pencil skirt

Hi PrincessM5. A good organisation worth checking out is WWOOFING (Willing Workers on Organic Farms). You work an agreed amount of hours (usually 4-5) in return for food and accomodation. This is the uk based website: http://www.wwoof.org.uk/ I have WWOOFED in Canada and Australia and they have been amazing experiences. Hope you find this interesting.

I'm with an Umbrella Company. They don't very often seem to give straight forward answers (but maybe there isn't one)....as it happens, they have come back to me saying that I can't put it through as it's classed as 'dual use' which is fair enough however I know other people that have done this. Hmmm....

Hi, I haven't been contracting long and just wondered if anyone can answer an expenses query: If I need to buy a laptop for work for say £1000 and it is put through expenses so offset against my wage before tax, how much is it actually costing me? Would it be a simple case of the tax % I pay? Thanks for any help.

Completely agree with karis and understand your frustration.......sitting in a pub and slagging off your boss/company to friends is nothing like writing it as your status on facebook where potentially 300 or so 'friends' can see it!

Hi fontane, I'm going too!! (secretly just want to rub it in hehe!) Can't bleedin wait!! Going with my fella and meeting my dad there. Fly to Johannesburg on 24th June for the second round so let me know if you want to join our little gang (sure it will have increased by the final). Let me know and i'll PM you my email/facebook. Come on England!!

Hi weenireeni, You said that you have booked flights etc seperately? What was the communication between you and the seller when you paid? Is there a chance that he/she is expecting you to just turn up on the date you booked it and they've just not checked their emails in the last few days? I feel really bad for you...the thing to remember though is that it is (I presume) your close friends/family who are going on your hen do so they will understand. If it turns out to be a scam, then.....you should be able to find out the identity of the scammer through the Bank details, I take you had a sort code/account no? Do you know which Bank they are with as it's worth contacting them to report it. Best of Luck.

Yeah, that's exactly what everyone's doing over here. You're obviously trying to wind people up because surely you can't be that naive. Just out of interest........where do you travel/holiday?

Totally agree Nyle....everyone has their own opinions on where to travel/holiday but that wasn't the point of the post. I'm in Pai (a beautiful Northern Thailand mountain town). I came from Laos into Thailand and headed to Chang Mai where I didn't see any sign of trouble. As Callippo said, it's possible to travel about and avoid places if you want to. There's lots of people still travelling/holidaying in Thailand and I'll be going through Bangkok next week but from what I hear, it's safe to go through in transit and as look as you don't go looking for trouble (i.e donning a red t-shirt and protesting!) then it's fine. I am gutted because I wanted to go to Topshop in Bangkok and stay a few nights but never mind! p.s I love logging on to the Sheffield Forum and keeping up with the gossip back home!

Can't wait for the World Cup. Come on England! I'd have to say that Spain are the clear favourites as they simply have the best squad. For me, Brazil are mentioned alot because of their previous form but this year they don't have as good a team as the last 2 World Cups. I think that The Ivory Coast are being overlooked here. With Drogba (arguably in the top 3 strikers in the World and in great form), Salomon Kalou and Barcelona's Yaya Toure - i'll be keeping my eye (and mabey have a little bet) on them. Would also be great to see an African team win.

Love it! Made me laugh so much!

No worries - safety is more important than anything else! The cheapest quote I've had here is just under 80 pounds which is more than I was hoping. I could pick one up on ebay for half the price but to get it posted here would cost $50 so not sure it's worth the hassle to save only a bit of money. .........also had a quote for over 200 pounds for which I could buy a new small laptop!

Thanks for the reply nyle..........yeah, it should be cheaper here but they try their luck alot......and unfortunately I don't know anybody here! (who can fix a laptop...not no mates) It's a Toshiba Laptop.....and yes, it is a bit warmer but I do miss getting all snug in a big coat!

Can anybody tell me how much I should expect to pay to have a pressure crack on my laptop fixed? I'm pretty sure that's what it is. It's a huge white mark with different colours forming a crack - but internal. Not sure how I did it....put my laptop away last night (must have knocked it) and opened it this morning to a big white splodge. The only reason I ask is that I'm travelling at the moment so just about to head into Thailand and I would like an idea of how much it would cost at home (I'm pressuming I would need a whole new screen) so that I don't get ripped off here. Thanks for any help!

It's not nice to have comments made out of a van from guys passing but I find it strange that the OP refers to his daughter as having a 'cleavage'...........my dad would make me cover that 'cleavage' up at that age so then there isn't one! .......but then I wouldn't haven't told my parents about this happening as it happens to all young women!

I've never been a big fan of moaner's and have worked in several offices where people moan about anything and everything. Having just travelled through Cambodia and Vietnam it has put things back home massively into perpective and the majority of people in the UK have nothing to moan about.