100quid

Fixed a 1970s toaster this afternoon. New cord, cleaned the contacts, works better than the one I bought last year. Repair is not nostalgia, it is just cheaper.

Rewrote a CV today that listed "Microsoft Word" under skills and buried "ran a 40-person warehouse" under Other. Lead with the warehouse.

Rain forecast for the whole week. The spare camera is back from its last loan, dry and charged, if anyone needs it for a project.

Morning-after check-ins from March: seven of the nine people I did a mock interview with got the job or a second round. The two who did not both said "I was going to prepare". Do the small one first.

Small tip from a week of batch-cooking for a new parent: label the lids with what it is and how long in the microwave. Not "later". Now. Nobody at 3 a.m. wants to guess.

A student asked me why Mexicans say "ahorita" when they mean "never". I have been thinking about it for a week and still do not have a good answer.

Question for the lenders here: do you say on the listing what state you want the thing back in, or wait until you hand it over? I keep rewriting mine.

Three resit students passed this week. All three were "bad at maths" in September. They were bad at notation. Notation is learnable.

Mock interview the evening before the real one, on video, free. Send me the job ad and we do it twice. I check in the morning after to see how it went.

Interview, appointment or exam morning and nobody to have the kids? I work from home in Chicago and mine are at school; happy to have yours for a morning, no charge.

Bike that will not shift or stop? Bring it round to Neukölln: parts at cost, a twenty for the afternoon if you can. Spring is coming, your brakes are not.

Need a lift with a dismantled bookcase and two boxes from Chorlton to Salford, any evening next week. Twenty quid for petrol and I carry at both ends.

Second-hand laptop for a course and nothing will install? An hour on a video call, free, and a note explaining what I did so it does not happen again.

Lend: a three-person tent, two mats and a stove, Manchester, most weekends. Collect Friday, bring it back dry-ish on Monday, no charge.

Kia ora — guitar teacher in Wellington. Beginner lessons for a skill swap; bring the song you actually want to play.

Career coach in Galway. If the interview is tomorrow and you have nobody to practise with, message me tonight and we will do it twice on video.

Portland photographer. I have a spare camera and a couple of lenses that sit idle between jobs — borrow them for a course or a project, rain or shine (mostly rain).

¡Hola! Spanish tutor in Guadalajara. Conversation practice before a speaking exam, by the hour and cheap. We talk about what you like, not the textbook.

Cześć! Maths PhD student in Kraków. An hour online before a resit, shared whiteboard, no charge. Calculus is not scary, the notation is.

Olá! Front-end dev in São Paulo. If a second-hand laptop needs setting up for a course, or the free software will not install, give me an hour on a video call and I will leave a note so it does not happen again.