[Who's Going To Uni?]

Yeah, I wish I could fit pipes and be overweight when I'm older. One can dream I suppose.

That is what I want to do, where did you work and was it an alright year?

I was told law school was terribly boring which is why I didn't apply for it.

Oh well, maybe next year.

I might be doing economics at Strathcylde next year.

Once again Supras didn't you try to tell the forum that you were a senior, top earning, lecturer at the London School of Economics?

I think you dream of earning the same kind of money that I am on - sadly for you dreaming is as close as you'll get...

[Who's Going To Uni?]

I'm going into 2nd year of Accounting at UWS in Paisley. Saying I go to Paisley uni while everyone is going to Strathy and Glasgow etc sounds a bit crap, but I don't care as first year was actually ace.

It certainly is crap. Is Paisley Uni even a real university? It was a kid on one when I was a teenager. Looking at the league tables it doesn't even make the top 140 in the UK.

[Who's Going To Uni?]

You remind me of one of my old middle-aged work colleagues. Every day I arrived at work and he was always hostile and short with me and he was always arguing with me about Politics. I could never figure out what his problem was until I spoke to the shift manager. Apparently he was incredibly jealous of the fact I was at University and he was bitter at never having bothered his ass to sign-up when he was younger.

That's not you is it, Stuart?

What is this Savo? Am I not allowed to be angered by the fact that £161bn is wasted per annum by this Labour Government putting an incredible 430,000 students through joke universities? Am I not allowed to be annoyed that this works out at £2,700 per annum for every man, woman and child in the UK? Am I not allowed to be annoyed that for all this money spent we know that more than three quarters of these students will be unable to find work in their chosen fields - unless ofcourse their degree course has something to do with Call Centres. Am I not allowed to express this anger without being accused of being jealous?

If the UK government reduced the number of university places to a sensible figure - say 20,000 - and only permitted those with the highest grades access to University funding the UK would be solvent again in just 3 years. These malingering students are a millstone around the countries neck - it's time the lazy b*****ds were made to work!

[Who's Going To Uni?]

I'm sorry but I am unfamiliar with University terms.

Does the term Under Graduate really mean that the Graduates get to ride your arse all they want? Is it like a prison? And is staying in a Halls of Residence really safe? After all you'll be staying in the same block of flats as a large number of society drop outs who would be homeless had it not been for taxpayers charity.

[Who's Going To Uni?]

SAAS? ARRGHH whens it to be done by, and how? Our school were fucking clueless in telling us the deadline, no-one in our year has a scoobie how or when to do it because we weren't fucking told. Had a look on their website a month back and there was nothing about deadlines. b*****ds. Anyway.

Hopefully doing Psychology at Dundee next year, on the basis that I get 2 B's in my recent Highers (I don't mean to be arrogant but I think I'm in alright ). I can't wait. One of my best mates is going there too as well so that's a bonus. I think my flat is the closest out of the halls to Tesco's. RESULT.

That sounds like a worthwhile degree course...well done. Please remember to post on P&B to let us know how the research is going into how pet owners like their pets...

[Who's Going To Uni?]

Just to do this before Stuart gets wind of it...

Your all wasting your time, and behaving like parasitics on the goverment teat. Besides, you'll never be able to afford my millionaire life style studying.

No, instead learn to fit pipes and talk rubbish about any given topic, remembering to complete every post with Except your all too stupid to do that

Also, ensure you go on envy inducing holidays. Well, pretend you've booked them at any rate.

In all seriousness, enjoy! I would love to have my time at Uni agin.

Well in fairness Pink, if Supras is going to University I think that's proof positive that they've dumbed down the Further Education system to the extent that degree's, Masters etc are totally useless. I hope they enjoy their last months of doing anything useful in their lives....once they join the 430,000 other people wasting their lives at University their lives will be worthless forever more.

[Who's Going To Uni?]

I've put Glasgow as my firm offer but if I do not get a scholarship I applied for I probably won't go there and will instead go to Strathclyde.

I'm going into the business school and to get in I need ABBBC for Strathcylde and ABBB for Glasgow.

I haven't been to any open days and haven't visited either University even though I live quite close to both. There is another open day on Saturday but I am away. I'm not looking forward to it, I don't even want to go this year, I want to take a year out before I go. Has everyone applied for funding on SAAS, it expires on the 30th .

Didn't you claim you were a lecturer at the London School of Economics...

[What Was The Last Movie You Watched?]

The Knowing....I know, I know....and it was absolutely pish. I fancied the movie from the trailers, it looked like the usual Cage type movie, perhaps a cross between The Da Vinci Code and National Treasure. How wrong was I.

The plot goes like this....A girl scribbled down pages full of numbers and puts it in a school time capsule. When the time capsule is unearthed Cage's daughter is given these pages by her teacher. Cage decides it's a code and he cracks quite quickly that the numbers all related to disasters. He works out the next three and tries to warn the authorities - who don't listen, so he gives his kids to aliens...

Serious pile of bollocks. 0.5/10. Please don't waste your time watching this rubbish.

[Pregnancy And Parenting]

Franly, I'm amazed Dickson isn't claiming to have carried the wean for 9 months...

Nah - although I did go through a sympathy phase where I attempted to keep up with her in terms of the food that she ate. Unfortunately I'm still carrying the scars of that time whilst she got rid of her excess weight more or less overnight.

The legacy of a pregnancy is definitely worse on the man. The woman gets months worth of maternity leave, and gets to claim that she's always exhausted. Whilst the poor man has to cope with extra hours at work, painting and decorating, all the normal and extra household maintenance tasks that appear to come under "child safety", and despite all that his wife will still expect him to change nappies, get up with the baby in the middle of the night, oh and there's bound to be housework to be getting on with as well cause she's "not had a moment all day". Funnily enough whenever it was my turn to stay in and watch the baby, he generally just slept while I played computer games.

Then in ensuing years she'll have made up this story about the horror of the whole thing, forgetting to mention that it was your job to go to Mothercare and buy disposable pants and bra pads - much to the amusement of everyone there.

[Pregnancy And Parenting]

Surely they get paid more than Call Centre workers?

Aye and Call Centre workers have the cheek to claim they have a "shit" job....

[Pregnancy And Parenting]

The bit in bold explains why the first bit happened.

Aye....but so why was it such a big deal? Why was I supposed to feel sorry for her? Don't get me wrong, it was impressive..I've never seen a mess like it in my life. I've never smelled anything like it in my life - not even at Cappielow.

It's the poor midwife I felt sorry for.

[Pregnancy And Parenting]

I don't know what all the fuss women make is all about. I witnessed my second son being born and during contractions my wife would fall asleep, or burst out laughing. She got all the drugs, all I got was a rather horrific view of the mess she was making as she pushed.

Reading Saintee, I feel sorry for you mate. You're going to have to watch as your wife goes through every extreme emotion - she'll not care that she's hurting your feelings or leaving you ripped to pieces, and none of your family or friends will ever ask how you are bearing up. It's 9 months of pure attention seeking by the woman...and it's no wonder so many get depressed once the baby is born and steals all the attention back off them.

Good luck.

[Worst Town/area In Scotland]

Anytime I was ever in Law I ended up in a fight because I was an outsider from Overtown . I dont know how bad or good it is now as it has been a while since I've been there other than visiting my Aunt and Uncle.

We also had the "Electric" flats in Overtown! The ones on the main st down from the Primary School. I still call them that to this day haha.

I knew a Dickson family from Law, one was a Boxer I'm sure, I stayed next door to their partents in Overtown, any relation?

Was the fight in the Auld Store? I got barred from there not long after we moved in. For "deliberately" playing one of the most impossible tricks shots on a snooker table imaginable. I hit the cue ball and it spun up onto the top of the cushion, rolled round the table, hit a pocket, took a 90° turn, rolled along that cushion and then dropped off the table, bounced across the floor and hit one of the old drunks foot which was bandaged up at the time. He and his mates accused me of doing it deliberately....

The village itself was never bad though. There were some arsehole families in one of the streets, but there were only five or six houses there in total.

[Worst Town/area In Scotland]

Can't agree with the comments about Law. I lived there for 8 years - hence the reason Stu had actually heard of the place. It went from being a quiet close community to being an rural suburb in that time. New houses were being built all the time and some of the views of the Clyde Valley are absolutely spectacular. There were some bizarre stories about South Lanarkshire Council and their policies for the village though. For example the rail junction there has consent to be used as a railway station.....but only for cattle.... The other highlight was when they brought a space age public toilet to the village. Totally out of place. FFS this was the village where they still talked about "Electric" houses as though it was something out of the ordinary.

Same goes for Lanark actually. The drive along the Clyde Valley makes it for me, but even coming through the Carluke side means you've got some amazing views from around the Cartland Bridge Hotel. Round at the New Lanark side as well it's like a beautiful wee oasis. The centre of Lanark is poor - a bit like Largs or Ayr town centre, but then that's the case for most of the wee town centres. Agree with the comments about the residents there though.

How someone from East Kilbride can slag anyone off is beyond me though. That town is marginally better designed than Paisley, but oh my god the place is a shite hole on an Easterhouse scale. Tens of thousands of people live there, but they've got to travel to the town centre for any amenities and the town centre is filled with 14 year old single mothers wandering around aimlessly with their prams and the Village - which is supposed to be the pride of the town - only has one decent thing in it. The chippy next to the Montgomery Arms.

And Briech - totally agree....why does that place have a train station?

[Worst Town/area In Scotland]

That's the one. It's not actually in West Lothian. There could only be one Forth, surely.

Hopefully. It always struck me as a place where you'd send people who have been released from prison to rehabilitate themselves without affecting the rest of the world....

[Worst Town/area In Scotland]

I have to admit to a soft spot for Dundee. I was up a lot when my wean was at uni there. It doesn't aspire to anything it isn't. Folk are down to earth and ordinary.

There is a place on the edge of West Lothian called Forth. I've only ever just passed through it but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I saw some tumbleweed blowing down the main street.

Is that the Forth that is in South Lanarkshire and has around five streets of council houses and a football pitch? Or is there another one?

[Worst Town/area In Scotland]

Paisley - I know it's an obvious one from me but I can back it up. So far in my life I have been targeted by criminals only twice. Each time it was in Paisley. Each time it was some coward who broke into my car whilst I was away.

The only other place I have almost got an equal abhorrance of is Stornaway. Worked in that depressing shithole populated by bizarre faux religious zealots for 10 of the worst weeks of my life.

[Madeleine Mccann Missing Girl]

I lost touch with this thread but the story just becomes more and more compelling. RB makes a fantastic point about the fund, why haven't they spent it trying to find the kid? Why just use the media?

The actions of Gerry McCann just don't make sense at any stage to any parent I know.

[Madeleine Mccann Missing Girl]

This is a totally predictable turn of events IMO. Why the parents weren't immediately made formal suspects I don't know. After all isn't it the case that in the majority of these incidents close family turn out to be the offenders?

The story about finding blood in a car that they rented long after the daughters death does sound a bit weird but then if you work on the premise that they could lie to everyone about the events surrounding their daughters disappearance to the extent that they get a round the world trip and over £1m out of it they are capable of lying about absolutely anything.

One thing I hope for though is that whatever the outcome is that parents everywhere realise that they have to keep an eye on their kids and that they shouldn't let their guard down. The McCanns IMO are guilty of gross negligence at the very least.

[Madeleine Mccann Missing Girl]

I see that the newspapers this morning are reporting that sniffer dogs and ultra violet lights used by British police officers have found traces of blood splattered on the wall of the apartment that Madeleine McCann was snatched from. They are now doing DNA tests to find out if it was the missing 4 year olds blood.

[Madeleine Mccann Missing Girl]

No. Absolutely not.

However, the fact that the McCanns do does not mean they are involved in anything criminal where Maddie is concerned. Their parenting may come under scrutiny when this whole awful situation comes to a conclusion, but now is really not the time to be calling for censure.

No matter what you, me or anyone thinks of them, there is a little girl who is the victim here. That should take priority.

Agreed Monster. The only thing I'd accuse the parents of that is criminal is their neglect of their three daughters. I hope any sympathy for them doesn't preclude them for the punishment they deserve for that.

[Madeleine Mccann Missing Girl]

Centralparker - you've GOT to be at the wind up surely. I can't believe anyone would think that it is a good idea to lock kids in a bedroom while you wander off for a meal in a restaurant no matter if its next door or over a mile away. They didn't even check up on the girls, by their own admission, for upwards of 45 minutes. This is two one year old twins and a three year old girl FFS. What an horrific concept? What happens if there is a fire or what happens if any of the kids wake up and are terrified at having been left in a strange place on their own.

No proper parent would ever excuse that kind of neglect FFS.

Monster...tell me. If you had three kids and lost one of them, would you continue to put the remaining two into an unlicenced hotel care zone, in the care of untrained teenagers, on the site where you lost your first daughter, while you disappeared, not just to the local beach, but to Rome, Germany and the UK?

[Madeleine Mccann Missing Girl]

Monster, I've made numerous posts on this thread about the case - I'm in my late 30's with two kids. I cannot understand a thing that Gerry McCann has done.

If one of my kids had been snatched from me, my other child would have been glued to my side.

I would have been camped out in airports - not in press studios, and certainly not out jogging.

I would certainly have appealed for help - but not for money and I would have been damned embarrassed had we raised £750k and I certainly wouldn't have applied to be able to keep the money and do what I want with it.

I certainly wouldn't be appearing at the Edinburgh Festival.

and I certainly wouldn't have gone to see the Pope.

Ofcourse all that aside I also certainly would not have been in their position in the first place, because I would NEVER, EVER such small children alone, in a strange room, in a foriegn country, while I f**k off out for a meal and a bevvy.

Now I'm not saying McCann murdered his daughter - but since his every action completely alien to me I find it incredibly hard to have any sympathy with him, or his wife and I would certainly like to see them arrested and charged with willful negligence if that is at all possible under UK law when they return.

[Petty Things That Get On Your Nerves...]

Genius! You've single-handedly rendered the concept of after-support, telephone banking, technical assistance and repeat orders obsolete!

I'd love to see call centre's obsolete. Swampy you may not be old enough to know this but 20 years ago when you wanted to phone the bank you called your local branch and spoke to a person you'd know and who would know you. Charges were applied at the local branch, and if you were a decent customer charges would be waived by staff who looked after their customers. Even things like bank loans and credit scoring was done by the local branch manager who used his experience, knowledge and judgement to make a decision instead of being told by a pre programmed computer what has decision should be.

Call centres were supposed to be a way of saving the banks money as they could now close branches and use ATM's yet I doubt many could argue now that call centres were actually cheaper than running those branches and they've got far more pissed off customers today than they have ever had.

Call centres should have become obsolete with the advent and popularity of the internet....sadly the scourge that is call centres with their massive security black holes and their rank rotten customer service is still with us.

BTW....people used to do repeat orders all the time. They would return back time and time again to their point of purchase having built up solid customer relationships with local staff....now repeat business has to be pursued because customers are usually so pissed off with how their purchase and after sales service went that they need to be convinced to make a repeat purchase in the future.

[Petty Things That Get On Your Nerves...]

I can just see the scenario now :

ring ring, Vivaldi's four seasons, etc, stuart eventually gets an answer :

Call centre : "Hello, you are through to the St Mirren Season ticket hotline"

SD :"Ah, at last, I've been waiting here for 17.4 seconds. about bloody time. This is stuart dickso"

Call Centre "Click, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...................."

LOL I enjoyed that.

But this is the collective fault of us. Time after time we say that we want things as cheap as possible...we want lowest price, spend less, and we always look for the cheapest offer.

Therefore companies have to cut corners to keep their profits up and keep their products cheap. Yet, for all the grumbling, who makes a concerted effort to buy services/products that only use British call centres?

Me personally, I refuse to use insurance that has foreign call centres, and I will quite happily pay a little extra to my company (Endsleigh) because their call centres are British based. If everyone was to make an effort to buy British rather than buy cheap, then companies would see the merit in British call centres.

Next up, the attitude of call centre workers. This comes down to cheapness again. If companies treat their workers like shit (this applies to British and foreign), the callers treat workers like shit, then the workers themselves are gonna have a shit attitude!

The amount of times I hear about people swearing and abusing the person at the end of the line, or then sounding proud of it is an absolute disgrace! They are just there to do a job, and in the case of Indian workers, they are being paid an absolute pittance and recieving inadequate training. It is not their fault. If you have a problem, then you should politely ask for their supervisor, and have a go at someone in charge rather than the poor folks on the end of the phone.

Again, if people were willing to pay more for quality, then the staff would be better trained, better paid, and have a better attitude.

Its all very fashionable to blame companies for this, but really, were just as much to blame.

Hmm, yes and no. See it isn't cheap for a company to set up a call centre. Start off with a building, equipment, the phone system which will cost upwards of £3m, then there's the management structure and then staff....Before you know it you are now fending off complaints about the call centre as well as complaints about the product so you now need a second call centre and so it goes on.

If they just trained staff at the point of sale to deliver great customer service and supplied a quality product they would find that their costs would dramatically decrease.

I've got to agree with you though about people needing to think about where they do their shopping, and refusing to deal with companies who employ poor quality Indian call centre staff. Unfortunately not many people seem willing to spend time looking at the review sites before they make their purchase.