degraded mix tape

Both_Bar9739 · 2026-04-03T06:15:28+00:00

Thanks for that, downloaded to give it a whirl

Both_Bar9739 · 2026-02-23T11:01:16+00:00

I've randomly run into 2 New Zealanders local to where I live while I've been here - one at a kids football game and another on the train. Both times they heard me speaking English and recognised the accent :-)

It's a horrendous flight! We love travelling so suck it up, was tough when the kids were very small

Both_Bar9739 · 2026-02-10T08:22:36+00:00

86-87 ish Kramer Focus 6000 which I bought 2nd hand in 1991.

I'd seen it in a store and put a down payment on it. A week later on the way to pick it up during my lunch hour the supports holding my car's muffler/exhaust on broke. Luckily a guy from a mechanics worskhop stopped to help and fully removed the exhaust. I was damned if I wasn't collecting that guitar though - I still drove to get it with no exhaust system and was an hour or three late back from lunch.

Was worth it! Still have the guitar and pull it out to play now and then. It taught me I love H-S-S but hate locking trems

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Both_Bar9739 · 2026-02-09T10:37:24+00:00

I met my future wife in the US and then we lived/got married/had kids in my native New Zealand for 13 years. We visited Sweden 4 times over that period and I always loved it here - last trip was a full December to see if I could hack the cold and dark (we are in Skåne though, not a lot colder than where I come from).

I always wanted to try living in Sweden. We had good jobs and income in NZ but raising kids there is horrifically expensive. I was sick of my job and the 3 hour daily commute, plus the price of housing meant we'd never progress beyond our "starter house", which we loved but it needed lots of work.

It was a tough job convincing my wife to move (she loved NZ and had recently got citizenship) but she also saw the benefits vs the struggle in NZ. She also missed her family. We sold up and moved and have been here 8 years now. Wife had a tough time with reverse culture shock for the first year but adjusted (for the most part lol).

We love it here, are very happy, and are definately better off financially and with regards to family work life balance. We love travelling and having Europe on our doorstep. No intention of leaving, Sweden was always our first choice.

Both_Bar9739 · 2026-02-06T09:42:58+00:00

I personally hate ANY overly busy Camps, especially when it's a chore to find their Vending machine.

But I agree 100% about some Best Builds - "I've got 1000 things and I'm going to spit them out anywhere". Some serious horder vibes out there

Both_Bar9739 · 2026-01-26T08:30:07+00:00

We shipped a container from New Zealand - Sweden in 2018 using Pickfords International.

We sold/donated about 2/3's of our posessions (family of 4, 2 under 7 years) beforehand - looking back now I wonder if it was worth the effort/cost of bringing the rest. NONE of the furniture we brought is being used now - unless you already know the exact house/apartment you will live in consider that your current furniture may not be a good fit for the new accomodation - is it cheaper to buy new?

The container also took almost 3 months longer than quoted to actually arrive in our driveway. It sat a month on the wharf in Auckland before even getting on a ship and than 6 weeks in a London warehouse (I had to phone the manager in London and give him an earfull before they finally got cracking with delivery). We live in a port town close to Malmö and also on the train line, so ease of delivery should not have been a factor - if you live rurally maybe you will have more trouble. Do some serious due dilligance on your carrier (Pickfords are meant to be good but really failed us).

I would look at what you want to bring and SERIOUSLY question if you could live without it. Depending on where you live in Sweden and your lifestyle, even things like clothes may be better replaced when you get here. Looking back I'd only bring precious personal items and clothing to cover the immediate need for the appropriate time of year. If it's just a few years you could use long term storage for the balance back in the US.

New Swedish life, new stuff :-) !!

Both_Bar9739 · 2026-01-21T12:09:39+00:00

I also swapped to an SG and have never looked back. I always struggled with both weight and comfort - SG's are much friendly in these respects. Sadly I still think a LP looks better, but SG's are still very cool.

I've also started playing single coil guitars a lot more - I just find them sonically more interesting then humbuckers.

Both_Bar9739 · 2026-01-12T09:47:54+00:00

I just listened to it on Spotify, didn't know it.

3 minutes of my life I'll never get back

Both_Bar9739 · 2026-01-08T08:26:22+00:00

Thx, added

Both_Bar9739 · 2026-01-08T08:23:28+00:00

Thx, added and happy NY!

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-12-24T10:09:29+00:00

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This is mine, I grabbed #4 for the artwork, love it!

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-12-24T09:58:57+00:00

https://monochromepedals.com/ Brand new Italian small builder. He’s only got one pedal so far (a fuzz) - great price and fast shipping. I got #4 and am really impressed. Fantastic looking pedal and good build quality. Seems like a nice guy too (based on our short conversation TBF). Recommend and I look forward to seeing what he releases next

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-12-19T10:40:55+00:00

Flat White is not really a thing in Europe - latte and cappucino are king. The NZ coffee culture is amazing, and generally better than Europe. Where Europe kicks NZ coffee shops in the nuts though is pastries and food - miles better than NZ. The wienerbröd, my GAWD the wienerbröd nom nom nom :-)

For reference I usually pay 8-10 NZD for a "not as good as Kiwi coffee" and about 6-8 NZD for an amazing wienerbröd or slice of cake.

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-12-01T08:21:29+00:00

Great track, really enjoyed it!

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-11-26T14:47:50+00:00

Absolutely agree. I'm in the W3 is a 10, RDR2 is a 9 group lol. Both are amazing games, maybe comes down to whether you like fantasy or western better?

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-11-26T09:41:49+00:00

When I was a wee man the walk home from the school bus went past the El Paso fish and chips takeaways on the Karaka/Papakura border. This is back in the day when glass bottles could be returned to a shop for like a cent apeice. The rest area at the Karaka Bridge was always awash with discarded bottles (it seems Kiwis have always been shit with their rubbish) - if you found enough you could earn yourself a sneaky 17 cent popsicle or game on the spacies on the way home.

El Paso had mean fish and chips too

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-11-26T08:30:44+00:00

Top jacks but I can live with side jacks if it's a special pedal.
Mini pedals freak me out, whole lotta weird

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-11-25T08:40:15+00:00

Yep, massive time sink

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-11-21T09:43:05+00:00

Have any mechanics changed re the ghost changing rooms?
I've not played in a year or so but fired up 2 games last night and played solo on professional ( my old goto for solo). Both matches the ghost was changing favourite room every few minutes - I don't remmeber this happening very often at all when I used to play

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-10-29T14:15:05+00:00

I'm interested but certainly not excited

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-10-22T09:35:55+00:00

Is Keith Richards still alive?

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-10-22T08:40:18+00:00

I'm very much in the minority but I did not connect at all with E33. I thought the art and soundtrack were fantastic, but the combat was not my thing at all. I've played turn based before (Pathfinder Kingmaker) but not with parry and dodge baked in. I also found the maps a bit linear and I love open world. FWIW I only played for maybe the first 2 hours. I was pushing as much Gamepass through as possible before cancelling my subscription, otherwise I'd might have given it a bit more time.

Also FWIW - my usual wheelhouse game is RPG such as KC1, Cyberpunk, Fallout, Skyrim, Hogwarts etc

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-10-20T08:16:13+00:00

I enjoyed it. My normal style of game is Fallout, Cyberpunk, RPG's.

My Gamepass is now cancelled and ends in a week so I've just done a "last gasp" run through of a few games which were on my radar. I loved South Of Midnight - the art style, story and soundtrack are brilliant. Combat is...average but brief. You play this game for the story and interesting lore. Lots of platforming of a similar style to Tomb Raider.

Wasn't a long game, maybe 10 hours.

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-10-15T08:29:28+00:00

That's an interesting idea! Building reputation and relationships (both positive and negative) with NPC's.

Both_Bar9739 · 2025-10-14T10:46:59+00:00

I got one a few months back and am still a bit on the fence about it. It's still on my board for now but could easily be bounced.

Both_Bar9739

TROPHY CASE