fox_up_north

Is it an unpopular opinion if I genuinely wouldn't be that gutted if a lot of the restaurant/ hospitality industry just sort of collapsed? Having been abroad, recently, enjoying better food and better service - I'm struggling to think of a time that I've actually felt value for money in the UK - certainly since Covid.

A mate of mine is massively into 9/11. Not in a conspiracy sort of way but he went to the memorial last year and it had a profound effect on him, in a way that visiting holocaust museums didn't (I suspect because we're still feeling the impact of 9/11 in real time) One thing he has said is that he feels that is that a lot of the anger and division, currently, stems back to that. I'm inclined to agree. I was about 12 when it happened. I'd grown up in Leicester and visited a fair few other countries, prior. There didn't feel like the level of mistrust and division that there is now.

Note to self - don't do leg day shortly before parkrun day. That said, I did a PB of 26.15 but it isn't QUITE 5k and I absolutely hate them for it. My actual 5k PB is 26.30.

They can spot my torpedo on the radar just fine

I generally squat 80kg at the gym for 4-6 reps. Can I have a bus pass please?

We shouldn't have ever been in this position, to be honest but it does feel doomed from the start. Very different to 10 years ago when we had Nige, the euphoria of triumph after Watford game and a hard working attitude.

A lot of mates I have are just giving up going out for food and I even begrudge getting a coffee out. They just charge a fortune for absolute guff. I get a free coffee each week as a reward with my energy supplier. Honestly, they just stick a cup under a machine and press a button. Wouldn't pay for it.

One thing I will mention is that, mentally, you do sort of adapt your life a little bit to having solar. Not, loads but an example is I now check the weather a lot to see what sunny days are coming. If I've got a wash that needs doing, I might wait a day or so to put it on and match the sun. This is especially useful in Nov-Jan. My "solar window" as I consider it is about March - October. I get a solid 7 months where it pays for itself.

Personally, I prefer Kitchen Gun and Toilet Grenade

The greater good

Those mentioning heatwave are correct that it is a contributing factor and the statement about poorer areas being less green, built on concrete, etc. I did a quick check and the majority of riots/ large scale disorder seem to take place over summer. The link to sports is also a factor.

I mean, if you really want to go to a club whose fans crash mopeds into cars then fair play

Nothing more to add. Just gutting and brings up a lot for me. Hope the family are as ok as they can be.

Just a bunch of skinheads getting chased by a massive beach ball

The grime thing....once of the most surreal things, as a teacher, I saw was when I worked with seriously at risk NEET kids. This lad I had was living with dad because mum made friends with a dealer who used her son's bedroom as his office for transactions. This lad was on the cusp of being ok because he wanted to be a videogame streamer and work with bikes. But then he was also into watching videos of rap battles that were streamed from inside jail cells. There absolutely is an element of grime that glorifies stabbing and, while I think it's rubbish music, I see parallels to 80s/90s rap. However, this British stuff does have a more sinister edge. I think both Jon and others are right - improve conditions for young urban youth and the messaging should change, but it can't hurt to clamp down on artists whose messaging is so violent. People carry knives, in my experience, to either feel more protected, to demonstrate toughness or to intend to kill/ maim. It all, seemingly, links back to the drug trade. Legalisation of certain drugs, along with making them "not cool" and you start to take the gangs out of it.

The thing I most want to know is what was the knife? If it's anything other than something found in the kitchen, then that tells me we need a Dunblane-style crackdown on knives.

Year of data through Octopus outgoing. 2.5kw array, single person household. Raw numbers in £ Used - (july 23-july 24) £319 Exported - (as above) £269 Essentially it means my year electric cost works out at around £50. Yes, it was worth it.

That's the flipside. So many, particularly younger, teachers have gotten used to digital delivery. I teach mostly online but digital delivery of actual work, mostly rubbish. More groups of parents need phone-free agreements. It's just social expectation that gets them.

This. 100%. Been in education 14 years and my god, the drop. Covid really exacerbated it but it was going downhill. One can sum it up as - had smartphones before they were 12 - had smartphones after they were 12

It's only bloody Wednesday as well

I don't feel that war is inevitable but I do feel that, in my life, the middle east has always had some form of conflict. Sometimes it's much more serious and sometimes it's more contained. It just seems to be an area constantly at war with itself and others.

I have long thought this and seen comments that 9/11 is the "cultural" end to the 20th century.

I hate to say it but I've seen a lot going around that we basically peaked in 2000 and it's been downhill since. I'm, sadly, inclined to agree.

This is what makes it such a ridiculously delicate case, as I previously noted. The law really needs tightening up and clarifying, here.

In what way? And have you felt this way before?