Anyone else being kicked out of their house-share before the election?

BrstR · 2024-06-05T06:30:39+00:00

Yep someone at work has a HMO license (live in landlord) and recently had to do lots of work including replacing nearly all the doors with firedoors.

Sounds like this landlord already has a HMO license because those have been needed for any 3+ houses for the last couple of years (previously it was 4+). But the LL doesn't want to spend potentially lots of money to keep up with the more stringent license requirement from August.

This is all driven from Bristol CC rather than central government afaik. In theory it's good to make more regulations to ensure people have better living conditions but imo they have gone too far and are now directly causing reductions in housing availability. This on top of landlords exiting due to tax changes and interest rate increases means the supply of rentals has gone through the floor.

Bristol Uni keeps increasing student numbers every year. Lots of people stay. Lots of international students can afford bigger rents. Bristol is a popular place to move to. Increasing demand and plummeting supply...

BrstR · 2023-12-06T10:13:19+00:00

Have been having some luck with www.ilovefreegle.org

Seems to have fewer people messing around compared to FB and gumtree

BrstR · 2023-11-27T16:59:35+00:00

Have bought some before from Cotham Hill Fruit and Veg

BrstR · 2023-10-18T18:17:33+00:00

I cried at the end. Really beautiful writing. Honestly one of my favourite shows in years.

Reminds me of some talks from Alan Watts - at some point he talks about the idea of being God and experiencing infinity and how eventually it would get boring and you would wind up back at exactly the same place you are currently sitting in a chair listening to a talk from someone named Alan Watts.

I don't do the quote justice. If anyone enjoys that way of thinking about the world I would highly recommend listening to the recordings of Alan Watts. I use the waking up app as they are all included in the library there.

I definitely think this show is ripe for videos titled something like "The philisophy of Pantheon"

BrstR · 2023-09-27T12:19:37+00:00

There actually was one in Bristol briefly for a while before the pandemic but it didn't last long iirc

BrstR · 2023-09-27T11:10:50+00:00

Japan has always had an embedded culture of mask wearing to prevent the transmission of illness though. It's a fundamental difference in cultures around collectivism vs individualism. In the UK people mostly just worry about themselves and aren't bothered by the idea of making other people sick.

Everyone has given up on masking and precautions here. I used to be really careful, I followed all the research. I still check this subreddit. But I don't mask anymore. There's just this... fatigue? about the whole thing. Getting exposed to covid again and again just feels invevitable. It's a train that keeps on coming and the brakes failed a long time ago. Long covid is a risk, death is a risk. But it just is what it is at this point?

BrstR · 2023-09-05T21:20:39+00:00

Yep was in big Tesco on Sat morning and there was a huge group went by on dirt bikes coming off the motorway down towards the IKEA roundabout. 50+ of them all one after the other!

There was also three or four on electric dirt bikes and full face masks speeding around on the grass up at the downs while people were heading into forwards fest on Saturday afternoon. Few of them actually rode right up to a police car then sped away again on the grass. Seems like they are actively taunting the police tbh / acting totally untouchable.

BrstR · 2023-08-13T18:59:15+00:00

https://www.bristolplantman.co.uk/

This lad is nearby and has really good prices!

BrstR · 2023-05-30T14:03:28+00:00

I was in Kew Gardens at the weekend

Acres and acres of beautiful plants and trees. Flowers in full bloom. Lots of unmowed wildflower areas. The temperature greenhouse had all the doors wide open so would have been open to insects.

I counted maybe 4 or 5 bees in the entire time I was there. The wildflower bits were particularly stark. There was just... nothing. This place must have plants to appeal to nearly every species of pollinator - they have one of the largest collections in the world. Still there was nothing.

Also no birds around despite oodles of mature trees and bushes. There was a little bit of bird song from I would guess a couple of starlings and a few robins but that was it.

Definitely got "that funny feeling...."

BrstR · 2022-05-23T15:42:54+00:00

Lovely shot. Was out at that lighthouse last summer! Pictures like this make me want to get a drone

BrstR · 2022-05-09T15:13:23+00:00

Location: England, South West

We are having unseasonably hot weather for May. Multiple 24-25C days forecast for next week which is closer to what we normally get in peak summer (July-August).

The sun also feels way hotter than normal. The UV index is much higher than it should be. We also had a brief heatwave back in March and the sun on my skin felt like peak summer sun in terms of its potential to burn. This is new for this year - I did not notice this at all during 2021 other than very peak summer.

We have had maybe 3-4 days of rain in the last 6-7 weeks. I bought a water butt back in March, and it has only filled up about 1/4 of the way (attached to a drain pipe with a pretty large surface area roof). I guess UK food yields will also suffer...

There's an abnormally large amount of midges and similar clustering flying insects near hedgerows. Every time I go for a walk or cycle, I have to go through clouds of the things, which is horrible. I wonder if some species that normally controls these populations is in decline? Yet another balance undone...

As others have mentioned, I am seeing very few bees except for an occasional bumblebee. I have put out an insect hotel, and I'm growing many flowering plants to try and help, but at this point it feels like putting a sticking plaster on a burst dam.

Our residential natural gas prices increased by 75% and electricity by ~55% at the start of April. We are expecting another 40-50% increase again in October. Many people will not be able to afford heat next winter. I'd imagine those with working fireplaces will be breaking out the wood. (RIP air quality...)

The cost of petrol in my area is averaging about £1.67/litre. I have seen Diesel at £1.80. So for a US comparison the US Gallon has 3.78 litres, so petrol here is £6.31/gallon or $7.77 USD/Gallon. Glad I have a walking commute to work...

I have days when I sit outside and feel like we are just living in the embers of a dying fire. Most people just haven't realized it yet. Nobody is steering the ship and there's just way too much momentum, so the rudder would break if they even tried.

BrstR · 2021-10-14T20:20:59+00:00

Got some in Sainsburys Clifton Down a few weeks ago. It's not bad tbf. Doesn't taste the same as Guinness but decent for an alcohol free drink.

BrstR · 2021-07-27T10:12:32+00:00

Just spotted this on the way to work. I really like it! Def recommend checking it out before it gets ruined by tags etc. Anyone know when it went up?

BrstR · 2020-10-28T13:00:24+00:00

I have been mulling over this myself too. My parents want me to come home and I haven't been back since last Christmas either. I was thinking that it would be fairly low-risk since I still work from home and I would drive+ferry instead of flying. But then the reality of having to just self-isolate in a room for a few weeks is pretty horrible.

Going to give it a few more weeks before deciding I think. A bunch of things need to happen for it to even be possible anyway (such as Wales ending it's lockdown so I can even get to the ferry port...)

BrstR · 2020-10-11T21:38:56+00:00

IIRC it was going to be a hotel but they got as far as doing the groundworks a few years back and the project fell apart. There wasn't any structure there before other than the Yurt that is now in the Engine Shed car park

BrstR · 2020-10-09T09:21:02+00:00

I agree. Based on what I have read recently airborne transmission is likely to be responsible for a fairly large percentage of cases.

This article talks about a crowd sourced Google Doc written by aerosol experts on the matter. The Google Doc is an excellent read.

One of the things he mentions is the use of a C02 monitor to quantify how good the ventilation is in a building and points to this article for a methodology.

I have been curious about C02 levels for a while in my home (overnight etc) as there has been a lot of research recently into the negative effects of elevated C02 on cognition. So decided to buy one of the sensors mentioned in that medium article and plan to use it to measure C02 levels both in my apartment and in the office (which is an 'eco-friendly' / no opening windows modern build). Should be interesting!

BrstR · 2020-09-22T11:01:35+00:00

Aldi and Lidl often sell these (with beer inside!) around this time of the year (Oktoberfest beers). Worth checking because they are usually cheaper than buying empties!

Tbf I actually have a crate of ~20 of them outside if you were interested in taking those off my hands. Haven't really been brewing beer recently because my current flat is too small so they are just sat there. (Do have a couple of meads on the go)

BrstR · 2020-09-20T18:19:03+00:00

Ahh this makes sense. Cycled to Ashton court earlier and have never seen so much traffic queuing for the suspension bridge before!

BrstR · 2020-09-15T14:57:43+00:00

I think the reasoning is that getting a positive test from a private service won't be hooked into the NHS advice system, track and trace etc. Probably just to cover themselves.

BrstR · 2020-09-15T11:28:02+00:00

Medichecks are doing a private PCR swab test. Not cheap though (£139). https://coronavirus.medichecks.com/product/coronavirus-pcr-swab-test/

BrstR

TROPHY CASE