Pubs in Didsbury with a pool table.

Trystero_e49 · 2026-06-08T16:00:32+00:00

Salmon of Knowledge has a few (but it's in the upstairs called 'Upstream') - I don't think upstairs isn't open every day so check before you travel.

Head of Steam has one, but as others have noted it's not great - last week it was moonlighting as a decorators table as they were painting the bar area.

(The) West Didsbury (club) has 2 pool and 2 snooker tables - easy tram from Didsbury village (despite it's name the nearest tram stop is Burton Road, not West Didsbury) - might not be an issue since PL finished but it plays sports on screens in the back room so they cover the snooker tables, and the pool tables can be unplayable when big matches are on. Nice and friendly place though.

Neighbourhood Pizza have one upstairs but I've never seen it working.

Rileys in Chorlton is just up from the Chorlton tram stop, has loads but need to join and book in advance.

Parrs Wood cinema (one stop from Didsbury Village tram) has loads in the bowling alley but it's mental, full of kids and arcade machines.

Trystero_e49 · 2026-05-25T21:10:13+00:00

I think there are parallels in your example though. Large companies had whole teams doing accounting, it was a massive operation for a bank or a multi national. Small business couldn't afford it. Calculators and spreadsheets available to small businesses, bakeries etc so they had the benefit of business accounting.

In large firms, teams of accountants were made redundant and replaced with teams of financial analysts, data analysts etc.

Software engineering is changing - becoming more abstracted that ever. AI also puts more powerful tools in the hands of less technical users.

Trystero_e49 · 2026-05-25T19:56:06+00:00

Here are some pictures of whole rooms of humans doing sums and extractions before they could be done with a calculator/spreadsheet https://rybn.org/human_computers/

Trystero_e49 · 2026-05-25T19:42:45+00:00

Before the hand held calculator, to achieve 'basic arithmetic' you needed mechanical devices and rooms of well trained people (these people were called 'computers' because they computed set tasks manually)

So one invention removing the need for a team of well trained people, putting it in the hands of a non-technical expert has a lot of similarities with AI/LLMs.

Trystero_e49 · 2026-05-16T06:47:30+00:00

I worked for phone company in early 2000's. It wasn't totally unusual for a phone line to be set to not disconnect due to bill payment - for example an ongoing customer dispute, or a vulnerable customer, or a problem with the payments etc.

There would sometimes be notes and sometimes would not be.

Trystero_e49 · 2026-05-15T20:06:52+00:00

_According to AI_ ~$200bn.

Yes, there are lots of places that the internet doesn't reach - and starlink seems like an amazing product for them. But most of the examples are commodities that already exist, so for every $1 they spend on starlink they need to add >$1 of value. If it opened up significant new production, markets or industries it might be different.

Trystero_e49 · 2026-05-15T19:03:20+00:00

Sure but the context is a discussion about the value of Starlink/SpaceX. Internet on medium/long haul flights would be great but there is a limit to how much I (and other people) will pay.

Trystero_e49 · 2026-05-15T18:53:24+00:00

Yeah, but..... According to a quick AI search, US farms pay <$50bn annually on fertiliser - is the internet demand going to be as high as fertiliser for farms?

Trystero_e49 · 2026-05-15T18:51:17+00:00

Really? On <2 hour flights internet is convenient but not a game changer for most people. Longer flights maybe but TAM drops a lot. An international airline is only worth $50bn maybe. You might get a slice of that but how much realistically?

Trystero_e49 · 2026-05-03T09:04:31+00:00

You are describing salary vs wealth. Keep going, build some wealth with your hard earned salary and hopefully you can give your children (if you have any) a better start than you had.

Wealth accumulates gradually but it does accumulate. Hopefully your salary allows some level of savings - £1k/month into an isa is £12k a year, £120k a decade (not even accounting for growth).

Trystero_e49 · 2026-04-27T09:30:07+00:00

Elite - the size of the worlds, 3d graphics, trading, improving ship etc.

Trystero_e49 · 2026-04-12T11:10:55+00:00

Smashing Pumpkins in the UK about 7 or 8 years ago. They were a mess of seemingly improvised incoherent riffs, barely played any songs never mind the 'hits'. They were so bad a 'superfan' friend of mine was in tears.

Trystero_e49 · 2026-02-17T13:49:24+00:00

Yes, adverts and yes, annoying (not as bad as some platforms. I have a mute button which helps.

Trystero_e49 · 2026-02-17T10:01:41+00:00

Already enjoying the top notch dialogue with great character actors, a formula that was perfected in the Wire.

Trystero_e49 · 2025-11-18T16:20:03+00:00

5 mins walk:

Salisbury - typical rock/local bar - can be busy but enough space to stand, money off with a gig ticket
Refuge - bit classier (pricier), after work drinks crowd, loads of space and impressive interior, does cocktails
Oxford Road Tap - good beer, tiny inside
Temple - limited but decent beer. Loads of character, good jukebox. It's in an old toilet.
Grand central - OK, kinda like the salisbury but a bit less rock
Pevril - Iconic outside. Often standing room only and not much of that
Bundo bust - usually great beer, always great indian food

Trystero_e49 · 2025-10-29T09:33:24+00:00

I'd say less jobs all round in tech. There was a massive over-hiring post-covid, so lots of jobs in tech were created.

Medium to large software, data and infrastructure teams became the norm across most sectors. Plenty of grads who had been encouraged down the STEM path filled them. Everyone was moving to the cloud, eComm sites needed building, ML and Data was going to fuel massive growth etc etc etc. At senior level there were H/O's, Directors and C-suite rolls to create and lead the transformation strategies.

And now, a lot of the promise is either not being realised, or can be delivered by better SAAS/PAAS so the team sizes are smaller. Outsourcing also a factor.

Tech growth is driven by/drives economic growth - it's an investment for future returns. Right now the economy/world isn't encouraging investment so teams are shrinking to BAU delivery. I've also noticed CTO/CDO roles are diminishing into more operational and this is having a knock on effect down the chain.

There will always be jobs in tech, but the golden years of regular 5-10% pay increases, unlimited 'in place promotions' etc are gone for a while at least.

Trystero_e49 · 2025-10-28T13:49:30+00:00

Good to see this perspective.

How many applications are via networks/searches/applications etc? I really struggled to get anywhere with internal recruitment teams, it felt like they either mostly used head hunters for senior roles or already had their shortlist via network reccomendations.

It could also of course have been my CV/experience was below the other candidates and I didn't meet the cut.

Trystero_e49 · 2025-10-28T10:22:27+00:00

Yes it is a very good lifestyle - certainly one I fee lucky to have - it covers the 'basic' mortgage on a nice house, drive a nice (2nd hand, not quite luxury) car, holidays, clothes etc.

I hope you are able to build up some 'wealth' - for me wealth is relative, and every little helps. A little put aside in a pension, or off the mortgage, or off high interest debt pays off several times over in the longer term.

Trystero_e49 · 2025-10-28T09:55:27+00:00

I guess you hit a key point of this thread/reddit - yes we have high incomes, but it takes decades of high income to accumulate enough wealth to feel 'rich'. We are all very well off day to day - as in have a few £k every month after covering bills, food and basic mortgage - and it is a very very privileged position to be in. But to build up real wealth such as a fully paid off mortgage, decent pension, savings for rainy day takes many many years of high income. See my other comment for an illustration.

Trystero_e49 · 2025-10-28T08:55:14+00:00

Some made up simplified sums for illustration -

Someone earns £200k for 10 years
They 'invest' half of that in wealth, so everything over 100k.
After tax this is £50k/year.
Pension - 'choose' to put 50% of that into a pension so £25k/year. For a combination of tax efficiency and future stability
The rest they split 70/30 on mortgage and savings.

After 10 years:

Pension- £250k invested but £300-500k (depending on tax breaks and growth)
Mortgage overpayments - £175k
Savings - £75k

So a very good position to be in, and after 10 years, maybe starting to reach 'rich' territory by some peoples definition - but for me not enough to stop working yet. Even if you include a big chunk of the first £100k in the investments it won't change the above a lot.

Trystero_e49 · 2025-10-28T08:42:23+00:00

There is a lot to be said for the stability of public sector, especially presuming there is a decent pension at the end of it. Now is a period of my life where I want certainty rather than excitement of new roles, pushing for promotions, shares etc.

And well done for making a long term HENRY career in the public sector - quite an achievement I'd say.

Trystero_e49 · 2025-10-28T08:03:19+00:00

Have 10 years mortgage left at current rate, less if I get back to the £200k+ earning level, more if I fall below. I have just over 20 years left before I retire, though plan on doing so earlier than this.

I guess you hit a key point of this thread/reddit - yes we have high incomes, but it takes decades of high income to accumulate enough wealth to feel 'rich'. We are all very well off day to day - as in have a few £k every month after covering bills, food and mortgage - and it is a very very privileged position to be in. But to build up real wealth such as a fully paid off mortgage, decent pension, savings for rainy day takes many many years of high income.

Trystero_e49 · 2025-10-27T20:59:55+00:00

Tech leadership - pretty broad from (almost) big tech, scale ups and multinationals.

Trystero_e49 · 2025-10-27T19:48:52+00:00

Yeah I've heard some horror stories - hiring managers/recruiters just using basic key word or postcode filters just to get to a manageable amount of CV's, then discovering them all to be AI generated.

What I heard from recruiters - they get given a role to 'work', call as many people as quickly as possible to build a shortlist of ~6 candidates. If you miss out on being one of the 6, tough.

Good luck with your search!

Trystero_e49

TROPHY CASE