Reply to interview

ReplyToYourSelf: A Conversation With Yourself Can Be Quite Revealing

2013.08.10 21:47 CourtesyofTino ReplyToYourSelf: A Conversation With Yourself Can Be Quite Revealing

This ridiculous and ridiculously fun subreddit idea struck me at work. Start a post; comment on your own post; weave a literary journey through conversation; examine your own psyche with conversation. Or just use it to vent your days frustration; whatever the use, talk to yourself for the fun of it.

[link]

2008.01.25 04:52 Ask Reddit...

AskReddit is the place to ask and answer thought-provoking questions.

[link]

2016.01.15 18:08 We'll pay you in experience!

Tell us about those juicy recruiting stories!

[link]

2024.05.19 16:28 maikaipaiii what should i do....

hello! so ive been accepted into SIT and have to reply by 24 May.. however, im still waiting for SMU to get back by 24 May as well.. and from the looks of it, im prepared to get rejected from smu as i had my interview early april and there is only less than a week left...
im looking to appeal smu but was wondering if that is possible even after accepting SIT.. or should i just take a gap year and try applying again...
as the days go by, i just lose so much hope and unsure of what i should do.. could anyone advise? thankyou!

submitted by maikaipaiii to SMU_Singapore [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 15:23 alTeee90 Being a walking L has made me religious

These past 2 years have been brutal, it's been L after L with no break.
I feel like a mouse in a maze that every time it approaches the exit is dragged back to the start by a hand from the sky.
It doesn't matter how much I try, the outcome is always the worst possible one.
I've gone from agnostic to full on believer because I don't think someone can be this unlucky without some almighty being involved in it.
I now fully believe God exists and either:

He is actively punishing me
He has left me stranded

Will keep it short since I know you hoes like reading this kind of shit:

Around 2 years ago I was leasing a horse, and giving it my all, I was earning an entry-level salary in a comfy remote work living with my parents. Keeping the horse was costing me pretty much my full salary. I didn't go out and did anything except lifting, running, riding and working.
For almost a year I was the happiest I had ever been, I literally jumped out of bed excited to live the day, I would work 8-4, lift in my home gym and go visit my horse, either riding, or just being with him, during the time I had him I didn't go a single day without seeing him.
Of course living like this means that I don't have the most social life or friends circle, but I didn't care since every hour of my life was busy.
My plan for the year was training and competing and then in September changing jobs and buying the horse, but in July the horse was injured, I didn't get the best veterinary advice and didn't know what to do, I was being drained for a horse I couldn't even ride or enjoy, after all those months of hard work and discipline, for some reason the owner got mad, and petty sold him behind my back.
During this time, my highschool best friend started regaining contact and started meeting with me and his gf, they gave me a lot of support during those weeks, against all odds, I nailed an interview for a high-paying job that would've allowed me to buy the horse and maintain it comfortably.
I was still too hurt from what had happened, so I just chilled for a few months, saving money, and hanging out with my friend and his gf, and lifting and running, I was at my physical peak, I was lifting heavier than ever, running faster and longer, I was optimistic for the future, I just needed time to heal and I had the means to do so, social life, earning money and physical activity.

Fast forward to December and I receive a cryptic message from my friend's GF saying that she wasn't going to be here for my birthday (we met the previous day) because my dumbass friend just broke up with her.
That basically destroyed my little social life since they were living in the city, and my friend disappeared to be with his new GF.
I tried to comfort her and be there for her (wasn't attracted and even if I were it wouldn't be right to take advantage of the situation).
The months of just working and lifting allowed me to save enough to start looking to buy my own horse, I was still hurting from the whole situation, and being alone, but still I was just lifting heavy, running, walking my dog, keeping myself busy.
In February after trying and vetting some horses, I found one that seemed promising. I bought a very expensive veterinary exam, and he passed it, allegedly, I buy the horse.

Long story short, barely 3 weeks into ownership, I started noticing pain and weird stuff that shouldn't be happening since I started with very soft work, a few weeks of going through 3 different vets, and basically the horse had a life-long injury that the first vet didn't catch in the exam, and basically it was done for, I was devastated, I tried some solutions but they we're not effective, it was over.
During those months, my friend's ex-gf started coming to visit me, we slept together (no sex), we talked every day, I gave her presents, one would say what I did was love bombing her, but to me It was just being there giving support, for her it turned into a situationship.
I still had the horse, I couldn't selling him while he was untrained, and I still had a bit of faith in the vet's advice, and then, suddenly, my knee started hurting, I was lucky that in my new job I had private insurance, so I could immediately go to the orthopedist and do an MRI without the long ass waits of the public health care (up to a year for the MRI), and lo and behold, torn meniscus, it rapidly went from "pain while running" to "some days I can't even fucking walk", I had to stop riding, paying my trainer to ride my horse since I needed to sell him, I had to stop running, I had to stop doing any leg gym exercises.
I didn't want to do the surgery since what I read online was very contradictory.

Because shit can always get worse, one day I was alone with my parents (we also live with my brother and grandma), and I notice the vibes being off, I ask “what the fuck is your problem?” and they confess that my father doesn’t like my mom anymore, well, not to get into too much detail but since then I’ve had to endure watching my mom cry, they get into arguments all the time, just awful, thing is I was already so drained from my personal bullshit that after the initial shock, It didn’t pain me too much, they just keep living together, although I hear them arguing from time to time.
During those months my ex-friend’s ex-gf kept catching feelings for me, and my autistic ass couldn't really read the situation so I made it worse. Finally she asked me if I was going serious with her or if she could go on about her life. I said that I didn't see her as my partner, and since then she got a boyfriend and our friendship went to shit.

I finally sold the horse, my life got extremely bored.
I decided to do the surgery since I couldn't do any of the things I enjoyed, running, riding, whatever, but I had a trip in January with her so I had to postpone it until then, for those months all I could do was going for walks like an old man, and hit the gym (all chest no legs), I was going kinda hard tho, since I knew that during the months of recovery I would lose a lot of muscle and I wanted to go in my best form, during those months I acquired my best physique ever, for the first time, after years of being constant, I liked how my body looked.
The trip was a mistake, she nagged me every minute of it, I could tell she had only gone because it was already paid for, I had postponed the surgery 2 months just to have a horrible weekend.

I did the surgery and the first bad news came, they couldn't fix the broken part of the meniscus, so they took it out, this was the worst possible outcome since it would mean a shorter recovery, but the probabilities of arthritis in the future were higher, off to a good start.
2 weeks later I start going to rehab, during those weeks nobody came to visit me, well, my friend did, only to talk shit on his new coworker (during those months he would only message me to talk shit about coworkers or work), nobody else, not the situationship, not my trainer, nobody.
Speaking about the situationship, after the trip, she stopped messaging me, and even replying at all. I thought, well, there it goes, I’ve lost “not being an unopened chat” privilege.
Some boring months of rehab, working the job that I started to dread, and doing the boring ass knee exercises at home, and then, suddenly a glimmer of hope.

I start being treated by a “new” physio, but turns out she had been on sick leave for the same reason as me, she tore her meniscus, during those first 3-4 sessions we talked and talked for the whole hour, she was just perfect, around my age, funny, cute, was active, played sports, had a nice body, she lives like 5 minutes walk from my house.
I immediately fell in love like I had never before in my life, and that’s when it came to me, this was it, every bad thing that happened to me has come to this, to meeting this girl, everything made sense, If I had my surgery earlier I would not have met her because she would be on sick leave. My broken meniscus, my lame horse, every bad thing that had happened to me had led me to her.
So I take my autistic ass, and since I felt like we had something cool going on I ask “Hey, I think you’re very interesting and cute and would like to know you better, can I have your number so we can meet and go for a drink some day?” and she actually did give it to me, I asked for her number instead of her IG because I didn’t want to play any game, I thought she wouldn’t give me her number unless she was interested in me, I was ecstatic.
I start texting her and after refusing to meet a few times (with actually convincing excuses) I ask her “Hey if you don't want its fine I won't bother you anymore, just tell me” and she basically told me that she didn’t want to break the physio-patient barrier, I didn’t understand anything but I didn’t want to make it weirder since she is still treating me so I just accepted it.

The thing is, I know where she lives, I have to walk past her apartment whenever I go for a walk, drive to town, I get reminded constantly, moving on is very hard, I really thought she was for me, I thought she was finally the reward for all my suffering, but turns out she's just part of the punishment, I legit had a religious revelation, every single bad thing that had happened, God made it so I went and met her, my knee injury, having to sell the horse, losing my friends, no way it was a coincidence.

Now that I know that she is not for me, not even as a friend, I have nothing, the knee recovery is not going well, I was supposed to be a-ok in 6 weeks, It’s been 3 months and I still can’t even go for a walk without swelling and pain, I can’t workout because the knee exercises take a long ass time and I feel like they’re not doing shit, I don’t have friends to meet and take my mind off it, every few weeks I have to see my mum weeping around the house because my father is a piece of shit.

And to top it all, I just started having similar pain in the good knee, so there is a possibility that even If I hadn’t done shit, it may be injured too, this shit just doesn’t end, it just fucking never ends.

TLDR: Everything that has ever given me pleasure or made me happy has been taken away from me. I went from getting out of bed full of hope and enthusiasm to sleeping through my alarms because the only thing I can do is sit in front of a screen. I’ve been having the worst day of my life every day for the past 2 years, after everything I’ve worked hard for and all the sacrifices I’ve made.

submitted by alTeee90 to rspod [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 15:22 alTeee90 Being a walking L has made me religious

He is actively punishing me
He has left me stranded

submitted by alTeee90 to redscarepod [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 14:28 confusedvexedperson The worst interview of my life was at this company called Nagarro

This did not happen recently but a few months back.
I was looking for a job (double digit years in experience) and a HR from Nagarro reached out on LinkedIn. I sent her my details, did a proctored online test and was selected for a 2nd round face to face. Since the interviewer was in US, the slot I had was Sunday at 9:45 PM IST [I was given a choice of slots but they were either 7 in the morning or 9-10 in the night, only weekends].
I joined the Teams meeting at 9:40 PM on a Sunday, turned on my camera, and waited 5 minutes for the interviewer. As soon as it became 9:45, I heard the Teams chime that I was let in, but before the sound ended, a voice started speaking. "Alright, so what things you take care?"
I looked up to see this Indian guy wearing a red hat (not THAT red hat) indoors, looking at me. I said, "Sorry, what?" And he said exasperatedly, "Your work. What. Is. It. that. You. Do." in clipped tones, as if I was not a mentally sound person.
My hand automatically moved my mouse over to the disconnect button and I almost clicked but stopped myself at the last moment. I decided to see how the interview went. I had not given an interview in a long time and wanted to get an experience.
I composed myself and started to explain my resume. In the middle of it, he stopped me and said, "Are you using dual screens?" I said yes. He scolded me for using dual screens for an interview and made me turn one off. I was on camera the whole time and it was a face to face interview so not really sure what the concern was but I still did it. The funny part was, during the interview I could hear pings from his side and see him turn to his own second screen to reply to some chat/IM messages. Anyways, I asked, "should I continue explaining my resume" and he said, "no that's alright."
"Tell me about any recent deliverable you have worked on", he asked next. I had recently worked on implementing a customized DR system so I started to explain how it was implemented and the architectural changes done. He was distracted the whole time, replying to some ping, constantly muting and unmuting his audio and saying, "That's fine. Keep going." I completed my explanation and waited. He realized I had stopped talking and said, "All that is good but I do not see the architecture change you have done." I summarized the server re-organization, the load balancers, the customized back-up and archival, even some code level changes we had to do, but he said, "I still do not see the architecture design change." I said, "I can draw an architecture diagram to show it clearly", and he said, "no that's alright. Let's move on."
I come from a .NET background, so he asked me, "do you have experience with .NET core?" I said, I did. And this is where the most weird part of the interview starts. He spent 20 minutes on a single question and you will see why, in a minute.
He asked me, "Do you know the three types of dependency injection?" I answered the three - singleton, scoped and transient.
He said, "good, now tell me how do you decide which one to use." This is a standard interview question, I gave the standard answer. It was not good enough.
He did a "tch" sound of exasperation. "All that is good, but how do you decide?" I explained again, adding more details.
He did that "tch" sound again. "All that is good, but how do YOU decide?", stressing on the word "YOU". I explained again, this time with examples of when I would make which choice and why.
He did that "tch" sound again. "All that is good, but those are textbook examples. Tell me about an example that you have implemented in your system"
I explained how we had used a singleton for application level settings. He did that "tch" sound again. "All that is good, but what made you decide that the application settings need to be in singleton?"
I was confused at this point. What was he looking for! "The settings need to be the same throughout the application and so a singleton is a logical choice", I said.
He shook his head, this time not making the "tch" sound. "No, you are not getting it. I want to understand what made you decide to make the application settings class a singleton? Was it because of the name of the class or because somebody told you or because you got a feeling?"
I was angry at this point, so I repeated the same answer as before. He said, "Maybe I am making it complex. Why don't I give you an example and you can explain your choice." I said OK.
"Alright, so suppose that I created a class called "" and asked you how should I use it. What will you say?"
I stared at him for a moment, wondering if this was real. I asked him what was the functionality of the class, and he launched into the most unnecessarily complex (and to me, wildly unrelated) functionality regarding uploading documents from an API to an azure storage account involving Virtual Networks, Key Vault, different Blob types and an Azure SQL database to store blob metadata. I asked him, how the class is supposed to be used. He said, "I don't know. I am the author of the class. I have given it to other people to use. Ask me questions you would ask the author of the class."
My mind was hurting at this point so I repeated, in the most bored voice, the very first standard answer I had given. He must have realized my disinterest, for he said, "Alright, I get it. Let's move on. Do you have experience writing SQL?"
I said Yes. So he asked me to share my screen and gave me a written scenario for which to write a query.
While I was working on the query, he said, "I have your resume so let's take a look at that." He opened the resume, I could see that he actually did open it then, by the screen brightness reflected on his face change. And as I worked on the query, he kept going through my resume and making what I can only describe as "Passive-Aggressive comments" in a low voice in the background. E.g. "worked at So-and-so (one of the Big 4 companies)... In ", "worked with XYZ technology... for ", "SME for ABC technologies... for DEF use case"
I was done at this point so I drafted out a query with as low effort as I could and then explained it quickly. It was wrong for sure, and not fulfilling the use case completely but I had stopped caring. He also realized it because he said, "Alright, I think that is it. Do you have any questions for me?", in a very smug voice.
I said, "No, thanks for the experience", and disconnected the call.
So, that was it. The most WTF interview of my life. So far. I am not really sure what was wrong with that dude or maybe I have been out of touch for a long time and this is how it is now, but damn, man. I sat in shock for a few minutes after the call. I did check out the interviewer's profile on LinkedIn, wondering if we had crossed paths before. But he was been with his company for a long, long time, first company since college and never switched. So I don't really know.
Anyways, so, yeah. Hope you are having a better experience than me.

submitted by confusedvexedperson to developersIndia [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 14:23 daunenbett Being speachless or faking it

I am thinking there should be a word for when someone tries to look like they are speachless from a stupid argument but in reality they can't find the words to reply to the in fact very relevant argument.
Common among politicians when they f'd up and has to answer to a clever journalist's questions. In fact that's what made me think about it when I watched an interview recently. The politician stood there with wide eyes looking away, blank expression and shook he's head clearly thinking it looked like he couldn't believe someone would ask something so "stupid".
It is very easy to spot the faked speachlessness but difficult to put a finger on what it is that gives them away.
Whatdoyathink

submitted by daunenbett to bodylanguage [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 12:10 SharkEva AITAH for wanting to leave my volunteer position because they gave the paid job to their best friends child

I am not the OOP. The OOP is u/Illustrious_Young430 posting in AITAH
Concluded as per OOP
1 update - Short
Original - 13th May 2024
Update - 17th May 2024

AITAH for wanting to leave my volunteer position because they gave the paid job to their best friends child

I’ve been volunteering in a charity shop since about August last year, I initially started to get myself back into a routine and work ready for being out of work for so long. I really enjoyed it and it’s given me so much confidence. Unfortunately the manager had to take sick leave because she needs an operation, the assistant manager handed in her keys and quit because no one from the other stores would come in and help or cover a day for her, so she was basically doing everything.
The shop had to close for awhile till they found someone else. When they did I came straight back because I had started to fall backwards in myself and needed the routine again. The new (floating manager) let’s call Mary, is 19 and had no idea how to run the shop, her mum is the companies customs manager for this area, she is also best friends with another lady who runs one of the other shops (she has two daughters) one is running another shop. This is not a family run business.
At first it was very unwelcoming and they changed how we worked, I gave it time because obviously she’s new to this and doesn’t really talk to anyone, eventually over time we became friendly, work well together and have a laugh. A new assistant manager had been hired who is absolutely amazing and we get on very well, he has recently gone to another one of the stores to run it as manager.
His job became available so I asked about applying, Mary got really excited and wanted me to apply, she helped me with interview questions, gave me the opportunity to run the shop for a few days completely on my own, which went very well. At first she wasn’t doing the interviews, it was her mum and someone else.
When it came closer I got informed that her and her mum was interviewing me, I got excited because I thought I was a shoo in as Mary had expressed if she could pick then it would be me. A day before, I found out that the ladies other daughter was applying too, I knew from then on it didn’t matter what I said or did I wouldn’t be getting it because they are all very close.
Mary’s mum rang me to say I didn’t get it the other girl did, making out it was some random women, even though I know it’s the daughter, but that I did very well and they wanted to make me lead volunteer, I have been there for months, run it on my own, cashed up, opened up, everything, I know how to run it better than mary does.
I want to leave because I feel like I’ve been screwed over, I’m going to complain to the higher up because i feel it’s unfair to basically say I have the job, but then give it to your best friends daughter.

Comments

Rare-Selection2348
Don't bother complaining. Don't bother going in again. NTA

Old_Web8071
Complaining probably won't do any good. Best bet is to walk away & find a job that pays. Or some other charity until you do.
And don't give a notice. At the end of a day, just say, "I'm not coming back to work here" & leave. Preferably when you know they will be short-handed because other people are already taking off.
It's up to you if you want to give them a notice or reason you're leaving. Me? I'd just say I'm not coming back.

Foolish-Pleasure99
Yes, don't complain, leave. Any notice up to you. They will quickly learn nepotism is not a management strategy, will suffer, and will cover that all up or chalk it up to "learning on the job".
I do not see anyone reaching out to admit they made a mistake and if you stay you're just a doormat and will have to run the place without pay or recognition.

**Judgement - NTA*\*

Update - 4 days later

Thank you for all your messages I didn’t expect anyone to reply. I left, I went in and it was really awkward, so when I finished for the day I told Mary this is my last day, she was shocked and didn’t really know what to say. I walked out knowing that most of the other volunteers will probably leave soon too.
Either for paying jobs or because they are getting annoyed with how it’s run. I’m also going to tell the higher ups about it because I don’t want them to get away with it, it’s not the first time and someone in the comments pointed out that corporate might not know what is going on and it’s not fair to anyone.

Comments

kobresia9
Mary must be really dense if she's shocked

ankle-biter-42
You’d be surprised at how stupid people like this can be. Either that or she thinks she’s manipulating OP

Stephenallen1977
Honesty this was the best course of action for you.
If you are in the UK it does not sound like there was a fair recruitment process given that there was favouritism to someone who did not have experience.

UtahCyan
Nepo hires. Happens everywhere. They usually end up in disaster, but you have to wait for the disaster for anything you change.

I am not the OOP. Please do not harass the OOP.
Please remember the No Brigading Rule and to be civil in the comments

submitted by SharkEva to BORUpdates [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 11:54 ValeciaCho Maths Grad Dev/Tester Career Advice

I graduated with a BSc Maths in 2005 (Pass if anyone's interested), did a long stint in retail and had a few developer interviews, with no success, but still positive and encouraging feedback and I really enjoyed the last one. Finally landed my first office job in 2019 in sales/data admin and taken a couple other similar positions since in supply chain, but still, nothing CS related, at least, not directly.
Due to un-diagnosed ADHD, Dyslexia and possibly ASD, I was let go in 2022. Since then I have been trying break into the software industry proper. I decided last year to go in as a tester, as it's the most constituent role within the industry and I could get a recognised qualification. Finally got my ISTQB in April.
Brief breakdown of my programming skills:

Learned C/C++ in uni and actually made a Sudoku based game
Learned Ruby in uni
Picked up JavaScript, PHP and MySQL to make a real-time POS system
Learned Google Test and used that on a series of uni C/C++ work
Recently learned Python to implement my uni dissertation (Knapsack Public Key Cryptosystem).. more proof of concept and skill than an actual security system

I have been focusing more on applying for testing jobs lately, but decided to dust off the developer versions of my CV. I know I can get dev interviews, but no replies on the tester applications.
Programming seems to be the thing I actually seem to be good at and enjoy. My ADHD brain loves seeing the progress of my work and how I can keep hacking away at a problem, but I feel like a massive impostor. What if I get there and I have no bloody clue what to do or what I'm looking at? I'm trying to get around this by using code I find online in some of my previously mentioned projects. This way I have to look through code I've never written and understand it via dismantling it. Then adding new stuff for what I want.
Since my uni days, I could always see myself programming for a living and liking it, but the corporate world has shown me how brutal ppl can be, so tempering my expectations.
I feel lost. I know my first office job was through sheer luck, so I know I can get basic admin roles. Inputs and advice for breaking into the software industry appreciated.
Thanks

submitted by ValeciaCho to cscareerquestionsuk [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 11:26 gangstarzgangstarz Urgent - Fun interview with someone from Niue today

Hello, our student house in the Netherlands tonight is celebrating the Niue constitution day (19 Oct).
Anyone from Niue, or who has been to Niue would be down for a small fun interview (online)? :) It would be somewhere between 6 and 9 pm GMT
Reply or send a dm!

submitted by gangstarzgangstarz to Niue [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 10:51 Easy_Medium_7637 Am I delusional? Am I overthinking?

So a 3 months back I met a guy on Bumble, he was a really nice guy, but due to certain reasons, we decided that we aren't going to date, I was absolutely frustrated with my life then and all apps in general, and he was of my same age, so more or less we vibed well, though we had completely varied interests. Anyway 2 weeks into conversation over Instagram (he'd asked me for my id) he said that he'd developed feelings for me and like it was all too much for me, because I'd made myself very much clear that I was not in a position to date rn, I'm doing my final year of medicine and he was prepping for his IIM admissions and stuff, we'd soon be in different cities/states and long distancing was near to impossible as I can't manage a relationship in my final year. I didn't want to him to invest his time on me without seeing any future, and also we were from different religions, and it wouldn't have worked out anyway, also some other personal issues which I can't mention here. But I felt very bad for leading him on (I never did tbh, I'd made myself clear, and he admitted that it was he who developed feelings for me). I'd a lot of free time then, I'd just got done with my exams then and we used to maintain a connection when I could, and I gradually started detaching myself from him and said we could move on as friends or else we'll stop talking altogether but he said that we could reduce the frequency if the conversations and it'll gradually die down. Fast forward, we talk/chat often like when I get time, btw he got into one of the best IIM's in the mean time, I entered my final year, we planned on meeting, since we'd got to know each other online and planned a meetup, but it didn't work out and he'd to cancel in the last moment. So we dropped plans of meeting, and agreed that we'd meet if any one of us was in the same city (we live in different cities), and usual conversations went on. He is a really good friend (or atleast that is what I assumed) and I tried my best in supporting through his interviews for IIM's as a friend and I'm absolutely overjoyed when he got into literally 5/6 IIM's. Btw I was having a tough time in my life die to the hectic academics and college. Yesterday I saw that he'd come to his Alma mater which was in my same city, and he didn't tell a word. I replied asking whether he was here and he said that he didn't want to bother me and that I was already having a hectic schedule. I had tears rolling down my eyes, and would've gone to meet him, since I considered him a dear friend and he didn't even ask me if I'd come to meet him. I literally ended up crying. I'd done my best to support him as a friend through his exams and interviews, not sending any mixed signals making my stand very clear( I like him dearly as a friend nothing more) and yet he just did this to me. Now I just feel so bad. Am I such a bad person that he absolutely avoided me and didn't even ask me whether I could come( I did have a packed schedule yesterday, but I'd have found time, after all it's all about priorities) Do I deserve to be treated like this?I just feel absolutely disgusting, with already a hard time at college. I still can't believe he just avoided me, he's indeed a nice person who used to listen to my rants and support me when I could, or was it all just a facade, I strongly believe it wasn't.
Sorry ladies for the very long rant.

submitted by Easy_Medium_7637 to TwoXIndia [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 10:16 LazySloth1337 Situationship (26F) ended things abruptly (31M)

I've been dating with this girl for almost 3 months. At the same time I've been on a job hunt.
During these months, We've went for dinner couple times (where I paid for both of us) and also cooked at home or went outside (without always spending a lot).
Early on she mentioned that wants a relationship, after I told her that I am on a job hunt and also want to get to know her better , she said can "wait for me" due to my current situation.
Fast forward, everything was going smooth and she showed a lot of attention to me seemingly unbothered by the situation.
Last week and out of nowhere, she started acting distant so I asked her to meet.
In person, she told me that she wants to end things, and the reason was that she stopped having patience on my job situation anymore, and that she stopped liking me (even though she was love bombing me the past few days), only to add the fact that "I can't buy things for her (gifts/clothes/exp restaurants) and go shopping with her therefore she has to do it with her friends".
I was shocked to hear this and confronted her saying that a relationship is about building trust and creating a bond and definitely not looking for a sponsor to buy you stuff.
her reply was "I am a selfish person, that's me."
I told her that I'm done with this, she left without saying anything and blocked me instantly from everywhere.
Thoughts? I believe it is not normal for a woman to have these demands, especially so early on, I also find strange that she went from being very interest to this in just a few days.
PS1: At that period, I was still getting multiple interviews and doing anything I can to land a decent job
PS:2 We never had any fights during this 3 months nor anything shady occurred from her side, so I find it strange that her entire behavior changed within a span of 3-4 days.
TL;DR Situashionship ended things out of nowhere due to me not being able to buy her materialistic things

submitted by LazySloth1337 to BreakUps [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 09:41 Practical_Flight6933 You call us f*cking furry c*nts? Okay, I'm going to call you skibidi.

Well well well, isn’t this a tale. It is long, but it is really funny imo. Me (ftm14) and my friends (m14), (nb13) and (nb14) were hanging out in town. We’re gonna call them Paul, Printer, and Leaf. We got chips, we chatted, and we were enjoying a nice weather Sunday after a week of it being cold and raining (southern hemisphere).
Anyway, it’s around 3:30pm and we are playing in the playground because we are still techinically children and it’s a climbing frame, who wouldn’t want to climb it. When a "friend" of ours we hadn’t seen for two/three years (f13) we’ll call her Ginger, shows up at the park with two boys who look her age or younger, we’ll call them Green Shirt and Black Shirt. Ginger comes and says hi to us, acting all nice and friendly. We chat for a few minutes, then she goes on the swings with Green and Black shirt.
After about 15 minutes, my friends and I decide to go do something else because Paul had to go very soon, this is where the annoyance begins. As I’m getting off, Green Shirt comes up to me and asks if I’m a furry (in the derogatory way kids are asking that these days) of which I am not, I politely respond no. He then asks if I have a Fursuit — of which I don’t — and I politely respond no again. He keeps pestering me about it so I tell him to piss off and my friends and I walk to another part of the park to hang out.
Paul leaves to go home, and Leaf and Printer — who are both furries and therians or something, I’m not up on the lingo — decide to practice doing quads(running and jumping on all fours). I let them do their thing and scroll on my phone, until Green Shirt comes back. (Paraphrasing because we swear a lot) “Hey I have an interview!” He asks, “What do you want?” We respond. “What’s it like in the furry world?” He asks, in a derogatory way. Us: “What do you mean? We’re in the normal world” Him: *snickering* “oh my god I didn’t know animals could talk!”
We very impolitely tell him to go f*ck himself, and he goes back to spread gossip to Ginger and Black shirt. We notice as we walk off that Green Shirt has a scooter, he also looks like he’s nine. Oh, and he’s wearing a helmet. Of course safety is nice, but he looked so funny becuase he was wearing a motorbike helmet. On a scooter. The scooter wasn’t even electric, it was a normal scooter.
As we left the part to walk through the towns main street, he came up to us on his manual scooter with his motorbike helmet, calling us furries, calling our genders not real (we hadn’t even told him our gender) and other things like that before repeatedly going back to talk with Ginger and Black shirt. I commented to my friend that while he is mocking our gender, he looks like a child and I probably have more testosterone in my body than him (I’m still biologically female, he really did look like a child).
This was when my friends had an idea, they discussed it and I listened, but I didn’t think that green shirt was gonna come back. ..then, Green Shirt came back.
Green shirt: “you guys are furries!” My friends: (high pitched, annoying and patronizing) “OH MY GOSH YOURE SO SKIBIDI SIGMA! I LOVE YOUR HELMET POOKIE BEAR SAFETY FIRST LETS GO! SLAYYYY WE LOVE YOU OH MY GOSH YOU HAVE SO MUCH GYATT, YOURE SO SKIBIDI!!!”
His confidence shattered, but he didn’t just stop there, oh no no, he tried ignoring them first. I still wasn’t saying that to him, I was just laughing. He asked me, “what’s your gender?” I ignored his question, “what’s your gender?” I asked him back. He said in a less and less confident voice, “I’m a man!”. “How so?” I responded. He said smugly, “I have a pole”.
..I genuinely misheard him and thought he said he was the hulk, so I said “you’re the HULK?! I really don’t think so you’re arms are twigs,” Him, getting increasingly exasperated as my friends are still screaming that he is sigma; “NO! I said I have a pole!”. …I proceeded to gesture dramatically at a metal pole that was conveniently near where we were sitting, I was yelling “OH MY GOSH ITS YOUR POLE! NO WAY I GUESS THE POLE IS A MAN TOO! I GUESS ANYONE NEAR THE POLE IS A MAN! YOU HAVE A METAL POLE SO YOURE A MAN WELL DONE!!”
My friends joined in. It was chaos. He couldn’t think of anything to say, all of his insults were unoriginal from the beginning, but all he said to us as he went back was that we had mental issues, we were mentally r*tarded, and he called as f*cking furry c*nts in frustration. He went back down the hill, but then Ginger and Black Shirt came walking up with Green Shirt.
My friends proceeded to continue calling them skibidi sigmas, while I was there for the witty one liners I all of a sudden happened to have. Green shirt literally scooted on his scooter to the other side of the road to get away from us (we were just sitting on a bench), his motorbike helmet and metal pole and all.
Black shirt called us mentally r*tarded, while I yelled at Ginger; some context: Ginger and I had been friends since preschool, we drifted apart after like year 5, but we still texted sometimes until I went to high school. As Ginger and Black shirt crossed the road, I yelled; “Ginger, GINGER! I thought we were friends! Why are you being mean?!”
Ginger replied defensively, “I’m not doing anything!”. ..by this time you could tell all three of them were thinking /we/ were harassing /them/, green and black shirt looked legit terrified even from the other side of the road. They were also feeling embarrassed now, because we were yelling things to across the road in a busy street. My friends and I didn't care about public humiliation, they were in for it.
I yelled to ginger, “ginger! Ginger! GINGER!” I had her attention, “We’ve been friends since preschool! We’ve been friends since we were four!” I could see green and black shirt look at her almost disgusted, I continued, “WHY ARE YOU LETTING YOUR FRIENDS BE MEAN?! WEVE BEEN FRIENDS SINCE WE WERE KIDS!” (Please note this all happened in about three minutes, so my friends are still yelling about them all having rizz and being pookie bears)
…they don’t respond. They just continue walking up the hill and I tell my friends we should walk back down near the park because I needed to start walking home.
As we walked down the hill — still quite shocked we had used our collective braincell to get back at a bully — we could hear Ginger, Green shirt and Black shirt arguing with each other, but they were too far away we could only guess what about.
It’s been an hour and I can’t stop smiling, I found this sub through The Click and I hope my story fits here.

submitted by Practical_Flight6933 to traumatizeThemBack [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 09:29 hahaha-hahaha- Keep getting rejected for jobs

Hello Everyone,
I hold an MSc Aero from a top ten world ranked university, I am a western passport holder and I have more than two and a half years of experience working in aviation/aerospace. I am currently in the Aerospace field in the UAE and I applied for dozens of various jobs, mostly entry-mid level but I keep getting rejected or get no replies. I’ve only ever been interviewed like three-four times for any position since I started applying back in 2018, one of them being my current role (I am working as an Aircraft Mechanic). I am trying to change my role as it is unsuitable given my skills and I am looking for something more technical and Engineering oriented in Aero, any advice?

submitted by hahaha-hahaha- to UAE [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 09:05 Alteredchaos 📢 Sunday News - with a focus on carers this week

Ministers apologise and return £7,000 in benefits to woman, 93, with dementia
Government ministers have formally apologised and repaid £7,000 to a 93-year-old woman whom they held responsible for running up benefits overpayment debts even though they were told she had dementia and was unable to manage her affairs.
The case, which the minister for disability, Mims Davies, admitted was “disturbing”, was brought to light by the Guardian as part of its investigation into carer's allowance overpayments.
The agreement to write off the debt of the 93-year-old, whom the Guardian has chosen not to name, comes as ministers have promised to try new ways of sharing information with carers to try to prevent them building up months and years of overpayments.
Read the full article on theguardian.com

DWP confirmed that it is developing an ‘enhanced notification strategy’ to alert carer’s allowance claimants to possible overpayments
Notifications designed to encourage claimants to report changes in income and so reduce the risk of being overpaid.
As part of its policy paper, Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System: Going Further, that was published earlier this week, the Department says (at paragraph 78) -

'In carer’s allowance we are progressing an enhanced notification strategy as part of our existing commitment to improve customer engagement, building on our existing communications with customers. As part of this notification strategy we are considering all forms of targeted contact to find the most effective and efficient solution, such as exploring the use of targeted text messages or emails to alert claimants and encourage them to contact the Department when the DWP is made aware of a potential overpayment.'

The Department added -

'The new strategy will help claimants understand when they may have received an earnings-related overpayment or are at risk of doing so, and will encourage claimants to contact the DWP to meet their obligation to inform the Department of changes in their income and other relevant circumstances. This will reduce the risk of those customers being overpaid.'

Note: having expressed concern that the DWP had 'done nothing' to stop carers building up huge overpayments of benefit despite knowing what people are earning, Work and Pensions Committee Chair Stephen Timms called on the National Audit Office to investigate problems with the carer's allowance system and, in particular, its failure to prevent or rectify overpayments.
Stephen Timms has also written to Secretary for State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride highlighting concerns about the DWP's lack of progress with overpayments since the previous committee's report in 2019. Mr Timms' letter repeats the committee's recommendation that the DWP increase the rate of carer's allowance and goes on to call for the DWP to review both the amount and the cliff-edge nature of the earnings limit and for the removal of the 21-hour study rule.
For more information, see Policy paper: Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System: Going Further from gov.uk

Carers UK has welcomed the DWP's plans, noting this is the 'minimum' they've been calling for to tackle carers' overpayments. However, Director of Policy and Public Affairs Emily Holzhausen also highlights that implementing the strategy is 'urgent', asks that the whole issue be moved out of being branded benefits fraud, and that carer's allowance be reviewed as it should be 'modernised to reflect the realities of caring'.

DWP-commissioned research highlights how the carer’s allowance earnings threshold influences decisions about how many hours carers work
Report also makes clear that the Department was made aware three years ago that there was room to improve claimant understanding and possibly reduce mistakes leading to overpayments by improving its communications.
The research, Experiences of claiming and receiving carer’s allowance, explores how and why people claim carer's allowance; their caring roles; experiences of combining paid work and care; and how well claimants understand the rules associated with the benefit. While carried out in 2020/2021, the research has been published today against a backdrop of calls for the wholescale reform of carer's allowance as a result of evidence that claimants who have earned above the carer's allowance earnings limit have been left with large overpayments and, in some cases, prosecuted for fraud.
While the research found that many claimants in employment felt there was a practical limit to the hours they could work, with many saying it was only feasible to be working part-time due to their caring responsibilities, it also found that -

the earnings threshold appeared to influence decisions about how many hours some people worked. Even though claimants often denied that the threshold influenced their choices, they acknowledged being mindful to stay below the threshold. One claimant felt he had to refuse shifts at work that would take him over the threshold;
in another example, the earnings limit led a claimant to reduce her hours as her wages increased, and eventually she was working so few hours that her employer felt it was not worth employing her due to her limited availability; and
some claimants in paid work felt they might work more hours if not for the earnings threshold, and even suggested tapering the carer’s allowance earnings rule to encourage claimants to work more.

Published on the same day that the Work and Pensions Select Committee said that there has been insufficient progress in addressing the problems with carer's allowance that it highlighted five years ago, the research makes clear that the Department has been aware of the issues for some time. For example, it highlights confusion relating to the complexity of the earnings calculation, including how deductions such as childcare expenses and pension contributions are taken account of, and whether wages can be averaged if you earn more in a particular week.
In addition, with the Chair of the Select Committee Stephen Timms having said recently that the DWP has done nothing to stop carers building up huge overpayments despite knowing what people are earning, and the Committee having called on the National Audit Office to investigate the problems with the system, the research found that -

poor communication on the part of the DWP meant that not all of those that had been overpaid benefit were clear on the reason for the overpayment;
some said that while they were initially notified or questioned about an overpayment there was then no follow-up from the Department; and
when the overpayment was initially raised, several claimants felt that they were spoken to or treated by DWP as though they had intentionally committed fraud when the overpayment had been a misunderstanding.

As a result, the research says -

'... there is room to improve claimant understanding and possibly reduce mistakes leading to overpayments by improving communications around eligibility criteria. Since claimants did not engage with the detail of their benefit regularly, possibly only considering it once a year when they received their annual letter, more frequent communications may improve clarity of knowledge around carer’s allowance.'

Other key findings include that -

most claimants cared for close relatives, with two in five caring for a child (39 per cent), a quarter caring for a spouse or partner (25 per cent), and one in five (22 per cent) caring for a parent;
caring was a long-term and high-intensity commitment, with half of claimants (52 per cent) spending 65 or more hours caring per week and more than half (54 per cent) caring for between 5 and 20 years;
only 16 per cent of carer's allowance claimants were currently in paid work, tending to work part- time in lower paid jobs that they were able to fit around their caring responsibilities, with most (81 per cent) working 20 hours or less a week;
of those not currently in paid work, seven in ten (69 per cent) said this was due to their responsibilities as a carer, with other barriers including a lack of flexible working options, claimants’ own health and confidence issues; and
there was a lag between starting caring and claiming carer's allowance, with seven in ten claimants (70 per cent) caring for 5+ years, but only 3 in 10 (34 per cent) having claimed carer's allowance for that length of time.

For more information, see Experiences of claiming and receiving carer’s allowance from gov.uk

Almost 135,000 people currently have an outstanding carer's allowance debt, with more than £250 million owed in total, according to figures supplied by DWP Minister Paul Maynard
DWP Minister also confirms that women represent 68 per cent of those with an outstanding debt.
Responding to a written question in Parliament from Work and Pensions Committee Chair Stephen Timms, Mr Maynard said -

'As of 14 May 2024, the volume of people who have an outstanding carers allowance debt is 134,800 with a total value of £251 million. This figure represents the total stock and as such the total monetary amount may have been accrued over multiple years. Those who have an outstanding carers allowance debt may no longer be in receipt of the benefit.'

Mr Maynard added that -

'Women make up the majority of carer’s allowance claims, and this is reflected in the proportion of those with an outstanding carer’s allowance debt. As of 14 May 2024, there were 42,800 (32 per cent) males, 91,900 (68 per cent) females and 100 (less than 1 per cent) not identified, with an outstanding carer's allowance debt.'

The Minister also confirmed that, as of November 2023, there were more than 991,000 people in receipt of carer's allowance, consisting of around 271,000 (27 per cent) males and 720,000 (73 per cent) females.
Mr Maynard's written answer is available from parliament.uk

Total value of benefit overpayments in 2023/2024 increased to almost £10 billion, representing 3.7 per cent of benefit expenditure for the year
New DWP figures also show that official error underpayments remained at around £1 billion, and that people could have claimed more than £3 billion more 'if they had provided accurate information about their circumstances'.
In Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2023 to 2024 estimates, the DWP calculates how much money it overpaid or underpaid as a percentage of total benefit expenditure for the year (£266.2bn) - for benefits including universal credit, housing benefit, personal independence payment, employment and support allowance and pension credit - and how many claims were paid an incorrect amount.
Note: the statistics no longer include estimates of claimant error underpayments as these are now published separately, as confirmed in recent DWP guidance.
In relation to incorrect payment rates across all benefits for the financial year ending (FYE) 2024, the figures show that the total rate of benefit expenditure overpaid was 3.7 per cent (£9.7bn), compared with 3.6 per cent (£8.3bn) in 2022/2023. In addition, the total rate of benefit expenditure underpaid was 0.4 per cent (£1.1bn), compared with 0.5 per cent (£1.2bn) in FYE 2023.
Looking in more detail at the figures for individual benefits, the statistics include data showing that -

for universal credit, expenditure increased to £51.9bn in 2024 with an overpayment rate of 12.4 per cent (£6.5bn) and underpayment rate of 0.3 per cent (£180m), compared to expenditure of £43.4 bn, overpayments at 12.7 per cent (£5.5bn) and underpayments at 0.6 per cent (£240m) in FYE 2023;
for personal independence payment (PIP), the overpayment rate was at the lowest recorded level of 0.4 per cent (£90m), compared with 1.1 per cent (£200m) in FYE 2023. However, the underpayment rate went up to 0.4 per cent (£80m), from 0.3 per cent (£60m) the previous year;
for pension credit, the overpayment rate was 9.7 per cent (£520m) in FYE 2024, compared with 6.8 per cent (£330m) in the previous year, with underpayments remaining unchanged at 0.3 per cent (£50m) for both years; and
for housing benefit, almost £1bn (£980m) was overpaid in FYE 2024 (6.3 per cent of expenditure), compared with £860m (5.7 per cent) in 2023. Underpayments remained stable at 0.4 per cent of spending (£50m in FYE 2024 and £60m in FYE 2023).

In addition to the fraud and error statistics, the DWP has also issued Unfulfilled eligibility in the benefit system: Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2024, in line with its decision to remove claimant underpayments from its main fraud and error estimates. The new statistics set out the percentage of benefit expenditure that could have been paid to people with unfulfilled eligibility 'if they had provided the correct information', and show key findings that include -

the unfulfilled eligibility rate for 2024 is 1.2 per cent of expenditure (£3.1bn), compared with 1.0 per cent (£2.3bn) in the previous year; and
universal credit, PIP and disability living allowance (DLA) account for around three-quarters of the total value of unfulfilled eligibility (at £730m, £870m and £750m respectively in FYE 2024).

The DWP highlighted that -

'PIP has the second highest unfulfilled eligibility rate [4 per cent] of all benefits and fairly high expenditure [£21.6bn], so due to this combination, PIP accounts for around one-quarter of total unfulfilled eligibility in FYE 2024. DLA has the highest unfulfilled eligibility rate [11.1 per cent] but relatively low expenditure [£6.8m], so even though its rate is higher than PIP, it accounts for a similar amount of total unfulfilled eligibility in FYE 2024. Universal credit has a lower unfulfilled eligibility rate than DLA and PIP [1.4 per cent] but its high expenditure means that it also accounts for a similar amount of total unfulfilled eligibility in FYE 2024.'

For more information, see Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2023 to 2024 estimates and Unfulfilled eligibility in the benefit system: financial year 2023 to 2024 estimates from gov.uk

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride has set out the DWP's plans to scale up its 'fight against fraudsters'
New measures include using machine learning to detect and prevent fraudulent claims, as well as introducing a new Bill to enable benefit fraud to be treated like tax fraud.
Issuing a written statement in the House of Commons on 13th May, Mr Stride said -

'In the continued fight against fraud, today the Government will publish a new paper setting out the progress we have made in tackling fraud and error in the welfare system - Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System: Going Further. The paper sets out the progress we have made in delivering the commitments in the Government's 2022 command paper Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System and it demonstrates where we are going further to protect taxpayers’ money from fraudsters.'

Highlighting that the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, currently before Parliament, will enable the Department to work with third parties such as banks to identify claims that signal potential fraud and error, Mr Stride says that the new measures being introduced include -

bringing forward a new Fraud Bill in the next parliament to treat benefit fraud like tax fraud, by providing for the ability to make arrests and conduct searches and seizures by warrant;
exploring a new civil penalty to punish fraudsters, potentially broadening the scope of cases that can receive a penalty when the courts are not prosecuting, and increasing the value of the civil penalty;
tripling the size of the Targeted Case Review programme to reach almost 6,000 staff with the aim of saving £6.6 billion by 2027/2028; and
making changes to universal credit including new partly automated checks on self-employed income, new online prompts for claimants to re-declare their circumstances (such as if they have moved in with a partner), and increasing checks on capital when people claim the benefit to ensure they are eligible.

Note: the Department confirms that final decisions on accepting or stopping a claim will, however, continue to be made by a member of DWP staff.
For more information, see DWP updates Fraud Plan from gov.uk
In response to the above article the Disability News Service reported that the government's fraud policy paper ignores coroner’s concerns over review of disabled woman’s universal credit claim. Read the DNS article on disabilitynewsservice.com

Less than half of legacy benefit claimants who were sent a migration notice between July 2022 and March 2024 have made a claim for universal credit, according to new figures from the DWP
However, new DWP statistics also show that 60 per cent of households that claimed universal credit have been awarded transitional protection.
In Completing the move to Universal Credit: statistics related to the move of households claiming Tax Credits and DWP benefits to Universal Credit: data to end of March 2024, the DWP sets out figures for the period since July 2022, noting that -

'In the period covered by this bulletin, the vast majority of migration notices have been sent to tax credit households whose likelihood of claiming universal credit and receiving transitional protection may be different from DWP legacy benefit claimants, the majority of whom had not yet been sent a migration notice in the period covered in this bulletin.'

The statistics include that -

a total of 824,050 individuals (in 540,070 households) were sent migration notices up to March 2024 - up by around 300,000 and 200,000 respectively compared to the totals for December 2023;
a total of 400,940 individuals (49 per cent of those sent migration notices), living in 275,980 households, have made a claim for universal credit;
of households that have claimed universal credit, 166,860 (60 per cent) have been awarded transitional protection;
a total of 238,990 individuals who were sent migration notices are still going through the managed migration process; and
a total of 184,120 individuals who were sent migration notices have had their legacy benefit claims closed.

Move to Universal Credit statistics, July 2022 to March 2024 is available from gov.uk
Note: the DWP has also published Universal Credit statistics, 29 April 2013 to 11 April 2024 which show that there were 6.7 million people on universal credit in April 2024 (300,000 more than the 6.4 million in January 2024) and that half of households on universal credit that received a payment in February 2024 included children.

Department for Communities also confirms that claimants in receipt of other legacy benefits will be issued with migration notices 'in the coming months'
The Department for Communities (DfC) has confirmed that the 'Move to UC' rollout in Northern Ireland has expanded this week to include people receiving tax credits along with housing benefit.
Announcing the expansion of the process, Deputy Secretary of Work and Health at the DfC Paddy Rooney said -

'We continue to take a measured and carefully managed approach to migrating legacy benefit recipients to universal credit. We have already successfully completed issuing migration notices to tax credit only recipients and we will continue to take every step possible to ensure that everyone receives the help and support they need during this next phase of Move to UC.'

The Department also confirmed that once it has issued migration notices to all those receiving tax credits with housing benefit, the following groups will be contacted in this order -

people claiming income support;
people claiming housing benefit only, and those claiming child tax credit with income-related employment and support allowance (ESA); and
people claiming income-based jobseeker's allowance.

In relation to the bringing forward of managed migration for ESA and ESA/housing benefit claimants in Great Britain, announced by the Prime Minister on 19 April 2024, the DfC says that it is working to assess the impact of this on the region. It also confirms that it will align with the DWP's aim to complete the migration of legacy benefit claimants to universal credit by March 2025.
For more information, see Tax credit with housing benefit recipients next to 'Move to UC' and Rollout of Universal Credit for Tax Credit and Legacy Benefit customers - screening from ni.gov.uk

57,000 adverse universal credit sanction decisions were made in January 2024, according to new DWP statistics
DWP statistics also highlight that around 95 per cent of decisions are as a result of failure to attend or participate in a mandatory interview.
In Benefit sanctions statistics to February 2024, the DWP reports on both the rate and duration of sanctions for universal credit claimants who are in conditionality regimes where they be applied.
Key findings include that -

in February 2024, 30.1 per cent of claimants were in conditionality regimes that were subject to sanctions and, of these, 6.52 per cent were sanctioned - down 0.64 percentage points from the previous quarter;
over the last year, 94.9 per cent of adverse sanction decisions were for failure to attend or participate in a mandatory interview; and
in February 2024, there were 20,000 completed sanctions in the 4 weeks to 13 weeks sanction duration band, 4,800 in the over 13 weeks to 26 weeks duration band, and 4,000 of over 26 weeks duration.

In addition, while the total number of claimants in conditionality regimes where sanctions can be applied has remained largely stable since May 2022 (currently at 1.95 million), the total number of adverse sanction decisions stood at 57,000 in January 2024, the highest since March 2022.
The DWP notes that -

'Comparisons with universal credit prior to February 2024 ... should not be made. This is because the data sources, methodology and rules of the benefits differ from those used for universal credit currently.'

However, it adds that, following the reinstated duration measures and rate methodology improvements, the data is now determined stable and fit for purpose and, as of May 2024, it is published under the 'Official Statistics' label as opposed to 'in development'.
For more information, see Benefit sanctions statistics to February 2024 from gov.uk

DWP has admitted missing multiple opportunities to record the 'vulnerability' of a disabled woman whose death was later linked by a coroner to failings at the heart of its UC system
The Disability News Service reported on the case of Nazerine (known as Naz) Anderson, from Melton Mowbray, who died of an overdose in June last year, after receiving a UC review notice.
According to a prevention of future deaths (PFD) report sent to the department by coroner Fiona Butler, the DWP missed six opportunities to record Anderson’s “vulnerability” on its IT system while it was reviewing her universal credit claim, and had failed to act on the mental distress she showed in phone calls about her claim. It also repeatedly failed to act on requests to direct its telephone calls and letters to her daughter.
The DWP admits multiple universal credit failures before disabled woman’s death article is available on disabilitynewsservice.com

Number of emergency food parcels distributed across the UK by the Trussell Trust has increased by 90 per cent over the past five years
Food charity reports that it distributed more than three million parcels last year, with more than a million of them going to children.
In Emergency food parcel distribution in the UK: April 2023 - March 2024, the Trust says that it distributed 3,121,404 food parcels, the most parcels that it has ever distributed in a financial year, representing a four per cent increase on last year's record-breaking numbers for 2022/2023 and a 94 per cent increase since 2018/2019.
The charity also highlights that the number of parcels provided to children has continued to rise, exceeding 1.1 million in 2023/2024, and that food bank support is provided disproportionately to children, compared to the proportion of children in the UK population. In addition, it notes that pension age households are increasingly likely to need to use a food bank, with food bank support for these households having more than quadrupled between 2018/2019 and 2023/2024 (an increase of 345 per cent), compared to an 81 per cent rise amongst households without someone of pension age.
Also sharing statistics on the reason for referral for an emergency food parcel - which include health, benefit issues, work hour changes, insecure housing, changes in personal circumstances, immigration status and domestic abuse, as well as income and debt levels - the Trussell Trust says -

'Across all households the most common reason for referral was due to issues with income and debt levels. The vital role of the social security system in driving these trends is clear from the fact that the majority (78 per cent) of people referred to food banks were reported to solely have income from the social security system, with a further 8 per cent having earned income as well as income from social security.'

Trussell Trust Chief Executive Emma Revie said -

'It’s 2024 and we’re facing historically high levels of food bank need. As a society, we cannot allow this to continue. We must not let food banks become the new norm ... A supportive social security system is the bedrock on which we end hunger for good. Building on this, we need much more effective employment and financial support for parents, carers and disabled people, and action to ensure everyone can have the security we all need to access opportunities and have hope for the future, through more secure and flexible jobs and investment in social housing. Food banks are not the answer. They will be there to support people as long as they are needed, but our political leaders must take bold action to build a future where everyone has enough money to afford the life’s essentials. The time to act is now.'

For more information, see End of Year Stats from trusselltrust.org

Employment Minister Jo Churchill has provided a House of Lords Select Committee with an undertaking that the administrative earnings threshold (AET) in universal credit will not be increased again without a 'sound evidence base'
However, Minister's evidence to Lords Committee fails to address its dissatisfaction with DWP's explanation for not publishing robust evidence to support previous increases in the threshold.
Further to the Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee's report on new regulations that implemented a further increase in the AET from 13 May 2024 - that criticised the ‘inexplicable’ lack of data evaluating previous increases in the threshold in September 2022 and January 2023 - the Committee held a one-off evidence session yesterday to question the Minister and DWP officials.
Introducing the session, Committee Chair Lord Hunt acknowledged that the DWP had agreed to share its informal findings supporting its AET policy. However Lord Hunt added that -

'... similar, no doubt to the material that the Social Security Advisory Committee saw but correctly declined, if information is not available to the House and the public, then we feel unable to consider it either.'

The Committee then questioned the Minister about the Department's failure to publish evidence providing an assessment of the impact of increasing the AET either before or after implementing the change.
In response, Ms Churchill highlighted that the Department did publish a randomised controlled trial evaluation in 2018 providing the highest level of evidence on the impacts of increased in-work conditionality that Ministers have had sight of. When challenged that this evidence is somewhat outdated and 'a bit threadbare' - as it has been relied on for three increases in the AET - Ms Churchill indicated that Ministers also had early sight of unpublished research (a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) study) that compares the experiences of claimants who are just below and just above the AET.
When pressed on the expected publication dates for this and further evidence, Mr Churchill said -

'I have asked for [the RDD study] to be available as soon as it can be, and the date I was given was spring 2024 ... I would like it out the door as soon as possible, so you have more data ... RDD is the next piece, the next building block and then, the longitudinal study will come through in 2025.'

Concluding the session with a final question, Lord Hunt, speaking on behalf of the whole Committee, said -

'... we're looking for an undertaking from you, not to further expand the cohort until the Department can publish robust evidence of its effects. Are you able to give us that undertaking?

Ms Churchill responded -

'So are you alluding to us holding 15 hours or with this latest laying at 18? Because I could certainly say to you, I think with all confidence that at 18, we want to understand the iterations and make sure that we've got a sound evidence base from there.'

NB - the increase in the AET in January 2023 was based, for individuals, on the equivalent of them working 15 hours per week at the National Living Wage, and this week's increase to the equivalent of them working 18 hours per week.
Despite welcoming the Minister's reply, Lord Hunt went on to say -

'... we accept your undertaking, except we are still as dissatisfied as we were because you haven't provided, in the view of the Committee, sufficient explanation yet. We are awaiting this robust evidence, which I think that we now expect in June 2024.'

The evidence session Regulations to increase the Administrative Earnings Threshold (Legislative scrutiny) is available from parliament.tv

Work and Pensions Select Committee has called on the government to bring forward proposals to compensate women born in the 1950s who suffered as a result of the DWP's communication failures when their pension age was increased, and asks that it does so in the current parliamentary session
Committee chair highlights lengthy delay and urgency for affected women and calls on government to act on Parliamentary Ombudsman recommendations before summer recess.
Writing to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride, Committee Chair Stephen Timms requests government support for 'urgent action' following the Parliamentary Ombudsman's final report in March 2024 which recommended a remedy based on level 4 of its severity of injustice scale, putting awards at between £1,000 and £2,950.
Mr Timms says that the Committee does not seek to question the Ombudsman's proposal for compensation at level 4, but instead has focused on what a remedy may look like -

'The evidence we received indicated support for a rules-based system. This would be a system where payments would be adjusted within a range (based on the PHSO’s severity of injustice scale) to reflect the extent of change in the individual’s State Pension age and the notice of the change which the individual received. This would mean that the less notice you had of the change and the bigger the change in your SPA, the higher the payment you would receive. While not perfect, the advantages of such a system are that it would be: quick to administer; applying known data to a formula to determine the amount due; and relatively inexpensive (compared to a more bespoke system).'

The Committee's recommendation also includes some flexibility for individuals to make the case for further compensation in the event that they have experienced direct financial loss, for example where a woman whose divorce settlement was less than it would have been because it was based on the expectation that she would receive her state pension at 60.
Mr Timms also asks the government to consider -

'... the need for urgent action, given that the Ombudsman started to look at this issue in 2018 and that every 13 minutes a woman born in the 1950s dies ... Implementing a remedy will need parliamentary time, financial resources, and the data and technical systems only available to your department. It cannot happen without government support. We would ask you to bring forward proposals for a remedy by the summer recess.'

Mr Timms' letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is available from parliament.uk

submitted by Alteredchaos to DWPhelp [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 09:04 Charmed264 My first time getting scammed

I posted my resume on Craigslist trying to get some sort of work from home job.
A woman emailed me: “I am currently looking for a business personal assistant just for you to know the position is an home based job, I live in Toronto Ontario but currently out of the Country for roadshows, that's why I need someone reliable to help me with my tight schedule. Do you have a Laptop/PC you can be working on?”
I said yes, and asked about the schedule and pay. She replied and said: “Ok good. So we operate a custom home building company, android developer and into buying and selling of antiques and artifacts. I'm an extremely busy person just online here looking for a personal assistant who will be willing to reduce me from a multi-task I go through all day online. Your duties just entails sending and receiving emails from my clients, taking orders and making enquires, I’d instruct you on how to go through with them as time goes on.You'd be working for 3-4hrs daily; 10am-1pm or 4pm-7pm and the hours can be flexible. So about the pay, the payment is dependent it could be a direct deposit or a Cheque and the pay is $580 weekly. Which bank do you operate with?”
I then told her what bank I use and that my schedule is wide open. She then said: “Ok good, so you'd be having an online interview via text just Q&A processing. It would be performed on a telegram platform. I believe you have a telegram messenger app?”
Looking back that was a red flag but I was desperate.
She then said let’s chat on WhatsApp (which I didn’t have but I downloaded it to chat with her). Also a red flag🤦‍♀️
I emailed about five “clients” about various things that were consistent with the work she said she does. They discussed certain items, dates, payments, prices etc.
Well the job was a scam. She asked I get 2 $100 gift cards as a thank you for her clients. I emailed a bunch of her clients, she had a website and all this info to corroborate her story. So I stupidly believed her. She sent me two cheques each for $100 for the gift cards. I deposited them, went out and got the gift cards and sent pictures of them to each of her clients. Anyways everything seemed normal, then she asked I get another gift card for a different client I emailed with, again with a cheque. I finally said no and asked she send the money by e-transfer or direct deposit. She said she couldn’t for whatever reason. She said the cheques were good and they’ll go through. After I expressed fear that they wouldn’t.
Because they were Apple gift cards and they have codes you just scan. I checked and both of the cards are drained. I called my bank and they said because I deposited the cheques there’s nothing they can do. And when the cheques inevitably bounce/come up as fraud a hold will be put on my account and I’ll need to pay the $200. Money I don’t have. It seemed genuine at the time, I feel so stupid and disappointed in humanity honestly.
I was already scraping change together just to buy food and I’m many months behind on rent; now it’s been made so much worse. Ultimately I’m just tired of all of this. I’m only 20 years old, yet I fell for it because of my desperation for money. My desperation made me blind to the obvious red flags.
My friends and family comforted me and said I’m not stupid, it was just an elaborate scam. I don’t really believe them, I mean looking back it was so obvious!! But they made me feel like a dumb kid and that’s something I already deal with in my day to day (why is a long story). I figured at least at this job I’d have people take me seriously. But instead I was made a fool.
Sorry for the novel!

submitted by Charmed264 to Scams [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 08:50 DrummerFantasti Bro cooked him. Fk themba

submitted by DrummerFantasti to ufc [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 08:14 urbeautifuldesire Cursed_Statistics

submitted by urbeautifuldesire to cursedcomments [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 06:37 OkiChampuru Company hiring remote from "anywhere in the U.S." backpedals after extending interview invite because of my State

So, I recently applied for an internship that seemed perfect for my career transition. The company was equally enthusiastic, despite overlooking one important detail featured across the top of my resume, cover letter, and portfolio: my location.
I did my due diligence to research the company and tailored my application to highlight my experience/achievements accordingly. The effort seemed to pay off. They quickly reached out with an interview invite and glowing feedback. They even visited my digital portfolio multiple times where my location and community involvement is prominently featured (Yes, I set up campaign tracking links for each of my applications—I’m data-driven, whaddya expect?!). I was excited and immediately replied with my availability right away. I kicked into interview prep mode, but they never confirmed an interview slot. Instead, they called me randomly while I was at work, completely ignoring my provided times.
After my immediate callback during my lunch break was ignored, I did some internet sleuthing to track down the email of the HR recruiter who’d called and sent a polite inquiry. Their response when they finally got back to me? "Oh, even though we wanted to interview you, we can't hire you because your location doesn't meet our requirements." 🤦‍♂️ They admitted they weren’t registered to operate in my state.
This, despite their job post saying "anywhere in the United States," my location being on the top of every document submitted, and my address entered into their ATS form!
Would've been nice to know from the start!
I live in Hawaiʻi. While Hawaiʻi may be geographically distant and is indeed an illegally overthrown kingdom, it’s still considered part of the U.S.! I figured they either messed up the job description or didn’t want to admit their failure to confirm my interview time was the reason I got knocked out of the running. I laughed at the absurdity and sent them quick, friendly feedback about updating their location requirements on job listings to respect everyone’s time. Then I just as quickly moved on. Tried not to let it bug me that this isn't the first time this has happened and stay positive that at least it was addressed before jumping through more hoops.
Funny enough, the next day, I got an email from a company I hadn’t even applied to, asking for an interview. Turns out they were impressed by my resume, specifically noting volunteer work and leadership in my community—acknowledging my location! As for how I got an offer when I hadn't officially applied...I’d uploaded my resume and cover letter on their ATS portal but had hit "save" instead of "submit" because I wanted to verify a reference more applicable to this position was cool with me listing them. Anyway, ironically, this time my location worked in my favor! What a rollercoaster this week has been.

submitted by OkiChampuru to recruitinghell [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 06:02 karenvideoeditor The Zoo [Part 8]

First / Previous
Suzanne thought it was absolutely brilliant of me to put books on a flash drive for Sun. She explained that Sun wasn’t as sophant (her word, not mine) as she might seem, more of a repository of information, but she was fairly intelligent. It was how she was able to connect Andrew being in pain to the fact that I was friends with Andrew, and that I would want to know that he was in trouble. Apparently some of Sun’s species had given some ‘wisdom’ to others in the past and it had made its way into mythology.
The key fact was that she was not smart enough to protect herself and her kind from the clever, organized poachers. With that information in mind, it was fascinating for me to think of how Sun took in and organized what she learned. It was almost as if she was a walking, talking library.
On the topic of tours, my first one went wonderfully, and I’m almost hoping Suzanne lets me do more of them. I know not all the tourists are going to be as awesome as these people were, but Suzanne gave me a lot of slack when it comes to dealing with them. She actually said that being a smartass is not grounds for dismissal, and that if I’m sarcastic or facetious to guests who are being ‘daft’ and they complain, she really doesn’t care. Is this the perfect job for me or what?
There were four guests in this party, two adults who were sisters and two children of one of the women, brothers aged thirteen and seventeen. The tour was a birthday gift for the older of the boys from his aunt, since apparently he was passionate about animal protection and conservation.
When they arrived at the front gate, I was sitting at Andrew’s desk, going over the booklet of information one last time. When the visitors pressed the button that sounded the alert buzzer, I tucked away in a drawer and let them in. I did have a cheat sheet with information about the animals on my phone just in case, a brief notation of each of them and which enclosure they were in, but I really didn’t need to use it.
Exiting through the front door, I saw them walk up the path toward me. “Hi, I’m Ripley,” I said, holding out a hand toward the woman closest to me.
She shook it firmly. “I’m Denise. This is my sister Carla and my nephews, Wesley and Jason,” she said, motioning to each of them in turn.
“I heard it’s your birthday,” I said to Wesley, giving him a smile. “You’re interested in animal conservation?”
“Back where we live, yeah,” he said, nodding. “The animals that you’ve got here are incredible. I can’t wait to see them.”
“Well, I can’t wait to show them to you,” I said. “Right this way.”
I led them on the path around the building, toward enclosure one. Despite the horrific memories of the animal killing Stanley’s friends, I knew it was just an animal, and I had to push past my feelings on what had happened. Keeping a small smile on my face, I motioned to the enclosure. “Fiercely territorial and amazing hunters, despite their large size, they’re arboreal and known to dart from tree to tree with barely a sound. This is one of only about two thousand left in existence.”
“Two thousand, three hundred and fifty six at last count,” spoke Wesley, his eyes on the trees.
I blinked, surprised and impressed. “Well that was fantastic. Do you plan on stealing my job when you graduate?”
Wesley looked at me with a grin. “Nah, everyone knows Suzanne only offers humans this gig. And I want to help animals like this one get off the endangered species list. The zoos are great for awareness and fundraising, but then the money has to go somewhere. I want to be doing the real work.”
“That’s really great,” I told him. “I wish you all the best in that career path.” At that, we saw the animal climb down from the tree, wandering a few yards from the tree line. This was because 90% of the time, when humans were at their enclosure and making noise, whether it was speaking to each other or calling out to the animal, it was someone bringing them prey to eat. Or, in my case, enrichment toys to play with.
“Whoa,” Wesley whispered.
“How close can we get?” spoke up Jason.
“The warding starts at the fence,” I told him with a small gesture. “So, just there.”
Both boys wandered closer and I glanced at their parents. It seemed that Suzanne’s zoo had a serious reputation for high quality invisible walls, because they didn’t look worried in the slightest about the boys being hurt or killed.
“They prefer dense forest as their home and have been known to make their nests in trees up to twenty meter in the air,” I continued. “And when hunting, they’ve been seen dropping eight meters straight down. They have incredibly dense yet flexible musculature, which allows them to tackle their prey without injuring themselves.”
There was more information about the animal that I continued to rattle off, though Wesley chimed in at certain points with the info I was about to convey. That was highly entertaining and very cool. When I’d been in school, I’d never met anyone who had my level of passion about endangered animals. I wondered if things were better where these folks came from, but realized that considering there were so few of these animals left, I guessed not.
The animal paced a little bit, seemingly waiting to see if we were the kind of humans that came bearing food, before deciding we weren’t and climbing back up into the trees as easily as I would climb some stairs.
As we moved onto enclosure two, Jason spoke up. “Are there any animals here we can touch or feed or something?”
I sighed inwardly before slowing to a stop. “Well, can you show me your hands?” Jason looked bemused, holding out his hands. “I mean…they both look like they’re in great shape. You can stand to lose one.”
The two women chuckled and Wesley smirked as Jason shoved his hands into his pockets. “Very funny.”
Grinning, I started walking again. “The animals here are all carnivores and all predators. You get to see them, but that’s it.”
“Alright.”
When we reached enclosure two, I started on my next spiel. “We’ve got three reanimated dead in this enclosure,” I spoke. They were just coming out from the trees as we arrived, presumably having heard our approach. “Marissa, Connor, and Bradley. They were donated by families who knew where they would be exhibited. Their next of kin, whoever they are, can’t stand the idea of putting them down. But we need to make sure they don’t have access to corpses, because one of them plus one corpse equals two of them.”
“They eat flesh though, don’t they?” Wesley asked.
I nodded. “Oh, yeah, but it’s from bodies that have already been dismembered. There’s no chance of them being affected by the transformation because it’s all parts.”
“Oh, got it.”
The creatures with blueish-white skin had superhuman strength, which is why they qualified for the security of Suzanne’s zoo. They also were likely the source of any Earth tales of people being brought back to life as zombies, specifically draugr, according to my research. They smelled like rotting flesh, so even as I kept talking about them and giving a background to the people they used to be, we were quick to move on once Wesley had gotten a good, long look at them.
“Enclosure four’s animal is a vampiric spirit. He’s a small, hairy humanoid creature with pointed ears. He wears a hat, and if he somehow loses it, he freaks out,” I said.
“They eat horses,” Wesley noted. “Also anything that gives them the chance to sit on it, usually catching them by surprise while they’re sleeping.”
The creature came out from the brush, giving us a suspicious look. He wasn’t in his humanoid form though; for some reason, he’d chosen to shapeshift to a dog.
I nodded. “Yep, indeed. Once the prey is dead, then he’ll eat it, and he has a voracious appetite. We have two wolves and two bears in the forest, which is one of the reasons I’ve got some self-defense items,” I said, patting my belt where my pepper spray (rated for bear) and my taser. “But the wards keep them out of this area of the zoo, so it’s really not much of a worry. It’s also a known shapeshifter, preferring the form of a dog, as you can see, as well as a cat, a snake, or even white butterflies, though the last one is rare.”
“The white butterflies are supposed to be a sign of good luck,” Wesley said, glancing to me. “Too bad we got the dog.”
“Yeah, otherwise you might be able to talk your mom into getting scratch-offs on your way home, huh?”
Wesley smirked at me.
The next enclosure was Spike, and he was waiting for us, dripping wet from having just emerged from the lake. I gave the introductory information about him, which included his propensity for eating animal eyes, nails, and teeth. “Recently, I’ve given him some enrichment activities, and I learned he likes artichokes, pecans, and hazelnuts,” I said, taking a bag out from my cargo shorts. “Wesley, do you want to toss this bag into the enclosure?”
The boy’s eyes widened and he nodded excitedly. He took a look into the paper bag before wrapping down the top to make sure nothing would fly out. Then he chucked it underhand past the fence. It landed a few yards from Spike, who waddled over to it quickly and tearing the bag open, spilling out the prizes inside. As the animal ate the pecans and hazelnuts, Wesley asked, “How’d you figure out he likes those?”
“It’s not all about taste,” I told him. “It’s mainly the difficulty of getting them out of the shells. He’s used to having to work for the parts of his prey he likes the most, so this mimics that activity, and he enjoys the process. I tried a bunch of different foods to find a few he liked.”
“Cool,” Wesley murmured, staring at him.
We watched Spike eat until he’d finished and then he went back into the woods, leaving us to move onto enclosure five. Japanese camellia were plentiful here, a type of pink flower, and that was because they grew anywhere near one of his species made their den. “This girl spends most of her time in the lake also,” I said, as the creature made its way toward the fence separating us from it. “But as you can see, she’s just as curious as the rest about what we’re doing here and whether we have food for her. She eats fish mostly, but she also regularly gets live prey.”
This creature was a spider-like monster, having six legs with long claws on each, and the head of an ox with two sharp horns. She was capable of shapeshifting to look like a human, but I guessed that she wasn’t fond of it, since I hadn’t yet seen her in that form.
“She prefers the easy way of catching prey, so to speak, by hiding in the lake and pouncing when something comes for a drink of water,” I explained. “Apparently humans are some of her favorite prey. She has an advantage of being able to spit poison, which often hits her prey in the eyes. But it’s usually used in defense rather than offense, since she secretes a limited amount.”
“What kind of animal would even go after something like this?” Jason asked, staring at her.
“Never discount one of its own species when you’re thinking about what might attack an animal,” I replied. “There are places that are breeding all of the animals here, but competition for mates is common. That means an advantage in a fight, like poison or venom, can make or break who the winner is.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
“It can’t spit past the warding, right?” Carla suddenly asked.
“Oh, no,” I assured her. “We’re fine. The wards wouldn’t let anything cross over.” She nodded, appeased.
The animal in enclosure six was the ginormous seal-hippo, Fiona, and she was looking at us as if she was imagining sprinkling us with herbs and spices and stuffing us in an oven. “This girl is one animal I’m going to work on enrichment activities for next,” I told them. “She prefers to feed on crayfish, though she’s happy to eat any humans that wander into her territory. She’ll even make a sound like a baby crying to reel us in. I’ve heard it a bunch of times.”
“Can you get her to make the sound?” Jason asked, perking up.
I grinned. “Not on command, sorry.”
“What enrichment are you thinking of trying?” Wesley asked.
“Possibly food placed in puzzle feeders,” I told him, “since she has claws that are pretty dexterous. Maybe a piñata made out of newspaper with flour inside, or a scarecrow that mimics a human.”
“Awesome,” he muttered.
After a little more educational tidbits, we moved onto Yui’s enclosure. “What is that?” Wesley asked, smiling.
“I got Yui the closest thing I could to a ping-pong ball,” I replied. “She quite likes it.”
“That’s so funny,” he said as she came out of the trees in her spider form. “I mean, the idea of her being a bloodthirsty hunter who seduces men to their deaths and eats them alive, but then on the other hand, she likes playing with something like this.”
“It is a little funny,” I agreed. “But when it comes down to it, all the animals here enjoy activities besides hunting.”
“She can shapeshift to look human, right?” asked Jason, trying to be casual about knowing something factual like his nerdy brother.
I nodded. “She looks like a woman from a region of Earth called Japan. And she’ll use strategies like holding out a hand to shake to get you closer. She tried that on me when I first got here but, as you can see,” I said, holding up my hands and waving them, “I didn’t fall for it.”
The boys both laughed as they got closer to the fence, watching her slowly pace near the trees.
Next was Sun, but she didn’t make an appearance as I spoke about her species. “Well…unfortunately we can’t guarantee that every animal comes out to say hi,” I sighed. “But…oh wait, here she is.”
The green lion with several horns and many eyes along her flank came out from the forest. “Hello,” she spoke.
“Hi, Sun,” I replied. “We have visitors.”
“What’s that?” Wesley asked suddenly, pointing at the small plastic bag that was still where I’d left it.
“Oh! That is Sun’s enrichment,” I said with a smile. “I put dozens of books on a flash drive and found that she can read them just like she’d read a shelf of books.”
Wesley’s eyes widened. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve read about anyone trying that before. That’s really cool.”
“The books are new and interesting,” Sun spoke, drawing our attention. “I’m grateful for them.”
I nodded to her. “You’re quite welcome.”
The next animal, unfortunately, wasn’t there, and we waited around for ten minutes as we discussed him. He was large and reptile-like with red eyes, with its hind legs and tail making him look vaguely like a kangaroo. Then, enclosure ten was a terrifyingly disturbing creature, the not-a-centaur with no skin, that I’d only seen a few times while walking my route. It gave a good demonstration of its ferocity, showing its sharp teeth and snapping at us a few times.
“I’m thinking of trying salt licks and other horse enrichment like a big bouncy ball,” I told Wesley, whose eyebrows went up at that. “Maybe give him more things to forage like scattered grains or a box filled with pinecones and seeds. Foraging is a huge part of a horse’s life in the wild, and humans have to do a lot of activities like that to keep pet horses busy. Of course, he also loves the little salt-water lake that was built for him.”
We spent some time looking at the animal before moving past our last stop, the empty enclosure of the animal was stolen. Carla glanced at me with a sad smile, knowing what had happened, it seemed. I gave her a nod as we continued on our way, walking into the office. “So, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves!” I said with a smile.
“That was the coolest birthday present I’ve ever gotten,” Wesley said, looking to Denise. “Thanks so much, seriously.”
“It was my pleasure,” she said with a nod. “I’d never been here before, and knew I’d find it fascinating. Thank you for the educational aspect,” Denise said, glancing at me. “I learned quite a lot.”
“Happy to hear it,” I said, returning the nod.
As I escorted the guests out of the zoo and locked the door behind them, I reflected on how much I’d changed. The first time I’d seen Yui’s tarantula form, I’d nearly passed out from fear. Now here I was, walking tourists around like it was no big deal. Humans really can adapt to anything, it seems.
That afternoon, Suzanne had texted me that she was coming by after my shift, and I met her in Andrew’s office, shutting the door to the security room behind me. “How’s Andrew?” I asked first thing.
“He’s doing well,” she said with a wide smile. “Back on non-hospital food. He’s allowed to order food on his phone, and to hear it from him, that’s the best news he’d received in a long time.”
I chuckled. “I guess some clichés are true for a reason.”
“Indeed.” She took a breath. “All right. Ripley…I would like to discuss something with you.”
My face went slack at the serious tone in her voice. “I’m not… Am I being fired?”
“What? No!” she exclaimed. Then she chuckled softly. “No, it’s nothing like that. Just, here, let’s have a seat.” Suzanne walked over to the couch and sat at one end, and I took the other. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve kept from you, that I wanted to keep from you until you found your sea legs here.”
“Well…I have,” I said with a nod. “So, what is it?”
Suzanne took a breath. “I knew your mother.”
The words hung in the air for a moment before making their way to my ears. It was a perfectly logical sentence, and yet it didn’t make any sense. “What?” I finally managed.
“When you graduated college, I decided to move the zoo from Italy to within driving distance of your home,” she said softly. “Near enough to your town that you’d see the advert. We ignored any other applicants and I hoped you’d apply. Actually, I expected you’d apply. Not just for the money, but considering the field you wanted to go into. As soon as I’d found out your major, I knew.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said, holding up a hand. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “How do you know Patricia?”
“She owned the zoo before I did,” Susan explained. “Fourteen years ago…she was working to track an injured animal that we could bring into the zoo and she was killed by poachers.”
My heart calcified in my chest and a lump lodged in my throat. As my breaths became shaky, I stared at her in shock. “She…she’s really dead?”
“You suspected?” she asked softly.
“It…” I swallowed hard. “We had her declared legally dead after…I don’t know, seven years I think. My dad wanted to go after her for child support, but the police said…they said they couldn’t find…” Tears came to my eyes and I blinked them back before I met Suzanne’s gaze. “She owned the zoo?”
Suzanne nodded. “It was her baby, you’d say. When Patricia passed, I inherited it, which we’d discussed beforehand, a legal just-in-case that I never expected her to need. I’m under the impression that you were told she went to Africa for her photography career, but she was in fact going to remote areas back in my home world almost every time.”
“But I-I saw the photos,” I said, my eyes narrowing. “You’re telling me she put on a show of getting pictures that someone else took for us to see every time she visited? Did my dad even know?”
“I suppose that’s an accurate way to put it, putting on a show. And no, your father was never told. It’s not the way of things to tell humans unless it’s necessary. I won’t bore you with the details, but us and humans, we’re distant relatives, so we can still have children. But it wasn’t planned. Your mother fell in love with your father despite herself; she hadn’t meant to find love. Then she became pregnant with you and…well, the rest is history.”
“I think she had a different definition of love than the one I have,” I said tightly. “You’d think she’d have put her survival as more of a priority. Put being with the man she ‘loved’ as a priority. Her kids needed her. I needed her. She signed up when she became a mom. She could’ve screwed up all the time but she couldn’t even manage that one job: be there. When I was in the hospital, I kept thinking, ‘Where is she?’ and now you’re telling me that she put these animals above being there for her kids, and this whole time she’s been dead.”
“The hospital?” she asked, furrowing her brows.
“Never mind,” I said tersely, averting my gaze.
Suzanne hesitated before she nodded slowly. “I’m sorry for your loss, and not just for her death, Ripley,” she told me. “Patricia was…well, a ‘free spirit’ would be putting it gently. She always assumed the world would be there for her whenever she needed it.”
Staring at her for a long moment, I shook my head. “Why? Why come here and hire me?”
“I thought that would be obvious,” she said, smiling. “Your mother was so passionate about this place and once I found out your college major, I figured you would be as well.”
“Did you know that I hate her?” At that, Suzanne’s expression froze on the edge of shock. “She…she left us,” I whispered. “Didn’t tell us who she was or what she really did for a living and gave us no closure. And even when she was here, it was just visiting. Her real home was her work. She could give me all the presents she wanted, but even when she was here, half the time she was still on her computer doing work. It’s not like that stereotype of never making it to my tennis practice or something; it’s that it always felt like she was only partially here, even when I was sitting next to her. I don’t even know if I appreciate her turning me into a wildlife fanatic because it…it…makes me feel like I’m close to her in a way that’s just infuriating. She loved the animals more than she loved us.”
“Oh, Ripley-”
“Don’t,” I said, shoving myself to my feet. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she said quietly. I pursed my lips. “I was going to say that I’m sorry that was the case. Your mother was…flawed, just like any other person. She had two loves in this world: her family and her work. And often, her work overcame her, her zeal for environmentalism getting in the way of being a good mum. She left your father trying to fill the role of two parents, holding your family together. You and your brother and your father, you all deserved better than that.”
My lower lip quivered but I bit down on it hard. It would’ve been a lot easier for me if she’d been speaking from a place of clueless reassurance about all this. But everything she said was making sense and that meant I didn’t have someone in front of me to be angry with.
“Why didn’t you tell me when Andrew hired me?” I sighed, sitting back down on the couch.
“Well, like I said, I wanted you to find your sea legs,” she said with a small smile. “I didn’t want the truth affecting whether or not you wanted to work here, whether you wanted to stay here after finding out about what the animals are. It would’ve complicated things, the emotions you’ll have to work through now that you know the truth. Whether or not you decide to give another tour, you also know what they’re like. That’s the benchmark I wanted you to reach before you found out about who you are.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Who I-” My face went slack. “Wait.”
Suzanne nodded slowly. “You’re only half human. Your brother too.”
The room seemed to tilt on an axis for a moment. “That means I’m also half…what?”
“We call ourselves Eldritch, these days,” she replied.
My eyes bugged out. “What?” I exclaimed. “So you’re all, like, gods or something?”
Suzanne burst out laughing. “Oh no, goodness, no,” she chuckled. “It’s just a word. We live in a very different world from this one, and a few generations ago we discovered the word and it made its way into our lexicon. But it does mean you can see all the animals. Indeed you did, on the tour you gave.”
“Wait, no, I had the glasses that…” I stopped. “Did those glasses do anything?”
She gave a sly smile and shook her head. “Not a thing. You made incredibly quick progress, and then when it came time for the tour, all you needed was to expect to see the animals, and you did.”
Genetics. That’s what Andrew had said during our interview, that part of how many animals you could see was determined by genetics. I guess having a mother who was originally from the other dimension gave me all the genes I needed to see everything here. “Could I…visit your world?” I asked tentatively. “You said that my mom took photos of the animals there. Could I…” My voice trailed off, not even sure if or how I wanted to finish that sentence.
“Those who are half human, especially those who are raised on Earth, don’t come visit,” she said gently. “I could show you some photos of other animals, and I could loan you as many books as you’d like, but it’s simply not a place where you’d be safe.”
“Oh,” I said, leaning into the couch cushion as I pictured the animals in the zoo. “Yeah, actually that…makes sense.” I paused. “So, what now?”
“It’s up to you,” she said. “I wanted to wait until I was sure you were comfortable with your position here, and then put the ball in your court. And so it is. What do you want to do now?”
What did I want to do? It wasn’t that difficult a question, just a deep, serious one.
I wanted to thrive, as the animals did. This is my enrichment now, working at an incredible, wonderful, terrifying zoo. The experience so far hasn’t been perfect, and I know there are risks, but life isn’t about staying safe. It’s about learning new things and making a difference in the world. And, if you’re lucky, having a job that’s something really special.
THE END
First / Previous
***
Patreon
My Website
storiesbykaren

submitted by karenvideoeditor to HFY [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 03:41 cheytay Defining a Relationship with an INTJ (ultimatums?)

Hello INTJ I am once again back…
Mostly just a thought dump but also I am genuinely curious about your opinions about the line between a boundary and an ultimatum.
I (27 F ENTJ-A) am still in relationship limbo with someone (34 M INTJ-A). We have been seeing each other for almost 3 months. We live in different cities, though not super far away, but I would say that we would still count as medium distance. It takes about 1.5-2 hrs one way. That said, I did a little math and we have spent 45% of those three months meeting in person. The data is a bit skewed because we went on a trip to Japan about a month into seeing each other but in any case, we see each other a lot. A minimum of twice a week, with pretty equal effort of me going to his city or him coming to mine. Daily texting (not uncommon in his culture) typically each morning, throughout the work day. Phone calls 2-3 times a week. I have no doubts that we seeing each other exclusively because lmao there is literally no other time to be spent elsewhere.
We have in these three months: Met some of each other’s friends, spent 4 days abroad, he had a surgery and recovered at my house (I removed his IV for heaven’s sake lol), spent both our birthdays together, and I met his sister.
When we were in Japan, he introduced me to his friends as his girlfriend assuming I wouldn’t understand the Japanese. When discussing it later, he back tracked. He has continued to skirt defining the relationship. My feelings about this have been mixed from neutral, to relieved, to a little annoyed. I don’t think I’m very quick to develop feelings but proximity, stability, and all that jazz will do that to a person. I have checked in every few weeks to get a read on his feelings and he says we’re “still getting to know each other” and often says “/if/ we were dating” which is one thing and if this was his constant narrative I wouldn’t mind as much.
The bigger issue is if he gets a drop of alcohol in him, he talks a lot about marriage. We’re both divorcés with similar stories—we both got married very young so it’s not surprising his mind defaults to marriage. Mine does too, but I keep that fairly under wraps. He’ll say things like, “When we have a son… When you move in… Oh when you meet my mom, you should bring…” things like this. I live abroad in his country and said something about worrying about my visa extension next year on one such phone calls and he replied immediately, “Why are you worried? Don’t you think we’ll be married by then?” Which would be cute and maybe endearing if he wasn’t so adamant that we are not dating when he is sober. It’s the back and forth that bothers me more. I don’t drink much, so maybe I could just be misunderstanding, but I certainly don’t say things opposite of what I mean when I drink so the whiplash in his stances is getting to be a bit much.
He also asked me to move to his city and speaks often about how great it will be once I do. I think, if we’re dating, that makes sense because I’m a freelancer and can work from anywhere, he is tethered to his job. I have a chance to extend my lease for 3 months or move at the end of June. But… we are not dating.
Aside from the fact this may hint at a bit of a drinking problem, one’s patience tends to grow thin. I know INTJs can be slower to act, and enjoy having the chance to weigh their options, and perhaps I have a bit of that ENTJ self inflated ego but I don’t love being deliberated on. I have been patient, warm, and accommodating and while I don’t think that automatically should be rewarded with a relationship, I also worry about developing deeper feelings for someone who doesn’t have the intention of committing. Of course, the last three months has also been a significant investment of time, and money, but opening up and falling for someone isn’t easy for either of the NTJs I don’t think. I would say that I’m in the beginning stages of in love with him and I worry about letting that deepen without commitment.
On top of that, I worry that being overly accommodating will backfire. A lot of dating advice for women is to not be /too/ easy to date. While that doesn’t come naturally to me, I think it’s time to assert a boundary. We’re currently at about 75 days since we met but truly an insane amount of hours spent together, which I think is fair enough time to decide whether this is a relationship or not.
We have a date planned this week after a job interview in his city and I think I plan to approach the conversation like this:

“How do you define dating? Objectively.” Get a sense of what constitutes as a relationship and then compare and contrast with what we’re doing. Share my definition of dating. Try to keep the conversation open and exploratory.
Tell him that I don’t feel confident about moving to his city given the uncertainty of our relationship at the moment. Even if this conversation results in a title, I will push the move to the Fall at the earliest.
Set my timeline. If we’re not /officially/ dating by the 3 month mark, I have to take a step back. It’s not good for my self-esteem and I can’t give so much of my time without some security. I’m not sure I would stop seeing him all together but ~* girlfriend treatment *~ would have to be reduced for the sake of my own feelings. If possible, it would probably be healthiest to stop altogether.

Depending on his reaction, I could be flexible of course. My instinct is to want to continue dating but it does feel like a betrayal of my own standards not to assert a boundary. Does this seem unfair? Am I impatient? I married my first boyfriend at 20 and that didn’t work out the greatest obviously lol. I have since spent a year or so in the dating market so in truth, I really don’t have a lot of experience in this department. I’m genuinely curious and outside perspectives are welcome.

submitted by cheytay to intj [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 00:31 Serious_Hedgehog4028 How to prepare for unexpected interview?

I went for a job interview three weeks ago on a Wednesday and they said they'd let me know a decision by Friday, Friday came and I thought I was unsuccessful as I hadn't heard a reply so I called to thank them for the opportunity and ask for feedback on the interview as I thought it went well.
The hiring manager wasn't available but they got back to me on Tuesday and said they had more interviews this week and would let me know next week so the following Thursday I asked for an update and they said they had to delay interviews until the week after and would let me know either way.
I asked one more time the week after as I was meant to be going on holiday and didn't want to be thinking about it whilst I was away and was worried about them not being able to get hold of me but was told interviews were delayed and it'd be another week which I wasn't going to ask them again because I thought I asked too much and they would either get back to me or they wouldn't. I just wanted to be put out of my misery really of not knowing but again they said interview were delayed into next week and they'd let me know either way.
But then a couple of days later out of the blue they've asked me to attend a second interview.
It wasn't mentioned in the initial interview or at any other point during the process about a second interview and it's a job I really do want so I'm pleased but I don't really know what to expect,
Do I just prepare for it as if it was a first interview?

submitted by Serious_Hedgehog4028 to Advice [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 00:19 Prestigious_Golf4535 I had my 2nd round of interview on 8th May. But still no reply.

I have done with my second round of interview at Deloitte USI on 8th May. But did got reply from HR. They are not responding to mail. Interview went well. Can I consider rejected?

submitted by Prestigious_Golf4535 to deloitte [link] [comments]

2024.05.19 00:04 WhereasDapper6060 3+ months of unemployment and my interview experience at swiggy

A little backstory first -
I graduated from a private University in 2023, in my 3rd(2022) year I secured a paid internship in an established startup, and got converted to full-time in 2023, everything was going great and my work was also good and my peers were satisfied, my performance declined eventually(I have some personal mental health issues going on) and i struggled with some tasks and delayed in delivering some work on time according to my peers and managers,but they supported me good people. and then company had some hard times some big projects got shut down, and then they picked the weaker links such as me and others we were systematically kicked out from the company, eventually i was asked to resign and I did.
Now the new job hunting part-
I realised where I was lacking, my focus that I had earlier was gone, decided not to touch my laptop for a week, and wanted to do a complete detox and chill. Now I started the job hunt, i knew the market was bad and aimed on getting a similar pay range job, i was getting 7.5lpa(in hand) previously, and I was ready to go low as 6lpa(in hand) Saw a post from CTO of swiggy they were hiring for ASDEs Frontend and emailed him my resume with hopes getting a call, And it worked actually i got a call from HR after 15 days, She agreed to match my previous CTC, and i was really hopeful about this, she scheduled the interview and i started the grind, I had around 8 days to prepare, And i crammed javascript concepts, DSA,some basic system design and React. I also saw some posts here(on this sub)about swiggy ASDE interviews and people said that they were asked to build some components in the machine coding round, I was confident about writing components from scratchin React with pure css/scss. I decided to brush up and practiced some components Such as- nested comments, carousel, modal, breadcrumb and some more.
Finally the interview day came -
On that day I just focused on revising javascript and html, css cause basics are important Interview started at 6, the interviewers came, i introduced myself and then i was asked to share my screen and was given a question to solve, Guess what it was a component, a nested comments components with reply and abilitity to like on the comment, i was pretty confident that I can made this in react, cause i practiced that in react, then he told me that you have to do it in pure vanilla-js, I was flabbergasted and speechless, when I started to make that in html and javascript, i simply could not complete that task, Cause I was too used to building component in react.js
Failed miserably and got rejection mail a day after the interview, this experience still haunts me to this day, I mean how can I f-up this simple task.
Still searching for a job, not getting any callbacks, any advice would be appreciated.

submitted by WhereasDapper6060 to developersIndia [link] [comments]

http://swiebodzin.info