A friendly place to chat.
No politics please. Don't be a dick.
7 years in the country and now I can't stay much longer because company decides to make me redundant and market is too fucked to get a new job with sponsorship.
Only few months ago, my wife and I were planning to settle in this lovely country and now I've to leave.
It's also not that easy to go back and restart my life after leaving my country for 7 years.
So, I'm royally fucked and still have 8 hours of office to go through before I go to pub and get shitfaced.
Sorry to hear that, sounds like a horrible situation. I really hope it works out for you.
If they made you redundant do you really have to stick around the whole day? If that happened in my team I'd be sending them home or letting them look for jobs in work time...
Is there any chance of applying for PR or anything given how long you've been here? If you do have to leave, is there a good chance you can apply to come back? Appreciate you have probably explored all this so more out of curiosity than anything.
They have notified me to be made redundant. And the company is doing really good job in giving me plenty of time to be honest. I simply can't fault that. I'm expected to work full time though as my official notice will start from October or so.
I was on short-term and then ICT visa for first 6 years, which is non-settlement visa. Effectively I'm only 1.5 years in settlement visa. So, I can only get PR after 3 years under 10 year scheme or 3.5 years, under settlement visa completion scheme unless duration increased to 8 years.
Coming back is possible, but if there's 90+ days will cause break in constant residency and if I want to settle again, I've to start 5 (8) year settlement once again. And as I'm getting older, this might not be ideal for me.
To be honest, India is great option of software devs and I wouldn't mind going back if I wasn't here for 7 years. But hey, at least Bangalore shares almost the same weather with London, so I've that to look forward to.
That is shocking. They really have changed the system to be horrible to everyone trying to come in. I'm so sorry... my parents are immigrants but back when they were begging people to come in to do all the jobs locals just don't want to. They're already talking about opening up a bit because the labour market is so tight but who knows what will actually happen.
Our company has offices in India and it is quite regular that people move to other countries, not just from India and not just to the UK. Could be a long term option to find a global company, show you're a valuable employee and see what happens. Some people just show they're very good. Others just are the only ones who know certain systems so when they ask to move, it is easier for them to move than find someone else.
Wow that absolutely sucks, I'm so sorry. Puts my rant about shit replies to Facebook messages into perspective, that's for sure.
Hey, a rant is a rant. Some issues ruin your day, some maybe a few months, but all complaints are valid.
I thought you were eligible for settled status after 5 years of living in the UK for 6 months or more each year? Assuming you don't get citizenship through your wife. (Edit: I see you've explained this in another comment further down, that sucks)
Sorry to hear about your redundancy, that does suck.
5 year applies if you're on settlement visa, like General Visa of past and Skilled Worker Visa currently.
But I was brought in on ICT visa, which was non-settlement visa and time spent is not counted as settled.
But I think this will make Torries happy at least as they will have one less immigrant :)
Really sorry to hear that. One of my (American) friends finally got her permission to permanently remain today after a giant, lengthy battle and she's so relieved. I think those of us with settled / born status often don't appreciate how incredibly stressful, and expensive the process can be to move here.
Have you looked into any options other than sponsorship? Though, I wouldn't blame you for wanting to GTFO of here, the way things are right now.
I've looked into sponsorship roles, but right now there aren't any.
Companies can easily get people working on low pay and don't require sponsorship. So guys like me are screwed.
And yeah, while reintegrating back in our tax system will be, well, taxing, living in India has its own benefits.
I can get maid services for cheap, I already have a flat there, and overall cost of living is lower even when you take salary proportion.
Shit. Well I'm sorry to hear it's so bleak re staying, but you've got an excellent mental attitude there by focussing on the potential silver linings. Maybe you can try again if things get unfucked at some point in the future (though we won't be holding our breath ey)
Unfortunately, I'm too old to keep relocating.
If I go back, it's highly unlikely that I'll be back. But I'll miss this country.
I absolutely fall in love with almost all aspects of it, and just like kids in playground, it seems I've to go despite I love being staying here.
The price of food is ridiculous. £1.70 for a bag of smartprice sausages whose first ingredient is "water"? Absolute state of it.
Every week my same food shop is going up and up. All while companies gloat about record profits. Surely the average citizen has got to crack at some point soon and revolt.
Eat the rich!
Eat the rich!
Would that solve your problem with water being the first ingredient though? Think you're better off with the sausages tbf.
I can’t argue with that 😂
Getting evicted sucks. It's a long process but everyday is just stress and anxiety...
I hope your issue is resolved without much fuss.
Tried to find a local place to play snooker. Found one, all it has is a FB page with no useful info. But there are hints that they do other stuff there too like dance classes, sounds interesting!
I send them a FB message asking about snooker prices, and whether there's some info somewhere on what sort of dance classes they do / when / how much / just literally the info I need to give them money in return for goods and services.
They reply with a one-liner about the price of snooker tables.
I send another message, politely reiterating my other questions.
They reply with another one liner saying "we do dance classes for children and adults".
So I give up, and I look up the company doing the dance classes. They also only have a presence on FB, and their page is similarly light on details. I also see that they do classes across two venues, one of which is too far away. So, I send a message asking for a list of their classes, price, location etc. Which ones are for kids vs adults, again just literally the info I need to use their service in any way.
Get a one liner saying "we do classes in ballet, jazz and tap". That's it.
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Hello, I'd like to give you money for your services. Can you provide more information?
...Yes
I hate companies that do this.
I honestly can't even understand. Like, there's no reason for them to withhold the info on purpose, right? They do want people to give them money? So then I'm left with the only explanation being that they literally can't comprehend words? Surely there's another reason but I cannot figure it out.
Gah. I'm in a right huff today!
It's not just even at a consumer level. For work I contact companies requesting various products and services worth a lot of money.
Maybe they are all just making too much money?
Well, I forgot the MOT was due on the car. It expired last week and I can't get a test slot anywhere local until Monday. Of course, I'm now in the doghouse because although it's 'our' car the GF regards any car-related problems as being my responsibility. Also found out how shit the local bus service is.
This reminds me, the car insurance is due. Thanks!
The richest company in the known universe has decided they want an extra 20p off me each month to avoid an annoying notification
Basic boiler service has turned into a much bigger, more expensive, issue. There goes any spare money this month...
You can have a hot bacon bun. You can have a hot sausage bun.
You cannot have a hot Bacon & Sauasage in a bun. It impairs the flavour of both.
Thank you.
As a vegetarian I had no idea you meat eaters were dealing with such tragedies every day. I have a newfound sympathy.
You cannot have a hot Bacon & Sauasage in a bun
I would disagree, but you really need to add an egg in too.
Brown sauce has entered the chat.
I like brown sauce, but I don't like it if egg is present.
Ooh no, you can't beat an everything binlid breakfast barm.
Lest I open up the floodgates as to what we all call a big bread roll/barm/batch/bap in our respective regional dialects...
Edit: there it is
Even if you put a fried egg between them?
I have vast experience that indicates you can indeed have both (scientifically tested at Greggs)
@sideone I had to get up 3 times last night. I can't wait until winter is back and it's dark when it's supposed to be dark.
I’m back at work today after taking the first half of the week off. That sucks.
Took it off because the new Dungeon Crawler Carl book got delivered. I’m fucking loving it so far. Just about finished it and I can see myself skyvin off today so I can wrap it up.
@Finnbot Just spent 5 minutes reading about that Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Guess I know where my next few audible credits are going. Thanks.
Mate I cannot recommend it enough. I don’t really go for litRPG but the first book blew me away. I’m a huge Terry Pratchett fan and I don’t think I’ve laughed so much while reading since. Newest one had me crying and then snorting with laughter a few pages later.
It’s the audiobooks I’ve been listening to and jeff hayes is such a great narrator also. Had to pick up the physical new book though as I could not wait for the audio.
A resounding recommendation then.
I'll make a point of listening to the first book during my train journey next week. Looking forward to it.
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Just read the synopsis, sounds fun & interesting. I've never played DnD, but have absorbed enough info from memes & comments over the years to have a surface level knowledge... would that affect how much I enjoy it?
Oh you won’t miss any references etc. if you’re a fan of gaming and fantasy /sci fi I reckon you’ll love it.
Sweet. I'm accumulating a decent list of books I want to buy, got a few by Adrien Tchaikovski next then this will be in the queue! Thanks for the recommendation.
I'm currently reading the new one by Steven King (Fairy Tale), it's pretty darn good so far.
Heard good things about that. I started Children of Time which is by Tchaikovsky I think? Didn’t give it much of a chance but might give it another go now you mentioned it.
It did take me a little to get into, but thoroughly gripping once I did. I'm a big believer in not forcing a book down, sometimes we just don't vibe with someone's writing style ideas... I do love his anthropomorphic tales though, the sequel is about a different ship w/ squids. And he's done one I loved called 'Dogs of War' about bio-engineered intelligent hybrid animals. He really seems to have a knack for getting inside a completely unknowable mind.
Could be worse - my fixed term contract finished at the end of last week. I'm now a man of leisure scrambling to find a job.
I was planning on watching the Mets play at Finsbury Park this weekend. I was really looking forward to watching my first live game. I normally work weekends so I had to book the Saturday off. Checked the weather forecast and there are thunderstorms due to start when the game is starting all the way until the game is due to end. Typical.
You never know! Plenty of time for the forecast to change yet. 🤞 for you.
Let's hope so! It's looking a bit better. Still rain at 1, but no thunder. Maybe they'll just postpone the game until it clears?
Edit: nope, looking bad again
I should've started my work shift yesterday but I can't because the van I use for work needs repairs. I was on standby for an alternative option all day yesterday and the same is happening again today. Bonus days off but more annoying because I'm constantly on edge waiting for the phone to ring. I can't relax and just get on with something else.