Off-Topic Questions Thread - closed. Open new threads for specific questions please.

[stumobir]

Thanks for the glasses advice. New question...

 

Even though I've had an Amazon Prime trial before, I was just able to get a six month trial (and then £39 a year) as a new student. My question is, what other free shit can I get for becoming a student? I already know about Office365, but for some reason my uni isn't part of that scheme

Spotify for a fiver a month

[Wideload]

I am set to go to the O2 in London on 12th September (photography job). Plan is to get the Mega Bus from Glasgow to Victoria coach station on the Saturday, then ideally a Megabus back at 1am the Sunday morning. Can anybody tell me a) if it's possible and b) the best way to get from Greenwich back to Victoria bus station in time for the bus leaving at 1am? The show I imagine will kick out about 11pm and I read that the 24 hour tube service starts on that Saturday. Cheers!

[Slapnut]

Has anybody had any success haggling with BT since the BT Sport price increase and/or the recent line rental hike?  I'm moving back in with my parents in a few weeks (shudder) and I was going to move my broadband there, but I've just found out you can cancel your contract without penalty due to the increase.  I don't really want to leave BT and I'd be happy to stay with them even if they just knocked a fiver off a month to cover the BT Sport hike, but if they won't budge then fuck them.

[SpursRiot2012]

I reckon if you call them and tell them that you'll cancel without a reduction, they'll be able to do something.

 

Has anybody got any experience with anti-anxiety medication? Specifically social anxiety. I'm sick of being unable to have a good time or mix with people I don't know very well because I'm constantly worried about how they view me, what they think of me, they probably hate me etc. I'm seeing a doctor next week and would rather just eat pills than go for CBT or something like that, is there anything anyone has had success with that I could steer my doctor towards? Thanks.

[Tommy!]

I took Quetiapine, which I believe is used to ease anxiety, but I could be mistaken.

 

They did help, but they made me very drowsy, I put on weight and my sex drive slowed.

For me just taking a load of pills wasn't a suitable answer, but they did make a noticeable change for me.

[Slapnut]

I reckon if you call them and tell them that you'll cancel without a reduction, they'll be able to do something.

 

I just tried this on my lunch break and failed miserably   - I've already asked them to move the services to my folks' house and they said they would have to cancel that request, then I'd have to ring back in 48 hours and give my cancellation notice.  I panicked.

[MungoChutney]

I'm looking to buy a new laptop to do uni work on and need some advice from any of you guys who are into these kind of things.  Basically, I need it to be able to run Office 365, browse the net, have at least 2 USB slots, and a dvd-r/w drive.  Budget is circa £250.  Help?

[Tommy!]

Am I ok to spray paint the inside of a container which will later store food, or is there a risk there?

[Juan Manforce]

Any advice on overcoming a crisis of confidence? I lost my job a few weeks ago - a job that I only took because a uni application got rejected. Through clearing I've managed to get a place on the course a year earlier (I applied for 3rd year entry, got into 2nd year but after the clearing interview the head of the course said he regretted not interviewing me for the 3rd year place, cheers pal) and will be relocating shortly. Now everything is moving so fast I'm starting to question if this is what I even want. I turned down a similar uni course a few years ago because they wanted me to do 2 years, while I only wanted to do one. Now some 3 years later I'm doing the 2 years, when they've already admitted I shouldn't have to do the first one. And I'm supposed to be moving in with my best friend, who for some reason, probably unintentionally, is making getting a flat more difficult than it needs to be. Things like this make me question my friendship with him, which is stupid, but I suffer from severe anxiety issues, so I can't help overthinking everything.

 

It really feels like I'm only making these big changes because it's something to do. I don't know if I want this, but the only alternatives are keep doing shitty temp work that destroys my soul and keep living in a town that destroys my mind. Even the options that aren't viable, like just upping sticks and heading halfway across the world (I've thought it about many, many times) aren't gonna do me any good, I'd just end up in the same situation I'm in now but without friendly faces to get me through.

[MungoChutney]

Am I ok to spray paint the inside of a container which will later store food, or is there a risk there?

You're risking contaminating the food with paint. It's a bit different in the home obviously but food hygiene laws only allow food to be stored within containers that are 'food safe' and that's so they can ensure the materials used, I.e. paint, won't contaminate the food.

[Tommy!]

Bugger, thought that might be the case.

 

Thanks for the help.

[GlennCullen]

Anyone on here work as a Mortgage Advisor? Seems to be a fairly eclectic lot, so worth asking.

[Grecian]

Any advice on overcoming a crisis of confidence? I lost my job a few weeks ago - a job that I only took because a uni application got rejected. Through clearing I've managed to get a place on the course a year earlier (I applied for 3rd year entry, got into 2nd year but after the clearing interview the head of the course said he regretted not interviewing me for the 3rd year place, cheers pal) and will be relocating shortly. Now everything is moving so fast I'm starting to question if this is what I even want. I turned down a similar uni course a few years ago because they wanted me to do 2 years, while I only wanted to do one. Now some 3 years later I'm doing the 2 years, when they've already admitted I shouldn't have to do the first one. And I'm supposed to be moving in with my best friend, who for some reason, probably unintentionally, is making getting a flat more difficult than it needs to be. Things like this make me question my friendship with him, which is stupid, but I suffer from severe anxiety issues, so I can't help overthinking everything.

 

It really feels like I'm only making these big changes because it's something to do. I don't know if I want this, but the only alternatives are keep doing shitty temp work that destroys my soul and keep living in a town that destroys my mind. Even the options that aren't viable, like just upping sticks and heading halfway across the world (I've thought it about many, many times) aren't gonna do me any good, I'd just end up in the same situation I'm in now but without friendly faces to get me through.

 

Regarding the course: have you got anything in writing from your interviewer about the possible change of year? If so, forward it to your Student Admin team at your University, and see if they can update your year of entry. If not, you can defer entry up until the point when you register, so there's always that option.

 

Everyone going to Uni will have the same fears, so don't worry - they are totally normal. I would advise trying to expand your social circle away from just your flatmate by joining a couple of societies.

[Sphinx]

I'm new to Macs and want a laptop that'll run Final Cut Pro X well. I see there's a 13" version on the Apple site for £899. However, it seems this was first released in 2012. I can't afford to spend much more, especially as newer models have less capacity (albeit with a SSD). Is this my best option?

 

www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro?product=MD101B/A&step=config#

[chokeout]

It'll run final cut easily. You'll run into problems if you're looking at doing anything complicated / lots of HD sources running together because the 4gb ram will get eaten up quickly and I can't see from the spec if it has a decent graphics card. If you can afford it upgrade to 8gb ram.