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

8 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Someone will come along soon.

Thinking of climbing into it myself

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

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 

1 hour ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Do you ID it by asking it if it's got a husband?

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

47 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

These fish... Do they have long ears, fluffy tails, back legs twice the size of their front, eat carrots and, most importantly, wear snorkels?

Yes what of it 

On 10/10/2025 at 20:06, Bellend Sebastian said:

 

I've been offered some free goldfish today, with a caveat that they are not very gold

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

12 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Got three of them in at the moment, yesterday it put a hole up right on one and knocked it over

 

Have also tried coffee grounds, pellets etc. The thing that seemed to put it off the most was some liquid fertilizer on the lawn but I can't keep putting that down

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

Negotiate?

5 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Got a mole absolutely terrorising my lawn at the minute. Any tips?

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

23 hours ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

We have a small 2' dia pond that that has had frogspawn deposited therein* most years. Often however, it can all disappear overnight.

I wondered if some animal laps it up during a midnight feast, especially as a neighbour reported frogspawn (vomited?) all over their patio one morning.

 

* One year, I was passing our pond and it looked like it was coming to the boil as there were loads of bubbles appearing. Closer inspection revealed 6 or more pairs having a proper frog orgy.

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

11 hours ago, Parafox said:

 

We put a wildlife pond in a couple of years ago with only pond plants in it hoping to attract insects and such.

 

This year we discovered 2 frogs that seem to have come from nowhere (as the nearest likely place is over 500 metres away), and made it their home.

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

8 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

So they're 'fish then?

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

On 09/10/2025 at 16:49, Trav Le Bleu said:

Mine supported mosquito larvae

 

I also added some Ramshorn snails, which had lots of baby snails.

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

8 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

I was in the process of planning one, until I broke my arm

 

Earlier this year I built two mini ponds using large plastic planters.

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

9 hours ago, blabyboy said:

If you're diversified then the dips are usually shallower. The market has been unusual of late with both stocks and gold going upwards, bonds have been less favourable but not tanking like they were last year and earlier this year.

 

If you're into podcasts, I recommend this one to your list: https://pensioncraft.com/investor-education/resources/podcasts/

 

All the ones in September are pertinent to the discussion.

1 hour ago, Greg2607 said:

If you do have a sizeable pot and you are worried or unsure, take some professional advice.   A good financial advisor may just give you peace of mind or be able to give some options on the best way to protect what you have. 

 

It's money well spent. 

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

On 03/10/2025 at 21:55, MrsJohnMurphy said:

 I went to see Steve Mason a couple of years ago, basically half his set was Beta Band classics.......because he didn't sell many tickets the venue was downgraded and there must have been no more than 75-100 people watching him play in a bar at the Uni. Was bloody brilliant 

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

7 hours ago, Tommy G said:

Unless you are knocking around the 55 year mark I'd steer clear of de-risking yet, it's gone up so much it would take a serious tumble to start wiping out large gains. The beauty about drawn down is you can try and time it a bit better than an annuity - you can hold on a bit if there's market fluctuations. Good luck with it all  

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

30 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

How old are you? Presume nearer retirement age if you're worried about a short term dip.

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