u/Puzzleheaded_Key7688

Just curious as to what everyone uses.

When I first joined my company, we were using Extreme Estimating. Unfortunately, the system is no longer supported, so a lot of the pricing/products are now about a year out of date.

Manually keeping everything updated isn't really feasible, especially with the way prices seem to be fluctuating at the moment.

I made a post in here the other day about Trimble LiveCount and how we're not exactly getting along with it. Since then, I've also been setting up Trimble ContractMaster / Total Estimating for our estimating team.

My team absolutely HATE it. Like, burning passion levels of hate.

I'm assuming part of that is because it's a much more in-depth system than what they're used to, and they're pretty set in their "old and simpler" ways. But I can also understand some of their complaints.

One of the biggest criticisms is that we don't think we'll actually use half of the features Trimble offers. There are also a lot of things that seem to take several steps when, from an estimator's perspective, they could be much simpler.

And because it's cloud-based, it can feel pretty sluggish at times, which obviously doesn't help when you're trying to get through a tender.

I'm mainly interested in the estimating/costing side rather than just takeoff software, as we're trying to figure out whether Trimble is something we should persevere with or whether there are better options out there.

TLDR:

What estimating software does everyone else use?

And more importantly, do you actually like using it?

I'd be interested to hear what people use, particularly if you've moved from one system to another and found it noticeably better/easier to navigate.

Thanks all ^^

Does anyone actually get along with Trimble Live Count?
I’ve recently been put in charge of sorting out our new estimating system at work. We’re using Trimble ContractMaster / Total Estimating, and we also have access to Live Count.

I’ve basically had to set the whole system up myself without any formal training because the company wouldn’t pay for it. To be fair, I’ve got most of it working alright, like setting up the cost heads, speed menu, product library, etc. has gone reasonably smoothly.

Live Count, however… is doing my head in.

The Auto Count function doesn’t seem to work particularly well for me. The AI Auto Count seems to pick up the text from the legends rather than actually recognising the symbols on the drawings. If I manually select an item to count, it also seems to miss quite a few of them.

I’m wondering if I’m just using it completely wrong, or if this is something other people have struggled with too?
A few members of my team are keen to start using Live Count, but I don’t really want to let them loose on it until I properly understand how it works myself so I can actually train them on it and make sure we’re all using it consistently.

So, does anyone here actually get along with Trimble Live Count?

If you use it regularly, I’d love to hear how you use it, particularly:
How reliable do you find Auto Count?
Is there a specific way you need to set up drawings for it to recognise symbols?
Do you mainly use the AI Auto Count, or manually count?
Any tips/tricks that aren’t immediately obvious?
Is it actually worth persevering with, or are there better ways of doing the take-offs?
At this point I’m wondering whether I’m missing something obvious or whether Live Count is just being Live Count. 😂

Hi everyone!

It's my birthday this weekend, and my partner is taking me to Bristol on Friday and Saturday. We've already got plans to visit We The Curious and the Bristol Zoo Project, which I'm really looking forward to.

I was just wondering if there are any other places, hidden gems, restaurants, cafés, or activities you'd recommend while we're there? We're pretty open to anything!

Thanks in advance 😊

I recently moved into a new property. Before moving in, I viewed the property twice and specifically verbally confirmed with my landlady that my boyfriend would be coming over sometimes.

I also made quite a big point of the fact that I normally do my weekly shopping on a Tuesday, and my boyfriend often helps me with it. I then usually cook for him afterwards, so I explained that this was something that would likely happen regularly. She said “that's fine” to every question I asked.

I have since read through my tenancy agreement, and the only clause I can find relating to guests states that guests must not smoke or vape inside the property. It also says that if a guest stays for more than a week, I need to obtain written permission.

I moved in on the 14th, and my boyfriend has been over approximately 4–6 times. Some of those visits have involved helping me move and unpack. He has stayed overnight twice. The most recent overnight stay was because he brought pizza over after work one evening. It was quite late; I ate the pizza and then fell asleep. He couldn't let himself out because he couldn't lock the door behind him, so he ended up staying the night and left in the morning when I went to work.

Last night, my landlady approached me and told me that she thinks my boyfriend is coming over too often. When I explained that I had previously said he would come over sometimes, she said that it's a no-guest property, and she had understood “sometimes” to mean approximately once a month. She also said that I need to give her notice for her to approve him staying overnight. I asked her about my parents because my birthday is coming up and they want to come up to see me, have a cup of tea and have a look around the place. She said the same applies to them. I would need to give her notice and get approval for them to visit, even if they were only coming over for a short time...

I can't find anything in my tenancy agreement that says I need permission for individual overnight stays or for ordinary guests visiting.

As far as I understand, my tenancy agreement does not restrict how often I can have guests over, other than the clause about a guest staying for more than a week. Obviously, I understand that I shouldn't be effectively moving someone in or allowing someone else to occupy the property as their own home. However, my boyfriend visiting a few times a month and occasionally staying overnight seems very different to me.

Am I misunderstanding something here? Can a landlord impose restrictions on guests that aren't actually written into the tenancy agreement, or does the wording of the agreement matter?

I am a 21-year-old woman, and I honestly don't understand the “no guests” rule that seems to exist in so many rental properties. My previous property also had restrictions on guests, and I've noticed similar rules in a lot of places I've viewed. I have recently moved around two hours away from home, and it feels quite isolating being told that I can't have people around. I pay £700 a month for a room, and if I want to see my boyfriend, it seems like I'm expected to go out rather than have him visit me.

I understand that landlords may have concerns about someone effectively moving in, excessive noise, damage, or nuisance. But I don't understand why having a partner or family members visit occasionally is treated as such a problem.

TLDR: I moved into a room on the 14th after verbally confirming with my landlady that my boyfriend would visit regularly, including helping me with weekly shopping. She said this was fine. My landlady now says she considers “sometimes” to mean roughly once a month and that I need to give her notice and get approval for him to stay overnight. She has also said I need permission for my parents to visit, even just for a cup of tea and to see the property.

My tenancy agreement only appears to say that guests cannot smoke or vape inside and that written permission is needed if a guest stays for more than a week. There is no obvious restriction on ordinary visits or occasional overnight stays.

Is this normal or enforceable in England if it isn’t written in the tenancy agreement?

I swear it's become one of the most frustrating pieces of software I use every day.

I'll search for an email from a specific person, sometimes I'll even paste their exact email address into the search bar, and Outlook somehow decides that what I actually wanted was a completely different conversation from either three months ago or yesterday.

Then you click on it, and because everything's grouped into conversations now, you're forced to scroll through a massive chain of emails that have nothing to do with what you're looking for. Somewhere in the middle is the email you wanted, compressed into the thread, and half the time it isn't even showing in my inbox anymore. It feels like Outlook has hidden it away.

How is searching someone's exact email address less reliable than it used to be?

The old Outlook wasn't perfect, but at least when I searched for an email, it would actually show me the email I searched for.

Am I missing some hidden setting, or is the new Outlook search genuinely this awful?

I’m trying to reset a 9th generation iPad that was given to me for work, but it has a passcode that no one knows.

I’ve powered it down and put it into recovery mode and tried restoring it using the Apple Devices app on my Windows laptop.

The restore starts, but it keeps getting stuck halfway through and displaying an error message and code “The iPad "iPad" could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (1109). 06B4.Q000“. I’ve retried it a few times and it keeps doing the same thing.

Has anyone had this happen before? Is there a fix for this, or is there something else I should try?

My WiFi went down about 3–4 weeks ago, so I booked an engineer. Turned out it was an area-wide issue, and the connection came back a day later.

About a week after that, it went down again. I went through the Sky app to book another engineer. As anyone who's used it knows, it makes you go through the same painfully long troubleshooting process every time, even when you already know the internet is dead and just need someone to fix it.

The app told me not to worry, that it looked like another area issue, and I didn't need to be home. Fine.

Then I get a call from the engineer asking to get into my flat.

I explained that nobody was home because the app specifically said nobody needed to be there. He then told me I'd need to rebook the appointment.

So I rebooked for the following Friday between 1 pm and 6 pm and took time off work.

Friday arrives. I get home at 1 pm and stay there until 7 pm. No engineer. No phone call. No email. No text. Nothing.

The best part? The app updated to say the engineer had attended and fixed the issue.

Apparently, he managed to repair my internet without contacting me, entering the property, or even being seen.

I tell my landlord what's happened and call Sky. They tell me Openreach handles the engineer bookings, so I contact Openreach to complain and ask them to rebook.

Openreach tells me they can't do that because Sky has to make the booking.

So back to Sky I go.

To be fair, they were apologetic and rebooked me for Friday. I knew I'd be in a meeting that day, so I changed the contact details to my flatmate (who actually needs the WiFi for exams) and asked them to leave a note for the engineer to call 15 minutes before arrival so she could get home from work. I kept that chat log to prove I have taken this step, which I'm glad I did!

Then on Wednesday, I get a phone call.

"Hi, you've booked an engineer for your WiFi, and I'm outside."

I ask, "Why are you outside?"

"We're booked in for today."

I explain that Sky booked it for Friday and that he's welcome to try getting in, but nobody is home because the appointment is supposed to be on Friday, not Wednesday.

Later, I got a call asking why the engineer couldn't gain access. I explain, again, that they showed up two days early. I also asked about changing the point of contact, as they were still contacting me! They tell me I have to do that through Sky.

So today I called Sky again.

After spending ages trying to get through security with someone whose phone signal was awful, she tells me she can't change the point of contact because it isn't an available option.

I ask how the previous Sky representative managed to do exactly that.

Her response?

"I don't know."

At that point, I just hung up.

I expect to come home to still no wifi!

Am I unlucky, or is this genuinely the standard Sky/Openreach experience these days?

Hi all,

Bit of a strange situation, and I'm not sure if I'm overreacting.

I rent a room in a flat. Technically, my flatmate and I are lodgers because the landlord says he lives at the property, but in reality, he lives in France and only occasionally visits, usually staying with friends.

Recently, while both my flatmate and I were at work, she had someone stay over in the flat. I wasn't told beforehand and came home to find out afterwards. Nothing was stolen, but it has left me feeling uncomfortable knowing that people can potentially be in the property when neither of us are there.

As a result, I've lost a fair bit of trust and would like some way of securing my bedroom when I'm out. I don't want to cause damage or get into trouble with the landlord, but I'd like a lock that prevents access to my room while I'm away.

My questions are:

• Is it reasonable to want to secure my room in this situation?
• As a lodger, would there be any issue with fitting a temporary lock to my bedroom door?
• Are there any non-destructive or easily reversible lock options that people would recommend?

I'm not looking to barricade the room or anything extreme, just something that gives me a bit of peace of mind while I'm at work. I'm also going to set up a camera in the corner of my room, just as I have some valuable items.

Thanks. Any advice appreciated.