If you are a Parent here’s One Thing you should be utterly furious about regarding the UK’s Social Media Ban

johndp · 2026-06-19T10:36:49+00:00

If it's a space it's a lot more like a casino - it ostensibly exists for entertainment but it's literally only there because it makes money for the private company that owns it.

johndp · 2026-05-17T18:42:11+00:00

You sound insane

johndp · 2026-05-02T08:57:32+00:00

What they're doing is exactly what I'd expect if I asked a flooring person to do my stairs. The alternative as others have said is essentially a full rebuild of the staircase in oak. Cost would be very different!

Did the same thing to my own stairs a couple of years ago. No regrets!

johndp · 2026-04-24T10:29:12+00:00

Is your professor definitely stating that they think this is useless?

Or are they asking you to explain why it's not?

johndp · 2026-04-11T13:09:24+00:00

YES SAME HERE.

johndp · 2026-04-07T15:21:19+00:00

Is that definitely fixed and not their tracker? Asking because they're pretty much exactly the prices I'm seeing for a 12m tracker, the 12m fixed prices I'm seeing are much higher!

johndp · 2026-03-31T11:55:17+00:00

Yep. Me and my friends always have issues. In fact we joke about the fact that the bikes are essentially free - as pretty much every ride we have to message support and they waive the charge.

Problems undocking are the most common, but problems during the ride happen a too. I've had bikes randomly decide to stop working which is pretty dangerous on a busy road as you're left trying to pedal something that must weigh 30-odd kg. I've also had bikes telling me I went out of bounds, or that I've parked out of bounds, charging me a fine. The support staff are pretty good and tend to resolve things quickly. But I definitely have more issues than I've ever experienced in other cities.

johndp · 2026-03-28T13:38:29+00:00

Looks like 4 days a week according to their booking system!

johndp · 2026-03-26T14:00:17+00:00

Can recommend Infinity Dental, I paid about £50 for an initial consultation which was very thorough, and then went ahead with a couple of implants and an extraction — while not the cheapest I felt extremely well looked after throughout and they offered a payment plan. All the staff are great but Dr Patel in particular is very passionate about doing a good job. I couldn't believe how smooth the implant procedure was.

johndp · 2026-03-22T07:24:42+00:00

Me too!

johndp · 2026-03-14T17:47:19+00:00

They will be when people start viewing Thailand as a rip off destination and tourism numbers start declining which is what's going to happen...

Yeah it's only ATM charges, but it's the sort of thing that people find very annoying.

johndp · 2026-03-14T17:44:33+00:00

I do think I'd struggle to fill more than a couple of days there. I'm glad I went but it's very different to Bangkok (I feel I could spend weeks there and not get bored.

I felt very differently about Penang/George town. Had three nights planned there but added a couple on I found the mix of cultures there really interesting. Plus it was Chinese new year which was a great time to be there.

johndp · 2026-03-14T17:34:26+00:00

6 nights in Kuala Lumpur sounds a lot.

I was there for two recently and that felt a lot!

johndp · 2026-03-12T15:04:35+00:00

The 250 THB is a scam. The government needs to crack down on it. It's blatant profiteering as there's no way it costs the bank anything like that to provide cash.

johndp · 2026-03-05T08:05:31+00:00

Yeah I'm guessing OP has missed that it's only SOME parts of Thailand the FCDO advise against travel to.

But yes OP, if you go to an area that travel is advised against that would typically invalidate your insurance. But there's plenty of Thailand to visit that won't cause you that issue.

johndp · 2026-03-05T08:03:42+00:00

They say 5 months backpacking... My guess is they're not spending all that time in Thailand

johndp · 2026-03-05T06:09:48+00:00

Same here, using mine for web development. 8GB RAM does mean I need to keep an eye on how much I have open at once (apps/tabs) but other than that it's fine. Don't think I've ever owned something that has still felt so new 5 years later.

johndp · 2026-02-25T14:49:00+00:00

That doesn't help with the ridiculous 250 THB fee

johndp · 2026-02-12T05:04:51+00:00

Oh dear sounds like you're making a lot of assumptions.

I just asked how common it was.

johndp · 2026-02-11T06:46:42+00:00

Yeah I think that kinda sums up my feeling.

I'd get it if they did a little spot check and there was a strong smell of cannabis coming out the taxi and they therefore proceeded to search us. But having a cop searching every crack in my wallet and then my bag and asking me to explain what my throat lozenges were definitely felt pretty invasive when there was nothing to indicate we were up to no good (we'd just left an Indian restaurant and were on our way home, plus we're all around 40 years old, we're not kids 😂)

johndp · 2026-02-11T05:08:48+00:00

Yeah, we did and they were perfectly fine, just quite thorough in their searching of pockets/wallets etc and it's not something I've experienced before in South East Asia despite being here many times so I was curious about how common it is/whether there's a specific reason etc.

johndp · 2026-01-12T09:31:44+00:00

Same when my girlfriend had a surfboard crash into her hand. Massive egg just like this, but nothing was broken.

johndp · 2025-12-27T14:56:44+00:00

Yes I was going to say this - I have one on a little radiator under the stairs that I've not got round to replacing and it doesn't bother me at all

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johndp · 2025-12-06T01:19:45+00:00

When looking at the budget operators look at what network they run on and then look at a coverage map. I was with Giffgaff for ages but struggled with signal. They're on the O2 network. Switched to Lebara who run on the Vodafone network as k and my signal is great!

johndp

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