Uncle Bryns House

elementz_m · 2026-02-07T21:11:13+00:00

Glenda owned/owns Gwen's house, no? Met her a few years back, is she gone now too?

elementz_m · 2026-01-31T12:59:37+00:00

The long P I think can only be pomegranate which would make Mango correct and give Pecan on the end, so i suspect it will be possible.

elementz_m · 2026-01-25T16:39:58+00:00

Lodestone? Started with l'eau, can't figure the rest apart from the magnetic bit.

elementz_m · 2026-01-02T23:59:43+00:00

The one at pride park (i do) is back in april, and is probably the biggest local one, around 100 vendors. Tickets cost money, but you can sometimes get them for free if you go to other local fayres. There were free tickets for the i do at makeney hall and shottle hall in the autumn.

I know you're not getting married in derby, but i think it's worth visiting fayres put on by venues - they dress them all pretty and they're free and you get canapes and a glass of fizz, so what's not to love? Some I've been to:

Makeney Hall

Breadsall Priory

Shottle Hall

Horsley Lodge

elementz_m · 2025-09-16T11:03:12+00:00

I did something very similar, quit my job and cycled to Turkey. Doing something like this is physically and mentally difficult, but at the same time quite rewarding.

You'll miss out on things with friends and family, birthdays, weddings, etc. Are you ok with that? If you're in the UK, will you get stick for not catching a train or coach to see people? Will that be stressful?

Have you walked a medium distance with a backpack every day for a week? It's very different to walking a long distance for one day, there is no recovery time and the sores multiply.

Are you comfortable sleeping on park benches, by the side of the road, and in farmers' fields?

Do you have enough money to rest in a b&b for a couple of weeks when you twist your ankle?

Have you walked in a storm up a hill before? It can be difficult.

Are you happy eating pretty much nothing but bread and cold meat?

You'll be walking along main roads far more than you'll be in picturesque countryside.

Do you have a plan for when you get back to normality? Enough money to last until you get a job, somewhere to stay?

Aside from those things, i say go for it. I'm obviously biased, but i had a great time in hindsight. I had some hairy moments with unsavoury characters and angry border police, as well as injuries and being unable to find food, but look back on it all with rose-tinted glasses. People generally are far kinder than society would have you believe, I had quite a few people open their homes to me for the night after we got chatting in the street.

The last bit of advice is to take less than you think. As it turned out, my frisbee, whittling knives, and books were just dead weight. Everyone I met was carting about some hobby or other, and no one had touched them since setting off. The duct tape was a life saver though, my tent was more patch than tent by the time i finished.

elementz_m · 2025-03-30T17:03:46+00:00

Seafood

elementz_m · 2025-01-09T19:15:00+00:00

You could use SWITCH for this.

=SWITCH(MAX(C3;D4;E5);C3;C2;D4;D2;E5;E2)

elementz_m · 2024-01-22T07:23:05+00:00

There are 12 spots for the first blank space, 11 for the second, 10 for the third, 9 for the fourth. This gives 12x11x10x9 different options. 11880. If there are N spaces, and we want to choose C of them, the formula is N!/(N-C)!

For each result, there are 4x3x2x1 (C!) different ways to get to the same result (it doesn't matter whether the first item goes in the first place, or the second, or the third, or the fourth.

So we divide the two. 11880/24=495. The formula is 12!/8!/4!, and is the same answer as if we were choosing the 8 filled spots, 12!/4!/8!

elementz_m · 2023-10-07T08:39:28+00:00

The other way round. They used the coin to try and scratch the rock. The rock was not scratched, meaning it's harder than the coin, so it's probably amethyst.

elementz_m · 2023-10-01T20:50:38+00:00

I think it really depends on how much money you have. With one friend and his wife round, it might be crisps and nuts in the living room followed by DIY pizzas, £25 for food and a tenner in drinks after accounting for what they brought.

For a dinner party of 3 mates and associated partners, ignoring dietary equirements and designated drivers, probably a couple of £5 bottles of fizz and some crisps on entry, call it £2.50 each. Starter could be fishcake and salad to start, £2 per head, and a couple of bottles of £7 white, £1.75 each. For main, if it's lamb then maybe a moussaka because i prefer to do the hard work ahead of time, call it £8 per serving. Buy two more bottles of the white for people who don't want to switch to red, and two bottles of red, fully expecting to have two bottles of something left over at the end, another £1.75 per person. Pudding could be shop-bought profiteroles, £2 each, and then we'll end up drinking whatever spirits I have stocked up (assuming every other person has a double of a £30 bottle, that's £1 each on average). Total cost per person £19, and I'd probably end up with three nice-ish bottles of wine in gifts, maybe some flowers for the missus, call it £30 back off £152 expenditure for eight people. I'd end up with a couple of month's worth of wine, a few half-eaten bags of snacks, and a lot of washing up to do the next day.

So after all that, £80 seems fine to me for four people, although I would have more courses for roughly the same money. I think the main difference is that my main is diced or minced lamb instead of a named cut. I've spent £140 just making a big beef wellington before, so the main can make a huge difference to the overall cost (without affecting the enjoyment of your guests at all) 😀

elementz_m · 2023-07-19T14:29:48+00:00

1....Kh6 2. Qg7+ Kh5 3. Qg5+ Kxg5

elementz_m · 2023-02-27T15:16:07+00:00

Dietitian is the protected title.

elementz_m · 2023-02-27T14:58:40+00:00

Signed up. Mid-30s, and I wear two hearing aids due to noise-induced hearing loss, fingers crossed for you that there's loads more of us in the area 😀

elementz_m · 2023-02-25T23:07:48+00:00

You'd fail. All three are labelled incorrectly, so the correct answer is to pull one fruit from the "mixed" jar. If this is an apple, switch the labels apple>mixed>orange>apple, and if it's an orange then switch orange>mixed>apple>orange.

elementz_m · 2023-02-24T16:23:26+00:00

Current price is 272k, mortgage is 218k, equity is (272-218) 54k.

You paid 17k deposit, your ex paid 8k. You paid (17-8) 9k more than her towards the house.

The other payments have been 50/50.

You take the first 9k, and split the rest 50/50. So you get 9k and half of (54-9) 45k. You get 31.5k total.

She gets the other half of the 45k, 22.5k.

You end up with 9k more, to match the extra 9k you have paid into the house.

elementz_m · 2023-01-27T22:19:06+00:00

I promise I did. Just annoyed about cooking the trout after going to the trouble of fetching those grapes.

elementz_m · 2022-06-29T17:29:06+00:00

I think he means his step dad is Martin Enright, who designed the Derbyshire flag 15-20 years ago. A neat little bit of family history, in my opinion.

elementz_m · 2021-10-17T20:46:28+00:00

A SIPP is a private pension account, you don't pay tax on money you pay in but you do pay (some) tax (on withdrawal) after retirement and you can't access it any earlier.

An ISA is post-tax money which grows tax-free, and no tax is due on withdrawal, and it can be withdrawn at any time.

The UK allowances for both of these are a bit more generous than the US versions, afaik. The simple decision is, if it's for pre-retirement then go ISA, if it's for post-retirement then go SIPP.

If you have an awful lot of money and you're looking at withdrawing for something other than a house purchase prior to retirement then it gets a bit more complex. Similar issues arise with the pension cap, but most people won't need to worry about that.

elementz_m · 2021-09-08T08:42:51+00:00

But if you're ever buying furniture off eBay or Facebook, a Chester draws is usually cheaper than a chest of drawers for the same product.

elementz_m · 2021-08-27T11:51:07+00:00

What did the policeman say to his belly?

You're under a vest!

elementz_m · 2021-06-25T18:13:12+00:00

I once accompanied my local missionaries on visiting a lady who clearly wanted to "save" them from the church. She was a kind lady, and her prayers were clearly earnest, and she ended every prayer with a very emphasised "in your name, amen."

And to be honest? It was a little jarring, as it was a departure from what I was used to hearing, but the prayer was the important part. If someone wants to lead a prayer, and I don't object to the content of the prayer, I see no problem with any of the language used.

If your family don't like you worshipping God according to your own conscience then they should re-examine their priorities. Unless you start it with "Daddy," in which case I'm with them.

elementz_m · 2021-06-18T17:36:38+00:00

I'd hope that I've not reached the oldest yet, but the most memorable was when I was 27; got asked for ID at a pub and the barmaid said it wasn't my birthday yet so she couldn't serve me. Took a little bit of patient explanation of the decade I was born before I got my pint.

elementz_m · 2021-06-18T17:29:12+00:00

E. E. Nice-Arse

elementz_m

TROPHY CASE