h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

On the invertebrate front, it is mixed news - on Sunday I spotted a spider just when I was going into my mum's house, but it very kindly walked outside when I pointed to it The speedy spider in my house was not so obliging last night - I sucked it up in the hoover, but I'm not convinced it didn't escape overnight... And now there's some sort of flying biddy that makes a surprisingly loud noise as it flies about (sounded like the fridge hum!)

I can confirm that I do indeed now have teabags – that was a top priority for me for Monday lunchtime so I dashed out to the resourcecentre to stock up. I have a with me as we speak. (Well, I type. You know what I mean…)

Work still hasn't been improving – our new manager has worked with call centres in the past and so wants us to work as a call centre, even though our team isn't a call centre. He happily says he doesn't understand what we do, but doesn't seem to want to listen when we try to explain. At least he is only here until March, when a previous manager is due to return from maternity leave, but he is playing a role in the TOM (Target Operation Model) that is due to restructure the university next year, so if he doesn't know what we do, how can we rely on him to represent us and ensure our team is represented?

Sorry to hear you're involved in HESA Returns and you are trapped in a spiralling circle of meetings and whistling deadlines, but glad to hear that you had a good day with your sister.

If you find a you don't want, you could ask if it'd like to live in our bin. Yet again the bottom bag of our black bin wasn't tipped out, which means it has been in there about a month now and alas maggots are appearing. So a to feed off them would be welcome. It would be happy in a largely undisturbed space and once a week it would get tipped up, but if it hides at the bottom then it probably won't get affected. I think I'll have to adopt a bin bag rotation system and lift it up and have newer bags underneath to ensure it gets properly emptied next time the black bins are collected in a fortnight. I checked and it isn't stuck at all, so why it isn't being tipped out I don't know.

I've bought 5 old 'Tank Museum' guidebooks off e-bay to read through. Largely as I remember seeing the tank museum in the mid-90s and the memory of how it looked is much smaller than what is there today. The guidebooks say that the museum opened as part of an old hanger in 1947 and it definitely isn't that today, but they tend to talk all about the tanks, not how the museum itself got to how it is now.

I'd given up all hope of finding out, but one of the guidebooks (one from 1987) came with an inserted piece of paper saying, 'We're really, really, really sorry that part of the museum is closed due to expansion – our plans are…' and listed all the details about how the museum changed in the 80s and into the 90s, which is perfect. That matches the memory of what it was like when I visited in the 90s. Not sure how it got from there to today, but I am assured that my memory wasn't playing tricks on me. It all makes sense and slots together up until the 90s and then since then they've obviously added the Tank Story, shop, restaurant, new entrance, tower etc at some point.

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Excellent

Ah, that is disappointing that the manager isn't receptive and could cause disruption even in a short space of time... Good luck with it all

Your organisation is like a swan - lots going on under the water, but very serene on top - congratulations on the gold medal

Yes, definitely HESA but making progress today

I had another meeting with the person again yesterday and did the task again - much quicker this time, thankfully. However, he has decided that the end of the month doesn't matter after all, so I'll be doing it again next week...

Another vicious circle is a weird thing related to dad - back in 2019 I notified a company, and all seemed to go through as expected. Then last month I got a letter saying, 'We've just discovered that your dad died and we have some money in his account - call us to find out what to do'. They then sent us forms A, B and C with example text to tell us how to fill it in, so we did that and sent the forms back. Then this week I got 3 letters saying something along the lines of:
1. 'You filled in Form A, but you should have put that on Form B'
2. 'You filled in Form B, but you should have put that on Form A'
3. 'You filled in Form C assuming that we would process forms A and B first, but we haven't done that so you've filled in Form C wrong and have to do it again'


That is weird about your bin not being fully emptied each time... Nasty about the maggots but hopefully if you put a new bag underneath the old one the problem will resolve I would gladly send to you, but sadly it's a bit far for it to go in the mail...

Impressive about what you've been finding on eBay Fascinating

Ah yes - believe it or not, the VC has been very proud of the Triple Gold. I'm surprised we've not been asked to change our e-mail signature to one containing mention of the TEF result.

Sounds like you're having a very frustrating experience at work too - though even worse with the company notification You would have hoped that companies would be a bit understanding rather than having such a bizarre set of rules...

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I can imagine - that is a VC's dream indeed!

Speaking of VC, I finished your Book 5 I wry at hotdesking being like a new restructure every day. Lovely cameo by Floella 'the loveliest person in the world'

Yes it is very frustrating about that company - their website was so positive in 2019, saying 'Tell us and we'll sort it all out for you', but they haven't sorted anything out at all... Not too bad in the sense that it will be a nice Christmas present for us from dad (if we can fill in the right forms with the right information before then) but it is disappointing that the company wasn't more understanding and helpful like other companies are... It is a bizarre set of rules, and I think it even confuses them so they can't provide the right set of instructions for the right form...

I've just seen the breaking news about a major incident on the Wirral motorway Scary to see the pictures of something so familiar... Strong response from the emergency services, so I hope everyone makes a full recovery

Hope you enjoyed the to the end, and glad you appreciated the cameo by Floella. I think I told you that when I returned to doodling it after a break I started drawing the VC character differently to how I had before, thinking that the new look worked better, but then later had to backtrack and say that the new VC's look is a new VC, even though the new one started talking about the hotdesking plan the previous one had started. Hopefully I got away with it - and that I noticed an earlier page ended up in the wrong place too.

I was shocked to read about the accident on the motorway - especially as one child who died is the same age as my son. It really makes you feel for the family - and of the driver, too.

Makes you wonder whether that company has been taken over since 2019...

On Monday our union is officially on strike, but I don't know how many people know about it as none of the e-mails about it that have been distributed appear to been received by anyone, which is very strange.

Hope you have a great weekend and hope you enjoy being able to get to and from a superresourcecentre without difficulty.

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Yes was very apt so I enjoyed it to the end I haven't seen The Matrix, so didn't think of Matrix Management in those terms at first, but I will now Yes, it worked well introducing a new VC with the exact same values as the old one so the hotdesking plan was their plan

Yes, that's what's most shocking about the accident, that it is so relatable... So sad that two people lost their lives One of my colleagues' children was on one of the following buses. The company hasn't been taken over since 2019 - it is still owned by the same person, who I met a few years ago as my mum used that company when she organised trips to Liverpool for a local society. Also made my mum recall when she was at high school, there were two classes in her year, and the other class went on a trip and there was an accident and one pupil never returned...

I was thankful to be working at home yesterday rather than needing to drive anywhere, as the official diversion off the motorway was down the main road past my road. Unfortunately, whoever advised the diversion wasn't aware that there are roadworks on that road at the moment - the queues to get 5 lanes of motorway through a single lane on a B-road were awful... Even another school bus from the same company was stuck in it, and I can imagine everyone on board was very keen to get home...

That is strange about the e-mails not being received... I hope everything works out OK Our union isn't, but this thing I've been doing for my colleague has come to their attention and they aren't impressed, so I fear I will be doing it over and over again for another week, if not two...

Anyway, yes I plan to try again for Timpsons and hopefully will have a straightforward session at the superresourcecentre Then I will work on filling in the forms again, and hopefully it will be correct this time I hope you all have a good weekend

I still have work-related ideas so maybe there'll be another work-themed in umpteen years, who knows? I've definitely got a couple of ideas related to strikes that I hope to jot down if I get a chance tomorrow.
It has been very strange with the strike, as virtually no-one has had e-mails from the union ever since our workplace union rep was made redundant. We've been told repeatedly that they've been sent, but no-one gets them. They just all seem to be blocked.
And it is coinciding with the biggest project I've been asked to do since I started work here, which is time critical, so I doubt that will go down well. But I've been told that that is rather the point of strikes. And I will be at work all day, just not sat at my desk but stood outside wearing yellow.

How is the thing you've been doing for your colleague upsetting the union?

with the superreseourcecentre and Timpson's.

That is very strange about the e-mails not getting through since the rep was made redundant - hopefully just 'strange' rather than 'suspicious', but not helpful either way - good luck with that and I hope all goes well today

I've been drafting documents to define the outcomes of projects that were discussed with the union a couple of months ago - the documents have been changed so many times since then, they now don't reflect what was originally discussed... The reps have only now seen the drafts, two weeks after the original deadline, so they are not impressed...

Mixed experience at the superresourcecentre. It is much bigger than my usual one, so it was difficult to find things, but I managed to get enough for the week. Timpsons might have to send my item away, even though the other one with the broken machine thought they could do it We shall see, anyway - the guy who operates the unbroken machine wasn't in at the weekend, so he has been asked to call me today to let me know if he can do it

Birdwatching was good, though - Greenshanks (not to be confused with Redshanks) and Ringed Plovers (not to be confused with Little Ringed Plovers) were conveniently sitting just in front of the Reception hide, so that was excellent. The greenshanks were funny - one was walking on two legs, but the other one was hopping on one leg, so people were worried it was injured. We learned that greenshanks are known for hopping - they like to keep their other foot tucked in to their body as much as possible to keep it warm!

Thanks for the good wishes - we had about 30 people out on the picket line, which isn't bad at all. We also had two Labour parliamentary candidates and people from Unison's office.

As the road in front of the uni is currently being pedestrianised we spent some time outside the front of the building, and some at the side waving banners to try and attract support from passers by. I did my duty in holding the banner, handing out leaflets, trying to encourage staff to join and also generally provide support.

I was disappointed by the sausage situation . A food order was taken and we were told we could have a bacon sandwich each. I asked for sausage (as I prefer it to bacon) and was told the choice was bacon or vegetarian. So I said bacon - only for one of my co-workers to be given a sausage sandwich. Oh well - at least I got some

Good to hear that you managed to stock up for the week despite the unfamiliar territory, but hopefully should you return it will be easier. with the Timpson item - hope it isn't away too long.

And I'm glad you still had good weather for birdwatching, and enjoying the greenshanks'
antics.

Annoyingly, our washing machine has broken again...

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That is a good turnout Strange about the sausage situation but glad you got food of some sort. Was it a vegetarian sausage that was the other option? Glad there was too

Timpson didn't call me today, so it is a bit worrying as I left the item with them, but if they don't call by lunchtime tomorrow I will try calling them That is annoying and disappointing about your washing machine... I hope the problem is more easily located and fixed this time

I somehow managed to make progress with form filling - at the weekend I discovered the problem was that there are two different 'Form A's, and they had previously sent the wrong one so everything had got confused. They sent us the correct Form A to fill in, and also sent back the old Form A so I could copy it on to Form B I received notification today that another Form A we filled in a few weeks ago was accepted, so 1/3 of the account is ready to be transferred. The new forms A and B should release the other 2/3, and then the new Form C should be accepted Ridiculously complicated, but at least there are signs that we're getting there

I had the vegetarian option today, I would describe it more as a vegetarian burger than sausage - apparently the cafe could have done sausages, but had been told in advance it would be either bacon or the vegetarian. Maybe it was the last sausage or she bought her own rather than have one supplied by the union?

Today we had even more people - about 45 - out on the picket line, and spent much of the day next to the road. Which has just started being pedestrianised to benefit the students and staff, but it did look like we'd barricaded the road. Lots more singing and dancing and/or banner waving, giving out leaflets and being beeped at . A few rude people who instead of a simple 'no, thank you' choose to say other things uncalled for.

I wonder whether I'm getting in a spin or trapped in a mindless cycle when it comes to trying to get a working washing machine. They've agreed that needing to call out 6 engineers since the start of the year is ridiculous and we can have a new washing machine, but everyone is saying it is up to the other companies - Beko the manufacturer, Domestic & General who we have the warranty with and Hughes who have washing machines in stock and deliver them. Whoever I phone says, 'Yes, you are entitled to a replacement, but you need to speak to the other company'.

Washing machine discussions segue naturally into either Timpsons and hoping you've had a positive answer, or even your similar experience with form filling, and the computer game 'Bureaucracy' or getting the right form from The Place that Sends You Mad in 'The Twelve Tasks of Asterix'.

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Sausage mystery indeed Glad you got food and drink and inspiration for cartoons, too. A shame that people rather than just going past if they're not interested. Another good turnout, anyway

Fascinating about these bureaucratic conundrums... The Place that Sends You Mad in 'The Twelve Tasks of Asterix' is where we are indeed...
Good news that they have accepted your washing machine is not acceptable, but not good news that they aren't willing to accept responsibility... Good luck with that

The Timpsons situation is also odd - I rang up today and found out that the guy who operates the machine didn't call me to tell me whether he could do it and how much it would cost, he just did the job. Good news that it was doable, but not good news that I still don't know how much it will cost... Hopefully won't be too much of a nasty surprise but it is disappointingly bad business practice that they haven't given me a choice of whether to accept their price or go elsewhere...

It was a good turnout, and hopefully there'll be a couple more doodles drawn, though not necessarily all will end up on , but eventually they may end up in a .

I had a bit of a let down at work today - I was asked if I wanted to be the office's Diversity representative. I thought, 'Yes! Finally I'm considered despite being a white, straight, male from an economically deprived area'. But it turns out that Diversity is a travel booking system, so that's a let down.

with Timpsons!

We now have been told to look at washing machines on the Hughes website, suggest a few and they'll tell us how much they may cost us, as some we are entitled to straight swap, but not all of them and we might be charged something - but not the retail price but the cost price. So all a bit of guesswork, and all we really want is one that is reliable and least likely to break for five years.

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Have to be careful with brand names for systems indeed, as there is definite potential for confusion. Reminds me of the time in my previous organisation when there was a suggestion to change the name of the Equality and Diversity Panel to Dimensions - I checked and discovered that Dimensions was the name of a website for people with a metabolic disorder (like D) and their partners (like me), so it was useful to us, but we recommended the Panel chose a different name to avoid confusion!

The price for my item was double the figure I was expecting based on what was on the website - not so bad as to make a problem about paying, but I won't be recommending Timpson very enthusiastically in future... I feel quite let down after having had such good service from them in the past... I sent feedback to them about it, anyway.

Glad you've got some progress with your washing machine, but still more complicated than expected - one would think they would be the experts about what is in which price range and what is most reliable... Good luck with it

Ah - I believe our finance team use a system called Dimensions, I only know of it when it doesn't integrate properly with our student record system(s) regarding payment of fees, discounts, fines etc. But we do have a problem with the name of our new system. We call it SITS and the normal version is SITS client, with the fancy-looking online version SITS Blueprints or E:Vision, but they've decided to name it Gateway because Quercus was called Gateway, and our intranet is also called 'The Gateway to learning' and of course the Student Finance page is called Gateway, so no-one knows what anyone is talking of when they say 'Gateway'...

We've been visiting colleges this week for my son to choose.

Really sorry to hear that you're being charged double - despite asking to be contacted with a quote. Definitely annoying and I hope you get a response to your feedback.

Someone - possibly the office manager? - told me a story about different definitions of a quality washing machine. Someone was working abroad - in Russia, I believe - and asked people there if they could recommend a good quality washing machine, and lots of people recommended one particular type. So he got one, and it broke a short time later. 'I thought you said it was good quality?' he said to the people who recommended it. 'It is!' they replied, 'It is very easy to repair.'

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Yes, our Dimensions website seems to have gone, but Dimensions is still a popular name for a random collection of things! I've seen it as something to do with counting social media mentions of research papers, and I see it is also a support service for disabled people. That is also confusing trying to avoid confusion by calling everything Gateway...

I hope the college search goes well

That is a good point about different definitions of quality! I hope your search for a washing machine that fits the criteria of swappability as well as quality is going OK I hope you're managing to get the clothes washing situation sorted out in the interim, too

I spent all day today on that task I've been redoing for weeks, but finally got to call it finished, so that's a relief Tomorrow I expect will be back to the joys of HESA, but it will make a change and hopefully will go well with 'fresh eyes' as I haven't looked at it for a couple of days I hope your day goes well tomorrow, too

My son really doesn't know what he wants to do, but has strong opinions about what he doesn't want to do - which seems to cover virtually everything. There are several subjects he'd like to do if they taught only the things he's interested in and avoided areas he isn't. Life's not like that, alas...

Hopefully we'll have a newer new washing machine on Tuesday, with the old one taken away. I measured up and though the replacement washing machine is slightly larger than the previous one it should fit in the hole. Hopefully if it does come on Tuesday then that's not too much backlog to have to worry about if I get most of the washing done at a friend's tomorrow.

Congratulations on finally finishing the never-ending task

So, do you have weekend plans? My wife's away but I'll be looking after the kids and also doing parkrun, trying to get clothes cleaned and it is the first CC6 of the year on Sunday (if I have clean running shorts).

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I told you that one of the reasons the uni stopped using Quercus and went to SITS was to get away from Ellucian and its poor customer service, didn't I....?

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You did, yes - I hope that doesn't mean you're experiencing poor customer service from SITS, but I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case

Finishing the never-ending task felt like a bit of an anticlimax on Thursday, after all the tension of wondering if it would ever be done, but now I can be pleased with the achievement, yes

Sorry your son is struggling with things - tricky to have to plan so far ahead at such a young age when the options aren't clear... I was lucky that my passion for maths made choices easier at that stage. Do the school offer much support with options?

Glad you've found a new washing machine Glad your friend could help out in the meantime I hope you had enjoyable running sessions

I didn't have any particular plans for the weekend, but then had an idea to go to a funny shop I went to last year that sold art, cushions and a good range of food my sister can eat - I thought I could start finding some Christmas presents for her. Unfortunately, I discovered the shop has now closed The shop next door had an eclectic mix of things, too, but all the food had ingredients my sister can't have. They had a good pet supplies section, though, so we found some treats for her cats instead

How did get on with the Lick-e-licks things, by the way? They look good in theory, but only can decide if they pass the test