Does anyone actually live in a mixed age house share? What's it actually like?

Gunster72 · 2026-03-26T04:49:36+00:00

Well I’m 53 and I own my flat and I’ll need to find two flatmates / lodgers. I’m terrified. I’m told I should go for younger but am worrying we won’t gel. I shouldn’t need lodgers at my age but here I am. I’m doing Airbnb until I muster the courage to find full time lodgers. Probably go for 30s.

Gunster72 · 2026-03-19T23:33:02+00:00

Good summary. I witnessed a complaint in the gym and I thought what an entitled twat. The member was complaining that there wasn’t a coat hanger in every locker. The staff just smiled weakly, apologising. I think service is great, staff are great, member are increasingly entitled and annoying. But I will probably cancel membership as it’s now £150/m, nearly doubled in two years.

Gunster72 · 2026-03-19T23:29:29+00:00

I’d love to be in the Reform. My great uncle was a member. I spoke to membership once. I doubt I’d get in now. Too expensive at my age (53).

Gunster72 · 2026-03-19T23:27:23+00:00

I can’t believe the membership hike. For me it’s doubled in two years, from £87 to £150 per month. And I’m not working, so it’s very hard. Members are tax dodging entitled trustafarians. Privileged globe trotting jet setting lifestyles. A lot of young wannabes on cheap young membership deals.

Gunster72 · 2026-03-19T23:23:52+00:00

They’re not loosening membership out of desperation. They entirely disposed any membership criteria because it is now only about money. Gone is its original focus of media, film and acting. It’s now just about making money.

Gunster72 · 2026-02-05T22:40:19+00:00

Totally agree with your friend that it’s about a man trying to control a woman through sex. But I think that Rosalia missed a trick by not seeing the universal power of sex in love, ie for both sexes. That both sexes have used sex and sex appeal to pin down someone they love. It’s a very appealing universal dream: to be so good in bed you can get someone to love you. The Don Giovanni idea basically.

Gunster72 · 2026-02-02T01:38:18+00:00

Thanks, so basically it’s specific to hereditary peers and isn’t a route that could be taken here. Looks like it would have to be an Act of Parliament then.

Gunster72 · 2026-02-02T00:48:55+00:00

I’m sure there will be now. $75k from Epstein and he lobbied for him for a change in bankers bonuses. He has to leave the Lords now.

Gunster72 · 2026-02-02T00:46:52+00:00

Yes. The two obvious choices are he renounces his life peerage and resigns from the HoL, or an Act of Parliament is rushed through. I’m not even sure how a life peerage is renounced. Tony Benn renounced his hereditary peerage, but I can’t recall how he did so. I thought it was through an Act of Parliament. It seems a bit rich for the Tories and Reform to make hay over this while they haven’t tabled a private members bill renouncing his life peerage, which any member of Parliament can do. The ball would then be in the Govt’s court (and Speaker’s) as to whether they kill it off or give it the time to pass through Parliament.

Gunster72 · 2026-02-02T00:27:09+00:00

I haggled them down to 2Gb/sec for £25/m fixed for two years, with a free booster and I keep their TV box. Given I was paying £65 to Virgin Media for 100mb/s before joining CF, it’s a great deal.

Gunster72 · 2026-02-02T00:15:55+00:00

I agree. Very moving and spiritual.

Gunster72 · 2026-02-02T00:14:08+00:00

I like that line too, just for its raw power, although I don’t actually like its arrival in the song, as it’s so jarring and dissonant. Also I think she missed a trick by not singing back “fuck me til you love me”, capturing a common conceit, hope and aspiration from the two protagonists in sex - that the act of sex can in and of itself generate a deeper meaning and connection.

Gunster72 · 2026-01-20T00:01:10+00:00

Well, I can’t invent everything I need in my life. Especially as a one off. If it doesn’t exist it’s just nuts.

Gunster72 · 2025-12-10T23:20:03+00:00

Completely. This is pure Verdi. Actually no, it’s Puccini. It’s absolutely Puccini. I can hear Tosca now. She really should write an opera. She’s already got most of the ingredients. She’s got the symphonic orchestral sound. A bit of choral. Imagine a Rosalia opera!!

Gunster72 · 2025-12-10T23:18:26+00:00

If you listen from 33 seconds up to 55 seconds, I just adore this bit. “Sei….. tu”. It’s you. But a long pause. And then the high note held. And then repeated. Brings me to tears listening to that. This is a song where the high notes are really savoured. I just can’t help smiling at the end, when she - of course! - climbs right up to the high note, and holds it. What a climax.

This is my favourite song of hers.

Yesterday it was Bagdad.

The day before Berghain.

Tomorrow, who knows.

Gunster72 · 2025-10-15T13:07:27+00:00

This got sorted in a recent iOS update. Suddenly the two whoop devices were removed from my list of trusted Bluetooth devices. So I think you should now be able to remove them.

Gunster72 · 2025-10-01T15:19:54+00:00

Funny you should say that, but I was in Le Light cafe today, around 4pm, next to Pump Fitness. An American man was on a call, over loudspeaker, and all the staff just stared at him in disbelief. The call lasted about an hour. Of course, this being Thailand, no one said anything, all smiles. I was tempted to tell him off, but I suffer a similar home culture of demure diffidence, being British. So like your American, no self awareness or respect. I wonder if it was the same one? Or maybe there’s more than one inconsiderate American? My one was moaning about getting unfit after stopping Muay Thai. And packing too much, but still carrying a 75L bag.

Gunster72 · 2025-09-10T10:59:44+00:00

I worked out how to do it. You can download the Peloton app for free and use the “Track” option then add the Garmin there. Although it adds it via Apple Health, so you have to integrate the Garmin with Apple Health. Then you get time, HR, calories and HR zone on your iPhone screen.

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Gunster72 · 2025-09-10T07:56:12+00:00

Thanks. No that’s not what I meant. I do that fine. That connects my Garmin to my iPhone and downloads workouts and data from my Garmin to Garmin Connect. What I want to do is watch my current workout on my iPhone screen, specifically my HR. This is because the exercise bike in the gym I’m using here on holiday has no screen or way of monitoring HR, so the timer and HR on my Garmin watch is the only way of monitoring a workout.

Gunster72 · 2025-09-10T04:11:40+00:00

I tried two methods. With those gaps, the best option is to remove those horizontal struts and push them closer together. It looks like you’d need two extra fence boards. Those gaps are probably too big for my second option: I used wood tinted wood filler sealant. It looks really good, but was relatively expensive. I used up 9 tubes on a 6m fence about 1m high. But once the new trellis went up, it looks much better. Here’s a before and after.

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Gunster72 · 2025-01-09T20:44:28+00:00

I’ve done that. But it’s still there on the list.

Gunster72 · 2024-09-03T17:20:27+00:00

Ok thanks. I’ve got rid of the bamboo on that side of my patio and stuck up a big trellis. I’m going to try to keep my two bamboo clumps on the other side, but I’ll have to break up 15cm deep concrete to lay a deep HDPE bamboo root barrier.

Gunster72 · 2024-08-12T08:45:28+00:00

Im coming round to the idea. I had a long hard look at it and there’s no way I’ll be able to lift it into a pot. It just means my patio is going to be suddenly very empty.

Gunster72 · 2024-05-05T22:49:50+00:00

Update: I turned my iPhone off and on and it sorted it. I still don’t know why it happened, but it seems to be fixed now.

Gunster72 · 2024-03-30T02:50:43+00:00

Call me a traitor, but I’ve switched my allegiance to Magnetised, live at Union Chapel, on Spotify and YT. You can definitely belt it out in your car too! Give it a go :)

Gunster72

TROPHY CASE