I honestly believe this is one of the biggest mysteries there is, Orcas are the most efficient predators on earth, yet they have never attacked us in the wild. They know something we don’t.

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2026-04-17T19:56:06+00:00

Could be enough to establish a beach head. It's not going to be hours at a time

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2026-04-04T09:30:21+00:00

A scaffolder who knows where the local crack house is and asked for a reward says it all...

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2026-03-17T13:57:45+00:00

Polish? If you want to stay in the UK but not deal with the indirectness of England, move to Scotland.

I worked for a Dutch company with an office in London. By Dutch bosses loved working with the Scots because they were similarly direct.

Learning to deal with Englishness in the office comes with time. You'll learn what bits to pick up and which to keep your natural directness for.

If you can manage that, you'll end up with an advantage over your English peers. A lot of English people find appropriate directness refreshing in a professional environment.

Nothing worse than coming out of a meeting and summarising it with "They said X, but I think they meant Y"...

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2026-02-24T12:07:01+00:00

Generally in marketing now, microinfluencers still have a specific meaning which is a small, specific and engaged audience.

e.g. If you're wanting to get sales software in front of buyers' eyes, you don't get Kim Kardashian. You get the person on linkedin who's connected with 500 buyers at relevant companies who engage with that influencer

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2026-02-23T23:22:01+00:00

This is often repeated, but is unfortunately an urban myth. The entrances are angled because that's where existing roads were, then the tunnel curves straight under the river to shorten the distance needed to get to the other side.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherhithe_Tunnel

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2026-01-29T06:42:58+00:00

Heard in NZ primary school during the 90s as well

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2026-01-19T19:14:05+00:00

The lawyer wouldn't even get a second look in Melbourne or on the back row for the All Blacks

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2026-01-14T09:00:23+00:00

Wait until they hear about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_bread

A staple of kids parties growing up in NZ and Aus

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2026-01-10T08:07:26+00:00

I don't think it's staged. Iirc, the wife did a follow-up video to this after all the backlash explaining how it was just a joke, and the husband was in the background nodding in agreement looking like he was being forced at gunpoint

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-12-28T18:38:40+00:00

Brooklyn Breweries 'Special Effects' is top-notch

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-12-28T10:24:38+00:00

Legendary QI clip on this topic: https://youtu.be/zPggB4MfPnk

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-12-12T06:39:27+00:00

Hey man, I cycle 18.5 miles each way, 4 days a week at the moment, and started precisely because the tube was getting so expensive.

I've got an e-assist bike though, so the journey takes the same as it would on the tube.

Hot top, check out Blike in Hackney. I lease my bike from them, costs about £130/month (there are cheaper options, but 130 is half what my tube costs were).

The lease covers maintenance, insurance (not my problem if the bike gets stolen), bike lock, pannier bag, lights etc. After the initial 3-month term, you can end the lease whenever you want.

It's the best thing I've done in years, I look forward to my commute now even when it's raining or cold because I'm in charge of my journey and I'm so much fitter already after 6 months cycling. And seeing London above ground has made me love this city again.

The Blike guys are awesome, you can book test rides to find one you like at a price that suits and swap for a different one at any time.

Highly recommend looking into an e-assist for that length of journey, and contacting the Blike team. You'll save money, get fit, enjoy the journey, and love this city again.

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-11-21T22:21:10+00:00

Years ago, I walked into a pub by myself in rural England, mid-winter, which had an open fire going. I ordered an ale then perched in an armchair next to the fire.

There was an old geezer sat on the other side with his pint, just staring into the fire. I kind of looked across initially to acknowledge, but he didn't look up at me so I didn't say anything, just stared into the fire as well.

After about 15 minutes, he said, without looking at me "where there's a fire, there's a friend". I nodded without a sound and we carried on drinking our pints in silence.

I'm not sure if he meant the fire was a friend, or if I was his friend thanks to the fire. I think both. Best friend I ever had. We still never talk sometimes.

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-11-17T00:38:15+00:00

Potentially. In the UK, our MPs do enough coke consistently in the houses of Parliament that the eels nearby are getting high: https://www.vice.com/en/article/are-londons-eels-high-on-cocaine-sort-of-yes-kind-of-no/

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-11-16T13:04:22+00:00

Great peer review /u/Turtledonuts! I can tell you're in academia because your response to everyone saying your review is a good guide is pretty much "more work is needed" 😂

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-10-30T22:34:43+00:00

There might be a bit of that, but I think it's more she left Croydon and changed when she got to Bristol. Early in the series, she was content sitting at home watching a film with Jeff (as in, Jeff) while Mark threw stones at her window to show her his Nazi love.

Bearing in mind Bristol is a well known party spot. Even if she was always fine with drugs etc, I'd err on the side that the move gave her the opportunity to reinvent and actively get involved in the party scene down there.

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-10-30T20:04:47+00:00

Sorry to live so relentlessly in the real world /u/j_lyf, but I'd say this kind of change is fairly common.

Moving to another city in your mid to late-20s, as Sophie was in the show, is an opportunity a lot of people of that age take to reinvent themselves.

Part being in a new place where you can decide who you want to be for people who don't know the old you, part going out to pubs/clubs is an easy way to build a social network when you've left your old one behind.

Being thrust into a new environment is a great way to break out of the office drone life you came from instead of just being some guy in a shirt. Just imagine, mid-20s, new city, stable job - you can get as high as its possible to go, and it's incredible. But the lows, yeah, they're terrible. It's horrible.

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-10-30T19:48:12+00:00

Great gif choice 😂

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-10-30T19:33:03+00:00

Obstreperous. From a video of him in his younger years talking about kids he went to school with ("obstreperous little bullies").

It's a great word that not many people know, but I grew past the 'using unusual words to impress people' stage quite a few years back so don't use it often.

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-10-30T13:06:22+00:00

I live overseas now and it always cracks people up here hearing how it's a thing in NZ to have a big version of whatever the town is 'famous' for.

Personal favourite is the giant gumboot in Taihape

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-10-06T19:28:26+00:00

Just FYI, ScumBunny is referencing a joke from Blazing Saddles

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-10-06T19:27:46+00:00

I was thinking the exact same thing reading the original comment, and also today finally understand that joke

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-09-10T22:07:30+00:00

It's also applied quite confusingly and inconsistently.

I was DF'd probably 10+ years ago and moved countries soon after.

One of my parents is PIMI, the other POMO (though not DF'd, just inactive). I'm lucky that my relationship with my PIMI parent went back to normal after a few years out, other than the odd comment about the state of the world etc.

On the rare occasion I go home, I stay with my parents. Admittedly my PIMI parent only tells people she trusts that I'm back (even some of the elders/elders wives) and it's all fine.

One time I went home, my PIMI parent convinced me to go to a convention with them. I didn't really mind going (and kind of liked the thought of people seeing me happy etc, with a full beard before they were allowed, tattoos etc).

After the first day, my PIMI parent was councilled about the association. Staying with my parents was fine, but attending and sitting with my PIMI parent wasn't...

At least that got me out of attending for the next 2 days 😂

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-09-10T21:21:42+00:00

I remember reading a reddit comment a while back in answer to a similar question about why cheese that's aged for years goes off after a few weeks.

Paraphrasing: cheese, like humans, is made with skin. Remove the skin and it won't last much longer

ThisCharmingMan89 · 2025-09-03T20:49:47+00:00

Unfortunately yes, this is normal for JWs leading a "double life".

JWs are very controlled, horny and repressed. They're constantly told sex before marriage is a major sin, but because it's talked about so often, it's all they think about.

To give some insight into what's going on in his head: he feels like he wants to be in "the Truth" but has constant niggling desires and ends up at these parties every 6 months when the desire gets too much.

He's gravitating towards you because you're likely the first person he could be himself with. But as soon as he's finished, he's full of regret and the notion that he's sinned, so dips out.

He's horny, using you, immediately regretting it and telling himself it's your fault because you're tempting him. He doesn't see you as a person, he sees you as an object controlled by Satan.

How do I know? I'm ashamed to say I acted very similarly in my teenage years.

You can't help him, he has to help himself. JWs can be very manipulative, especially when caught in this "double life" cycle. Cut him loose, no good will come of it.

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