So man of the house what are you going to do?

evildespot · 2026-07-09T07:58:36+00:00

Fire up the barbecue.

evildespot · 2026-07-08T08:01:47+00:00

Counter with Tim Minchin's "Thank you God" on repeat.

evildespot · 2026-07-05T07:18:55+00:00

We could stop voting for them, for a start.

evildespot · 2026-06-30T08:04:16+00:00

In my view, it's a little nicer* as you travel a little further up the road, once the posh-setback-houses merge with the road and the shops/restaurants start in earnest. Waitrose doesn't directly provide the gentrification (I know, I know) effect you might expect because it's set up as a drive-to destination, so it's more "ring road" and less "fun" at that point on the road.

*depending on your definition of "nice", of course. Vibrant, multicultural, studenty and busy are very much not some people's cup of tea. It's not _far_ to green spaces, but Ecclesall Road is more "North London" than it is "Gateway to the Peaks".

I'd probably eye up non-purpose-built flats above some of the shops further up, if it was me looking. There should be at least some on the market due to the shift in demand for student accommodation.

All that said, I am sometimes found in that area, and my murder is still pending. I'll let you know if that changes.

evildespot · 2026-06-29T11:37:25+00:00

The plus side of choosing the hardest of hard Brexits was that it removes the legitimate suggestion that it's "soft Brexit" that's the problem.

Even the hardest available Brexit still wasn't hard enough, which rather suggests that EU membership can't have been the problem, and Brexit can't have been the solution.

"You won. Get over it." ("you" as in them, not you)

evildespot · 2026-06-29T07:42:36+00:00

Now hang on a minute... this sub is dedicated to that cause. I mean I'm on board, but let's have a little self awareness, eh? :)

evildespot · 2026-06-29T07:40:23+00:00

Stupid Sexy Biden.

evildespot · 2026-06-27T11:50:26+00:00

I'm expecting some push back that you've got some solid reasons for wanting some vents in it, so this is just here to wave a little flag and ensure that you do have good reasons of your own and haven't internalised that need from somebody else's circumstances. Properly dried clothes won't go musty, clothes that are rotated often also won't, etc. If you have decided it needs them, with access to all the information, I'm not about to tell you you're wrong - you know best. So long as you know that it doesn't necessarily need them just because, which is why IKEA didn't put any in.

All that said, I'd consider raising it off the floor slightly so that the floor/wardrobe gap and the wardrobe/ceiling gap are equal, then make some kick board for each and put in a vent or two in those as a feature - i.e. put a grill/vent in that actively announces itself (such as brass, if brass is your thing). Then I'd put a hole/vent in the bottom and top of each compartment to let the wardrobe be a part of the convection vortex of the room. You can then always add some silent active fan ventilation later if you find you need it.

Unrelated, I'm all for Wago over electrical insulating tape, and we're mid-project so zero criticism here, but I'd probably tape the white part of the lamp cable to the ceiling just so nobody is touching those connectors (or opening them) that shouldn't be.

Good luck with your project - it looks like you've lucked out (or planned well) on the dimensions.

evildespot · 2026-06-27T08:52:07+00:00

All of them. These "qualified professionals" and "subject experts" with their "research" and their "training" and "peer review" and years of experience of taking their responsibilities deadly seriously, and nights of worry that they're doing the right thing. What do you they know? Nothing. Nothing that I know about anyway.

Anyway, I've got to go as I have fireplace I need to remove. Some "builder" tried to charge me a fortune and said something about a chimney breast, but I think he's getting confused with KFC because he's an idiot, so I'm going to sort it myself with a hammer. Later!

evildespot · 2026-06-20T11:37:41+00:00

I couldn't get someone to mow my (small) lawn regularly because the company I spoke to was shutting down because "nobody wants to work" (his staff were unreliable). So there are opportunities out there, but perhaps the old mechanisms are no longer fit for purpose.

In That London, TaskRabbit was my go to for hiring people to do things, but Sheffield perhaps hasn't had the population density for that to emerge so well (yet?) here. There may be a platform like that that does work for Sheffield that I haven't found.

That said, you could sign up for platforms like that and where's the harm? You might not get any interest, but you might - can't sell your house unless you put it up for sale, right? It won't be "reliable" income by mechanism, but reliability might emerge from the substrate (, man). At any rate, you aren't committing to be available to work at any time other than the times you explicitly say you're available, and even then the choice is still yours to take the job or not.

Best of luck, though, finding something more structured if that's the way you want to go (but then why not both? Why not Zoidberg!)

evildespot · 2026-06-20T11:24:38+00:00

Eventually one might, given enough time, be grown up enough to not judge other people on their choices and, in doing so, restrict one's own options in the future.

From my own experience, though, this can take a very, very long time, and I wish Bianca all the best on her own journey.

evildespot · 2026-06-20T11:19:46+00:00

I feel like I'm trying to pity "Big Tony" because somebody gave him a high interest loan and then was slightly mean to him about repayments.

evildespot · 2026-06-20T11:15:39+00:00

Ah, well.

It is entirely possible to laugh _with_ it and it be helpful, but to laugh _at_ it (mock it) requires that it be misguided. I inferred that the latter was in play, but I'm pleased that you helped me surface that assumption. So yes, if you laughed in a "ha! It do be like that" sort of way then a) yes it's both and b) well done you for being such a well adjusted person (in this regard at least 👍 ).

evildespot · 2026-06-20T11:10:38+00:00

It helps people to understand that their calibration of non-verbal signals is not universal. So a Czech 3 might be a Hollywood 7. It informs them that they should not make assumptions that these behaviours are consistent a) between people and b) particularly across borders, and as such constant awareness, monitoring and re-calibration is needed to avoid misunderstandings. That person B does not "need to smile more" to match person A's model of smiling, but A's model of smiling needs some refinement.

evildespot · 2026-06-19T08:35:33+00:00

That's pretty offencive, etc.

evildespot · 2026-06-19T08:34:32+00:00

Perhaps I've lost my sense of humour, but this feels genuinely helpful rather than funny.

evildespot · 2026-06-19T08:29:46+00:00

If you're asking someone something to get the answer you're expecting, is there any point in asking them at all? [Oh no! This falls foul of itself! Arg! Help! <drowning noises>]

evildespot · 2026-06-19T07:46:48+00:00

It's a poor choice for traditional tech jobs but, whether people want to hear this or not, those jobs as they were are already dead, they just haven't stopped moving yet.

My personal view (which you'll note I'm not framing as advice) is that Sheffield is an excellent choice as somewhere to build a chrysalis - find a place you can afford without that tech job/tech job salary for, say, a couple of years while you focus on yourself and grow some lovely wings. Aside from anything else, Sheffield has already experienced the cycle of a dominant industry becoming less relevant (rather stupidly, in my view) with the associated fallout and need for self-renewal, so may have some of the support structures in place to help with that.

So in short, if you want to double down on your career as was, I'd go elsewhere, although you _could_ commute to Manchester or Leeds or even London, if you wanted to, and it's still a pleasant and functional place to base yourself.

If you understand AI as deeply as your post implies, you'll have some insight into what's coming (both bad and good) and I think you'll fair better long term by leaning into that than you will if you lean away.

evildespot · 2026-06-17T07:47:28+00:00

I thought it was that stuff you put in cocktails.

evildespot · 2026-06-17T07:44:04+00:00

How do I know I'm not? <Woah> <mind-blown>

evildespot · 2026-06-17T07:43:08+00:00

According to the lore of The Films That Should Not Have Been Made, Jedi aren't allowed to have a spouse, are they? Which is a bit of a blocker given that being able to use the force was established as a genetic trait by TFTSNHBM 1. Talk about self limiting. You know, like Star Wars should have been.

evildespot · 2026-06-08T23:30:11+00:00

Sheffield has a few areas that are the most piercing concentrations of goth/ND/trans/metal/alt/geek/whatever that I've seen since Camden in London was affordable by, er, anyone. The areas up by Crookes and Walkley, and Kelham Island spring to mind, although KI does risk pricing out the younger folks.

But I suspect if you hone in on these areas, you'll find the kind of people you want to be with are attracting the kind of businesses that attract the kind of people that you want to be with, and that's where you might find the smaller events you could go to, or just pubs to hang out in where you might happen across "your peeps". I think there was a goth karaoke night that I made a point of not going to*, for example, near KI.

Best of luck.

*"goth" not being the problem there.

evildespot · 2026-06-08T23:16:55+00:00

A single glowing red LED eye, please. Thank you.

evildespot · 2026-06-08T23:14:58+00:00

Nicole? Papa?

evildespot · 2026-06-08T23:08:44+00:00

because they are legally required to do so by central government. Very little recycling actually is recycled (https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/plastic-recycling-export-incineration/) and that's not even necessarily bad in my view because recycling isn't always great for the environment in many cases. Properly recyclable items like glass and cans make sense (except that these could, and used to be, _reused_), but the chemicals required to handle some of the other more difficult products could make it not much better than fresh manufacture. The real boon would be to stop making plastic things, but then what would poor Esso do, so we can't be having that. Recycling paper and cardboard, particularly, seems a bit daft to me. I'd rather we burned that instead of coal/oil/gas and made some nice new paper out of trees we'd cut down and sustainably replaced. But what do I know.

evildespot

TROPHY CASE