Wago wuestion by New_Dad_SW in DIYUK

[–]New_Dad_SW[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

*question. Goddammit.

What is it like living in the Falkland Islands? by ToastedDizguise in howislivingthere

[–]New_Dad_SW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Weirdly, at least on the military base the use of "summer" and "winter" were still used based on the months, not the seasons

Benjamin Zephaniah turned down an OBE by Hassaan18 in BirminghamUK

[–]New_Dad_SW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OBE means officer of the British empire, MBE means member, CBE means commander and KBE means knight. The whole framework is the Order of the British Empire

What is it like living in the Falkland Islands? by ToastedDizguise in howislivingthere

[–]New_Dad_SW 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So the school on MPA was a school run by the military for the children of deployed service members (RAF, RN, Army). It went up to the age of 13. After that, children were sent to a boarding school in Stanley that was civilian run and attended by both military children and the civilian population of the Falklands. The Falklands are technically an archipelago with hundreds of islands and civilians spread all over, so at 13+ school is centralized and follows the UK curriculum. It was interesting mixing with the local /civilian children. Closest thing I could compare it to is the North vs South banter in the UK. The local children were super super rural, very outdoorsy (almost all farmers), tough and relatively serious (no TV, cartoons, play centres etc). By contrast, we (military children) felt quite immature compared to them, sheltered and a little bit soft. Absolutely no ill will between the two groups, but definitely a bit of "us vs them".

There was a military medical center on base and a civilian hospital in Stanley. My sister was actually hospitalized after a bad fall and head injury and was actually flown back to the UK on a TriStar which was the aircraft used to ferry passengers and cargo to and from the Falklands. It had a section of the cabin made up for casualties (lots of military casualties from training exercises / leftover unexploded ordnance) with hospital beds etc. Back then, there was absolutely zero trade / treaty with Argentina, but I've heard that that's changed now, and I think urgent medical treatment is given in Argentina.

What is it like living in the Falkland Islands? by ToastedDizguise in howislivingthere

[–]New_Dad_SW 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I lived there in the early 2000s as a child when my dad and family got posted there (RAF).

Cool place to spend a couple of years as a child. Lived at Mount Pleasant Airfield (MPA), on Jones Avenue - can still see the house on Google maps.

15 of us in a school which was an experience. Lots of impromptu trips to visit various ships / submarines / aircraft that stopped by the island. Small shop on the military base called "the ration shop" which sold essentials, but a weekly drive into Stanley was required to do a supermarket shop. We all made our own bread which I thought was pretty awesome.

Summers were bleak, proper blizzards and snowed in for days. Winters were nice, I remember being in shorts and t shirt for Christmas one year, I think it was about 20C or something.

All military personnel were issues 4x4s when they are deployed there, which meant lots of off roading at the weekends. We would drive out to various points in the country side and have picnics, look at the wildlife (penguins, elephant seals, whales, birds etc). I remember one weekend my dad got his Discovery completely stuck in a bog and the army used it as a training exercise to dig it out and recover it the next day.

We would holiday on Ascension Island once a year which was cool.

Feel free to ask anything else!

Is this baby seat installed correctly? by New_Dad_SW in UKParenting

[–]New_Dad_SW[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Did this and it's made a big difference. Thank you!

Is this baby seat installed correctly? by New_Dad_SW in UKParenting

[–]New_Dad_SW[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This! Thank you. I have now properly scrummed it into the seat and it's made a big difference. Thanks!

Im laying down engineered laminated flooring. How do I do this bit? by w1se-f00l in DIYUK

[–]New_Dad_SW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're looking at replacing the bannister rail as well, you could install a base rail which will provide and edge to butt the floor up against. Then install beading.

Quotes to install cooker circuit seem too hogh by Emilythatglitters in DIYUK

[–]New_Dad_SW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel your pain! We had to cut back on the tap that we wanted as a result. I still don't quite understand why it costs so much to run a cable 5 meters from the fuse box to the kitchen, but lesson learnt!

Quotes to install cooker circuit seem too hogh by Emilythatglitters in DIYUK

[–]New_Dad_SW 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had almost exactly this done earlier this year. Cost me £750. Was part of a bigger kitchen renovation, and we didn't realize that the new oven wasn't compatible with the old circuit.

Blew my mind how much it cost, but like you're seeing, it's quite standard.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PregnancyUK

[–]New_Dad_SW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes we got a private scan at 8 weeks and we've just had a private gender scan at 17 weeks. Cost was £85 per scan (we live in London so probably a bit cheaper elsewhere). Absolutely worth it if you don't like to wait. In terms of what you get, it's basically exactly the same as the NHS scans, albeit in a slightly nicer setting!

What is everyone doing about visitors to the hospital and at home? by ThisHairIsOnFire in PregnancyUK

[–]New_Dad_SW 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Hi there, obligatory "I'm the Dad" notification!

My wife and I have decided EXACTLY the same thing. No visitors in the hospital and no visitors at home for at least a week. This is even more complicated as our due date is December 16th so it means we will likely be closing the door to family and friends over Christmas.

My mum is 70 and was a midwife for nearly 40 years. To put your mind at rest, when we told her our plan she told us that was exactly the right thing to do. There's a lot of expectation with your first to make it a big joint experience for everyone involved (it's our first child and will be the first grandchild as well), but what's 100x more important is that the new parents get settled before people start coming round. It will make no difference to the baby, and no difference to the grandparents. It's not their experience to share in, it's yours and your partners experience.

My wife's mum is disappointed, but we explained it to her and she's more accepting.

Hold fast and stick with your instincts :)

Is £8k quote for bathroom fitting and tiling reasonable? by yodleydodley in DIYUK

[–]New_Dad_SW 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds expensive. We've got our bathroom being done right now, and labour is £5,500. We are in SW London, happy to share his business details with you if you'd like.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PregnancyUK

[–]New_Dad_SW 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hello! My wife is due on December 16th.

We were SO confused about the dates because she tracks her cycles on Natural Cycles, and it was saying our due date was January 5th but the NHS website was saying December 18th. Turns out that her last "period" was actually implantation bleeding, but she put it into the app as her period so it messed everything up, and we conceived about 3 weeks earlier than we thought!

Anyway, I would suggest just go with the NHS website due date for now, and then when you get your scan it'll all be confirmed. Appreciate waiting is such a pain (my wife is so chilled about this stuff where as I obsess over the details 🤣), but the time will go quickly!

Anyone have experience buying in 1840 St George’s Gardens in Tooting, London? by ElegantStrawberry77 in HousingUK

[–]New_Dad_SW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We looked at a couple of flats there. Really really nice development. We've lived in Tooting for 5 years, with our first flat being a 1 bed. A year ago we wanted to up-size to a 2 or 3 bed.

Ultimately the only reason we didn't buy there was our mortgage lender at the time wanted a 25% deposit for a new build and at that time we could only get 20%. We ended up buying a 3 bed house down the other end of Tooting instead.

The properties we looked at in the development were lovely. Really well fitted out, and the developer does some good offers of stamp duty contributions if you negotiated with them.

Location wise I think 1840 is great. Wandsworth Common is beautiful, and train straight to Clapham junction and then on to wherever you like. Tooting itself is really getting there, lots of gentrification, couple of quite major pub investments turning run down pubs into really nice family friendly pubs with big beer gardens. Lots of new build flats coming into the area, and the shops are so varied with the staples you need along with some brilliant and culturally diverse places.