Thread 42 Corona GCSE Cohort - 👻Creeping it Real for Oct22

[CinnamonOrangeCremeBrulee]

This is a support thread for our young adults post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting, and their results ( or life updates for those who went into work or have had results earlier). It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, uni vs employment please don't within this thread.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue. We were previously on the secondary board and then further education, now we shall be here in 'Parents of Adult Children' gulp

Our DS/DD may continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed). Be warned there might be lots of 'Uni Freshers' chat this time of year. My experience is that everyone is welcomed wherever, whatever their child is doing we have some in work, gap years , apprenticeships etc too. Lots of contributors with different experiences and always sympathy and advice to be had.

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Sorry to hear your sad news zebra

@Oblomov22 I would be interested in knowing which Christian group that was as well. Sounds great.

Hey Crazy and Omni. I have just sent you both a PM. Re which church ds went to. and which group he went to at the uni. Not very exciting Pm, I'm afraid. But I didnt want to put it on mn, might be outing, plus it's not my news, it's ds's, which I'm sure your'll all undertsand.

Update on arm, it's fine just achey. I actually asked them to do it in the same arm (which they were fine with) because I need one good function arm at least, DH had one in each arm and now can't raise either of them about a 20 degree angle without pain. 😂

@mummyinbeds Oh that would have really upset me but at the same time I could totally see my DS doing something similar.
I think it's just the selfish teenage brain in play, he probably won't have even thought for a minute that it might hurt you, they just don't seem to realise at all.

@Zebracat I'm so sorry about your cat and of course your friend, sending hugs.

@Oblomov22 that's a great photo of the stadium, glad a good time was had by all and hope the singing voice comes back soon! 😀

Congrats to your DD @AnneOfCleavage Now all the worry about them actually driving will be endless if you're anything like me!

DS is going to a gig in another city soon and we've just found out it clashes with a rail strike ffs! Are these just going to keep on going on forever?? We have no idea how to get him there now, the national express coach timetable doesn't work out for what he needs. Does anyone know if there's some kind of uni wide messaging thing about sharing lifts etc. I can't believe he's the only person at Notts going.

Who was it? One of us many moons ago, had a complicated spreadsheet for dc university choices. Catered v non catered. City v campus. Had we been on an open day yet to affect decision making.

I think we need said spreadsheet again. For Notts church ⛪️ choices. We can rate them weekly. Not on the important criteria obviously. Not on whether the father/priest is welcoming and his sermon is decent and godly. no no. based on what food offerings they provide and whether the brownie is satisfactory or the Victoria sponge WI standard.

The irony is not lost on me, considering most of our dc are actually catered.

Made the mistake of asking DD what she'd like us to bring down with her when we visit at the weekend. Lucky we have a large car! In addition to the obvious re extra clothes etc, she has requested all her fabric for crafting/sewing. That's a lot of fabric accumulated over the years... Given the size of her room, I suspect we'll be bringing a lot of it home again, but it's not heavy, just bulky!

Also she's asked for her ice skates (she had classes on and off for a few years to the point where it was cheaper than hiring every time)! That could be a fun activity especially if she can persuade friends along. Looks like a long walk or a short bus-ride.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn you could try www.blablacar.co.uk/

Thanks @Monkey2001 I'll take a look at that.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn where does he need to go? Have you tried putting it into Google Maps with public transport option checked?

@Oblomov22 we are tempted to sell one of the dc's car as well. Ds1 is off to NZ in jan for a year so he won't need his car. Ds2 will be home from university and wanting to drive at Christmas and Easter. Then will definitely need a car for his 3 month summer job, so not sure what to do really. We will have their 2 cars sitting here most of the time not being used. It's tempting to sell. But our mechanic has said keep hold of them. DH and I have a car each, dh also has his "toy" car, a Porsche in the garage. So that's 5 cars, a bit ridiculous really.

Is anyone else's DC getting hassle from the TV licensing people? DS had a letter at the start of term which he ignored, but now has a really threatening sounding one addressed to The Occupant, His Room No, His Halls. He is watching Sky on a tablet using our account but I have drilled into him that he must only use an unplugged device and he doesn't use Iplayer, so he is legal but is now freaking out that an enforcement officer is going to turn up at his door (he's autistic and seriously wouldn't cope with that). Does it get them off your back if you let them know you don't need a licence?

@Monkey2001 I'll have a look at the Google maps thing, not used that before. I'm hoping he may have a lift sorted now but I'm going to check this out just in case.

@EerilyDevilled what are the rules on the TV licence? DS can access our Sky through his X box, also my Netflix through his ipad, does he need a TV licence? The TV licence is literally (and I mean literally) the only household bill that DH handles so I haven't a clue!

@icanbewhatiwant totally understand about car issues. Similar here. I fear Dh was a bit too quick to get rid. And it was Ds1's first car, and it was a corker. I'm a bit sad myself.

If you are watching live TV (any channel) or any BBC TV on a plugged in device away from home you need your own licence if the address does not have one. If you only watch them on a portable device (eg unplugged tablet) you are covered by the licence at your home address.

We are off to see Ds this weekend too - last minute organisation :-) His only request (so far) is the dvd of his Y6 performance!!!! Goodness knows who he plans to entertain with that ;-)

So if the tablet is charging (plugged in?) is that not ok?

Had some texts with ds about churches. He's going to go to a few. Finding a church that you feel fits you, is actually very hard.

@Oblomov22 ds2 has ds1's old car. I hate looking at it. It's a brown Corsa. I felt bad that they had to drive such an old man's car. But dh couldn't resist the 4,000 miles it had done when we bought it. 4 years later it's still only on 18,000 miles at 9 years old. Ds1 now has a 5 year old fiesta that has done 40k so dh will want to sell the fiesta. But I want the Corsa to go as would ds2. I can see a disagreement coming 😂
Won't ds1 want to drive when he's home? Or do you have public transport nearby? We don't have any buses. So a car is a must.

Apparently not. Would be ok if connected to a power bank though 🤷‍♀️

Very intrigued. DD went to the laundrette today & had free crepes! Apparently lots of info is given out at the laundrette!

Mine past their tests but we didn’t buy them cars, they just got insured on my little car. We live in the burbs so not difficult to get about with buses, lifts and cabs home at night. Insurance is ridiculous!

@boxcar I wish the laundry in DD’s halls would do free crepes, she might use it then - she loves a crepe! She is planning to go with a friend who’s also not yet done any washing when she goes back … mind you she’s been home since Friday night and not done any washing here, her knicker collection is truly epic 😂

Car - she has been reunited with her car, and thank goodness can remember how to drive. It won’t get a lot of use but we’ll keep it for now - we only have one other car, and it’s big, so the small car is much better for her. If she gets a job at some point it may well be useful. And it’s occasionally useful having a second car in the household though I have to remind it exists when he thinks he can’t do something because I’ve taken THE car …

Re Church hunting - York has a few weeks of what we now refer to as 'Church speed dating'! The local churches send people to an event on a Sunday morning (before morning services..) so students can chat about the different churches and then they pick one and head off to church 😂🤣😂
We caught up with dd this week as holidaying nearby. She seems settled which is good.

@Benjispruce4 ds2's car insurance runs out on his 19th birthday next month. We've been quoted £480 which I didn't think was too bad. Will keep him insured on whichever car we keep as hopefully the price will go down even more next year. It would cost too much to insure him on my car. It just seems easier to have a car for them. I can see that they don't need one in a town/city. Ds2 messaged to say he's really missing his car. He said no first year students have a car. So at least he's not asking for his. Ds2 took his year 2.

Oh that’s not too bad. We were quoted close to £2k . Back in 1991, my first car was £1800and I got a loan from my bank for £2k as the insurance was £200! I was 20 and working. DD might save for a car now she’s earning enough. Luckily the job is within a 20 minute walk and is hybrid. It was £150 to add her to my car for a year. So, a big difference and only needed at evening and weekends.