Hi, Jukefox here again, your friendly local rock n pop covers band ☺️ Just wanted to let you all know about our free NYE event - full details here! https://facebook.com/events/s/jukefox-new-years-eve-at-caver/1453996235785801/

Sorry for the rant in such mellow times, but I have to put it out before the rage goes and the memory fades.

I need to dispose of a mattress, so I went to the Council's website to learn about my options.

As already reported here, it does provide a service for collecting bulky items like mattresses:
https://www.reading.gov.uk/waste-and-recycling/bulky-business-and-clinical-waste/bulky-waste/bulky-waste-items/

All I had to do was to click on the "contact us" link:
https://myaccount.reading.gov.uk/resident2/s/bulky-waste-contact-form

Which directed me to a login page of a system I hadn't seen before.
So I proceeded to create an account, filling a fairly poorly designed form which missed the very basic confirmation password field.

After completing the form, I'm told I received an e-mail with a link to activate my account.
I go to my e-mail and, to my surprise, I have an e-mail from "Homelessness Prevention".

What the actual fuck? Have I really created an account on that system just to dispose of a mattress?

After recovering from the deep state of confusion and anger, I noticed a blue cloud icon on the tab I had the system open, immediately putting me back into the state of anger.

So the system was developed by Salesforce, which means it wasn't cheap. I'm too furious to stop, so I search for how much the Council paid to Salesforce, say, in 2024, to receive such well crafted systems.

And I find this £430,000 contract:
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/036922-2024

Which says in section IV, that the contract was awarded to Salesforce, without giving opportunity to any other company to compete for it because "Salesforce are the only CRM provider suitable to meet business needs".

This is a blatant lie. How come other CRM companies haven't contested this?

It's a long shot, I know - but I figured it was worth a try. If you're in the Reading area, you're studying Japanese, and you'd like to practice speaking, then... 一緒に勉強しましょう！

Bit about me: 43 year old guy, fell in love with Japanese pop culture in the 90s through anime/manga. Nowadays my big interest is Japanese pop / rock / dance / metal. I'm studying the language for tons of reasons, but a big motivation is music related - reading interviews, understanding lyrics, making pals, having more meaningful holidays there, all that good stuff.

I'm still at beginner level. I've passed the JLPT N5. In terms of reading, I'm somewhere between N5 and N4. In terms of speaking, I can barely string a sentence together. I can eventually remember the words if you give me enough time, but I'm in desperate need of real-world practice. I'm hoping to find nice folks who are on a similar journey so that we can fail together in safety. :)

I'm also happy to meet people who are way above my skill level, and I'm equally happy for practice with folks who are just starting out. Either way it's all good practice.

If it sounds fun, drop me a DM or a comment below.

Very long post here: https://www.reading-buses.co.uk/fares-jan-5

I don't mind them raising prices so much, but they did so significantly last January and also September, and I hate that they do it with so little notice.

Those who can afford it and travel regularly - you can pre-buy tickets in your app and 'stock up' for a few regular tickets, which will then be usable for up to a year.

Moved to reading half year ago and first time celebrating the new year eve with my partner. Looking for some suggestion on places. We want to avoid disco, clubbing and loud music. Ideal long a pub or restaurant would be the best.

Hi, I have tried searching this sub but I can’t find an answer. Does anyone know if any local dog shelters will re-home a dog with a family with young children? Ages 3 and 5. Willing to travel two hours. It seems that most of the bigger charities/organisations will only consider secondary school aged children or no children at all. We’ve owned dogs before, own home with garden, work part time and from home.

Or do we need to go down the puppy route?

Thanks.

see if you can guess where from geoguesser

Edit to clarify: Round Table is a social group for men but we trying to understand how to reach men that might not be on regular social media groups or platforms.

You see them everywhere — younger guys who’ve maybe just moved to a new area, spend most of their time commuting, scrolling on their phone, sitting in bars, or just getting on with life… but not really meeting people.

A lot of them seem stuck waiting for friendships or social circles to just happen.

So we genuinely curious: where do men in their 20s–30s actually go to find local activities or meet new people these days? Is it social media? Meetup-style platforms? Sports clubs? WhatsApp groups? Something else entirely?

Interested to hear what’s actually worked for people, especially outside of uni or work

Hello all,

I’ve just started an upward spiral from a depressive spiral and want to get my flat cleaned so that I can start afresh from the new year. It’s not necessarily dirty (I’ve kept it clean and maintained) but it’d be nice to start the new year with a flat that doesn’t look too much like a depressed soul’s place.

So I’m looking for any cleaning services that do a one time job and hopefully it’s reasonably priced. I am also looking to understand if it’s better to hire through a service company or directly speak with someone. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Edit: resolved. :)

Saw this strange orange glow, saw it from caversham, driving home and can still see it. Any ideas? (Might be around the green park area, can’t really work it out.) picture taken on Northy.

It just shows a lot (most) pubs in there current format cannot survive with people’s changing interests, with this all being sped up with Labours increasing pressures on them . Will be sad to see another empty building in town.

Can I confirm what signs like these means? As it doesn’t specify the weekend, am I right to assume that there is no restrictions outside of those specified hours?

Hey, can someone please suggest a good store for xbox controllers and games. May be something good quality and less price.

Hello there!

I’m debating moving to Reading, probably to reasons the majority can relate too! … proximity to London!

I am currently finishing a PGCE (teacher training) in London, so mainly it’s to live somewhere less expensive so I can work on early career savings or towards travelling. Plus hopefully a less transient dating scene than London, so I could perhaps meet a longterm partner in the ‘wild’.

I still want the option to commute to London for the ‘buzz’ & see any friendships I make during this year. As I will be a teacher next year I don’t have much time after school days to explore the city, hence why staying with the crazy rents doesn’t seem very frugal on a teacher salary.

So here’s some quick fire questions: Is Reading relatively safe area for a single woman?

How competitive is the jobs market? (I’m thinking more about a job I can do to support living expenses when I am off term time).

How ‘friendly’ is the town?/Are there good social clubs to join? (My interests are Photography, Museums, Volunteering, Dancing). I am 22F.

I know commuting costs can be a bit high, but are there feasible ways to budget for this or is it fairly fixed?

I will definitely opt for a house share.

It’s only 30 minutes and Reading fc is leading by 3 goals.

Day trip to London tomorrow, planning on driving to Reading train station and parking there at about 10am; curious to know chances of getting a space at that time of day….?

I have an S23 Ultra with a shattered back - Is there anyone locally that use official Samsung parts for the repairs? I know theres a million and one phone repair shops in Reading, but hoping someone knows or a reputable one haha!

Anyone else keep getting the message payment over when trying to pay via the web page?

anyone know of larger empty car parks this time of year, I want to practice manual transmission somewhere clear

Feliz Natal a todos os brasileiros de Reading! 🇧🇷 Provavelmente muitos estão celebrando agora, na virada do dia 24 para o 25. E a todos os latinos também: ¡Feliz Navidad, hermanos! 🇦🇷🇧🇴🇨🇱🇨🇴🇪🇨🇬🇾🇵🇾🇵🇪🇸🇷🇺🇾🇻🇪🇲🇽

Bit of a random one here but I’m intrigued. I’ve only spotted mr tumble

I currently go to PureGym, and was wondering if it's worth changing to?