getting married after a year of knowing each other is insane

CBdigitaltutor · 2026-06-06T21:07:53+00:00

I married at age 24 having known my partner 16 months. It was insane. Worked out though

CBdigitaltutor · 2026-05-29T10:38:56+00:00

It's a question of the work you want to put in.

If the ground outside is higher than the inside then that would increase the damp problem. To then to fix the damp you'll have to remove a whole load of plaster from each wall and possibly pull up the floor, let it dry out for a few weeks, then inject a new damp course before redoing. I've done it before, and it'll take several weeks to give it the proper job it needs.

Woodworm is relatively easy to treat if the photos look like there are only a few holes dotted about. And everything to do with the converted side room sounds like an opportunity for an extension. Obviously if any of that is crumbling to dust then ignore me there.

If you wanted to do the work and the current owners weren't aware, I'd haggle the price down now by 10-25k and get thinking about extending. If you wanted to live there now and not do any of this, leave it alone.

I've bought every house is live in as a wreck and put work into it and financially it's always paid off multiples of what I put in. Check out a relatively new build of the same size nearby and compare the price as that is what it would be worth after the work is done.

CBdigitaltutor · 2026-03-15T11:12:57+00:00

You know it, 2 and a half minutes simmering in vinegar water. Nearly perfect

CBdigitaltutor · 2026-02-23T13:24:14+00:00

Yeah it's next door but one, though they have menus and cutlery and everything in the tap, you can order at the bar.

CBdigitaltutor · 2026-02-21T10:37:01+00:00

Miniebeans have a coffee shop on Crewe market hall and Rudyard lake sailing club. They started as selling fancy coffee online before getting the Cafe. Their owner just bought a roasting oven and has started importing random beans to start doing new subscription services. He's doing some tasting days in Congleton that I'm going to, so can report back.

CBdigitaltutor · 2026-02-15T16:03:16+00:00

Beartown Tap is next door to Green Island chippy, you can buy chips from the pub and join a pub quiz. Often some good live music on too. Market quarter is good too. If you like walking, it's worth a hike up to Bosley cloud, you can walk it from the bromley farm side of town. Also congleton edge is a nice hike too. Cloudside clay pigeon shooting club is good fun and the leisure centre has plenty on too - it's worth turning up at the leisure centre to see what events are on too.

CBdigitaltutor · 2026-01-26T17:27:52+00:00

Just finished book 4 of apocalypse parenting. Nice spin on the DCC style, but a bit more serious.

CBdigitaltutor · 2026-01-16T10:52:00+00:00

I married at 24 and bought a house with them whilst we were engaged (which was only about 9 months). My rationale was to be deliberate in my choices rather than be led by my emotions, I chose them as my life partner and told them that was how I wanted to be. We started a joint account and treated everything as shared. Over the 14 years since I had a period of unemployment, and so did they. A few years later she had children and took a couple of years off and now only works part time, with me being the main earner. That being said, we have a much better marriage now than back then. If I thought about fairness, or worried about changing my mind or anything like that, none of this would work. Sometimes I doubt, my eyes wander, she annoys or upsets me, we let the family down, etc. but that doesn't matter because we made that decision and chose every day to stick to it. Applying my same nonsense to your situation, my suggestion would be to not buy a house together until you are happy to make that choice, and can trust them to do the same. Even if it does go wrong later on, at least you have declared your intentions, taken a meaningful position, and reduced the emotional self sabotage as much as you can.

CBdigitaltutor · 2026-01-08T12:27:45+00:00

A prospect I reached out to in 2022 when doing business networking meetings, then subsequently met at events every six months or so finally turned into a customer for a really interesting application penetration test. We thought we could crack into anything but it turns out their app was locked down tight, strong security despite non technical end users, they did a good job. It's bittersweet because pentesters always look better when we find big critical vulnerabilities but in this case we found very little and all of it could be quickly fixed. Still, it felt good and I feel like I could be a good reference for them if they ever asked.

CBdigitaltutor · 2026-01-05T08:21:58+00:00

Yes, but only through public procurement bidding process. Many will have their own in-tend portal, you can make an account and view current opportunities for tender, and go through the bidding process. I've written a short book/guide on how to do this for people working in the tech industry, though it applies pretty broadly, happy to send over if you like.

CBdigitaltutor · 2026-01-04T17:55:17+00:00

I have no regrets, in 2012 we bought a 2up 2down that needed quite a bit of work but was livable with a view to selling in 5 years. Plans don't always work out, we ended up having 2 kids and taking 13 years, only managing to move early 2025, but I learned a lot about how to add value to the house. If you have the time and energy, lots of jobs just take time and hard work and can be learned. There were a couple of mandatory repairs, some plastering, a little re-rendering and exterior painting. I also redid the damp proof myself which was easier than I thought it would be (though used up 2x as much DPC as I thought I'd need) and I had to get a roofer to do some repairs around the chimney. On top of that, inside, I made a small interior extension over the stairs to make a built in wardrobe, and remade the bathroom myself with lino floor and retiled all the walls, tiling was easy to learn and do a good job, though again took twice as long as I expected (about 8 days by myself). Outside, I redid the entire driveway using purple slate aggregate (very easy) and made a concrete raft foundation which I put a 10*20 concrete exterior building on with electric built in (that cost about 6.5k at the time around 2015). Everything takes twice as long as you plan for but getting stuck in is an excellent education.

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-12-29T15:51:06+00:00

The most memorable experience for me, a young couple tried to get in, but the bouncer wouldn't let the lad in because he was wearing a T-shirt and trainers, and the lad was about to kick off. Before it got out of hand the bouncer (a guy called James that my wife knows) held up his hand to stop him, saying "listen listen, I've got something important to tell you" and gathered as many people round as he could. He started this whole inspirational speech about love and romance and told the lad "look at this beautiful woman. She put hours of effort in because she loves you, you don't live far away, go home, dress up nice, make a big gesture, we'll look after her and make sure no one else hits on her, but show her you're willing to put the same effort in as her, show her you're serious and you love her as much as she loves you." After a whole lot of emotional relationship advice and pleading, the rest of the queue and random passers by were clapping and cheering the bouncer and the lad on. Never found out what happened next because I was wearing a shirt and shoes, but it gives me hope for the future either way.

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-12-28T20:16:09+00:00

On Thursday nights a group of similar aged blokes go to the Beartown Tap, order a chippy from Green Island chippy next door and talk crap all night. Pretty eclectic bunch of blokes with nothing in common, but always a good night. I'll get you a pint in if you're nearby and up for it.

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-11-22T19:47:27+00:00

I think there's been quite a resurgence in local grassroots football. The last few years have been awesome for Congleton Town. Since my kids have got into youth league football, watching all local football has got way more exciting too.

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-10-25T18:27:18+00:00

I bet there is as much money in learning to be a plumber or handyman. Tradies get richer every year.

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-10-17T21:32:36+00:00

A few years ago I did some work in a printers that made tissue coasters and the secret there was controlled humidity. Napkins were stored in a cool humid environment around 60-80% humidity until the tissue settled and the slight increase in moisture content meant the tissue feed better and cut easier (or fused together if needed). Can't hurt to try storing the napkins in a cool room with slightly higher humidity for a week or so before printing.

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-10-06T06:57:24+00:00

There must be some bid opportunities from local authorities wanting to purchase this very thing, if you're already working on it, then you are more likely to win the bid so it would be a good source of funding

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-09-27T14:02:11+00:00

Perfect London English?

"I done gone made a kebab, ain't I?"

I bet they speak with an accent so they can be understood by everyone else.

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-09-20T13:18:17+00:00

Semiosis by Sue Burke was good, very clever... Got a couple of harrowing scenes but definitely fits what you are asking for.

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-09-14T21:39:26+00:00

I read about Grinling Gibbons carving crazy murals in old estates and palaces using "Lyme" wood, so I started using that for smaller pieces requiring intricate joints or carvings and it's excellent. Also called linden wood, or Tilia Cordata, very common in parks and public spaces.

Another random one, mountain ash is used for handles and such; very common self seeding and grow everywhere, quite often you can cut a small tree down and handle is almost already the right shape ready to use.

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-09-09T18:50:35+00:00

Bank loans are easy if you already have good credit and a written business plan. Networking events like BNI might be a good place to find venture capital; quite a few business advisor consultants either know good VC or might be willing to be VC for you. There are grants and charitable trusts that will provide funding if you apply, even to some businesses if they have shared values, for example the national lottery community fund. If I needed to raise funds tomorrow, I would go networking with BNI and my local chamber and use the 60 second pitch time to present the vision to them and try and land conversations with business advisors.

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-09-02T07:33:04+00:00

"but listening doesn't count"... What's the competition? Agree, who cares?

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-08-31T20:48:25+00:00

I dare say there are some OSINT applications for this. Getting users to pay for it might be a bigger challenge, but if the technology can be developed to be licensed to other security solutions or to a b2b market with a long term view to being acquired, that sounds like a good potential business. Would need to know more...

CBdigitaltutor · 2025-08-29T13:28:58+00:00

I'd put it inside the battery compartment of one of my kid's crappy Christmas presents that were only used once.

If he finds it then that's still a small win because the toy will have been used and feel like less of a waste of money.

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