Advice Thread

[AdmiralMemo]

Yeah, this is on multiple chargers from multiple sources.

[Mums]

Advice needed.

Is it time to start worrying that I haven't recieved my DB prizes yet?

[korvys]

It's never time to start worrying. I might be time to start emailing.

[AdmiralMemo]

I just got my final one yesterday, and I'm in the States, so I'd be waiting a bit for Sweden still.

[plummeting_sloth]

Might want to shoot a line over to [email protected] if you haven't already

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

I missing my friend who doesn't live here a lot. I thought it'd be easier after Christmas, but nope
We're in monthly-contact via e-mail.
This guy is a brother to me.

I'm sure I am not a unique case.
Anyone have any advice on what I can do to make this time sans-friend less unhappy?
I'm fineish the rest of the week. Just the weekend, Sunday especially is when I am most vulnerable and these feelings come more to the surface.
I'm just reaching out for help.

[viscomica]

Try to keep busy. Contact him on skype. Count the days til you two see each other again. Above all, stay positive.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Only times we used Skype since he moved back to Spain was when he accidentally called me when he was rining his mum, and when I accidentally called him when I was browsing people#s profiles in boredom and clicked his Skype name because it was a word I didn't know in Spanish, and when we each apologised for accidentally ringing each other.

He seems highly busy, so I don't if there'd ever be a time to schedule.

But yeah, I am counting down the days.
But I'm also counting the days that have been and then panic that 4 months have been, and release that a week spent interacting in real life would pale in insignificance.
I am positive most of the time, just Sundays are hard for me because I've built in my mind a strong connection with being in a church and him. Ah well.

I'm good when I'm out and interacting with people. It's just when I'm at home or out and no one is interacting with me I notice how I feel and stuff like that arises.

[auberginequeen]

I have a minor predicament I'm hoping someone might be able to help with:

So my apartment has 3 parking spaces: 1 in the garage, 1 in the driveway, and 1 in a parking lot 5 min (walking) away.

I live in Ontario so it's fucking cold out right now.

I have a new roommate who also has a car. I currently park in the driveway. This was important last term because I had to go in at 6:30 AM every day for two months. I liked having that spot because I could leave quickly in the morning and not freeze my buns off.

Right now (i.e. this week + next week) I am not going anywhere because my experiment isn't set up yet. In a week, however, I will be resuming my 6:30 AM leave-time.

New roommate said previously that he doesn't start classes until about then, and so shouldn't need to go anywhere.

Now it's been two days in the past week that he's had to ask me to move to let him into/out of the garage, because I'm not going anywhere at the moment (except to my classes from 2 - 5 pm a couple days a week). I gave him the overflow pass so he could park in the faraway lot but I feel kind of bad that he has to be the one to walk the 5 min in the cold to get there. Today he had to ask me to move my car to let him in the garage as he wanted his gf to stay overnight and didn't want her to get ticketed (she got the overflow pass).

What can I do to make this situation work better? My bf suggested I park in the garage until I start my 6:30 AM stuff but it's only a couple weeks until I have to go in every day for 4+ months. Would it be better if I took the overflow pass? I want to do the right thing, but also I don't want to lose any fingers to frostbite.

[betsytheripper]

I've been living in this type of parking situation for a couple years, and I'd say for now the best bet is just park in the garage. When you start your normal schedule, see how parking the driveway works for a couple weeks, or discuss with the housemate who is usually leaving first, and who is usually arriving home first. If you leave earlier (usually) and get home later (usually), clearly you should park in the driveway, and vice versa. If you run into a situation where the person who leaves earlier also usually gets home earlier, then you may consider just having one person take the overflow pass, maybe switch weeks with it or something to be fair, or the person who gets home first just parks on the street and moves their car in after the second person gets home.

A situation like this is 99% about communication, including things like "it's okay to ask me to move my car before bedtime, but don't wake me up to do it" (if applicable), "I'm going to be home late but I'm not going in tomorrow", etc., and updating each other on any changes in schedules.

With previous housemates, we even worked around it with leaving our car keys on hooks on our doors so one person could do the swap themselves without having to wake the other up (or if they were out of town or similar). It's all about what's gonna work best for your situation, and that may change periodically, so keep the communication flowing.

Edit: I kind of might've missed the point? But to reiterate: Talk about it! Ask him what his solution would be, and how he feels about walking that far. Worst that happens is it's just 2 weeks of car shuffle, right?

[auberginequeen]

The issues are mainly:

1. I'm shy, and he's new.

2. He lives in the basement and I'm on the upper floor (likelihood of seeing each other is reduced)

3. No one in my house really talks to anyone else. I can go weeks without seeing anybody, even if they're all home. I've had roommates whose names I've never learned. It does get weird when it comes to taking out the garbage etc (no one really does it consistently, I do it when I have the chance, another guy does it sometimes, and so on) but yeah, we have no designated responsibilities or open lines of communication, which makes broaching the subject awkward with new guy.

It probably does make sense to be in the garage for now though, I'll ask him about it tomorrow if I see him at all.

[Metcarfre]

If you're imagining that there's a magical solution (besides always parking at the far lot) that doesn't involve talking, then you're SOL.

[betsytheripper]

As we all have pretty disparate schedules, my house also has a little whiteboard on the fridge to leave non-time sensitive notes for each other, so maybe once you get the conversation started you can continue it in that manner? Examples of notes have been: "I'm going to be gone next week", "Eat this food I made too much", and "where did the frying pan go?". The whiteboards are a lot easier for me, as well, because one of my housemates makes me really anxious (because I really don't like him) and not having to see him face to face makes communicating easier. It can't be the only form of communication, but it's a good supplement once the channel is there.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

So I'm thinking of building a PC... don't worry. It's not about advice on parts.

I don't know what version of Windows to get.

I choose Windows because I am familiar with it, and I won't be able to cope with learning how to use Linux on a device that would be used for my leisure.

Windows seems to be hated by people trained in IT, so it's hard for me to find good advice on it. I don't know which version of windows is the best to get.

[Kapol]

If you're planning on doing it soon, I'd go with Windows 7. It's generally considered pretty good. They've also said that, for the first year it's released, Windows 7 is going to allow for a free upgrade to Windows 10. Which is a nice little perk. Windows 10 seems to be shaping up pretty well from what I've heard and seen.

Alternatively, if you want to go with Windows 10, you could start off in the public Beta. But that comes with all the issues included with a beta. And I'm pretty sure it'll cost you a decent amount more to get the full version on release. But I'm not sure about that.

[Master Gunner]

Windows 7, if you can get a copy. If not, Windows 8 is perfectly usable, if annoying at times.

[Elomin Sha]

I'd say Windows 7 too. You can't play some old games on Windows 8.

[Prospero101]

Windows has a very clear pattern of behavior. If one operating system is bad, the next one will be rock solid. We had Windows ME, which was shit on cheesy biscuits. Then we had XP, which was and as far as I know continues to be extremely stable. Then we had Vista, but we don't talk about Vista. Then we had 7, which was near-perfect, in my experience. Now we have 8.1 which, while not utterly impossible to use like Vista, comes with its own problems. Whether 10 will continue the pattern, we'll see.

[BlueChloroplast]

Windows 8 is fine, but they changed the layout so everyone is grumpy about having to figure out how something new works. If you have a desktop basically it turns the start menu into a start page, which is good for tablets but makes people with desktops whine. You can set it so the desktop opens on start up and you never have to look at the tiles if you want.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

So it seems general that I ought to seriously consider getting the Windows 7 OS.
Where is a good retailer for buying it (so I won't get ripped off and buy exactly what I want?)

[betsytheripper]

Unfortunately I can't say if this will be a whole lot of use, but I've purchased OEM copies of Windows 7 from Newegg.com and have received great service, reasonable prices, and exactly what I want. I took a quick perusal of their UK site (by way of the little flag at the top of the page) and they seem to not have software listed, but if you can find it on there, I'd say it's definitely worth it.

For other computer components I'd recommend them as well. I've also bought from them a mobo, RAM, PSU, and peripherals. Always great experiences.

[plummeting_sloth]

Handy type folks... I've been wanting to have a cane to go with my Regency gentlemen clothes, but everyone I've found out and about has been too short for me. I endeavored to fix this problem by making my own. I found a nice oak bannister that was the right height for me, and had some interesting features. The problem is that the top of it is squared, and I'd very much like it to be rounded. However, I don't have access to a lathe... neither I, the hacker-space, or the tool library has one. Any ideas on the next best thing to try?

[Elomin Sha]

Chisel to a taper then a lot of sanding with sandpaper or a sander.

[plummeting_sloth]

heh... yeah, I was afraid that would be the advice.

[Elomin Sha]

Or you could construct a grindstone first.