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.

>>463106
until the onions are caramelised or still white-ish?

Tattoos are cool, everyone knows this.

>>463107
Still whiteish - I don't trust my cooking ability not to burn them, though sometimes they've caramalised which is nice too.

The directors of Son of Saul and Zone of Interest are fighting!

Just hit my ankle on the nightstand while trying to get out of bed.

This day is not off to a good start.

Good job BBC Three have put Two Pints back on. Sheridan Smith was hot in those days. Her character was always my pauper shag fantasy. I would have loved to do her in her council flat IYKWIM.

>>463186
You've posted this recently elsewhere on here.

I was always more of a Donna man. Not sure why but I've always preferred the straight-man who seemingly has herself together in anything I watch.

>>463187

Donna always seemed a bit too bitchy to me. Janet was more relatable. Like somebody you'd actually have a shot with.

Penny Mordaunt's twin brother is even sexier than she is.

https://www.instagram.com/jayhammer101/

>>463190
Well I see no reason for us to argue about this. If we ever get sucked into the 2000s BBC Three universe, where there's no Gaz and Jonny about, let me chat to Donna first and then you can come over to chat to Janet. Donna probably gets the wingman more than Janet so it will be a nice way for us to play this.

Of course we'll use BBC Three logic to build a machine that could get us back to our reality but leave it on a cliff-hanger if we actually go through with it.

>>463193

>Of course we'll use BBC Three logic to build a machine that could get us back to our reality but leave it on a cliff-hanger if we actually go through with it.

what if they go off the air again and leave us hanging another six years before they return.


Yes I know they were a streaming service during that time, but to me that will never count as proper television.

>>463192
Thats a lot of hashtags that will upset the usual Conservative type.

Cardiff University put this out. Is it a parody? Seriously depressing.

My council tax has gone down £40 a month. Which seems odd as my council went bankrupt at the end of 2023. Shouldn't they increase council tax to get some much needed moolah?

I'm going to be rich enough to tip delivery drivers. I'm going to do this.

>>463196
AI generated imagery.

>>463197
Give it to a delivery driver.

>>463197
Nottingham Council is increasing Council Tax by the maximum amount allowed for the upcoming tax year.

Are you confusing the tax year's final payment for an ongoing reduction?

>>463196
Why does every scenario have to be so extreme?

They'll do two because that's what the government will tell them to do and it's what will fund postgraduate research as the international student bonanza dries up. Simple necessity will drive degrees that feel a lot more like apprenticeships. Option one won't happen because immigration policy won't allow it and very few students would actually stand to benefit from the change while the latter half of the scenario is a thinly-veiled admission they will cut everything.

Three would be the obvious nice-to-have if they moved away from it being an exploitative anti-establishment commune and more towards also serving as a long-term adult education and community wellbeing initiative. But really that's stepping into the already crowded market of colleges and the Open University.

>Seriously depressing.

It's okay, we've long since cut philosophy everywhere so eventually nobody will worry about those niggling questions of existence and the good life.

>>463199
I'm a retard, when my girlfriend told me we're paying £40 less a month, she means compared to the last couple of months where we were paying more than normal to make up for not paying December. It has indeed gone up overall and in actual terms.

This is why she deals with all the financials and utilities because I am a clueless manchild.

I don't understand how my council tax works but I can't be arsed querying it, to be honest.

When I moved in here I sorted it all out straight away but didn't end up having to pay anything for the first two months, which a colleague explained to me is basically just because they take it from the start of the tax year so I'll be paying a higher amount over that year to cover it. But I also get the single occupancy discount so presumably that's balanced it out a bit. But in theory that should mean it goes down as of the next tax year, right?

However when I look on the council tax page of my council interweb account it says I've been paying £110 a month, and then next to it is says £-93, so I've no clue what it's about or how much I can expect it to be next month.

Which do you reckon lads, will I pay less next month or more?

>>463205
My money is on a big bill to settle the balance at the end of this tax year. You might want to ring the up and ask.

>>463205
>But in theory that should mean it goes down as of the next tax year, right?
In normal circumstances where council tax isn't seeing record hikes, probably. Don't be surprised if there's not much difference.

I was evicted towards the start of last year. I had known it was coming, so took to paying my council tax in arrears - effectively, I made payments to them after the fact for periods I'd known I'd been at the property. First I tried to notify them in advance, but the online system wouldn't take a future date, so I emailed them only to be told that they'd make a note but couldn't guarantee that anyone would pay attention to it. It took around two months for them to eventually process this, during which time they'd sent notices for the coming year, demands for payment for the rest of the remaining year, and demands for the entire coming year's payment upfront and a penalty for missed payments, because I hadn't made a payment to them in three months. I reminded them that I'd informed them in advance of when I was leaving and cordially invited them to fuck off, and they eventually just sent me a bill for the outstanding period of about 6 weeks.

I haven't had this year's council tax bill yet. Nor have I had a water bill, come to think of it. I assume they will get round to it at some point. I still get random letters from e.on that are only bills about half the time, so they definitely know I'm here, even though they think two people live here with the same name and all sorts of other hopeless errors.

An upturned ladle makes an ideal skullcap with a mullet.

>>463221

Not the toppest of tips

Saturday will be four years since the first Covid lockdown began. Was it all a fever dream?

>>463319

Good times.

I'd be happy to go back into full lockdown again. I enjoyed it.

>>463319
I was thinking about the prelude to COVID a few weeks ago. At the library at uni there were posters telling anyone who has travelled from East Asia in recent weeks to self quarantine. Loads of public places with toilets had signs telling you to sing Happy Birthday twice while washing your hands and then use sanitiser. Would never have expected that a fortnight later we'd all be confined to our homes and going to the supermarket being like a fucking FEDRA camp in a zombie film.

>>463319
It sounds daft to say I'd rather like another.
It was so peaceful and the roads were lovely to drive on.
Maybe we should have lockdown week once a year.

>>463326
Is there a religion out there that observes a proper slowdown once a year? Although I guess lockdown was special because so many people did it simultaneously.
I know it was shit for a lot of people, but it was great for me & mine. And I miss that crazy sunny spring weather, with no contrails in the sky, just massive blue.

Nevermind lockdown, today is the fifteenth anniversary of Jade Goody passing away.

>>463325

I miss the Daily Mail having its photographers pounce on shoppers outside shops and calling them out on page 1 with pictures because they weren't buying essential goods. I remember one picture where a woman had a plant and a bag of compost in her trolley outside Homebase or B&Q, and they made her look like the worst person in the world.

I mean, there's low hanging fruit, and there's scraping the bottom of the barrel. If you like to see the world burn, then at least be honest about it.

Sunak "prefers the original" England shirt. You know, the Original England Shirt. Fucking moron.

>>463331

Westminster is full of bad wools.

>>463329
>Sending angels to watch over you

>>463319
I fucking hate how that was 4 years ago. Why'd you have to go and remind me?

>>463328
There's Christmas which even comes with it's own form of panic buying.

>>463332

Bad wool = fake football fan?

>>463351

Just went to a paint shop where I had some rattle cans colour matched and made to order for my car.

It must be incredibly unhealthy working in a place like that, with that smell of paint solvents in the air all day. It was starting to give me a headache after just ten minutes of being inside that shop. One of my mates trained as a professional car painter after school, and I remember him telling me that one of the long-term occupational hazards for painters is memory loss and other neurodegenerative disorders.

>>463354

Ironically, car painters were saved by paint becoming more toxic.

The old solvent lacquers would slowly rot your brain over the course of decades. Modern polyurethane paint contains isocyanates, which you quickly develop an allergy to. Employers don't much care if you develop dementia in your fifties, but they really do care if you become severely allergic to your own job.

These days everyone going into the paint booth wears an air-fed hood that constantly supplies you with clean air from the same compressor as your spray gun. It's very reliable protection if you can resist the urge to flip up the visor every five minutes to check your work. Modern HVLP spray guns also produce a lot less overspray, which economises on paint and gives better finishes but also has the side-effect of greatly reducing the amount of paint in the air.

I couldn't tell you what goes into a rattle can, but I wouldn't want to use them regularly.

>>463358

>I couldn't tell you what goes into a rattle can, but I wouldn't want to use them regularly.

I don't use tham that regularly. But I bought the cans to paint a front wing that I got from the breakers for my car. Mine has a nasty scrape in it and a dent removal place I went to said the wing is beyond repair. The cheapest option was the used wing for £50 and then on top of that I paid £80 for a few cans of basecoat and 2K clearcoat today. I will be doing a few exterior trim pieces on my car as well, while I'm at it. There's a deep scratch down to the primer in the offside mirror housing, and the aluminium bootlid handle has started cauliflowering.

I have been so fucking bored today. Just an unbelievably dull time. I was going to watch a film, but put it off because the weather seemed a bit iffy, but by Jove, I wish I had, because now all I've done is eat like shit and stare at screens.

My mum now regularly tells me about the death of someone that I've never met - often someone that she only tangentially knows. I'm never sure how I'm supposed to react. I mean, it's sad that Auntie Sandra's ex-husband has died, but I didn't know that he existed until five seconds ago and you can't remember the last time you saw him. I'm not all that bothered when people I know die, TBH.

>>463366
I really wanted to go on a random adventure somewhere today. But yesterday, I bought loads of vegetables to eat a fairly experimental lunch (I eat very unhealthily, but I do cook my own food, but it's the same thing every time). So I had to stay home and eat the vegetables. To illustrate how unlike me this is, of all the wacky leaves and shit I bought, I decided I would eat loads of basil, but then I also bought pesto because I was unaware that is also basil. In the end, to be fair, I would say my super-vegetable lunch was pretty decent, but that was almost entirely down to the spring onions and ginger and not at all to do with the wok full of spinach and red cabbage and whatever other hippie shit my fridge is now stuffed with.

I have various things I need to buy as well, nearly all clothes, so I went to House of Fraser to get fancy. I looked online and it said it was open till 8pm, but I got there at 6pm and the shutters were all down and they told me to fuck off. So now I have Marks & Spencer pyjamas instead like a fucking granddad. And I don't feel any different after eating loads of vegetables, which implies I probably didn't have scurvy or anything, so that's good news too. I'll be a real boy by the end of the year at this rate.

I look like Tracy Emin with worse personal grooming.

>>463369

Hasn't done her any harm.

Not sure what it is about Prot girls but they all seem lovely and kind and nice and wholesome. It's a shame non traditional Christian worship music is gay as fuck. Like when I tried a church a couple of months ago and it's miserable Christian buttrock played by a live band.

>>463373

You know what we always say about mentally ill females lad.

>>463373

We call them prods, yanklad.

>>463373
Maybe you should show them your stupid fucking Twitter memes and then self-immolate in front of them.

>>463375

I dated a proper psycho lass for a while once. She was manic depressive and taking a whole assortment of antipsychotic prescription drugs that she essentially needed to keep from jumping out the window or going back into involuntary commitment. Some of those drugs, when they hit after taking them, made her a complete zombie with a blank stare I'll never forget.

World class sex though. She would often say she needed to feel filled physically to make up for the inconsolable emptiness she felt emotionally. So there was a lot of it. The drawback was that she was happy having just anybody fill her. So then when I found out she was cheating on me, I was actually the one who ended it. To which she said "Yeah, that's fine, I guess you have to, after what I've done". In that same expressionless voice she always had after taking her medication. Which was a bit scary.

Oh I had such plans for the weekend, instead I sat around and bought shit off the internet.

You're looking at the proud owner of a VPN - a product I have absolutely no use for but got for £43 for 2 years. A man whose bedroom is a bit of a state and he hasn't been to the gym because he spent Friday night playing a computer game and things just went downhill from there.

>>463380
I spent the entire weekend playing Helldivers and I don't feel at all ashamed. I did a workout both evenings, I hoovered up and I at least put all my recycling in a pile near the door. I didn't take it out but it's on its way.

Just got back from Insomnia festival. Only went for a day. Birmingham NEC and its grounds are a nightmare to navigate.

The festival itself was underwhelming. Didn't have big new games shown like MCM sometimes does, just indie shit and gimmicky VR. Big stall for the army, I guess they want to recruit the autistic 12 year old demographic. Lots of stalls selling overpriced tat. Think there were at least four selling shitty plastic anime swords, and one selling £400 lightsabers. My brother queued for an hour to meet PyroCynical who seems to be a big deal but I've never watched anything of his. The e-sports were shit - Mario Kart, Valorant, Overwatch, Fortnite. Nothing for true gamers such as myself.

Though if you're into fat/alt/fat & alt girls cosplaying and/or wearing skimpy outfits, there's plenty of crumpet. One girl had thighs the width of my abdomen, and was wearing a skirt so short you could see the bottom of her arse cheek. Lovely stuff.

Watching 35mm slides of family holidays from the late 80s to early 90s. On a Braun projector from circa 1970 that turned on without a fuss after collecting dust in its box in a basement corner for probably 30 years. Only the transport mechanism needed a bit of nudging the first few minutes and I had to wipe some lint off the lens.

No technology in use today can guarantee that kind of longevity. You'll probably have to migrate your digital photos several times between SSDs and whatever future storage technology just to prevent bit rot and other technical faults the next 30 years.

And the old Fuji film looks as crisp as ever with no signs of colour washout or other deterioration.

Today I recalled a memory from a few years back that has always stuck with me - I used to date a doctor who would discuss her patients. Anonymously but she was very chatty and I suppose it's something of her job that she liked.

We went out for a birthday lunch to meet one of her old friends and her boyfriend. After the usual catching up she got to talking about a patient she had whose son was in his early 20s and wasn't going anywhere in life. Not that he was in with a bad crowd but he just stayed in his room and didn't have much direction. It reminded me of myself at that age only this young boy was being attacked for it, like just because he wasn't on some straight and narrow track it was wrong and he was a monster for it.

It made me furious but I guess everyone in the group assumed that I had never been a kid who wasn't going anywhere in his youth, after all I had a good career and wore a suit everyday. I kept my mouth shit but when asked I pointed out that life wasn't so easy to work out and was promptly ignored like I'd said something daft. People are worse than animals sometimes I guess. I gave up on the relationship at that point but it's one of the encounters that stayed with me because the cruelty and simple judgmentalness of it killed me a little inside. I guess my own mum might've had the same conversation with her friends and family when I was younger.

>>463425
It's sad that a doctor who presumably earns good money, in a role people respect, would so openly punch down at someone struggling in life. Not specifically because they're a doctor, but if they're qualified they'd be at least 25ish by which point people should aim to not be judgmental cunts.

>>463426

Most people never really grow up, most people never really develop any true self awareness, and most people never really realise what good fortune and guidance they have had that put them where they are. People are just overall pretty shit.

What I love is when I hear co-workers complain about their good for nothing kids is that I can't see anybody else to blame for that than themselves. Raising a child isn't easy and you can't control everything about a kid's life, but I do firmly believe the parents are the people most responsible for the way a kid turns out.

>>463426

Doctors are, above all else, swots. Their lives between about the ages of 14 and 26 are completely mapped out for them. Once they decide to become a doctor, they have to pick a specific set of GCSE options, a specific set of A-levels and a specific set of extracurricular activities to get into medical school. Once they graduate and become an FY1, they're on rotation - they work at whichever hospital they're sent to (which could be anywhere in the country) and work in whatever department they're sent to.

They're a peculiar set of people with a peculiar world view. They entered adulthood in a system of very competitive pass/fail tests and (by definition) cleared all of those hurdles. They're tough, they're determined, they work hard, but they're also a little bit developmentally stunted because of the rigid nature of their life course. Out in the world that the rest of us inhabit, it's normal to finish school or university and not be sure of what to do next. It's normal to try different things out, to hedge your bets, to stumble into something by chance, to give something a go but change your mind later. In their world, those are all just different names for failure.

I know a few doctors and, without wanting to generalise too much, a lot of them are a bit two-dimensional as people. They're mature and confident within their professional role, but outside of that they're basically still a sixth-former trying a bit too hard to impress. They're the product of a system that aggressively selects for and inculcates a particular mix of conformity and bravado.

It might be an odd comparison, but they remind me a bit of professional footballers - excellent at what they do, but also somewhat cloistered and naive, because getting to their position demands obsessive commitment from an early age.

If you had 43k in the bank, and needed urgently to get 3-6k more, how would you go about doing it?

I'm sorry that must be one of the silliest questions ever asked on this forum.

>>463430

The boring answer is a reasonable bank loan.

The fun answer is stick 3 grand on black on the roulette.

>>463431

>The fun answer is stick 3 grand on black on the roulette.

Or buy stock options. A bit more unnerving, with similar to worse odds than roulette.

I'm on day five of an Amoxicillin course after a hand injury became infected. My arse is feeling sore and I'm starting to get diarrhea. Luckily tonight I'll be taking the final tablet.

Needed to go shopping but I couldn't be arsed going in to brave the shops when it's likely going to be busy as fuck this weekend, and ordered from Asda off the JustEat app.

How many items are going to be missing? Let's find out. I'm going to report the expensive ones like coffee and chicken breasts as missing anyway to scrounge back a bit of money.

I like to think I keep abreast of world events, but I couldn't tell you who thr German chancellor is now. I've no idea who replaced Merkel, other than it being a man, and they don't rally seem to be in the news much.

>>463435
>and they don't rally seem to be in the news much.
Really? Olaf Scholz isn't in the news as much as Merkel was during Brexit, but since the beginning of the Russo-Ukraine War he's been a pretty common fixture. I do listen to the BBC's Global News Podcast all the time, often watch Channel 4 News and almost always have a tab with the Guardian open on my browser, so I'm probably more newsed up than most. Honestly I wouldn't recommend it, it's a fucking nightmare out there. Actually that's not really true, and it's probably more important than ever to have a solid base of knowledge regarding what's going on in the world. However, I can't exactly blame people for not wanting to know ever instance of governmental repression or rape as a weapon of war going on in the world. Also a lot of people are thick as pig shit which doesn't help.

Happy Easter, lads.

I've not had sex in 8 years (been with my gf 9 years) but I foolishly have curated my Twitter to be 90% porn and 10% far left politics. I can't control my horny level.

>>463438
Blimey, Prince William's at it more than you and his missus is dead.

>>463437
>chocolate bowl
Why gave I never thought of this before? And why only 4 eggs? It's either 3 or 5, everybody knows this surely?

Currently feeling disgusted with myself and have a painful chocolate spot on the corner of my 'stache. I've gained 3kg over the past couple weeks because people keep talking me into pizza and doughnuts.

It's what Jesus wanted.

>>463438
Have we already been over that you need to do something about this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiL23P1W9dQ

Made me laugh just now.

Is it naive to pretend disorders aren't disorders?

I'm in an autism Discord, and people were saying autistic people don't have disorders and that Autistic Spectrum Disorder is offensive as a term, it's actually society that's in the wrong. But my thinking is that if we're happy to have the label of "disabled", if we're happy to receive PIP and DSA and special adjustments at work, that does imply we do in fact have some sort of drawbacks we need additional support for, which could be only considered a disorder. I can fully admit my social skills are poor, I have weird sensitivites to certain stuff, my thinking can be overly rigid. It's not my fault per se, but it is a disorder of my brain. Society as a whole can't be blamed for me being unable to read emotions.

Just like how personality disorders are where the development of your personality was negatively impacted and therefore a disorder, just like how ADHD means how your processing of attention and retaining information and other things is disordered. I don't think the depathologisation of neurodivergence is actually that helpful.

But the way everyone else felt made me feel like some self hating eugenicist or something, I was the only one not entirely blaming society for my issues.

>>463528
It's what happens when people spend too long in a bubble. They lose touch with reality.

At 9:45am I was overcome with a tremendous sadness.

>>463530
What happened? Anything, or just general mopeyness?

>>463534
Listless, skint, ugly, untalented, awful teeth and I can't stop eating like shit. Also there's a lot of really hateful, miserable, worm people out there trying to make everyone feel even worse.

So I guess what I meant to say is "the latter".

>>463537

I was in a bad mood when I got home from work last night and everywhere I looked to try distract myself it seemed like there was something to make it worse. Oh look this video has something that reminds me of the ex, oh look Rudgewick is full of hot takes about gender politics, oh look we're going to have the third world war. Fucking great.

It does puzzle me why so many people seem to thrive on all this stuff that causes misery, though. What do they get out of it? I can't imagine wanting to constantly live in such negativity. If anything I gear my entire life around trying to minimise it. I don't get it.

Anyway I also have awful teeth so I know how you feel. But I've got a huge dick and I bet you do too. It's just a difficult life carrying around such enormous genitals isn't it.

>>463538
Regrettably I don't have a huge dick, but you also didn't mention being skint, so I think it's only fair that I have all of your money.

I think my life having always been shit makes it hard for me to do anything to make it not exactly that. Or maybe I'm just a lazy, excuse making, loser.

My stomach's not loving the smoked haddock and egg salad with a chaser of coffee (serving per person 1L) I'm subjecting it to. I don't care though, it can't stop me.

Don't go down on someone not long after eating a bag of crisps. It's very distracting when you can feel crisp mush is gradually getting dislodged from your teeth.

I revisited an old DIY project today by upgrading the speaker cabinets I once made as a younglad when I had two 4'' Blaupunkt coax speakers left over from an old VW Golf. Back then, I knew nothing about how to build your own speakers, so I just went for it and made a cab from 10 mm plywood, see picture related. The sound was mediocre, but it was enough for barbecues in my parents' back garden.

So now I had two leftover Audio System MXC 100 (50W 4Ω), which are about in the £50 price range, but sound loads better than my circa 1990 factory Blaupunkt ones. I also had some leftover Dynamat, which I used to clad the entire inside of the cabs, and then I stuffed both cabs to the brim with cotton wool.

The sound is actually fucking amazing considering that it comes from two mid-range 4'' coax speakers in a plywood cabinet. I've got the speakers hooked up to my amp in my livingroom right now, and they have enough oomph to fill the whole 250 sq ft room. They are a bit light in the lower registers, as you would expect from 4'' speakers, but with the Dynamat and the cotton wool, they sound a lot bigger than they physically are.

I'm thinking about adding 30mm bass reflex tubes. As you can see, when I built the cabs, I put a hole in at the top, hoping that it would improve the sound, but of course it didn't because it was just a hole without a tube. So I closed the holes back up, but that's where I would put the bass reflex tubes.

I'm also thinking about veneering them and then painting them glossy black. Being plywood, it already has grain, but with a few nicks and scratches over the years that could use a makeover.

I'm the ocd lad from the /fat/ thread and this weekend(month) I've spent my days itching, worrying I have lymphoma, and painting necrons.

>>463562
You must rid yourself of flesh, you do not want to become flayed. The twice dead king demands it.

>>463560

That's a very cool project and something I would absolutely piddle away a few weekends on.

>>463553
One of the rankest things I've ever read on here, and I've read some rank shit over the years.

>>463570

I'm thinking maybe I'll go with burr walnut for the veneer and then instead of painting it black I'll just put on loads of 1K or 2K spray clearcoat. To give it a kind of automotive wood trim appearance.

Let's have a round of applause for the build quality of paint cans. My washing machine didn't fully drain, so I decided to see if I could clean the filter. My washing machine is a decades-old heap of shit, and it seems not to even have the drainage hose that YouTube told me to pour some water out of. I wound up being forced to single-handedly elevate my washing machine so I could get a tray under it to catch the water that came out. Now, what do I have that would support the weight of a washing machine? I actually have a little trolley that was perfect, but it was too small and I needed something to prop up the other corners. Enter paint cans. Total fucking ballache. No wonder I've never done this before. I even knocked one of the paint cans over onto its side, and the washing machine fell on it. Did it rupture? Did it spill paint everywhere? Nope! It got a big dent and everything was otherwise fine. Let's hear it for paint cans, the unsung heroes of needing to support a washing machine.

The filter wasn't blocked and I can't see anything else to remove. And you can probably tell I am not especially handy. Still, fingers crossed the washing machine drains next time.

I think I could be in with a chance.

Something shat on my compost heap. It looks like dog faeces, but none of my neighbours have dogs. It also doesn't look like cat faeces or other wildlife that is present here.

Somebody allowed their dog to jump the fence to my property and do its business on my compost heap. I use that compost on my strawberries and other produce I grow. The nerve.

>>463666
Depends whether she'd be able to exploit you to further her own career.

>>463667
Free fertiliser.

>>463668

Just talked to my neighbour who said it might be a badger. He set up a camera trap the other week to see what kept digging up his lawn at night, and he got several pictures of a badger.

Not sure I want badger poo on my strawberries.

>>463666

How is she now going to survive in the comedy world. As somebody who is decidedly bland and unfunny, and who mainly came up on the coattails of her really quite funny husband.

>>463679
>her really quite funny husband
Oh, who was she married to before Jon Richardson?

>>463680

Wikipedia says nobody.

Do you really think Lucy Beaumont has the same kind of weight as a female comedian as women like Sarah Millican, Andi Osho or even Ellie Taylor?



Cue obvious joke about Sarah Millican's weight

>>463666
I still can't get my head around getting divorced after 9 years. I know we have otherlads story but surely after that long you'd think you would have it all worked out barring some unforgivable cheating? Wouldn't you realise the game is up after a year or two?

To me it feels like you're not at the risk of waking up one day and not loving someone as surely they'd be way past that stage and more like long-term cellmates or business partners. And if it is then you've both got so much invested in the relationship and the pets that you'd take up a salsa class, camping or pay some therapist an extortionate sum to convince you that you merely want to shag your mum.

I don't know if I'm unusual for thinking that and I'm just subconsciously aware that it's something that I'd do after a long and successful marriage when one day Mrs eats all my Jaffa cakes. How do you even dodge a bullet like a divorce 10 years down the line?

>>463670
Let us know if you spot any mushrooms or snakes.

>>463684
I don't recall saying Lucy Beaumont was funny.

>>463685
It's possible to just fall out of love with someone and only keep hold of the relationship for convenience/fear of change. Maybe when you live that life long enough, you reach a breaking point and bite the bullet and end it. That's very much the trajectory my relationship is going in.

>>463685
I think a lot of couples stay together longer than they should because of how much of a hassle it is to untangle what they've built together. I certainly know people who are with their partners because they don't want the standard of living they'd have on their sole income.

>>463685

>Let us know if you spot any mushrooms or snakes.

Oh, there's loads of mushrooms growing on and around that compost heap every summer. It's the yellow stainer mushroom, which looks almost identical to the button mushroom you can buy in any shop, but is inedible. Well, it won't kill you probably, it's not really deadly, but it's got a very unpleasant chemical odour, and you're more than likely to get violent stomach cramps from it for a day or two. It's difficult to spot the difference to a button mushroom in its raw state, sometimes the yellow stainer stains yellow if you cut it at the base, sometimes it doesn't very clearly. But they always turn an unmistakable bright yellow colour when you fry or cook them, and then of course there's the unpleasant smell which intensifies with cooking. If at that point you still don't realise that there's something wrong with your mushrooms, then maybe you shouldn't be picking wild mushrooms at all, ever.


>>463687

People can drift apart no matter how long they've been together. For a multitude of reasons, you can almost say that breaking up after four years of marriage is just as probable as parting ways after a 20 years. Problems can arise in a relationship. Either from issues that didn't exist before, or from things that you are just tired of putting up with. Or maybe the magic's just gone.

A friend's parents divorced after 31 years, after raising two adult children. I actually told my friend's dad that it seemed kind of unusual to split up after such a long time, but he said something like, when the spark is truly gone, then it makes no difference how many years you've been together. He then qualified it by saying that that was at least how he felt, but I think he had a point.

>>463685
>Wouldn't you realise the game is up after a year or two?
It used to be called the Seven-Year Itch, which was such a common trope that they even made a film about it. After seven years of marriage, that's when you usually get sick of your spouse and want to get out. So nine years is a little above average for Every Panel Show Man and Utterly Futile NepoWife, but it's probably still within the usual window. There are probably lots of people who can stick it out for another 18 months with each other once the Itch starts, especially if nobody else will shag you due to autism or being from Hull, respectively.

Do you reckon bakers are really good at fondling breasts from all that dough kneading?

>>463694

Have you actually watched them knead dough? Anything other than buns and small pastries is kind of a rough affair.

Most of it is done with machines nowadays anyway.

A dude on the street was telling me his electric car was a waste of money now "what with the war" - what'd he mean by this? General inflation increasing electric prices or what? Ukraine was grain, is Gaza the power generator of the world or something?

>>463697

The price of electricity in this country is effectively set by the price of gas, for boring reasons related to how the National Grid's internal market works. Standard-rate electricity was about 15p/kWh before the war in Ukraine broke out, but it's currently about 29p/kWh. Prices at public chargers have increased even more, with some operators charging more than 80p/kWh. Obviously a big increase in the price of electricity undermines the value proposition of an electric vehicle.

Charging an EV is still relatively cheap if you sign up for a tariff with super-cheap off-peak electricity (Octopus do 7.5p/kWh in the dead of night) and use the timer setting on your car to only charge during those hours. Some people aren't aware of that, so they're plugging in when they get home and paying the full standard rate. If you bought an EV without having a home charger on the assumption that you'd be able to charge cheaply on a public charger, then you're really humped.

Had another crack at restoring my mum's old sewing machine. It's from the 60s and I believe she got it from my grandparents when she married my dad.

It's definitely worth saving because it's built like a tank that would probably survive the Apocalypse. The housing is cast iron and every single part inside it that moves is stainless steel. The mechanics are a joy to look at, because they're built so sturdy, unlike all the plastic rubbish nowadays.

I've been able to work out that the reason why it's not working is probably that the lubricant that was on all the moving parts has pretty much solidified. So I went at it with a whole can of brake cleaner. I've also taken apart the external motor which drives the sewing machine's arm shaft via a rubber belt. The brushes look fine, I'm not sure how long they were originally, but they're not worn down so that the motor wouldn't be able to move the arm shaft. The commutator has some grooving, but again it's not worn that badly.

After all that, the arm shaft turns slowly under the machine's own power, but the motor is struggling to spin the machine freely at higher revs. My guess at this point is that either the motor just doesn't generate enough power, or there's still some solidified lubricant somewhere in the mechanics that I wasn't able to get to with my brake cleaner. I might have to strip down the entire machine and soak the moving parts in petroleum over night. Which I've been trying to avoid, because I'm not good at remembering which parts go where when reassembling something.

>>463785
Take lots of photos of it as it is now, then refer to those photos after you've taken it apart.

Stayed up until 3am playing computer games, woke up half an hour ago after six-ish hours of sleep; absolutely perfect. I'm so good at sleeping these days, it's incredible.

Went on a walk up a hill today and found a Time Out bar lying in the ground. It was a lovely walk all around, but free earth chocolate was definitely a highlight.

Have you ever tried to buy a chessboard? Fucking hell; they are insultingly expensive. Most websites seem to want £200-£300 for the sort of set I was expecting to pay £40 for. I would like a wooden box that opens out into a chessboard, or possibly a flat wooden board with classy wooden pieces in a separate box, and maybe, maybe, some draughts as well. I've found this...
https://www.chessbaron.co.uk/product/BG2003/
...but it's only 12 inches across, which in my opinion is a bit small. And it doesn't have the letters and numbers, the chess pieces are not especially fancy, and they still want £70 for it, the robbing bastards. If you really like chess, you can buy this chessboard for an epic £3,500:
https://chess.co.uk/collections/chess-set-combinations/products/purling-bold-signature-chess-set
Surely there comes a point where it's cheaper to just buy a CNC milling machine and make your own?

>>463803
And it turns out Amazon have plenty of exactly what I want. No wonder they're so popular that I refuse to use them. Up your game, everywhere else. I'm not even any good at chess.

I put the towels on the washing line rather than using the tumble dryer, to make the most of the decent weather, but they're never soft this way.

Been doing a bit of bathroom DIY which has meant I've had to stock up on bottled water. Turns out it's actually nicer than tap water, I always thought it was just a bougie thing.

Tried halva
It's not too bad, it has a nutty, sweet taste. I think you're meant to eat it with a fork though, I ate it with my hands like you would a chocolate bar (since I bought it in bar form) and it was a bit too sticky.

I was bored last night and I decided to revisit a couple of my old haunts from back when I was one of those fetish people, see what it's all like nowadays. I had a half hearted hope I might find some curvy but filthy young lass who I could get chatting with and tug one out over like I used to back in the day.

My god it's just bleak now. I remember suggesting a while ago that "normie" kinks are getting weirder nowadays, and there's a slippery slope of kink in general going on, but this convinced me of it. I browsed the personals and the most popular groups, and it's seriously just "mommy/daddy" shite everywhere you look now. Ten years ago it was becoming a bit of a cliche but by now it's so normalised it's like people are just using the words without any thought about their meaning at all. Everyone's seemingly just obsessed with humiliation and degradation, and the kind of physical bondage or pain play I remember is nowhere to be seen.

There is also, obviously, the creeping commercialisation of all things commercial. OnlyFans and its like have (predictably) completely taken over these sorts of places. It got me thinking, I knew there was a reason I instinctively opposed all that stuff from the start, and I can see everything I knew it would lead to coming to fruition here. I can't help feeling that what's been going on with shit like OnlyFans over the last ten years is exactly what has given rise to the chronics and the Tates of this world.

I'm not saying those lot are justified at all in their beliefs- But you can see why a young lad might grow up seeing women as a product and an object to be taken, when all he sees is women pushing themselves as exactly that. When every time he stumbles onto a DM from a pretty girl, it turns out she's only selling him her attention for a fee?

I remember when I was a younger lad, a decent chunk of my interaction with the opposite sex came from naughty messages on slightly unsavoury websites or social media. But the younger lads nowadays don't have that opportunity, they just have a variety of scammers and e-hookers after their money at every single turn. That's what their view of sex and relationships is going to be, because that's all they will ever see of it nowadays. And then we blame them for it like it's their fault.

This is what the world is coming to, though. It's not just about porn or dating apps or whatever, this is the way our society is sliding. Every relationship in your life, from friendships to relationships to sex, as a cold and clinical transaction. Absolutely nothing will be genuine. Everything is a simulation. It doesn't have to be in VR, it doesn't have to be an AI girlfriend on your smartphone, it's already a fake, because it's all just a transaction. You're only ever a sad lonely John to a series of empty, hollowed out whores.