u/SillySausageSpaceman

Brief history - I was employed by two well-known US based big-tech companies for last 20 years - only to find myself redundant late last year. (location-based justification not performance FWIW)

Spent the last five months trying to navigate the open job market - which for the first time after 20 years is eye-opening to say the least. I only really started looking since February due to some family issues (caring for parent).

Struggling to find any roles in my domain, which is Enterprise IT. I was at Director level at previous company.

There are a few questions I would love to get peoples opinion on.

In terms of job-boards the only one that seems of any value is LinkedIn. Though that is scant. All the others are wastelands of months old listings or obvious pipeline ads. (the likes of Reed, Total Jobs, CW Jobs, Indeed etc)

Are there any job boards or places people would recommend?

My network unfortunately is all US based - so unable to assist much - but I have reached out where I can.

You ask AI or read some other forums and it will try and convince you that the majority of jobs are on the 'hidden market', only available to boutique agencies/head-hunters. Well, I have registered with all of them and nothing but crickets. Also, that is not the experience when I was a hiring manager - we always advertised on LinkedIn etc.

It could just be that IT leadership roles in the UK are hard to come by. At least at Direct level. Plenty of 'Head of' roles but with packages significantly lower than my previous (for disclosure previous package was £140k base - 25% bonus - circa £75k per year RSUs - so around £250k total. I know I am unlikely to get that from a UK company).

So the other question, if anyone else has had to navigate a similar role search in IT leadership. How long did it take? How many roles on average did you apply for?

Appreciate any insight/experience people may have.

My voice transcribes appear to be disappearing into the void. No error. Nothing. Just ChatGPT staring back at me with gormless expression.

Working for anyone else?

It does make me realise though now - how much I dislike typing. Feels beneath me. Something that peasants would do.

Sniff*

Fairly new to scrivener. Using it on Windows - with system and app dictionaries all set to GB Eng (as far as I can tell)

But seeing some oddities to what Scrivener believes to be spelling mistakes.

I may be embarrassingly wrong here - but it's claiming some words are misspelled that I am convinced are correct.

Some examples:

Thrusters

Pre-planned

Any ideas?

When I do a search on a map - for example 'restaurants' - the search results appear - but the red dots briefly appear then disappear.

Leaving only the search results text - which blend into background - so you cant really see anything.

Anyone know why these red dots are diappearing?

(Cleared cache - happened on Chrome and Edge - rebooted etc etc)

First time looking for a job in 20 years. Boy was I in for a rude awakening.

So, I have made the following observations - tell me if I am wrong or misguided?

In my sector at least (IT management) and in the UK - it seems for better or worse LinkedIn is the only job board with proper jobs.

The likes of Indeed/CWjobs/TotalJobs etc - are just non-existent. Same handful of roles - advertised for months on end. I am not sure how they are existing?

If I want to find jobs - its LinkedIn really. Nothing else. (Barring direct on company sites)

Easy Apply - what God-awful scam is this?

If I see a job - always from a recruiter and not a company direct - and has EasyApply - and quite often advertising a high (read: click-bait) salary - I am ignoring that garbage.

They are - at least to me - obvious CV-fishing lines.

God I hate recruitment firms that do this. There is a genuine argument they are playing with vulnerable peoples (unemployed) hopes.

Finally - I so wish we were like California - where I believe salaries have to be advertised.

Sorry - 2nd 'finally'. Workday. What a piece of....

Why am I entering the job details again? You have my CV?

Signed,
Old Man Yelling At Clouds.

There have been a few (great) posts recently on the scourge of fly-tipping/camping and littering in general in our shared natural areas.

This post is not about the morals (although if you sat me down with a drink I could harp on about the evils of individualism that we hammered into us since the 80s and Thatcher and the loss of community spirit....)

But I did a little searching for some resources - that if you so wished - might help.

As a small group there is limited action we can take on our own - but the most powerful is actually engaging your MP.

I know many of us might be disillusioned and detached with politics - but I have found with personal experiences most of our MPs are outstanding at working on local issues raised to them by their constituents.

And this includes if your MP is from a party you did not vote for. I won't state my own political leanings - but I can say I have had MP's of a party I very much disagree with - go above and beyond to help us out with various issues. Don't let party affiliations stop you engaging them

All you need to do is email their office - it is as simple as that. You will normally get a response quickly from someone in their team.

And all you need to say is you would like them to raise the issue in parliament and/or it is important to you.

Find your MP and their email here: https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP

Then I found this org - dont know much about them - but might be worth engaging: https://cleanupbritain.org/

Of course there is Keep Britain Tidy - the OG: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved

For Scotland: https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resources/some-best-litter-prevention-campaigns-around-world

But honestly - do not underestimate how writing to an MP can help. If they know its a concern - they will raise it.

Finally - whilst we are talking campaigns and support - new folks might not have seen Right To Roam - they are leading the way to get us all access to land legally:

https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/takeaction

Hope this helps.

EDIT: Letter Template if needed:

Dear [MP Name],

I am writing as a constituent to raise concerns about the increasing problem of littering and irresponsible behaviour in the UK national parks and countryside.

Many people visit these areas to enjoy nature, yet it is becoming increasingly common to see discarded food packaging, drinks cans, bottles, disposable barbecues and other rubbish left behind. Aside from the visual impact, this litter can harm wildlife, damage fragile environments, increase fire risk and place additional burdens on local authorities, landowners and volunteer groups who are left to clean up after others.

While enforcement has a role to play, I believe the issue is also one of public behaviour and social responsibility. The vast majority of visitors respect these places, but a minority continue to treat them as though someone else will clear up after them.

I would therefore like to ask whether the Government could consider:

• Greater support for anti-littering campaigns focused on countryside and national park visitors.
• Increased funding for education programmes that promote responsible outdoor recreation.
• Stronger enforcement of existing littering laws in protected landscapes.
• Collaboration with national parks, local authorities and outdoor organisations to encourage a stronger "leave no trace" culture.

The UK's national parks are among our greatest natural assets. They should be protected for future generations, and addressing littering is a relatively simple but important step towards achieving that goal.

I would be grateful to know whether you share these concerns and whether you would be willing to raise this issue with the relevant minister or department.

Yours sincerely,

Does anyone know if this exists?

We had a channel at side of house - which was working fine.

Then we had some aircon installed and the compressor unit was placed in same location.

Channel width was reduced by about 10 cm.

But there is still about 10cm each side for the Luba 2 to go through. It is easy to do it manually.

But it won't go near it now. It just says it is pausing.

Current channel width is about 76 cm.

Although this would seem pretty closed-and-shut-case - I am not totally convinced its the reduced width. Because the channel is also in a very poor signal location.

I have tried recreating channel and areas etc - but just refuses to go down.

It really does not seem that tight a fit - there is a decent room each side. If they have coded it to refuse a channel this wide - it would seem quite draconian.

EDIT - I should add - I get no notifications it has paused in the app - which I find odd. Are there logs we can look at for errors? I cant see to find any

Researching to get a 2-man 3 season tent for the warmer/summer camps. Will use my Vern 1 for the winter/bad weather.

Criteria is for a 2 man, lightweight, all-in-one pitch. Not a fan of trekking pole tents.

I think I will end up with the Terra Nove Pioneer Lite 2 (also like the idea of supporting a UK company)

But...the Kuiu Mountain Star 2 caught my eye - and it's on a discount right now.

The only concern is the waterproofing - is a bit on the low side. I think its tailored more for US mountains.

Any of you fine folk got one and can tell me what you think?

(or if any other tents I should consider?)

To start right from the get-go, I am not here to convince anyone of my viewpoint and in fact I am extremely open to the fact I am ignorant/wrong/misguided and so on. In-fact I guess that is the real essence of this post.

Essentially, I am what I think would be called an 'AI Pessimist'.

I do not mean I think it's going to kill us all or society is doomed (although....)

What I mean is my own experience of AI just does not correlate with the ever-increasing hype around AI.

For context, I have worked in technology for 25 years (I am Gen-X) but not a coder or developer at all. I do not have the remotest idea how to develop stuff.

So right there it feels like I am disconnected it feels by a large chunk of the wonders of what AI can do.

I would consider myself a regular 'Joe Blogs' who uses AI like most non-developers do.

Chatting with our favoured LLM (I have switched between ChatGPT and Claude).

Those chats are.....inconsistent to say the least. Sometimes its feels awe-inspiring - but mostly its frustrating/eyebrow raising and constantly trying to correct it when you know its wrong.

At best it feels like a suped up next-gen of Search for me. I can ask its stuff and get a reasonable answer most of the time. Although more often than not I lean back to doing my own research on plain old Google and sources - as I do not trust it.

Beyond that.....

I can read this Sub and others - and people speak of the wonders of AI. But I think I can represent a large chunk of the population when we say - we do not see it.

Even at work where our company and leadership have gone AI crazy - it has done very, VERY little to change how we work or improve productivity. It has sucked up budget etc.

I guess to sum up - as a non-developer everybody/regular person - there is just this massive disconnect from what people say about AI and what we actually experience.

Is this just ignorance? Being a non-developer? Or is the hype just that - massive hype?

I lived through the dot com bubble and it feels like this. Sure AI - like the internet - is here to stay. But everyone has just gone crazy on its true capabilities.

I do have one academic friend whose field is tangential to this and his main argument is we have a shiny new toy - that 'looks' like it can do some neat tricks. But that is all it is. Tricks. Smokes and Mirrors. Without true reasoning or logic processing, we are far beyond the expectations and promises we are being given.

This is a feeling I have heard many non-technical/developers share. This giant disconnect in what are told about AI and our own experience.

Are we the fools?

Planning my 2nd ever wild camping trip

First - which I reported on in this sub - was Dartmoor and was great. Loved it.

Next one due this weekend I am planning somewhere different. Exmoor.

I am not after any specific location advice - Rule No1 of the sub after all.

But I am planning on visiting the 'Valley of the Rocks' area - and finding somewhere near there. Along the coastal path.

I guess I am still a little nervous with wild camping - and this being the first away from the 'sanctioned' safety of Dartmoor - I was wondering if anyone has any advice.

Again not needing specific locations. I have been researching and identified a couple of places via maps etc. That I think should be ok.

Just I guess more advice - or someone to sanity check me and say if this is a bad idea?

If this sounds like a newbie question - it is. Please go easy. Still nervous when first starting out. I know by watching enough YT vids I should not be - but can't help it

My OS Maps yearly sub is coming up for renewal and might shop around.

OS maps have been ok. The downloads were a bit buggy - and for some reason I cannot get the maps and route to show on my Apple Watch (maybe they can't?)

Someone recommended Outdoor Active.

So question to the hivemind - what is your map app of choice?

Hello everyone,

Newbie help. I have a Vern 1 - which is great - and will be my winter/bad weather tent. But its very heavy - and I think I want to get something bigger/lighter for good weather.

As this is 2026 and everyone is obsessed with AI - I tried asking the bots - but you might not be surprised when I say their answers were pure garbage and obviously wrong.

I may be after something that doesn't exist - but hoping the hive-mind here can tell me if I am off-base.

Ideally I am after a:

• 2 man
• Dome
• All-in-one-pitch
• Not trekking pole based
• Light-ish
• Can stand a bit of bad weather if needed.

I say some of the above - because I am a little wary of inner pitch first (UK weather and whatnot) and I heard tunnels can be a pain to pitch. Maybe I need to be corrected if I am thinking wrongly there?

I would use this sprintgto autumn and the Vern 1 Winter and bad weather edges of spring/autumn.

Does this ideal (for me) tent exist?