Quote from: Westmarcher on 21 April 2021, 02:52:50 PM
Now confirmed that the Mainmast was for HMS Glasgow but was made by a Norwegian company!       [see link below to Navy Lookout Twitter account (formerly Save The Royal Navy) - includes a photo of the cargo ship, mast and Glasgow's bow section.]

https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/1384768411721469953

For Mr Phillips - Left hand down a bit ! 

In the process of trying to complete a Student Finance Application four our daughter, which is complicated by the fact that:

- I can no longer log on, as my account number no longer matches with our daughter's application (the same happened last year, so know how to 'fix' this via a paper form).

- Having been made redundant, I have to submit a current year income estimate, but also provide income details from 2019/20 tax year.

- Quite a few schools in South Glos had their computers hacked so currently trying to find a way to access my wife's payroll account to get her P60, which I need for the above.

- The only way to contact the Student Finance Company is via Facebook, as they never answer the 'phone, which is very frustrating when really they should have e-mail or online chat like so many companies.

So a tad fed up with the whole process once again and frankly it's not fit for purpose

It's mad, I'm due to finish paying off my student loan this year and because they can't calculate it properly through the tax system I had to arrange a direct debit. Took a couple of months before I was able to actually get to someone (called and it said use the website, used the website and it said to call). In theory it should be sorted but still awaiting a cease order being sent to my employer then the direct debits to start in a month or two...

SLC is a bit of a nightmare. They still send me letters about my loan from '96 - 99 and the 2010-12 one. Both have been fullfil by expiring due to age and time. I also found that payment dates could be very variable. Have fun with them.

Quote from: Steve J on 27 April 2021, 09:33:46 AM
- The only way to contact the Student Finance Company is via Facebook

That's shocking! What if you don't - as I don't - use Facebook?

Martyn......I'm with you...I won't touch any sort of anti social media.

Cheers - Phil.

The thing that gets me is that unless a student gets a well paid job they will never pay the loan off before it is wiped  in 30 years.

My ex sister-in-law emigrated  and never paid a penny off.  

so the whole loan system seems fairly pointless

I didn't pay any off either 

My daughter is in New Zealand and has tried to pay her student loan for a decade, SLC are not interested...

'Phone, Twitter or Facebook are the only options, unless you tried posting stuff but the delay would be hard to imagine in getting a response. This is one of the reasons I 'had' to get Facebook, as otherwise I don't use it now.

Quote from: ianrs54 on 27 April 2021, 10:37:26 AM
SLC is a bit of a nightmare. They still send me letters about my loan from '96 - 99 and the 2010-12 one. Both have been fullfil by expiring due to age and time. I also found that payment dates could be very variable. Have fun with them.

I know a couple of folks who work there.
Their accounts suggest a rolling clusterf***.

They've called in Cap Gemini to assist.
One of my friends there used to work for Cap Gemini.
His view is of the "If this is the answer, you're asking the wrong question" variety.

Quote from: steve_holmes_11 on 28 April 2021, 09:02:04 AM
They've called in Cap Gemini to assist.

Agreed, if Cap Gemini is the answer, it must have been a strange question.

To be fair the Facebook replies from the staff have been very helpful so far, which means my paperwork has reduced by about 2/3. Whether this remains the case when they receive it remains to be seen!

Someone do the maths....I must have got this wrong.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-56920734

As far as I can make out, the value of the gold (weight) is well in excess of the £10,000 asking price.....and it only took 400 hours to produce. 
(And I'm not impressed with the 'flats' of the animals, at this scale...I could do better with Green Stuff.)

Fair enough, I would struggle with a lot of the fiddly bits. ......AND making it properly circular.

Cheers - Phil

"The mint said the price of the £10,000 denomination gold version was available on application."

Eh?. So it's face-value is £10,000, but it actually costs a lot more to actually buy one, if I'm reading that right?

As Phil says, the value of the gold alone - assuming it's solid - is way north of the face value.

Odd. Presumably it's just a one-off, destined for a museum or something?

Quote from: Techno II on 29 April 2021, 09:33:55 AM
Someone do the maths....I must have got this wrong.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-56920734

As far as I can make out, the value of the gold (weight) is well in excess of the £10,000 asking price.....and it only took 400 hours to produce. 
(And I'm not impressed with the 'flats' of the animals, at this scale...I could do better with Green Stuff.)

Fair enough, I would struggle with a lot of the fiddly bits. ......AND making it properly circular.

Cheers - Phil

Yes, weird.  £400,000+ in materials if pure gold but presumably somewhat less than pure gold.  400 hours of labour?  £10,000 is a strange number to have as the sum at the bottom of the calculation; minimised so as not to upset the [ ignorant - like you and me - ] masses?

Just an exercise one hopes.

Quote from: Raider4 on 29 April 2021, 09:49:24 AM
"The mint said the price of the £10,000 denomination gold version was available on application."
Eh?. So it's face-value is £10,000, but it actually costs a lot more to actually buy one, if I'm reading that right?
As Phil says, the value of the gold alone - assuming it's solid - is way north of the face value.
Odd. Presumably it's just a one-off, destined for a museum or something?

AHA !.....(Your first line) Excellent spot , Martyn ! ...Thank you !

Right.....So if 'one' had one of these, 'one' could use it as a £10K denomination coin, legally.

(I want to buy this packet of cheese and onion crisps...Can you give me change for this ?    )

Well....Seeing as there's not an ice-cream in Hell's chance of me ever owning on of these, I don't think I'll be asking for one.
Yep...must be destined for a museum or a particularly wealthy numaticist coin collector.

Cheers - Phil

There is no limit to the value tenedered Phil, so you can offer a £20 note for a 1p chew. The only limit is on the amout of cooinage the vender has to accept - so you can't pay a £100 bill with 10p peices. I used to know the exact amounts, but suspect it is rather higher now. Mind you getting change for a £10,000 coin in the local news agent