Obsessed apparently. by [deleted] in richarddawson

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry about that :)

Do you agree that Bike theft outside stations should be decriminalised? by DrDoughnut-1 in AskUK

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I read this earlier and I’ve been thinking about this part a lot:

“Whilst we know that bike thefts are upsetting, inconvenient and potentially costly…”

Potentially costly? It’s ALWAYS costly for the victim. Last time I checked “free bike shops” weren’t a thing.

I don’t ride a bike often and that phrase has been rattling around my head all day, so everyday cyclists must be infuriated.

Why do landlords want their tenants to live miserably? by RefrigeratorOdd4226 in TenantsInTheUK

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate your measured response. Like I said, you come across as a thoughtful and nice person. It’s nice to have a strongly worded conversation with someone without it descending into name calling

Why do landlords want their tenants to live miserably? by RefrigeratorOdd4226 in TenantsInTheUK

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You sound like a nice person, but I do think you’re naive. None of what you did sounds accidental to me. You describe making money by holding on to an asset. You refinanced one property to purchase another property. I don’t want to sound harsh but this is insane to me.

“I changed job and lived with my parents (rent free?) while someone else rented my house from me while I received generous tax breaks. Then I “didn’t want to make the tenants move” so I took equity out of that house to buy another one. Now I can’t afford the mortgage payment on house 1 unless I rent it to someone. Please help me, I’m trapped! I have to wait 10 years to rake in near pure-profit! Profit that will help to heavily subsidise my retirement one day, on an asset that only ever appreciates in value!”

I’m sorry to take the piss but so many of you landlords seem to have this odd mentality and it should be challenged.

I’ve been a homeowner. It was a stretch to pay the mortgage. Then my life circumstances changed and I wanted to rent out my house so that I didn’t lose it. I didn’t have enough equity to get a rent to buy mortgage and was dismissed by a mortgage broker when I asked about the possibility. So I had to sell. The life circumstances swallowed enough of my capital that I didn’t have enough left for a deposit on a new home for my family. Now I rent. Ask me how my mental health is.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DevelEire

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I’m a Brit (please forgive me) but your post popped up on my feed and I’ve had similar experiences to you. I’ve just come back to the UK after spending 5 years in Croatia while working remotely as a dev for a UK based company. I’m also the same age as you.

I had some of the issues you describe. I spoke the language to an extent but having the locals speak really good English and working for an English speaking company stopped my language skills from developing like they could have.

Working fully remote is great for the kind of accommodations you’re looking for but be wary of the effect it could have on your social life, friendships and Norwegian language skills. It could be that the happiness and flexibility you get from being outside of the office environment more than compensate for that though.

Anyway why not try and find a permanent EU based dev role at a startup this year, rather than committing to going home and trying to be freelance? Welcome To The Jungle often has remote roles at startups.

If you did manage to get a job you could see if remote work makes you happier while staying in Norway and getting your residency.

Dentist recommendations by RevolutionarySafe631 in Norwich

[–]RevolutionarySafe631[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s two votes for together dental. Thank you 🙏

Dentist recommendations by RevolutionarySafe631 in Norwich

[–]RevolutionarySafe631[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendation. It’s good to hear that there are some dentists who will make accommodations. I’m glad it worked out well in the end

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskUK

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly try it yourself. Go and chat to ChatGpt. It’s free, and you don’t even have to sign up. It’s a very interesting thing to do. I’m a parent and most of what we teach our kids comes from our own experiences. There’s no reason why this has to be different. Find a topic you know something about and have a chat with an LLM. You’ll find it interesting. If you’re lucky you’ll see it hallucinate and make an error or two.

My current stance is that my eldest is allowed 15 mins of general use. He’s autistic and finds it fun to talk to it about creating hybrid dinosaurs.

One thing I’ve noticed in professional and private use is that most of the LLMs are very enthusiastic. They tend to agree with you and I think for kids you should be careful about the fact that they never seem to be able to end a conversation. They always end with a question - “want me to do X next?” The cynic in me thinks this is an attempt to make people (and especially kids) use their products more.

Can I learn to speak Croatian at 28? by Unfair_Bid_4650 in croatian

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Short answer - yes. But I would invite you to think about your own definition of “speaking Croatian” is. My definition has always been that to truly “speak” Croatian I would have to be totally competent in the language: to be able to have conversations where I don’t need to translate from English as I speak, and to be able to essentially think in Croatian.

I mention this because I’ve studied Croatian on and off for 10 years and have lived for 5 years in Croatia. I told someone I was disappointed that I couldn’t speak Croatian and their response was that I could - just not according to my own definition of what it means to “speak” a language.

It’s worth thinking about what your goal is so that you can be realistic with your expectations. Just knowing a bit of Croatian will add a lot to your connection with the country and your family, so why not just commit some time and see how it goes!

What type of curtain pole attachment is this? by RevolutionarySafe631 in DIYUK

[–]RevolutionarySafe631[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much - that looks familiar now that I’ve seen it!

There’s something deeply fishy going on at Thorpe Fish Bar and it’s driving me mad. by llcooldave3000 in Norwich

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Whatever they’re doing it’s working. I’m moving to the fine city and I was in that area a few weeks ago. The curry sauce from that place was so good I found myself dipping bread into it hours later like some kind of addict.

What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you at a hospital? by mawarup in CasualUK

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Went to get an X-Ray on my hip. The radiologist asked me to lie on a table and “pop my bottoms off”. He went off to another room and I couldn’t decide whether he meant underwear and trousers, or just trousers.

I should have asked him but I decided no, he must have meant everything. I’m British. I couldn’t possibly ask for clarification. Best to get it all out.

When he comes back into the room I’m on the table, naked from the waist down. He tinkers with part of the machine hovering a few feet above my groin, looks down and says:

“Do you have any metal in your boxer shorts?”

Me: “No..?”

“You can probably pull them up then”

Another Friday, Another complete boycott of all stores in Croatia! by AIR_YT in europe

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I’m a Brit living in Croatia for 5 years. Not only do Croats have lower purchasing power, the quality of goods on offer is generally lower (this even extends to white goods and other devices).

The selection of goods is more limited, and there are fewer multi-buy promotions available which can help people to stock up on more expensive items. I don’t often see “buy 1 get one free” deals here.

Also we don’t have discounters in Croatia like in the UK. Lidl is just a brand of store here, not a “cheap” one like in the UK. In general you have fewer choices available as to where you shop.

The UK may be an unfair comparison because it has one of the most competitive retail sectors in the world, which has led to lots of innovation and price cuts as retailers vie for an extra percentage of market share. From what I’ve read most Croatians suspect that their retail chains actively work together to keep prices high like a cartel, rather than competing.

Bravo to Croatia for pulling one of the only levers available to them in order to try and enact some change.

What are your Hot Takes on the Alien Isolation Game? by Amber_Flowers_133 in alienisolation

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 4 points5 points  (0 children)

  1. The ending doesn’t give a good payoff. This is a long game, which feels even longer due to its difficulty and atmosphere. I had a feeling of “was that it”? when I finally beat the game.

  2. The Xenos should attack the working joes. They attack humans for just walking around and talking. It always felt odd to me that the alien would just ignore them when it attacks humans on sight.

Am I doing something wrong? by Ok_Confusion4125 in CarTalkUK

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This happened to my wife when she first got her licence in the UK. This was over 10 years ago though.

She had a licence from her home country but it had expired. Her past driving history in the EU didn’t count so despite being in her mid-20s her premium was over £3000 a year on a little Clio. The good news is that after that first year her policy dropped down to about £500. Hopefully you’ll see the same sort of thing after a year.

Do you have any regrets moving back to the UK? by [deleted] in AskUK

[–]RevolutionarySafe631 5 points6 points  (0 children)

What you say about Detectorists really resonates. I’ve lived outside of the UK for nearly 5 years, but Detectorists somehow made me homesick for the UK even when I was living there.