Early Risers.

[pH]

A friend of mine was a senior programmer in an organization we both worked in. He had a very quick temper.
 

There was a major layoff of staff, and John chose to go. He had another job lined up abroad, but it wasn’t to start for six months, so he wanted a short-term job in the meantime. He applied for a junior programmer’s job, which he could have done in his sleep, and was called for interview. 

 

The interview was a “high stress” one - multiple interviewers, aggressive questioning, questions asked before previous answers had finished etc.

 

John took so much of this, then stood up, said “I didn’t really need this f…ing job anyway” and walked out. 
 

Their loss, even as a short term employee.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[PhilJ W]

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Edited February 28 by PhilJ W

[Ohmisterporter]

My wife is just getting off to sleep after a tough day. Went to RVI at Newcastle for her weekly appointment with the doctor doing her operation and it looks like the op will be in two weeks time, maybe. Whilst there, Kath began to feel unwell and tested her blood sugar level. It was 2.6 which if you are not diabetic and checking your blood sugar is very low requiring urgent treatment. Fortunately, after eating some sugary food like jelly babies further tests showed a reading of 6.5 which is closer to the norm. We were at the hospital pharmacy to collect some tablets at the time. Unfortunately they did not have said tablets and did not know when they could get some more. This echoed the story they gave last week, and just as last week they said they would deliver them to our home address. Last week's shortfall never arrived so we are not optimistic for further deliveries.

On the way home we were passing our GP surgery and had our prescriptions to pick up from the dispensary there. Kath went in to collect them and the old biddy who serves at the counter asked if she was stockpiling them. This happens regularly when OB is serving, never when her younger colleagues serve us. As you may imagine, Kath was not in the mood for this and after giving OB a telling off came out without said tablets. As I was about to drive away the dispensary manager came running up to the car asking what had happened. An explanation of events took place, which further added to Kath's distress and we left with a promise that the manager would sort things out and she would phone us at home. This proved fortunate as while Kath was going through the list of tablets she needs it turned out the pharmacy was still giving her tablets that were no longer needed and had not upgraded quantities and strength of others. Hopefully all will be well when we go back to collect them. 

Sorry this has turned into a bit of a rant but I wanted to get if off my chest.

Stay safe all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Some more progress has been made in the cellar today. I’ve not finished the flooring, but then I didn’t expect to, but I’m now about 60% - 65% done. I’ve once again had to cut a very tricky piece to cut that goes round a corner and finished at the door frame of the outer door. I’m going to have a bit of a rest tomorrow, as I need to tidy the workshop so that Charlie and I can have a bit of room to work. Besides, by back and legs are aching a bit from all the bending and standing. But at least my knees are ok, due to have pouches in the knees of my trousers that hold a foam knee pad in place. They are much more comfortable than those that fasten behind the knee, I keep forgetting that I’m wearing them! 

 

We spoke to Vickie this evening and she had a bit of very sad news ‘Gladys’ who was diagnosed with lymphoma recently, had to be put down this morning. Needless to say, the whole family are very upset with their loss. They are now down to just 2 dogs, ‘Fred’ and ‘Grace’ and Grace is going to miss Gladys, as they always liked to have a bit of rough and tumble together. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[jjb1970]

I always found the 'why do you want the job' question to be useful and revealing. I always recommend honesty (noting if you actually do want the job you should make an effort and prepare) and use it to get a feel for whether it is the right organization and role for you. An interview is a two way thing and as much about you deciding whether you want the job. 

 

Another bit of advice is that the interviewer probably wasn't born yesterday and has probably heard everything before so will identify BS very quickly. Obvious advice I know but I wish I had a pound for every time people gave me what they thought were perfect answers which pushed every button which pretty much got them red lined.

[jjb1970]

6 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I was advised that leaving a fixed amount to a charity was fine but never leave a percentage. 

 

This, 100%. Several lawyers have been quite emphatic with this advice and offered horror stories about charities being very aggressive in pursuing their percentage. 

[jjb1970]

The thing I hate about many selection processes is the fashion to be 'competency' based. To a normal person that might mean competent to perform the role but in the world of selection and recruitment it is about a range of soft skills, behaviours and pretty much anything except whether you are competent to do the job. Increasingly requiring written answers as part of the initial application.

 

Things like give us 500 words on a time you have been a team player, been nice to someone, solved a difficult problem, solved world hunger etc. More than once I have been encouraged to apply for roles in the civil service. Some of the roles were very interesting but when I looked at the application not only could I not be bothered to write a series of essays about a time I was nice to someone etc etc (which in fairness might indicate I wasn't right for the roles) but it was pretty obvious what the selection process was looking for and that I wasn't it. The hiring managers would say 'don't worry,  I know what I want' then admit their voice was only one of several and the recruiting procedure was what it was.

 

I am not questioning the importance of looking beyond narrow technical competence, clearly it is essential for a candidate to have the right attitude and be someone you feel comfortable with, but that's really what an interview is about. Usually you can establish a person's technical competence quickly and easily, the real purpose of an interview is getting a  feel for the person.

[pH]

Long post - feel free to TLDR it.

 

I got an e-mail from a cousin yesterday. He has been looking through his dad's WW2 RAF logbook. The book has been in the possession of several people in our extended family over time, and this cousin has just recently got it from his brother's widow. He previously knew none of the details of what's in the logbook, just general information about what his dad had done. Like most ex-servicemen from WW2, he talked very little about his experiences.

 

My uncle was an RAF regular before 1939, and served as active aircrew all the way to 1945. He was a wireless operator/gunner in Bomber Command till 1942, then a wireless operator/dispatcher in Transport Command. My cousin has been looking in detail at the time after D-day till August 1945. He included some photos of pages in the e-mail. There are some very interesting entries. In summer 1944, my uncle was flying in Dakotas.

 

His crew made many trips from the south of England to ALG (Advanced Landing Ground) B-14 at Amblie. This was the major airfield in the British sector for evacuation of casualties. There are notes on different days of “24 wounded”, “19 stretchers, 6 sitters, 1 passenger”.

 

They also evacuated wounded from ALG B-8 at Sommervieu; 24 on one occasion. But it's a trip into B-8 that is really remarkable – they carried 5000 pounds of 'blood plasma', and penicillin. They probably took a similar load of plasma into B-14 on one occasion, but part of that entry is cut off in the picture of the logbook page that my cousin included. (I presume the weight included the packaging.)

 

At the end of August 1944, there is a flight described as 'Relief of Paris'. Immediately after the liberation of Paris, there was a severe shortage of food in the city. As part of the effort to supply the city, there were flights to Orleans/Bricy (designated ALG A50) from which trucks took the food on into Paris. My uncle's crew flew “Biscuits, beans, bacon and dogs” to Orleans. I presume the 'dogs' were of the hot variety.

 

My cousin pointed out one more flight, which actually happened in August 1945, 3 months after VE-day. They were supposed to fly from Hendon to ALG B-164 at Schleswig in Germany, but had to divert to Detmold and continue on to Schleswig the next day. They were carrying 17 German POWs, included (noted in the log book) General Hans-Jurgen Stumpff, who had signed Germany's unconditional surrender as the representative of the Luftwaffe.

 

As my cousin finished the e-mail: “What a life that must have been, we're so lucky to have avoided war service in our lifetimes.”

Edited February 29 by pH

[jamie92208]

10 hours ago, polybear said:

BH....

 

I've just conducted a highly scientific, technical investigation & examination of the Braun Cutter Head.  Conclusion?  It's bvggered; the centre bit is all stikkyuppy when it shouldn't be.

I've also just discovered I bought it in Sep 2022, not Sep 2023.  Second Conclusion?  Braun will larf at any snottogram and tell me to go foxtrot.  Poo.

Bearing in mind the on/off button is also held in with sellotape it looks like Bear is gonna have to splash a large lump of a Deltic on a new Shaver.  Double Poo.

So Which? Magazine tests are currently being consulted......

 

BG.

Avoid the stress and wet shave.  I'm still using the same Gillette razor that I  bought over 30 years ago.  I did have trouble sourcing Contour plus blades in the UK  but in France they are still freely available.  

 

Jamie

[iL Dottore]

8 hours ago, pH said:

The interview was a “high stress” one - multiple interviewers, aggressive questioning, questions asked before previous answers had finished etc.

 

I reckon that the people who devised the “high stress interview” process are the same clowns who believe worthwhile intelligence can be obtained through torture “enhanced interrogation”. As the old adage has it “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”

 

The interview process for any position with the company I worked-for for three decades was pretty gruelling: candidates would be flown to HQ (where I worked), put up in a decent hotel (usually the Radisson or similar). Then, on the day of the interviews they were expected promptly to turn up at 08:00 at the company and be collected from the front desk and given a visitors pass. Then the mayhem began. Interviews were always one-on-one and were usually 30 to 45 minutes to length - except for me: I got 90 minutes. I did the lunchtime interview.
 

I’d collect the candidate and I’d walk them to the Director’s Restaurant where there was a table for two awaiting. On the way, we’d chit-chat about inconsequential matters (how was the flight? did you try the muesli at breakfast? That sort of thing). At lunch, they were informed that they could choose what they wanted from the menu* and have a glass of wine as well, if they so wished. Over lunch, they were asked about anything I thought relevant (having carefully read their CV), interspersed with questions about current events, so the interview touched upon more than just “work”.  
 

And whilst I was the genial host and laid-back interviewer- every single second of lunchtime they were under intense scrutiny. No wonder, when hired, they said my interview was the toughest one they had. For my interview was less about were they qualified to do the job/knew their onions** and more about how were they as individuals in the work environment; outside of the (relatively) black and white of science and medicine, how were their soft skills?  Did they have acceptable table manners (definitely a key to character)? Could they function well in a semi-social environment***

 

After lunch they were then deposited with another colleague for the first of the afternoon interviews. So for the candidate it was a whole day (08:00 - 17:00) under scrutiny. Stressful? Probably, but realistically so - unlike the situation described by @pH

But it did mean the candidates we did hire could both do the job, fit in and we could unleash them at meetings and conferences without other participants asking “who are these hooligans”. This also meant we had a very low staff turnover.

 

Win-Win I reckon.

 

* curly fries, pizza and baked beans were conspicuous by their absence!

 

** we used a headhunter to provide us with a shortlist of candidates - the headhunters weeding out the unsuitable and unqualified.

 

*** a lot of serious decision making and planning gets done (or used to) in semi-social settings - coffee breaks, medical conference events and so on (I remember once designing what turned out to be a successful study together with two Key Opinion Leaders and a senior oncologist colleague over coffee and cake at a coffee shop at a medical conference). So soft skills are important.

 

 

Edited February 29 by iL Dottore
Spelling

[Barry O]

@pH  similar things happened to my Dad, but he was RAFVR. i have loaned his Log Books to the Imperial War Museum as it seemed a good place for other people to get access to them.

 

Baz

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a warmer but damper Charente.  I actually mowed the grass yesterday, or to be more precise the weed patches round the house. We had two sunny days and now it's rain again so it had to be done. 

 

This morning it's a trip to The Danglies as Beth has to see the diabetologue.  We will get out of the hospital in time for the Chinese buffet to open.  Apart from that not a lot on the agenda. 

 

Jamie

[Barry O]

Ey up!

It's moreasons shopping day!

 

Herbindoors is off out in her car.. newly fitted with a lotnof new braking bits to allow it to pass its MoT.. a snip at £930!

 

Ouch!!!

 

Fixed a chassis on an unmentionable item used for carrying "goods" yesterday. My task today is to fettle some wiring..

 

I will try to get out gor a stroll at some point.. I need the airbus I have a coked coming non so need to avoid the wet..pah!

 

@Ohmisterporter.. shortage of medical supplies in the UK is a major problem at the moment.. but n9 comments from the press or other social media. I have been moved from a weekly jab to a tablet a day recently as "no supplies now available this year"....

 

Stay safe!

 

Baz

[The Lurker]

8 hours ago, pH said:

A friend of mine was a senior programmer in an organization we both worked in. He had a very quick temper.
 

There was a major layoff of staff, and John chose to go. He had another job lined up abroad, but it wasn’t to start for six months, so he wanted a short-term job in the meantime. He applied for a junior programmer’s job, which he could have done in his sleep, and was called for interview. 

 

The interview was a “high stress” one - multiple interviewers, aggressive questioning, questions asked before previous answers had finished etc.

 

John took so much of this, then stood up, said “I didn’t really need this f…ing job anyway” and walked out. 
 

Their loss, even as a short term employee.

if i were a candidate, my thought would be that i did not want to work for people like that. Sometimes it's not about any job, it's about the right job, and working atmosphere is important to me. Places that aim to give you a bit of real insight tend to be good. One job, my predecessor as allowed to spend an hour with me. Her comment before being interviewed by the deputy FD was "don't worry if you think he's a  bit of a , we all do!".

 

I was offered and accepted that job. And later employed my predecessor as a consultant in a different setting 10 years later!

[Hroth]

In a similar manner to iDs soft skills technique at the dinner table, the advice to aspirational high fliers used to be "learn to play golf".

 

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, 

5.5 hours sleep, long awake , 1.5 hours sleep, much better though I still feel knackered. Forepaws left knee and right ankle all painful with the immanent change in the weather.

 

Ben the insistent Collie, wanted out, slight drizzle at the moment and it appears to be getting darker. Most of the Snowdrops have gone now except for some giant ones. There are 4 bunches of daffs out now and one lone daff open sitting lonely out in the middle of a patch of grass.

 

The weirdest interview I had was with the police for a comms electronics technicians post. Most of the interview was about race relations, and this was for a job with no customer facing role in a county with less than 5% non white population.

 

Plans for the day. 

Not a lot.

Mostly muddling.

 

 

 

[iL Dottore]

11 hours ago, polybear said:

And finally.....

Early indications suggest that Bear is now "back in the green" insofar as BMI is concerned.  Yahooooooooooo........

Once I've had a similar reading for 3 days in a row I'll be happier though.

Another 2.5Kg is the next (and final) goal - it'll give me a bit of slack for those essential Pizza's....

....and the odd slice of LDC....

.....and a few curly fries....

......and......

 

Bear gone.

I wouldn't get too cocky, Bear.

 

It's inadvisable to weigh yourself every day - daily fluctuations in weight can be up to about a kilo or so depending upon a number of factors (you void about 200 - 400ml of urine at a time. So that's 200g - 400g). Taking a middle value of 300mL/300g per urination, void 4 times and you've lost 1.2 Kg - which will return....

 

The most reliable way of weighing yourself is to weigh yourself once a week at the same time on the same day, after voiding (solids and liquids) before eating or drinking anything and preferably completely unclothed. This helps smooth out the daily fluctuations in weight.

 

The other thing, you'll only have reached your desired weight once you have had repeated measurements (plus/minus a tiny variation) of that weight over a period of time (I forget what that is).

 

Unfortunately, weight loss isn't easy (or terribly permanent), otherwise there wouldn't be a problem with obesity in many countries. It's a multi-factorial problem that calorie restriction can only partly address.

[Winslow Boy]

I think I've been fortunate in my job interviews in that I can only remember two where I walked out of them. This was prior to the actual interview itself when I was either been shown around or having been asked to do various tasks. Being single meant that I wasn't restricted in where I could work, so was happy to move if I saw a job i fancied. It did have its disadvantages though, in that you didn't get to see the area, this was pre-interwobbly so you had to rely on what you'd been sent or knew of the area. One of these occasions was for a middle ranking post where it was a two day affair and being subjected to what  would be called 'psychological profiling'. I wasn't the only one who walked on that occasion and I recall noting some time later that the job was re-advertised so quite what they wanting they obviously didn't get.

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, from a sunny but windy rock, after a night of rain - 7c.

 

Shavers - although I have had a beard for over 30 years, I have to shave my neck otherwise shirts get torn to shreds.  I also used to shave my cheeks but the beard has crept up over the years.  I had a Braun back in the days before cordless, it developed a fault that nearly blew my hand off.  Bin.  Since I have had Panasonic, the current one has a high frequency element to it, had it for at least ten years, very good shave.

 

I used to do a lot of interviewing in my HR days, the advice given to me by our Director was to never take on senior management that played golf, as you can never find them of an afternoon - they are out spoiling a good walk whilst pretending to be at a 'meeting'.

 

My interview for the Youth Justice Team job was basically all about the 'soft' stuff, it was important to be able to bring together a team of police officers and social workers/probation officers without causing open warfare - the two groups have traditionally hated each other.  That we achieved this was the core to our success, for 9 years it all ran fine, then a new 'old school' social work Assistant Director started with the old hate game and the team fell apart shortly afterwards.  Now a Government Select Committee has reviewed it all after a huge increase in juvenile crime (no poo, Sherlock) and wants it put back as it was. #sigh#

Edited February 29 by New Haven Neil

[DaveF]

When I interviewed candidiates for jobs in school (mainly teachers) we used to get them to arrive by 8.30, give them coffee and explain a bit about the school, then we took them on a guided tour making sure there were pupils moving around they could interact with, always ending up in the department where they would be based.  They would be given time there to talk to staff.  After that each one had to teach a lesson while being observed, by now it would be time for lunch, usually in the school dining room with pupils and staff, we often learnt a lot about each candidiate at this time.  If possible we would also have a panel of older students who would talk to each candidate and report back to us.  Finally we had the formal interviews though by then we usually knew who we wanted.

 

It generally worked well.  For non teachers the process was quite similar with the candidates spending time with others who had similar roles.

 

It's a dry but somewhat cloudy morning, around 6°C.  I had a much better night's sleep only waking once and various parts of me seem to be working better.

 

I will get my monthly accounts done later today after a walk which may involve visiting a shop.

 

Then once again the rest of the day is fee to do as I please.

 

David

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Slept six hours solid last night before I got the prod from bladder control. Then a series of cat naps of no more than half an hour until I got up just after seven. I've now developed a stinking cold, just as well that I've got plenty of Kleenex but I might have to change my appointments for the sound scan and with Dracula's daughter. Now to take this morning's antibiotic pill.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Ive just had a text from Charlie saying he’s not coming round today, as he’s had to cover for someone who is off sick. However, I’m still going to tidy up the workshop, as Max is coming round on Sunday and there’s a possibility that Charlie is too. Now that could be interesting, as they famously DON’T get on! I’m also going to tidy up a bit in the cellar and maybe do a couple of hours floor laying, I’ll see how my back feels about that when I’ve finished in the workshop. 
 

Back later. 

 

Brian 

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

Shavers - although I have had a beard for over 30 years, I have to shave my neck otherwise shirts get torn to shreds.

and the knuckles???