Thread 51 - Covid GCSE Cohort - Summer 24 - End of Uni Yr 2

[Oblomov24]

2024 Summer, end of year 2 for those at Uni.

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). 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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Well done on the weight loss @craggyrat - how did you do it? And happy birthday too!

I’m admin woman here too, not only for my three family members (dd isn’t too bad to be fair), but for my mother in law (tax mainly), my brother and anyone else who wants tax/accounting help! And I work full time, plus help dh to manage his diary and any church admin that comes his way! I’d love to work part time but we took on a much bigger mortgage to move here so can’t just yet.

Literally diet and exercise. Portion size and I go to the gym x4 a week which I surprisingly enjoy now. Still 1/2 stone to go...

Well done! I started going to the gym six months ago, but I still eat far too much so that will be my problem 😂

@craggyrat Well done! Enjoy a lovely treat at Bettys. Perchance a fat rascal?

@Oblomov24 You party prep sounds amazing. Have a super time.

I feel your pain. And don't get me started on VAT reverse charge. But I remember the days of the CIS card and vouchers and that was even worse.

CIS VAT domestic reverse charge, what a joy . Had a query on that just last week...

Come and NewNames, knew you'd understand!

A large percentage of my work is to do with reverse charge VAT 🤣 As a university we can’t reclaim it generally, so it’s important to get it right! And uni VAT is complicated! Glad you’re enjoying your job though @Oblomov24 , that’s great!

That must be a different kind of VAT, Crazycrofter, as the reverse charge I am talking of is only for the construction industry. It’s a newish scheme, ill thought out and everyone seems to apply it differently. Nightmare.

Oh yes, that’s the domestic reverse charge, I’m thinking about invoices from foreign suppliers!

Happy birthday @craggyrat

Finished party prep. Here is a silly little thing just for fun:

Off for a siesta now. We are all in bed. Ds's already asleep. I always recommend an hours sleep mid-afternoon pre a big party!

Do you think people will laugh at them and ask if they are butt plugs?

@Oblomov24 Uhumm..

@craggyrat Happy belated birthday!

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone

I left home at 9 this morning to collect DS from his y4 house in Bristol. Got there at midday - pointless getting there earlier as they'd all been out for a final farewell piss up last night. Took 3 hrs to get the car packed. I am still sitting in the car outside his house waiting for the cleaning to be done. Four grown men. Honestly it took one of them 40 minutes to do the porch! It's not even a glass closed-in one!! I am refusing to help - they've had weeks to sort it. Goodness knows what time we'll get back home. Then we've got to find somewhere to put everything.

I'm impressed with your willpower. I'd have given in I think.

If I give in, I'm likely to hurt my back and then I won't be able to drive home. I may have mentioned before that DS hasn't bothered learnt to drive. Can't face spending the night here 😆

@craggyrat is that Betty's of York? We had a week near York this week, someone suggested cake at Betty's, the queue to get in went a fair way along the street, so decided it was best to give it a miss. I've been trying to lose weight too, I wasn't massively overweight, but decided enough was enough, so I am down about 8lbs. I'd be happy to lose a stone in total. But not eating nice things is hard work!

Sorry to hear of your news @PhotoDad

Ds2 is settling into life in Brisbane. He's started uni work now. His housemates that he was worried about are nice enough, they are all Asian and knew each other, so Ds was worried about being left out, he came home from shopping to find they'd bought him a teddy bear as a welcome gift. He said they all speak very good English, one is doing an English degree at Leeds uni. Ds said he speaks better English than him 😂 the bathroom and kitchen remain dirty, he's not so keen on that, he's bought an air fryer to cook with rather than using the oven. Ds did message one day to say he keeps throwing up, he'd been out late with no dinner, then slept for 15 hours, then woke up and went to play a football match, also without eating 🤦‍♀️ so he's trying to eat properly now. He had no food to cook when that day, so had to walk 20 mins to the shop. Hopefully he's learnt a lesson.

Ds1 who is in Perth, is planning to buy a car soon, then he's going to drive to Brisbane to meet ds2. They've never really got on that well, so hopefully they will do some trips together and rekindle brotherly love.

@icanbewhatiwant hope you enjoyed York trip. Same Betty's but the one in Harrogate. There's one in Ilkley one in Northallerton and two in Harrogate. We are spoilt!

@craggyrat I didn't know there are others too. Will have to try there one day!

@icanbewhatiwant we went to York a few months ago, arrived late afternoon and to our surprise Betty's was still open and no queue, it was lovely, you''ll have to go back! We went to one years ago pre DC, I think it was in Ilkley but they are a long way from Hampshire where we are. Glad DS2 is settling down under.

Belated Happy Birthday @craggyrat

Hope the party went well @Oblomov24

Belated happy birthday, craggy. Hope you enjoyed Betty's. My mum lives just south of York, so we always go to Betty's when we stay with her - one year, we managed to go to York, Harrogate and Ilkley in the same week! 👌👌

Sorry missed craggy's birthday. Happy birthday craggy.

Dh's party went really well, smooth, nice atmosphere. Was happy with my efforts. Now on holiday for a Week in bil's lodge in selsey. Slept. Had afternoon siestas, went swimming in the sea and pool. Happy.