Minion

I went through the UK Tier 2 (General) visa process at the beginning of this year, so I can help you with that a bit. The most fundamental requirement is that you will need to get a job offer before you can apply for the visa. Your company will then apply for a Certificate of Sponsorship for you. Once that is approved, you can then apply for the visa itself. I found the CoS to be a major obstacle to the job search - it involves a fair amount of admin for a company to be registered as a sponsor and can cost £500-£1500, depending on the size of the company. Smaller companies weren't even willing to consider my applications, since they weren't willing to go through the admin. This generally leaves your only options as companies that are already registered as sponsors. If your position is on the shortage occupation list, the company can apply for the CoS straight away, provided the salary is above a certain level (usually around £21,000 for entry-level workers and £29,000 for experienced workers). For jobs that aren't on the list, the company needs to perform a labour market survey (basically, they must advertise the job for a month) to show why they must employ a foreigner, instead of a local. They must also pay you more than £20,500. An alternative to the General category could be an intra-company transfer, though you'd then need to find a job at a company with a SA and UK presence and that is willing to transfer you. Once you have the job offer and your employer has obtained a CoS, the visa application is relatively straightforward, though some potential obstacles are: You may need to show that you've had at least £900 in cash in your bank accounts continuously for three months before the application. You need to go for a TB test at an approved clinic. There are three: in Cape Town, Pretoria and Durban. You need to apply in person for the visa. The application centres are in CT, JHB, Pretoria, Durban and PE. The total cost for the process is about £560 + about R1000 for the TB X-ray and the visa is valid for three years. There is now also an option for a more expensive, five year visa at an extra cost. Sponsorship applications are only submitted on the 5th of each month and mine took about 5 days to be approved. There is an annual limit of 20,000 CoSes per year (April to April), but I my application only went in in February and I didn't have any problems. My visa itself was processed in a week from when I submitted it. Here's a link to an overview of the process, including lists of sponsors and shortage occupations: https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general/overview

If anyone's thinking of taking their bike in a bag, I'm selling a cloth bag that would be useful the purpose: https://www.bikehub.co.za/index.php?app=hubmarket&module=core&do=view_item&item_id=83055&new=1 I bought it with every good intention of Gautrain commuting and then got lazy, so it's unused.

I don't profess to know Octavian's thought processes, but I think Borat may have the answer to this (around 19s): http://youtu.be/DvVRMrUYvYs#t=19s

I'm playing Deus Ex Human Revolution at the moment. Also with large numbers of ways to complete missions, sneak around etc. Lots of fun.

It should have been: Rhino guy banned for showing horn.

I found an English version: http://www.colheli.com/news/the_hover_barge/

I don't think they use NaCl in those, rather nitrogen-based salts like KNO3.

Except, in your example, the pass has value beyond its emotional impact on the student. By cheating a pass, he could get a place at university or a job he might not otherwise have gotten and in doing so, exclude someone who earned their marks. I seriously doubt that, outside the race, a back marker gains any advantage by cheating from 400th to 300th, aside from bragging rights. Nor do I think that there's much chance of the person coming 301st instead of 300th losing anything significant.

Does it matter to me? No. I just see a solid wall of text and move on without reading it. Should it matter to you? Yes. If you want someone to spend time giving you a reasonable response to your statement, question, whatever , then, at least, make it easy for them to read and process. You've missed the opportunity to get valuable feedback from people who just can't be bothered to wade through that solid lump of text.

I think the HealthyGear may only apply to Adidas gear.

Nice use of the strobe effect.

I've been past that spot a couple of times and never even noticed it. Unobservant Minion is unobservant

Looks like a Mirage III CZ http://www.saairforce.co.za/seed/public/files/aircraft_images/48/45af65b2b57ad_large.jpg

That's a really cool frame, nice job . The point I'm making is that it may be R900 worth of material, but how much time did it take to get it to that point and how much time will it take to get all prepped and painted? Nevermind the hours you must have put in doing your research to figure out what goes where to ensure a safe ride. R2000 for a frame repair is a lot if it's just some appy taking 15min to stick on a patch and giving a quick shot of rattle-can paint. Maybe it's not so much if you're paying a skilled person to prep the area, know the right material to choose, prep for paint and then paint to match the existing finish.

I suppose it depends on what the repair involves, but I presume (and hope) it's more than just slapping on a random patch of carbon and resin. Getting it repaired to where it's safe must take some additional effort, and even more if they can repair it to the point (as they claim on their site) where you won't even notice that it's been repaired. The CPA also means that the supplier is in for some serious liabilities if the repair fails and you have a serious accident. That risk needs to be built into the cost.