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[Rich!]

Looks like I'm staying at home. yay. Just had a fucking amazing steak and cheese toasted sandwich, with Heinz firecracker sauce. so good.

Anyway. I need advice. I'm currently signed off work, and have been for five weeks now. I was signed off again yesterday for another two - which means I will have been off for the entirety of August.

As a store manager, I get paid a monthly salary. As I understand, I get SSP (statuary sick pay). How exactly does this work? Do I have to claim for it or does the company sort it out?

I ended up getting my wages last month minus two weeks - which were then given to me by my regional manager by way of a cheque as a personal favour. This month presumably, I will get my full wage minus a week (apparently the first three weeks of SSP are unpaid?). All three of my sick notes from the doctor were sent to and signed for by head office.

I haven't got a clue, and I can't contact anyone at head office until wednesday now. Pay date is next Friday.

oh and if work do somehow decide to get rid of me because of all this, I have grounds to sue...right? I wouldn't put it past them!

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Indeed my man, Looking forward to my first beer later. My morning joint is starting to ware off and the chip van has just pulled up outside my house.

My Saturday is going perfect so far.

Chip van, jesus!

Scots just can't get enough of that greasy goodness.

I'm going to bring the tempo down a bit Kent, but still keeping the hip-hop vibe:

Handsome Boy Modelling School - It's Like That

There is a William Wallace line just for you buddy!

Also:

"It's seems like yo' get up & go, dun got up and left" is awesome. The skit at the end is funny as fuck! It's a good record, there are some cool guest vocals: Mike Patton, Del tha Funky Homosapian, Cat Power, Pharrell Williams, you should check it out, "White People".

"So... How's Your Girl?" is arguably better, I love this track:

Handsome Boy Modelling School - The Truth

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

Chip van, jesus!

Scots just can't get enough of that greasy goodness.

I'm going to bring the tempo down a bit Kent, but still keeping the hip-hop vibe:

Handsome Boy Modelling School - It's Like That

There is a William Wallace line just for you buddy!

Also:

"It's seems like yo' get up & go, dun got up and left" is awesome. The skit at the end is funny as fuck! It's a good record, there are some cool guest vocals: Mike Patton, Del tha Funky Homosapian, Cat Power, Pharrell Williams, you should check it out, "White People".

"So... How's Your Girl?" is arguably better, I love this track:

Handsome Boy Modelling School - The Truth

This is good, listening to White People now. Gawd bless youtube. Bouncy. Good to get super high with.

 

[Lirlond]

Yeah you can't fire someone on ssp. It's grounds for unjust dismissal iirc

 

[SKINNER!]

Aww bless ya shorty. This the girl from London? Don't fall too hard, distance can be heartbreaking.

Shorty good on you, best of luck. Have some 8-bit smiles.

Aaaah, bless ya.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone

Nah Musha, it was just a local girl I met at a bar yesterday. We bumped into each other when we came to order our drinks. Got talking about travelling/countries. Her and her friends were going karaoke later and asked if I wanted to tag along. I said Yes. We all did a song each and we just clicked. Friends eventually went on their way and we slowly walked to her place last night talking about movies and politics (she's a big lefty) stopping every so often to make out for spontaneous snogging sessions. Yeah, it was a great night

One thing that bothered me though looking back, she had a guy work colleague with her last night that was being a complete cock block. Randomly comes up to me saying " Man to man here, are you trying to get off with her?" and every time she talked to some random guy he'd be like "uuugh, unlucky mate. Looks like she's found someone else. Want to come over and listen to Bob Dylan later on?". I had a care-free vibe going so I never took anything he said too seriously. Now I just woke up with a text from him asking whether I did the deed and how it went. Either this guy is waaaay too friendly or he got friendzoned really bad and he's just in denial/trying to win her back.

 

[Hot Coldman]

Sounds like he wants your D

 

[CHEEZMO™]

My Vicky game went to shit.

Every time I went to war with Mexico, I'd totally destroy their army, capture the areas I wanted and the only thing that would ever stop me was the Brits intervening. One time I took over almost all of Mexico including the capital and I still had to give up because of those cunts. This meant I ended up with an infamy penalty.

I then ended up being a Great Power but just before this the fucking Brits (again!) took control of the Panama canal. So my country was cut in half and I could't access the southern portion with my military because they wouldn't let me through their territory. Then I got attacked constantly by coalitions trying to contain me, so I couldn't defend myself. Even Ecuador got in on the action once (I'd previously wiped out their army and occupied all but one of their provinces and got a state off them in the peace deal (I also annexed Haiti in the same war whilst fending off the US long enough to enact 3 seperate peace deals, heh)).

But now I never have any military because I keep getting attacked in wars of containments and having to disarm.

 

[Musha_Soturi]

Yeah sounds like he likes her.

So you seeing her again?

 

[SKINNER!]

Yeah sounds like he likes her.

So you seeing her again?

Yeah, he probably has feelings for her. After he asked the awkward questions he went away for a while and came back declaring proudly he pulled a girl...which is great! but he was still in chaperone mode throughout the night. Gotta find the most neutral way possible to reply to his text. Don't know why this guy even sent the text in the first place.

I did get the girl's number. We were all suppose to get a bus and go to the Fringe at 12 but I only woke up about an hour ago...oops. She also said it was unlikely she'd get up in time for it. But yeah, gonna text her after lunch and make plans.

Oh and karaoke is so much fun! The positive atmosphere and energy is immense.

 

[Kentpaul]

Yeah, he probably has feelings for her. After he asked the awkward questions he went away for a while and came back declaring proudly he pulled a girl...which is great! but he was still in chaperone mode throughout the night. Gotta find the most neutral way possible to reply to his text. Don't know why this guy even sent the text in the first place.

I did get the girl's number. We were all suppose to get a bus and go to the Fringe at 12 but I only woke up about an hour ago...oops. She also said it was unlikely she'd get up in time for it. But yeah, gonna text her after lunch and make plans.

Oh and karaoke is so much fun! The positive atmosphere and energy is immense.

Will you and mrs shorty be attending the chance the rapper gig soon ?

 

[Mikeside]

Yeah, he probably has feelings for her. After he asked the awkward questions he went away for a while and came back declaring proudly he pulled a girl...which is great! but he was still in chaperone mode throughout the night. Gotta find the most neutral way possible to reply to his text. Don't know why this guy even sent the text in the first place.

I did get the girl's number. We were all suppose to get a bus and go to the Fringe at 12 but I only woke up about an hour ago...oops. She also said it was unlikely she'd get up in time for it. But yeah, gonna text her after lunch and make plans.

Oh and karaoke is so much fun! The positive atmosphere and energy is immense.

Sounds like an awesome evening, chap!

I now realize what people mean when they say it's hard to keep up with this thread - I've got a backlog for the first time!

 

[8bit]

Looks like I'm staying at home. yay. Just had a fucking amazing steak and cheese toasted sandwich, with Heinz firecracker sauce. so good.

Anyway. I need advice. I'm currently signed off work, and have been for five weeks now. I was signed off again yesterday for another two - which means I will have been off for the entirety of August.

As a store manager, I get paid a monthly salary. As I understand, I get SSP (statuary sick pay). How exactly does this work? Do I have to claim for it or does the company sort it out?

I ended up getting my wages last month minus two weeks - which were then given to me by my regional manager by way of a cheque as a personal favour. This month presumably, I will get my full wage minus a week (apparently the first three weeks of SSP are unpaid?). All three of my sick notes from the doctor were sent to and signed for by head office.

I haven't got a clue, and I can't contact anyone at head office until wednesday now. Pay date is next Friday.

oh and if work do somehow decide to get rid of me because of all this, I have grounds to sue...right? I wouldn't put it past them!

https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay/overview

You can't be fired for being sick.

Also, if they start making things awkward for you on your return such as messing with your hours or giving your short notice to go to another store, record these events and look into filing a constructive dismissal claim with HR. In this case the company could be seen as trying to get you to resign by making your working environment unbearable.

 

[SKINNER!]

Will you and mrs shorty be attending the chance the rapper gig soon ?

When's that? You just reminded me that I got into a rap music convo with a random guy en route to the karaoke place and he recommended me to listen to some Earl Sweatshirt. Might just do that now.

and lmao! Steve Ballmer is retiring Yes!!!

 

[Symphonia]

Awesome cake is awesome.

 

[Kentpaul]

When's that? You just reminded me that I got into a rap music convo with a random guy en route to the karaoke place and he recommended me to listen to some Earl Sweatshirt. Might just do that now.

and lmao! Steve Ballmer is retiring Yes!!!

I was to busy toy fighting at the Eminem gig to check out Earl Sweatshirt on the stage!

THE ARCHES
Chance The Rapper
Fri 13 Sep 2013 | 11pm-3am | £12 + bf

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

Hopping on TLoU if anyone fancies joining me.

 

[afoni]

Just walked home in the pouring rain. Blegh.

 

[xist]

Just walked home in the pouring rain. Blegh.

Are you the Wicked Witch of the West?

 

[afoni]

Are you the Wicked Witch of the West?

im afoni

 

[Deaf Spacker]

and I'm still tashbrooke

No wai.

Just went through a bastard of a hangover.

 

[Little Old Man]

I want to preorder GTA V so badly, but then I already have so many great games to play. What say you Britgafians?

 

[8bit]

I want to preorder GTA V so badly, but then I already have so many great games to play. What say you Britgafians?

What is in your queue?

 

[SteveWD40]

https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay/overview

You can't be fired for being sick.

Also, if they start making things awkward for you on your return such as messing with your hours or giving your short notice to go to another store, record these events and look into filing a constructive dismissal claim with HR. In this case the company could be seen as trying to get you to resign by making your working environment unbearable.

This. Drop the words "constructive dismissal" to HR and they will shit all the bricks, especially as you have been off with what I assume is mental health issues, you didn't just have man-flu, they would be fucked so hard they would forget what day it was.

 

[AcridMeat]

Not sure why that dude has your number in the first place shorty!

Spoiler

Kidding, I'm sure you were just being friendly. Definitely a jealous mofo though.

Oh and karaoke is so much fun! The positive atmosphere and energy is immense.

Damn right it is! I wish I had more friends nearby who were into it. New Year's Eve 2011/12 I was at a party of one of my sister's friends, they are much older than me and all have kids and stuff, but they had this karaoke machine. They were also amazing hosts with making drinks for people so I was on there for a long time and earned a reputation.

PAX this year a few of us are planning on going, the plan is we have to at least do Blink-182 together.

Oh and Mike, I remembered Anamanaguchi's album from May last night, fuckin hell it's still so great.

 

[SteveWD40]

Re-installed WoW and don't give a fuck.

 

[Lirlond]

Thats 60gb you could be using for illegal music

 

[Musha_Soturi]

Such a good night so far. Playing cards against humanity now, fuck this game is right up my street, so fucking good. I'm crying with laughter and have nearly gone in to hysterics twice.

 

[SteveWD40]

Thats 60gb you could be using for illegal music

Or HD porn, but alas, I feel the need to watch bars go down and compare numbers on purple pixels, it's been too long.

 

[thequickandthedead]

Going Central London the day after tomorrow. Recommendations?

Spoiler

so i know what to avoid

 

[Hot Coldman]

Off to see You're Next on Wednesday. Hearing some good buzz around it, some real "don't believe the ads" kinda stuff. Last time I heard that, I got Cabin in the Woods, so I'm ready.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Such a good night so far. Playing cards against humanity now, fuck this game is right up my street, so fucking good. I'm crying with laughter and have nearly gone in to hysterics twice.

I hear good things about this....

Off to see You're Next on Wednesday. Hearing some good buzz around it, some real "don't believe the ads" kinda stuff. Last time I heard that, I got Cabin in the Woods, so I'm ready.

....and this. I want to play/see them.

And yeah, Cabin in the Woods was good fun, I enjoyed it. Great cameo at the end!


In other news, TLoU's campaign is godly. I'm about three hours in, and thoroughly engrossed.

I just got to

Spoiler

the Woods after the underground section

. The lighting, the foliage, the wildlife:

 

[Jackben]

The world desperately needs more talented technical writers to author better programming and IT textbooks. Let's break up the jargon in explanations, break it down into more relatable steps. Shit is arcane enough to understand let alone learn from. I can't fucking imagine how someone who is genuinely a beginner is supposed to tread water in some of these fundamental courses.

I honestly feel our need for more technical professionals is going to soon outstrip our lacklustre ability to educate in this subject quite soon. Shit is going to be rough when we need more than self-motivated and already tech-proficient individuals aren't the only ones heading into the field.

 

[Musha_Soturi]

I hear good things about this....

Maybe we should play it in September?

Mike will probably bring it with him to mine

 

[f0rk]

Broadband is very confusing. Some places say I can get up to 8mb, some say 16 but I don't understand why. This SamKnows website says I should have access to some LLU services (whatever that means) are there different ones that give different speeds? Xilo is apparently highly rated and it looks like they'd give me 16mb (on LLU - C&W ???) but they didn't have the foresight to check availability by post code and I haven't moved yet so I don't have a phone number :/

Would be a lot easier if the Leeds city centre exchange had been upgraded, I don't understand why that hasn't happened either.

 

[faridmon]

Going Central London the day after tomorrow. Recommendations?

Spoiler

so i know what to avoid

St Paul's cathedrals. There is a shopping centre infront of it and have a bar on top. Its a good view.

 

[xist]

Broadband is very confusing. Some places say I can get up to 8mb, some say 16 but I don't understand why.

I believe the difference there is whether your telephone exchange has ADSL or ADSL2 (8 vs 16)...i think the former is being phased out at the moment so you should have a possible 16mb maximum. Then you need to take into account the distance from the exchange (your line attenuation) and the IP Profile of your line (dependant on what the noise margin is on your connection as well as the attenuation), plus of course line contention.

It's all a lot simpler if you can opt for fibre optic.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Maybe we should play it in September?

Mike will probably bring it with him to mine

Yeah, sounds like a plan.

 

[Hystzen]

Got see a early preview for Pain And Gain today....its actually a good film some fun dialog and The Rock is hilarious. Strange how delayed this was in release when it was out in US in April

 

[f0rk]

I believe the difference there is whether your telephone exchange has ADSL or ADSL2 (8 vs 16)...i think the former is being phased out at the moment so you should have a possible 16mb maximum. Then you need to take into account the distance from the exchange (your line attenuation) and the IP Profile of your line (dependant on what the noise margin is on your connection as well as the attenuation), plus of course line contention.

It's all a lot simpler if you can opt for fibre optic.

Well this is the exchange. I think the faster speeds come from LLU but only some of them are hooked up?

Fibre would be a lot easier but apparently the centre of Leeds isn't good enough for that.

 

[SKINNER!]

I was to busy toy fighting at the Eminem gig to check out Earl Sweatshirt on the stage!

haha ace! Heard the setlist for that gig was spectacular. Will look into the Chance gig. Not heard much of his material but at £12 there's not too bad to go and see what he's like. Hopefully got all my travel things for my holiday sorted out by the 12th.

Not sure why that dude has your number in the first place shorty!

Spoiler

Kidding, I'm sure you were just being friendly. Definitely a jealous mofo though.

Damn right it is! I wish I had more friends nearby who were into it. New Year's Eve 2011/12 I was at a party of one of my sister's friends, they are much older than me and all have kids and stuff, but they had this karaoke machine. They were also amazing hosts with making drinks for people so I was on there for a long time and earned a reputation.

PAX this year a few of us are planning on going, the plan is we have to at least do Blink-182 together.

Yeah, we must've traded numbers at some point earlier that night. He isn't a terrible guy by all means but he was acting quite strange. Well jealous at you going karaoke in Seattle Wanna go back! The evening Rock Band sessions at the Convention Centre a couple of years back were so much fun. Wish I remembered the name of this club but my travel buddy and I once went out exploring after we attended a trip to a standup comedy gig that the hostel organised and we stumbled into this huge club filled with people and they had dancers on podiums wearing stormtrooper masks. You literally had to swim your way through a sea people to get to the bathroom on the other side. Only thing I remembered about that place ha! Seattle can get too surreal sometimes.

 

[xist]

Well this is the exchange. I think the faster speeds come from LLU but only some of them are hooked up?

I tend to use this exchange checker but both give the same info. You should have access to the 21CN which means i think you could actually have up to 24mb.

Whether or not you have LLU is probably dependent upon who you get your BB from though, and would account for the faster speeds....i'm far from being an ADSL wiz but i've had so much bother with my own connection that stuff kind of got osmosed into me.

 

[Little Old Man]

What is in your queue?

On the PS3 alone: Jak 2 and 3, Ratchet and Clank collection, Lego LOTR, Ni No Kuni, Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood, Red Faction Guerrilla, Peace Walker, Demons Souls and Dark Souls, and more. Then there's PC, DS titles I'm currently playing.

Putting it like that I might give it a miss.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

The United States of Central America is no more.

Fucking invasions.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

While we're on the topic of awesome cakes, my aunt is a professional cake-maker.

My aunt is awesome.

 

[8bit]

On the PS3 alone: Jak 2 and 3, Ratchet and Clank collection, Lego LOTR, Ni No Kuni, Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood, Red Faction Guerrilla, Peace Walker, Demons Souls and Dark Souls, and more. Then there's PC, DS titles I'm currently playing.

Putting it like that I might give it a miss.

Of those, AC2 & Brotherhood are probably the peak of that particular series and the Souls games are worth a look. Ni No Kuni is a big time sink but worth it if you're looking for a JRPG. The Jak & Ratchet and Clank games were good at the time but not sure they'd really hold up these days.

I've only played Cards against Humanity for a few minutes, someone brought it to a party we were at a couple of months ago but my experience was halted when my son fell in the pool fully clothed. For the 3rd year in a row.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

Of those, AC2 & Brotherhood are probably the peak of that particular series and the Souls games are worth a look. Ni No Kuni is a big time sink but worth it if you're looking for a JRPG. The Jak & Ratchet and Clank games were good at the time but not sure they'd really hold up these days.

I've only played Cards against Humanity for a few minutes, someone brought it to a party we were at a couple of months ago but my experience was halted when my son fell in the pool fully clothed. For the 3rd year in a row.

Out of curiosity, are you the ZU 8bit?

 

[8bit]

Out of curiosity, are you the ZU 8bit?

I don't know what that means! So, no.

(This is the only place I use this particular moniker.)

 

[Deleted member 231381]

I don't know what that means! So, no.

(This is the only place I use this particular moniker.)

ah, just an instance of shared username. no worries, apologies

 

[Chinner]

yo home to bel air

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

On the PS3 alone: Jak 2 and 3, Ratchet and Clank collection, Lego LOTR, Ni No Kuni, Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood, Red Faction Guerrilla, Peace Walker, Demons Souls and Dark Souls, and more. Then there's PC, DS titles I'm currently playing.

Putting it like that I might give it a miss.

Jak 2 and 3, Ratchet and Clank collection - old, skip. Also, you don't need to play every game in a collection like this, just play one then move on and come back to it later
Lego LOTR - wtf are you 12? SKIP
Ni No Kuni - ehh, cant get into it myself. Nothing that you will be focussing on.
Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood - the games are fairly good but very repetive. Play three hours of 2 and then know that you've seen all the good bits.
Red Faction Guerrilla - again, three hours worth will see you fine.
Peace Walker - skip the portable grind game.
Demons Souls and Dark Souls - just hit yourself in the balls for five minutes.

Basically, none of these games are GTA5 a cultural gaming landmark. Join in the conversation as it happens, see out the generation in style, feel the hype! Those games are perennial b grade backlog games that you'll never get to because truth be told you don't really want to play them FACT.