u/Artistic-Fish1125

​Hi everyone, looking for some career perspective from the UK tech crowd. I have been working as a hybrid Project Manager and Software Engineer at a well-known, household-name UK food manufacturer since 2023. Before this, I was a Software Engineer at a major UK institution, but I was made redundant when they outsourced our department overseas.

​Last year, my life was turned upside down when my husband was made redundant from his long-term job. He found work three hours away, so we had to sell our house and relocate. My manager was understanding at the time and agreed to let me transition to working from home full-time so I could keep my job. I currently travel back down to the office one day a month, but I absolutely cannot do any more than that, as the train travel is a grueling three hours each way and incredibly expensive. It's also worth noting for team dynamics that I am the only female on the team.

​I’ve just received my year-end performance review, and while my official score is a solid, positive rating, reading between the lines of the feedback has left me feeling unsettled. To make matters worse, it is blindingly obvious that my boss wrote the raw feedback himself but then ran it through ChatGPT to rewrite it—the text is completely riddled with weird, AI-style bullet points and random floating dashes that he didn't even bother to clean up before submitting.

​Despite the lazy formatting, the underlying message is clear: on my technical and data-driven achievements, the review agrees my work is excellent. However, on tasks that involve general team support or hardware, he specifically points out my remote status. The AI-generated phrasing notes that while my output is fine, reaching the highest performance tiers would require me to be more "proactive," suggest improvements, and travel down more often to physically check on things.

​I’m feeling a bit stuck. I am delivering high-quality work, but it feels like my remote status—and perhaps the fact that I'm already a bit isolated as the only woman on the team—is putting a soft cap on my progression. It feels like I'm being quietly penalized for not being in the room by a manager who can't even be bothered to write his own review copy. Given the current UK job market, should I just keep my head down and accept that WFH might slow my career growth here, or is this a sign that my arrangement is causing friction and I should start looking for a truly remote-first company?

Last year someone posted an Android app here that was basically a 1:1 copy of Structured.

It had the same kind of timeline/day planner UI, but the design was black/dark grey with red, white, and blue accents instead of Structured’s pastel look.

I’m pretty sure:

it was free

the dev/founder was in the comments giving away copies/promo codes

it was a very indie project

people in the comments were literally comparing it to Structured

I cannot find it anywhere now and it’s driving me insane because I actually preferred the design.

Does anyone remember the name or know if it still exists?

Last year I saw an app posted here that was basically a clone of the Structured app for Android.

I remember the UI being mostly black/grey with red, white, and blue accents. I’m pretty sure it was free at the time and the founder/dev was in the comments giving out copies or promo codes.

I cannot remember the name for the life of me.

Does this ring a bell for anyone? I’ve been trying to find it again because I just don't vibe with Structured.

Hi everyone, I need a serious reality check and some advice on how to handle my boss.

My Background:

36F, two BA/BSc (Hons) degrees. Working since 2008, mostly in tech. Includes 7 years at a social media firm (QA testing, PM, niche programming) and a stint at the Bank of England (redundant in 2023).

Current role:

Tech at a major food brand (£30M+ turnover). Started in 2023 on £25k, now on £27k. Only female on a team of all men.

The Situation:

Last year, my husband was made redundant and took a job 3 hours away. We had to sell our house. My boss agreed to let me work mostly remote with 1 day a month in the office.

Since working from home, my workflow has never stagnated. I have consistently remained the top performer on the leaderboard for most work completed.

Despite this, I just got my yearly review. My boss is annoyed that I’m WFH, claiming I'm "not in the office enough to help with projects" (which can all be done online). He’s also annoyed I don’t "take the lead." Meanwhile, I am carrying the team. Today, I highlighted 6 unassigned projects to the team; nobody took them, so I did all 6 myself on top of my own workload, working into my lunch break for 15 mins.

The Dilemma:

The Pay: I am earning just above minimum wage for tech/PM/QA work. When I speak to recruiters and ask for over £30k, they literally laugh at me. Why is a tech veteran with Bank of England on her CV being priced at entry-level?

The Boss: How do I approach him for a pay rise when he’s sour about my WFH arrangement, despite the data proving my productivity hasn't dropped at all? We have our 1-1 this week.

Would love any insight on how to negotiate this, or how to fix my job hunt strategy. Thanks. I'm in the South of the UK.

I swear quite a lot so the original Wild never worked for me and I had to give it up and go back to my usual 72hr Sanex. I've tried Lush zero waste deodorant, but it gave me a rash. I've not had much luck with other zero waste brands.

Has anyone tried Wild's new antiperspirants? I'm tempted to give them a shot, but worried they might not be strong enough.

Found this absolute casual starter home in Buckinghamshire. It's only got 12 bedrooms, 14 reception rooms, and is set on 43 acres of land designed by Capability Brown.

The description says it's short of "acquiring one of the Crown Estate Royal Palaces" and comes fully furnished. If you've got a spare £45 million lying around, it even has planning permission to turn the coach house into a VIP health spa and outdoor pool.

Link: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/166833782#/?channel=RES\_BUY

Modern renting in the UK: Paying £1,600 to live in a CGI render. Is the building even finished? Is the sky in Harlow actually that blue? We’ll never know. This listing is a fever dream. Every single image is a render. The description reads like it was prompted by a bot told to "mention art and culture 50 times." My favorite part is the disclaimer at the bottom: "Images are for illustrative purposes only." No kidding. Are we renting a flat or a concept for a 2028 Metaverse project? Maybe it's a Sims 4 expansion pack.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/87956967#/?channel=RES\_LET

See this listing for even worse AI people: https://www.onthemarket.com/details/18136450/

My friend completed on this flat in London at the end of March and now unexpectedly has to sell due to serious family circumstances:

https://www.inigo.com/sales-list/oakley-road

She’s selling for around £15k less than she paid, mainly because she needs a relatively quick sale and knows buyers may be cautious seeing somewhere relisted so soon after purchase.

One complication is the title situation. The property was marketed as “share of freehold”, which is technically correct, but during conveyancing it became clear there’s a flying freehold element involved. She didn’t fully appreciate how much that could affect lending and resale until much later in the process.

I wanted to ask whether people here think:

flying freeholds genuinely put off a significant number of buyers these days (she had to get a specialist mortgage!),

selling again after only a couple of months is likely to make buyers assume there’s something wrong with the property,

and whether a \~£15k loss after such a short ownership period is unfortunately fairly realistic once fees/stamp duty/etc. are factored in.

The flat itself is in great condition and there are no hidden structural issues or neighbour disputes — this is genuinely just terrible timing.

Would also appreciate advice on whether there’s anything she should proactively provide to reassure buyers (indemnity insurance, solicitor explanation, lender info, etc.).

I was half expecting to see Matilda sitting on the doorstep with a stack of library books. It’s absolutely stunning, but this really reminds you that we don’t live in a fairytale economy.

The interior is actually lovely—very 'cozy English cottage' without the usual damp carpets we see on here.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/174837305#/?channel=RES\_BUY

Hi everyone. I bought a 1500s cottage and moved in about a month ago and I have not had any hot water since the day I arrived. The water is consistently ice cold. The property has no gas connection, so it relies entirely on an electric immersion heater.

The cylinder is in a cupboard and has two wall switches for Boost and Economy 7. Both switches are turned on and the circuit breakers are fine. I have already checked the high-limit reset button on the thermostats and it didn't fix the problem.

One specific detail is that the taps on the bathtub has a constant drip every few minutes which has left a permanent rust stain that won't come up. My Level 3 survey from March rated the water heating as Condition 1 at the time of inspection when the house was vacant.

I am trying to figure out if this is a total electrical failure of the immersion elements or if a significant airlock or leak related to that bathroom staining could be the cause. I would appreciate any advice on whether I should be calling an electrician or a plumber first. Thank you.