Best Of

Am I the only PBer who has never had to write a proper CV? Never done a job that required one. Never been asked to submit one

It would be quite colourful tho

1992: jail, mainly
1993: haven’t got a fucking clue
1994-2001: heroin
2002-2005: see 1993

Me. Every job I have ever got has been on the basis of personal recommendation. I do have a CV which I keep updated just in case but have never actually had to use it

Admirable

For 50 years I've scratched a living on the outer fringes of publishing and have been, in no particular order, printer, publisher, photographer, designer, writer, editor, web designer and delivery boy. If any of these roles had demanded a CV it would have confirmed the fact that I was qualified for none of them.

Has anyone ever asked about your degree?

I’ve also gone my entire life without anyone ever inquiring about my degree, university, results etc

It was a 2:2 in Philosophy from UCL, and I was damn lucky to get that given my contemptuous attitude to my own course

What A Level grades did you get?

BBC

Economics, Medieval History, English

Not exactly dazzling but then UCL offered me a place if I got two E’s (that was their weird way back then) so I kind of coasted. I knew I’d get in so the tension drained away. Which made for a very pleasant end of sixth form and summer

Ah, youth

Had you also applied to Oxford or Cambridge? I had a three E offer to study Chemistry at Warwick, mainly so I would pick them as insurance for the Cambridge place. Sadly I didn’t shine at the Cambridge interview so Rubbish old Warwick it was…

Medieval History was an 'A' level?

I don't remember that being an option. Sounds extremely specialised. This is 1980s?

Am I the only PBer who has never had to write a proper CV? Never done a job that required one. Never been asked to submit one

It would be quite colourful tho

1992: jail, mainly
1993: haven’t got a fucking clue
1994-2001: heroin
2002-2005: see 1993

Me. Every job I have ever got has been on the basis of personal recommendation. I do have a CV which I keep updated just in case but have never actually had to use it

Admirable

For 50 years I've scratched a living on the outer fringes of publishing and have been, in no particular order, printer, publisher, photographer, designer, writer, editor, web designer and delivery boy. If any of these roles had demanded a CV it would have confirmed the fact that I was qualified for none of them.

Has anyone ever asked about your degree?

I’ve also gone my entire life without anyone ever inquiring about my degree, university, results etc

It was a 2:2 in Philosophy from UCL, and I was damn lucky to get that given my contemptuous attitude to my own course

What A Level grades did you get?

BBC

Economics, Medieval History, English

Not exactly dazzling but then UCL offered me a place if I got two E’s (that was their weird way back then) so I kind of coasted. I knew I’d get in so the tension drained away. Which made for a very pleasant end of sixth form and summer

Ah, youth

Had you also applied to Oxford or Cambridge? I had a three E offer to study Chemistry at Warwick, mainly so I would pick them as insurance for the Cambridge place. Sadly I didn’t shine at the Cambridge interview so Rubbish old Warwick it was…

So the Cambridge interview panel sent you to Coventry.

How dare you! They sent me to just outside Coventry. At least until third year when I lived near the station…

Actually, Gibbet Hill Road marks the boundary between Coventry and Warwick District so in your day most of the campus would have been on the 'wrong' side. But the ever-ambitious university is constantly expanding into the Arden countryside so most of the accommodation today is in Warks. A few years ago the Uni and Coventry City FC cooked up a ludicrous plan to build a football stadium on 'our' side of the road. My sole contribution to this debate was to demand that the club should therefore change its name to Kenilworth Town FC. This seems to have halted it in its tracks.

I hope Europe is in a position to cope in case of a cold winter. We've been lucky to have had two mild ones in a row.

Whatever you say about the Conservative Government they expedited mild winters. Let's see if Starmer cocks that up too.

Probably. Isn't there something like a 16 year cycle on these things? Probably something to do with sun spots or whatever? We had some cold / snowy winters c2010. Probably heading back into that trough now.

Relatedly, snow settling here in Wakefield. Presumably there'll be quite a bit by morning up in the Pennines.

Which means it's definitely winter, irrespective of calendars. Seasons are the descriptions of natural things, not artificial human delineations.