Bellend Sebastian

BUMP! I've still not bought a new guitar because stupid things keep getting in the way like buying food for my children and getting the boiler fixed. I'm still at the fun stage of debating what I really want, and as well as the above I've got a couple of alternatives on my radar. Some current Les Paul Studios are down to £1299 at the moment, so only slightly more expensive than the new IBGC Epiphones. But are they sexier? Debatable. Also, as this is a largely unnecessary exercise anyway, I could save money and buy a used Studio, which with a bit of care and perhaps compromise on condition, can be had from about £700. As usual, some years are supposedly better than others, but I don't get the sense any are real dogs. What would YOU do? And if you say, play them all and choose which one you like best then that's a completely sensible answer

Well, you can reduce risk down to a level by being on top of those things, certainly and maybe largely eliminate the chance of causing an accident, but you can't eliminate being in one, can you? When someone drove into the back of me while waiting at the lights near Braunstone Leisure centre there wasn't a thing I could do about that, and that that has happened to me but not the hundreds of thousands of other drivers who've waited there without some div hitting them because they're chatting to their girlfriend and not looking at the road properly is down to their good fortune

An American gentleman did once ask me why the British weren't into flags more. What are you supposed to say to that? Because there are other things to be into?

I've done what I think is probably a four and a half day week ever since my eldest started school. The actual need for that will be gone in no more than 2 or 3 years but I don't fancy giving up my two shorter days. It works quite well as although I'm in work every week day, I never have two long days in a row. I have a job it's very hard to leave at the door and I doubt I'd get paid anymore if I increased my hours, so I'll probably try and keep things as they are until I finish, which has got to be at least 10 years away and realistically more than that

It was probably on Air Crash Investigation or something like that where they highlighted a culturally different approach to aviation safety and how it's regulated in the US compared to the UK/Europe. In simple terms, in the latter more resource goes into trying to foresee what might go wrong and doing whatever you can to avoid that, whereas in the States the emphasis is more on picking apart things when they do go wrong and learning from that to prevent reoccurrence. I think the logic of the US approach is that you cannot foresee everything and it's more efficient to learn from experience (the Elon Musk "move fast and break things" approach, and taken to the nth degree, that Stockton Rush knobhead and his cardboard submarine) but if the content of that article is to be believed it's going a bit too far in what's surely one of the worst possible sectors you could do this in

Finally deleted X and have also disabled the Google News feed on my phone, removing a gateway to me reading a lot of absolute shite

My exhaustive research (about 3 minutes on Google) suggests that it's expensive but not THAT expensive compared to other brands. Five hundred quid for a recent Ford Focus headlight!

My mate is a mechanic for a garage that does a lot of work on JLR vehicles, and shared the fascinating fact with me that a Land Rover Discovery (not sure which one) head light unit costs £800. £800! Maybe all headlights cost that much now, it might explain why insurance keeps going up

Byline Times again taking the deeply unfashionable approach to journalism of trying to establish if something is true rather than simply endorsing it or pretending to be outraged: https://bylinetimes.com/2025/06/10/the-millionaire-exodus-the-uk-media-told-you-about-never-actually-happened/

I was in Hinckley for the first time in years last week. Not doing too badly compared to some places I've been to

I wouldn't have thought so because the problem with washing machine tablets is supposedly that the gooey liquid coats everything and doesn't get washed away. We had problems with our old dishwasher as although we cleaned the unit and the filter fairly regularly, the drain hose eventually got blocked up with food waste anyway - like properly solid with grossness. I don't remember that causing much of a smell but it was properly horrible so it probably did. The washing machine guy that came to us on Friday was great - he does dishwashers as well so I'll DM you his details if you want them (assuming you're in Leicester, which I think you are)

That washing tablets really were responsible for making our washing machine stink. Used washing machine cleaner, white vinegar, a hot wash, cleaned the filter etc none of which made any difference and after using powder again for about a day it's now like it's brand new. I'm a bit lost as to why we started using the tabs in the first place

I mean you can always see how it goes but I find with injuries like that you can spend a lot of time and effort trying to manage it yourself and have the blooming thing keep coming back just when you think you're sorted. I just go straight to the physio for some deep tissue massage and although it's INCREDIBLY painful AND costs about 40 quid it's usually just the one treatment and I'm as right as rain within a day or so. Providing you do the strength training after that that they usually recommend, the chance of recurrence is pretty much nil in my experience

Not a full u turn as they're adamant it's not coming back as a universal benefit (which makes sense as why should my parents and parents in law be sat on a million quid of property between them and no small amount of other assets and get a non means tested benefit on top of their pensions?). The whole thing was a coms disaster, a Malcolm Tucker would never have stood for it

Not sure this is news but this was absolutely fascinating and I wasn't sure where else to put it: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/09/unforgiving-places-jens-ludwig-book-review?utm_medium=social&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=bluesky&mbid=social_bluesky&utm_brand=tny I might try and get hold of this

If you're worried you're feeling a bit too happy and need bringing back down to earth, this'll crush your spirits even if you don't like insects https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/03/climate-species-collapse-ecology-insects-nature-reserves-aoe

I'd add that there's a lot of luck involved in driving and on another day the 'mistake' you've made doesn't have any consequences whatsoever. I've known plenty of people that have consistently driven like cretins and convinced themselves they're GREAT at driving when what they are is lucky. Being overly cautious behind the wheel isn't helpful, but over confidence and forgetting that anything bad can ever happen is much, much worse. Yes, it's a ball ache but I'd file this one under 'regrettable but if that's as bad as it gets I'll take that'. You may need a new folder for that

That would make sense but it's the more serious GBH with intent charge (sentence up to life in prison) he's got. I think I've managed to just about stop short of doing this but I've seen it quite rightly pointed out on social media that this guy is getting a lot more, if not sympathy, but folk actually thinking about what's gone on and why than when it's the sort of person you're expecting it to be

Obviously a potentially life changing event for the victims (although fingers crossed not to the extent it looked like it would be) it's an unusually extreme situation for an apparently "normal" person and to find themselves in, isn't it? I've made myself feel dirty by going on the Daily Mail website, where of course they've been through his social media and spoken to the bloke that services his car etc. Prejudices and all that aside he's being portrayed as the LAST sort of person that would do this - ex forces, ex relatively senior NHS, company director etc etc. It's like one of my lovely Western Park neighbours going off the rails. I notice that there's no charge for driving while unfit through drugs charge which was one of the things he was originally arrested for. I was expecting some thick necked super masculine cokehead, but he doesn't appear to be that. Not really any point speculating what's gone on here but it's all a bit strange

Bloke in Liverpool now charged. Attempted murder charge now dropped, unsurprisingly. GBH with intent amongst other things

I don't think I'd be going to the newspapers if this were me but each to their own: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/man-suffers-neck-injury-whiplash-10209743

Whilst I don't think prison is the place for these people, I think they should do community service for.....ever

Time for some light relief: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0gr24r407o

You go to these places and sometimes THINGS JUST HAPPEN

26:22 just now, quickest for a while but didn't feel remotely fast. Going for a sports massage in a bit to get some life pummeled into these creaky old limbs