>>458674
What're you, just waiting around inside?

I had a semi-related ecperience recently when the local chinese takeaway owner asked my name citing' you're a regular'. Every other week for maybe a year I've been in there. Haven't been in since, it's been like 6 weeks.

We are living in a simulation, the developers are bored and they've started adding joke content to the updates to see if anyone notices.

https://twitter.com/PaulChuckle2/status/1672746401409687554

>>458675
Nah, by the time I've got my bits he's finished, just not rushing him. He asked how I'm doing, and he said "good man" when I put the basket back on the pile. I wonder if he's this friendly with all the other alchies who turn up every day for super strength lager.

>>458676
What's clubbing at Butlins like?

>>458678

A prime hunting ground for our resident chubby chasers, I'd imagine.

>>458676
Children's entertainers move into the rave scene.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NJhaPRGAMI

Dick & Dom now do similar at Butlins and freshers events. If you're not careful Floella Benjamin will mooch all of your drugs.

Albumen is a bit of a weird name.

It's so humid, been waiting for this thunderstorm for hours now.

I ran over a screw with my car and my front left tyre was flat when I wanted to go shopping this morning. The screw was buried in the middle of the tyre's surface and its threaded part is about three millimetres thick. It looks like one of those screws that are used to hold a bumper in place on most cars, so I probably have some negligent boy racer to thank for my puncture.

Luckily my car came with a fullsize spare wheel in the boot and the wheel and tyre dimensions match those of my other wheels, but the DOT code on the tyre reads "1801". It looks in great cosmetic shape and it's a Goodyear tyre and not some cheap Chinese brand, but that means it's 22 years old and it's probably been in the boot for as long. It'll be at least until Wednesday before I'll have the time to drop the flat tyre off at a garage to have it vulcanised and I'm going to have to do some motorway driving in the mean time. Is a tyre like this safe to drive at motorway speeds if it's just for a few days?

>>458816
I'm sure last time I had a spare on I was advised not to go over 50mph.

>>458817

yes but that probably wasn't a fullsize spare wheel. Mine is fullsize, technically it has no restrictions. The tyre has a speed rating of V on the side of it, which is 149 mph according to the Interwebs. But it is 22 years old.

>>458816

Older tyres become hard and brittle, which poses two risks - a reduction in grip, and the possibility of a sidewall blowout or tread delamination due to cracking.

Inspect the sidewalls for cracks before and after your first drive. Small cracks are OK, but I'd advise against using the tyre if there are cracks going down to the cords or any hint of bulging. Be particularly wary of long cracks that follow the circumference of the tyre.

Even if the sidewalls look acceptable, you should still be careful in wet conditions. The hot weather at the moment means you should still get an acceptable level of grip in the dry, but that corner will become very slippery if you're caught in a rainstorm. Slow right down if it's raining or there's any standing water.

Obviously check the pressure, because under-inflation will increase tyre temperature and so increase the risk of tread failure.

>>458818
Set it to the right pressure, see if it looks cracked or crazed at all.
22 years out of sunlight - meh, tyres are fine for that. I wouldn't race on it, but I'd happily drive, including motorway.
Possibly stick it on the back if you're feeling nervous, a rear blowout is less troubling than a front, if it does decide to go.
I miss real spare tyres. (but most of my miles are done in a company car with a can of goop and a number to call, which I guess is the future. )

I haven't been up norf before, I'm going to do one of these weekends. Liverpool or Manchester?

>>458821
Do what exactly?

>>458821

Liverpool has the sea coast, which is nice this time of year. But don't expect to go for a swim. Without a wetsuit anyway.

>>458821
Liverpool is a bit nicer if you ask me.

Now look at how expensive the trains are and realise that it would be cheaper and easier to fly to Europe.

>>458822

Go to a northern city on the train. I was so excited by the prospect I forgot to proofread.

>>458821

Liverpool is the more "northern" experience. Manchester is very nice, but the city centre feels a bit like a scale model of London. It's grown-up and metropolitan, but it doesn't have the level of idiosyncrasy that you'd get in a city like Liverpool or Newcastle.

>>458821
I live in Manchester and went to Liverpool recently. I'm not actually from either of them. So perhaps I can offer some insights.

Manchester pros:
>Bigger
>More to do
>More of the Northern industrial architecture you're probably after (especially in North Manchester, which is otherwise shit)

Manchester cons:
>Terrible nightlife
>Gradually turning into London with soulless skyscrapers and Americans filling the city centre

Liverpool pros:
>Less grim
>More of a tourist destination vibe

Liverpool cons:
>Scouse accents
>The tourist vibe is awful if you don't like the Beatles or football

>>458825
For a day trip I'd suggest Liverpool over Manchester. Manchester's more of a city for living in than visiting, if that makes sense.

Is it time for us to become a nation with air conditioning? You can get a portable air conditioner for ~£300 online and the electricity use is about 30p an hour.

Obviously you wouldn't run it 24/7 but I'm thinking once the temperature gets to about 28 you run the air-con at about 25 which is still warm but a temperature you can be productive in rather than spending all your energies trying to manage the heat. The peak use being those few days a year where the nights are unbearable.

>>458829

Up north, we only really get a week or two per year when it's uncomfortably hot. It's hard to justify the expense and the storage requirements of an air conditioner when it won't get that much use. I appreciate that you'll probably get more use out of it in That London what with the microclimate and all that, but then you've got to figure out where to keep the bloody thing in your shoebox flat.

Ideally we'd have a proper government scheme to move everyone over to heat pumps - the newer units work in forward and reverse, so they're both a heating system and an air conditioner.

>>458830
>then you've got to figure out where to keep the bloody thing in your shoebox flat.

Under my bed?

It'd be more economical to keep stocked up on freeze pops.

>>458829

The problem with mobile air conditioners is that you need somewhere for the exhaust/excess heat to go. They usually come with a hose that directs the heat away, but if you stick that hose through an open window, obviously you'll have an opening where more warm air can get in. Either you'll have to cut a hole in the window or get a window seal, but those window seals are a bit clunky and don't always fit right.

The only way around all that is to install a split unit, but it will involve putting a hole in the external wall of your house. And forget about it if you're renting.

I generally just try to live with the warm weather. We spend a lot of time in this country moaning about the cold between September and May, and then when it actually warms up a bit, we moan that it's too hot.

>>458833

Came here to say this.

There's a Technology Connections video that goes into it that I'm sure someone else will post.

I do own a small standing aircon unit, and while it does indeed blow cold air on me while lying directly in front of it, as said, the hot air coming through the tube at the back means it basically never actually brings the room temperature down. I wrap my tube (steady on) in insulating foil and towels, which sort of helps, but not really.

If the cost of the machine isn't particularly significant to you, it's probably worth thinking about, but you simply won't get a single room to a comfortable temperature with one.

>>458834
>>458833

Stop erasing my lived experience. I've been in a room which was cooled by a portable aircon unit with the hose sticking out a window. It worked.

>>458835

Yes, if you're stood right in front of it, it'll blow cold air in your direction. But it'll blow hot air out the other end. On balance, no heat is actually removed from your room. It just gets redistributed. The longer you'll leave it running, the more heat you'll actually be adding to the room because of heat dissipation from the electrical components. Even a modest mobile air conditioner with about 4 kW of power could generate as much heat as a small space heater.

>>458836
did you misread 'with' as 'without'?

>>458836
Are you sure you're not thinking of a fan? The system is surely pushing hot air out to an effectiveness of the seal you provide which should be very effective if you have a block in the window space with a hose hole in it. Millions of people are surely not sitting there getting hotter and hotter.

Aircon effectiveness aside, would an air-cooler then be practical in the UK? It essentially works like an opposite dehumidifier where it evaporates cold water that it blows out to create a cool mist. Much lower power consumption but I do wonder if it might be to humid in the UK for it to work effectively. Obviously the big annoyance otherwise is having to keep it stocked with cool water and ice. And possibly the mould.

>>458838

>Aircon effectiveness aside, would an air-cooler then be practical in the UK?

No. It can offer a modicum of comfort in very dry climates, but here in the UK it'll just make a muggy room feel even muggier. You'd be better off spraying yourself with cold water.

>>458837

Oh, right, I did. Forget what I said.


>>458838
>would an air-cooler then be practical in the UK?

It's better than nothing. But they don't cool as well as air conditioning. Especially in humid conditions as you said, because with an air cooler you're taking advantage of water's high specific heat capacity compared to air, and if the warm air already contains a lot of water, then the heat contained in it has nowhere to go.

Just got back from the doctor with some disturbing news - there's a chance I have dick cancer. Bellend cancer to be exact. He reckons 5% chance of it ordinarily but my skin thing has an irregular shape. I've got an urgent triage call with a specialist urologist today whenever they can find time.

I'm not sure what I should worry about more at the moment - dying or having them hack away at my dick. If you're feeling down about not doing anything this weekend then you can tell yourself that at least you're not me. This is fucking horrible.

>>459191
Now that I'm waiting for a videocall I obviously need to take a poo as well.

>>459191
It's difficult to imagine how unpleasant that is lad, sorry to hear it. On the plus side, if it can be left to grow non-fatally you could end up with a dick like a morning star, a lot of birds would be curious to try it out.

>>459191

I expect that you're bloody terrified, but this probably isn't as bad as you're imagining right now. You've done the right thing by getting it checked out and your doc is returning the favour by getting you referred to a specialist ASAP. There's still a good chance that it's completely benign, but even if it isn't, most of the cancers that affect young adults are quite easy to treat and have very good outcomes. The most likely outcome is that you'll need either topical treatment with a bit of medicated ointment, or minor surgery under local anaesthetic that'll barely leave a scar.

I know it sounds fucking ridiculous that I'm basically saying "relax, it's only a bit of cancer", but you've got good reason to be quite laid back at this stage. My old man had cutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma on his neck about ten years ago, which is the same type of cancer that usually affects the penis. He has genuinely forgotten that he was ever diagnosed with cancer, because the treatment was so quick and easy.

>>459191
>>459192
>1am appointment

I didn't know they had specialists working at that time of night. For the next 5 days it's limbo for me, I have no idea how I'm going to get any work done with this on my mind. I guess I just have to keep living and try to forget about it.

First I'm hearing of videocalls on a conventional phone call too. No idea how that's supposed to work.

>>459193
I was thinking more if they hack away at the cancer right I could end up with a master key nob. The toolkit of a master thief, my sophisticated calling card will be screaming in agony as I turn metal door locks with my knob.

>>459196
That's good to hear. If there's a cream I'm going to ask for the nuclear stuff that burns the fucker right off.

>>459197
Now I'm moved to coming in on the 8th. I'd just go private but I doubt they can see me sooner on something that requires a specialist.

>>459197
Now I'm moved to coming in on the 8th. I'd just go private but I doubt they can see me sooner on something that requires a specialist.

>>459200
Is it possible it might be fixed by having a really big wank?

Emotionally devastated is the only way I can describe myself as feeling after reading the Blind Date in The Guardian today. If it weren't for the fridge being completely empty I'd probably just get back under my duvet and close my eyes.

>>459203

... Why?

>>459204
Emily was just so into Ned and he basically just goes "nah". I mean, don't you feel anything? What are you made of stone?*

*As a disclaimer I did get emotional looking at a Silver Birch tree in the wind last week.

Like a child I immediately go to the window whenever I hear an aerocraft engine overhead and once again it paid off because a sodding Lancaster bomber just flew over. Rather low too, so that was a nice treat.

>>459206

You say A Lancaster bomber, but by now isn't it THE Lancaster bomber? Pretty sure there's only one airworthy one left.

I saw one of them when I was a kid at an air show, and I'm pretty sure there's one at the Imperial War Museum you can go in and look around the cockpit and everything. I had an Airfix one too obviously.

Magnificent machines.

>>456005
I just turned 40 and I am dust. I am held together by a mix of spite, alcohol, and prescription medication.

>>456155
That psychoactive substances law was the worst injustice done to the British public probably ever.

>>459262
I think it's probably the reason our nation isn't facing a gender crisis on par with the USA. Turning the frogs gay and all that.