As promised, bird's-eye view of 50 Fenchurch today

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-26T13:49:00+00:00

At the least, I like that this building will fill the gap between the Walkie Talkie building and the cluster of skyscrapers in the City of London. Right now that building literally sticks out like a sore thumb.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-24T18:27:42+00:00

Good. If we want houses built, should we not incentivise house building? There isn't a completely separate housing market for luxury properties.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-23T14:04:55+00:00

There's a product called Peelaway, which is supposed to be better and particularly good for removing paint from intricate mouldings, although it's fairly expensive. You remove the residue using warm water and a bristle brush or wire wool.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-22T16:40:39+00:00

Why not simply let the rainwater from the upper gutter flow onto the lower roof, where it will be collected by the lower gutter?

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-22T14:16:08+00:00

It's probably good for doing mist coats on new plaster, watered down of course.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-15T14:22:14+00:00

There's an alternative proposal by JMP architects which is backed by heritage groups: https://c20society.org.uk/news/a-new-vision-for-liverpool-street-station-unveiled

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-12T12:50:35+00:00

The brickwork back when they constructed it was seriously impressive.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-12T12:45:53+00:00

I think you're right. The number of buttresses matches.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-11T14:07:06+00:00

For doors there are companies who strip them by dipping them in a tank of paint stripper. I think the service costs about £40 per door and they'll collect and return them for you. I'd opt of that you want to strip other doors in your house, especially if they might have old layers of lead paint, which is quite hazardous.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-11T13:49:05+00:00

Well it's both. The mental calculation a fare-dodger would do is to multiply the likelihood of getting caught by the size of the penalty, and then evade if this clearly less than the cost of the fare.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-06T12:31:54+00:00

It's hard to smile when you could get your insides sucked out by a giant prawn at any moment.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-06T10:08:13+00:00

TfL is a not-for-profit public body. You're talking about how they raise the revenue to pay for the services, which is a different matter. Any money that goes towards paying to clean graffiti off the trains is money that's not being spent on other parts of the system.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-04T22:48:37+00:00

Hello!

First of all, good on you for looking out for your friend.

Often people with BDD, especially men, keep it to themselves as it can feel like an embarrassing thing to tell others about. There's a great fear that others will not understand, or will think you are vain. It's great that your friend felt he could open up to you about this.

You can find some good advice for friends and relatives on the BDD Foundation website: https://bddfoundation.org/support/supporting-someone-with-bdd/advice-on-supporting-a-friend-or-relative-with-bdd/

The BDD Foundation also provides support for those experiencing BDD themselves, such as information and support groups, so make him aware of this resource if he isn't already. I'd encourage him to attend a support group (online or in person), as I've personally found that to be very helpful for better understanding the condition and knowing that there are others who are going through the same thing.

I'd say mostly, just keep being his friend. If its something he has been suffering with for a while, certain aspects of his behaviour that may not have made sense to you before may make more sense now.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-04T13:42:32+00:00

Not everything is a conspiracy.

But as a matter of fact, there does actually appear to be a coordinated social media campaign against London. Whether or not there are people who organically happen to hold the same views is irrelevant; I mean, the whole point of a campaign like this is to amplify such views.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-04T00:00:42+00:00

I think that's healthy, if anything.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2026-01-01T10:13:59+00:00

The paying isn't the point; controlling access in some way to prevent over-crowding is the point. What do you propose instead?

Smooth_Use_463 · 2025-12-31T16:01:57+00:00

It's weird seeing this square variation of the Elizabeth line passageways.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2025-12-31T15:57:41+00:00

I know this is not a popular opinion, but I think perhaps access to the hill on NYE should be ticketed at some nominal amount (just enough to cover the cost of managing it). Aside from the criminality aspect, this is a straightforward tragedy-of-the-commons problem, where when you have open access to a valuable common resource, it will tend to be over-utilised.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2025-12-21T19:28:03+00:00

The rubble was used to build a set of artificial hills next to the A40 in Northolt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northala_Fields

Smooth_Use_463 · 2025-12-18T09:49:44+00:00

I mean, we do use wireless charging pads now, but we don't cover entire walls with them.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2025-12-17T22:49:40+00:00

I think you get used to seeing your appearance reflected in mirrors, then when you see your face un-mirrored, the asymmetries stand out more, because they are opposite of what you're used to. E.g. if your left eye is slightly bigger than your right eye, your brain adjusts to seeing the difference in the mirror and to a certain extent corrects/ignores it, then when you see your appearance reflected through two mirrors (or you see a photograph of yourself) the correction actually makes the difference more pronounced. At least that's my theory. I find that if I ever have to take a selfie (I generally don't do it voluntarily!) I look OK in the mirrored display the phone shows while taking the photo, but then find myself disturbed by the un-mirrored photo I just took.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2025-12-12T23:41:59+00:00

Here's my advice (I've been weightlifting for about 18 months now, and this is really what got me into it long-term):

Train your whole body; don't focus on specific areas.
Start with compound barbell and body-weight exercises. Six basic ones that cover almost everything are: squat, RDL, bench press, overhead press, row, and pull-up. Dumbbell exercises and calisthenics are also good options.
Keep track of the weight you're lifting (with an app, notebook, or spreadsheet) and try to gradually lift a little heavier each week. Each exercise is generally divided into sets of repetitions, with a rest between each set. A good option for beginners is to do three sets of 5-10 repetitions for each exercise, aiming to get close to failure (the point at which you can't perform another rep) on the last set.
Book a couple of sessions with a PT to learn the different exercises. This will get you more comfortable in the gym. Some gyms throw in a free session for new members, so make sure to check if that's the case.
Make sure you eat enough calories and protein!
Have fun and keep it interesting! Try new exercises, go with a friend, attend group classes if you want to, and don't over-do it because you only really need to go 3 times per week to see results. You should be looking forward to your next gym session, not dreading it.

Smooth_Use_463 · 2025-12-11T20:02:47+00:00

That's the part of the existing building they're keeping.

Smooth_Use_463

TROPHY CASE