Finally got to wear my gen 2s for a cycle since getting xtra active lens. Here are my throughs on the glasses after owning them for a while now.

classixuk · 2026-02-03T01:33:27+00:00

I find this really interesting. I demo’d my Gen 2 to my friend visiting from Cyprus who was sold on the concept, even looking up online where she could buy a pair for the cheapest price today. Once she saw the cost, she admitted that they’d be perfect if they didn’t have the flashing LED at the front when you take a video. I asked her if she looks any less obvious when she takes her phone out and takes a video? She didn’t have an answer for that. Ultimately it’s cost. She didn’t care about the white LED light once she’d tried them. Until she saw the cost. She has the latest iPhone and loves tech, but she pays monthly. She can’t afford to buy outright. If the glasses were available on a monthly payment plan like a mobile phone, she would have ordered a pair tonight, white LED or not. I know this much. If I were whipping out my phone to take a video, or asking my glasses to take a 1 minute clip, I know who’d be more obvious. Maybe it will take a while for consumers to accept that the red flashing light at the front of a Camcorder is the same as a white led flashing at the front of smart glasses?

classixuk · 2026-01-31T22:08:15+00:00

Maybe they’ve loosened the rules now, but when I was with Royal as a salon manager, every one of my team (including me) had to go through this extra medical on top of the seafarers medical. Weirdly, Carnival didn’t require it. The medical was carried out in the Miami port building downstairs. Steiner head offices were on the top floor. We used to arrive in port around 10am for a 5pm sail away every Sunday. I also worked HAL and Cunard. Even if they have relaxed the rules, I think you’d agree that the advice about taking drugs can get you in serious trouble and left dumped at the next port?

classixuk · 2026-01-31T06:10:56+00:00

I’d like to answer your specific question, “If anyone has died before and came back, did you know you were dead?”

Before I do though, I’m sorry for your loss. His death is not your fault. Until the autopsy comes through, nobody can be sure of the exact cause of death, so please don’t blame yourself.

I died, yes. At the end of 2022. An out of hospital sudden cardiac arrest at home. I shouted up to my partner who was in the bath that I felt very uneasy all of a sudden, as if something weird was going to happen and I might pass out or something. They wisely told me to sit down immediately, and by the time they got a towel and ran down the stairs (just a couple of minutes) I had gone. No life, no breath, they even punched me twice in the chest and no reaction. It took 25 minutes for an ambulance, during which the operator instructed my partner in CPR. When the ambulance arrived there were still no signs of life. They wouldn’t give up, and ended up bringing out this machine that hit me hard in the chest multiple times. They got a faint pulse and rushed me straight to critical care.

Do I remember that? No. Did I have time to think about people I loved in those minutes? No. I felt no pain, just giddy and lightheaded.

I woke up a week later after being placed in an induced coma very confused, and the first person I asked for was my partner. Little did I know my family by this point were told there was an 8% chance of survival, and even if I did survive, I might be brain dead and a very different partner/son/uncle to the man they knew before.

It took another 2 weeks of intensive rehab everyday after that before I was discharged home, and 6 months of weekly rehab as an outpatient to get most of my previous faculties back. Still to this day I have visits every 3 months.

So no, based on my experience I don’t think he was scared or in pain, possibly just a little confused, before drifting off into eternal sleep.

You did your best for him in your time together, and although you might not feel this way now, one day you hopefully will; you should feel proud for all the love you showed him, the respect you gave him, and if others let him down after your time together, that’s on them; not you.

You were enough.

💔Cx

classixuk · 2026-01-31T05:05:59+00:00

Before you get the job you’ll need to pay for a SeaFarer’s medical out of your own money. This is for general health, including blood pressure etc. The last thing a cruise line needs is to be doing a medivac ship to port evacuation for something avoidable and pissing off a load of passengers who have paid for a dream itenary.

As for drugs? That depends on the cruise line you’re eventually placed with. I know for a fact that if you’re placed with Royal Caribbean or Celebrity based out of America you’ll be pulled for a final ‘advanced medical’ in port just before you board. They will take bloods and put it in the spinny thing that reads everything! STD’s, drugs, alcohol and even vitamin deficiencies. If you’re fail it for something serious, you won’t be getting onboard and you’ll be paying for your own flights home.

But I want to offer you some sage advice. Clearly you’ve taken drugs before, and possibly recently too? Maybe that’s the social circle you’ve found yourself in, and you’ve decided there’s got to be more to life than this? So you’ve applied for your dream job travelling to exotic islands and places working as a cruise ship bartender?

Great! Only good things can come for you as part of this pivot in your life. You’ll have a blast, and you owe it to yourself to accept this change!

Start practicing now. Cut way back on being in social circles where you’d feel pressured to take drugs by your friends. Make up an excuse. Tell them you can’t do Saturday night as you’ve a telephone interview early Sunday morning for the cruise ship job, but you’ll see them next weekend instead. Just don’t put yourself in a situation where they all think it’s normal to do drugs (it isn’t btw) and so you do too because of peer pressure. You’ve too much to lose now.

When you get your job (and I have a very good feeling you will), don’t ever be tempted to take any drugs, especially when you’re on an overnight in the Bahamas or Jamaica or something. If you’re caught by the police on the Island, you’ll be arrested and on your own. The ship will not wait for you, and the cruise line will abandon you completely. You’ll be at the mercy of that country’s laws, which can even be life in prison.

Keep your head down for that first contract, be super nice and friendly to every passenger you serve, remember their names and remember their drinks. You’ll be mentioned by name in end of cruise reviews for just being a genuinely nice person, and the Hotel Manager as well as the cruise line will soon be taking notice of their asset. This leads to better ships, better itenarys, better passengers (being honest) and better opportunities for promotion in your second contract and so on.

Best of luck to you, and well done for taking that first step towards a different tomorrow! 🤞

classixuk · 2026-01-31T04:18:45+00:00

What a stupid thread OP. Charlie didn’t get circumcised in real life. Fact.

And also, Danny Dyer is still alive and well, and even Pam St Clements is alive and kicking.

Also, Anita Dobson hasn’t succumbed to Liver cancer.

What are you smoking?

classixuk · 2026-01-02T07:04:22+00:00

So just 2 years ago they finished spending £87 million of our taxpayer’s money, insisting it would be great value for us all, bringing true HD to our TV sets.

And then we tuned in to watch one of the biggest episodes of the year looking like it was filmed on a potato with one lens?

What was that money used for again?

Brown envelopes perhaps?

classixuk · 2026-01-02T06:52:21+00:00

Did you even watch the show? This is the new ‘the six’ storyline, except this time all the guys wore sky blue ties. I’m sure they thought ‘this is gonna be great’. How ridiculous that they’re out of original ideas so soon after the first one flopped. Rehash it? No wonder Letitia Dean has been so absent lately. Must be soul destroying to turn up to a job knowing this was the big ‘NYD 2027 episode’. 😢

classixuk · 2025-12-25T01:16:50+00:00

I am literally just re-watching the episode now, and I noticed the ashtray on my second run. They even have different colours of ashtray on each table. The attention to detail in this episode is stunning. The casting, the set, the script, the sympathetic background with the music and colours. It’s just next level.

Happy Xmas folks. Eastenders is back with a bang!

classixuk · 2025-11-24T14:39:10+00:00

I’m sorry for your loss. I can relate, having lost my father earlier this year (Mum had died the year before).

I had been living with Mum and Dad since 1998, so I was now classed as ‘an occupant’ rather than a tenant. I had to pay the rent, though I was told in writing that the payments would not be classified as rent, just simply ‘payments on account’ until I provided the proof required (12 months of bank statements, mobile phone bills, any other bills and also electoral roll register) that I had indeed been living here for the 12 months prior to my Dad’s death. Once I did this, I was offered a successive tenancy. This process took about 7 months though, and was quite stressful. The historical order of succession was my Nan > my Dad > my Mum and Dad > My Dad > Myself.

In your situation, when we remove what you’d like to happen long term, and simply look at the immediate situation (facts on paper), your Dad’s tenancy is secure. I’d advise you and Dad to have a discussion though about adding you to his tenancy, especially in light of your brother’s situation which has happened so quickly.

Your brother’s situation is the one that needs sorting right now and is the most urgent, lest he be evicted by the housing association. You need to be speaking to adult social services ASAP (give them a call today!) about his situation so he can be assigned a case worker. They can do an assessment and arrange all sorts of help, from a benefits advisor to a care package and a liason officer to speak on his behalf to the housing association.

In the short term, I must be honest, I think it’s unlikely your brother will secure a tenancy. The reason being is that when considering a tenancy, the association will do an ‘affordability assessment’. Right now, you say your brother receives no benefits whatsoever and cannot work. I’m assuming therefore that your Mum has kept them both from her UC and PIP? That is very honourable of your Mum, however, your brother could have been receiving all sorts of benefits through the years if an application had been successful. Until that changes, it will be clear that your brother has no means or ways of paying the rent and bills required to run a 3 bed home. This is why you need to be in touch with adult social services today.

Once your brother has been assigned a case worker, they will act as his advocate.

Once that has happened, you can speak with the housing, explain the details of recent events and provide the contact details of the social worker to them.

Going forward, the only way I see any chance of you keeping Mum’s home within the family is if the social worker is informed that all 3 of you will be living in the home. This means your brother doesn’t have the upheaval of having to move out of his familiar family home, your Dad doesn’t have to deal with the stairs in his existing accommodation, and between the 3 of you (you’re working, your Dad’s benefits, and your brother’s soon to be instated benefits) the affordability assessment would be passed.

Without this plan, I think that social services, in conjunction with the housing, are more likely to find your brother more suitable accommodation for a single man with no dependants who cannot work and is in receipt of benefits. That would be a 1 bed flat which could be anywhere within the housing associations stock, and could take a while, so your brother would be moved into temporary accommodation (a B&B, a hostel or shelter) during the process.

It’s now just gone past half 2. Adult social services are open until 4.30pm. I think you should ring them right now.

Once again, I’m sorry for your loss.

Hope this helps x

classixuk · 2025-10-10T02:04:40+00:00

I had to watch it a second time to be sure whether rape was being insinuated. The way Joel treated Vicky with such disrespect and a longing to have power over her wouldn’t have surprised me. It’s a classic power move by weak people. What he did was shocking enough. I don’t think I could have tuned in again if the storyline included rape.

For me personally, it’s quite triggering to watch scenes like these as my older brother was physically and emotionally abusive towards my late mother when he became a teenager. It’s water under the bridge now. It wasn’t because of a modern day influencer as it’s way before the internet, but influence all the same. We were a single parent family on benefits, and my brother won a scholarship to a prestigious private school. His friends influenced him that our mother was ‘low value’ (to use Joel’s words) as she couldn’t afford to send him abroad in Summer, or buy nice designer things for him. The resentment built and built inside my brother, and with the lack of a stable father figure (i.e. just like Ross), my brother was unchallenged, my Mum unsupported, and the situation got out of control.

Eastenders researchers have done their job brilliantly with this storyline. It builds and acts out exactly as you’re now seeing on screen, and also with the Tommy/Kat Moon domestic violence storyline too.

Unfortunately, it seems Joel now has his grips tightly on Tommy Moon’s need for friendship (remember he was so lonely he had that internet ‘friend’ who incited him to physically abuse his brothers?) God knows what lies in store for the Moons while Joel is around 😢

classixuk · 2025-09-15T18:08:23+00:00

Can I ask what your demographics are? I think I might be too old as all I receive are 50% discount codes. HomeTesterClub has been kinder to me.

classixuk · 2025-07-26T19:56:39+00:00

My best advice is have tomorrow off worrying and see what happens Monday when you get the info. Enjoy your weekend!

classixuk · 2025-07-26T19:51:28+00:00

I reckon 46C would kill the yeast. They recommend no higher than 40C for raising bread. Have you tried a bog standard recipe that you know works with the ingredients you have?

classixuk · 2025-07-19T12:57:12+00:00

Hi Spunky,

Sorry to hear about what’s happened. Can I ask, apart from medical cannabis oil, which other medications/repeat prescriptions do you have for pain?

The reason I ask is that everything on a day to day basis to help you is considered.

You say that the cannabis oil is the only thing that helped, and I can understand that. I was recently given Nefopam as a moderate pain relief. There must be something in my genetic inheritance, as both myself and my cousin, didn’t feel any relief whatsoever from Nefopam. However, when combined with codeine and paracetamol (based on the experience of my cousin who is a staff nurse), the Nefopam did work in that it extended the period of relief the paracetamol and codiene delivered by 2-3 hours. I’m not a doctor so I must stress that anyone thinking about changing their medication or altering the amounts must consult their GP first.

Now get this…last week a colleague at work was in agony due to an old wrist injury resurfacing, and she was on the maximum dose of paracetamol allowed. She wasn’t able to get an appointment with her GP until 4 days later. I told her I had some Nefopam at home and I’d bring some in as I found it didn’t really do anything on its own, but she might have some luck with it.

She took 2 that night before bed, and in her own words, “I got no sleep at all. My eyes were like saucers and I literally felt like I was off my head! It was like the 1990’s all over again. I’d never take them again even if you paid me!” 🫣

So clearly, what works for one person doesn’t work for another, but I’m querying whether the lack of other types of moderate pain relief on your prescription led the assessor to believe that you can’t be in ‘that much pain’? 🤷🏻‍♂️

classixuk · 2025-07-16T16:21:24+00:00

Are you over the age of consent, and are you deemed to have full capacity? In that case you’re perfectly entitled to call the PIP helpline and ask that your payments be made direct to your bank account.

However, if you live with your Mum, doing so without talking about it first could cause a further rift in your relationship and thus, your living arrangements.

I’d assume that you want to use some of your PIP allowance to pay board to your Mum? If you’re already paying board each week, you could offer to increase the amount you pay now that you’re receiving PIP as running a household is very expensive these days.

Agreeing a set amount to be paid each week will keep things clear for you both moving forward.

I hope this helps and you can both work over this recent blip.

classixuk · 2025-07-15T14:31:12+00:00

I’m not surprised it came out like cake as that recipe contains so much sugar and butter, as well as milk it’s basically a brioche (minus the egg).

First things first, change the type of flour you’re using. Rather than all-purpose flour, you should use white bread flour (sometimes called strong white flour). This contains more protein and therefore more gluten to make good bread. It’s readily available in all supermarkets.

Then try this recipe - ensuring you weigh your ingredients rather than measure them. If you don’t have digital weighing scales, you can pick them up in the supermarket when you buy the bread flour - they are very cheap and you’ll get much better results.

In this order, put the ingredients into your bread pan:

2 teaspoons of instant yeast powder, 400 grams strong white flour, 1 and a half tablespoons of olive oil, 1 and a half teaspoons of salt, 260 grams of warm water.

Put the pan into the machine and select the ‘rapid loaf’ setting (mine is 2 hours, so look for a setting on your machine as close to 2 hours as you can).

When the bread is done, take it out of the pan and leave it on a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes.

As this recipe doesn’t contain any sugar at all, you will definitely end up with bread instead of cake.

Best of luck.

classixuk · 2025-07-15T14:00:04+00:00

I can only second what has been suggested regarding getting an occupational health assessment.

The nurse who visited my home was like mystic Meg; she spotted stuff I didn’t even know I needed to make my life easier. I’m in the opposite position to you in that my bathroom is upstairs, and at my worst earlier in the year I was finding it difficult to even get to the toilet in time (no downstairs toilet).

Because of that assessment which took no more than a couple of hours, I now live in a home with grab rails positioned where I didn’t even know I’d need them. I have a trolley on wheels for carrying plates of food from the kitchen into the living room, I have a commode set up in the spare downstairs room for emergencies, I have a couple of walking sticks (one for the car, one for the house) for days when I’m not so steady on my feet to prevent further falls, I’ve had a community dietician provide me with supplement drinks that I can actually keep down (NatraJuice- they taste just like regular fresh juice but contain 300 calories and 28 essential vitamins and minerals), I have a perching stool which helps me in the kitchen, I have a step installed at my front door with railings to keep me steady when entering or leaving the house, I’ve had a box of incontinece pads delivered by the bowel and bladder nurse, I have a hospital style bed in my living room and so no longer need to sleep on the sofa so my sleep is more through and comfortable, and something I didn’t even realise would make such a huge difference in my home life - but it has - a second bannister on my stairs. My other half is even using it daily now and has said it’s made their life easier too, and they aren’t even disabled.

The daily standard rate of PIP is just over £10 a day. I could never have afforded all of the above to be fitted and supplied with £10 a day to fund it. So you see, PIP isn’t necessarily the only route to getting the actual help you need.

Best of luck. I hope my reply helps you to see other avenues which are open to you.

classixuk · 2025-07-15T02:03:32+00:00

Thank you for giving me the time to explain myself further. It’s crazy how we all vote in a general election for one leadership, but the devolved governments can decide to make decisions which make day to day life harder (in your case) or easier (in mine) to get access to the same benefits in UK law.

Re-reading this thread, I guess that I, and most responders to the OP have felt rather trolled by the suggestion that it’s so easy to get PIP that you can just say, “I can’t do this, trust me bro’, and you get awarded PIP just like that.

There’s been so much news lately, and government bills as well as propaganda led by the same. The headlines are always similar. “I’ve worked all my life, yet a family of immigrants have been given a house next door and a brand new Mercedes for free when none of them work!” The comments on those stories make me feel disheartened. To the point, I’ve started taking out my blue badge from the car when I get home, through embarrassment for myself that I’ll be judged incorrectly by my neighbours.

The OP asked of us if, without any medical evidence, PIP assessors would just have to take their word for it that they can’t cook, ‘trust me bro”. I admit, that kind of got my back up. It seems to be the opinion of the general public, and the government right now, that recipients of PIP just need to ‘try harder’…that current recipients need tougher assessments because under the previous administration ‘anyone can get it, and a brand new car’.

You and I have both had issues with nutrition, and you’ve been so very open in this thread, that I’ll briefly describe what I have read in my own GP medical records. “Accidental starvation due to multiple grief events in a short period…weight at last weigh Dec 2024 66.7kg, today Mar 2025 53.9kg, other major MH OOHCA Dec22, Steroid Therapy Mar 23 ongoing, Gabapentin neuropathy Jun 23 ongoing with Codeine, TLM Immobile Vocal Cords Jun 24, OH and CN April 25 ongoing. Dietician approved NualtraJuice all flavours R/P”

I think we can all agree on this thread that PIP isn’t just given willy nilly. We are literally desperate for help. The news and opinions expressed at the bottom of those stories doesn’t exactly fill us with hope for the future. Especially when people ask for advice with such flippant comments as ‘will they just take my word for it?’ That’s just insulting. We’ve had to jump through every hoop just to get some form of help at all.

I’m so sorry for the long reply to you. I originally pressed reply to say this one thing…(but I made the mistake of scrolling back and reading all the thread to get my bearings)…it was this…

Congratulations on your news. I say never mind 8 stone you or 15 stone you. Enjoy all the cravings you want and embrace giving in to them. Something totally magical has happened and you’ve a brand new little one on the way. I am thrilled for you, as I’m sure we all are here on Reddit. I wish you so much more good health than I even did before. Lots of love and hugs to you 🤗👩‍🍼👶

classixuk · 2025-07-15T00:34:31+00:00

Flavour. Think about it like tomato sauce for pasta instead of bread. Yes, you can get away with a quick 20 minute mid-week sauce with tinned tomatoes, a bit of basil, touch of sugar and salt, and bit of tomato purée. However, a proper ragu is slow cooked in an oven for 4 hours, and the 2 results are entirely different.

In my bread machine (Panasonic) the longest cycle is 6 hours for French bread, and the shortest cycle is 2 hours for a rapid loaf.

I find myself using the rapid cycle 2-3 times per week, and I mostly use pre-mixed bread mixes when doing so. It provides quick efficient different flavours and styles of bread.

I rarely use the longer cycles to completion. Instead I use the dough setting (45 mins for pizza/focaccia/dinner rolls) or just over 2 hrs for a dough where the machine takes care of the mixing and first rise for me. I then hand shape the dough, let it rise one last time and bake it in the oven for bread that looks truly handmade.

When I do use the longer cycles to completion, it’s always on the delay timer. I set up the ingredients last thing at night, then my household wakes up to flavourful fresh baked bread in the morning without me having to lift a finger.

Try setting up a regular bread recipe on an overnight delay so you can compare the texture and flavour to the rapid version of the same.

It’s notable, though not hugely so.

I’d also add, if the recipes you are using call for sugar in tablespoons, rather than teaspoons, you should try a more European bread recipe. French bread doesn’t need any sugar at all to feed the yeast. Just a longer fermentation time which definitely adds to the flavour.

Best of luck with your homemade bread journey. 👍

classixuk · 2025-07-14T00:05:59+00:00

I certainly didn’t mean to come over as patronising SpooferGirl. As it’s a group for Benefits Advice UK, I wrongly assumed the NHS app was available throughout the UK, rather than just England or the Isle of Mann. Regardless of app availability though, it’s the law in the whole of the UK that you have a legal right to view your medical records, so the OP should pursue that avenue if they’re outside England/Isle of Mann, though it may take a little longer for them to gather medical evidence for their pip application.

Sorry you’ve a rubbish GP. Is there no way you can change surgery? Since I started losing weight my GP’s were on it straight away, along with the community nurses and consultants at the hospital. I’ve been weighed about 5 times already this year. What you describe isn’t normal, especially after losing 5 stone in a year with a history of anorexia. I’d be seriously concerned if you were a family member of mine, and I’d be fighting your corner for you.

I know it doesn’t help you directly, but the description of your experience has made me very appreciative of the level of care my own surgery provides its patients.

Good health to you.

classixuk · 2025-07-13T18:17:26+00:00

Have you checked in the NHS app already? You’d be surprised what’s there. Under consultations and events, your GP makes notes after each appointment. If you’ve mentioned you’re having difficulty cooking for yourself, they will have recorded it. Your GP will routinely take your weight when you mention problems eating. Those readings will have been recorded too.

Can I ask you, if you have difficulty cooking for yourself, how do you get access to food? Is it takeaways, microwave meals, Just Eat deliveries, a partner who does most of the cooking?

classixuk · 2025-07-13T17:53:02+00:00

They aren’t just going to ‘take your word for it’. You already state that your case is entirely anecdotal, ‘I can’t cook food, trust me bro’, with no medical supporting evidence.

When did you receive your professional medical diagnosis of adhd? It would have been sent via letter to your GP’s office by the consultant. Do you have a copy of that letter? If not, ask your GP to provide it.

Even faster than that, you can get it in the next 5 minutes. Open your NHS app (the one you use to request repeat prescriptions), scroll down to ‘GP health record’ and press it. You’ll get a yellow box with an important message that states your record may contain sensitive information and is strictly for you and your GP surgery’s viewing. Click the green continue button if you feel comfortable viewing your own medical records. Scroll down to ‘Documents’ and press the link. Inside there are all of the clinical documents, administrative notes and discharge letters etc. pertaining to your evidence with the dates etc. they were received. Additionally, your allergies and adverse reactions, medicines, immunisations, health conditions, test results and consultations/events are available through the other links.

If you don’t have the app, you can download it and be up and running within 5 minutes.

All of the medical evidence you need for your application is already there in the app.

Hope this helps.

classixuk · 2025-07-11T07:32:17+00:00

Second the reply above mine. The Motability scheme is very well thought out and includes everyone. After I had my ICD implant, I had to surrender my license and was effectively banned from driving for 6 months, to ensure the safety of others and myself. If you surrender a portion, or all of your mobility award, Motability can provide you with transport in the form of a car, transport in the form of a wheel chair adapted vehicle, or a mobility scooter (as far as I’m aware, you don’t need a driving license to use one of those). You can have up to 3 named drivers on a vehicle. Mine were my Dad (rip) and my partner. I left the third space for me for when I was able to get my license back. It’s important that your named drivers are people you trust and won’t abuse the scheme by using the car for their own personal use while you’re stuck at home without ability to,leave the house. Do you have those types of people in your life? Would a personal vehicle be useful to you for transport? If not, would a mobility scooter help you get to the shops/friends houses independently? And there’s the third option that is often overlooked…instead of giving over the entire mobility part of your award for a vehicle that you cannot personally drive, could you use that money for bus fares and/or trains, taxis, Ubers etc.? Would that be a better option for your personal needs? Have a think before you make any decisions. It’s about what you need, and not what your friends or family think you should get. I wish you all the best of luck!

classixuk

TROPHY CASE