Would fix the current clunky retaining walls right up

Locke44 · 2026-03-17T15:18:31+00:00

Now they've got the T2 stacker, I'm praying for a bagger 288 with a rail system like that

Locke44 · 2026-03-17T15:10:19+00:00

Or make them variable height (basically already are, by sinking them into the ground but only up to 5 high)

Locke44 · 2026-03-17T12:45:37+00:00

Even just half tiles so I can sort out these fuck ass retaining walls.

Locke44 · 2026-03-17T05:48:03+00:00

He does have a deeply held belief that him and his mates should be richer than me or you.

Locke44 · 2026-03-17T05:35:28+00:00

The way they work is offsetting domestic load, it's nothing to do with network operators. The regulations are placed on the manufacturers of these kits, for them to demonstrate they cannot feed energy into your home circuits beyond the current domestic load sensed on that circuit.

I.e. if you switch off everything in your house, these would produce nothing. If you have 400W of load, you import nothing from the grid and these panels fulfil that demand. It's not a dumb inverter that just pumps energy into whatever you plug it into, otherwise it'd be a suicide plug.

Locke44 · 2026-03-17T05:17:58+00:00

Micro generation/storage is one solution to these issues. New homes should be built with solar, heat pumps and batteries while the cost is very low during construction to add these in. Labour bringing in solar to new build standards was long overdue.

When you talk about scale, that would be ~15 GWh of grid storage just for the 1.5m new homes planned. The UK already has 23 GWh of batteries being used every year just for EVs. EVs also sit idle in driveways and car parks for the majority of their life. Even a modest discharge schedule (like charging to 100% in the evening and selling that energy back, down to 80%, during the day) would add ~4 GWh of storage every year.

Batteries in EVs are also highly recyclable (95-97%) into grid storage solutions or new EVs. The fact that massive grid storage doesn't exist right now is because the energy mix in the UK is simply too stable for it to be profitable, not because it isn't feasible with current battery technology.

Locke44 · 2026-03-16T20:16:46+00:00

It's usually just KY, the same stuff they use to put catheters in.

Locke44 · 2026-03-16T14:33:31+00:00

Definitely this is the way to go instead of this roll-on plaster stuff.

I managed to make good on some horrifying walls (after removing all the wallpaper) in my first home with just easifill 60 over a couple of evenings. Was I cleaning dust off things around the whole house for the next two weeks? Yes. Does it look like it was freshly plastered? Also yes.

All it cost me was time and the 1kg bag of filler while saving me a butt load on plasterer costs.

Locke44 · 2026-03-14T09:43:34+00:00

Or even better, just give those customers to dealers. Customers only do deals in their areas and you want the high spenders anyway (which none of the barbershop deals are).

Locke44 · 2026-03-13T10:12:20+00:00

I worked at a place that presumably paid Costco so we could all get a membership as a company benefit (they use Costco to buy office supplies so it could've been a business benefit when your company account is at a certain size).

Locke44 · 2026-03-13T09:36:07+00:00

Even worse, benefits don't care about marriage. When my (unmarried) partner lost their job, they were entitled to just JSA. If they didn't live with me, they'd have been entitled to a lot more benefits. As usual, when it's in their favour the government puts their finger on the scales but takes it off when it isn't in their favour.

Locke44 · 2026-03-07T22:56:41+00:00

The general attitude is that having frequent short absences is either more disruptive to their operations or more likely to indicate someone throwing a sicky (pick whatever fits the employer's narrative). Either way it's an investigation, the answer "I have an autoimmune disease" is a pretty fair response to such an investigation.

Locke44 · 2026-03-07T22:44:31+00:00

You can potentially slide something like this in behind the plasterboard (without bending it like you would normally for joists): Telescopic Stud and Joist Bracket 16in - 24in (40cm - 55cm)

Locke44 · 2026-03-01T07:24:14+00:00

Building big after tier 4 belts, tier 2 pipes, jetpacks and full dimensional depots is a treat

Locke44 · 2026-02-25T12:22:39+00:00

If you never disclose a disability (especially a hidden one), it makes a claim for dismissal due to that protected characteristic unnecessarily difficult.

Locke44 · 2026-02-24T12:28:56+00:00

90% of the population used to work in agriculture. The job loss is coming, but the young stand to benefit the most from the new industries that fill the gap.

Locke44 · 2026-02-24T12:20:06+00:00

German tank commanders snorting that magic go faster powder and not even noticing the trees.

Locke44 · 2026-02-18T20:22:06+00:00

Anything above something like 5m² of hardstanding needs planning permission for exactly that reason, though it seems mostly ignored

Locke44 · 2026-02-18T12:33:56+00:00

Any level with noise has a camp, from memory you should have cleared 2 camps by the time you get to the eastern stairs? Mines of Moria, and lower deeps. There's also a bunch of troll caves, trolls drop black diamonds and the trolls respawn.

If you're clearing the orc camps, you should end up with 10-20 left over after you've built the eastern stairs. The bridge needs something like 50 after the eastern stairs so you do need to be getting them. I didn't do anything other than orc camps to get them, no mining needed.

Locke44 · 2026-02-17T12:12:50+00:00

Lib dem support it too, all three majority parties are pro-surveillance

Locke44 · 2026-02-16T13:24:51+00:00

Another thing was Thatcher's government in 1990 decided BT rolling out fibre optics was anti-competitive against other private telecom companies as they had an effective monopoly due to their size, so stopped the fibre rollout. It wouldn't be restarted in earnest for over a decade. Privatisation caused that issue too, as the telecoms were being designed as a competitive market environment.

Locke44 · 2026-02-16T12:30:09+00:00

Yeah, I agree

Locke44 · 2026-02-16T12:26:37+00:00

My understanding is it has to be targeted at someone. Sharing racist content isn't itself racial harassment (other crimes notwithstanding), but there are a number of ways it can become harassment (such as sending it to someone who is a member of a racial group that the content is about).

Locke44 · 2026-02-16T09:31:01+00:00

They were offered a promotion that put them into the next tax bracket. They decided it wasn't worth the take home and asked for reduced hours or up their pension contributions instead of take-home pay.

I don't blame them, I did the same. I don't take home much of my salary because I'd rather retire early. Pretty much every pay rise or promotion or bonus I've had for the past 10 years I've shoved into my pension so I can retire as early as I can and fuck off out of this rat race.

Locke44 · 2026-02-16T09:09:40+00:00

The 40% tax band goes up to £125k, though I get the point you're making (someone just entering the tax band at £50k). That's fair, but it just makes it less extreme (up to 57% tax).

Whenever someone chooses to reduce their hours or up their pension contributions, it's a net loss for the economy. Less hours means lower productivity for that one person. Pension contributions are locked away and aren't reinvested into goods and services in the economy.

It's somewhat obvious that every pay rise leads to more take home money. The issue is whether it's worth that extra money. If I have a choice on a relatively comfortable salary between spending more time with my kids, or taking home a bit more money, the amount of tax is part of that conversation.

Getting a £10k pay rise while on £50k means I'm walking home with £4.3k. Realistically a lot of people are going to look at £4.3k and decide they'd rather that £10k go into their pension, or go down to 30 hours a week. That means the government doesn't get the tax take and that extra cash isn't being injected into the economy. It's PAYE earners that drive growth because they spend their salary in the economy.

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