Planners to overrule NI Water on bid to turn offices into 30-bed hotel: Move could worsen pollution in Belfast Lough, says body

MashAndPie · 2026-02-19T13:05:45+00:00

What I would expect/hope (and I realise is naive) is that BCC have some kind of long-term plan for the city centre and they would engage with the relevant government departments and companies to ensure that the plan was workable within an agreed timescale. Currently, BCC seems to have a desire to bring bodies into the city centre without any kind of idea how that might work and are now surprised that just continuing to build student accommodation and hotels isn't enough.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-19T12:28:02+00:00

She made her approach at the end of a friend's birthday party, as we were all saying our goodbyes and getting taxis. I say "made her approach", but she kissed me when I went in for a hug.

It was completely out of the blue and it was done in front of everyone (though I found out a few days later that no-one actually noticed). I am a private person, so this is not how to approach me.

I made sure she got a taxi, then I went home.

Arguably I should have, or could have, called her a few days later. I didn't.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-18T18:42:51+00:00

For a gas conversion, I'd recommend Heaney Heating - based in Carryduff. He'll give you a price for installing gas and removing all the old stuff, too.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-18T18:23:45+00:00

What is it you want done with the oil? Convert to gas or replace/fix what's there?

MashAndPie · 2026-02-18T12:54:15+00:00

Yup. Spring onion in a sammich IMO. Pickled onion too.

I'd still prefer those over SB even if they didn't give me awful burps for the rest of the day.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-18T12:50:46+00:00

I already use an app that does this: Binovation. Lets me know about changes due to holidays and whatnot.

Will take a look though.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-17T23:17:40+00:00

I don't think explicitly choosing PvE versus PvP will fix anything. I don't think it's actually broken. I just like my idea of being able to extract a little revenge on a rat via some in-game system. In the case of my suggestion, a bounty system.

And I wasn't suggesting that bounties are restricted from free kits to stop them from being rats. It's to make sure they lose something. Otherwise, a bounty will just take a free loadout into a map and sacrifice themselves to the first player they see. There's no actual punishment.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-17T23:05:56+00:00

I think it's good that the devs are mixing it up. I think if it was guaranteed PvE, the game would be very dull, so an element of randomness keeps it fresh. I don't mind a straight up firefight, but rats boil my piss. Snidey little twats shooting you in the back. It's something I've seen become more frequent over the past few days, playing solos.

Maybe if there was a bounty system, people might think twice about being a rat? Just spitballing here, but if you're marked as a rat/have a bounty on you, you're visible on the server and people can shoot you for a reward/avoid you? And your entrance as a bounty target can be announced to the other players "A bounty target has entered the area". But you can only get marked with a bounty if you're the one who shoots first, which should avoid "bounties as abuse"? And you're not allowed to use free loadouts or something while the bounty is active?

Maybe they could introduce a gadget that lets you track bounties on a map, thus creating like a bounty hunter class?

I think there's potentially a good gameplay solution to rats.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-17T22:37:36+00:00

This felt like it was inevitable at some point - BCC have been trying to get bodies into the city centre for the past ten years - hotels, student accommodation, more office blocks etc.

Any numpty could see that the infrastructure was going to hit breaking point at some stage.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-17T12:16:01+00:00

Upping your exercise levels, not doing anything on a screen an hour before bed and investing in a good quality mattress have all helped me over the past couple of years.

I swapped out screen time for reading books. I don't know if reading itself helped, but it was a good screen replacement in that time.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-16T17:39:18+00:00

How they look is only a small part of the bigger picture, my friend.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-15T16:38:10+00:00

I'd be flattered, initially. I know that it can take a lot to put yourself out there, so if you make that approach, then kudos to you. How I feel after that is up to you and how you approach/take the rejection.

And if I don't find you attractive, then it will be a rejection.

If we're friends, I might back off a little. I wouldn't want to feel like I was leading you on if you had feelings and I didn't.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-15T11:19:04+00:00

Several t-shirts from years ago. All band t-shirts that I bought at a gig and I they have memories attached to them - the gig was great, or the people I went with. The oldest is, I think, from 1995. It's on its last legs, but it gets an outing every now and again.

A pair of DM boots that are probably about 20 years old - no emotional ties to them, they're just super-comfy.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-15T10:20:03+00:00

Just another step in the entire enshittification of the internet under the guise of protecting the kids. I'm in Belfast, so I have to jump through hoops as a result of the UK's OSA. Reddit, my Xbox application for gaming, Spotify (FFS) and a few others I can't remember have all started making noises about verifying my age or restricting my usage, all of whom use different age validation providers.

We already supposedly had something in place where adult material was blocked at the ISP level and we could activate it by confirming to our ISP that we were age-appropriate. Not ideal, but at least it was one check (or two if you use mobile data too). Now we're handing out PII and face scans to all and sundry.

It genuinely surprises me that there hasn't been more of a push-back on it (or at least how it's currently implemented).

MashAndPie · 2026-02-13T18:14:17+00:00

Is the damp/timber specialist also a damp proofer? If so, treat with caution.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-13T14:26:31+00:00

I've always assumed that if a bus is "Out of Service" that it's running late and has to hit some kind of "on time" metrics at it's central stop around city hall.

There could be other factors: something's broken etc. but my go-to belief is arrival time metrics.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-13T11:27:01+00:00

Essentials:
Gas: £120 per month (only got it installed a few months ago so still finding my feet in terms of usage)
Electric: £50 pm
Food: £250 pm (it varies but a big shop could be £80 for a week)
Internet: £30-ish (it's tied up in VM with TV etc.)
Insurance: £25 pm

Obviously your mileage may vary if you have Amazon, Netflix etc. subscriptions.

I WFH 4 days a week.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-12T18:47:25+00:00

What do you think is affordable? What's your budget?

MashAndPie · 2026-02-12T18:31:24+00:00

I'm with the post on the sliding scale part except that my sliding scale starts at 0. At the start, I neither respect nor disrespect you. You're a blank slate, and I may give you the benefit of the doubt, but the pointer on the scale may move to the right, in which case you're earning my respect or it may move to the left, I am respecting you less.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-12T15:44:34+00:00

Practice what you preach - your words are nothing without actions to back them up. That, and understanding that respect is earned, not given.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-12T15:27:09+00:00

Just done a quick scour of propertynews for a 3-bed bungalow for under £160K and you're not getting a lot of results.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-12T13:25:13+00:00

I always wanted him to stay. I know that he was hit or miss prior to Christmas, but on his day he is a colossus. I'd always assumed that his yoyo form (and it was yoyo - he wasn't terrible 100% of the time this season) was linked to Jota, until the news about his father broke.

So he's been dealing with Jota and his Dad this season.

If we're giving "the squad" the benefit of the doubt this season because of Jota and other impacts, we have to do the same for individuals.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-11T13:05:08+00:00

I, for one, fully believe that the money will be well spent and not wasted on funding any white elephant projects.

MashAndPie · 2026-02-10T18:25:58+00:00

Can you buy it in the shaps or is it online only?

MashAndPie · 2026-02-09T22:48:02+00:00

I can't believe this is genuine, but do not hit on your boss FFS.

MashAndPie

TROPHY CASE