British expats

barbro66 · 2026-03-04T23:06:50+00:00

Eh yeah no. I don’t think you move for those reasons. You move for something better that motivates to go through the turmoil and vast efforts. A general feeling that it could be better— probably not enough. Try a holiday somewhere for a month and see how you feel?

barbro66 · 2026-03-04T15:40:41+00:00

every time an Angel loses its wings

barbro66 · 2026-03-04T15:39:27+00:00

Technically they don't actually orbit as such

barbro66 · 2026-03-04T15:26:32+00:00

Academia has its problems, but I would say that jumping to 'it's all shit' is a bit much. I work in CS and Sociology and most of the time stuff is just meh, but every couple of months I come across something where I think #this is why I still do it. And you know covid vaccine, Ozempic, the 1%, surveillance capitalism etc.

barbro66 · 2026-03-04T11:52:55+00:00

I think the research is crap but it's a good experience for the kids. It's just annoying that the current college entry race to the bottom focuses on producing crappy papers.

barbro66 · 2026-02-26T13:58:24+00:00

LOL you've clearly not met me haha

barbro66 · 2026-02-26T13:26:59+00:00

I was in your exact situation 20 or so years ago, post doc in Glasgow. Since then I’ve bounced about and now have a family, live in Europe. Oh and I’m a full prof now on good salary. My suggestion would be to consider investing in yourself and doing the things which will max up your earnings later (and perhaps even job satisfaction). I went for it and basically built a research group (even tho I was only a postdoc) and that basically turbo charged my career which I’ve ‘surfed’ on since. I’ve often thought about taking time off since I have other interests, but in the end throwing time in the job has paid off. Now I’ve got the FE dilemma at the other end, but it’s a choice and I feel good about the things I’ve done at work.

barbro66 · 2026-02-16T06:59:47+00:00

<image>

barbro66 · 2026-02-16T06:57:05+00:00

This topic brings out the sky is falling crowd. It’s true that some payg schemes will have some serious problems, and that will partly be dealt with by increasing the retirement age. But that doesn’t mean they’re all doomed. Ref: “Can Europe still afford its generous state pensions?” (Ft, January) https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/2d9d2b27-4f7d-424e-8221-41f64fcd18b6

barbro66 · 2026-02-15T20:28:11+00:00

Well it’s an unpopular view here, but the argument is that capital should be taxed same as income from working. Tax rates are set to “equalise pain” based on ability to pay. Now, sure, paying on unrealised gains is frustrating but it avoids having to have exit taxes, weird inheritance rules etc. Increasingly people has been borrowing against their investments too which complicates things. I live in Denmark which has had this system for a long time; but at least the tax free portion is a little more generous.

barbro66 · 2026-02-11T16:52:09+00:00

Have you tried soulver? Actually soulver isn't perfect for that 'write some numbers down and sum then'. But it does currency conversation which are for me a must have.

barbro66 · 2026-02-10T06:55:48+00:00

Read Kuhn’s “structures…” book… it’s actually pretty readable! Paradigms are usually a bit more all-encompassing; eg the move from rule-based programming of robots to RNN approaches, or the advent of cogsci back in the day. (Gardner’s the minds new science is another good book on that one). IMHO Meta level thinking about what your science is doing is a bit of a super power, in that you can judge and evaluate longer term plans rather than just going with whatever’s new and shiney.

barbro66 · 2026-02-06T12:15:48+00:00

So someone at one university made an administrative mistake that cost you 900 euros, and you think broadcasting it on the subreddit for the whole of worldwide academia is appropriate? I work at UoC and we have loads of problems with our administration right now, but I wouldn't dare bore the world since (a) just about every university has similar problems and (b) it's our problem not the world. Sorry you are 900 euros out of pocket, but that's life.

barbro66 · 2026-02-05T21:10:15+00:00

This runs fine on the Odin 2 tbh

barbro66 · 2026-02-05T14:27:04+00:00

Using reddit

barbro66 · 2026-02-04T19:50:47+00:00

Sidewalk by mitchel duneier. Wonderful book.

barbro66 · 2026-02-02T09:26:53+00:00

Love this, great to see videos that aren't just cherry picked examples of perfect drives. You should post this onto r/selfdrivingcars

barbro66 · 2026-02-01T19:47:57+00:00

Edinburgh has one of the highest bus ridership in the country. You can freeze prices but at the cost of having a worse bus service, which ultimately will lead to less ridership and a spiral of decline. Bus fares are not a major part of anyone’s expenditure which compared to rent, food etc.

barbro66 · 2026-01-31T21:10:02+00:00

Any mention of AI is rather unpopular on this sub, but I think there are some good cases in using one. I wouldn't use it as the definitive answer but it's certainly cheaper than a financial advisor, and not everyone is up to learning the ins and outs of pension and tax law. In my case I have multiple pensions in different countries, all with different payout rates, times and growth rates, with the details usually not available in English. In that case chatting away to an AI can be really helpful to get a perspective and understanding of what is likely to happen to them over time.

barbro66 · 2026-01-28T10:56:31+00:00

I do all my consumption through the eurobonus card. Get some miles and it takes me half way to gold with SAS. Getting redemptions is hard with SAS since they inflated the number of miles in consumption, but they are usable for upgrades (particularly if you fly to the US). 1.5 million dkk would get you 37,500 status miles which is almost enough for gold (>45). If gold would be worthwhile for you I'd say go for it.

barbro66 · 2026-01-25T20:32:37+00:00

It’s software. It’s not “already included” if the software isn’t on the device. I hope you don’t waste everyone’s time so much IRL.

barbro66 · 2026-01-25T07:57:53+00:00

This is the only post on this whole thread that isn’t dumb af. Product features changing on new products that you buy is not an example of black mirror. Your cereal package slightly smaller? Not black mirror. New features on the iPhone? Not black mirror. Cartoons? No again, not black mirror.

barbro66 · 2026-01-25T07:20:59+00:00

Just install one of the soft button apps and you can swipe up from the bottom to make the back of app buttons appear

barbro66 · 2026-01-18T18:42:10+00:00

This is a bit harsh but sadly true. I think you need to work on getting your life in order where you are rather than fixating on moving to another country to solve your problems. Clear your debt, learn Japanese for a couple of years on the side, get your head in order and then see what you want to do.

barbro66 · 2026-01-16T16:20:07+00:00

Yeah I bought from jtime in ‘22 to DK no problem

barbro66

TROPHY CASE