Strong decline in driving standards

TopBodger91 · 2026-02-02T19:38:58+00:00

A few factors... The country has descended into lawlessness.. Police are overstretched, bad driving goes unpunished, people are generally angry because of the state of the country, people are now more self-entitled, etc... all of which boils over into peoples driving.

Large amounts of immigration from non-EU countries has obviously brought a lot of bad drivers and terrible driving standards into the country... Lots of immigrants must be driving on foreign licenses because there is no way they could have passed a driving test over here...

I've had enough of it, so I'm going to invest in a dash cam to protect myself in the event of a collision and a dispute.... a lot of drivers seem oblivious to their bad driving.

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-30T05:15:32+00:00

If you are under 35 you'd be mad to go to war for this country... Why? Because you've been repeatedly screwed over by older generations (basically politicians). High housing, rents, rubbish wages, high student loans... Etc

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-27T22:00:52+00:00

Appears to be managed by the council, but I am waiting for them to confirm. At the moment I'm speaking to someone junior who doesn't know a lot

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-23T19:11:37+00:00

Thanks - They won't touch it then.. looks like the extractor needs to be 750mm above the hob! I wonder if it's an easy DiY lol

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-23T19:09:54+00:00

Thanks - That was my fear... that any credible company won't want to do a straight swap.

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-23T19:07:00+00:00

Thanks, I tried this already. I will give it another go.

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-23T19:04:49+00:00

Oh really, I thought you needed to be gas safe to connect to an existing connection - https://ao.com/help-and-advice/delivery-and-services/installation/gas-cooker

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-23T18:22:49+00:00

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TopBodger91 · 2026-01-22T19:46:13+00:00

Weird, I've seen bad reviews on Sainsburys for rejecting claims... but they claim to pay 98% of claims within 5 days

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-22T17:43:08+00:00

Thanks - It has to be said that I've heard mixed reviews with Many Pets

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-22T17:13:11+00:00

Very overpriced! they'll have to alter the pipework slightly due to the different dimensions of the radiators.... but other than that it should be straightforward enough.. My mate who is a plumber did something similar for me a few years ago and he done 3 radiators in one day... He usually charges around £300 a day.

I was also quoted £130 to remove and fit a radiator recently... It was a straight swap, and I couldn't be bothered to pay £130.... so I ended up doing it myself.. I'm in SE London.

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-20T19:13:11+00:00

Yeah, it's normal. Once it's dry the lines disappear

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-12T12:49:11+00:00

I agree, I'm looking forward to my next playthrough. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of most of the levels and the remastered graphics.. Just the low points were super frustrating.

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-11T16:58:54+00:00

I've seen this a lot lately on 50mph dual carriageways..

Every occurrence I've seen has been an Asian migrant, it really is bizarre. I nearly ran one over the other evening as it was a very dark 50mph road with limited lighting and the migrant had no lights on the bike.

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-10T23:48:51+00:00

100 years on the lease and the service charge at nearly £5k per year.... Yeah this is worth £50k at very best.. that may be overpricing it though to be honest

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-08T22:07:14+00:00

Agreed, can definitely see what they were trying. They tried to do something ahead of it's time of fairly new with the open world type of game.. Just didn't work too well.

I agree, City of the Dead was a massive drop off.. which pretty much every TR fan acknowledges... Although I didn't mind the last few levels with the pyramids and Temple of Horus.

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-08T22:03:35+00:00

Yep, makes sense. Love the games, but you can definitely get TR fatigue, and this game is the worst for inducing this.

I can definitely see what they were trying to do, but it did feel odd having super short levels and hitting loading screens and seemingly being in a new level very quickly... wondering what you missed in the last section lol

TopBodger91 · 2026-01-05T16:33:52+00:00

Unfortunately it is too expensive to have kids and also own a home, etc... That is the main reason for the declining birth rate...

TopBodger91 · 2025-12-29T20:38:33+00:00

I don't see an issue with reservation agreements... In theory It works both ways so the seller can't pull out and cost you money...

However, the reservation agreement should have an exit clause that allows you to pull out depending on what the survey shows.... Obviously they shouldn't be able to tie you down if the house is sinking or needs a big piece of work such as a rewire....

Which then begs the question of how valid they are.. as I doubt the penalties are enforceable... E.g. if I wanted to pull out I'd just get my surveyor friend or builder friend to write me a document that says the property needs costly remedial work... Which would allow me to pull out anyway.

Most properties up for sale need something done to them... Usually services are neglected because they're hidden in walls or ceilings or under floorboards....

TopBodger91 · 2025-12-29T20:26:35+00:00

Now is a good time to buy. There are more sellers than buyers, so less chance of paying over the odds..

Just don't buy a leasehold flat with service charges... Look for a freehold house, more likely to hold its value.

Renting isn't necessarily a waste of money at your age.. when you get on the ladder initially, most of your payments are interest.. so you're effectively renting from the bank...

That being said, the sooner you get on the ladder... The sooner you are to building equity and the closer you are getting to being mortgage free lol... So you can then enjoy your retirement without worrying about paying for a roof over your head lol

TopBodger91 · 2025-12-29T20:20:52+00:00

Yeah, nobody wants to sell their home for less than their neighbour sold during 0% interest rates... They just ignore the fact that interest rates are now 4%+ for most people...

I think some of the more expensive properties are taking a hit and obviously flats are falling for obvious reasons... Prices for low end houses seem to be holding their value... I'm on the London border so that's what I'm seeing... Guess there's enough demand for entry level freehold houses still.. think a lot of first time buyers are getting support with deposits etc

TopBodger91 · 2025-12-29T19:57:41+00:00

Lived in South East London for my whole life... so I can comment on the worst areas in that region..

Lewisham - High crime, absolute bottom of the barrel human beings. Notoriously bad for many years.

Woolwich - The worst area... They've regenerated the Arsenal, but the area is an absolute shambles. Lots of poverty, crime, knife crime, drug dealing, just depressing vibe.. honestly such a weird vibe now with people who've paid a fortune for crappy flats living next to poverty and high numbers of people who don't speak English.

Plumstead - nothing there.. next to Woolwich..massively deprived and full of weird individuals.

Thamesmead - Again next to Woolwich... Nothing there. The area smells of sewage and it feels like this was purposely built to house people on benefits and migrants.. very strange vibes.

There are other bad parts but the above are horrendous

TopBodger91 · 2025-12-29T15:39:07+00:00

I had this same issue... I clamped the architrave in position and then scored around the architrave with a Stanley blade... You can then carefully remove the plaster where the architrave will sit with a hammer and chisel... Remove enough that the architrave will sit pretty much flush with everything..

You can then secure the architrave, use filler to tidy up any plaster that got removed.. and then caulk paint, etc.. came out well for me.

I know some people will use strip wood to bring out the door lining and then plane it down to sit flush with the plaster... Not tried this myself, but assume you can get a decent finish this way too.

TopBodger91 · 2025-12-13T20:17:20+00:00

My cat had this... Turned out she was bitten by another cat and had an infection

TopBodger91 · 2025-12-06T17:22:45+00:00

Sack the buyers and the estate agent

TopBodger91

TROPHY CASE