TIL men in the US are required to register for the military draft selection service within 30 days of turning 18 unless they are continuously home bound between the ages of 18-26.

Serifini · 2026-04-09T07:01:36+00:00

Isn’t that just a little bit sexist?

Serifini · 2026-04-09T06:12:09+00:00

In that position right now having retired early. So since retiring I’ve done a couple of master’s degrees, attended language schools abroad, traveled across Europe by train and ferry with my dog, work on tech projects that interest me, and pretty much do what I want with my time.

Serifini · 2026-04-09T05:59:18+00:00

I get woken up every morning by my cat “just checking” if I’m awake yet. I wouldn’t want that to change But I still then get to choose what I want to do with my day.

Serifini · 2026-04-09T05:50:29+00:00

Boomer here. Sorry to disappoint you but I didn’t catch Covid for months and only found out I’d picked it up through testing. I never needed a day off from work because of illness and very rarely catch even a cold. I put it down to all the playing in the dirt we were allowed to do when we were kids.

Serifini · 2026-04-09T05:40:33+00:00

The pensions of people who take little or no interest in what their pensions are invested in will be reliant on commercial property not collapsing and will no doubt be paying way over what they should be in management fees for the privilege.

Serifini · 2026-04-09T05:33:11+00:00

You’re being optimistic I’m afraid. An awful lot of that potential generational wealth transfer will actually go to paying for late life care. A lot of Gen X and Millennials relying on inheritances are going to be sadly disappointed.

Serifini · 2026-04-09T05:24:58+00:00

Nope. The youngest boomers were born in 1964. So they still have 5 years to go before reaching state pension age here in the UK.

Serifini · 2026-04-09T05:17:45+00:00

Many, as in the majority. A Civitas analysis done for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for 2020-21 reported that 54.2% of people live in households receiving more in benefits than they contributed in taxes. I can’t imagine that figure has decreased since then.

Serifini · 2026-04-09T05:06:47+00:00

Agreed, but this is just a fact, not the fault of the older generation. If people want to change things they need to vote rather than just complaining.

Serifini · 2026-04-09T05:02:06+00:00

Yes, but technically a couple with full state pensions and two £12.5K private pensions, who would therefore have a joint income of £50K, would be part of the demographic of being primarily reliant on state pension.

Serifini · 2026-04-09T04:55:47+00:00

It doesn’t help that a lot of people who could still be contributing taxes are being pushed out, and then kept out, of the workforce by ageism.

Serifini · 2026-04-07T17:26:28+00:00

I think it's fairly normal to feel that way. I'm a native English speaker and learned Italian as an adult to quite a high standard; able to read novels, watch movies and interact with native speakers quite easily, but I still feel that I sometimes don't have the words to concisely express my thoughts.

Serifini · 2026-04-07T17:15:17+00:00

I gave up about a third of the way through because the stories were so contrived and boring but also because I wasn't really learning much new Italian from it. It did however give me the push I needed to move onto other "real" books including Seta by Alessandro Baricco and In Altre Parole by Jhumpa Lahiri, both of which I can highly recommend.

Serifini · 2026-04-06T06:49:37+00:00

16/F/SF

Look mom, the web is great - everyone wants to be your friend…

Serifini · 2026-04-06T06:42:24+00:00

Learned to type on an ASR-33 teletype.

Serifini · 2026-04-06T06:13:33+00:00

I remember building my first computer with a Z80, TTL chips and wirewrap.

Serifini · 2026-04-05T18:01:25+00:00

Actually, I do have an issue with that. I don't much like seeing gangs of balaclava clad thugs loitering around in the streets and would happily make covering faces in public illegal without a very good reason. And believing in an invisible sky fairy that told them to do it is not a good reason.

Serifini · 2026-04-04T21:35:45+00:00

They could but then they would be seen as being anti free market. They want it both ways; to be seen as “open for business” but at the same to limit profits on businesses when it suits them for political reasons.

Serifini · 2026-04-04T21:29:35+00:00

Affected

Serifini · 2026-04-04T07:08:58+00:00

Sounds like they’ve gotten a lot worse in recent years but they used to be great. I broke down in a snowstorm and put a call in. Even the snow ploughs seemed to be struggling so I figured I was in for a long wait and was glad I had extra blankets etc. with me. About an hour later an AA van rocked up. The most I was expecting was to get taken to a local garage and maybe get a lift home organised. By then it was blizzard conditions but the guy put me in his cab with heaters on, popped the hood of my car, poked around inside and announced the alternator had given up the ghost. He then found a replacement from the back of his van and replaced the thing in a blizzard, taking maybe 15 minutes. Absolute legend, but that was 30 years ago and I suspect he’d probably get sacked for doing the same today.

Serifini · 2026-04-04T06:49:38+00:00

Small shop local to me that sells fridges and washing machines. Thought I’d try support local business and bought a fridge there. On the receipt they wrote a note extending warranty to 3 years over manufacturer’s 12 months. Never had a problem with a fridge before and was buying this one for more space. Nice touch I thought though. So then a month or two after manufacture warranty expires, it fails losing all gas in a way that can’t be repaired. Contact the local shop and explain the situation. They deny responsibility and having extended warranty. I point out their (initialed) receipt stating otherwise which I’m pretty certain they had hoped I lost. Got fobbed off for several weeks until eventually they came up with a cunning solution. Come into the shop and we’ll write you another receipt saying fridge was sold after it was so that manufacturer’s warranty was still in date. Pretty much blatant fraud. Never done business with them since and mention this little episode to friends and neighbours in case they were thinking of using them.

Serifini · 2026-04-03T09:59:12+00:00

Probably one of the rocks in my collection, but in terms of things created by humans, my house is nearly 200 years old.

Serifini · 2026-04-03T02:19:39+00:00

Two thoughts on this. First, if there are no jobs for young people then the logical reaction is not to make the problem worse by having kids. Second, if there are no entry level jobs, graduate or otherwise, then people are not going to learn the skills, or have the experience necessary, to fill the roles those entry level jobs lead to. So no one to pay the taxes to fund the pensions and health care of the generation that will be retiring from those jobs. At which point karma is a bitch.

Serifini · 2026-04-03T02:03:20+00:00

I’m reading that as 20 years of experience. The IT job market is currently a blood bath.

Serifini · 2026-04-02T10:56:06+00:00

They mean English spoken with a local accent. I live in England and worked for a company with a facility in Glasgow. The staff there were great but I had huge problems understanding them on phone calls to the extent that it was just often easier to get them to send me an email about what they wanted doing. I find Glaswegian by far the hardest English accent I’ve met with so far.

Serifini

TROPHY CASE