leicsmac

Going to pick up a new pair of glasses, then being told they're not ready yet because one of the lenses was incorrectly ordered and apparently no one saw fit to notify me in advance.

....or we just abandon them to their fate (or just take a handful of fortunates) while making platitudes about how awful it all is. Apparently that's an option too.

Didn't see a specific thread for this one, so I thought it might not be a bad idea to have a place where people can share their experiences and advice. Been looking for a little while now, and quite frankly even with a Masters degree the only science-related opportunities in the Leicestershire area appear to be teaching work, which frankly I've had enough of (outside of very specific scientist posts looking for very specific qualifications and experience). Having never really had a professional job in the UK before (all my white-collar stuff has been abroad) makes this a rather new game for me too. Double figure applications sent out (and don't they take a while to do?), one interview so far. I remember @Izzy saying that who you know is critical as well as what you know, but I abhor networking - always seemed too much like superficial banality and sometimes arse-kissing to me, but then I also understand it's importance and I really do need to get better at it. Looking forward to hearing from other people about their own experiences and advice.

For Planet Earth III, but that's about it.

That sounds about right. To add to this, I think England will end up in a situation where anything but a crushing loss will assure qualification for the Champions Trophy.

Absolutely agreed, They should be targetted first and foremost as a priority.

Sri Lanka taking a leaf out of the England playbook here - swing at everything. Net result about the same: great run rate but five wickets down after 15 overs.

Update: confirmed as Nov 15th, 1300 hrs UTC.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67356103 Another interesting insight into Korean culture and the Korean community over here. Didn't know Yoon was due for a state visit either.

안 돼! Yeah, they're at forefront of robotics over there so there are risks, especially given the culture of fast work for fast results that is a big thing over there too.

Bugger, I should have edited that better. The maximum possible strike rate is 600, not 300. What I meant to say is that not many cricketers have finished a ODI innings with a S/R of 300 or more, and Willey just did.

David Willey joins those rare group of cricketers with an innings with the maximum possible strike rate of 300 or more.

10-ball over by a Dutch bowler there. Letting England off the hook.

Yeah. Then I have to wonder...is not enough being done about this because the powers that be don't understand the consequences, or they do and instead look to embrace them and come out "top dog" in the horrors that follow?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67332791 It is now "virtually certain" that 2023 - a year of deadly heatwaves, floods and fires - will be the warmest on record, new data suggests. The prediction follows "exceptional" high October temperatures. Global average air temperatures were 0.4C warmer than the previous high of October 2019, according to the EU's climate change service. Driven by carbon emissions and an El Niño weather event, this was the fifth month in a row of record warmth. Extreme global temperatures will likely continue into 2024, researchers say. Oh dear.

In light of recent events, an unpopular opinion is that this probably should apply to more than just environmental concerns too, given that the bigger nation states that hold the power in the UN are taking a side and doing precious little, if anything, to actually help. Of course, the attendant problem of "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" would still apply, but then I'm not sure how much worse that would be that the current situation anyway.

Well, this is either going to be a very Australian success or a very English heroic failure.

This and the next are the crucial partnerships. Maxwell and Labuschagne are both excellent in ODIs and they could do this all on their own, or at least get Aus close enough. Get either or both south of 120-150 however, and I think that would be that.

Afghanistan certainly aren't going to die wondering here. I really hope they can pull this off.

It is very, very good. Been rewatching it to prep for season 4 and very much looking forward to it.

Think there are less overall errors even with the current level of VAR (which does need drastic improvement) than with standard refs and seeing as football fans are going to be football fans and get pissed off no matter what system is in place and therefore things are equal there, I'd prefer adaptation and improvement of the tech than abandoning it entirely.

Was an interesting back and forth about something like this after that incident with the Spurs fan in L1. Seemed to be something of a divide between those who think football is simply tribal brutality and won't change and those who think perhaps such "human nature" is actually mutable. Seems to be a similar divide here. It is interesting.

According to the good folks at Wiki there have been six such incidences in the history of first-class cricket. It does seem rather against the spirit of the game when the batter was there and could have faced a ball, but then perhaps Matthews should just have faced a ball or two with a broken chin strap (he was facing spin after all) and changed his helmet at the next over?

Goodness me, that's the first time that's happened in any form of international cricket. In over 150 years. Edit: To add some colour to this, there have been a couple of times in Tests where the batter hasn't been ready once the three minutes have elapsed, but the fielding side have never appealed.

Yup, good example, small sample size aside. Again, it makes a good point that it is pretty complex to compare such things, especially across eras. I do stand by the conclusions I've drawn, though.