Nataly

You know, lemon was what I was thinking. I think this state, and many of them, have Lemon Laws regarding car purchases. If you buy a car that turns out to be a real piece of %^$# you can return it for a refund under that law. I always found it amusing that the French have the car brand Citroen. Doesn't translate well to English. It amused me too the first time I heard of the brand! As for a lemon... I believe the concept is that the car is fundamentally flawed (ie: right out of the factory). If a used car breaks down unexpectedly (but not in an "unusual" or "outrageous" way), that's just because it's old... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Is that good or bad?

One size certainly does not fit all... I got a degree in English and History... I will never know how useful it really was because I've got so many other degrees/diplomas/qualifications along the way... Always studied and worked at the same time, so never had to borrow to pay for my degrees/diplomas/qualifications. Never taken any benefits from the government, either. And never been unemployed (except for a voluntary self-funded 10-month travelling/sabbatical). I've had ups and downs in terms of salary, but usually due to switching career-paths. On average I have fared much better salary-wise than my contemporaries, but I have worked *extremely* hard for this. And I don't have kids. All things considered, I am not really sure I have enjoyed a better quality-of-life than my friends... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Difficult for me to have an unbiased opinion... I have degrees coming out of my ass!!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yes, obviously. Part of the difficulty is separating the "degree factor" to the "socio-economic factor." I'm going to grossly stereotype here, but university students typically already come from a comfortable middle to upper-class back-ground... You also can't ignore other factors like race, gender, natural ability / intelligence, connections, et cetera, et cetera. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

First of all, I am not at all surprised by your good deed, John

Consider the below two options: HIGH-SCHOOL GRADUATE # 1 - Goes to University (4 year programme) - Takes out student loans (say, 50k?) - First job at 22 HIGH-SCHOOL GRADUATE # 2 - Starts work at 18 If both are average students, and both have average career potential... Does the person with a university degree actually end up ahead on average?? If so, how long does it take to get ahead given the cost of university nowadays? Does the person with the degree really stand better odds of getting a much better job / career-prospects?? There are obviously WAYYY too many variables, but I think the guy who started at 18 could realistically be on equal (or better) footing at age 22 compared to the other guy... And it's not unimaginable for that guy (who has more experience) to also get to middle-management more quickly... And since he (or she) is not crippled by debt, even if he/she has a slightly lower salary on the whole, I wonder if in the long run he/she may not actually be better off?? (Assuming he doesn't get a dead-end minimum-wage job...) "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Not true, as this is EXACTLY what they did. I have contacted Paypal. They agree it is a mistake and have advised me to cancel the transaction from my bank (which I had already done). They assure me everything will get corrected at no cost to myself, but I don't trust for one second that it will all magically get properly resolved. I am keeping an eye on my paypal AND my bank accounts because I lost £98 in the process due to exchange rate variances - another cock-up on their part, which I refuse to pay for. They have also agreed this is a mistake and if they take *that* out of my bank, all hell will break loose. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Well, luckily I was able to cancel the direct debit from my bank but if it's found that the transaction was "legitimate" the bank can send the money back to paypal. Will be interesting to see what paypal says... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yep. Or the test was bad (which also happens). Either way, there is a problem, and automatically adjusting is not the solution (IMO). Back to Wendy's point: I agree that working together is *usually* a good thing... In this case, however, they were not working toward a worthy cause - they were just being selfish brats and bullying everyone into complying with their plan. What should jave happened?? The instigators of the collective effort should have gotten an F - everyone else should have been given the opportunity to retake the test or get an F. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Personally, I don't think the students should all have gotten A's. I think their shenanigans went against the principle behind the grading system (which is to give consistent results - and not reward fucktards for not taking the exam at all). Giving everyone an (undeserved) A not only devalues those results but the results of all students who legitimately got an A. Boo. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Sounds like a marketing ploy to me... Long smoothe taste!!! Good thing it doesn't mention "may contain traces of fur!!!" "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Has anyone ever experienced a Paypal fuck-up??? Did it get resolved??? I just refunded a payment and instead of simply sending the money back, paypal took money from my bank account and thus doubled the transaction. I didn't have the funds in my bank and I am more than a little annoyed that this erroneous transaction went through... Thing is, it's not just Paypal's mistake: my bank should have rejected the transaction since it brought my balance WAY beyond my overdraft limit. I tried to dispute the paypal transaction and paypal does not accept the transaction reference number as being valid. Hmmmm... I will have to call them and this will cost me time and money. Bastards. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

And don't mention the war. *Apparently* it's also not on to call your German colleague "the Nazi." So I am told... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

That's 'cause they are all so small and privately-owned that it probably *is* their home!! But no, I didn't know about the chit-chat... I always just thought the French were snobby, abrupt and rude!! (To be honest, I still think that to an extent ) "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yep. French-Canadians are WAY less formal than the French and I do have the occasional slip-up where I default to "tu" (informal) to say "you" and it irks (or even offends) the other person because I'm "clearly" not on their level and/or I don't know them well enough... Either way, I should have used the more formal "vous." Hmmm... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Wow. I'm amazed by the end result. ETA - changed in order not to spoil the reading. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Oh dear... I remember when I was back-packing across Europe... I met a couple of Brits who were impressed at how light I was travelling... Indeed, I announced proudly that I only had 3 t-shirts, 1 pair of shorts, 1 pair of pants, et cetera... They looked *quite* disgusted... It wasn't until years later when I moved to the UK that I realised we have a different definition of "pants"... North American pants = "jeans" UK pants = "underwear / panties" "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

This just reminded me of when I was in the UK and people kept asking me "you aright?" and me being surprised... "I'm fine - why, do I look sick??" In North America it has a much more literal meaning... As in when someone has just fallen you would ask (out of concern) "are you alright?" In the UK, it's more like "hey / hello / how are you." "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Happens to me every time I enter SC But, in France?? Never ever, there must have been some misunderstanding .... I've been living there for years! In shops (and communications in general), they do not start with a "Hello", or a "Hi" .... Nope. It was not a misunderstanding - it happened a couple of times. Maybe it's a regional thing (south of France), but my friends assure me it's quite normal to start with "hello" and not go straight to "please may I have a croissant." And they also assure me the "rudeness" in being "corrected" is in keeping with the "rudeness" of me not starting with a greeting. BigMikeH77: I *am* a native French speaker "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

When I first moved to France, I'd go up to the sales person in a shop/bakery/store and just ask politely for what I wanted... At least I *thought* I was being polite... I usually said something like: "May I please have a [insert item here] ?" (And usually "thank you" as well.) Instead of giving me the item or answering me, they cut me short and said sharply: "HELLO" (indicating to me that I had been rude by not starting with "hello" before my request). To me, the *way* they answered was WAAAYYYY more rude, because making someone feel like an ass is not an appropriate way to "correct" someone's faux-pas... But ask anyone around here, and this sharp reaction/"correction" is normal and deserved (because not greeting someone first is so "obviously" rude)! Funny how we each think we are being polite but are each perceived by the other as rude!! Anyone else come across similar situations where their behaviour got "lost in translation?" "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Degree/Qualifications: - Fully Qualified AVN Tech (civil equivalent = A&P) - BA (Joint honours English/History) - ACMA (Chartered Accountant) Jobs: - AVT Tech ("Aircraft Mechanic") - 7 years in Canadian military - *Lots* of little jobs for about a year (and a few before and/or on the side) - Financial Controller / Financial Consultant (or various "finance-type" jobs) since 2006 I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do for a living, although this current job is pretty great, all things considered.

I agree... I love seeing how people work around problems. There are sooooo many ways to tackle issues - some of them are damn-near works of art!!

TOTALLY. I have bought books on excel and *none* of them ever have all the answers to my problems... Yet I post my question on the internet and seconds/minutes later some geek somewhere is ready/able/willing to help for no reason other than (s)he can. It's fantastic that people take the time to do this sort of thing because for people like me it's the only way we can learn/develop our skills. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

If anyone on here occasionally posts to forums to give help/advice to novices, THANK YOU... Today, I got stuck on a macro, and posted my issue on an Excel Forum... Within minutes, several good answers came through (and one "guru" even suggested cleaner codes for stuff I didn't even ask about)... Not only did my issue get resolved but I learned a lot in the process. How wonderful that some people take time out of their day to help random strangers