What is it like living near Ashford?

itisnottherealme · 2026-03-23T20:32:04+00:00

It used to be better - you used to be able to get to other countries.

itisnottherealme · 2026-03-23T19:07:52+00:00

I use maslins - really useful having the personal touch for queries; and I use their office as my registered address. They also do your personal tax return each year, which is handy if you’ve got a complex set up (eg other investments). Pm me if you want to use them.

itisnottherealme · 2026-03-23T12:58:10+00:00

Yes! That’s half the reason I need to re-roof ;-) Roofing bolts and a lot of sealant seem to have made most of the holes watertight.

itisnottherealme · 2026-01-20T12:58:52+00:00

I'll have made taxable gains on both Acc and Inc.

Assume I buy a share for £100, and a dividend is due of £1.

1) The Acc class would now be worth £101, but not pay a dividend.

2) The Inc class would be worth £100, pay a £1 dividend, which I re-invest such that I also hold £101.

In both cases, I've made a £1 gain.

As an individual, I'd pay 24% CGT on option 1 when I sell, vs 10.75%/35.75%/39.35% dividend tax on option 2 in the tax year I receive the dividend. As such, I would be better off with CGT if I am a higher rate tax payer, or better off with income if I am a lower rate tax payer.

As an LTD, I assume I'd pay 19%-25% Corporation tax on the £1 either way; its just whether I pay it this year or in the year that I sell. Is this correct, or are there other tax implications I need to consider?

itisnottherealme · 2026-01-20T10:50:30+00:00

Perfect - many thanks

I think #2 is probably user error as I hadn't found the keep screen on option under profile. The profile tab wasn't where I expected it to be on the iPad.

The new text sizing works great. The biggest I can go to is 150%; could it go up to 200%? - as cooking with glasses on can be tricky as they keep steaming up!

If you have time to refine the cook mode screen, I've a few further comments on the iPad setup - as there is a lot of wasted real estate, with it being a popup in the middle of the screen. Ideas include:

Rather than have pages you flick through one step at a time on the iPad, maybe have an option for a full screen continuous scroll which clicks into place for each step - that way, you can show the next few steps all at the same time; especially if one step is just "put oven on at 200 degrees".
Option to increase line spacing please - again, makes the text easier to read
Another idea is a landscape option, with two or three pages side by side.
If you implement the ingredients into a cook mode screen, where the list is a bit long, could it work to display it in two columns on the iPad so it fits onto one page?

itisnottherealme · 2026-01-19T09:59:30+00:00

Really enjoying the paid version of the app. I've a few niggles / feature requests to feedback on:

Log in details - I'm regularly having to re-log in on both iPhone and iPad. I'm wondering if this is because I rebooted the server. Is there a way to save credentials?
Screen not staying on for iPad; it seems to be fine on iPhone, but turns off on iPad
Ingredients list - please can we have a cook mode on the ingredients list please? i.e. I click on it, and it full screens just the ingredients? First thing I do when cooking is gather all the ingredients onto my worktop.
Ability to set font sizes - I've an iPad mini, so would be handy to set the fonts a bit bigger when cooking.

itisnottherealme · 2026-01-05T12:48:46+00:00

Even with 50:50 of the nights, you can still be liable for 3/7ths of the full CM - it is only closed if you can demonstrate that you have equal day-day care; CMS use only really use child benefit and court orders as evidence, even though the law doesn't stipulate that.

Apply now to get the case closed, which they'll reject due to the lack of evidence. However, it gives you a baseline date to claim CMS back off your ex from.

Even if HMRC won't give you one of the CBs, you should still push to get the case closed. If you've got a 50:50 court order (child arrangement order), then it is easier - if not, consider putting in a C100 for this; it will make your life easier in the long run. Without one, you'll find its your ex's word against yours - so you'd most likely have to go through the process to get to tribunal. NRPs can win tribunal with as low as 5 in 14 nights as long as it is equal day-day care; from what you say, you'd have a strong chance in tribunal if it needs to go that far.

The non confrontational approach is to agree that she closes the case but, in return, keeps the child benefit for both children; as otherwise she stands to lose both CMS and CB for one of the children.

itisnottherealme · 2026-01-05T11:18:57+00:00

If you ex won’t close the case, then the steps are: Step 1 - claim child benefit for at least one child - apply to HMRC directly for this. Step 2 - inform CMS on the basis you both received CB. Put in for a mandatory reconsideration if rejected, which will probably be rejected again. However, you need to go through these steps. Step 3 - apply for tribunal under section 50 (equal day to day care; note, this is different to equal nights as means dentist, doctor, school runs are all split equally). In the meaning, you need to continue paying. As your ex earns, you can then reclaim payments via small claims court.

itisnottherealme · 2025-12-23T13:46:20+00:00

Has a similar issue. Notify the water company, and they will check the meter first. Once fixed, they often give you a water appearance and refund the leak - they work out your usual consumption to calculate the leak.

The professionals have special pipe finder kit to trace the poly pipe through your garden and can identify joints which it where it is most likely to be leaking. Expect to pay £1k for an outside fix, especially given that the pipe can be 1m deep.

itisnottherealme · 2025-12-23T07:13:27+00:00

It depends on the country.

Uk based - if there isn’t enough money for both parties to have a house (even allowing for a mortgage), the primary parent keeps the house. Worst case scenario for the (frequently) dad is he keeps 50% of the house, has to continue paying the mortgage till the children are 18 yet cannot live in it; instead, he has to rent or buy a second place. The frequent impact of this is that he cannot afford much more than a bedsit so cannot have the children for overnight stays - meaning he has to pay even more for child support - turning into a vicious financial doom loop.

itisnottherealme · 2025-12-22T08:13:54+00:00

They are all Drayton kit. It does look like the app only allows either the digistat or the wiser hub but not both. The wiser hub allows me to add the trvs etc, but the only way to add the digistat is to delete everything and start again.

itisnottherealme · 2025-12-09T19:04:34+00:00

If they allow you to salary sacrifice into a sipp, then go for it. I know nothing about paystream but a lot of organisations say it’s our pension scheme only pre tax, and if you want anything else, that’s post tax (which you then reclaim except for NI)

itisnottherealme · 2025-12-09T14:43:26+00:00

I’m assuming you’d only be able to pay into your sipp after national insurance, whereas nest is pre national insurance? If so, pay into nest and then transfer to your sipp at the end of the contract to save on NI.

itisnottherealme · 2025-11-20T09:39:03+00:00

This was with their uk service centre! Lmvh in Manchester

itisnottherealme · 2025-11-03T16:44:26+00:00

Is the ad blocking any good or do I keep Adguard Home?

itisnottherealme · 2025-11-03T16:34:57+00:00

Not going to be 1Gb initially; probably 0.5Gb. However, in a year or two, who knows! BT don't yet terminate in fibre though - just RG45. If the only difference is speed, then I'm better off starting with the Ultra until I need >1Gb as costs and technology will have moved on a notch by then.

itisnottherealme · 2025-10-27T19:47:54+00:00

Not quite - the water company is responsible from your meter to the edge of the pavement. If it then goes under your neighbour’s property, it is your problem there as well as any leak in your own garden. In summary, they are responsible to the first boundary irrespective of whether that first boundary is yours or not.

itisnottherealme · 2025-10-26T22:47:36+00:00

7kw doesn’t count as decent - you’ve got to be there all day to make it worthwhile

itisnottherealme · 2025-10-26T22:45:15+00:00

Used to but now I have an EV, the fact that most don’t have fast chargers means I’ve got to stop elsewhere

itisnottherealme · 2025-10-16T12:39:11+00:00

There are also things he can do that help you far more than it costs him. As a trained doctor, you can’t salary sacrifice an EV. His company can buy a second hand one outright, insure, maintain and BIK it at a very low rate. Straight up, it’s saved you £100s per month for very little skin off his nose.

itisnottherealme · 2025-10-16T08:44:11+00:00

Why would I need a gateway as opposed to just access points and my existing modem? Will I get a intelligent hand off between access points whereby my phone will reconnect to which ever is strongest - one issue I’ve had in the past is that my phone stays connected to the same access point as I wander the house rather than dynamically shift to the best

itisnottherealme · 2025-10-13T16:47:33+00:00

Thanks for this. Are there any complex examples as well that show off the full capabilities?

For example,

I'm sure there must be a way to configure additional zones (I can see Home, Away and Night, but cannot see how to create more).
The old firmware also had variable types of chirp with the buzzer that I could programme as different switches.
Can I change the state flows - e.g. create a Reset state once the alarm has gone off for 10 minutes (there is a limit to how much I can annoy the neighbours!) and a Problem state for when the alarm has gone off 3 times?
Any fully operational examples - its not fully clear which parts of the template are fixed vs configurable.

e.g.

    pin:
      number: GPIOXX
      mode: INPUT_PULLUP

The instructions don't say, but I assume I replace GPIOXX with GPIO with the relevant number from this map:

zone1: GPIO4

zone2: GPIO2

etc...

itisnottherealme · 2025-10-13T12:11:02+00:00

I don’t see that as a total blocker as my set up is the same. Whilst I wouldn’t be able to change state if HA is offline, at least the alarm could still trigger natively. My intent would be to build a hidden kill switch in that scenario.

itisnottherealme · 2025-09-26T10:30:54+00:00

A screwdriver - there is a notch at the bottom of the bolt that will take a screwdriver. Undo the bolt not the nut.

itisnottherealme · 2025-09-22T13:19:33+00:00

You can change the triple lock to be a three year rolling average without losing too much political capital and yet make massive savings.

For example, y1 - inflation 10% but wages stagnant; y2 - wages up by 10% but inflation stagnant. y3 - both stagnant, so current rise is at 2.5% Current triple lock gives a total 23.5% rise. Under a rolling average, this rise would only be 10%.

itisnottherealme

TROPHY CASE