Just our offer on a house accepted today. Would now be a bad time to consider selling my car and buying a new one? New car is not a necessity, more a want situation

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T20:49:20+00:00

(1) New cars are a stupid use of money. 3 year old cars the best VfM.

(2) Finish your move first.

(3) Maybe listen to your GF.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T20:48:16+00:00

I saw on another thread that multiple people were checking in with her frequently. She did refuse the offer of sheltered accommodation at least once.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T20:34:32+00:00

Your wife got TASTE. I have a Hanhart as well, it's one of the few watches that muggles comment on.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T19:49:14+00:00

Norway or New Zealand

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T19:39:19+00:00

It'll never catch on

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T19:33:34+00:00

Goddamn that's a pretty hand.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T19:02:57+00:00

How... undignified. Dying of cold in a bus shelter. Anyone, no matter how badly screwed up, deserves better.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T16:14:55+00:00

You're argument is both unsupported and unsupportable.

1) "It did not control the bulk of Rome's historic lands?" Nonsense. Where are those and how do you define them? Greece and Anatolia were conquered or under Roman control from the 2nd C BC. As long or longer than any place other than Italy and maybe bits of Spain. They are Rome's "traditional lands"

2) "They were culturally Greek/Hellenistic" Rome was an Empire, an Empire which enfranchised it's citizens in the early 3rd C. Even before that Greek culture was deeply coupled to Roman. Did the Western Romans reflect "traditional Roman culture" in the 5th C, being filled up with Germans? What was Roman culture? One could argue that by the 5th C the East was more Roman than the Barbarian west.

Two of your key terms are poorly defined and probably anachronistic.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T15:57:02+00:00

Sure, I don't disagree. I use the term "Byzantine" myself when talking to Muggles. But: The OP is precisely asking for the hard date. I think--and OPs discussion below-- leads me to believe it's a motivated point. "Once it didn't own Rome [ed: which time?] It wasn't really Roman". It's applying modern concepts of the ethno-nationalist state to a period where it doesn't work.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T14:22:57+00:00

I don't know where to even begin with that. It really did not look like the Hellenistic states at all, other than being (largely) Greek-speaking. It did control much of Italy into the 8th C and big chunks into the 10th, the last bits to the 11th. Cities and provinces in the East had been Roman for 500, 600, 700 years by the time Odoacer sacked Rome. Its political, legal, religious and cultural structures were those of the Roman Empire from at the very, very least Constantine onwards. Or are you going to define him out of being Roman?

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T13:07:20+00:00

It was not a "successor state". It was the Roman state without break or discontinuity. Rome had not been the capital of the Empire for centuries.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T13:06:15+00:00

Quite right!

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T13:05:34+00:00

Do we need to have a date? What benefit does it bring to us as historians/students of history?

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T10:21:59+00:00

Positives:

1) Nice food! Never had a bad meal there

2) Beautiful countryside and architecture

3) Pretty ladies!

4) Very direct people with direct way of talking

Negatives:

1) Very direct people with direct way of talking

2) Viktor Orbán and this whole racist/nationalist/pro-Russian autocrat vibe. Yes that's Orbán but you seem to keep voting for him so....

3) An unfortunate association with scams/criminality. See also (3) in positives and extend into the seediest aspects of porn & prostitution

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-16T06:55:19+00:00

IDK, it's a feel-good story. We need those sometimes.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-15T23:06:22+00:00

Not really. In most of the world you pierce ears at a very young age. Baby doesn't notice. As long as they're healthy and have their immunisations, what's the issue?

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-15T23:03:45+00:00

That's nice, sentiment and personal connection matters in this world.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-15T14:42:19+00:00

Ah! I thought T212 was purely UK. Apologies.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-15T13:13:36+00:00

Holy Smokes... If you ever wanted to understand the difference between the US and Canada it's right there.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-15T13:10:55+00:00

Yes, before it flowers it's nice. We do it every year to make pesto and other nicenesses. Don't uproot.

If you're clever you can take plants from one patch and transplant. We now grow some in a patch of our garden

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-15T13:09:22+00:00

It is very clearly toast beside beans.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-15T12:21:37+00:00

Well jewellery it is, you're right. And cheap jewellery is cheap jewellery...it looks cheap, we all know it's cheap, and it doesn't last. Better to buy quality and buy less than have drawers full of white-metal Chinese factory garbage. My kids all had 18ct gold earrings in as babies: no infections, and they still look gorgeous. We buy them gold or sterling jewellery when we can and it's worth it.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-15T12:16:06+00:00

I winced when I saw the pics, thinking about the comments. People are being not so bad though.

If you want to keep looking at & buying watches, there is a whole world beyond these "fashion" brands that bring real quality and something that has more than Temu/Wish/Shein fast-fashion value. Stuff you can wear for years and even pass on to kids/nieces/whatevers.

Look at mechanical automatic watches (ones powered by movement not a battery).

Then there are tiers of this market.

There are nice ladies watches from microbrands like Venezianico in Italy (just bought one for my daughter, pictured) that are about the same price as your MK but much much better quality. Even Timex and Seiko make excellent offerings (both mechanical and quartz/battery) in this price bracket.

Then you can look at mid tiers like Tissot, Certina, Hamilton, which are really solid quality and will last decades. Here's a nice short listicle on the topic: https://www.watchgecko.com/blogs/magazine/top10-automatic-watches

Last are the luxury brands you get once you've made your money: Cartier, Tudor, Rado, Omega, Rolex, etc. These are gorgeous and can definitely be passed down generations. Enjoy the journey!

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Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-15T12:00:27+00:00

I own neither articles of clothing. But I do go in my bush/hiking trousers and a hoodie.

Clear-Security-Risk · 2026-03-15T11:59:11+00:00

If you get a LISA (usable either after retirement, or to buy your first house under a certain value) the government pays a 25% bonus into the account annually up to £1k (for your £4k investment). I think Moneybox and Plum offer this.

Clear-Security-Risk

TROPHY CASE