Bellend Sebastian

An exclusive as reported by the ever reliable Telegraph, which proudly boasts the most breaches of the editorial code as judged by press regulator IPSO for both 2022 and 2023 (this accolade being snatched from them by The Daily Express in 2024) which they went on about less for some reason

Thinking of climbing into it myself

Honestly, I've built a wicker man for nothing AGAIN

I'm sure we used to be a serious country at one point. The stuff we ignore and the effort that is poured into nothing. Just feel like we're an ocean of perpetually shrieking twats now

https://fullfact.org/government-tracker/

I could manage without it in my crappily insulated 1920s gaff I think if it weren't for the towels never drying out properly. Using a damp towel after a shower is proper bleak

She was only calling herself that to get out of admitting she'd eaten him

ID'd my first False Widow spider properly. Even if it were actually dangerous, it's not very intimidating and I say that as someone that normally HATES spiders. It was also outside, which helped

Yes what of it

Do you know that feeling sometimes when you wish people were a bit less generous? The six 2" fish I agreed to take on arrived today having miraculously increased in both size and quantity by 100% Thanks, I think

Oh my, if I had a quid for every time we'd had a panicking client wanting to disinvest from their pension because Rachel Reeves is doing away with tax free cash, I'd probably be able to afford a slap up feast at a mid level eatery. People say that nobody reads newspapers anymore but as far as I can tell this is pretty much exclusively down to newspaper stories and online content from the same sources (with the Telegraph being a particular offender) that create a strong impression that this is very much on the cards if not completely inevitable. It was completely out of hand before the spring statement with zero evidence of anything like this on the cards, and they're at it again ahead of the Autumn budget

Amazing scenes, you seem to have gotten into conflict with the William Wallace of the mole world. Negotiate?

Solar powered mole f**ker-uppers are a thing, it would seem

Those dirty buggers go all in, don't they? Proper mass pile-ons. I'll not stand for that filth in MY garden, I can tell you. Spent a more chaste afternoon messing about with electrics and pipework so now have filtration and a (rather more spectacular than intended) waterfall working

We get frogs in our garden anyway and I don't know that anyone's got a pond near us so that's always been a bit of a mystery where they came from so probably similar, unless someone had some frogspawn in a bucket or something. After all the effort I've gone to they'll probably ignore it just to spite me

Probably turn up with a bucket of angry pike, half arsedly spray painted gold

You'll get frogs at some point, they'll breed in puddle if it's there long enough. I've been offered some free goldfish today, with a caveat that they are not very gold

So I have de-risked a BIT (basically going from 10 out of 10 on risk down to 7 out of 10). Not changed it for the regular contributions. Have I done the right thing? No idea

That sounds enchanting and proportionate. Mine has naturally gone from being a humble bit of fun to take up maybe an afternoon or two to a gargantuan engineering project requiring hours of research and graft, and a budget that is indirectly supporting the local economy. A water beetle turned up the other day though. It's since moved on but I'd say that's a good return on the investment so far

Jamie helping to calm me down here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg5ej03p604o

Wise words, gentlemen. I've worked in the advice sector since the 90s so glad to hear it being given such a glowing endorsement! In pretty well diversified compared to what a lot of folk on here would consider a good spread but aggressively positioned and I know how much it can go down as I've seen it all before. It's really more about me deciding whether I still have the appetite for this. I think I probably do, for now at least, but I'm a lot closer to having to think about whether this is still appropriate than my colleagues at the other end of their careers

Saw Allo Darlin in Nottingham last night and got my tickets for the MIGHTY Prolapse in a couple of weeks

Funny old cove (checks: actually younger than me by a few months, of COURSE he is) old Steve, isn't he? Sometimes troubled, very talented

Cheers. I've always just gone along with the dips - been paying in for 27 years now, I think, but having upped my contributions in recent years and the markets having been brilliant part of me - and it's only part - wants to protect what I've got, especially as the pot is getting relatively big. I think if I do decide to de-risk it will only be by a modest amount. Seen too many people try and be clever with this stuff and mess it up completely

Certainly nearer retirement age than the start of my career! Not much to go on other than instinct and experience, so not reliable AT ALL, and I also know that trying to time markets is a fool's errand. Corrections are all part of the cycle but I'm just starting to feel that one's not far off. Will probably end up largely sitting tight as it's a few years before I can get at it and could be a few years after that until I actually need to