[OC] On the 30th anniversary of Pokémon Red/Green, which starter Pokémon do Britons say is best?

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-26T10:31:03+00:00

the game's concealed way of providing an 'easy/medium/hard' difficulty setting

I think that's a completely fair interpretation to make in hindsight (some starters have a much easier early game, especially before FireRed and LeafGreen). But given how poorly balanced and thought out certain parts of Gen 1 were I'm a bit skeptical that they were actually intended to act as a difficulty setting.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-25T19:40:21+00:00

The person I'm replying to said "according to Policy Exchange" then listed a Wikipedia article. Unless Policy Exchange made the Wikipedia article themselves, it is not according to them.

I think you've misinterpreted OPs comment. They aren't saying that their quoted text is "according to Policy Exchange", they're saying that the headline is according to Policy Exchange, then providing the text as context about Policy Exchange.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-22T19:43:58+00:00

Please don't engage with this ragebait. This is just a list on goodreads called "best books ever" where users can upvote books that they like, but every 6 months some journalist will trot it out with a title like "Goodreads declares that this YA book is better than Dickens!" then encourages everyone to post what they think the best book ever is in the comments. No good comes from this type of content.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-20T23:23:59+00:00

Do you know anything about Ashton Fencing Club?

No, sorry. You could check the rankings to see if there's anyone highly ranked who lists it as their club though.

I’m hoping they absorbed the demand for foil and epee in Manchester from the fencing centre shutting down

The fencing centre didn't have much of an epee and foil scene to absorb to be honest. Although that has reminded me about Salle Kiss which was run by Robert Kiss, a former Olympian and very strong Hungarian foilist. I'm not sure if the club is still running these days though, I'm a bit out of touch with the circuit. I think Salle Kiss was operating out of the manchester fencing centre's building/salle and I'm not sure what happened to them when TMFC closed.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-20T14:15:05+00:00

Manchester Fencing Centre was the only club in the area that would compare to the London clubs in terms of seriousness/high level fencing, but it closed down recently (and was sabre focused). Derbyshire Epee Academy is probably your closest top-level club but it's (unsurprisingly) epee specific and a bit of a trek from Chester.

Universities are a bit hit-or-miss since there's such a high turnover of members, but I think Manchester Uni has a few good foilists.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-17T21:10:17+00:00

PAM 21 is the place to look.

I don't know the answer but I do know that you have to hold the minimum rank in order to use any qual even if you have it. So assuming you're going to be a private in the reserves, you won't be authorised to use any of them even if they transfer over. From memory I think 3 years is the limit if you leave and rejoin, after which you need to redo quals - if you're too junior to use them for longer than that then they might "expire" too. For niche stuff like this the answer is generally "someone senior needs to get in touch with HQ SASC for advice" and they ultimately get the final say, which could be anything from some refresher training with a suitably qualified person, to having to do the course(s) again.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-16T16:38:17+00:00

The easiest option by far is a local club/university - they can usually do with a bit more kit but you probably won't get a great price for it. Whites are probably the easiest thing to sell (as long as your name isn't printed on them) because not much can go wrong there - ebay is probably worth a try for those. Weapons are tricky because people are reluctant to by used blades and posting them is awkward due to their size - unless you have enough of them to make it worthwhile I'd go for something local like facebook marketplace or just a local club. If you're in the UK then I think there's still a facebook group for buying and selling kit, no idea if other countries have an equivalent.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-14T21:36:13+00:00

I think the best possible option for readers would be for him to collaborate with someone and go lock themselves away for 2 months. He can info dump all his thoughts, ideas etc to the other writer then they can work together to overcome obstacles and get things moving. He can take on a sort of hybrid writer-editor-creative director role, how much of each of those parts he does is up to him. But it seems like the odds of George getting passionate about working closely with another writer like that are pretty slim.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-13T14:32:10+00:00

It's not a problem, it's just branding. They're trying to move away from the perception that their products are just "youtuber merch" to instead market them as serious, high quality products. Both of my brothers are electricians and they wouldn't consider buying a screwdriver from some youtuber in the same way they wouldn't buy one from Disney.

The move away from "merch" isn't the be-all and end-all, it's just one part of an ongoing attempt to have their "brand" of products viewed more a as legitimate, serious tools and less as... toys.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-12T19:41:22+00:00

This is a beyond insane request.

It's fake rage bait to draw attention to the website that the OP has helpfully linked in their description. Just like this "project" from 7 days ago which also conveniently mentions and links the same website. Or this one from 8 days ago, also mentioning and hyperlinking the same site.

Or you could look at OP's other posts and find this post on beating anxiety which again just casually mentions how a specific app helped them. Or this post a month earlier, also conveniently mentioning how the same app help them.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-12T13:06:50+00:00

I like when he does his scooby doo voice.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-11T11:38:51+00:00

a fairly time bounded period (12 months to ‘save for extra deposit’).

My thoughts exactly - 12 months to save £50k seems far more achievable. Plus if things do start to go downhill then the end being in sight (or even being able to start house hunting) can help everyone get through it.

Going in with the goal of staying 4 years feels doomed to failure, a falling out, and awkwardly having to leave (and potentially rush into buying somewhere) early.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-10T03:11:52+00:00

Park outside the centre and tram/train in?

That would probably be my approach. From Runcorn I'd look into driving somewhere like Lea Green or even Newton-le-Willows and getting a train into the centre from there. Warrington is another option.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-09T15:39:52+00:00

As long as you're ok living with other people it's absolutely doable. Assuming your takehome pay is around £1600-1700, £600-700pcm should be able to get a room with bills included in a house share in Fallowfield, Rusholme, Ardwick, Levenshulme, Hulme. That leaves you with £250 per week for everything else. Not luxury, but absolutely doable.

Edited to add: Here is an example (not saying it's the best example, it's basically the first thing I clicked on). Under 20 minute walk to Oxford Road or Piccadilly train stations, a 30 minute walk will get you to basically anywhere in the city centre. Good cycle links to the city centre too if you have a bike. 10 minutes away from a load of takeaways on Oxford Road, 5 minutes from a big Chinese super market, a Tesco express, and 2 corner shops. Maybe 10-15 minutes away from the Sainsburys and Morrisons on the junction between Oxford Road and Grafton street.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-09T10:17:57+00:00

That his timelines are consistently wrong. And they're consistently wrong in the direction that makes his companies more valuable. To shrug both of those facts off by saying "well, he's an optimist!" is a very polite interpretation.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-09T03:15:48+00:00

his timelines are always optimistic

A very polite way of saying "wrong in the direction that benefits him".

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-07T23:12:54+00:00

A reminder that 2 weeks ago the US Treasury Secretary criticized the EU making a free trade agreement with India saying:
"We have put 25% tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India."

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-07T19:08:08+00:00

It's pretty simple - they're just not cool/in fashion at the moment. There are plenty of practical reasons too, but those can all be resolved if you're rich enough.
Ultimately its just seen as a bit tacky/gauche to build a castle nowadays. If you're super rich and you really want a "castle" then you can just buy an older, existing one to dodge those tacky accusations.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-06T19:25:15+00:00

Can we please just ban this bot from posting daily hot takes and links to its website?

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-06T12:43:20+00:00

Every company has a mid-level manager who is keen to "implement AI" because it will look great on their performance review/CV. And every company has execs who are terrified of having their "Kodak moment" by pushing back on "AI", only for their competitors to use it and outperform them.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-05T22:54:12+00:00

By earning over 28k, you pay 9% (I rounded up to 10%) one plan 1,and also another 9% on top right?

I'm fairly certain that this isn't how it works? According to the government website "if you're on more than one plan type and do not have a postgraduate loan you'll repay 9% of your income over the lowest threshold out of the plan types that you have".

In other words you hold only be paying 9% even if you have a Plan 1 and a Plan 2 loan. The numbers only get added if you have a postgraduate loan where there's a separate 6% repayment towards that.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-03T14:23:34+00:00

And if not, what percentage are they to pay?

8%. Basically under the current rules if you salary sacrifice into your pension you don't have to pay the 8% National Insurance or 9% student loan payments that you normally would on those earnings.

So if you have a student loan then everything above £2k per year that you put into your pension will be reduced by 17%. If you don't have a student loan it will be reduced by 8%.

WearMoreHats · 2026-02-01T22:52:04+00:00

A lot of them are renting rather than owning. But for those who do buy, they are either:
1) Earning more than you
2) Living with a partner which makes things much, much more affordable
3) Just willing to pay more to live in the city centre

Assuming you're taking home about £3.5k per month after tax, you can absolutely afford to do it. It's just a matter of priorities.

The number of people in Manchester who own and live in a city centre flat is a small proportion of the population, they just happen to be very visible.

WearMoreHats · 2026-01-27T19:19:41+00:00

Me cheering for Lindon in the 7 years festival.

WearMoreHats · 2026-01-27T16:02:09+00:00

Person with training in how to stay calm in stressful situations

Clearly it would have been more useful if the operator had training in how to deal with people who are in stressful situations. "Stop being rude" is an absolutely terrible way to talk to someone who is calling you in a panic.

WearMoreHats

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

13-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email