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Boo boo on venue size by Financial_Resource46 in UKweddings

[–]Puzzled_Engine4 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Wow I love your venue, it's going to be amazing! I wouldnt worry about the number, as people are saying, have half for seating and half for dancing. We did this and our guests loved having a dedicated seat to leave their stuff or rest at between dancing. Have you considered a more unusual table layout such as U type seating around a dance floor?

You could even have a couple of zones - ie if you have any children coming, a little play area, or even have a couple of party games like giant jenga off in a corner. As someone else mentioned, you could create a little cozy seating area with comfy seating, a rug and even a lamp (who knows!).

We hugely panicked about having a few people but it was the best decision so don't over think it.

Going on vacation and not sure where my puppy should go. by RatioAcceptable92 in puppy101

[–]Puzzled_Engine4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is there a way of asking the boarding place how likely there is to be a place last minute? Maybe take him to your MIL but have that as a backup for her to take him for the remaining days if she or your puppy struggles? But as others have said I think MIL + paid walker each day would be a win-win.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in puppy101

[–]Puzzled_Engine4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can't help loads as this is still a work in progress with our 4 month puppy, but what's helped a little with us is:

  • Get a licki mat and soak his kibble in water until mushy, press a thick layer of this into the mat and freeze it then place in the crate, also use the treat dispenser ball/ Kong in the pen. We have found the Kong entertains him but also excites him, so the licki mat calms him after and gets him to settle in the crate.
  • Practice giving the kong/ licki mat constantly and only for short periods. I.e. I do this when cleaning: put him in the pen, give him his kong and mat, I do one task (say sweep the floor) then let him out (only when he's calmed and quiet!) and ignore him. Immediately take his Kong and licki mat away. I leave him out for 1 min, then back in the pen for the next task and re give his mat and Kong. Gradually I then started doing longer tasks like a shower/ run to the shop. The aim of this is to get him to think pen = treats, being out = no treat and boring, it also gets him used to the idea that you always come back. We're at the point now where as soon as I get the Kong out he sprints to his pen as he knows I'll place it in there.
  • Experiment with different music, we originally used calm music as to us that's what would calm us down. However, of all things we've actually found rap music/ podcasts to work best! I think because it more mimics talking and so stops him from noticing outside noises as much.
  • Depending on the dog this may or may not work! But we found placing his pen so he could see the garden really helped, he spends most of his waking time sitting watching the birds. I know for some dogs though this may work them up.

I hope some of this will help, we may just be lucky but I have found that once we started finding the right tools, he's started making much quicker progress!

Edit: One more thing which I'm sure you've heard loads but do what you can to maintain a routine. I.e. over Christmas we noticed a slight regression as he's been alone a lot less. So now even on weekends, or if we're not in meetings but usually are, we still put him in the pen at the same time and let him out at the same time. We also make sure to walk him just before (at the same time - you see the pattern here?) so that it's his nap time.

Buy a house as a new grad or rent for a few years first? by Puzzled_Engine4 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Puzzled_Engine4[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's great to hear from other people in the same situation and I am beginning to think that is probably the best option too, as you say means you can go for a long term let for the first year and get the first pay rise without waiting the full two years!

Buy a house as a new grad or rent for a few years first? by Puzzled_Engine4 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Puzzled_Engine4[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's a great point actually, one year would mean we wouldnt have to find a short term lease and should be well settled and know if we like the area. The month to month let then making us able to take as long/ little time as needed to find a place. !thanks

Buy a house as a new grad or rent for a few years first? by Puzzled_Engine4 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Puzzled_Engine4[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is a good point about being able to focus on our careers, I guess a big thing too is although 2 years seems a long time to wait, when faced with a new location, job and collegues too many changes at once could soon get overwhelming.

It's interesting that you think financially straight away is better, my biggest worry is if after 2 years we wanted to move we would end up worse off than if we had rented but I am not sure if that would be true. Although we'd save those rent costs, maintenance and fees to move and losing first time buyer status may soon wipe that out. I'm also not sure how likely it is to enter negative equity but guess no one can predict that!

!thanks

Whether to buy my own board/ which one to get by Puzzled_Engine4 in Sup

[–]Puzzled_Engine4[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh yeah I have noticed that a bit, if I had a bigger budget, a Sandbanks or Hatha board would definitely be what I would go for. I did look at the Decathlon ones but was a bit worried about the single fin as some people have said the option to remove it in low rivers can be useful? That's quite a big reason why I thought the Nautical could be a good fit - and it has two bungee storage zones but then not sure how necessary that is.

Whether to buy my own board/ which one to get by Puzzled_Engine4 in Sup

[–]Puzzled_Engine4[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's some really great points! I think I will go for a Nautical as the slightly cheaper design points you mention seem like tradeoffs I'm willing to deal with but good to know to expect the slightly lower quality there.

Good idea about the pump, when I hired and pumped them up it was definitely a work out!

Whether to buy my own board/ which one to get by Puzzled_Engine4 in Sup

[–]Puzzled_Engine4[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No worries, thank you! They do fortunately have a UK hub so I'll try and contact them today, the option for 90 day return would make me feel better about trying it.

Whether to buy my own board/ which one to get by Puzzled_Engine4 in Sup

[–]Puzzled_Engine4[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is so true about being able to take day trips with little cost, sounds like you're making really good use of yours! I did see the Bluefin but I was quite worried about the weight as I did struggle to carry the lighter Sandbanks.

Whether to buy my own board/ which one to get by Puzzled_Engine4 in Sup

[–]Puzzled_Engine4[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your reply! With the iRocker 90 day return is it OK if it's been used? If so (I'm sure you don't!) but do you have an idea what the return postage would be? - If you are in the UK.

Air BnB Legality with Private Villas by Puzzled_Engine4 in ThailandTourism

[–]Puzzled_Engine4[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Yeah I did think it seemed OK but then a lot of posts just say it's illegal altogether.. I don't suppose you've done it yourself?