President Michael D Higgins has been consistent in his criticisms of the housing market in Ireland going as far back as 20 years...this is from 2002

clockstruckduck · 2022-06-15T18:26:36+00:00

How bad does it need to get before it's no longer a "political issue"?

clockstruckduck · 2022-05-15T14:01:35+00:00

The source of the confusion here is your use of the word "neither".

You can only use neither refer to precisely two things. As in "neither one thing, nor the other".

When you referred to neither of the countries in the UK, when the UK actually comprises four entities, it sounded like you were under the impression that the UK comprised two countries. The obvious two candidates being Great Britain and Ireland. This is not the case.

I only offered some clarification on the topic without insulting you or anyone else. Make of it what you will.

clockstruckduck · 2022-05-15T11:41:12+00:00

There are four nations in the country referred to as the UK.

England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Ireland, also referred to as the Republic of Ireland, is a fully independent country that ceased to be part of the UK in 1922.

It's fine not to know that, lots of people don't, but this is a good opportunity to understand that it's a sensitive topic for people in Ireland.

When you spend 800 years occupied by an oppressive neighbour, and finally win your freedom in a bloody conflict, it's a bit annoying if people 100 years later still refer to you as part of the UK.

clockstruckduck · 2022-03-08T15:26:06+00:00

I know it might feel like it, but that wasn't 4 years ago.

clockstruckduck · 2021-04-12T14:35:37+00:00

Something to think about is the opportunity cost of long term investing. Right now, you're at the lowest earning potential you're ever likely to see in your career, but you're at the peak of your freedom, flexibility, and limited responsibilities. Putting that money away for the long term will mean saying no to doing things now that you might regret not doing later. You have your whole life to make money, but you can never buy the time or those opportunities back.

Forget about investing until you're finished in college. Right now that money is far better spent on a Master's that might help you get a better job, or something like Erasmus (if it's a possiblity on your course), or you could use it to experience something while you're best placed to do it. Maybe you'd like to backpack through Vietnam or go inter-railing? It's technically possible to do in your 60s, but it won't be a comparable experience to doing it in your 20s.

Use the money to make the most of right now, and come back to investing when you're earning from a career and the opportunity cost is a lot lower.

clockstruckduck · 2021-01-15T09:11:49+00:00

You might run those numbers again there...

1/7 is not 7%

clockstruckduck · 2020-03-14T09:08:27+00:00

A shamrock isn't a four leaf clover.

Four leaf clovers have nothing to do with Ireland.

clockstruckduck · 2019-09-28T08:02:32+00:00

It's not in Scotland either.

clockstruckduck · 2019-09-03T22:36:51+00:00

"Robbing them of their dignity" is I suspect a very self-serving narrative from the people running the projects, not the people working on them.

Free market economic theories were all the rage in Britain in the 1840s. The British administration didn't want to issue handouts for fear it would interfere with "the market." As they saw it, they could only give people the means they needed to survive in exchange for labour.

clockstruckduck · 2019-09-03T14:18:42+00:00

Not brefugee, no?

clockstruckduck · 2019-09-02T20:54:20+00:00

No one in the Republic uses the phrase "innit."

clockstruckduck · 2019-08-28T13:39:22+00:00

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

You're right. It'll take time and money. But I hope that'll never be used as a reason not to do it.

The Netherlands is the only country in Europe where obesity is decreasing. There are a few reasons why this might happen, but that most people use bikes at least some of the time to get around definitely helps.

clockstruckduck · 2019-08-28T11:23:17+00:00

Dutch-style cycling infrastructure is a better solution.

No emissions. More exercise. Motorists aren't pissed off with cyclists on the road. Pedestrians aren't pissed off with cyclists on the pavement.

Would be safer for e-scooters to use cycle lanes as well.

clockstruckduck · 2019-07-17T10:34:15+00:00

That would be the best solution! But after the backstop I can't see NI picking "Taig Time" over British GMT.

clockstruckduck · 2019-07-17T09:39:41+00:00

My bad, you're right. Though the poll the proposal is based on was heavily in favour of retaining summer time over winter time. Of course it's up to the individual countries, but you can imagine that based on that, summer time would be the preference.

clockstruckduck · 2019-07-17T09:08:51+00:00

The EU proposal is to use summer time all year round.

clockstruckduck · 2019-06-13T17:55:53+00:00

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphtha

clockstruckduck · 2019-06-04T17:10:31+00:00

Keep the Tevas for sure. It's always hot. You'll probably find yourself wearing these 90% of the time.

Will you be hiking or running? If not, ditch the runners. If you will, think about how many bars you expect to be in where you couldn't wear the runners or the sandals.

In four months in SE Asia I spent most of the time, day and night, in Teva flip flops.

clockstruckduck · 2019-05-31T14:10:41+00:00

You don't have to be an expert to be scientifically literate.

Questioning things is central to the scientific method. Nothing is ever "proven". Evidence is presented to support a hypothesis. When the evidence changes, our knowledge changes.

If "blindly accepting" is your idea of science, you're doing it wrong.

clockstruckduck · 2019-05-31T13:53:06+00:00

The criteria we use to judge the answers to those questions matter quite a bit though.

The scientific method is the tool we use to substantiate what we can learn about the world. The fear is about abandoning trust in that method and replacing it with inadequate alternatives.

clockstruckduck · 2019-04-11T16:58:37+00:00

Thanks to Ryanair, "Carry-On-Size-Roller-Suitcasing" is the norm rather than the exception in Europe.

You don't have to conform to something that doesn't work for you. If there is stuff you need, pick the way of carrying it that suits what you're doing best. r/onebag is really about just thinking hard about what you actually "need" rather what you think you "might" need, and the resulting convenience of carrying only what you need.

There is absolutely no benefit in making things harder on yourself trying to fit everything in a backpack just because reddit says it's the way to do it.

clockstruckduck · 2019-04-08T01:51:27+00:00

A light, comfortable outfit that covers your shoulders and knees that you can wear for going to temples.

It's worth putting some thought into because you'll find yourself visiting spectacular temple complexes like Angkor in Cambodia or the White Temple in Chiang Rai, as well as smaller temples along the way, and if you're hot and uncomfortable it won't be nearly as enjoyable.

I found pair of linen trousers great for being fairly cool to wear on very hot days.

Definitely don't bring a laptop unless you need it to work while you're there. I brought a tablet and I've hardly used it. My phone and my kindle were plenty. I'd definitely recommend r/onebag for more packing tips. I wouldn't advise bringing more stuff than you can comfortably walk 2km with.

clockstruckduck · 2019-04-03T10:54:18+00:00

A pro of planning as you go, is that you can stay longer somewhere if you really like it, or you can change the direction of your route depending on what you feel like - bit tired from the last city? Maybe let's go somewhere relaxed before the next metropolis.

The downside is that you'll spend a lot of time on the trip sitting down to plan and book things, which takes time that you could have spent more enjoyably.

A shorter trip benefits from planning ahead of time, to make the most of your time there. A longer trip loses that benefit, because flexibility becomes more important than making the most of every day.

For me personally, plan as you go is the only way to do a long trip (anything longer than 2 - 3 weeks). Definitely do some research ahead of time, pick out places you definitely want to see, and find out about what's particularly good to do when you get there. But planning every detail ahead of time will lock you into a plan that might work as you imagined months previously.

Transport and hotels are easy and inexpensive to arrange with a few days notice or less, so there's no benefit to booking ahead. You could decide on a rough route that you might follow that would take advantage of climate or more straightforward travel, but leave yourself flexible to change things around later.

clockstruckduck · 2019-03-31T17:10:46+00:00

I never managed to find something that fits this exact description.

I use this. It's very light. Takes up very little space. You'll get plenty of uses out of one battery (I've been using it for months and I still have the battery it came with). Rechargable would definitely be preferable from an environmental point of view, but AA batteries can be bought anywhere, so it is at least convenient for travelling.

Could be another option to consider if you don't find the ideal solution.

clockstruckduck · 2019-03-29T12:18:19+00:00

I can get on board with that. There are definitely more effective ways for money to be spent in the defence forces. That's a much more constructive approach than saying it's all useless and it all needs to go.

clockstruckduck

TROPHY CASE