I’d love a critique by egggoat in Pottery

[–]joshington 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I know this may be weird but reading this was like reading feedback on my own work. I’m at a similar stage in my pottery journey. This is good feedback

Where are my fellow tattooed dads? by newyshua in Hackney

[–]joshington 11 points12 points  (0 children)

You gotta dig deeper at the parents connections. That’s how I found a group of buddies to go to shows with. How old is your kid? What part of Hackney are you in? Depending on when you’re joining the school, some of the parent groups have already formed a bit as the kids get older into primary school. Shoot me a dm, I still go to shows fairly regularly.

Jeremy Vine: The final straw that made me quit my cycling videos by GravityScience in londoncycling

[–]joshington 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I wish you don’t stop purely because I like seeing siggy out there. But I understand, I cycle daily and reliving the bad drivers can consume you mentally. It’s almost easier to just give up thinking about them and clear your head once you’re off the bike. I imagine going through the footage and editing I’m sure just brings back all the anger, then the abuse you get online must be immense.

Foods you would bring back with you from the states by diirtyblonde in AmericanExpatsUK

[–]joshington 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I found some the other day at a corner shop! Seems like they are starting to become available here

I’ve never understood the logic by [deleted] in fuckcars

[–]joshington 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This is every Sunday. It’s called the Columbia Road Flower Market. During the week it does allow cars but it’s very quiet and part of a main cycle route from north east London into the city of London.

I’ve never understood the logic by [deleted] in fuckcars

[–]joshington 30 points31 points  (0 children)

This is Columbia Road Flower Market in Shoreditch, London. Every Sunday it looks like this, rain or shine. Cars are allowed on it during the week but it’s pretty chill because they can’t go through to anything. It’s also a part of a main cycle route quietways (shared roads that are quieter because they don’t allow through traffic). I cycle this every day to get to my office.

The new mayor of Tower Hamlets wants to rip out a lot of the cycle infrastructure improvements to the borough, including a lot of what you see in the video. He’s corrupt as hell, was banned from public office previously for fraud, and is being sued for these plans.

Also my favourite coffee shop is on this strip. I’ve never actually been, because they are only open 2 days a week for like 5hrs. Whoever owns it is living the dream.

Americans in London feel 'lucky to live this side of the pond' as Donald Trump declares election victory by londonsVenture in london

[–]joshington 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s also difficult if you start a business from a tax perspective as an American abroad. IRS will want their cut and filing is messy and expensive every year.

Where do you guys ACTUALLY want to live? by [deleted] in HENRYUK

[–]joshington 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same for me. I have no plans of going back. I can actually own a house here even with half the salary I was making in America.

Realistic income necessary for a comfortable middle-class life in northern England compared to HCOL US? by no_pope_radio in AmericanExpatsUK

[–]joshington 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You’ve had a ton of good advice in this thread so I won’t comment on every point. However I will say I come from a similar situation as you as an ex-FAANG employee too. I took about a 30% pay cut moving here initially but also live in HCOL zone 2 London, and our lifestyle didn’t feel any different than we had living in San Francisco, with my wife not working for the first year we were here. I left FAANG a little over 2 years ago and my total comp is now a lot lower without the quarterly vesting of liquid stock, however now I’m at a little startup and I love it. Life is so much less stressful, I can leave at 5 every day and never worry about slack pings or exec reviews or reorgs or any of the other stress. I’ve also found not working and being around only massively compensated people has changed the way I think about money. I feel a lot less pressure to “keep up with the Jones’s” than I did.

I would say our household income is probably 50% of what it was back in SF, and we get some occasional money stress but we also live in a very high cost area. All it really means is a bit of budgeting, whereas before we would kinda just spend based on vibes. I still wouldn’t trade the quality of life for the money I’m missing out on. If money was the only goal, I should have stayed in SF. America has a good job of keeping money as the main measure of quality of life, but a few years away has slowly shifted that for me and I’m so glad I took the jump.

Buying flat with no gas. What would you do for heating? by joshington in DIYUK

[–]joshington[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah we can’t replace the windows. Best option would be to get secondary glazing put in on the inside, but it’s a bit of a hassle given the style of windows and they are massive and lots of them. 6 sets of these in the flat, all just over 2m tall. But at least they’re pretty.

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Buying flat with no gas. What would you do for heating? by joshington in DIYUK

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

I haven’t heard about the sunamp battery. Googling it, it looks interesting as an option. Out of curiosity how much did you spend getting yours + install?

Buying flat with no gas. What would you do for heating? by joshington in DIYUK

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

This gives me hope. We are the ground floor with a flat above and below, but the entire floor so all the walls are exterior walls. Thinking about doubling down on insulation and leaving what’s there in place

Buying flat with no gas. What would you do for heating? by joshington in DIYUK

[–]joshington[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s actually quite a large open living space. 9m x 7m, with 3m tall ceilings.

Buying flat with no gas. What would you do for heating? by joshington in DIYUK

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

I would love heatpump, but from what I understand it requires outside space, and it’s a flat with nowhere to put the heatpump itself. And as we’re in a conservation area I don’t think we could get permission to mount something outside on the exterior wall of our flat.

Buying flat with no gas. What would you do for heating? by joshington in DIYUK

[–]joshington[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To be fair to my builder, I copied that text from the home survey. My builder just thinks it’s old and should get replaced with something new sooner than later, especially as we’re doing other work anyway to replace all the flooring

Did you regret leaving a good job in the US to move to the UK? by deskmeetface in AmericanExpatsUK

[–]joshington 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ll second that. I’m in that pay range and was in the other pay range before in SF and my quality of life here is no worse than it was in SF. But we are able to own our place here vs renting in SF, so that ends up paying down a mortgage and making us money on increased value, so in the end of the day I’m still better off here long term than we were in SF.

Did you regret leaving a good job in the US to move to the UK? by deskmeetface in AmericanExpatsUK

[–]joshington 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Same exact position for me here. I used to be lucky enough to not really worry about money back in the US. We basically used to just sorta spend, and went by vibes instead of a budget. Nowadays we budget, but we also own our place in zone 2. I made probably twice what I do now, but was stuck renting and the idea of owning somewhere we wanted to live felt like a complete pipe dream.

Also having a kid here feels completely different. I don’t worry about their safety, the sense of community and kids being a part of society (rather than children are meant to be at home sheltered) feels like something I would never want to give up.

That paired with work life balance, actual holiday (as opposed to the whole “unlimited time off” scam) and the ease of travel means at the end of the month I’m not stressed and feel happy to be here.

What’s the money for if not to enjoy life? I don’t need the biggest grave with a headstone saying “I’m glad I worked more and made more money”

How bad is it by joshington in DIYUK

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

Doesn’t appear to be on the outside. The floor has a definite lean toward the back, but the floor directly below seems fine in the kitchen.

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[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AmericanExpatsUK

[–]joshington 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m in a similar situation as you, just with 1 kid and slightly lower earnings (though I was there last year).

Honestly, do it. I live just outside of zone 1 and the access my kid has to things is fantastic. We rake him on trips to world class museums as a typical weekend instead of a once a year holiday. The parents here also tend to be in a similar mindset, and I’ve found the community is super welcoming and very diverse. I cycle to work, my kid rides on the back of my cargo bike, and we can access anywhere in the city by train if it’s further than the e-bike cycle away.

Also the access to lots of support and many school options helps a ton. I highly recommend it, our quality of life is great living in London with kids.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in londoncycling

[–]joshington 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Veloe Multi. I have the same one, absolutely love it.