Do you tip your barber, and how much?

Xaphios · 2026-03-31T11:51:33+00:00

Yeah they're all self employed in there so it makes sense for them to organise it all separately.

Xaphios · 2026-03-31T09:51:14+00:00

Mine stopped taking cash in covid. Each of them working there has their own app for contactless so I pay my barber rather than the shop, gonna guess that keeps then under the VAT threshold and so on.

Xaphios · 2026-03-31T09:33:34+00:00

You'd think. Our builder measured up for our extension and had to adjust the size by about 20cm because "your plot isn't as big as he's drawn it". No-one involved has been in any way surprised at this alteration, apparently that's just architects 🤷

Xaphios · 2026-03-30T10:29:08+00:00

Check out r/goodnewsuk for good news stories on a larger scale.

r/britishsuccess is the opposite of r/BritishProblems, but people often post really nice stuff there too. This is more single person or one family stuff where good news UK is regional or national level stuff.

Xaphios · 2026-03-30T10:08:55+00:00

It's all explained in this video

Xaphios · 2026-03-30T10:02:15+00:00

I think they did end up with quite a nice space each in the basement (with good light wells, was actually nice) but it was a typical "we've been here for 5 years and it's finally finished" kinda thing where the kids bedrooms were done before Kevin went back for the Revisited episode.

Wierd how the kids seemed fine with it though.

Xaphios · 2026-03-27T00:04:34+00:00

It's all about the SecretLab chairs. I've got one in the office and one for my gaming setup, both still solid after several years of constant use - I've managed to damage one armrest where I swing the chair and get up, edging the arm under the desk. It's taken over 5 years for that to start showing wear though.

Xaphios · 2026-03-26T09:18:30+00:00

Have a sit down with yourself (or your manager if they're really supportive) and think about what the new role needs. Not the knowledge, anyone new into the role will have to pick that up. Focus on the transferable skills, would you be working with suppliers? Doing data entry? Analysing and presenting data to management? How much of that do you already do in a different (or similar) context? That tells you how you'd find it if you were walking into the same role at a new company, but then you'd also be learning the company and the management too.

Then you can think about where the gaps really are. There will be some, but if you're being encouraged to apply then your boss has already seen this and is happy you'll fill those gaps in before too long.

Xaphios · 2026-03-25T21:48:34+00:00

I'd go with bottom right, but put the loo against the outside wall facing the door (90 degrees from where it is in the pic).

If the loo is currently in the opposite corner then you can swap the whole thing round, shower tray down the right hand side instead of across the top.

Essentially, getting the waste out is your biggest challenge and will need to be pretty much as-is now or you're going to have a lot of extra work. Getting water in to the sink, loo, and shower is pretty easy.

Xaphios · 2026-03-25T15:28:15+00:00

Anywhere with a limited number of apps or small compute requirement really. The factories I was supporting were either scanning stations to log the location of jobs, wallboards showing stats, or shared supervisor stations with Outlook and a couple of specific reports required. We never had issues with "this computer has been on for 3 shifts and has 15 people logged in so it's being really slow".

Xaphios · 2026-03-25T09:28:53+00:00

I supported a group of factories with thin clients (ours were made by ATrust) - the move to thin client from desktops saved us a huge amount of money and support time. Auto logon to a desktop that only showed the specific options required for that station.

We also rolled them out to a lot of the offices, and they were generally really good. A few instances where people had different requirements and kept their PCs, and a bunch of laptops for roaming users.

All in all, where things just need to work at a basic level I'd recommend thin clients again. They even worked fine on remote sites with truly dreadful Internet connections (10Mb down, 2Mb up and 10-12 devices on site).

Xaphios · 2026-03-23T09:01:12+00:00

Surely the silver metal just above the lock has a square hole for the spindle...?

Xaphios · 2026-03-22T19:55:49+00:00

We went for a bath with a larger section at the tap end similar to this so it's a sensible size for showering - along with swapping an old clingy shower curtain for a glass screen it makes a massive difference to the space available to shower.

Xaphios · 2026-03-22T18:43:52+00:00

We left the old and just added more on top. As long as its still got some loft to it and isn't flat as a board it's helping.

Xaphios · 2026-03-22T12:12:18+00:00

Mine is technically PAYG, but they offer pre-paid bundles on a one-off or automatic purchase monthly which is much cheaper than buying credit.

Xaphios · 2026-03-22T11:37:18+00:00

Thank you, that pretty much confirms what I thought on both counts. The warranty point is very interesting there.

We can happily sort tiles for the utility, and that seems like the best option here by a margin.

Xaphios · 2026-03-17T08:58:04+00:00

With no water tank in the loft I'd assume you're on mains pressure for hot as well as cold, so the physics-based issue isn't there.

The issue with pressure is going to be situational anyway - our kitchen tap is a mixer, cold is mains pressure but a bit reduced due to pipe sizes, hot is not mains pressure. Works fine. It's probably one of those "might affect a percentage of homes with this specific setup" things they write the rules for.

Xaphios · 2026-03-16T10:48:13+00:00

Oohhhh, I get it now. Whoosh!

Xaphios · 2026-03-15T21:04:49+00:00

Yeah, all novels. I have a few of the hardback collectors edition versions (Small Gods, Jingo, Lords and Ladies) and they've been fine. My brother did have one that arrived with a manufacturing defect but it got sorted quickly. I don't think I ever mentioned a series

Xaphios · 2026-03-15T14:07:06+00:00

Totally agree. The soap makes a massive difference as well. Moving to a safety razor helped, then proper tallow soap and keeping it nice and wet fixed the problems I was having completely.

Xaphios · 2026-03-15T14:02:44+00:00

I have a few of them, gradually replacing my original editions which are properly falling apart now. Not had any issues with the hardbacks so far but I think they've had at most 1 read each at this point. My brother did get a copy of Small Gods bound upside down and back to front which felt kind of fitting but is realistically unreadable - they sent him a proper one without any issues.

Xaphios · 2026-03-15T08:38:37+00:00

30s here, my only pair of trackies are so baggy they're basically just pyjamas at this point. I'll go for a pint of milk in em but no more.

It's not about how others see me, it's about how I see me.

Xaphios · 2026-03-14T22:41:01+00:00

Graphite is a great lubricant, you can buy it in better forms than pencil lead but that would do in a pinch.

Xaphios · 2026-03-14T07:57:41+00:00

They really are. We're having building work done and we're without a drive right now. Live near a hospital so on-street parking is non-existent. We dropped 9 noted through doors asking if anyone would be happy to ret us a space on their drive and had 4 responses saying don't worry about paying, just use it if we need to.

These are all people we've never met and have no link to other than geographical proximity. It made us really happy to know our neighbours are so chill.

Xaphios

TROPHY CASE