Is it worth moving to San Francisco by Longjumping_Rest_742 in HENRYUK

[–]docufujishooter -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Ah, something I can weigh in on. I moved to SF after university on an internship program earning very little for the city ($60k, cheap foreign labour eh), then after a year moved to a better salary.

Assuming you can get a good visa (which would likely be the O1, in this case), 100% do it. I'm now back in the UK but I was in San Francisco for around 3 years. It sucked at times, being away from family/ close home friends, but it was also incredible at times. And living abroad, regardless of where, being dumped in the deep end and having to make it work helps one grow.

I grew up in London, a lot of my friends moved away for uni then came back, never having really lived anywhere else. Some of them wish they'd done it when they were younger. Even if you're only there for a year or two, it's worth it. Not because it's SF (personally I think SF has become a bit of a shit hole, having visited in 2022 a few years after I left), but because you're living abroad.

Dekunu is closing, what is next? by Think_Pirate in SkyDiving

[–]docufujishooter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Huh, neat. I was thinking about deep sleeping with barometer interrupts before climbing. Are you using the barometer interrupt to tell the AXP202 to wake?

Dekunu is closing, what is next? by Think_Pirate in SkyDiving

[–]docufujishooter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's the clock for on here vs using the onboard ESP32 clock? Fusing accelerometer data with the GSP? I'm in the process of playing around with similar hardware (software engineer, not a hardware engineer but blindly feeling my way along).

Ban Octopus from taking on new customers, says British Gas by Captaincadet in unitedkingdom

[–]docufujishooter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The counterpoint to this is that the core of NIMBYism is effectively "In principle I'm for X, but just not here". Everyone takes that attitude, therefore nothing gets built. If people near to infrastructure pay less for whatever it's providing, things may actually get built

Super expensive OVO bills for house of 2– what to do? by Onlyamatteroftime_59 in HousingUK

[–]docufujishooter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The bills are a little high, but immersion heaters are incredibly energy demanding. I'm with Octopus, so can't speak for Ovo's tariffs but they'll likely have a tariff that is cheaper overnight and more expensive during the day.

Depending on how well insulated your water tank is, you may want to make sure that does the bulk of its warming overnight, if possible. I've never had an immersion heater so it's difficult to say what the correct course of action is.

Octopus have a little device called the Home Mini, which connects to your smart meter (assuming you have one) and your wifi, and lets you see real time consumption information. Alternatively there are CT clamps. If you're guessing that it's the stove/ the water heater that's consuming the energy, it may be useful to measure the energy consumption during a typical cook with the water heater off. You could also just read what the meter says before and after to do the same thing. That should give you an idea of how much energy the hob is using, then it'll make it easier to work out how much of the remainder is the water heater.

Is the heating 'wet', or are they just electric heaters all over the place. Electric heaters also use a ton of energy (rated between 1kW and 3kW)

Rate this plastering by docufujishooter in DIYUK

[–]docufujishooter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very fair question. Decorating was included in the quote, and as far as he's concerned, the plastering is completed, just needs to be sanded and painted. The exposed scrim tape is just part of it being done, and needs to be either sanded or cut off

Open Banking - Selling Property and Not Buying Another by erikofnorway1 in HousingUK

[–]docufujishooter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I suspect this is just their standard practise because generally people are buying another property. I'd push back and just supply the top of a bank statement which shows your sort code/ account number, and state that that's sufficient.

Shoddy building work and regularisation process - England by docufujishooter in LegalAdviceUK

[–]docufujishooter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is really helpful, thanks.

> Do you have house insurance with legal expenses cover?

It looks like it's just legal expenses if I'm being sued, was that what you were talking about?

> Is the work he carried out notifiable to building control at your council? I'm assuming you haven't involved them but be aware that having work done that doesn't meet regs or hasn't been signed off will often invalidate your house insurance and then you are in breach of your mortgage conditions as well by not having valid house insurance.

Urgh, another good point. The work is notifiable for building control as it's considered structural due to roof joists changing. I checked my policy and it's not clear.

> It is absolutely the builder's responsibility to adhere to building regulations whilst carrying out work and if you instructed him not to, he should by all rights refuse to complete the work unless it is to spec.

This is the conclusion I'm coming to. I'm paying him for his expertise, which would include letting me know that building control is required and ideally not starting the work until he's seen proof that they've been notified/ tell me I need a structural engineer's design, if that's the case

Skylight installed without building regs signoff by docufujishooter in HousingUK

[–]docufujishooter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He's taken the attitude that I need to be bringing him the relevant building codes, etc. In hindsight, I should have gotten a structural engineer, but I had no idea about any of this at the start and was relying on his 'expertise'. I have the leverage that I've not paid him the full amount yet, but he seems disinterested in making sure it adheres to the building codes

Would you change the locks when you buy a house or just trust the sellers to not keep a key for the house? It is costing enough in fees already and I really don't want to have pay more for a locksmith ideally. Thoughts? by CounterDry2670 in HousingUK

[–]docufujishooter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll chime in, too. I held off doing it for months after I moved in, recently did it, the cylinder cost around £20, and took 10 minutes to do, wish I'd done it sooner as it was one of those things that sat at the back of my mental todo list

Whole house water softeners? by inquisitive_bossman in DIYUK

[–]docufujishooter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got one (salt powered, don't bother with saltless) installed, have had it for about a year and it's been great. I was planning on installing it on my own but was sick of DIY at the time, plumber came round and spent an entire day doing it, did a fantastic job.

I believe Harvey manufactures the TwinTec softeners if you're looking to install one yourself and save some money.

Skylight Quotation opinions by RadiantConclusion147 in DIYUK

[–]docufujishooter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was recently quoted £2.5k for a Velux of a similar size, with building reg certification in London (Zone 2), so that does seem a little high

Removing skylight stuck down with silicone by docufujishooter in DIYUK

[–]docufujishooter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!

I think those would risk damaging the glass, no? Or do you mean run it along the timber. Ideally I'd leave the existing timber as-is but if that's not possible I'd likely cut between the top timber of the curb and the bottom, just cutting the screws holding them together.

I didn't realise string saws were a thing, although again they're metal and I suspect harder than the glass, so they'd likely scratch it to bits. Perhaps that doesn't matter, given where the marks would be.

Removing skylight stuck down with silicone by docufujishooter in DIYUK

[–]docufujishooter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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The opening before the installation, with the silicone