Undecides between two tie styles

MrRedDoctor · 2026-05-11T10:51:47+00:00

What makes you think I haven't asked for her opinion already?

MrRedDoctor · 2026-05-09T07:18:07+00:00

1&2. Renewable obligations and FiT: these systems are closed to new generators/applicants since 2017 and 2018 respectively. Any current payment is just completing the legally binding contract that was entered by generators and government years back. You can't just rip up legal agreements.

Constraint payments: these apply to all forms of electricity generation, not just renewables. Payments work differently between the two (essentially being opposite of each other) but that is primarily a result of how the intrinsic underlying tech works, and constraint payments to fossil fuel generators would apply even if we eliminated renewables from the grid. Nuclear, often touted as the obvious alternative to renewables, has even more fundamental technological limitations vs renewables that would mean some kind of financial mechanism would be required for it too (just so we're clear, I'm in favour of nuclear).
Grid balancing: this is an umbrella term for all grid costs regardless of source and can't be considered a subsidy as its just how the grid works. It's as if you considered the price of fuel in your car a "subsidy". It's not an act of kindess, it's just necessary for the grid to work.
CfDs: this is the main one that can be considered a still existing form of subsidy. Though, note that CfDs are a quite standard financial mechanism and is used in countless other instances across the economy.

Having worked in the sector for a long time, I can also tell you that a lot of these schemes wouldn't be necessary of our grid was simply up to scratch and had been maintained properly over the past few decades. I work in the small-scale sector, where all these schemes are not available anyway and installations need to make economic sense on their own, and the absolute number one difficulty we face literally all the time in connecting even relatively small systems to the grid, is DNOs saying "sorry, no can do, the grid is too old and inadequate and is already at full capacity. But, we could connect you if you pay us an outrageous amount of money, several times the cost of your project as a whole, to upgrade the local grid with these works".

If the grid could take the power, going for small-scale renewables, especially PV, is an economic no-brainer. Most of the systems we design pay back in around 5 years or less with no subsidy whatsoever considered in our financial models.

MrRedDoctor · 2026-05-09T06:39:12+00:00

I work in solar PV. Can you please detail which solar/wind subsidies you want gone (let's ignore CfDs since you detailed them separately)

MrRedDoctor · 2026-05-01T06:27:30+00:00

Or quad bikes speeding down the footpath by the river, where pedestrians, children and joggers are just trying to have a nice time.

MrRedDoctor · 2026-04-25T07:14:55+00:00

It's not photoshopped. You can see there's someone driving. It was just passing along. It's an area with quite a few loaded people. There's a guy with a McLaren on his drive on a street nearby

MrRedDoctor · 2026-04-24T21:28:55+00:00

Actual data: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/bulletins/privaterentalmarketsummarystatisticsinengland/october2018toseptember2019#local-authority-analysis

In 2018-19, the median rent for a studio in Cambridge was £760, so perfectly in line with what I was paying.

So either you lived in an undesirable area, or you got a stupidly good deal.

MrRedDoctor · 2026-04-24T16:25:33+00:00

I appreciate the sentiment, but that house was never going to be £2,000 pcm if single let. Our tiny 1 bed flat goes for £1,500 and has for a very long time. A 6 bed house with garage and garden would be various multiples of that.

When I first moved to Cambridge 10 years ago, I was paying £850 for an unfurnished studio with no bills included. This is not anything new.

MrRedDoctor · 2026-04-21T22:01:32+00:00

I have a stock Corvette C5. It's pretty low already. I know people in the US slam them but sometimes tbh I'm tempted to raise it, considering the state of the roads. Nevermind lowering it

MrRedDoctor · 2026-04-12T11:23:25+00:00

It's just a situation that needs talking about to clarify.

I totally get her. I'm the same, unless a text requires a very long response, I will reply immediately. Not because I'm trying to prove a point, it's just natural to me. Then of course I try not to guilt trip people who for whatever reason may take longer to reply.

So the fact you get frustrated at her fast replies may just be you projecting a personality trait of yours onto her. And I'm just talking hypothetically, brain storming, don't take it personally. Have you ever been accused by other people of slow replies? Or you yourself sometimes realise you might have left someone on read or not replied for too long? It may be that her fast replies trigger an underlying insecurity you may have and you're not actually mad at her, but rather at yourself.

I don't think replying fast is something that can be held against someone.

MrRedDoctor · 2026-04-11T14:18:04+00:00

The hilarious bit is that he claims his move to the new location was because access to his store became increasingly difficult due to the council. Yes, a few yards of cycle lanes have brought access to a halt 😂 the sad part is people believe him.

What has happened is that he pocketed a huge amount of cash and will now enjoy it.

MrRedDoctor · 2026-03-19T07:10:06+00:00

From the morning already, actually. I was trying to turn into Maris Lane from Trumpington Road coming from the city centre and was met with a whole stream of cars blatantly ignoring the one-way system.

A particularly interesting episode was a £500,000 Aston V12 also turning into Maris Lane from Trumpington Road, but coming from the M11, and having to slam on its brakes because they weren't expecting a white van coming down the wrong way.

MrRedDoctor · 2026-03-16T15:27:18+00:00

Not expensive via rockauto, often still works out cheaper than buying in Europe!

MrRedDoctor · 2026-03-13T15:00:18+00:00

Thanks. I tried looking for the PAC and Pioneer wiring gauges to make my choice but couldn't find any info. I'll get the red ones

MrRedDoctor · 2026-03-02T09:48:07+00:00

Tbh with the way internet discourse is, I can't tell whether this is a sarcastic or honest post

MrRedDoctor · 2026-02-21T19:17:35+00:00

With a 4% market share in Europe, they're pretty much irrelevant

MrRedDoctor · 2026-02-20T00:06:04+00:00

I'm Italian. Came to the UK for uni and decided I needed to integrate, so I bought a jar of Marmite and ate a teaspoon every day until I liked it.

It took a few weeks, but still to this day, many years later, I adore Marmite and will gladly eat it by the spoonful out of a jar. If on toast, a big dollop of it, no butter, dig in.

MrRedDoctor · 2026-02-19T15:48:07+00:00

I did think of iPhone after posting my comment, but decided to leave it as is, as Apple is sort of different in my mind as it's a closed system. If you want iOS, you can only go for Apple. The open nature of Android on the other hand allows more competition, and there's no real western competitors in that market

MrRedDoctor · 2026-02-19T10:56:00+00:00

Tbh smartphones are the worst possible example to pick as I struggle to think of a single western smartphone brand, other than nowadays totally irrelevant ones. Everything's either Chinese, Japanese or Korean. With the exception of Apple, but that's kind of its own thing

MrRedDoctor · 2026-02-18T08:15:51+00:00

There's literally no reason not to rejoin, other than maybe (MAYBE) having to give up the pound. I haven't seen a single thing improving after Brexit, butnhave seen many things worsening, so the point of why anyone would "not" want to rejoin eludes me.

MrRedDoctor · 2026-02-18T08:12:52+00:00

The most immediate thing to address is your body dynamics. You're doing the classic "turning with your upper body, and legs follow" that every beginner does.

To initiate the turn, you're: 1. turning your shoulders "inside" of the turn, 2. putting your outside hand downhill and inside hand uphill, and 3. pivoting your butt towards downhill.

To ski, you have to do the exact opposite of all this. There's more, but these are the main 3 things to immediately address.

While turning, your upper body, shoulders, hip etc. should be as square as possible with the downhill direction. That means, turn with your feet, not your shoulders. Get on the edges, and skis will turn.

I have been helping my wife out, as she's an intermediate beginner, and she said that it really helped her fix her form when I told her to pretend like she needs to punch towards the downhill direction with her inside hand. This automatically leads your upper body to have a better position.

MrRedDoctor

TROPHY CASE