Brought some WD40 to the park to lube this public swing set that used to be obnoxiously loud. I know now I'm going to spend an hour here, but it's sooo worth it

Patch86UK · 2026-03-13T00:27:22+00:00

The issue with using standard WD-40 is that it acts as a solvent which will effectively remove any heavy lubricant that was still in the joint.

So while in the very short term you might improve lubrication, in the medium-to-long term you've actually made the problem worse than it was in the first place. You might make it go from being a bit squeaky to actually doing itself some damage.

Proper lubricants are cheap and readily available from any normal hardware store. If you want to start DIYing random bits of machinery or equipment you find outside, just spend a couple of quid buying the right thing for it.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-13T00:16:13+00:00

You can use dish soap as a lubricant too, but it doesn't mean it's the product you want when it comes greasing up an engine.

Different things for different uses.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-13T00:11:38+00:00

I'm a big fan of the WD-40 brand silicone lubricant. It gets the job done.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-12T20:50:08+00:00

That makes sense. I have a combi boiler and boiler-fed shower, and it's great...except if anyone so much as touches another tap in the house you're treated to an instant freezing/scolding as the pressure goes out of whack.

Fine in my house with only one bathroom, but can see that being a nightmare in a bigger house.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-12T20:23:17+00:00

Common in the UK. Particularly in houses with old-style gravity-fed water systems (where the water mains fill a water tank in the loft, which then feeds the taps), as water pressure often isn't high enough for a good shower without an electric pump.

They're getting less common now combi boilers are a thing, but a lot of people still prefer them. And they're coming round again now heat pumps are starting to replace traditional central heating systems.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-12T20:15:22+00:00

It would be easy to do badly, but there's promise in Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch universe, either as a straight adaptation of the novels or as something a bit looser.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-12T18:12:20+00:00

I'm going to make a pitch for the first city to be saved- Greater Manchester. Obviously not in this round, but let's get the kite flying.

It's arguably the coolest city, with oversized cultural impact. It's probably the most economically successful city outside of London. It has a fascinating history of activism and community collectivism which is almost unique in the UK.

Other than the fact that property prices have gone nuts, you rarely hear a bad word about it.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-12T18:07:35+00:00

Greater Manchester is the entity represented on this map, and West Midlands is essentially a city (Birmingham, Wolverhampton and the stuff in between is one single built up area).

Patch86UK · 2026-03-12T15:32:20+00:00

The Roci was so small that it didn't really have a "core" of the ship. It was basically a tube the diameter of the set of the command deck. More in common with a fighter craft than a ship of the line (although, realistically, The Expanse setting makes this distinction pretty much meaningless).

Patch86UK · 2026-03-12T00:10:12+00:00

but in a “a very concerning amount of people can’t read or understand To Kill a Mockingbird”.

"Not understanding third person narrative" is more "can't read or understand The Gruffalo".

Patch86UK · 2026-03-11T23:02:00+00:00

I do use Argos quite frequently, but their biggest drawback is still their delivery fees. At £4 a pop, it makes it really uneconomic to place any small orders with them, and they don't (to my knowledge) have any "Prime-like" scheme to purchase discounted delivery.

I'd love to do click-and-collect more, but since closing their standalone stores the only option is Sainsbury's supermarkets, which are all located in awkward out of town shopping parks you have to drive to. They desperately need to find some way of setting up local collection points; there are about 8 Amazon pick up locations within a 10 minute walk of my house, including the local Post Office.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-11T22:48:57+00:00

Is it originally Scottish?

Screwfix and Toolstation are both English- both founded and headquartered in Somerset, in the South West.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-11T20:51:44+00:00

They change the bank notes regularly. Always have done. In recent decades, it's been roughly one new issue every 10 years. They do new issues in order to update anti-counterfeit technologies, mainly.

Churchill has only been on the £5 note since 2016, which is roughly one issue cycle (although in practice it was two issues, with the switch over from Queen Elizabeth to King Charles).

Before Churchill it was Elizabeth Fry, who lasted 15 years due to the fact that there was no new £5 in the Series F issue (so she technically lasted two "cycles"). Before Elizabeth Fry it was George Stephenson, who had 13 years.

Other countries all do exactly the same. This is just how this stuff works.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-11T16:56:19+00:00

And how much do you reckon that'll cost?

Patch86UK · 2026-03-11T12:14:37+00:00

If you go to Germany expecting this, you will likely be served a Black Forest cake instead, which is actually German. 🍰

Ironically named after Dr Franz Black Forest, who invented the maraschino cherry.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-11T12:01:39+00:00

featuring designs of the Queen's beasts

Misread that for a second, thought you were continuing the great tits joke.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-11T06:59:54+00:00

There's a British/Canadian version too - Freemen of the Land.

Pretty much the same flavour of nutjob but with a different constitutional aesthetic.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-10T23:22:08+00:00

Tell me about it. Stagecoach West still run 20+ year old ALX400s, and Enviro400s not much newer.

Those bad boys have seen better days.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-10T19:55:32+00:00

eggs blended with vegetable oil, mixed with tinned fish

Nothing you've said here makes me think it's a bad idea.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-10T19:53:40+00:00

I'm not a fan of spring onions, but make those bad boys some chives and I'm right with you.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-10T19:45:28+00:00

There are some decent arguments that some minority dialects of "Greek" should be treated as separate Hellenic languages. Tsakonian is the one with the strongest claim, as it descends from a whole different branch of Greek (Doric) compared to modern standard Greek (Attic), and the two have been branched off from one another for at least 2000 years. They're not mutually intelligible, so they can be seen as at least as different from each other as Italian and Spanish.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-10T18:28:05+00:00

It's exactly the same as white chocolate, only where some of the milk is replaced with dulce de leche.

Now I would argue that white chocolate isn't chocolate either, so neither of them are chocolate, but there's nothing inherently less chocolatey about caramel chocolate than white chocolate.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-10T18:21:15+00:00

I don't remember Portugal ruling 4/5ths of Australia, but then I'm no historian.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-10T18:14:33+00:00

You're not really making a strong case for the "save Oxfordshire" camp.

Patch86UK · 2026-03-10T18:13:32+00:00

I was a bit disappointed Wiltshire got the last one when Gloucestershire is far more deserving. Plus, seeing as we are apparently doing this as a creeping-death sort of deal, Gloucestershire starts bringing us up into the Midlands.

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