Can you handle two massive elections at the same time? – politicalbetting.com

viewcode said:

Predictions for 2024

1) A THING WILL HAPPEN

• A thing will happen
  
• PBers will post twitter links to it
  
• PBers will post twitter links to other people's tweets about it
  
• PBers will post links to powerpoints, pdfs or word documents
  
• Nobody will bother to check whether the words or the numbers are true
  

2) SOMEBODY WILL SAY SOMETHING

• Somebody will say something
  
• PBers will post twitter links to it
  
• It will be hotly debated
  
• PB will conclude that it is good and free speech is cited
  
• The something will be praised and the somebody will keep their job
  
• Nobody will bother to check whether the words or the numbers are true
  

3) SOMEBODY ELSE WILL SAY SOMETHING ELSE

• Somebody else will say something else
  
• PBers will post twitter links to it
  
• It will be hotly debated
  
• PB will conclude that it is bad and "it must be offensive/wrong" or similar will be cited
  
• The something else will be derided and the somebody else will lose their job
  
• Nobody will bother to check whether the words or the numbers are true
  

4) A RUMOUR WILL BE RUMOURED

• A rumour will be rumoured
  
• PBers will post twitter links to it
  
• It will be hotly debated
  
• PB will conclude that it is true or false on absolutely no evidence
  
• PB will say sagely "in my judgement..." despite no evidence other than the rumour
  
• Nobody will bother to check whether the words or the numbers are true
  

5) SOMEBODY WILL POST A PICTURE OF A LITTLE DOG

• Somebody will post a picture of a little dog
  
• It will depict scale
  
• I will be happy
  

That’s all lunacy.

Peter_the_Punter said:

Nigelb said:

January - In shock 9-0 decision, SC bars Trump from all future elections.

I don't think that is possible, N. Clarence Thomas's wife would never allow it, but he could recuse himself and allow an 8-0 clean sweep.

For context, I had February down for aliens landing outside the British Museum to ask for their artefacts back.

TheScreamingEagles said:

rcs1000 said:

I am doing a semi-dry January. I shall not drink for the first 11 days. But then I'm going skiing with friends, and that will definitely not be dry.

I am partaking in dry January.

I'm going with my usual refrain. "A pub is for life not just for Christmas".

A

Nigelb said:

Peter_the_Punter said:

Nigelb said:

January - In shock 9-0 decision, SC bars Trump from all future elections.

I don't think that is possible, N. Clarence Thomas's wife would never allow it, but he could recuse himself and allow an 8-0 clean sweep.

For context, I had February down for aliens landing outside the British Museum to ask for their artefacts back.

Shirley that would be at RAF Rudloe Manor?

Or are you suggesting the aliens are a bit thick?

Nigelb said:

Leon said:

God I have to pack. I hate packing

I'm sure all of us would wish to support and encourage you to get packing forthwith.

Just realised I'm packing for the tropics

It's nearly done

Nigelb said:

January - In shock 9-0 decision, SC bars Trump from all future elections.

You know, my gut reaction to the Colorado and Maine news was that SCOTUS would swat it away pretty quickly and we'd be back to as we were. But I am starting to come round to the idea that we may see a surprise.

Only thing I would say is I doubt it would be unanimous (because Clarence Thomas).

darkage said:

Leon said:

rcs1000 said:

Leon said:

spudgfsh said:

viewcode said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

I am looking forward to 2024.

I am not. It seems to be arriving though...

take it as it comes, if it's too much ask for help.

this is truly the first year I've been looking forward to since before the pandemic. following the pandemic everything got too much for me and I fell apart mentally in 2022. I've spent this year making changes and putting myself back together again. I'm looking forward to moving on next year. Hopefully I can leave the past alone from here on out.

Good luck, bro!

A lot of us were scarred by Covid. I only really moved on late last year, the autumn of 2022

Many are still there. The other day, down in Cornwall for Chrimbo, I messaged a very old friend in Padstow that I haven't seen since pre-pandemic, I suggested a drink and a long overdue catch up

He answered "Sure, briliant, I know a good pub, but it will have to be outside, we are still shielding"

WTAFFFF

I did some research and found out this is true. This person has been "shielding" since 2020 and has not stopped. No one has been inside their house. We are on the cusp of 2024. Will it be like this for the rest of his life?

How many others are like that?

I never saw my friend. It rained like fuck and I am not gonna stand outside a pub in the rain talking to someone in a frigging mask

Now is not a stupid time to shield, if you are immunocompromised. Covid is definitely going through one of its waves, and while that's no big deal for those of us with healthy immune systems, and who have been jabbed and infected, it might well be for the old and the sick.

Perhaps

But my point is, this person has been shielding perpetually since lockdown 1. Never stopped

What kind of life is that?

Is the risk from Covid any higher than anything else going around at the moment? I was talking to a nurse yesterday and she said that even though they were still doing daily testing (because they work with vulnerable patients) she wasn't aware of covid related ICU admissions in the local hospital. Lots of people seem to be still doing this testing, shielding, mask wearing etc. One person I spoke to said that she was buying LFT tests from Tesco at 10 for £18. We couldn't see a close relative at Christmas due to self isolation in a care home due to a positive covid test. But is any of this actually proportionate to the risk from the current 'wave' of the virus?

In the talk of the horror of “abandoning people to die” in the COVID context, it is worth remembering that we have abandoned people.

There are some immune compromised people who can’t take the vaccine and are at major risk from COVID.

I recall an account of one lady, who is living in the most remote Welsh cottage she can find.

For her, abandoning lockdowns was abandonment.

Just realised that the trend rate (red) has discounted the recent energy-related spike in inflation and assigned it to irregular fluctuations

January is the worst frigging month to give up anything. Forget it.

Oh, and have annual objectives not resolutions.

No-one sticks to resolutions.

Casino_Royale said:

January is the worst frigging month to give up anything. Forget it.

Oh, and have annual objectives not resolutions.

No-one sticks to resolutions.

My objective for January is to support pubs through a quiet month.
My objective for the year is to survive and have a better year than last year

OMG!

We've got an abdication.

The monarch is to stand down on the 14th of January.

http://tinyurl.com/yez75u27

TheScreamingEagles said:

OMG!

We've got an abdication.

The monarch is to stand down on the 14th of January.

http://tinyurl.com/yez75u27

eh?

rottenborough said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

OMG!

We've got an abdication.

The monarch is to stand down on the 14th of January.

http://tinyurl.com/yez75u27

eh?

Click the link.

NickPalmer said:

Is there a link to the constituency predictions in that MRP poll?

It might be here, I've not had time to look.

https://www.bestforbritain.org/new_mega_poll_december_2023

"Denmark's queen Margrethe II unexpectedly announces abdication in New Year's Eve speech
Margrethe II will be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederik, when she steps down on 14 January."

https://news.sky.com/story/denmarks-queen-margrethe-ii-unexpectedly-announces-abdication-in-new-years-eve-speech-13040139

My new year's resolution each year is to not set foot on Oxford Street.

Foot down at the lights on my Boris bike (yes I stop at the red ones) doesn't count.

An achievable, realistic, satisfying objective/resolution.

Your welcome.

This has got to stop in 2024

https://x.com/footballcliches/status/1741478955528688011?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q

Happy new year everyone.

The main change for me in 2023 was moving to a situation where my family have two homes, a flat in the south east of the UK and an old wooden house in Finland. We have been travelling between the two. The total cost of all travel, including working one day a week in the office in London and flying to and from Finland is less than an annual season ticket to travel in to London every day from our house in England cost me in 2014. The schooling and quality of life and overall social system is far better in Finland but the weather and landscape is in my view preferable in England despite Finland being beautiful in its own way. The total cost of the two homes combined was less than a family house in England and the running costs are manageable but I shouldn't pretend that it wasn't all basically made possible by inheritance. The main purpose of living like this was to put my son in to the Finnish school system which has worked out well but obviously it comes with other challenges.

Whilst I have been negative about Covid and mass immigration a lot the main positive of these two factors was a shift to remote working that made all this possible, I've got colleagues online in Egypt and Nicaragua. It is minus 15 here in Finland and I have been out shovelling snow. About to go to buy some beers before the 9pm licensing cut off.

My dad died this year. BUT, I also ate a dog


Swings and roundabouts, swings and roundabouts

Here is my favourite drink of the year. On a Cambodian island

isam said:

This has got to stop in 2024

https://x.com/footballcliches/status/1741478955528688011?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q

To stop, this has got.

Benpointer said:

isam said:

This has got to stop in 2024

https://x.com/footballcliches/status/1741478955528688011?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q

To stop, this has got.

I liked “You’re doing… you don’t know what” in the replies

Omnium said:

Stocky said:

londonpubman said:

I'm still calling the UK general election for 2 May.

Happy New Year to all on PB 👍🍺

Do we have a PB poster of the year?

I'm going for quality of post over quantity - @darkage and @Fishing for me.

Poster of the year is clearly @rcs1000 - that he failed to know of Smarkets when OGH had (lets be fair) somewhat promoted them was really quite funny. If you can't be good then be very very funny

Eh?

WillG said:

rcs1000 said:

darkage said:

Leon said:

rcs1000 said:

Leon said:

spudgfsh said:

viewcode said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

I am looking forward to 2024.

I am not. It seems to be arriving though...

take it as it comes, if it's too much ask for help.

this is truly the first year I've been looking forward to since before the pandemic. following the pandemic everything got too much for me and I fell apart mentally in 2022. I've spent this year making changes and putting myself back together again. I'm looking forward to moving on next year. Hopefully I can leave the past alone from here on out.

Good luck, bro!

A lot of us were scarred by Covid. I only really moved on late last year, the autumn of 2022

Many are still there. The other day, down in Cornwall for Chrimbo, I messaged a very old friend in Padstow that I haven't seen since pre-pandemic, I suggested a drink and a long overdue catch up

He answered "Sure, briliant, I know a good pub, but it will have to be outside, we are still shielding"

WTAFFFF

I did some research and found out this is true. This person has been "shielding" since 2020 and has not stopped. No one has been inside their house. We are on the cusp of 2024. Will it be like this for the rest of his life?

How many others are like that?

I never saw my friend. It rained like fuck and I am not gonna stand outside a pub in the rain talking to someone in a frigging mask

Now is not a stupid time to shield, if you are immunocompromised. Covid is definitely going through one of its waves, and while that's no big deal for those of us with healthy immune systems, and who have been jabbed and infected, it might well be for the old and the sick.

Perhaps

But my point is, this person has been shielding perpetually since lockdown 1. Never stopped

What kind of life is that?

Is the risk from Covid any higher than anything else going around at the moment? I was talking to a nurse yesterday and she said that even though they were still doing daily testing (because they work with vulnerable patients) she wasn't aware of covid related ICU admissions in the local hospital. Lots of people seem to be still doing this testing, shielding, mask wearing etc. One person I spoke to said that she was buying LFT tests from Tesco at 10 for £18. We couldn't see a close relative at Christmas due to self isolation in a care home due to a positive covid test. But is any of this actually proportionate to the risk from the current 'wave' of the virus?

They still publish numbers here in LA, and yes your risk of covid is pretty much back at peak levels.

The difference is, though, that the population is no longer covid naive. So the impact is pretty modest for most people. Certainly, it's no worse than being hit with influenza.

How does the death rate compare to influenza at this point?

Candidly, I don't know.

I would be surprised if it was very different.

Andy_JS said:

"Denmark's queen Margrethe II unexpectedly announces abdication in New Year's Eve speech
Margrethe II will be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederik, when she steps down on 14 January."

https://news.sky.com/story/denmarks-queen-margrethe-ii-unexpectedly-announces-abdication-in-new-years-eve-speech-13040139

Fearless PB Pungent Pundit Prediction -

In one of first acts of his reign, King Frederick X declares reannexation of Danelaw into Kingdom of Denmark.

darkage said:

Stocky said:

londonpubman said:

I'm still calling the UK general election for 2 May.

Happy New Year to all on PB 👍🍺

Do we have a PB poster of the year?

I'm going for quality of post over quantity - darkage and Fishing for me.

Thanks for this Stocky, very flattering.
I have particularly appreciated posts this year from @Dura_Ace for comic value; kle4 for written style; Leon on AI/Aliens.

Thanks to those who run the site, I've not posted that much this year but it is always good to know it is here - and that there is a remaining part of the internet where people can respectfully disagree with each other.

Without faux humility, whilst welcome I fear you do flatter me a little - if I were to take a stab at my most prominent writing characteristic I would probably plump for thoroughness over style.

Leon said:

algarkirk said:

DavidL said:

Well, its Hogmanay and with the New Year almost upon us here are my predictions for 2024.

1. There will be an election in November. The Tories and the SNP will lose. Labour will have a modest majority, greatly helped by 20+ seats in Scotland, all taken from the SNP. The loss of seats may well be the end of the road for Yousaf. By the end of the year Rishi will have stood down as an MP and be looking to go back to California.

2. The economy will do better than current forecasts, growing modestly. There will not be a technical recession but we may come close in the first half of the year.

3. By the Summer both Russia and Ukraine will be exhausted and some form of messy compromise satisfying no one will be found.

4. Biden will win the US election, more easily than he did in 2020. The Democrats will also gain the House but may struggle in the Senate. Biden will not complete his second term.

5. China will have another difficult year with huge debt overhangs in property undermining the tax base of several provinces finances. Growth will slow even further and Xi will compensate by making more bellicose noises over Taiwan but not act.

So, you all now know where not to put your bets. Good luck all!

DavidL said:

Well, its Hogmanay and with the New Year almost upon us here are my predictions for 2024.

1. There will be an election in November. The Tories and the SNP will lose. Labour will have a modest majority, greatly helped by 20+ seats in Scotland, all taken from the SNP. The loss of seats may well be the end of the road for Yousaf. By the end of the year Rishi will have stood down as an MP and be looking to go back to California.

2. The economy will do better than current forecasts, growing modestly. There will not be a technical recession but we may come close in the first half of the year.

3. By the Summer both Russia and Ukraine will be exhausted and some form of messy compromise satisfying no one will be found.

4. Biden will win the US election, more easily than he did in 2020. The Democrats will also gain the House but may struggle in the Senate. Biden will not complete his second term.

5. China will have another difficult year with huge debt overhangs in property undermining the tax base of several provinces finances. Growth will slow even further and Xi will compensate by making more bellicose noises over Taiwan but not act.

So, you all now know where not to put your bets. Good luck all!

1) Election Sept/Oct. NOM, Labour led government.

2) Agree

3) Sadly the war will continue through 2024

4) Trump wins in November, after which the crystal ball clouds over, but we get closer to the early 1930s

5) Agree

OK, my go

1. Election in May. Labour win a decent majority but not quite the landslide the polls imply

2. Agreed. No recession, but we will come dangerously close. Growth will remain "subdued"

3. The Ukraine war will grind to a halt in late spring as both sides realise they have run out men, energy and ideas and no summer offensive is gonna work. There may not even be a formal armistice. Just a kind of sad, frigid truce

4. Trump will win a very close election but will not be the dictator feared by some. He will exult in his victory like the braggart he is, but much else will continue. He won't withdraw from NATO, he WILL bully NATO countries into spending more on defence (and fair enough)

5. China will begin a chokehold on Taiwan, subtle at first: aiming for takeover by 2027


OK now for the blacker swans:


6. A form of LLM will be released (perhaps from an unexpected source) and for many it will cross the line and be true AI; relatedly we will see the first major swathe of jobs falling to AI

7. Migration will become an overwhelming issue in Europe, and more countries will fall to far/hard right governments: the EU elections will show this

8. England will win the euros mainly thanks to Jude Bellingham

Blackest swan of all - Scotland to draw with Hungary and beat Switzerland ( or vice versa) to qualify from a group stage for the first time.

darkage said:

Happy new year everyone.

The main change for me in 2023 was moving to a situation where my family have two homes, a flat in the south east of the UK and an old wooden house in Finland. We have been travelling between the two. The total cost of all travel, including working one day a week in the office in London and flying to and from Finland is less than an annual season ticket to travel in to London every day from our house in England cost me in 2014. The schooling and quality of life and overall social system is far better in Finland but the weather and landscape is in my view preferable in England despite Finland being beautiful in its own way. The total cost of the two homes combined was less than a family house in England and the running costs are manageable but I shouldn't pretend that it wasn't all basically made possible by inheritance. The main purpose of living like this was to put my son in to the Finnish school system which has worked out well but obviously it comes with other challenges.

Whilst I have been negative about Covid and mass immigration a lot the main positive of these two factors was a shift to remote working that made all this possible, I've got colleagues online in Egypt and Nicaragua. It is minus 15 here in Finland and I have been out shovelling snow. About to go to buy some beers before the 9pm licensing cut off.

How v interesting.
Can we ask how you managed the visa situation?

My wife and I have decided to do another 12-18 months in New York. The kids are happy here - happier than they were in London but admittedly it was a Covid-blighted London.

I miss the UK and while I fiercely love certain things about the US, there are other things I don’t think I could ever totally reconcile myself to.

It‘a hard being an immigrant. This is my third country of residence. Where, really, is home?

northern_monkey said:

Well, due to a major medical emergency in the family - the third this year FFS - I find myself unexpectedly spending the New Year in, of all places, Ilkeston.

Anyway, Happy New Year to you all. I’m sure 2024 is going to be interesting!

My old dad used to work in Ilkeston, when we lived in Risley.

Happy New Year!

Thanks everyone for another entertaining year.

Malmesbury said:

darkage said:

Leon said:

rcs1000 said:

Leon said:

spudgfsh said:

viewcode said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

I am looking forward to 2024.

I am not. It seems to be arriving though...

take it as it comes, if it's too much ask for help.

this is truly the first year I've been looking forward to since before the pandemic. following the pandemic everything got too much for me and I fell apart mentally in 2022. I've spent this year making changes and putting myself back together again. I'm looking forward to moving on next year. Hopefully I can leave the past alone from here on out.

Good luck, bro!

A lot of us were scarred by Covid. I only really moved on late last year, the autumn of 2022

Many are still there. The other day, down in Cornwall for Chrimbo, I messaged a very old friend in Padstow that I haven't seen since pre-pandemic, I suggested a drink and a long overdue catch up

He answered "Sure, briliant, I know a good pub, but it will have to be outside, we are still shielding"

WTAFFFF

I did some research and found out this is true. This person has been "shielding" since 2020 and has not stopped. No one has been inside their house. We are on the cusp of 2024. Will it be like this for the rest of his life?

How many others are like that?

I never saw my friend. It rained like fuck and I am not gonna stand outside a pub in the rain talking to someone in a frigging mask

Now is not a stupid time to shield, if you are immunocompromised. Covid is definitely going through one of its waves, and while that's no big deal for those of us with healthy immune systems, and who have been jabbed and infected, it might well be for the old and the sick.

Perhaps

But my point is, this person has been shielding perpetually since lockdown 1. Never stopped

What kind of life is that?

Is the risk from Covid any higher than anything else going around at the moment? I was talking to a nurse yesterday and she said that even though they were still doing daily testing (because they work with vulnerable patients) she wasn't aware of covid related ICU admissions in the local hospital. Lots of people seem to be still doing this testing, shielding, mask wearing etc. One person I spoke to said that she was buying LFT tests from Tesco at 10 for £18. We couldn't see a close relative at Christmas due to self isolation in a care home due to a positive covid test. But is any of this actually proportionate to the risk from the current 'wave' of the virus?

In the talk of the horror of “abandoning people to die” in the COVID context, it is worth remembering that we have abandoned people.

There are some immune compromised people who can’t take the vaccine and are at major risk from COVID.

I recall an account of one lady, who is living in the most remote Welsh cottage she can find.

For her, abandoning lockdowns was abandonment.

While I have much sympathy for the lady mentioned and others like her, realistically what else could we do and what did they do before covid? Plenty other nasty viruses out there that would be tough. Essentially covid19 has joined the roster of nasty bugs. For the vast majority of us it’s hardly an issue, but not all. Arguably appropriate antivirals might help?

rcs1000 said:

I am doing a semi-dry January. I shall not drink for the first 11 days. But then I'm going skiing with friends, and that will definitely not be dry.

If it isn't dry then isn't that water skiing?

NickPalmer said:

Is there a link to the constituency predictions in that MRP poll?

The map that gives some clues:

turbotubbs said:

Malmesbury said:

darkage said:

Leon said:

rcs1000 said:

Leon said:

spudgfsh said:

viewcode said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

I am looking forward to 2024.

I am not. It seems to be arriving though...

take it as it comes, if it's too much ask for help.

this is truly the first year I've been looking forward to since before the pandemic. following the pandemic everything got too much for me and I fell apart mentally in 2022. I've spent this year making changes and putting myself back together again. I'm looking forward to moving on next year. Hopefully I can leave the past alone from here on out.

Good luck, bro!

A lot of us were scarred by Covid. I only really moved on late last year, the autumn of 2022

Many are still there. The other day, down in Cornwall for Chrimbo, I messaged a very old friend in Padstow that I haven't seen since pre-pandemic, I suggested a drink and a long overdue catch up

He answered "Sure, briliant, I know a good pub, but it will have to be outside, we are still shielding"

WTAFFFF

I did some research and found out this is true. This person has been "shielding" since 2020 and has not stopped. No one has been inside their house. We are on the cusp of 2024. Will it be like this for the rest of his life?

How many others are like that?

I never saw my friend. It rained like fuck and I am not gonna stand outside a pub in the rain talking to someone in a frigging mask

Now is not a stupid time to shield, if you are immunocompromised. Covid is definitely going through one of its waves, and while that's no big deal for those of us with healthy immune systems, and who have been jabbed and infected, it might well be for the old and the sick.

Perhaps

But my point is, this person has been shielding perpetually since lockdown 1. Never stopped

What kind of life is that?

Is the risk from Covid any higher than anything else going around at the moment? I was talking to a nurse yesterday and she said that even though they were still doing daily testing (because they work with vulnerable patients) she wasn't aware of covid related ICU admissions in the local hospital. Lots of people seem to be still doing this testing, shielding, mask wearing etc. One person I spoke to said that she was buying LFT tests from Tesco at 10 for £18. We couldn't see a close relative at Christmas due to self isolation in a care home due to a positive covid test. But is any of this actually proportionate to the risk from the current 'wave' of the virus?

In the talk of the horror of “abandoning people to die” in the COVID context, it is worth remembering that we have abandoned people.

There are some immune compromised people who can’t take the vaccine and are at major risk from COVID.

I recall an account of one lady, who is living in the most remote Welsh cottage she can find.

For her, abandoning lockdowns was abandonment.

While I have much sympathy for the lady mentioned and others like her, realistically what else could we do and what did they do before covid? Plenty other nasty viruses out there that would be tough. Essentially covid19 has joined the roster of nasty bugs. For the vast majority of us it’s hardly an issue, but not all. Arguably appropriate antivirals might help?

A friend of mine with lymphoma was fine with antivirals when she caught covid. The rest of her family were flattened.

Foxy said:

NickPalmer said:

Is there a link to the constituency predictions in that MRP poll?

The map that gives some clues:

Notable difference between opinions in the North and the West Midlands.

Jim_Miller said:

Here's a prediction I wish I wasn't making: The risk of nuclear war, small though it is, will continue increasing during 2024.

For that I blame Putin, Xi -- and Trump. And, of course, North Korea's Kim and the Iranian Mullahs.

(Here's some evidence for that unhappy conclusion: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/22/asia/nuclear-testing-china-russia-us-exclusive-intl-hnk-ml/index.html )

If Trump gets back into the White House he, Putin and Xi will form a triumvirate to rule the whole world. This will be uncomfortable for those who dislike any one of them, triply so for those who dislike all of them. Deals will be done over Ukraine, Palestine, Korea and Taiwan that will leave decent people gasping. An era of peace and plenty will ensue.

rcs1000 said:

darkage said:

Leon said:

rcs1000 said:

Leon said:

spudgfsh said:

viewcode said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

I am looking forward to 2024.

I am not. It seems to be arriving though...

take it as it comes, if it's too much ask for help.

this is truly the first year I've been looking forward to since before the pandemic. following the pandemic everything got too much for me and I fell apart mentally in 2022. I've spent this year making changes and putting myself back together again. I'm looking forward to moving on next year. Hopefully I can leave the past alone from here on out.

Good luck, bro!

A lot of us were scarred by Covid. I only really moved on late last year, the autumn of 2022

Many are still there. The other day, down in Cornwall for Chrimbo, I messaged a very old friend in Padstow that I haven't seen since pre-pandemic, I suggested a drink and a long overdue catch up

He answered "Sure, briliant, I know a good pub, but it will have to be outside, we are still shielding"

WTAFFFF

I did some research and found out this is true. This person has been "shielding" since 2020 and has not stopped. No one has been inside their house. We are on the cusp of 2024. Will it be like this for the rest of his life?

How many others are like that?

I never saw my friend. It rained like fuck and I am not gonna stand outside a pub in the rain talking to someone in a frigging mask

Now is not a stupid time to shield, if you are immunocompromised. Covid is definitely going through one of its waves, and while that's no big deal for those of us with healthy immune systems, and who have been jabbed and infected, it might well be for the old and the sick.

Perhaps

But my point is, this person has been shielding perpetually since lockdown 1. Never stopped

What kind of life is that?

Is the risk from Covid any higher than anything else going around at the moment? I was talking to a nurse yesterday and she said that even though they were still doing daily testing (because they work with vulnerable patients) she wasn't aware of covid related ICU admissions in the local hospital. Lots of people seem to be still doing this testing, shielding, mask wearing etc. One person I spoke to said that she was buying LFT tests from Tesco at 10 for £18. We couldn't see a close relative at Christmas due to self isolation in a care home due to a positive covid test. But is any of this actually proportionate to the risk from the current 'wave' of the virus?

They still publish numbers here in LA, and yes your risk of covid is pretty much back at peak levels.

The difference is, though, that the population is no longer covid naive. So the impact is pretty modest for most people. Certainly, it's no worse than being hit with influenza.

I'm definitely hearing of more of it being around.

I'm not shielding, but I am cautious - due to chemo last summer.

There seems to me to be an issue with people who perhaps need the latest jab not being on the list. I had mine at flu jab time.

kle4 said:

darkage said:

Stocky said:

londonpubman said:

I'm still calling the UK general election for 2 May.

Happy New Year to all on PB 👍🍺

Do we have a PB poster of the year?

I'm going for quality of post over quantity - darkage and Fishing for me.

Thanks for this Stocky, very flattering.
I have particularly appreciated posts this year from @Dura_Ace for comic value; kle4 for written style; Leon on AI/Aliens.

Thanks to those who run the site, I've not posted that much this year but it is always good to know it is here - and that there is a remaining part of the internet where people can respectfully disagree with each other.

Without faux humility, whilst welcome I fear you do flatter me a little - if I were to take a stab at my most prominent writing characteristic I would probably plump for thoroughness over style.

You wrote some very good posts recently which articulated very complex things very concisely.

I was always being 'praised' for being 'thorough'. I then switched to writing short sentences. Cutting out anything superfluous. It is something I started practicing on PB but now do it at work. Writing emails a couple of lines long that convey the point immediately.

Alphabet_Soup said:

Jim_Miller said:

Here's a prediction I wish I wasn't making: The risk of nuclear war, small though it is, will continue increasing during 2024.

For that I blame Putin, Xi -- and Trump. And, of course, North Korea's Kim and the Iranian Mullahs.

(Here's some evidence for that unhappy conclusion: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/22/asia/nuclear-testing-china-russia-us-exclusive-intl-hnk-ml/index.html )

If Trump gets back into the White House he, Putin and Xi will form a triumvirate to rule the whole world. This will be uncomfortable for those who dislike any one of them, triply so for those who dislike all of them. Deals will be done over Ukraine, Palestine, Korea and Taiwan that will leave decent people gasping. An era of peace and plenty will ensue.

I agree that what you write is a possibility, aside from the last line.

A Putin - Trump - Xi deal will be just like the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. Putin is sure as heck untrustworthy, and so is Trump. Xi gives the impression of being cleverer and cannier than both of them, but I am unconvinced that image is correct.

Most importantly: Trump wants to Make America Great Again. Putin wants Russia to be great. And Xi also wants China to be great. The Cold War just about worked - with tremendous danger - with two top dogs (albeit the USSR was nowhere near as strong as it made out). There's little chance of three top dogs working - especially when at last two of them would kill their own kids for their own power.

viewcode said:

Predictions for 2024

1) A THING WILL HAPPEN

• A thing will happen
  
• PBers will post twitter links to it
  
• PBers will post twitter links to other people's tweets about it
  
• PBers will post links to powerpoints, pdfs or word documents
  
• Nobody will bother to check whether the words or the numbers are true
  

2) SOMEBODY WILL SAY SOMETHING

• Somebody will say something
  
• PBers will post twitter links to it
  
• It will be hotly debated
  
• PB will conclude that it is good and free speech is cited
  
• The something will be praised and the somebody will keep their job
  
• Nobody will bother to check whether the words or the numbers are true
  

3) SOMEBODY ELSE WILL SAY SOMETHING ELSE

• Somebody else will say something else
  
• PBers will post twitter links to it
  
• It will be hotly debated
  
• PB will conclude that it is bad and "it must be offensive/wrong" or similar will be cited
  
• The something else will be derided and the somebody else will lose their job
  
• Nobody will bother to check whether the words or the numbers are true
  

4) A RUMOUR WILL BE RUMOURED

• A rumour will be rumoured
  
• PBers will post twitter links to it
  
• It will be hotly debated
  
• PB will conclude that it is true or false on absolutely no evidence
  
• PB will say sagely "in my judgement..." despite no evidence other than the rumour
  
• Nobody will bother to check whether the words or the numbers are true
  

5) SOMEBODY WILL POST A PICTURE OF A LITTLE DOG

• Somebody will post a picture of a little dog
  
• It will depict scale
  
• I will be happy
  

Latest dogs and bollards.

https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1737768043940360665

Gardenwalker said:

darkage said:

Happy new year everyone.

The main change for me in 2023 was moving to a situation where my family have two homes, a flat in the south east of the UK and an old wooden house in Finland. We have been travelling between the two. The total cost of all travel, including working one day a week in the office in London and flying to and from Finland is less than an annual season ticket to travel in to London every day from our house in England cost me in 2014. The schooling and quality of life and overall social system is far better in Finland but the weather and landscape is in my view preferable in England despite Finland being beautiful in its own way. The total cost of the two homes combined was less than a family house in England and the running costs are manageable but I shouldn't pretend that it wasn't all basically made possible by inheritance. The main purpose of living like this was to put my son in to the Finnish school system which has worked out well but obviously it comes with other challenges.

Whilst I have been negative about Covid and mass immigration a lot the main positive of these two factors was a shift to remote working that made all this possible, I've got colleagues online in Egypt and Nicaragua. It is minus 15 here in Finland and I have been out shovelling snow. About to go to buy some beers before the 9pm licensing cut off.

How v interesting.
Can we ask how you managed the visa situation?

My wife and I have decided to do another 12-18 months in New York. The kids are happy here - happier than they were in London but admittedly it was a Covid-blighted London.

I miss the UK and while I fiercely love certain things about the US, there are other things I don’t think I could ever totally reconcile myself to.

It‘a hard being an immigrant. This is my third country of residence. Where, really, is home?

Phnom Penh

I’m only half joking. It is, right now, the perfect city

It’s incredibly cheap. A third the price of Bangkok (or Lisbon). The city is a manageable size while still being a capital. The optimistic buzz of a young growing country is fabulous. The food is brilliant - and, now, very varied. The people are super friendly and speak good English

It’s also jolly safe and rather scenic - two massive winding rivers braiding through

The markets are rizz and the pharmacies are peng and the Khmer women are cheekbone central

I’ll probably have a terrible time now but honestly my last two visits have reminded me of Bangkok at its best in about 1989

darkage said:

OnlyLivingBoy said:

darkage said:

Gardenwalker said:

darkage said:

Happy new year everyone.

The main change for me in 2023 was moving to a situation where my family have two homes, a flat in the south east of the UK and an old wooden house in Finland. We have been travelling between the two. The total cost of all travel, including working one day a week in the office in London and flying to and from Finland is less than an annual season ticket to travel in to London every day from our house in England cost me in 2014. The schooling and quality of life and overall social system is far better in Finland but the weather and landscape is in my view preferable in England despite Finland being beautiful in its own way. The total cost of the two homes combined was less than a family house in England and the running costs are manageable but I shouldn't pretend that it wasn't all basically made possible by inheritance. The main purpose of living like this was to put my son in to the Finnish school system which has worked out well but obviously it comes with other challenges.

Whilst I have been negative about Covid and mass immigration a lot the main positive of these two factors was a shift to remote working that made all this possible, I've got colleagues online in Egypt and Nicaragua. It is minus 15 here in Finland and I have been out shovelling snow. About to go to buy some beers before the 9pm licensing cut off.

How v interesting.
Can we ask how you managed the visa situation?

My wife and I have decided to do another 12-18 months in New York. The kids are happy here - happier than they were in London but admittedly it was a Covid-blighted London.

I miss the UK and while I fiercely love certain things about the US, there are other things I don’t think I could ever totally reconcile myself to.

It‘a hard being an immigrant. This is my third country of residence. Where, really, is home?

Quite complex and with some possibly unresolved grey areas... but in summary we are dual EU nationals so the issues fall away. It is a bit different for us because my wife is Finnish and very rooted here. I did work out that I could never completely 'leave' England for various reasons largely to do with family and work so we came up with this solution. I've learned to be ok with travelling around and being on the move whereas my wife and son prefer to spend longer periods in each place. My son now has two sets of friends, one in England and one in Finland, two lots of birthday parties to attend etc so a lot of forward planning needed. In Finland they are not that worried about him missing school the way they were in England. Most of the year the flights on Ryanair are about £30 each way.

Sounds like a nice arrangement, I envy you your EU passports. 🇪🇺

Yeah, I realise it is an enviable arrangement and don't take it for granted. Sorting it out took many years and cost thousands of pounds though - just to continue the rights we had in early 2016.

I’m just happy the French have legislated to allow British second home owners to get a simple 6 month visa.

Completely discriminatory law, but suits me.

TimS said:

darkage said:

OnlyLivingBoy said:

darkage said:

Gardenwalker said:

darkage said:

Happy new year everyone.

The main change for me in 2023 was moving to a situation where my family have two homes, a flat in the south east of the UK and an old wooden house in Finland. We have been travelling between the two. The total cost of all travel, including working one day a week in the office in London and flying to and from Finland is less than an annual season ticket to travel in to London every day from our house in England cost me in 2014. The schooling and quality of life and overall social system is far better in Finland but the weather and landscape is in my view preferable in England despite Finland being beautiful in its own way. The total cost of the two homes combined was less than a family house in England and the running costs are manageable but I shouldn't pretend that it wasn't all basically made possible by inheritance. The main purpose of living like this was to put my son in to the Finnish school system which has worked out well but obviously it comes with other challenges.

Whilst I have been negative about Covid and mass immigration a lot the main positive of these two factors was a shift to remote working that made all this possible, I've got colleagues online in Egypt and Nicaragua. It is minus 15 here in Finland and I have been out shovelling snow. About to go to buy some beers before the 9pm licensing cut off.

How v interesting.
Can we ask how you managed the visa situation?

My wife and I have decided to do another 12-18 months in New York. The kids are happy here - happier than they were in London but admittedly it was a Covid-blighted London.

I miss the UK and while I fiercely love certain things about the US, there are other things I don’t think I could ever totally reconcile myself to.

It‘a hard being an immigrant. This is my third country of residence. Where, really, is home?

Quite complex and with some possibly unresolved grey areas... but in summary we are dual EU nationals so the issues fall away. It is a bit different for us because my wife is Finnish and very rooted here. I did work out that I could never completely 'leave' England for various reasons largely to do with family and work so we came up with this solution. I've learned to be ok with travelling around and being on the move whereas my wife and son prefer to spend longer periods in each place. My son now has two sets of friends, one in England and one in Finland, two lots of birthday parties to attend etc so a lot of forward planning needed. In Finland they are not that worried about him missing school the way they were in England. Most of the year the flights on Ryanair are about £30 each way.

Sounds like a nice arrangement, I envy you your EU passports. 🇪🇺

Yeah, I realise it is an enviable arrangement and don't take it for granted. Sorting it out took many years and cost thousands of pounds though - just to continue the rights we had in early 2016.

I’m just happy the French have legislated to allow British second home owners to get a simple 6 month visa.

Completely discriminatory law, but suits me.

Don’t you have young-ish kids?
Perhaps I get you mixed up slightly with @OnlyLivingBoy

Education keeps me tethered more than anything else.

Gardenwalker said:

Leon said:

Gardenwalker said:

darkage said:

Gardenwalker said:

darkage said:

Happy new year everyone.

The main change for me in 2023 was moving to a situation where my family have two homes, a flat in the south east of the UK and an old wooden house in Finland. We have been travelling between the two. The total cost of all travel, including working one day a week in the office in London and flying to and from Finland is less than an annual season ticket to travel in to London every day from our house in England cost me in 2014. The schooling and quality of life and overall social system is far better in Finland but the weather and landscape is in my view preferable in England despite Finland being beautiful in its own way. The total cost of the two homes combined was less than a family house in England and the running costs are manageable but I shouldn't pretend that it wasn't all basically made possible by inheritance. The main purpose of living like this was to put my son in to the Finnish school system which has worked out well but obviously it comes with other challenges.

Whilst I have been negative about Covid and mass immigration a lot the main positive of these two factors was a shift to remote working that made all this possible, I've got colleagues online in Egypt and Nicaragua. It is minus 15 here in Finland and I have been out shovelling snow. About to go to buy some beers before the 9pm licensing cut off.

How v interesting.
Can we ask how you managed the visa situation?

My wife and I have decided to do another 12-18 months in New York. The kids are happy here - happier than they were in London but admittedly it was a Covid-blighted London.

I miss the UK and while I fiercely love certain things about the US, there are other things I don’t think I could ever totally reconcile myself to.

It‘a hard being an immigrant. This is my third country of residence. Where, really, is home?

Quite complex and with some possibly unresolved grey areas... but in summary we are dual EU nationals so the issues fall away. It is a bit different for us because my wife is Finnish and very rooted here. I did work out that I could never completely 'leave' England for various reasons largely to do with family and work so we came up with this solution. I've learned to be ok with travelling around and being on the move whereas my wife and son prefer to spend longer periods in each place. My son now has two sets of friends, one in England and one in Finland, two lots of birthday parties to attend etc so a lot of forward planning needed. In Finland they are not that worried about him missing school the way they were in England. Most of the year the flights on Ryanair are about £30 each way.

People do this sort of thing more obviously in the US, since there are no visa issues. Live in Miami and commute to New York is one model I’ve seen a couple of times. Others just live way out in Vermont or Maine and do something similar.

Sadly Brexit removed most of those options for the Brits, you are v lucky to have your EU citizenship.

DIGITAL NOMAD VISAS

Or just buy a house somewhere in Malta or whatever

Not sure I really have $500k to spare.

Surely you just ask the junior butler from the servants hall to the servants hall to purchase it on account?

Gardenwalker said:

Leon said:

Gardenwalker said:

darkage said:

Gardenwalker said:

darkage said:

Happy new year everyone.

The main change for me in 2023 was moving to a situation where my family have two homes, a flat in the south east of the UK and an old wooden house in Finland. We have been travelling between the two. The total cost of all travel, including working one day a week in the office in London and flying to and from Finland is less than an annual season ticket to travel in to London every day from our house in England cost me in 2014. The schooling and quality of life and overall social system is far better in Finland but the weather and landscape is in my view preferable in England despite Finland being beautiful in its own way. The total cost of the two homes combined was less than a family house in England and the running costs are manageable but I shouldn't pretend that it wasn't all basically made possible by inheritance. The main purpose of living like this was to put my son in to the Finnish school system which has worked out well but obviously it comes with other challenges.

Whilst I have been negative about Covid and mass immigration a lot the main positive of these two factors was a shift to remote working that made all this possible, I've got colleagues online in Egypt and Nicaragua. It is minus 15 here in Finland and I have been out shovelling snow. About to go to buy some beers before the 9pm licensing cut off.

How v interesting.
Can we ask how you managed the visa situation?

My wife and I have decided to do another 12-18 months in New York. The kids are happy here - happier than they were in London but admittedly it was a Covid-blighted London.

I miss the UK and while I fiercely love certain things about the US, there are other things I don’t think I could ever totally reconcile myself to.

It‘a hard being an immigrant. This is my third country of residence. Where, really, is home?

Quite complex and with some possibly unresolved grey areas... but in summary we are dual EU nationals so the issues fall away. It is a bit different for us because my wife is Finnish and very rooted here. I did work out that I could never completely 'leave' England for various reasons largely to do with family and work so we came up with this solution. I've learned to be ok with travelling around and being on the move whereas my wife and son prefer to spend longer periods in each place. My son now has two sets of friends, one in England and one in Finland, two lots of birthday parties to attend etc so a lot of forward planning needed. In Finland they are not that worried about him missing school the way they were in England. Most of the year the flights on Ryanair are about £30 each way.

People do this sort of thing more obviously in the US, since there are no visa issues. Live in Miami and commute to New York is one model I’ve seen a couple of times. Others just live way out in Vermont or Maine and do something similar.

Sadly Brexit removed most of those options for the Brits, you are v lucky to have your EU citizenship.

DIGITAL NOMAD VISAS

Or just buy a house somewhere in Malta or whatever

Not sure I really have $500k to spare.

You could sell one of your other homes?

Leon said:

Gardenwalker said:

Leon said:

Gardenwalker said:

darkage said:

Gardenwalker said:

darkage said:

Happy new year everyone.

The main change for me in 2023 was moving to a situation where my family have two homes, a flat in the south east of the UK and an old wooden house in Finland. We have been travelling between the two. The total cost of all travel, including working one day a week in the office in London and flying to and from Finland is less than an annual season ticket to travel in to London every day from our house in England cost me in 2014. The schooling and quality of life and overall social system is far better in Finland but the weather and landscape is in my view preferable in England despite Finland being beautiful in its own way. The total cost of the two homes combined was less than a family house in England and the running costs are manageable but I shouldn't pretend that it wasn't all basically made possible by inheritance. The main purpose of living like this was to put my son in to the Finnish school system which has worked out well but obviously it comes with other challenges.

Whilst I have been negative about Covid and mass immigration a lot the main positive of these two factors was a shift to remote working that made all this possible, I've got colleagues online in Egypt and Nicaragua. It is minus 15 here in Finland and I have been out shovelling snow. About to go to buy some beers before the 9pm licensing cut off.

How v interesting.
Can we ask how you managed the visa situation?

My wife and I have decided to do another 12-18 months in New York. The kids are happy here - happier than they were in London but admittedly it was a Covid-blighted London.

I miss the UK and while I fiercely love certain things about the US, there are other things I don’t think I could ever totally reconcile myself to.

It‘a hard being an immigrant. This is my third country of residence. Where, really, is home?

Quite complex and with some possibly unresolved grey areas... but in summary we are dual EU nationals so the issues fall away. It is a bit different for us because my wife is Finnish and very rooted here. I did work out that I could never completely 'leave' England for various reasons largely to do with family and work so we came up with this solution. I've learned to be ok with travelling around and being on the move whereas my wife and son prefer to spend longer periods in each place. My son now has two sets of friends, one in England and one in Finland, two lots of birthday parties to attend etc so a lot of forward planning needed. In Finland they are not that worried about him missing school the way they were in England. Most of the year the flights on Ryanair are about £30 each way.

People do this sort of thing more obviously in the US, since there are no visa issues. Live in Miami and commute to New York is one model I’ve seen a couple of times. Others just live way out in Vermont or Maine and do something similar.

Sadly Brexit removed most of those options for the Brits, you are v lucky to have your EU citizenship.

DIGITAL NOMAD VISAS

Or just buy a house somewhere in Malta or whatever

Not sure I really have $500k to spare.

You could sell one of your other homes?

In this market?

One way l

Gardenwalker said:

TimS said:

darkage said:

OnlyLivingBoy said:

darkage said:

Gardenwalker said:

darkage said:

Happy new year everyone.

The main change for me in 2023 was moving to a situation where my family have two homes, a flat in the south east of the UK and an old wooden house in Finland. We have been travelling between the two. The total cost of all travel, including working one day a week in the office in London and flying to and from Finland is less than an annual season ticket to travel in to London every day from our house in England cost me in 2014. The schooling and quality of life and overall social system is far better in Finland but the weather and landscape is in my view preferable in England despite Finland being beautiful in its own way. The total cost of the two homes combined was less than a family house in England and the running costs are manageable but I shouldn't pretend that it wasn't all basically made possible by inheritance. The main purpose of living like this was to put my son in to the Finnish school system which has worked out well but obviously it comes with other challenges.

Whilst I have been negative about Covid and mass immigration a lot the main positive of these two factors was a shift to remote working that made all this possible, I've got colleagues online in Egypt and Nicaragua. It is minus 15 here in Finland and I have been out shovelling snow. About to go to buy some beers before the 9pm licensing cut off.

How v interesting.
Can we ask how you managed the visa situation?

My wife and I have decided to do another 12-18 months in New York. The kids are happy here - happier than they were in London but admittedly it was a Covid-blighted London.

I miss the UK and while I fiercely love certain things about the US, there are other things I don’t think I could ever totally reconcile myself to.

It‘a hard being an immigrant. This is my third country of residence. Where, really, is home?

Quite complex and with some possibly unresolved grey areas... but in summary we are dual EU nationals so the issues fall away. It is a bit different for us because my wife is Finnish and very rooted here. I did work out that I could never completely 'leave' England for various reasons largely to do with family and work so we came up with this solution. I've learned to be ok with travelling around and being on the move whereas my wife and son prefer to spend longer periods in each place. My son now has two sets of friends, one in England and one in Finland, two lots of birthday parties to attend etc so a lot of forward planning needed. In Finland they are not that worried about him missing school the way they were in England. Most of the year the flights on Ryanair are about £30 each way.

Sounds like a nice arrangement, I envy you your EU passports. 🇪🇺

Yeah, I realise it is an enviable arrangement and don't take it for granted. Sorting it out took many years and cost thousands of pounds though - just to continue the rights we had in early 2016.

I’m just happy the French have legislated to allow British second home owners to get a simple 6 month visa.

Completely discriminatory law, but suits me.

Don’t you have young-ish kids?
Perhaps I get you mixed up slightly with @OnlyLivingBoy

Education keeps me tethered more than anything else.

Put the daughter in a nunnery and dump the boy with a half sister

It’s what Byron did and he had a gas

Malmesbury said:

Gardenwalker said:

Leon said:

Gardenwalker said:

darkage said:

Gardenwalker said:

darkage said:

Happy new year everyone.

The main change for me in 2023 was moving to a situation where my family have two homes, a flat in the south east of the UK and an old wooden house in Finland. We have been travelling between the two. The total cost of all travel, including working one day a week in the office in London and flying to and from Finland is less than an annual season ticket to travel in to London every day from our house in England cost me in 2014. The schooling and quality of life and overall social system is far better in Finland but the weather and landscape is in my view preferable in England despite Finland being beautiful in its own way. The total cost of the two homes combined was less than a family house in England and the running costs are manageable but I shouldn't pretend that it wasn't all basically made possible by inheritance. The main purpose of living like this was to put my son in to the Finnish school system which has worked out well but obviously it comes with other challenges.

Whilst I have been negative about Covid and mass immigration a lot the main positive of these two factors was a shift to remote working that made all this possible, I've got colleagues online in Egypt and Nicaragua. It is minus 15 here in Finland and I have been out shovelling snow. About to go to buy some beers before the 9pm licensing cut off.

How v interesting.
Can we ask how you managed the visa situation?

My wife and I have decided to do another 12-18 months in New York. The kids are happy here - happier than they were in London but admittedly it was a Covid-blighted London.

I miss the UK and while I fiercely love certain things about the US, there are other things I don’t think I could ever totally reconcile myself to.

It‘a hard being an immigrant. This is my third country of residence. Where, really, is home?

Quite complex and with some possibly unresolved grey areas... but in summary we are dual EU nationals so the issues fall away. It is a bit different for us because my wife is Finnish and very rooted here. I did work out that I could never completely 'leave' England for various reasons largely to do with family and work so we came up with this solution. I've learned to be ok with travelling around and being on the move whereas my wife and son prefer to spend longer periods in each place. My son now has two sets of friends, one in England and one in Finland, two lots of birthday parties to attend etc so a lot of forward planning needed. In Finland they are not that worried about him missing school the way they were in England. Most of the year the flights on Ryanair are about £30 each way.

People do this sort of thing more obviously in the US, since there are no visa issues. Live in Miami and commute to New York is one model I’ve seen a couple of times. Others just live way out in Vermont or Maine and do something similar.

Sadly Brexit removed most of those options for the Brits, you are v lucky to have your EU citizenship.

DIGITAL NOMAD VISAS

Or just buy a house somewhere in Malta or whatever

Not sure I really have $500k to spare.

Surely you just ask the junior butler from the servants hall to the servants hall to purchase it on account?

You’ve got me confused with @rcs1000.

I live a hard-scrabble existence on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, with all my disposable income currently soaked up by school fees.

IanB2 said:

I hate New Year, so will be having an early night as usual. But the dog will be up, and he says….

I call a temporary truce in our amusing bickering and wish you and the mutt a happy new year from the Etihad Lounge, LHR T4

🥂