circumstances anyway..

Shiminay

Drug payment scheme? Or is that the new upper limit? My meds weigh in around the €90 mark a month, but it was worse when I was on the stuff that caused me insomnia!

Gremlinertia

Yeah the payment scheme's upper limit is that since last budget.. Oh annoying if I think about it.. Least local hospital are finally trying though..

Angron

Thankfully I at least get my meds for depression on the medical card.

x Purple Pawprints x

Morning peeps

Up early this morning. Have to go to the social welfare to sign for this month. I hate that place. It's so dreary. Plus, there is one employee there that treats the people in there like cattle in a flipping mart on signing days. Little bit of respect would go a long way. Makes you feel like complete sh1t because you can't find a job even if you desperately want one. The minute you walk in it's like she's judging you for even being there and assuming you don't want to work.

How is everyone?

Gremlinertia

Heyo Paws, I did that dole office hell, it's lucky for me I have and can hold down a job is all I can say. Seems every office has a few misery guts..

Angron

I'm okay I suppose PP, yourself?

I agree about the welfare place, they are never the most exciting places to be.

looksee

x Purple Pawprints x wrote: »

Morning peeps

Up early this morning. Have to go to the social welfare to sign for this month. I hate that place. It's so dreary. Plus, there is one employee there that treats the people in there like cattle in a flipping mart on signing days. Little bit of respect would go a long way. Makes you feel like complete sh1t because you can't find a job even if you desperately want one. The minute you walk in it's like she's judging you for even being there and assuming you don't want to work.

How is everyone?

I used to have to go in each summer when I was teaching before I got a contract. Hated it. Generally a good few of your colleagues - and students - there! It must be a soul destroying job though.

Looks like its going to be another beautiful day!

x Purple Pawprints x

Gremlinertia wrote:

Heyo Paws, I did that dole office hell, it's lucky for me I have and can hold down a job is all I can say. Seems every office has a few misery guts..

Yeah you're very lucky. I would have stayed in the clinic I was in but I couldn't. I knew it was only temporary but it sucks that I had to leave.

Angron wrote:

I'm okay I suppose PP, yourself?

I agree about the welfare place, they are never the most exciting places to be.

Ah I'm good. Can't really complain tbh. Well, apart from my above complaint but I'm doing all I can to change that.

looksee wrote:

I used to have to go in each summer when I was teaching before I got a contract. Hated it. Generally a good few of your colleagues - and students - there! It must be a soul destroying job though.

Looks like its going to be another beautiful day!

Yeah it sucks. Can't do much more than I'm doing though. Trying to keep busy all day can be a challenge in itself. Might get out some of my textbooks and do some reading this week.

Angron

Course I'm doing is going to have work experience at some stage, haven't the foggiest where I'll go for it. If I can organize a way out, might see if I can do it in Keenagh.

looksee

x Purple Pawprints x wrote: »

Yeah it sucks. Can't do much more than I'm doing though. Trying to keep busy all day can be a challenge in itself. Might get out some of my textbooks and do some reading this week.

Oh xPP I completely know what you are saying - even with good qualifications and an enthusiasm and desire to work its so disheartening to see all those years of study being apparently for nothing. This is not me, its one of my kids in your position. There has to be a better solution, considering all the talent, education and enthusiasm going to waste in the country - and lost to the country as they have gone elsewhere.

x Purple Pawprints x

Angron wrote:

Course I'm doing is going to have work experience at some stage, haven't the foggiest where I'll go for it. If I can organize a way out, might see if I can do it in Keenagh.

What's the course you're doing Angron? Hopefully you can do it there.

looksee wrote:

Oh xPP I completely know what you are saying - even with good qualifications and an enthusiasm and desire to work its so disheartening to see all those years of study being apparently for nothing. This is not me, its one of my kids in your position. There has to be a better solution, considering all the talent, education and enthusiasm going to waste in the country - and lost to the country as they have gone elsewhere.

Yeah.. I've done one PLC course before college, then three years of college. Qualified in 2010 and I've had barely any luck with work. Most of my classmates are either not working in the industry, some by choice, or they've had to go outside Ireland to find work. Some have been lucky enough to find work here. I don't really want to move but I may have to.

Angron

I'm doing a year long course with the National Learning Network. I'd say I'd be allowed to do it there, it's more the getting out there as it's a good 35 kilometres from where I live.

I'm waiting for the place to open at the minute, I think there's a guy near me trying to figure out if he recognizes me from somewhere. At least, I hope that's what he's doing or this is infinitely creepier.

x Purple Pawprints x

Angron wrote:

I'm doing a year long course with the National Learning Network. I'd say I'd be allowed to do it there, it's more the getting out there as it's a good 35 kilometres from where I live.

I'm waiting for the place to open at the minute, I think there's a guy near me trying to figure out if he recognizes me from somewhere. At least, I hope that's what he's doing or this is infinitely creepier.

Ah sounds good. Fingers crossed you'll sort it all out and it all goes well.

Yeah that's a bit creepy...

Angron

x Purple Pawprints x wrote: »

Ah sounds good. Fingers crossed you'll sort it all out and it all goes well.

Yeah that's a bit creepy...

It kinda feels like I have an orbit.

Shiminay

I'm really lucky, only ever had to go to the dole once and it was only for 2 or 3 weeks after the company I was working for in 2000 was the first major victim of the dot bomb bubble.

I am now on my third distinctly different career in two distinct industries since college though, and again I've been very fortunate in how they've lined up. From software engineering to hotel management some IT sys admitting and now Community Management

All I can suggest to anyone outta work is that if there aren't any jobs in what you want, you just have to find something else and make the most of it. I only started hotel work to keep my bills paid after being let go from another Software job (what was initially a 3 month contract that I managed to turn into 3+ years of work once I got my foot in the door). Within 2 weeks in the place, I was acting head porter whilst the real man was away on holidays. Within 5 months I was management. then I had an opportunity to go back to college that I took and went back to portering, but it was a mistake to try continue in the software world and I then moved to Dublin and once again started at the bottom of the food chain in a big hotel group as a porter and was a manager inside of a year.

Then the Boards gig came up and I knew I wasn't going to let it slip through my fingers

Black Swan

Shiminay wrote: »

I'm really lucky, only ever had to go to the dole once and it was only for 2 or 3 weeks after the company I was working for in 2000 was the first major victim of the dot bomb bubble.

Is living on the dole Shiminay similar to living on a starving student budget? With university grant and 2 part-time jobs I don't have to worry about getting fat. :pac:

Angron

I'm hoping to work in software development (the dream would be working somewhere like Relic, making video games). Between one thing and another though college hasn't worked out too well for me though. Now I'm just trying to save up some money, get a bit of working experience, and build up my confidence.

Shiminay

Black Swan wrote: »

Is living on the dole Shiminay similar to living on a starving student budget? With university grant and 2 part-time jobs I don't have to worry about getting fat. :pac:

lol, I was much luckier that most with college cause I was able to live at home, but I did still get a half-grant towards expenses and I had jobs all the time whilst I was there too.

Angron wrote: »

I'm hoping to work in software development (the dream would be working somewhere like Relic, making video games). Between one thing and another though college hasn't worked out too well for me though. Now I'm just trying to save up some money, get a bit of working experience, and build up my confidence.

Good man, you're well on the right track so. There are so many decent resources like Code Academy to get your skill levels and familiarity with new languages and tech up to "beyond basic" and once you're in the door some place, you'll have someone to steer you if you're not on the right track. I learned functional PHP, Perl and MySQL in 2 weeks when I started in the aforementioned dot bomb place having never seen them before, but knowing how the mechanics of a linear programming language works, it was relatively straight forward. The MySQL was slightly different, but if you can remember your "Sets" from maths class, then you're laughing.

Angron

I've got some knowledge of Java, C#, and C++. I'm trying to keep up with those as much as I can whilst on this course, can't let myself get rusty.

x Purple Pawprints x

Shiminay wrote:

All I can suggest to anyone outta work is that if there aren't any jobs in what you want, you just have to find something else and make the most of it. I only started hotel work to keep my bills paid after being let go from another Software job (what was initially a 3 month contract that I managed to turn into 3+ years of work once I got my foot in the door). Within 2 weeks in the place, I was acting head porter whilst the real man was away on holidays. Within 5 months I was management. then I had an opportunity to go back to college that I took and went back to portering, but it was a mistake to try continue in the software world and I then moved to Dublin and once again started at the bottom of the food chain in a big hotel group as a porter and was a manager inside of a year.

I can't seem to get even an interview for any type of job at the moment.

Back now. Least I don't have to deal with that place for another month.

Shiminay

Good man Angron. Decent amount of work around in C# and Java and knowing C++ is, in my personal opinion, as important as speaking English in the software industry - pretty much everything in use today comes from C and C++.

That's really shtty Paws, it's a problem that perpetuates itself too, no work outside of cities, gotta move to cities, rent increases make living in cities unaffordable, gotta get another job - the poor get poorer. We see it in America and we see the attitudes of their government saying "these scummy poor people are looking for handouts all the time" despite the fact that they're working 2 jobs, travelling 50 miles to get to them and never see their families.

Links234

Morning folks!

I jumped out of bed violently because I got my days mixed up and thought I had to be somewhere and that the bins had to be put out... I feel like crap for doing it, shaky all over and just bleh. Instead of just waking up normally, I had this moment of panic. Not fun.

x Purple Pawprints x

Shiminay wrote:

That's really shtty Paws, it's a problem that perpetuates itself too, no work outside of cities, gotta move to cities, rent increases make living in cities unaffordable, gotta get another job - the poor get poorer. We see it in America and we see the attitudes of their government saying "these scummy poor people are looking for handouts all the time" despite the fact that they're working 2 jobs, travelling 50 miles to get to them and never see their families.

Yeah.. I'm not really qualified for much else other than vet nursing but it's not like I'm not trying to get a job, I'd do anything tbh. I get €188 per week. I'm paying my mam €50 a week (which is nothing, I know..), plus I'm trying to pay off my car, I have my phone and internet bills, and petrol. I get by OK but it's more about having a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Angron

Shiminay wrote: »

Good man Angron. Decent amount of work around in C# and Java and knowing C++ is, in my personal opinion, as important as speaking English in the software industry - pretty much everything in use today comes from C and C++.

Aye, C++ was the first language I learned anything of, and it really helped when learning Java as there was quite a lot of overlap.

Shiminay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHptn_3RyYE

This is me right now after some tasty breakfast toast