The advice thread for random problems

[Snippysnips]

Checking your credit rating only requires a soft search on your credit file and will not be detrimental to your score. It's the hard searches which happen when you make a credit application that impact it if you make too many or get declined.

I usually get emails from clear score asking if I want to check, I assume those are fine then, am more just curious tbh about how it's doing as it was obvs bad at the beginning since I've never been able to build any credit before

 

[JoeBloggs]

Your council isn't everyone else's though. We used to get our garden waste taken for free ( I say free but council tax) until two years ago and now we have to pay extra. My friend who lives a 2 minute's walk away in the next county gets her's taken for free. we get our three bins for free

Why is it people pay more and more for fewer and fewer services?

But what I am saying is you don’t HAVE to pay for the garden bin, if you don’t want to pay don’t have it. It isn’t forced upon you as a bill, it’s optional, you can opt out.

Too add, I wasn’t actually talking about my council specifically. I deal with a large number of different councils in my job, generally bins are only now free if for recycling. Waste replacements are charged even for new builds.

 

[Some People!]

V random, but is anyone aware of a supplier of ~world foods~ who sell online with delivery all over the country for a not-insane charge?

I live in an area which is... Not 'diverse', but I use a lot of ingredients in cooking and stuff for around the home which I usually buy very cheaply from a "Asian & Afro" grocery shop in the nearest big town to me.
I'd love to be able to avoid the long drive, parking charges, and time out of my life if there's an online shop I've not yet found.

 

[Noseyparker86]

Does anyone have any dog /puppy advice?

We just rehomed a 9 month old pug, she's settled in great so far, she is eating and toileting fine, great with my children, great out on the lead, but she seems to have some separation anxiety.
I know pugs are clingy anyway, but she's barking and crying just at us leaving the room, so we're worried about leaving her in the house alone.
Also the previous owners had her in bed with them which is a habit I would like to break, along with getting her to be confident when we leave the house. Any tips? Is this even possible?

For at least the first 2 weeks have someone stay with her all the time, once she’s completely settled and realises she is here to stay start by leaving for 5 mins, then 10 and so on. Don’t make a fuss when you leave or come back, if there’s multiple people in your house start out taking it in turns first until you all leave. Also look at a baby gate and keeping her in 1 room with toys and water and blankets that smell of you. We practiced this with our rescue pup and she is so so well behaved and fine to be left she just sleeps when we aren’t here.

 

[WeepingCassandra]

Oh that’s a tough one! What sort of role are you in at the moment? Are your skills transferable? If so then don’t worry and just enjoy your pregnancy and take the job you want for the time being!

It’s a really specialist role that very few hospitals have (though they are starting to emerge in more places). Lots of transferable skills to private industry or non-healthcare industries but it’s getting across that whilst I’ve done healthcare for nearly 10 years now, what I do can be applied in other settings. This job isn’t in the NHS but is very similar in work set up (sorry, I can’t say much more as it’d definitely identify me )

 

[BettyCrockerr]

Ladies… a really random/embarrassing one

does anyone else struggle with terrible feet? Any cures?? I have thick thick skinboth big toes and on the outer side of each foot under the baby toe. The skin under my feet constantly feels tight and hot, all I can bare to wear are runners. My feet are in agony/cut to bits if I wear any other type of shoe even Birkenstocks. I can’t wear Vans/Converse etc. I have been fitted and definitely wear my correct size and don’t have particularly narrow or wide feet.

I wash and moisturize my feet daily, use a thicker cream at night before bed, I’ve tried the pumice stones/buffers/salicylic acid cleanser. Tried all the socks/treatments from chemist and Amazon…

sorry for the disgusting post but they’re actually getting me down, dreading this summer and having my feet be hot and swollen all the time…

So you’ve got hard skin on your feet in a few areas?
All you can do is use a pumice stone and keep everything moisturised. Some people just have hard skin. You could see a podiatrist/chiropodist if you want but it just sounds like hard skin.

 

[Sheabutter]

I popped way too much popcorn. I have no idea what to put on it. It’s so plain and reminds me of packing peanuts.

 

[rainbowlemon]

We have a wild garden and the backdoor is left open throughout the day. since we started growing tomatoes they became a noticeable pest. My aunt bought fly trap papers. Just have to unroll and they gave a sweet smell which atttracts then. Felt bad about using it personally .

 

[it’s not been changed?!]

Not really a problem, I’m looking for advice. I was gifted this candle below and it’s melted in the middle down to the bottom, but there is still a lot of unused wax round the edges. How do I go about getting the wax out and making my own candle from it? The jar is metal.

 

[xbxbx]

No the job was literally worded as

If you have MH/disabilities we do not descrimate an you will be *guaranteed* a interview, if you would like to be offered this option then please click yes

Like I say, it was them that said this, if a company cannot be bothered to honour their word then IMO they shouldn't be offering it in the first place, regardless of how many apply or if there was better out there they still broke that

The Guaranteed Interview Scheme was replaced by the Disability Confident Scheme, if they mentioned they were part of this then I believe there are certain legal obligations. However if they haven’t declared they are part of this then I don’t think much can be done.

 

[Snippysnips]

I’ve just renewed my pet insurance. My boy is getting on a bit now (he’s 9 ) so my main priority was making sure the limit on the vet fees covered was the highest possible as the older they get, the more likely it is that they’ll need complex and costly treatment if something crops up. I went for £10,000 of cover with £125 excess and that includes lifetime cover for long term illness. You might also consider things like PTS and cremation, which I think you can only claim for if your pet is below a certain age, but something to keep in mind. Horrible to think about, but practical.

Thanks he's 16 weeks so just a baby, it's for my rabbit but I know from previous that even them can cost a lot an fast so this time I want to get insurance, looking at going with pet plan

 

[BaffledWarthog]

Selling my car and can't find the service history for the life of me It's a '14 plate, I had it serviced regularly, I can find one invoice showing the service but the book is nowhere to be found. Have a sneaky suspicion my 4 year old nephew binned it when he was rifling through the glove box recently.

Am I totally screwed without this? I had it serviced at an independant garage (who have been hopeless, tried to call them, say they have no records.)

My new car is coming Tuesday and I'm worried I won't be able to sell this one and I'll be stuck!

I have a close relative who works with cars day to day. It's not essential but a car with a full service history is considered to be more valuable than one without. It's no biggie though!

 

[Justhereforthebantslll]

Me again
So this morning I locked my porch door. It was all fine until then. However when I went to unlock it. It just wouldn’t turn properly. Just wouldn’t fully go any further to unlock. I tried as much as I could. Nothing worked. I’ve now realised a small portion of key has snapped off. I assume it’s in the lock. The door is a very old wooden door. Not the most secure. I do have another entry point to the house but I’d rather not use it If it can be avoided.

Any idea on how I can get the door open again, without the need for paying a lock smith as the door itself is so old.

 

[monga]

Tablet help

I charge my grandchildren's tablets (amazon) when they go home and turn them fully off, but for some reason, they switch on and the batteries run down by the next visit.

I have all notifications etc off Any ideas on how to stop this? I know I could just leave charging to the day before they are coming but then I'm liable to forget

Make sure and shut them down after you put the charger in .

 

[Icbaaaa]

Had one. It was ok for a few weeks then became really uncomfortable and developed a huge hump in the middle. Sent it back. The 200 night trial is completely legit, no strings attached - a courier comes to collect it from your home and once they get it back they process a full refund. If you want to return it for any reason within the trial period you can - you just go online to their customer portal and create a return and it gives you options to tick why you are sending it back.

I've seen a few reviews saying after a while it becomes so uncomfy and starts to bunch on parts of the mattress. Thanks so much for the advice! I'll look into it a bit more but very handy to know the 200 night trial is legit incase I don't like it!

 

[rainbowlemon]

Would you guys encourage swimming lessons for an adult who never learnt how to swim?

It’s the waking up early (anything before 12am) my 19 year old sister has the biggest trouble with and the reason she doesn’t want to go. Don’t know if i should keep bugging her about sessions whilst she still has a break from uni or let it drop.

We just have the traditional fan tail goldfishes.

Never had babies so they must all be boys.

 

[JoeBloggs]

Town next to us that family live in get charged £50 to empty their green an brown bins

It's being tested with them to see if it works in the hopes people are more sensible with recycling, it's ridiculous the amount of bins we have, I've 6 out back an even if one wrong thing is in the bin they refuse to lift it

We also have to pay for 6 month of the year for the brown bin to be emptied because its a "seasonal" thing an they won't empty it at all over winter

Right, I'm not that's a real thing but ok. If you have so many bins, they shouldn't all be full. We have two (not including the garden) and get fortnightly collections and they are never full. Are you putting stuff in the right bin to spread it out?

You don't have to pay for your brown bin, its an extra. It all depends who collects the garden waste, ours gets done by Biffa so we get a collection 50 weeks a year but my old council only did them April to October.

 

[CrackRatcher]

Random question but it’s stressing me out I’m currently in sick leave due to pregnancy and when my sick note runs out I have 4 weeks approved holidays and then strait onto maternity, Iv asked my work if this is ok and they keep dodging my question so is it ok? Is it allowed? I don’t want them last minute cancelling my holidays as I can’t go back to work and would have to try get in the doctors to extend my fit note.. I was also hoping for a wage boost from sick oau to holiday pay before maternity but I’m fine either way my work just isn’t very helpful with advice at all.

Another thing I’m paid monthly but was of sick for 2 weeks during my qualifying period for smp will I no longer get smp or do they add monthly wages together and divide to get the average amount?
Hoping someone can help thanks

 

[lurkingaround123]

Does anyone know if I can still use this stamp? I dropped it when getting out of the car, couldn’t find it and then found it about an hour later. It’s a bit soggy at the moment so I was going to let it dry out and then potentially stick it down with tape but I’m not sure what’s allowed thank you

 

[BettyCrockerr]

Does anyone have any home remedy’s for indigestion? I’ve got some indigestion tablets but they aren’t touching it

Depends what you are feeling?

Bloating?
Pain?
Wind?
Heartburn?