Bellend Sebastian

Just relieved that my wife managing to get her car MOT'd at the last minute didn't turn out to be a waste of time

Now to get back to the important stuff, like saying windmills give you cancer etc

At least he's getting rid of all that woke stuff

Probably time to release the Epstein files in an effort to distract from how mental he is

12 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

Just doing my weekly food shop tyvm.

I always drive to Tesco to sit and place my online food delivery order, it gets me in the mood, and if I forget what I need I can simply walk around the store to remind myself of what's available

Petrol stations are literally running out of petrol but that's not stopping people sitting in car parks with their engine running for no obvious reason

Blooming heck

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22 hours ago, SecretPro said:

Bit the bullet and had a Garmin Forerunner 55 delivered today. I've always just used the strava app so used to everything in KMs. Do those with a watch use it in kms or miles? 

Always been an imperial man (no pics of Darth Vader please) although I generally run either 3.11 miles (5k) or 6.23 (10k). My head is completely in minutes per mile, minutes per km means nothing to me. 

My number came through yesterday for the (Abbey Park) Leicester Big 10k, which I was alarmed is in just 2 Sundays' time. As I booked it while getting my breath back after the last one I have a hilariously low number, so run the risk of being mistaken for all elite athlete - until I actually start running

1 hour ago, Zear0 said:

My Bose Soundsports have been working since before COVID

That's very impressive. Naturally they've stopped making them, can't have stuff lasting that long!

5 minutes ago, 1884HF said:

ive got a standard pair of apple ones which I bought from Argos for just under £20 and ive had em for about a year now of continual extended daily use - cheap and effective

If I'd paid 20 quid for mine I wouldn't be moaning. They were £90, which I know is still cheap in earbuds land but it's a lot to be forking out every 18 months

How long do folk get out of a pair of wireless earbuds, lifespan wise?

I was cynical about how long they would last, and more than a little resentful about basically being forced to ditch wired ones, and my fears have come to pass, with one of mine lasting less than 45 minutes before running out of juice, 18 months after purchase, so will probably have to be binned within a few weeks.

In common with all the major manufacturers, they only have a 1 year warranty that doesn't suggest to me any expectation of longevity. What's typical before they need to be replaced? 2 years? 3 years? 

I got 5 years out of my last pair of wired soundmagics, they cost a third of these bloody things and sounded better

7 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

Prepare yourself for Easter

 

 

Very good, but they need to update it with being made to buy an electric vehicle, banning log burners and those ruddy bloody flags if my Facebook feed is anything to go by

Ouch

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17 hours ago, chrishlcfc said:

How’s everyone got threes on that I’ve never even heard of the word 😂

I somehow got it in 3 but even as I typed it in I was wondering is this even a word? Dredged up from some long neglected part of my brain. 

It will probably be something much easier today, that naturally I will struggle with

Nobel Prize back on then

3 hours ago, Zorrovolpe said:

This is a query about tax / finance rather than "investments", but this seems the best thread for it. I'd really appreciate any thoughts about hiring (tax) accountants regarding income tax returns.

 

HMRC think that I should move from simple assessment to self assessment. I suspect that exceeding the 10K annual bank interest threshold has triggered this.

 

My tax return shouldn't be that complex. Income from a (very) part-time job until July '26, then early retirement and an occupational pension kicking in at that point. Other income will be interest from around a dozen different building societies. Nothing remotely complex like shares, foreign assets, etc.

 

I don't particularly want to try and do the return myself (I can see myself making errors / losing patience).

But then again, some people who use tax accountants complain about the sheer volume of information that they request; if you're spending so much time digging up info and figures for them, mightn't you be better off doing it yourself...? 🤔

 

Any advice much appreciated - many thanks. 👍

Having recently helped my wife with hers I think, given what you've said about your circumstances, it's worth having a go yourself. As everything you've mentioned is either income or interest it should be pretty straightforward, and whilst some of the return is worded slightly technically, it's not that bad and there's nothing you wouldn't get a straightforward layman's explanation for it if you Google it (frequently from the HMRC website itself)

15 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Get some piranhas 

Not resorting to that just yet.

Hung some old CDRs with scary yellow eyes painted on them from the branches of the trees next to the pond last night, to absolutely zero effect as the heron was stood by the pond when I got up.

I've therefore ordered a traditional plastic replica heron, which can supposedly be effective particularly if you reposition it regularly as herons are apparently quite intelligent and can work out if they're being had. 

Also, if the real heron has amorous intentions towards the replica one, it may give me an opportunity to sneak up on it and twat it with a hammer while it's distracted, or at least attach an envelope to it containing an essay in which I attempt to persuade it to mend its ways, I dunno, I'm not Attenborough.

I think the heron may be a dunce anyway as it turns out it has failed to catch at least 3 of the 4 fish I am vaguely bothered about, they are just really good at hiding, so with that in mind I've fashioned them a special hiding cave from an upturned plant basket with a hole cut in the side and some stones on top to stop it floating 

Cheeky sod was back again this evening. At least one fish has survived, but for how long? I give him until tomorrow

Bastard heron's had all my fish innit

I'm struggling to imagine having anything other than full electric again. Did a 270 mile round trip in it the other day and while I don't think it would have made it on one charge (I wasn't driving particularly conservatively) I topped up on a fast charger at the services and that took about 15 minutes, and got home with about 70 miles to spare.

It's just not a big deal is it? Still the case that the numbers don't stack up if you can't charge at home, but for everyone else it can work and work well

Anyone listened to Morrissey's new album yet? I have, although not enough to say whether it's any good, although I'm reasonably confident that it's not as bad as a lot of the reviews suggest it is. At least a few of the tracks are great.

Journalists have been reviewing him as a person rather than the records since the early 90s which I used to think was very unfair, but in recent years he's done nothing to help that AT ALL

Telegraph admonished by press regulator for publishing total bollocks: 

https://pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/newspaper-corrections-media-mistakes-errors-legal/telegraph-declines-to-tell-regulator-how-fake-banker-story-got-published/

I've full confidence that they won't do that again

On 18/02/2026 at 13:51, Trav Le Bleu said:

Is it wrong, when seeing balaclava wearing goons on e-bikes pulling wheelies on public roads, to wish that they fall off and smash their heads on the tarmac?

I preferred it when it was grown men riding round the estates on tiny motorcycles, like a bear in a Russian circus

29 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Oh yeah!

In Bath, a skinny man ate a chocolate bar with a little name
By chance his girlfriend came across a Kit-kat and soon she did the same
At home there are seventeen-year-old boys and their idea of fun
Is being in a gang called 'The Disciples'
High on cocoa and totin' a double choc magnum

 

… Time

 

Times

… Leicester fan Annie ripped off the wrapping of a Twirl and ate everything inside
You turn on the telly and every other story is tellin' you somebody diets
A sister killed her baby 'cause she couldn't afford to feed it Mars
And yet we're sending people to Bournville
In September, my cousin tried Snickers for the very first time
Now he's doing Flake, it's April unh

… Times

 

 

Underrated post, this