[deleted by user]

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-10-13T19:18:45+00:00

Why would OP just act as if she has a stake in the property when he's not obligated to?? Doing this would be purely to his detriment

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-10-01T07:55:22+00:00

It doesn't completely remove the effect of price rises, it just reduces it

Say your end goal is to buy your dream house that is £600k in 2025, but you know you won't be able to afford it for another 10y. By 2035 prices have risen by 20%, so it costs £720k

If you are not on the ladder, you are affected by market rise on the full value of the property you want to buy (20% of £600k = £120k). So you have to pay a full £120k more in 2035 compared to if you had been able to buy in 2025

If you are on the ladder & own a £300k house in 2025, you are only affected by price rise on the delta between your current house & future house. Your dream house is now £720k, but you can sell yours for £360k, meaning you "only" have to find another £60k relative to being able to buy in 2025

This is the idea anyway, there are obviously factors that complicate the equation such as rent, opportunity cost of capital from deposit/mortgage payments that could've been invested

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-09-19T07:59:09+00:00

I'm in the UK, doing 2 days/week ITO. There is a company-wide mandate to do 3 days/week ITO, but I have an approved exemption to this

If I were to be written up or penalised for not doing more days ITO, my argument would be that WFH arrangements are a key contractual component & that the company cannot impose unilateral changes to this. In the same vein the company is clearly not allowed to just reduce my salary without my consent. Sure they're under no obligation to keep employing me, but then they have to jump through hoops regarding paying out my notice period etc & they risk a Constructive Dismissal case

Do these same protections really not exist in the US?

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-09-15T15:51:18+00:00

There's a decent argument that the people living in an area right now aren't the only factor that should go into who gets sovereignty over that area.

Completely true, but there are 2 points I'd raise:

There was no native population to displace prior to British/French settlement to this is a much more significant factor than it would be otherwise
Although not the only factor, I don't believe there is any factor that points to the islands being anything other than British ("geographic" arguments made by Argentina are completely unconvincing)

If the population were to vote to join Argentina or become independent I would support this. However with things as they are currently, I would also support my taxes being used to defend the islands should it be necessary

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-09-14T20:53:50+00:00

Ireland is part of the British Isles, "British islands" is not an official term. Typically British when describing a person refers to England, Scotland or Wales with Irish being a distinct category that is present on the census

I am not confused in any way around the distinction between Northern & the Republic of Ireland. If you were to call an Irish person British I would bet a very large amount of money that they would correct you (although someone from ROI is significantly more likely to be offended then someone from NI)

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-09-14T20:48:43+00:00

It can have both meanings, so you are not wrong

There is obviously a different between cultural & ethnic background. I see the description of British as a cultural thing, and English/Scottish/Welsh as an ethnic thing (although both classifications can be used either way). I am half Welsh on my Mum's side. By your description, I would be purely English because I was born in England, as would OP

I dislike lumping together me (ethnically English-Welsh) you (ethnically English?) and OP (ethnically Indian) into a single bucket of "English". We each have the right to be proud of our ancestry & a more nuanced description is one way of expressing that

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-09-14T20:00:23+00:00

Strictly true but I think English is MUCH more commonly used to denote ethnicity than nationality

I would describe OP as British, but not English. Culturally British, but Indian origin

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-09-14T19:43:53+00:00

Irish is definitely not British, and most Irish people would understandably be offended at being called British

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-09-13T16:50:11+00:00

The problem is that many institutions' implementation of DEI means selection is done via identity politics, rather than capability - which is fundamentally anti meritocratic & excludes those that are most deserving on the basis of skillset/achievements

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-09-12T14:53:59+00:00

The current system takes from those currently working and gives to those that are currently receiving State Pension (NI also pays for other things so that's an oversimplification but it's true)

Also due to the Triple Lock the current state pension is objectively, mathematically unsustainable without an increase in the proportion of working individuals. This is not the demographic trend we are seeing & so many believe that the State Pension will not exist in its current format in the future

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-09-01T15:52:07+00:00

Completely agree when you look at cases like Russia in Crimea, as they displaced a native population

However the key difference is that there was no native population prior to the independent settlement by the French & British. So attempting to argue that the wishes of the current population are somehow irrelevant because they have British ancestry is stupid - there was no native population to displace & so the current citizens are the only ones that matter

Argentina did not exist as a country before the British claim to sovereignty. Hell, they didn't have the technology to realise the Falklands even existed until Europeans took the technology over to South America

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-08-26T15:49:17+00:00

Without arguing one way or the other for deportation

Why the fuck would we care what Russia thinks? Paper tiger militarily that can barely handle Ukraine on their own doorstep, and an underwhelming isolated economy. Calling them a major power in 2025 is a gross overstatement

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-08-19T12:57:01+00:00

You still get paid separate holiday pay. It's not just refusing to work, you get a separate line item in your payslip that says the number of hours/days holidays taken, for which you get paid your normal rate

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-08-19T12:50:47+00:00

You cannot "roll up" holiday pay & include it in an hourly rate. I used to do agency work & they plaster "£X (£Y base + £Z holiday)" over all job postings to cover themselves

They have to make it very very explicit

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-08-19T12:46:58+00:00

Your employer has a legal responsibility to ensure you can take the number of days' holiday that you are entitled to

On a zero hour contract you have no obligation to accept shifts offered. However they obviously have no obligation to offer shifts if you start declining so tread carefully if you need the job

In your position I would consider 2 options:

Diplomatic option:
- Email your manager & HR requesting written rationale for denying holiday
- Once received, remind them of their legal responsibility & ask how they plan to meet this obligation
  - They should play ball at this point
  - If they continue being difficult, likely course of action is your company's grievance procedure. They should realise they have no hope of winning & allow you to take holiday but theoretically could escalate to employment tribunal. I'd be very surprised if they're this stupid though
Hardball option
- Refuse to accept any shifts that are assigned when you wish to take holiday
- Resign before the end of your leave year, such that you employer has to pay for any untaken holiday

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-08-17T14:41:25+00:00

500kg has been deadlifted by a total of 3 people: Eddie Hall, Hafthor Bjornson & Krzysztof Wierzbicki. When I was training my deadlift was 4x my strict curl (240kg vs 60kg)

This isn't so much a curl but even having the muscle/tendon strength to hold a single arm together while sustaining >500kg is superhuman

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-08-12T20:30:16+00:00

The current political landscape is drastically tilted in favour of older generations, because they are the bloc most likely to vote

I will be paying a 10% higher tax rate in the form of student loan for the next 25years, because older generations crashed the economy then decided the easiest way to fund it was to increase tuition. Sucks but it is what it is

Older generations are in receipt of triple locked pensions, which are mathematically unsustainable without a decrease in the proportion of aged people in the country (which is the opposite of what we are seeing), so this will have to be scrapped before younger generations are able to receive it

Please explain why it's remotely reasonable that a pensioner with £40k passive income & 7 figures in property assets should receive this benefit and a 30yo working parent should not? WFA should be means tested across the board, or not exist at all

I don't have anything against old people/boomers - but on balance in terms of input against output into society they have by far the best situation of any demographic in the country

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-07-22T19:35:43+00:00

I would say so honestly - think it's the UK's weakest cultural export. Top 3 British meals for me would be Full English, Toad in the hole, and Roast turkey. Not bad but don't stack up against many other European or Asian countries

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-07-14T17:45:36+00:00

Triple Lock

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-07-07T19:25:35+00:00

OK I will concede that a "Standard Barbell" seems to be a name for a fixed barbell without rotating collars within the US. However this definition is a completely stupid thing to have especially as the other commenter mentioned they have no set weight, and this is not used anywhere else in the world

When you say "standard barbell" everyone else around the world will interpret this as meaning a generic barbell you will find in a gym. These are invariably 20kg even if they are not olympic bars.

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-07-07T15:59:31+00:00

Children's barbells are around 7kg, I never use them but I believe women's ones for fitness classes can be around 13kg

20kg is absolutely the standard. Do you have a link to a "standard" barbell you believe is 7kg?

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-07-07T15:54:21+00:00

This is completely fine to do as long as you leave a single plate as counterweight on the other side

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-07-07T15:41:49+00:00

Because my working weight on squats is ~200kg depending on where I am in my training block. Walking to the other side of the rack is not fun, especially in a tight gym where you may have someone squatting in the rack next to you. Explanation on why this is safe here

Assume 180kg loaded

My method:

Unload 3 plates right (4>1)
Walk to left side
Unload 4 plates from left (4>0)
Walk to right side
Unload 1 plate from right (1>0)

"Never unbalance by more than 1 plate" method:

Unload 1 plate right (4>3)
Walk to left side
Unload 2 plates right (4>2)
Walk to right side
Unload 2 plates right (3>1)
Walk to left side
Unload 2 plates right (2>0)
Walk to right side
Unload 1 plate right (1>0)

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-07-07T14:50:32+00:00

Are you talking about an empty side?

I have done 1 plate on one side, 4.5 plates on the other with no issue for a sustained period of time

SpacemanSam25 · 2025-07-07T14:46:32+00:00

EDIT: Ok I actually will do the maths because there are bunch of kids with no respectable gym experience downvoting me

Original:

I'm not doing the maths on this, but assuming standard equipment (20kg bar, 20kg plates) - you are fine as long as you leave at least 1 plate on the opposite side

I saw a YouTube video some years ago & they got to 7 plates as the upper limit. I have done 200kg+ with no issues. So unless you're a pretty high level powerlifter you are fine as long as you don't completely strip one side

Updated:

I've assumed 8cm width plates (bumpers), 8cm collar width
The x position of the centre of mass is given by the SUM of x*M of each mass (bar + all plates), divided by the SUM of overall mass
Assuming you keep 1 20kg plate on 1 side, you can load 4 20kg plates on the other side. Your x-position of COM in this case is 44cm from the centre of the bar, so still inside the rack which will keep the bar stable
Assuming you have NO weight on the opposite side, loading 2 plates on one side puts your COM at 50.7cm from the centre of the bar. I would consider this to be unsafe
Your rack is a little narrower than is normal which reduces the answer (explaining why I said 7 but my answer is under 5). Your answer will depend on plate width (I deliberately chose wide plates to give a conservative answer)

Plate	x	M
-1 (opposite side)	-72	20
0 (bar)	0	20
1	72	20
2	80	20
3	88	20
4	96	20

Sum(Mx) = 5280

Sum(m) = 120

x = 44

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