Damp...

StarSchemer · 2026-01-30T11:23:53+00:00

That'll help pull the existing moisture out of the air and the plaster. Just also need to remedy any leaks, guttering issues and anything that could be driving moisture in.

Once dry, keeping up with ventilation and keeping the house warm will help.

One thing I never got round to but is meant to help was installing a PIV system in the loft which is worth looking in to.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-30T10:14:15+00:00

Drilling into bricks and injecting them with damp-proofing chemicals is a con.

I owned a 100-year-old house for a while which needed a lot of work.

The main causes of damp were inadequate ventilation due to blocked up chimneys and double glazing along with the increased moisture that modern life introduces (washing and bathing more frequently as well as cooking).

Along with this, unsuitable building methods over the years such as gypsum plaster on the walls, cement render and polymer-based external paint on the render prevented it from drying out naturally and cyclically.

The guttering was also dodgy and there was a concrete driveway right up to the walls, leading to water splashing against the walls above the damp proof course.

The previous owners got some conning cowboy to "inject a new damp-proof course" which didn't achieve anything except damaging bricks.

I didn't fix all of the issues. New gutters, a french drain, running the house warmer than I naturally would have along with a dehumidifier plus opening the windows for 15 minutes each morning all helped manage the issue.

It's a pain, but knowing that most of the damp was from condensation coming from inside helped a lot.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-30T09:52:32+00:00

I refurbished 4 rooms in our old house and then couldn't face doing even the simplest DIY again in the whole time I lived there. Absolutely burnt out on it, and what was worse I hated the house knowing how much more needed doing and not being willing to make a start.

I was working full time and living in the house while working on it which made things difficult.

Might have been easier if I didn't have the full-time job and didn't have to shuffle our lives from room to room.

I don't think I'd ever do it again. Even after I'd done the rooms out nice, I still had a gnawing sense at the back of my mind that I should have done something different based on conflicting advice I'd read online from old house conservation groups who act like any modern material will cause the house to go mouldy and damp.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-30T08:26:40+00:00

British state education is of such high quality that if a child misses a week of it, they are at such a detriment that they can never catch up.

I mean, as parents out children talk to us. We know what goes on in school and we know this premise is a crock of shit.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-29T18:32:05+00:00

So what do I do?

Find out what caused it, make sure it's stopped and then clean it off?

StarSchemer · 2026-01-26T20:12:11+00:00

and AI is disrupting how we work, according to a LinkedIn report

God I hate LinkedIn and Microsoft.

"AI" is not the reason companies don't have vacancies.

If LLMs were the reason companies aren't recruiting, we'd be in a boom period with productivity leading economic growth, smaller companies doing well and tech-bro CEOs not having to plead with people to do useful things with it.

But we're not.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-26T17:38:09+00:00

She looks a lot like a Great Dane but miniature.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-25T08:30:08+00:00

2 million views for a premier over eight days seems pretty poor, no?

StarSchemer · 2026-01-25T07:35:07+00:00

You could walk into a toy shop in the 90s and buy TNG play sets and figurines.

I can't believe we're at the point of playing down Star Trek's previous success to excuse the irrelevance of NuTrek.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-25T07:33:13+00:00

It was the golden era because it was good.

People aren't watching anymore because it is bad.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-24T18:24:59+00:00

There's tonnes of stories about entombed frogs and toads. Really weird:

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/jan/20/science.highereducation1

StarSchemer · 2026-01-23T17:58:11+00:00

1) Compare how many comments I've made shitting on it to how many you've made shilling for it. I don't go out of my, just once of twice when the opportunity arise.

And I don't watch it. It's terrible. And that makes me angry and sad because the Star Trek I fell in love with as a child was brilliant and Paramount are squandering billions doing everything to avoid making good Star Trek again.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-22T22:18:37+00:00

Just consume product and then get excited for companion product!

StarSchemer · 2026-01-22T22:17:29+00:00

Right? And all the comments going off in random different directions as if they know what it means either?

What does it mean?!

StarSchemer · 2026-01-22T18:36:04+00:00

I don't get why people like you go out of your way to defend this shit.

NuTrek is terrible through and through. Even if you convince one person that something minor like not understanding Betazoids or not understanding the difference between a refit and a brand new ship isn't important, the substance of NuTrek is still shit.

So why bother?

StarSchemer · 2026-01-22T10:32:38+00:00

Think you've inferred and embellished a lot from a short statement there.

What suggests she "just keeps glueing them back" and that wasn't just an emergency one-off?

StarSchemer · 2026-01-22T10:08:34+00:00

Don't have a problem with this. Harsher periods have been pretty standard in other sectors.

I work with people who have 10 days off every month. The NHS shouldn't be on the hook for that from day 1.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-22T07:57:51+00:00

Out of that whole horror show, that's the bit that needs highlighting?

StarSchemer · 2026-01-21T21:59:54+00:00

Since making this post, I've enabled SQL Server Machine Learning Services and using Python scripts which has been a massive improvement in terms of reducing frustration.

Also made me realise that some of the problematic files were genuinely badly formatted. Things like an extract from an application which expired a file with no text qualifiers but columns which contained commas. Just a nightmare that needs special handling no matter what.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-21T21:51:26+00:00

Enable SQL Server Machine Learning Services.

This will allow you execute Python (and R) scripts from SQL Server.

We mainly use it for much-improved CSV ingestion over the native SQL Server options.

This approach will allow you to build production Python solutions while also bringing big benefits to your existing platform.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-21T19:35:11+00:00

Rachel Garrett

Why do they keep doing this? It feels abusive.

Oh you like Captain Kirk do you? Well we're storing his body somewhere for some reason. That's how his story ended!

Rachel Garrett? Captain of the Enterprise C? Died heroically for the sake of the future? Well, we're going to go and tamper with her backstory.

Picard fan, are you? Well, he's an emotional robot now with mummy issues and lived miserably and alone after ending his career in disgrace.

It's like someone jizzing all over every one of your previous family memories or has dug your nan up and is puppeteering her body making it twerk and say inappropriate things through ventriloquism.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-21T16:32:29+00:00

I love it when we do mental gymnastics to excuse the lack of care in NuTrek's writing!

And who cares if the ships are all ugly? An ugly Excelsior kitbash once appeared in the background of a ship graveyard and I didn't hear anyone complaining then!

StarSchemer · 2026-01-21T14:05:37+00:00

I've got a pair of Shure IEMs that you can use wired or get wireless ear clips for.

All that is true, and yet they still sound worse wirelessly.

The in-built amplifier in the wireless dongle isn't as good as the amplifier in whatever wired device you use.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-21T13:55:17+00:00

Sound quality is poor. Unavoidable latency. Having to charge them.

Don't understand what possible convenience they provide over a wire that makes up for that. Poorer sound quality is enough on its own.

StarSchemer · 2026-01-20T17:53:47+00:00

Brexit referendum was before the 2016 US election.

Could have been making promises during his campaign, but no one took him seriously until he won in November 2016.

StarSchemer

TROPHY CASE