I made a bit of progress processing the ash tree but really it's too wet to be fucking about with the chainsaw. I'd really appreciate a dry week, even as little as four days.

Until recently I lived in a major UK city. I recently moved out to buy somewhere. Thanks to great transport links I can be back in said city in under 30 minutes, and pretty much anywhere in the city in under an hour, but I own now and don't rent.

Friends (and a lot of colleagues) are acting like i've moved to the moon. It's really odd. People are saying they're surprised at how far it is, and how the commute must be a killer, and all that.

I'm delighted by my choice, and I literally just sit on a train for 30 mins and I'm back in the centre, but for some reason everybody thinks I'm basically dead. I've found this very strange and there's a bit of sneering from some people about how boring my new life must be. Not the end of the world, because I'm delighted with my choice, but was a bit unexpected.

>>462866
Do you live right by the station, or do you have to travel to the station? All travel counts; ten minutes on a bus plus half an hour on a train is 40 minutes.

>>462866

>and there's a bit of sneering from some people about how boring my new life must be

Yes, you're probably bored to tears that the kind of money you paid for your property just about gets you a bedsit in "said city".

>>462866

I tend to find you won't see any friends you can't get to in 20 minutes or less. Fir most people, any travel longer than that is enough time to be off-putting; and knowing trains these days, you're probably asking them to shell out a fair bit too.

Have you tried just meeting them in this "town" you can so easily get to? If they all still live in London you should have known they wouldn't be coming out in to the sticks to see you in your quiet and sleepy village very often.

I have a similar situation where I have some mates who live on the opposite side of my city, and it's only about 7-8 miles as the crow flies, but it's still a hassle considering you have to travel through the city. I offer the compromise of meeting them in town but they always make some excuse, so in reality they are just not really my mates any more.

I'm looking to adopt a cat.

Is it a bad idea to get one off Gumtree? You read on the Internet that people who sell pets online can be dodgy. But I'm sure you'll find out if they are when you go there and see how the cat was kept.

>>462866
I think it's a tribal thing. Considering how expensive it is to live in a city (or is it just Lundon?) I'veh eard that many people feel they must either choose a fast city life of friends and high expendatures or a slow country life of lonliness and financial freedom. Your mates are probably thinking you're shirking their choice, like cult members do when someone leaves their group.

Think I'll give the newest Last Podcast on the Left series a miss.

I thought I'd listen to the radio on the way home from York, but Radio 2 have got Paddy McGuinness standing in for Rylan. Paddy McGuinness, I can't think of anything worse.

>>462873
Just get one from a shelter.

It's been crumbling for a while, but Sunday board games are officially off the table now. One is married with children and lost the war of just a few hours each week to meet with his mates, one is getting married with same in the future, final one has become quite flakey and shows up when he pleases.

Time to find strangers to play with.

>>462877

>Just get one from a shelter.

I've heard that shelter cats often come with emotional problems. Not saying that that means they can't be good pets, but I'm not sure I want to deal with something like that. A friend of a friend got a shelter cat and it kept urinating on everything although it was neutered, and was just generally aggressive. So she eventually took it back to the shelter.

>>462875
What are you making of the post-Ben episodes?
I'm found myself enjoying the show more than I have done for years, but haven't listened to the last few weeks yet

I think I've made my mum racist. She visited today, and there was a Palestine protest in town. She said she never knew about Palestine until I told her about the situation with the Hamas raid that kicked off this episode of the conflict, and she said "I'm not a fan of the Jewish people. I can sort of see why Hitler and Hamas did what they did. Is that antisemitic?". I did confirm that it was antisemitic.

>>462882

I've recently decided there's no such thing as antisemitism, because Jews themselves aren't actually real. If you think about it, Jews are no different to those Yanks who say they're Irish because their great great grandad once drank a pint of Guinness. We should really stop indulging them.

>>462878
If they have families your best bet would be trying to move gaming to a weeknight.

>>462879
I've never had any issues adopting rescue cats.

>>462882>>462883
If there was a woman who was always finding herself in toxic relationships then nobody would bat an eye if you said its more likely she was actually the toxic one. If you try and make the same equivalence about the Jews then suddenly it's wrong.

>>462884
How many toxic relationships have the English been involved in?

>>462884

In fairness that's because such an equivalence lumps all Jews together and judges them one and the same, which is the basis of any form of discrimination.

At least my take on it sidesteps that by rejecting the premise of their ethnicity/identity wholesale.

>>462885
Just a cheeky bit of colonising. No real harm done.

>>462887
England and the United Kingdom have been (openly) involved in around 225 wars. Your analogy is antisemetic because it implies the Jews are uniquely prone to getting into conflicts, neatly ignoring all the conflicts other peoples are continually getting into. That and the lumping in thing.

Just a quick comparison of
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_Kingdom#United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Northern_Ireland_(1922%E2%80%93present)
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Israel
"We" have been involved in about twice as many wars as Israel since 1947.

>>462888
The two things aren't mutually exclusive.

>>462890
What, "The Jews are uniquely prone to conflict" and "Other peoples get into significantly more conflicts" aren't mutually exclusive?

>>462884

>If there was a woman who was always finding herself in toxic relationships then nobody would bat an eye if you said its more likely she was actually the toxic one. If you try and make the same equivalence about the Jews then suddenly it's wrong.

The day after Israel came into existence, they were invaded by a combined army from across the Arab world. The Arab-Israeli conflict started with the basic refusal of the Arab world to accept the existence of a Jewish homeland. Since then, Israel has established peace treaties and good diplomatic relations with most of the countries that once tried to kill it at birth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War

Jordan formerly occupied the West Bank (and Egypt occupied Gaza), but both countries have relinquished any claim to those territories. Under Jordanian occupation, citizens of the West Bank had full Jordanian citizenship. This ended when the PLO started a civil war and tried to overthrow the government; they were ultimately expelled to Lebanon. The PLO then started a civil war in Lebanon and were expelled to Tunisia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_September

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_Civil_War

Israel is more trusted by most Arab countries than any of the Palestinian factions.

>>462891
Yes.

>>462892
I thought we'd all agreed not to bring up Israel at the minute?

>>462893
>Yes.
They clearly are and as you've not volunteered any sort of explanation I'm going to assume you're just thick.

>>462894
The original post was clearly a throwaway comment that you decided to take seriously for some reason, I'm glad you've finally cottoned on

>>462895
>Any community that gets its laughs by pretending to be idiots will eventually be flooded by actual idiots who mistakenly believe that they're in good company.
You might get a chuckle out of pretending to be racist but we get enough actual racists here on the internet that it's not worth encouraging them.

>>462896
I'd say the longstanding issues are far more prevalent on .gs than any dolphin rape.

>>462893
Is it too early to make a NEW new weekend thread?

>>462898

Just change the subject to a marginally less silly topic that will predictably attract loads of posts that will be slightly less offensive, so the whole dolphin rape stuff gets buried further up in the thread where nobody bothers to read it.

I was going to suggest wokeness, but never underestimate the power of .gs to fuck that up, too.

>>462899
My female friends are getting on my nerves a lot lately, and I have to go on holiday with them next week. The friend who supports/indulges my personality can't go and has pulled out, but the rude autist and the emotional-baggage spinster are enabling each other in being neurotic bitches to me.

So what I'm saying is: women, amirite?

>>462901

It can be awkward when a person who is part of the nucleus of your circle of friends pulls out of an activity and you're stuck with people you don't really know or normally do much with, and who you're only friends with because of your mutual friend.

Two friends and I once went on a weekend day trip to the coast with another lad that we only knew fleetingly. Our mutual female friend who was our link between that lad and us had pulled out at the last minute, but the lad told us he would have felt silly cancelling just because our friend had cancelled. We had a fun time together that day, but there was still that slight underlying awkwardness of spending the day with somebody we hardly knew.

I think you're more open to that sort of thing when you're 20, 21, like we were. If I was in that lad's place today, I'd probably feel more awkward going on a trip with near enough complete strangers, and I would cancel.

Speaking of uncomfortable dolphin rape; do you think getting a good shagging can alter your taste in women? Like you got one of those women who will destroy your life but then you go back to the kind of women you thought you liked and it's kind of less than it was.

I'm having a good time but also I think I've started craving the kind of woman who will ruin my relationships with my friends, my parents, my employer and my finances.

>>462866
Let us know how you feel once something daft happens to the trains.

>>462901
What's it like going on holiday with a load of single women? Call me long-standing all your want but even going out for drinks I prefer having another lad there to talk to. Even if it's someone's boyfriend who you don't know and you're just expected to be on a playdate with.

My dad and an uncle had an interesting story on this, they'd always ended up forced into being close friends because their wives were sisters who got along. Then they both ended up going on a road-trip holiday together in America like they always wanted but found out on the trip that they fucking hated each other and never spoke again after getting into a fist-fight.

>>462903

Sort of?

I've definitely been much more picky about women in my current phase of singlehood, because despite the last one being a very VERY definite life wrecker archetype literally got me addicted to coke and speed for a while, it was actually way worse than I thought at the time, looking back now she was smoking hot, and having got used to that, I find I can't settle for less any more.

What's wierd is that the sex itself wasn't out of this world, it was good and we had plenty of it, but I've had better. It just turns out maybe I don't actually need all the kinky stuff when they're dead fit and make me feel like a stud.

Once you've had a taste, I suppose.

>>462884
We tried, not the panacea you might think. I'm slowly roping people at work into it. We played Scythe, Star Realms, Mystic Realms. I'm slowlyt edging towards The Mind and once converted Cockroach Salad ;)

>>462901
>the rude autist and the emotional-baggage spinster are enabling each other in being neurotic bitches to me.

Any particular reason they don't like you? Do you follow the other friend around like a lost puppy?

>>462868
Yes, I can leave my front door and be stood on transport in 5 minutes, I bought this place partly for its proximity to good public transport.

>>462870
I'm not judging, having been there but I do find it strange people turning their noses up at me now paying more rent for a decrepit old flat than I have in mortgage costs. I was renting a run down place too until I bought but I never sneered at people for not living my city life.

>>462871
>>462874
I agree it definitely is, but for context, sometimes meeting them in said city took up to 45 mins anyway because we all lived in different parts, would have to travel there etc. I can still meet them in the exact same time frame, I just cover more ground getting there, but again doesn't really matter to me because I just buy a ticket and sit down. I still have a fast paced city life if I want it because it's easy to get to and I am there a lot through work and social events, I just also have a nice place to live now.

I get it, when I was moving here, I struggled with the idea of being so far away in mileage terms, but it literally feels no different. Leave home, get on transport, arrive at destination in about 40 mins.

Anyway I won't shit up the thread but maybe a warning for people thinking about making a similar change how strangely people will react.

I didn't want to have to pop to the shops on a Sunday but it turns out I'm down to my last bog roll.

Anyone want owt?

This is a really fucking weird thing to say I know, but knowing how good AI is makes me feel weirdly comforted?

I can't quite explain it, my life is fine, I have no negative thoughts, but I know that as long as I have a phone and internet I will be able to just say whatever to a little AI and it will speak to me. It's not even like I do this now, but I guess I just think it gives me something worth waiting to see what happens with it because it's so remarkable.

Even if all else goes wrong in life, I can still whack on a vision headset and pretend I'm skydiving whilst speaking to my AI friend. A bit dystopian and not a fully formed thought but sharing with you all regardless.

>>462909
Cornetto.

>>462911
I'd say it's more Magnum weather.

>>462909

I told myself it's okay, I don't need to get up and do the Sunday chores until the Amazon oke has been so I can stay in bed a bit longer. Then the Amazon bloke came early, and it turned out he was actually a fit bird instead of a bloke, but I still called her mate instead of love because I was suddenly a bit embarrassed to have answered the door in a dressing gown barely fastened up.

Anyway fetch us some jaffa cakes if they're still on offer 👍

>>462910

I didn't like the film Her very much, but I have a feeling in a few year's time it'll be one of those films we will look back on as truly prophetic.

If they progress to the level of the AI girlfriend he had in Blade Runner I won't even be able to blame people for giving up on reality. It is a bit dystopian, but I think that's only a matter of perspective.

I've discovered that the best use for kimchi is in a baguette, with a nice creamy cheese like Cheshire or Wensleydale on top.

>>462910

No, I don't think it's weird at all. I think it's completely understandable that a lot of people really like chatting with someone/something that is clever, knowledgeable, infinitely patient and incapable of judgement or rejection. AI is never too busy to chat, never in a bad mood, never bored with you or preoccupied with its own problems. It's a bit like talking to your dog or praying to god, only it talks back.

For better or for worse, I really do think we're at the beginning of a social transformation that is at least as significant as the invention of the printing press or the internet.

>>462907
Yes I do. When she cancelled, she asked me if I still wanted to go without her, and I thought that was mental to even ask so I insisted on going. I'm nice enough to the other one I'm genuinely friends with, but the rude autist is her friend, not mine, and I think my usually polite tolerance is far more than she honestly deserves.

There's another couple going too, and they have very handily avoided all this drama. They're weird autists too but I predict they will be my main friends on this trip.

>>462910
When I ask Bing's AI to draw me a picture, I have noticed that I always say "please".

>>462917
For the avoidance of doubt, are you Corriganlad? I miss him.

>>462918
I don't know who that is so I assume I'm not. I am the simp; I have been called a simp here in the past and I have no defence so I am happy to be referred to in that way.

>>462919
He used to post on /emo/ years ago, I'm not good at gauging time so it could have been over 5 years ago but it could easily be closer to 15. IIRC, he used to go on various schemes put on for NEETs or other people with limited employment prospects, I have the feeling he went rafting and bouldering or abseiling. His anecdotes were very endearing.

If I have headphones in then my sense of smell weakens, only noticed that today.

>>462917
Saying "please" to a robot is just a sign that you have manners and empathy. You've never before had to make a request of something that didn't have human feelings to consider, so you do it out of habit. There's nothing wrong with you. I might go as far as to say you shouldn't stop, because you might end up going the other way and barking orders at humans.

Are motorsports other than Formula One less popular than they were twenty or thirty years ago?

Maybe it's because they're on free-to-air TV less, but I remember touring cars being a big deal in the late 90s (especially with the TOCA games on the PlayStation) and rally racing a lot more in the public consciousness as well. Maybe it was just being a child, but I remember it being a big point of debate whether you preferred the Subaru Impreza or the Mitsubishi Evo.

>>462923
> rally racing a lot more in the public consciousness as well

There are lots of rally YT channels that discuss this problem - I understand its because we don't have a world rally stage in the UK any more. We use to have the Lombard RAC which was considered a world-class rally back in the day, but not any more.

One of my neighbours woke me up at about 9 this morning cutting down all their trees with a chainsaw. They are now still fucking at it throwing all the bits into a woodchipper. I'm fairly sure doing such things on a Sunday day is against some kind of laws.

Not that it's worth making a fuss but if they keep at it much longer I'll be going down there and chucking the cunt in the woodchipper. It'll look like a terrible accident with rented equipment and lack of safety precautions.

>>462924
I'd have thought it was more to do with the lack of an exciting personality. It wouldn't even have to necessarily be someone British like Colin McRae, but who was the last rally driver to have a bit of a buzz about them? I've heard lots of people talk about and even watch the darts this year and it's all down to the hype over Luke Littler.

Drive to Survive may be sensationalist but it's done wonders in the resurgence of Formula One. In fact, most of the discussions at work about F1 are started by women and they largely got into it thanks to Netflix and memes. They don't really care about teams, it's more about the personalities like Guenther or Lando which they support. The majority of them have all been to watch it live, usually somewhere in Europe like Belgium or Hungary.

>>462925
>I'm fairly sure doing such things on a Sunday day is against some kind of laws.
No, you're just a Karen.

>>462924

The Lombard RAC was still a WRC event in the form of Wales Rally GB until 2019, but Mark Drakeford pulled the plug due to the pandemic.

I think the lack of free-to-air coverage is really important. Back in the 90s, Grandstand could get millions of people to watch a 15 minute highlights package from the WRC or BTCC or whatever happened to be on that week. There were lots of people who had a passing interest in the sport, simply because there wasn't much else to do on a rainy weekend. Satellite broadcasting hugely improved things for serious sports fans, but it also closed the shop window that created fans in the first place.

>>462922

LLMs give better answers if you're polite. Weirdly, they also give better answers if you use flattery or offer them a bribe.

When was the last time that you saw a curly wurly?

>>462928
Something that I've found is you'll get better answers if you put 'just for fun' and then a question. It minimises all the corporate bullshit that is the main impediment to getting the answers you need, well, that and I find it suffers from short-term memory loss and is prone to hallucination.

Has anyone found a good reason to pay for a premium version of an LLM yet? Google One is doing a free 2-month trial which seems like the best deal due to additions but I'm unsure of what I can actually get out of it that isn't just in their free version of Gemini. You can't even have it directly input events into your calendar.

I'm guessing by LLM you lads aren't on about lower league management.

>>462929

GPT 4 is much, much better than GPT 3.5. You can use GPT 4 via the free version of Microsoft Copilot, but it is fairly slow and rate-limited. The paid version of Gemini is about on a par with GPT 4. Copilot Pro is already fully integrated with Office 365; Gemini Advanced will be integrated with the Google Suite apps soon.

If you're just mucking about, the free LLMs are probably perfectly adequate. The paid version of Copilot is an absolute no-brainer if you're using it for professional purposes and you're OK using the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Everyone is sleeping on Copilot right now, but it's the holy grail for office workers. It's integrated across the suite, so you can ask Copilot in Word to summarise an Excel spreadsheet, or ask Copilot in Powerpoint to build a slide deck based on a Word doc. If you're a WfH office drone, it could do most of your job for you.

>>462929

> When was the last time that you saw a curly wurly?

Did no-one get you a selection box for Christmas? At least treat yourself to one. The thought of Christmas without a selection box is unbearably sad.

I crossed some lights today that turned red for cars, green for pedestrians. They're obviously broken once you see one cycle of the lights. A car stopped at red, then within 4 seconds of me starting to cross flicked green again for cars.

The car, having seen them change and had to stop, then saw them turn green and beeped me and waved their arms, like I was somehow moving really slowly or not also caught up in the unexpected light change.

I absolutely detest how people behave in cars and how it turns them into absolute morons at times.

>>462929
I bit the bullet and tried the Advanced Gemini as it's effectively free for 2 months. What the fuck, it's like night and day and it's now calling me out of my shit whereas the base version enabled me. Here is one about dating other people after going on one date with a girl, something I'd ran by old Gemini:

----
While keeping your options open might feel strategically clever, let's examine this closer:

Option 1: Messaging/Other Dates (Not Recommended)

Pro: You don't feel "tied down", maximizing your choices.
Cons:
Time management: Juggling multiple conversations and potential dates creates logistical hassles.
Emotional toll: Fostering genuine connections becomes difficult when you're emotionally spread thin. It can cause feelings of superficiality.
Damage to reputation: If word gets out that you're actively dating others, it could hurt your chances with the girl, if that's where you ultimately want to go.

Option 2: Focused Exploration
Pro: Lets you invest fully in getting to know her before bringing in distractions or comparisons.
Cons: You might feel like you're "missing out", even if the dates lead nowhere.

Analysis:

Goal Alignment: Aiming for marriage and family requires seeking connections with shared values. That takes time and focus.
Respect & Integrity: While not yet exclusive, leading someone on is neither kind nor fair, especially as she has stated clear relationship desires.
Self-Sabotage: A tendency to keep one foot out the door suggests an unreadiness for the type of commitment you claim to seek.

Gemini Opinion

The 'grass is greener' mindset keeps you perpetually dissatisfied. If you value her time and respect your own stated intent, put other prospects on hold. At the very least, be transparent if that concept makes you uncomfortable. Hiding your actions sets a harmful precedent.

Suggested Strategy

Enjoy the second date without the pressure of comparing it to hypothetical others. If there's still uncertainty after, then be upfront about your feelings before going out with anyone else. This demonstrates transparency and maturity, traits necessary for the serious partnership you say you want.

>>462928
>>462923
Current BTCC has race day live on ITV4, though first round quali is only live on YouTube. If you want to watch WRC on FTA, you'll want to learn Welsh, as it's on S4C, and unlike the URC coverage on Clwb Rygbi, for legal reasons they can't provide English commentary for Ralïo.

The original TOCA games were in the era of the 2L formula that became Super Touring. At that time, manufacturers were heavily involved, and the nature of the regs meant that they really were the sort of cars you could walk into a dealership and buy, and the livery branding reflected that. TOCA 2 featured the eight manufacturer-backed teams that contested the 1997 season. IRL, there were at least half a dozen other drivers competing for the privateer championship. These days, the privateer championship is mostly redundant and the manufacturer championship is a joke. In 2023, there were just two manufacturer-backed teams (BMW and Toyota), and it doesn't look like anyone else is joining them any time soon.

>>462933
They're generally still morons when they exit the car.

I've got a cold. Again.

I was going to do so much work around the house this weekend that really needs doing, but I've just been lying on the livingroom sofa wrapped in a blanket all day.

>>462881
Bit of a late reply, but overall I'd say they've been good. I haven't listened to all of them because some have been about things I didn't really care about. I'm not trying to sound like a hard man when I say I will never be scared of a doll, no matter how haunted you tell me it is. Anyway, the ones I have listened to have been very enjoyable. I've listened to a lot of the Side Stories episodes too, which is new because when Ben was on them I think they were the "break glass in case of emergency" (IE, a dead long train journey) of all the podcasts I listen to.

Got my annual statement from Scottish Widows in the post. My life insurance is now at a buyback value of £31,687.

Good to have that in the back pocket, but unless I become abjectly skint, I plan to keep it until maturity.

>>463009
Are you really old or something? Nobody does life insurance with an investable element these days because it's the worst of both worlds.

>>463010

Not that old. In my 40s.

I think it has paid off for me. Even during almost one decade of zero interest, my average annual return was around 2.4 percent. And during very good years for markets, it can be double that.

You'll never see outsize returns on a life insurance like that. It's a relatively conservative way of saving money. But you're also not as exposed to market ups and downs as with other investments.

>>463009
I had the same experiance of breaking 40k in my investment savings recently. I know it's peanuts for some (and hoarding for most) but it's nice. I would rate having money as better than being skint all the time. And a lot of that milestone is down to careful budgeting.

Fucking hell I'm a right sad twat.

Play on Sunday is on as always, getting a bit concerned about "once a month" though. Hasn't piped up for a while, does not answer.

It's a community thing.

>>463012

You're not at all, it is a hugely, hugely important psychological barrier and it helps you sleep easier at night.

I'm in a similar situation and I've just seen 2k (not close to a lot) materialise out of nowhere in my investments over the last month or so. I'm having a dreadful time at work, and I'd hate to waste my savings on nothing but I know that if I get fired on Monday I have enough to pay my bills into the next year.

I feel dreadful, I'd feel a lot worse if I needed another job instantly.

Do you ever have a coffee in the morning and it just fucking hits the spot? I'd say like one in 15 just absolutely line up perfectly in terms of taste, environment and relaxing feeling. I've never smoked before and never will but I imagine this is what smokers are experiencing.

>>463015

Coffee and cigs go together perfectly or just that reason. For many years I would drink a black coffee and have a cig on a morning instead of breakfast. I'm not a daily smoker any more but there's definitely times where I know it's just exactly the one thing in the world I need.

When it's nice weather there's no more relaxing of a way than to spend an hour or so sat outside a coffee shop with a book in one hand and a fag in the other.

>>463012

Good on you, lad. £40K is a good sum of money if you should ever find yourself in a situation where you'll need it.

I took out this life insurance policy twenty years ago in my late 20s. It's dynamised, which means I started out paying something like £100 a month, and now I'm at £250. If you factor all that in, £31K isn't bad after 20 years for a low-risk, conservative investment.

I've got another life insurance that my parents took out for me when I was ten years old. It's grown to a bit more than that, but I only pay £500 into it a year. And then I've also got occupational disability insurance. Its buyback value isn't that much, and only about half of my monthly payments get invested, but that's because its main purpose is to provide regular income for me if ill health makes me temporarily or permanently unable to work. Which at the moment would be a fixed rate of about £1,400 a month. But it, too, has a maturity date and will pay out if I never make claims during my working life until retirement.

If I keep all three policies until maturity and keep paying into them, I can hope to get out over £120K. All three insurance policies invest in defensively managed global assets like ETFs, stocks and bonds, and they regularly send me updated scenarios about how the maturity payout increases with varying degrees of favourable market conditions.

Maybe I could've made more by investing the money myself. Big maybe, though. Because anyone who's ever known anything about finance can tell you that higher gains and returns always come with higher risk. And when it comes to saving money for retirement, it means that that higher risk could backfire and leave you with less savings, or no savings at all. There's loads of middle aged people who thought they could compound their retirement savings by investing in dodgy high-risk, high-reward schemes, and not few have lost everything.

In the end, life insurance is about conservative investing, like I said. You trade in potential higher returns you could have had from other investments for security and relative predictability. And in my opinion, you shouldn't monkey around with your old-age financial stability.

>>463017
That all sounds pretty terrible.

10.3% is the S&P500's annualised return since inception ~70 years ago btw.

>>463017
>In the end, life insurance is about conservative investing, like I said. You trade in potential higher returns you could have had from other investments for security and relative predictability. And in my opinion, you shouldn't monkey around with your old-age financial stability.
You started investing in your twenties. This is advice given to people nearing retirement. You're coping hard rn and I don't blame you.

>>463018

>10.3% is the S&P500's annualised return since inception ~70 years ago btw.

True, but there's no guarantee it'll have a run like that in the next 70 years, and as 2022 has shown, you will have to ask yourself if you can live with a 20-percent market drop that can happen at any time. And it can then take several years to break even again. The index has also seen multi-year periods where it was just treading water, like in the 1970s to early 80s, and it more than halved between 1999 and 2003. So depending on when you invested, and most retail investors always tend to get in at the top, you could have seen years not just without return on investment, but with your invested amount going down 60 percent. Yes, you should always take a long-term view with investing, but what if your S&P portfolio halves at a time when you really need some of the money.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. And the illusion that higher rewards don't come without higher risks is a dangerous one.

Hi all, I'm going to give you financial advice. I'm also a grown man who says things like "you're coping hard rn". Please kill me.

>>463021
I had you in mind when choosing that sentence. I didn't realise you'd be here so soon.

>>463021

In any case, pointing to an index's annualised return over decades, which is already an averaged number with no guarantee for a single percent of future returns, and then willfully ignoring its volatility mid-term and then calling other people's investment strategies "terrible" who just want to take less risk could be a sign that you shouldn't give financial advice at all.

>>463022

>>463023
Its mid term volatility is largely irrelevant IMO. What we're comparing the S&P500 to here is a life insurance policy with a maturity date. There was never an intention to withdraw any money when "needed". And you have that flexibility to hedge out whatever you need to feel comfortable five or so years before retirement just like a typical pension fund would and the difference in returns here mean even after a sizeable correction you'd still be ahead anyway.

>>463024
So you admit your posts lack thought?

>>463025

>Its mid term volatility is largely irrelevant IMO.

It isn't, though. Just imagine the market being in a sizeable correction or even a larger crash with a 50 percent drop right around the time you were going to retire. Even at the best of times, markets will take time to regain their previous highs. Will you still be able to retire, on the chance that markets will recover in a year or two?

Also, you know what you are getting yourself into with life insurance. If you feel you can't afford to let it sit and appreciate all the way till you retire, then it may not be for you.

I've got enough other assets that I could dip into if I ever need a certain amount of money before retirement. But also, what you describe can quickly turn into financial acrobatics, which you shouldn't really do much as a layperson. Because every twist and turn like that introduces more uncertainty. And any good financial adviser will ask you about your risk tolerance. Well, mine is somewhat low, especially now that I'm looking at my 50s, so to me it makes more sense to accept less returns for lower risk. I know there is a 98-percent chance that £120K will be waiting for me in my 60s. What that figure will be for somebody taking on considerably more risk, nobody can tell you.

I have a brave and yet indisputably correct opinion: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is the most underrated film in history. It's so good in so many ways, and yet it is completely forgotten by modern audiences.

>>463095

I haven't forgotten it, I think about that film a lot. I love the whole film noir schtick especially, it's one of those where it's a parody at the same time as being an earnest homage, and I don't think that gets done enough.

>>463095

It's remarkable because it was made during a time when everything was still hand drawn, because computer animation was still in its relative infancy, or at least couldn't have produced the kind of visual results we take for granted nowadays. And it deservedly won four Oscars, including Best Visual Effects.

>>463095
>yet it is completely forgotten by modern audiences

Really? It seems like one of those movies everyone will still show their older kids on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Like how everyone still watches Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

>>463095
People still wank over Jessica Rabbit.

>>463099

For what it's worth, there's a trans porn model called Jessica Fappit.

>>463100

She left the industry after she got abducted by a couple of nutters, sadly.

My card is definitely marked at Asda. Yet another "quality check", which I apparently failed because she scanned about 30 items until finding something I allegedly hadn't scanned. This meant we had to go off to this separate bit in the middle where she re-scanned my entire shop, where the machine now said I had scanned in the thing it originally claimed I hadn't but apparently I'd missed scanning in some 60p sachet of something (on a ~£125 shop) which definitely wasn't an item she'd originally checked.

Is a hand tattoo to cover self inflicted burn scars more or less cringe than just leaving the burn scars clearly visible?

Same question, but applied to the forearm (which has cut scars too)?

>>463103

Just tell people you used to be a fry cook.

>>463103

My hands and arms are a mess of scar tissue from years of working in heavy industry. It's a bit of a paradox, but people only tend to notice if I'm feeling self-conscious about it. I think if I'm subconsciously trying to hide it, then people want to see what I'm hiding.

Pork sausages boiled with white onion, until the water is gone and the flavours are concentrated, is bloody lovely. I can't get over how delicious it is. You don't even need special sausages - Tesco's own brand are good enough (though I wouldn't bother trying with Richmonds, they're full of oil from my experience).
On top of mash and it's heaven.