I’m only 89. Seems that’s under par by PB standards. I assume it was the drinking every day answer that did it.
Ok calling bollocks now on that website, didnt get my cause of death last time so went in submitted identical data hit submit
You will live to be 86 years, 3 months and 14 days old!
thats 21 years different
Going in the right direction, though. Rooting for you.
Why in hell would I want to live to 86? No thank you
I sure would. Depends how my phyisical and mental condition is
While life expectancy rose from around 72 to 82, healthy life expectancy only raised from 61 to 63......so on average you are living an extra 7 years in poor health. An argument I have with a doctor on the rare occasion I get to see one when he tells me if I lived healthier I will live longer and I ask why do I want to spend more years in adult diapers like my father
I'm still working at 74 and loving it. I am, of course, ridiculously rich in consequence, not least because I haven't been paying golf club membership dues for nine boring years.
I am course am generalising...as long as you are good physically and mentally life is good and still worth it, however I prefer to go when especially the mental side is going....I could live with being in a wheelchair but not slowly losing my mind and will prevent that happening
I'm not having a pop at you by the way Daveyboy. I'm pleased for you that you've got yourself into this position.
I don't take it personally, but we do live frugally.
I live frugally too doesnt help....I have in my house a computer desk and computer as I work from home, a dining table and a double bed....notice I didnt mention a tv, a stereo, a sofa there. I havent owned a car for 15 years though I have a licence...only time I go out is when I take my father out the home once a week and buy him a pint....how much more frugal should I get?
Wow, I am getting to realize how difficult you find managing. What do you do if you don't mind me asking?
I am a software engineer. High enough paid to pay 40% tax even....by the time I pay rent, council tax, mobile, internet, gas, electric however thats pretty much 70% gone and no I have a monthly giff gaff contract for 20£ so not spending on toys, I do spend money on taking my father out for a day from the home and that costs me about 400£ a month is my only extravagance
Just calcualated since 87 been in paye jobs apart from four years.....on my calculation 2025 - 1987 = 38 years - 4 for the years not been paye well 34 minimum.....why do they say 20 years
Phone them. Both DWP and HMRC. The websites have been unreliable in my experience, still more so the advice on how best to fill gaps without overpaying.
And look at Which and Martin Lewis websites to see what they say, if you haven't..
The website does list the years in detail that are fully paid, or not, so Pagan could use that data to locate the companies he was looking for at the time. Maybe they didn't send off the NI money or had got his NI number wrong?
Only worth my time if I expect to be a pensioner which I dont
You can still work and collect your pension you know. It may help.
Assuming I live till 67 which I dont
Don't worry, to the best of my knowledge @Leon has never actually carried out any of his threats.
Ah there you are. I'm sitting here on the train listening to music on my Xiaomi (Smithson Sr recommendation) with my Nothing (a) earbuds (your recommendation).
The Smithson family have come together for my aural pleasure.
Based on how few of my relatives seem to have made it to a decent age i had better hope an abstemious lifestyle counts for a lot (or take up moderate drinking). And start working out!
That kind of lifestyle just means it feels twice as long
Based on how few of my relatives seem to have made it to a decent age i had better hope an abstemious lifestyle counts for a lot (or take up moderate drinking). And start working out!
That kind of lifestyle just means it feels twice as long
Based on how few of my relatives seem to have made it to a decent age i had better hope an abstemious lifestyle counts for a lot (or take up moderate drinking). And start working out!
That kind of lifestyle just means it feels twice as long
Watching Mark Carney being sworn is as PM. It remains extremely strange hearing a person with a North American accent swearing allegiance to his majesty King Charles III. And then doing so in French.
Predictably, the Russian reaction to the Ukrainian unconditional ceasefire offer is that Russia has a condition: that Ukraine concede its sovereignty to Russia. Now Russia will try to get the Americans to do for them things they cannot do for themselves.
I’m only 89. Seems that’s under par by PB standards. I assume it was the drinking every day answer that did it.
Ok calling bollocks now on that website, didnt get my cause of death last time so went in submitted identical data hit submit
You will live to be 86 years, 3 months and 14 days old!
thats 21 years different
Going in the right direction, though. Rooting for you.
Why in hell would I want to live to 86? No thank you
I sure would. Depends how my phyisical and mental condition is
While life expectancy rose from around 72 to 82, healthy life expectancy only raised from 61 to 63......so on average you are living an extra 7 years in poor health. An argument I have with a doctor on the rare occasion I get to see one when he tells me if I lived healthier I will live longer and I ask why do I want to spend more years in adult diapers like my father
But rather like how life expectancy at birth is heavily affected by mortality of the young, so it is with Healthy Life Expectancy. If you are healthy and aged 65-69 then you can expect another decade or so of good health.
Based on how few of my relatives seem to have made it to a decent age i had better hope an abstemious lifestyle counts for a lot (or take up moderate drinking). And start working out!
That kind of lifestyle just means it feels twice as long
Id take that too.
My cousin was a complete health freak, did no drugs, didnt smoke or drink, vegan exercised every day dropped dead at 54 walking down a road....we die when its our time to go not convinced our lifestyle makes a huge difference unless its extreme like I weigh 300lb or guzzle a litre of whisky a day by more than 3 or 4 years either side
Shabana Mahmood's threat to the sentencing council turns out to be complete piss and wind as she gets nothing from her meeting with them but also blocks Jenrick's bill to limit their powers.
Based on how few of my relatives seem to have made it to a decent age i had better hope an abstemious lifestyle counts for a lot (or take up moderate drinking). And start working out!
That kind of lifestyle just means it feels twice as long
Evening Malc.
Life is for living and enjoying, yeah? 👍
Gin, for sure and if it turns bad I will be off to Switzerland
Based on how few of my relatives seem to have made it to a decent age i had better hope an abstemious lifestyle counts for a lot (or take up moderate drinking). And start working out!
That kind of lifestyle just means it feels twice as long
Id take that too.
My cousin was a complete health freak, did no drugs, didnt smoke or drink, vegan exercised every day dropped dead at 54 walking down a road....we die when its our time to go not convinced our lifestyle makes a huge difference unless its extreme like I weigh 300lb or guzzle a litre of whisky a day by more than 3 or 4 years either side
anecdotal but of the 20 or so funerals of people I attended school or college with 6 weren't people with extreme life styles like drinking drugs smoking out of the 8 natural deaths. I would estimate more than 50% of those I went to school with did have more extreme lifestyles though
Shabana Mahmood's threat to the sentencing council turns out to be complete piss and wind as she gets nothing from her meeting with them but also blocks Jenrick's bill to limit their powers.
Based on how few of my relatives seem to have made it to a decent age i had better hope an abstemious lifestyle counts for a lot (or take up moderate drinking). And start working out!
That kind of lifestyle just means it feels twice as long
Id take that too.
My cousin was a complete health freak, did no drugs, didnt smoke or drink, vegan exercised every day dropped dead at 54 walking down a road....we die when its our time to go not convinced our lifestyle makes a huge difference unless its extreme like I weigh 300lb or guzzle a litre of whisky a day by more than 3 or 4 years either side
anecdotal but of the 20 or so funerals of people I attended school or college with 6 weren't people with extreme life styles like drinking drugs smoking out of the 8 natural deaths. I would estimate more than 50% of those I went to school with did have more extreme lifestyles though
Patient: How can I live to be 100? Doctor: Give up smoking, drinking and sex. Patient: Are you sure I'll live to 100? Doctor: No, but it will feel like.
People on this board I think do fairly nicely from the lib/lab/con nothing changes position they might get a little less well off but not by much.....Thats a privliged postion not held by about 70% of people where a lot of the centrist policies of either of the three parties actually makes them worse off than they were before....don't think many here live in the world inhabited by most of the country
It's a view I suppose...
Suggest a reason to doubt what I said then, most pensioners here are on defined benefit pensions giving them a total income well above min wage...name one thats not....of those still working we have people like rochdale, richard tyndall, casino royale all have hinted at salaries 6 figures or more....even chb has said he is living in a parental house so not having to pay rent as I remember
Name one person other than me that is not working for a company and paying rent? Morris dancer maybe
A 40 hr week at minimum wage is almost double my pension. Don't fall for the media propaganda of rich pensioners please. What savings I have pushes me into tax due to the interest payments, just. I would have dreamed of a six figure salary. Mine is only 6 figures if you include the pence.
I paid rent/ a mortgage for 45 years before I retired.
Do you have private provision too ?
The quarter of a pensioners are millionaires line is based on their assets, so House and pension pot. It fails to take into account that pension pot has to pay their wages for the rest of their lives.
The state pension is effectively an asset worth £250K or thereabouts.
That’s a good point.
An asset which everyone receives if they have put in 35 years of NI credits.
Still an asset and something as a counter to those who use its value as a stick against pensioners.
I’m only 89. Seems that’s under par by PB standards. I assume it was the drinking every day answer that did it.
Ok calling bollocks now on that website, didnt get my cause of death last time so went in submitted identical data hit submit
You will live to be 86 years, 3 months and 14 days old!
thats 21 years different
Going in the right direction, though. Rooting for you.
Why in hell would I want to live to 86? No thank you
My dad's 84 and everyone thinks he's 20 years younger, so it's doable if you look after yourself.
Mine is 84 thinks I am his brother, his mother is still alive, is doubly incontinent, can barely walk or grip anything.....didnt smoke, exercised...well played cricket.....rarely had more than a couple of pints after he turned 30.....still think its largely luck arthritis strikes where it wills as does rheumatism which is why he struggles to walk or grip not much you can do to ward it off same with alzheimers
I'm not having a pop at you by the way Daveyboy. I'm pleased for you that you've got yourself into this position.
I don't take it personally, but we do live frugally.
I live frugally too doesnt help....I have in my house a computer desk and computer as I work from home, a dining table and a double bed....notice I didnt mention a tv, a stereo, a sofa there. I havent owned a car for 15 years though I have a licence...only time I go out is when I take my father out the home once a week and buy him a pint....how much more frugal should I get?
Wow, I am getting to realize how difficult you find managing. What do you do if you don't mind me asking?
I am a software engineer. High enough paid to pay 40% tax even....by the time I pay rent, council tax, mobile, internet, gas, electric however thats pretty much 70% gone and no I have a monthly giff gaff contract for 20£ so not spending on toys, I do spend money on taking my father out for a day from the home and that costs me about 400£ a month is my only extravagance
Just calcualated since 87 been in paye jobs apart from four years.....on my calculation 2025 - 1987 = 38 years - 4 for the years not been paye well 34 minimum.....why do they say 20 years
Phone them. Both DWP and HMRC. The websites have been unreliable in my experience, still more so the advice on how best to fill gaps without overpaying.
And look at Which and Martin Lewis websites to see what they say, if you haven't..
The website does list the years in detail that are fully paid, or not, so Pagan could use that data to locate the companies he was looking for at the time. Maybe they didn't send off the NI money or had got his NI number wrong?
Indeed.
The nagging worry is that the website wasn't reliable in the past. There was a surprrisingly long delay in updating it.
I have no idea if it has been remedied.
But trying to work out the money needed to pay for the optimum combination was another matter entirely especially when there could be some years where one only needed to pay £100 or something silly to tip over the boundary trigger).
Whatever, there does seem to be something wrong in poor Pagan's case.
No need to worry about me I have retirement plans for when I am finally forced out that will get me a warm place to sleep, 24 hour monitoring 3 meals a day and no dealing with social services
You're going to the House of Lords? Lucky!
Nope step 1 buy shotgun step 2 walk in an open bank branch fire at the ceiling step 3 surrender to the police step 4 plead not guilty and insult the judge at every opportunity step 5 enjoy my government provided food and board for the next ten to 15 years and refuse to claim guilty for parole purposes
I’m only 89. Seems that’s under par by PB standards. I assume it was the drinking every day answer that did it.
Ok calling bollocks now on that website, didnt get my cause of death last time so went in submitted identical data hit submit
You will live to be 86 years, 3 months and 14 days old!
thats 21 years different
Going in the right direction, though. Rooting for you.
Why in hell would I want to live to 86? No thank you
My dad's 84 and everyone thinks he's 20 years younger, so it's doable if you look after yourself.
Mine is 84 thinks I am his brother, his mother is still alive, is doubly incontinent, can barely walk or grip anything.....didnt smoke, exercised...well played cricket.....rarely had more than a couple of pints after he turned 30.....still think its largely luck arthritis strikes where it wills as does rheumatism which is why he struggles to walk or grip not much you can do to ward it off same with alzheimers
I watched my Dad die. I was there when he breathed his last breath. His prostate cancer had spread all through him and into his brain.
It was horrendous.
But at least it was quick, from terminal diagnosis to death was 6 months. I cannot even begin to imagine how awful that is.
I’m only 89. Seems that’s under par by PB standards. I assume it was the drinking every day answer that did it.
Ok calling bollocks now on that website, didnt get my cause of death last time so went in submitted identical data hit submit
You will live to be 86 years, 3 months and 14 days old!
thats 21 years different
Going in the right direction, though. Rooting for you.
Why in hell would I want to live to 86? No thank you
My dad's 84 and everyone thinks he's 20 years younger, so it's doable if you look after yourself.
Mine is 84 thinks I am his brother, his mother is still alive, is doubly incontinent, can barely walk or grip anything.....didnt smoke, exercised...well played cricket.....rarely had more than a couple of pints after he turned 30.....still think its largely luck arthritis strikes where it wills as does rheumatism which is why he struggles to walk or grip not much you can do to ward it off same with alzheimers
I watched my Dad die. I was there when he breathed his last breath. His prostate cancer had spread all through him and into his brain.
It was horrendous.
But at least it was quick, from terminal diagnosis to death was 6 months. I cannot even begin to imagine how awful that is.
I have sat the death vigil give me a quick one anytime rather than watching someone dies over months and years and being less each time you see them
Shabana Mahmood's threat to the sentencing council turns out to be complete piss and wind as she gets nothing from her meeting with them but also blocks Jenrick's bill to limit their powers.
What I don't get is where are the Dems in all of this madness?
Its like they handed over the White House and were never seen or heard from again?
I've not known a band of political campaigners so disappear to quickly since Vote Leave vanished like snow in June on 23rd June 2016... 😂
Two Dem congressmen have died since being elected.
In their seventies with cancer but still ran for election last November.
But what do you expect from a party which had a 82 year old senile dodderer as presidential candidate.
What an odd final paragraph you have written based on the evidence from the last two months. Evidence which points to the President not just suffering from the symptoms of early onset Alzheimer's disease but either clinical insanity or plain old psychopathy.
I’m only 89. Seems that’s under par by PB standards. I assume it was the drinking every day answer that did it.
Ok calling bollocks now on that website, didnt get my cause of death last time so went in submitted identical data hit submit
You will live to be 86 years, 3 months and 14 days old!
thats 21 years different
Going in the right direction, though. Rooting for you.
Why in hell would I want to live to 86? No thank you
Given the choice I’d live forever. Wouldn’t most people?
If everyone chose that option, jut how crowded does the planet get in 1,000 years? Let alone 100,000...
I’m not suggesting everyone does. Just me. The rest can shuffle off in their 80s.
TimSExceptionalism huh?
I am wondering how that would actually works...I am 58 my son is 33 I say when I was growing up we had 3 channels and many had only black and white tvs I remember getting a phone installed and it was a big thing as not everyone had them and the phone number was 4 digits This internet thing and computers we didnt have till the zx 81 at age 16
Its a huge gap just for that for few years now imagine a 1000 year old trying to talk to their 16 year old great great great great.... grandchild
Lovely headline; poetry in motion. And a reminder that next time I part a cuddly baby from its mother and find it amusing it's a good idea for me not to put it out to a potential audience of about six billion. If only one in a million of that potential audience both watches it and is a bit deranged, that's 6000 people going to let me know they want to kill me in some gruesome way. Isn't there a verse in the bible 'Those who live by social media will die by social media'?
927,000 couples had a diamond anniversary in 2022 and that number has been increasing by around 30,000 a year since 2016. Could the King or the late Queen have personally signed one for all those who asked for a "telegram" if only ten per cent of those eligible had applied? Somehow I think not.
Lovely headline; poetry in motion. And a reminder that next time I part a cuddly baby from its mother and find it amusing it's a good idea for me not to put it out to a potential audience of about six billion. If only one in a million of that potential audience both watches it and is a bit deranged, that's 6000 people going to let me know they want to kill me in some gruesome way. Isn't there a verse in the bible 'Those who live by social media will die by social media'?
Er, what about sheep farmers. It's only an effing animal ffs.
Lovely headline; poetry in motion. And a reminder that next time I part a cuddly baby from its mother and find it amusing it's a good idea for me not to put it out to a potential audience of about six billion. If only one in a million of that potential audience both watches it and is a bit deranged, that's 6000 people going to let me know they want to kill me in some gruesome way. Isn't there a verse in the bible 'Those who live by social media will die by social media'?
Er, what about sheep farmers. It's only an effing animal ffs.
@SkyNews · 5m BREAKING: The Russian captain of the Solong container ship involved in the North Sea crash has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter.
Time until the Kremlin claims he's a British political prisoner in 5... 4... 3...
927,000 couples had a diamond anniversary in 2022 and that number has been increasing by around 30,000 a year since 2016. Could the King or the late Queen have personally signed one for all those who asked for a "telegram" if only ten per cent of those eligible had applied? Somehow I think not.
That can’t be right
927,000 couples = 1.85 million people which is something like 2% of the population
@SkyNews · 5m BREAKING: The Russian captain of the Solong container ship involved in the North Sea crash has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter.
Time until the Kremlin claims he's a British political prisoner in 5... 4... 3...
927,000 couples had a diamond anniversary in 2022 and that number has been increasing by around 30,000 a year since 2016. Could the King or the late Queen have personally signed one for all those who asked for a "telegram" if only ten per cent of those eligible had applied? Somehow I think not.
Don't forget all the cards for 100th birthday too
I deleted the post because I had failed to notice that the figure I gave was the cumulative total over the years!
I’m only 89. Seems that’s under par by PB standards. I assume it was the drinking every day answer that did it.
Ok calling bollocks now on that website, didnt get my cause of death last time so went in submitted identical data hit submit
You will live to be 86 years, 3 months and 14 days old!
thats 21 years different
Going in the right direction, though. Rooting for you.
Why in hell would I want to live to 86? No thank you
Given the choice I’d live forever. Wouldn’t most people?
If everyone chose that option, jut how crowded does the planet get in 1,000 years? Let alone 100,000...
I’m not suggesting everyone does. Just me. The rest can shuffle off in their 80s.
TimSExceptionalism huh?
I am wondering how that would actually works...I am 58 my son is 33 I say when I was growing up we had 3 channels and many had only black and white tvs I remember getting a phone installed and it was a big thing as not everyone had them and the phone number was 4 digits This internet thing and computers we didnt have till the zx 81 at age 16
Its a huge gap just for that for few years now imagine a 1000 year old trying to talk to their 16 year old great great great great.... grandchild
By your 200th birthday you'd already be a freakshow exhibit.
927,000 couples had a diamond anniversary in 2022 and that number has been increasing by around 30,000 a year since 2016. Could the King or the late Queen have personally signed one for all those who asked for a "telegram" if only ten per cent of those eligible had applied? Somehow I think not.
Not sure where you source those numbers but these are the rules
And they are personally signed - my wife and I can affirm that
I'm not having a pop at you by the way Daveyboy. I'm pleased for you that you've got yourself into this position.
I don't take it personally, but we do live frugally.
I live frugally too doesnt help....I have in my house a computer desk and computer as I work from home, a dining table and a double bed....notice I didnt mention a tv, a stereo, a sofa there. I havent owned a car for 15 years though I have a licence...only time I go out is when I take my father out the home once a week and buy him a pint....how much more frugal should I get?
Wow, I am getting to realize how difficult you find managing. What do you do if you don't mind me asking?
I am a software engineer. High enough paid to pay 40% tax even....by the time I pay rent, council tax, mobile, internet, gas, electric however thats pretty much 70% gone and no I have a monthly giff gaff contract for 20£ so not spending on toys, I do spend money on taking my father out for a day from the home and that costs me about 400£ a month is my only extravagance
Just calcualated since 87 been in paye jobs apart from four years.....on my calculation 2025 - 1987 = 38 years - 4 for the years not been paye well 34 minimum.....why do they say 20 years
So idiot software engineer probably fucked up the calculations.
Could well be....worry is computer says x so its correct mentality
Do you still have all your P60s Pagan2?
I would phone up HMRC & ask what you need to do to demonstrate that you’ve made the required NI contributions - it’ll make a big difference to your income in retirement.
I'm not having a pop at you by the way Daveyboy. I'm pleased for you that you've got yourself into this position.
I don't take it personally, but we do live frugally.
I live frugally too doesnt help....I have in my house a computer desk and computer as I work from home, a dining table and a double bed....notice I didnt mention a tv, a stereo, a sofa there. I havent owned a car for 15 years though I have a licence...only time I go out is when I take my father out the home once a week and buy him a pint....how much more frugal should I get?
Wow, I am getting to realize how difficult you find managing. What do you do if you don't mind me asking?
I am a software engineer. High enough paid to pay 40% tax even....by the time I pay rent, council tax, mobile, internet, gas, electric however thats pretty much 70% gone and no I have a monthly giff gaff contract for 20£ so not spending on toys, I do spend money on taking my father out for a day from the home and that costs me about 400£ a month is my only extravagance
Just calcualated since 87 been in paye jobs apart from four years.....on my calculation 2025 - 1987 = 38 years - 4 for the years not been paye well 34 minimum.....why do they say 20 years
So idiot software engineer probably fucked up the calculations.
Could well be....worry is computer says x so its correct mentality
Do you still have all your P60s Pagan2?
I would phone up HMRC & ask what you need to do to demonstrate that you’ve made the required NI contributions - it’ll make a big difference to your income in retirement.
Why would I keep them? You tend to assume its all recorded
Shabana Mahmood's threat to the sentencing council turns out to be complete piss and wind as she gets nothing from her meeting with them but also blocks Jenrick's bill to limit their powers.
This is all a load of nonsense, but what would be good would be (this won't happen) is that we return to the olden days WRT sentencing. Which would go like this:
Parliament lays down the parameters of sentencing for all offences in statute - as now.
Courts sentence as they think right, which will mean both local and individual variation, good and bad luck, soft judges and hanging judges, and so on.
The court of appeal can vary sentence, if the defendant is given leave, which should be rare, which will create some guidelines.
But you abolish the current system where there are 5-500 pages of stuff on each of how to sentence speeders, shoplifters, murderers etc, and judges have a burdonsome task to justify all their decisions in which their discretion and good sense is removed by guidance.
927,000 couples had a diamond anniversary in 2022 and that number has been increasing by around 30,000 a year since 2016. Could the King or the late Queen have personally signed one for all those who asked for a "telegram" if only ten per cent of those eligible had applied? Somehow I think not.
Not sure where you source those numbers but these are the rules
And they are personally signed - my wife and I can affirm that
For now, and armed with the loudest megaphone on the planet, the US president can keep reality at bay. But eventually, Americans will be able to see with their own eyes and in their own lives what Trump has done to the US and the wider world. Their daily experience will expose him for what he is: a confidence trickster who has made them poorer and less safe. The only question is when.
I’m only 89. Seems that’s under par by PB standards. I assume it was the drinking every day answer that did it.
Ok calling bollocks now on that website, didnt get my cause of death last time so went in submitted identical data hit submit
You will live to be 86 years, 3 months and 14 days old!
thats 21 years different
Going in the right direction, though. Rooting for you.
Why in hell would I want to live to 86? No thank you
Given the choice I’d live forever. Wouldn’t most people?
If everyone chose that option, jut how crowded does the planet get in 1,000 years? Let alone 100,000...
I’m not suggesting everyone does. Just me. The rest can shuffle off in their 80s.
TimSExceptionalism huh?
I am wondering how that would actually works...I am 58 my son is 33 I say when I was growing up we had 3 channels and many had only black and white tvs I remember getting a phone installed and it was a big thing as not everyone had them and the phone number was 4 digits This internet thing and computers we didnt have till the zx 81 at age 16
Its a huge gap just for that for few years now imagine a 1000 year old trying to talk to their 16 year old great great great great.... grandchild
I sometimes cite my grandfather in this context. He was born in 1885, long before cars or aeroplanes, but he lived to watch men walk on the moon. Didn't seem unduly impressed.
927,000 couples had a diamond anniversary in 2022 and that number has been increasing by around 30,000 a year since 2016. Could the King or the late Queen have personally signed one for all those who asked for a "telegram" if only ten per cent of those eligible had applied? Somehow I think not.
Not sure where you source those numbers but these are the rules
And they are personally signed - my wife and I can affirm that
I'm not having a pop at you by the way Daveyboy. I'm pleased for you that you've got yourself into this position.
I don't take it personally, but we do live frugally.
I live frugally too doesnt help....I have in my house a computer desk and computer as I work from home, a dining table and a double bed....notice I didnt mention a tv, a stereo, a sofa there. I havent owned a car for 15 years though I have a licence...only time I go out is when I take my father out the home once a week and buy him a pint....how much more frugal should I get?
Wow, I am getting to realize how difficult you find managing. What do you do if you don't mind me asking?
I am a software engineer. High enough paid to pay 40% tax even....by the time I pay rent, council tax, mobile, internet, gas, electric however thats pretty much 70% gone and no I have a monthly giff gaff contract for 20£ so not spending on toys, I do spend money on taking my father out for a day from the home and that costs me about 400£ a month is my only extravagance
Just calcualated since 87 been in paye jobs apart from four years.....on my calculation 2025 - 1987 = 38 years - 4 for the years not been paye well 34 minimum.....why do they say 20 years
So idiot software engineer probably fucked up the calculations.
Could well be....worry is computer says x so its correct mentality
Do you still have all your P60s Pagan2?
I would phone up HMRC & ask what you need to do to demonstrate that you’ve made the required NI contributions - it’ll make a big difference to your income in retirement.
Why would I keep them? You tend to assume its all recorded
Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen
If your old employers still exist you might be able to get in touch & find out whether they still have payroll records.
I’m only 89. Seems that’s under par by PB standards. I assume it was the drinking every day answer that did it.
Ok calling bollocks now on that website, didnt get my cause of death last time so went in submitted identical data hit submit
You will live to be 86 years, 3 months and 14 days old!
thats 21 years different
Going in the right direction, though. Rooting for you.
Why in hell would I want to live to 86? No thank you
Given the choice I’d live forever. Wouldn’t most people?
If everyone chose that option, jut how crowded does the planet get in 1,000 years? Let alone 100,000...
I’m not suggesting everyone does. Just me. The rest can shuffle off in their 80s.
TimSExceptionalism huh?
I am wondering how that would actually works...I am 58 my son is 33 I say when I was growing up we had 3 channels and many had only black and white tvs I remember getting a phone installed and it was a big thing as not everyone had them and the phone number was 4 digits This internet thing and computers we didnt have till the zx 81 at age 16
Its a huge gap just for that for few years now imagine a 1000 year old trying to talk to their 16 year old great great great great.... grandchild
I sometimes cite my grandfather in this context. He was born in 1885, long before cars or aeroplanes, but he lived to watch men walk on the moon. Didn't seem unduly impressed.
Its only when you talk to your child it hits you how many things you lived through weren't there growing up I guess
Lovely headline; poetry in motion. And a reminder that next time I part a cuddly baby from its mother and find it amusing it's a good idea for me not to put it out to a potential audience of about six billion. If only one in a million of that potential audience both watches it and is a bit deranged, that's 6000 people going to let me know they want to kill me in some gruesome way. Isn't there a verse in the bible 'Those who live by social media will die by social media'?
Er, what about sheep farmers. It's only an effing animal ffs.
Indeed what about them. I live in Cumberland so I am surrounded by them, and one some miles away makes a living writing books about it. My wife's cousin is a sheep farmer, which is probably true of most Cumbrians somewhere in the family tree.
Most of them have the good sense not to do their sheep farming, especially the grittier bits, live on Facebook and YouTube.
I’m only 89. Seems that’s under par by PB standards. I assume it was the drinking every day answer that did it.
Ok calling bollocks now on that website, didnt get my cause of death last time so went in submitted identical data hit submit
You will live to be 86 years, 3 months and 14 days old!
thats 21 years different
Going in the right direction, though. Rooting for you.
Why in hell would I want to live to 86? No thank you
Given the choice I’d live forever. Wouldn’t most people?
If everyone chose that option, jut how crowded does the planet get in 1,000 years? Let alone 100,000...
I’m not suggesting everyone does. Just me. The rest can shuffle off in their 80s.
TimSExceptionalism huh?
I am wondering how that would actually works...I am 58 my son is 33 I say when I was growing up we had 3 channels and many had only black and white tvs I remember getting a phone installed and it was a big thing as not everyone had them and the phone number was 4 digits This internet thing and computers we didnt have till the zx 81 at age 16
Its a huge gap just for that for few years now imagine a 1000 year old trying to talk to their 16 year old great great great great.... grandchild
I sometimes cite my grandfather in this context. He was born in 1885, long before cars or aeroplanes, but he lived to watch men walk on the moon. Didn't seem unduly impressed.
Its only when you talk to your child it hits you how many things you lived through weren't there growing up I guess
Changes seem gradual as you live through them I mean however comparing your life with someone born 30 years later and you see how they grew up with something being normal that was almost science fiction for you at a young age....for instance the mobile phone and the star trek (kirk series) communicator
Lovely headline; poetry in motion. And a reminder that next time I part a cuddly baby from its mother and find it amusing it's a good idea for me not to put it out to a potential audience of about six billion. If only one in a million of that potential audience both watches it and is a bit deranged, that's 6000 people going to let me know they want to kill me in some gruesome way. Isn't there a verse in the bible 'Those who live by social media will die by social media'?
Er, what about sheep farmers. It's only an effing animal ffs.
Indeed what about them. I live in Cumberland so I am surrounded by them, and one some miles away makes a living writing books about it. My wife's cousin is a sheep farmer, which is probably true of most Cumbrians somewhere in the family tree.
Most of them have the good sense not to do their sheep farming, especially the grittier bits, live on Facebook and YouTube.
"Well, Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming?"
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
I’m only 89. Seems that’s under par by PB standards. I assume it was the drinking every day answer that did it.
Ok calling bollocks now on that website, didnt get my cause of death last time so went in submitted identical data hit submit
You will live to be 86 years, 3 months and 14 days old!
thats 21 years different
Going in the right direction, though. Rooting for you.
Why in hell would I want to live to 86? No thank you
Given the choice I’d live forever. Wouldn’t most people?
If everyone chose that option, jut how crowded does the planet get in 1,000 years? Let alone 100,000...
I’m not suggesting everyone does. Just me. The rest can shuffle off in their 80s.
TimSExceptionalism huh?
I am wondering how that would actually works...I am 58 my son is 33 I say when I was growing up we had 3 channels and many had only black and white tvs I remember getting a phone installed and it was a big thing as not everyone had them and the phone number was 4 digits This internet thing and computers we didnt have till the zx 81 at age 16
Its a huge gap just for that for few years now imagine a 1000 year old trying to talk to their 16 year old great great great great.... grandchild
I sometimes cite my grandfather in this context. He was born in 1885, long before cars or aeroplanes, but he lived to watch men walk on the moon. Didn't seem unduly impressed.
Its only when you talk to your child it hits you how many things you lived through weren't there growing up I guess
Changes seem gradual as you live through them I mean however comparing your life with someone born 30 years later and you see how they grew up with something being normal that was almost science fiction for you at a young age....for instance the mobile phone and the star trek (kirk series) communicator
There's a sequence in 2001 when Heywood Floyd, on Space Station Five, has a video call with his daughter on Earth, after which the operator chimes in and tells him what it cost. Even Arthur C Clarke and Stanley Kubrick between them couldn't imagine a future in which video calls were free at the point of use.
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
For example I am about 1.5 mile from the town centre here, the 13 year old loved being able to just go walk down there and feel safe as pavement all the way....they are half the distance at home but its walking on the hardshoulder of a freeway most of the way
I’m only 89. Seems that’s under par by PB standards. I assume it was the drinking every day answer that did it.
Ok calling bollocks now on that website, didnt get my cause of death last time so went in submitted identical data hit submit
You will live to be 86 years, 3 months and 14 days old!
thats 21 years different
Going in the right direction, though. Rooting for you.
Why in hell would I want to live to 86? No thank you
Given the choice I’d live forever. Wouldn’t most people?
If everyone chose that option, jut how crowded does the planet get in 1,000 years? Let alone 100,000...
I’m not suggesting everyone does. Just me. The rest can shuffle off in their 80s.
TimSExceptionalism huh?
I am wondering how that would actually works...I am 58 my son is 33 I say when I was growing up we had 3 channels and many had only black and white tvs I remember getting a phone installed and it was a big thing as not everyone had them and the phone number was 4 digits This internet thing and computers we didnt have till the zx 81 at age 16
Its a huge gap just for that for few years now imagine a 1000 year old trying to talk to their 16 year old great great great great.... grandchild
I sometimes cite my grandfather in this context. He was born in 1885, long before cars or aeroplanes, but he lived to watch men walk on the moon. Didn't seem unduly impressed.
Its only when you talk to your child it hits you how many things you lived through weren't there growing up I guess
Changes seem gradual as you live through them I mean however comparing your life with someone born 30 years later and you see how they grew up with something being normal that was almost science fiction for you at a young age....for instance the mobile phone and the star trek (kirk series) communicator
There's a sequence in 2001 when Heywood Floyd, on Space Station Five, has a video call with his daughter on Earth, after which the operator chimes in and tells him what it cost. Even Arthur C Clarke and Stanley Kubrick between them couldn't imagine a future in which video calls were free at the point of use.
And the simplicity of the process too: type the name into teams, click the video camera icon, couple of rings then there’s your interlocutor looking at you from their study, just like that.
Lovely headline; poetry in motion. And a reminder that next time I part a cuddly baby from its mother and find it amusing it's a good idea for me not to put it out to a potential audience of about six billion. If only one in a million of that potential audience both watches it and is a bit deranged, that's 6000 people going to let me know they want to kill me in some gruesome way. Isn't there a verse in the bible 'Those who live by social media will die by social media'?
Er, what about sheep farmers. It's only an effing animal ffs.
One of the few animals that has cubic poop
Also somewhat endangered. And there's a risk that a human holding a young will make the mother reject it (as a general principle, not necessarily true of wombats but who wants to take the risk?).
What nobody seems to have commented on is the risk to the enforcer from Mrs Wombat, or even Master Wombat. Digging animals have hefty claws and strong muscles, just right for disembowelling.
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
There are passenger trains, I understand, in the NYC-Wash DC corridor. And the Amtraks aren;t C19 either. Some pretty hefty diesels.
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
When I used to work I went for a walk in vegas and got an escort out when they realised I was english(probably tourists were bad news for stuff)
By the way are we all at the acceptance stage of “USA is turning into a dictatorship” yet or is the jury still out for some?
I think it all depends on whether figures like Sanders can mobilise opposition, peacefully but in huge numbers The mainstream Democratic Party is failing to do that, now, and his opponents don't have a lot of time.
"Investigators have alleged that Siddiq’s ownership of another property in Dhaka should have disqualified her from receiving a plot under the land allocation scheme, but that she and her family members manipulated regulations to gain access to the prime real estate.
This saw them bypass public lotteries and eligibility criteria designed to prevent politically connected individuals from obtaining land meant for civil servants.
As part of its broader investigation, the ACC also claims Siddiq used a fraudulent notary document to transfer ownership of a flat in Dhaka’s Gulshan area to her sister, Azmina Siddiq."
We're going to be asked to extradite her, aren't we?
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
There are passenger trains, I understand, in the NYC-Wash DC corridor. And the Amtraks aren;t C19 either. Some pretty hefty diesels.
Creative licence. I’ve been on the trains on the East Coast. They’re OK. Like circa 1985 BR meets SNCF regional services.
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
And the opposite when you have American friends over and you suggest walking to the pub. 2 miles? Over a hill?!
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
And the opposite when you have American friends over and you suggest walking to the pub. 2 miles? Over a hill?!
My american friends loved walking the most over here, because as the mother put it we feel safe doing it
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
There are passenger trains, I understand, in the NYC-Wash DC corridor. And the Amtraks aren;t C19 either. Some pretty hefty diesels.
Creative licence. I’ve been on the trains on the East Coast. They’re OK. Like circa 1985 BR meets SNCF regional services.
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
There are passenger trains, I understand, in the NYC-Wash DC corridor. And the Amtraks aren;t C19 either. Some pretty hefty diesels.
Creative licence. I’ve been on the trains on the East Coast. They’re OK. Like circa 1985 BR meets SNCF regional services.
They trundle along at 50mph though. Because the trains are so infrequent it's not worth investing in the tracks to permit a higher speed. It makes tourism quite enjoyable but frustrating for a business traveller.
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
And the opposite when you have American friends over and you suggest walking to the pub. 2 miles? Over a hill?!
My american friends loved walking the most over here, because as the mother put it we feel safe doing it
As I said the experience in vegas while I ended up safe didnt feel that way at first when confronted but was ok when they knew I wasn't american
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
A school friend's father had a similar conversation in Detroit in the 1960s. The hollowing-out of inner-urban America has been happening for a long time. It's the inevitable corollary of spacious suburbs with wall-to-wall lawns.
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
And the opposite when you have American friends over and you suggest walking to the pub. 2 miles? Over a hill?!
My american friends loved walking the most over here, because as the mother put it we feel safe doing it
Yep. But even among hikers/mountaineers, the idea of walking through a town or even some fields to the pub is quite alien. Their whole life revolves around driving to places/activities.
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
A school friend's father had a similar conversation in Detroit in the 1960s. The hollowing-out of inner-urban America has been happening for a long time. It's the inevitable corollary of spacious suburbs with wall-to-wall lawns.
I walked around St Louis at night once. Never felt unsafe but had several, er, interactions. Perhaps I should have felt unsafe...
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
A school friend's father had a similar conversation in Detroit in the 1960s. The hollowing-out of inner-urban America has been happening for a long time. It's the inevitable corollary of spacious suburbs with wall-to-wall lawns.
I would note was in morocco once with the girlfriend at the time and we decided to walk and we ended up in some slum district and I mean real slum land worse than where I was in vegas and can honestly say never felt threatened there in the least even when we made possibly a faux pas of taking my girlfriend into one of the little cafe's there (she was the only girl but did have her hair covered and arms as we were heading to see a mosque) but they were friendly after the initial shock and we got invited to join them for mint tea etc
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
I'm totally reliant on public transport because I've always been too lazy to learn to drive.
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
I'm totally reliant on public transport because I've always been too lazy to learn to drive.
I can drive but lived in the southeast and realised that the insurance on my car and motorbike was more expensive that just using a taxi as only got to use them once a week
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
A school friend's father had a similar conversation in Detroit in the 1960s. The hollowing-out of inner-urban America has been happening for a long time. It's the inevitable corollary of spacious suburbs with wall-to-wall lawns.
I walked around St Louis at night once. Never felt unsafe but had several, er, interactions. Perhaps I should have felt unsafe...
I survived living and working for three months in Denver and nearby Boulder back in 2011. Even managed to do the RTD Light Rail (as it was back then - it's expanded a lot since I left!).
And in 2009, a week-long conference stay enabled me to do the New Mexico Rail Runner from Santa Fe to Albuquerque.
Lovely headline; poetry in motion. And a reminder that next time I part a cuddly baby from its mother and find it amusing it's a good idea for me not to put it out to a potential audience of about six billion. If only one in a million of that potential audience both watches it and is a bit deranged, that's 6000 people going to let me know they want to kill me in some gruesome way. Isn't there a verse in the bible 'Those who live by social media will die by social media'?
She was stupid but it doesn't justify death threats, if that's what she received.
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
A school friend's father had a similar conversation in Detroit in the 1960s. The hollowing-out of inner-urban America has been happening for a long time. It's the inevitable corollary of spacious suburbs with wall-to-wall lawns.
I walked around St Louis at night once. Never felt unsafe but had several, er, interactions. Perhaps I should have felt unsafe...
I survived living and working for three months in Denver and nearby Boulder back in 2011. Even managed to do the RTD Light Rail (as it was back then - it's expanded a lot since I left!).
And in 2009, a week-long conference stay enabled me to do the New Mexico Rail Runner from Santa Fe to Albuquerque.
“The first ten million years were the worst," said Marvin, "and the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million years I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline.”
By the way are we all at the acceptance stage of “USA is turning into a dictatorship” yet or is the jury still out for some?
I think it all depends on whether figures like Sanders can mobilise opposition, peacefully but in huge numbers The mainstream Democratic Party is failing to do that, now, and his opponents don't have a lot of time.
Those in the institutions which could resist are being forced out quickly. Its ruthless.
Personally I think the fact you feel the need for mp's to follow up individual problems shows there is a glaring weakness because frankly an individual should have better recourses than speaking to an mp that may or may not listen to them, apparently many dont such as if you are a clacton constituent. I am sure however he is not the only one and most parties have many of that ilk
The argument for it is that it roots MPs in real life, rather than the abstracted sort of politicians you get in some Parliaments. Conversely the MP has a real personal interest in solving intractable problems for constituents, who may well vote for them despite disagreeing with much of their politics.
To some extent it does lead to better policy-making, as the MP will be better able to see the problems that arise when the system changes radically. There are lots of policies which would work perfectly well if everyone was rational, well-educated and well-informed but which break down raduically when they encounter real life.
Back early from my whiskey tasting evening, Irish this time, because I have to fetch my lad from uni tomorrow morning. Lads at the pub said, "Why are you off home so early?" Girls at home (watching Paddington, drinking gin) said, "How come you're back so soon?" I know it's for the best, but that only leaves PB for entertainment. Glad you are here, PB :-)
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
And the opposite when you have American friends over and you suggest walking to the pub. 2 miles? Over a hill?!
My american friends loved walking the most over here, because as the mother put it we feel safe doing it
As I said the experience in vegas while I ended up safe didnt feel that way at first when confronted but was ok when they knew I wasn't american
Many many (red) moons ago I holed up in a motel in Riverside, LA on my way to see the Joshau trees.
I had no idea that it was not, shall we say, the most calm, peaceful and law-abiding postcode in America.
I was woken by what sounded like gun fire during the night, later I saw two cars just set alight on the edge of the freeway and everyone and I mean everyone looked edgy.
talking of trains, I know people bemoan the state of our public transport but when my american friends were over last year they were bemused because I didnt have a car and I said dont worry buses and trains take you most places....despite living in a fairly rural area they loved the freedom it gave them they could go pretty much anywhere they wanted by one or the other
This is a potential problem for Trump as he ascends to autocrat status. How does one make the trains run on time when there are no trains? Trump made the cars run on time doesn’t have the same ring to it. And 19th century chugging Amtraks with cow catchers don’t count.
From what my american friends said (based in louisana so not a nationwide survey) buses for them nil, never been on a train.....lucky if most roads have a pavement to walk on outside the town centre
I remember staying in Atlanta and I said to the hotel reception I’m going to walk into town, do you have a map, and they said “you can’t do that sir”.
And the opposite when you have American friends over and you suggest walking to the pub. 2 miles? Over a hill?!
My american friends loved walking the most over here, because as the mother put it we feel safe doing it
As I said the experience in vegas while I ended up safe didnt feel that way at first when confronted but was ok when they knew I wasn't american
Many many (red) moons ago I holed up in a motel in Riverside, LA on my way to see the Joshau trees.
I had no idea that it was not, shall we say, the most calm, peaceful and law-abiding postcode in America.
I was woken by what sounded like gun fire during the night, later I saw two cars just set alight on the edge of the freeway and everyone and I mean everyone looked edgy.
The desert the next day was beautiful.
A friend and I travelled America by Amtrak when we were at uni. Despite slumming it in coach class some of my best nights were on the train crossing the country with the distant blart of the horn from the engines as we crossed side roads.
Haven’t been back since. Now thinking about a trans-Canada trip in a few years, though it’s inevitable that I’ll go and see an Indycar race in the next few years. Preferably NASCAR too…
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CEO Nwabudike Morgan
Life is for living and enjoying, yeah? 👍
Timothy Snyder
@TimothyDSnyder
Predictably, the Russian reaction to the Ukrainian unconditional ceasefire offer is that Russia has a condition: that Ukraine concede its sovereignty to Russia. Now Russia will try to get the Americans to do for them things they cannot do for themselves.
https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1900639568279576828
See fig 2 here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mortality-insights-from-gad-december-2024/mortality-insights-from-gad-december-2024
https://order-order.com/2025/03/14/labour-blocks-tory-bill-to-resolve-two-tier-sentencing-as-mahmood-fails-to-overturn-minority-guidelines/#comments
Doctor: Give up smoking, drinking and sex.
Patient: Are you sure I'll live to 100?
Doctor: No, but it will feel like.
https://x.com/crimeldn/status/1900637803739767012
In their seventies with cancer but still ran for election last November.
But what do you expect from a party which had a 82 year old senile dodderer as presidential candidate.
It was horrendous.
But at least it was quick, from terminal diagnosis to death was 6 months. I cannot even begin to imagine how awful that is.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2d1x4ykvgo
When will they ever learn
https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/1900584977554649458?t=aOCgYzMyF07zVpea4Fie3w&s=19
I say when I was growing up we had 3 channels and many had only black and white tvs
I remember getting a phone installed and it was a big thing as not everyone had them and the phone number was 4 digits
This internet thing and computers we didnt have till the zx 81 at age 16
Its a huge gap just for that for few years now imagine a 1000 year old trying to talk to their 16 year old great great great great.... grandchild
927,000 couples = 1.85 million people which is something like 2% of the population
And they are personally signed - my wife and I can affirm that
https://www.royal.uk/anniversary-messages
I would phone up HMRC & ask what you need to do to demonstrate that you’ve made the required NI contributions - it’ll make a big difference to your income in retirement.
Parliament lays down the parameters of sentencing for all offences in statute - as now.
Courts sentence as they think right, which will mean both local and individual variation, good and bad luck, soft judges and hanging judges, and so on.
The court of appeal can vary sentence, if the defendant is given leave, which should be rare, which will create some guidelines.
But you abolish the current system where there are 5-500 pages of stuff on each of how to sentence speeders, shoplifters, murderers etc, and judges have a burdonsome task to justify all their decisions in which their discretion and good sense is removed by guidance.
I'll look forward to ours in a couple of years if we're still around
I don’t think they will notice.
If your old employers still exist you might be able to get in touch & find out whether they still have payroll records.
Most of them have the good sense not to do their sheep farming, especially the grittier bits, live on Facebook and YouTube.
Dodgy Donald is a DANGEROUSLY UNHINGED doddery old fool.
For example I am about 1.5 mile from the town centre here, the 13 year old loved being able to just go walk down there and feel safe as pavement all the way....they are half the distance at home but its walking on the hardshoulder of a freeway most of the way
What nobody seems to have commented on is the risk to the enforcer from Mrs Wombat, or even Master Wombat. Digging animals have hefty claws and strong muscles, just right for disembowelling.
"Investigators have alleged that Siddiq’s ownership of another property in Dhaka should have disqualified her from receiving a plot under the land allocation scheme, but that she and her family members manipulated regulations to gain access to the prime real estate.
This saw them bypass public lotteries and eligibility criteria designed to prevent politically connected individuals from obtaining land meant for civil servants.
As part of its broader investigation, the ACC also claims Siddiq used a fraudulent notary document to transfer ownership of a flat in Dhaka’s Gulshan area to her sister, Azmina Siddiq."
We're going to be asked to extradite her, aren't we?
https://www.ft.com/content/d6f60fd3-ba80-48d3-b053-21b0eef7904c
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qrwyot_poq4
On the other hand, I've been delayed >24h whilst on an Amtrak train.
And in 2009, a week-long conference stay enabled me to do the New Mexico Rail Runner from Santa Fe to Albuquerque.
https://m.youtube.com/@MilesinTransit
Dopey kids, but fun stuff.
“The first ten million years were the worst," said Marvin, "and the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million years I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline.”
To some extent it does lead to better policy-making, as the MP will be better able to see the problems that arise when the system changes radically. There are lots of policies which would work perfectly well if everyone was rational, well-educated and well-informed but which break down raduically when they encounter real life.
He's genuinely impressive.
I had no idea that it was not, shall we say, the most calm, peaceful and law-abiding postcode in America.
I was woken by what sounded like gun fire during the night, later I saw two cars just set alight on the edge of the freeway and everyone and I mean everyone looked edgy.
The desert the next day was beautiful.
Haven’t been back since. Now thinking about a trans-Canada trip in a few years, though it’s inevitable that I’ll go and see an Indycar race in the next few years. Preferably NASCAR too…