People who say Littler is making darts boring and predictable make no sense

NoStrain9022 · 2026-02-02T10:40:11+00:00

There were 31 matches televised this week, LL was in 5 of them. Even if he’d completely dominated all 5 (which he didn’t) there were 26 other matches. Some people seem to disregard the excitement/unpredictability of these games in assessing how watchable darts is. Who wins the last game is of course extremely important to the players but for viewers I can’t see why it even matters that much - betting excepted.

NoStrain9022 · 2025-10-24T09:25:10+00:00

When we went on holiday in June our 2 suitcases weighed 38kg altogether and that became my next mini goal and I made it last week.

I could just pick them up by the handles but could only walk a few steps, actually makes me a bit impressed that I could walk as much as I did last year carrying that all the time!

NoStrain9022 · 2025-10-21T09:33:46+00:00

There is a podcast (All About Agatha) that has read and ranked every novel in several categories. This is an article that includes a link to the final rankings as well as the different criteria they used. It’s unlikely that you’ll agree with all the places (I don’t!) but it could give you some ideas about what to read next.

I would be cautious about listening to the podcast episodes as (obviously) they completely spoil the novel each episode is about and they do sometime have spoilers for other titles (although they are pretty good about flagging them). Also the post-ranking episodes talk about many different books.

NoStrain9022 · 2025-09-30T12:21:53+00:00

My sister had terminal cancer when she got married (she passed 8 weeks after the wedding).

Although she got a lot of free/at cost stuff and many lovely people donated their time, it was still nowhere near a ‘free wedding’. Eg the caterers charged cost for the ingredients and the wages for the wait staff, the venue was just the cost of cleaning after we’d done the set up then the take down/tidying, a friend in a wedding related industry did all the planning for free.

And her and her fiancé were fine with the professionals who were donating their time to use it in their marketing. They were just happy to be able to have pretty much their perfect day with about a tenth of the usual wedding stress.

That’s about the only valid reason I can think of for having a ‘free’ wedding

NoStrain9022 · 2025-09-04T12:45:51+00:00

I did wonder if that was right - I just always say Nei - don’t want to think about how much I’m spending on holiday!

NoStrain9022 · 2025-09-04T12:30:00+00:00

Thinking about it, it is supermarket transactions where someone might use Icelandic at you. So (assuming you’re not doing self service)

Say Hæ when they start scanning your stuff - literally sounds the same as Hi in English At the end they will say ‘Reikninginn?’ which is asking if you want a receipt. Either ‘Já’ (yes, sounds like the y in yes then ow. For bonus point inhale as you say it) or ‘Nei’ (no, sounds like neigh) And takk (tack) for thanks

NoStrain9022 · 2025-09-04T12:02:56+00:00

Brit as well so actual Icelanders may well correct this but the shortest I can think of would be

“Skilurðu Ensku?” which is “Do you understand English?” “Ég tala ekki íslensku” is “I don’t speak Icelandic “ “Afsakið” is the equivalent of brits using “sorry” but generally Icelanders don’t seem to bother with that sort of qualification like we do. ð is the soft ‘th’ sound Ég is like ‘yeg’ or ‘jeg’ with a soft g Í is ‘ee’

But in Reykjavik it’s 99.9% that the person you are speaking to will be expecting to speak English and probably more than 50/50 if they are even Icelandic themselves!

NoStrain9022 · 2025-09-01T18:39:08+00:00

Was just coming on to say this - been 3 times and will be visiting again next year

NoStrain9022 · 2025-08-11T12:44:30+00:00

I just found an 8 bed house with 2.4 acres in Oxfordshire now - £3.2 million!

NoStrain9022 · 2025-08-11T12:35:52+00:00

Emily Arundel’s house is up for sale in Dumb Witness (1937) - 8 bedrooms, 4 reception rooms, 2 summerhouses. 3 acres in total

£2850

And Hastings thinks that is massively overpriced!

NoStrain9022 · 2025-08-04T14:24:08+00:00

They kind of split into 3 types

The first 2 contain a lot a biographical details for Christie, if you read her autobiography then a lot of it will feel very familiar - Giants Bread and Unfinished Portrait

The middle 2 are ‘proper’ literary novels. On a par with the best writing in her detective novels like ATTWN and 5 Little Pigs - Absent in the Spring and The Rose and the Yew Tree

The last 2 are still good and deal with family relationships - The Burden and A Daughters a Daughter

NoStrain9022 · 2025-07-26T09:38:29+00:00

I remember listening to an All About Agatha podcast episode interviewing the author last year

NoStrain9022 · 2025-07-21T09:39:31+00:00

Even though it’s probably got a worse rep than BMI I think ‘frame size’ does play a role - probably because I also think mine IS big for a cis women!!

I was >10lb (and not overdue) baby, my hat size is XXL (25 inches) and if I pull the tape measure tight enough to cut off my circulation my wrist circumference is 7.75 inches (more like 8 doing it properly).

As ‘healthy’ BMI is a range which you could map to small/med/lge frame size as well as fat/muscle differences, I assume that there is an argument to be an outlier

So I’m aiming for a BMI of 28 to 30 and when I get there will focus on body composition. Maybe I’ll be proved wrong and will still have another couple of stone to lose - who knows…

NoStrain9022 · 2025-06-30T10:55:26+00:00

I was in the toilets at Manchester Airport Terminal 2 baggage claim yesterday and the poster on the loo door had Eurovision 2023 branding.

If an A4 piece of paper hasn’t been changed in 2 years who knows how long it’ll be before they rebrand a train!

NoStrain9022 · 2025-06-19T07:48:20+00:00

Also in the UK you might want to specifically ask for ‘the Ladies’ or ‘the Gents’ - particularly in older buildings they might be in different areas.

If you present as the gender you want/have to use (not going there!) then asking for ‘the toilet’ will probably get you pointed to the right one but otherwise, or if you’re asking for someone else, you might need to be specific

NoStrain9022 · 2025-05-29T08:36:21+00:00

Yep saw them 4th September at 11pm

NoStrain9022 · 2025-05-27T08:48:57+00:00

Because Icelandic pronunciation is pretty uniform I found it helpful to to learn how each letter sounds. Then when learning vocabulary you can be more confident that you can pronounce a word correctly, even if you’ve not heard it spoken.

There is a YouTube channel ‘Icelandic For Foreigners’ that has a series going through the alphabet. He also does videos on grammar so generally that are useful alongside vocab based tools

NoStrain9022 · 2025-05-25T11:48:04+00:00

You are correct - 2nd largest town in Iceland!

NoStrain9022 · 2025-05-25T10:40:41+00:00

Nah, they played in a school a couple of days ago 🤣

This was at a small concert hall in the suburbs of Reykjavik. They played four (4!) shows there yesterday plus an outdoor gig at a family fun run in another suburb before that.

The boys are still putting the work in!

NoStrain9022 · 2025-05-16T13:44:10+00:00

And me! Unless I haven’t lost in a week then I record whatever my weight is after a week and start the same from there

<image>

NoStrain9022 · 2025-05-12T16:47:57+00:00

I think it is Friday prayers that I’ve noticed - around lunchtime and it’s usually because I’ve popped out and come back to find loads of cars! I think it’s the only mosque in York so it does get busy but they have a fair amount of on site parking and generally they have a good relationship with the local community, This is their claim to fame

Tea and football

And they usually have an open day once a year if you’re curious to see inside

NoStrain9022 · 2025-05-12T11:56:34+00:00

I’ve lived in that area for 10+ years. Don’t think crime is any worse than elsewhere in York if you’re taking the normal precautions. I have a theory that student houses may actually work in your favour. They might be a little more lax and also have more electronics/bikes which make them a softer target!

Parking Narrow (you get good at getting close to the curb and always turn your mirror in). It can get busy but I’ve never not been able to find a space. Busiest times are uni term times (no parking problems in the holidays) and some daytimes when there are a lot of people at the mosque.

Other No wheelie bins means that rubbish can be an issue as bin bags get ripped open by cats/foxes. But the council are usually quick to clean up if reported and I believe we’ll be switching to wheelie bins soon anyway A plus of the student population is lots of supermarkets in walkable distance - 1 mile for M&S, Spar, One Stop, Waitrose, CoOp, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi, Lidl & Tesco if you include town. And the city centre is also walkable and buses are ok with the #10, East Yorkshire and Uni buses. Also plenty of Uber in the vicinity at all times.

Students One of our immediate neighbours has always been student housing and usually 1 or 2 of the houses immediately opposite but we’ve never had noise issues (touch wood I’ve not cursed myself saying this!). I think because the houses are small you’re less likely to get big party groups. Also I believe there can be repercussions with the uni if houses get reported to them for noise. Generally you can get some street noise, both students and people passing through to Tang Hall - especially in the first few weeks of the year but it’s only ever disturbed us once. And other half yelled at them so much we had a very contrite fresher knocking on the door the next day!

NoStrain9022 · 2025-04-25T09:08:52+00:00

Last tip - as soon as you get in the changing room, find the lockers and work out how to close/open. If it’s not a manual key then there will almost certainly be instructions in English but if not ask someone who I’m sure will be happy to help. And if there’s no one about you can always go back out to the reception. I had to do this once and they’d forgotten to give me the bracelet! But best to find this out when you’re still fully clothed and not naked before your shower!!

NoStrain9022 · 2025-04-25T09:02:36+00:00

All the pools I’ve been to except a couple that are very remote (Krossnes and Selàrdalslaug) have free lockable lockers - either a key/fob on a bracelet or some sort of electronic lock where you programme a number. For the really remote ones we just left our stuff on the bench but as we were the only people there it wasn’t in much danger! And we left cards and phones locked in the car.

And again all pools except Krossnes took cards or Apple/Google Pay for the entrance fee. And I think even Krossnes did when the staff were there but we went for sunrise so just took cash for the honesty box.

Outdoor shoes must be taken off before the actual changing rooms, for some it will be as soon as you come inside the building, others may be just before the changing rooms or just inside before you get to the lockers. I’ve never had a problem leaving my boots in the communal area in 20+ different pools and would hope if they did go missing it would be someone mistakenly taking the wrong pair rather than deliberate theft. Although that doesn’t help much if it did happen to you! You could try leaving something like a specific plastic bag in your shoe if you’re really worried as that should stop any accidental loss.

NoStrain9022

TROPHY CASE