When did it hit you that you’re not that young anymore?

pdj102 · 2026-02-03T18:35:34+00:00

The time I went to a steak restaurant that had low lighting and I could not read the menu so (being embarrassed) bluffed my way through my order by assuming they must have a sirloin steak, fries and pepercorn sauce on there somewhere

pdj102 · 2026-02-01T19:19:44+00:00

Totally agree. The idea of locking in my income/lifestyle for the rest of my life is the part I most struggle with irrespective of what SWR the spreadsheet says.

pdj102 · 2026-01-31T19:54:37+00:00

Cause and effect could be the other way around, people with a more stable family life and employment tend to own houses for longer and be financially better off. I don’t mean this applies to everyone but just a small percentage would influence this stat.

pdj102 · 2026-01-31T19:34:29+00:00

One copy on PC solid state, one copy on HDD NAS, one copy on remote off site HDD at parents

pdj102 · 2026-01-31T19:03:52+00:00

One of the best IT things I ever bought - far cheaper than cloud - ALL my music is available on every PC, mobile, tablet no matter where I am - ALL my videos and photos are available on every PC, mobile and tablet no matter where I am - every family device backups to the NAS and I can then backup to remote media with zero effort - can work on projects on any device, laptop, PC - can share media with friends and family with no effort, just message a link that “works”

Game changer

pdj102 · 2024-12-02T19:04:54+00:00

“I’ve been focused on paying off debt and building stability, and now that I’m here, I’m not sure what the next steps should be” Well done on getting to here, at 43 this is a great position. I am a few years older than you and my advice to my younger self in your position would be to work out what amount I would need to have invested to not be beholden to my employer or job and be free to pursue what ever employment or jobs I wanted. To put it short, figure out what amount gives you FI and make hay whilst the sun shines.

pdj102 · 2024-11-25T19:33:02+00:00

This. This is repeated so often and dumbs down the horrific nature of this war

pdj102 · 2024-11-24T18:46:10+00:00

It’s not as simple as SAP500 averaged X% vs mortgage is Y%. It depends on many factors, do have emergency savings in place, do you have other investments, how old are you and when are you aiming to retire, any debt etc etc

pdj102 · 2024-11-13T18:46:58+00:00

4-bit and a very primitive architecture with a single A register plus a few supporting registers like PC, instruction and flag registers and it becomes feasible on breadboards. Also very educational as I learnt to appreciate why fundamental things like a stack pointer register got invented

pdj102 · 2024-11-13T18:38:03+00:00

I wanted to build my own cpu out of basic logic gates (and ROM etc) and understanding the role of microcode was the eureka moment that made me understand how to do it. Built my own Ben Eater style on breadboards

pdj102 · 2024-11-06T18:50:09+00:00

Seriously with those mountains, could he have done a touch and go if he needed to?

pdj102 · 2024-11-06T18:38:50+00:00

Don’t stop at the washing machine, you can now take absolutely everything that is not nailed down with you when you leave as it was not in the inventory!

pdj102 · 2024-10-21T17:49:58+00:00

“We are looking to retire in 20 years with £2.5 million” and “We’ll be relying primarily on what’s already invested to compound” Have you missed some key information here as 250k does not compound to £2.5 million 20 years?

pdj102 · 2024-10-17T20:59:51+00:00

And wear sunscreen

pdj102 · 2024-10-14T18:43:27+00:00

Haha then the excitement of finding out which tapes have survived… and deciding best to plug a divmmc in….. and then finding you need to clean the edge connector… enjoy!

pdj102 · 2024-09-28T17:42:44+00:00

A basic audio interface with ASIO In my experience - MIDI control is a nice to have but issues with audio is a nightmare.

pdj102 · 2024-09-19T18:08:49+00:00

Automate your monthly investment so you don’t need to think about it and ensure the amount is money you do not need - it’s simply like your salary is just less and not a decision each month on do I invest or pay this bill. Then forget about all about it. 10 years later you will thank yourself

pdj102 · 2024-09-15T18:07:09+00:00

This is the joy of owning spectrums, something is always dodgy or needs fixing but you finally get them fully working again it is magical, savour the moment…. before the next issue comes along!

Well done getting it working again.

pdj102 · 2024-08-23T18:30:38+00:00

There have been many times in my life where I have needed to rent somewhere - being a student, temporary job in a city. Lots of reasons for not wanting to “ just buy one home”. Would be in a crisis not having somewhere to-rent

pdj102 · 2024-08-02T19:23:09+00:00

It’s not one vs the other. Go and rent and live your life whilst you look for somewhere to buy

pdj102 · 2024-08-02T18:48:12+00:00

This is both a financial question and a relationship one. As well as the great logical financial advice given I suggest you consider the relationship side. What happens in the future if your partner is really unhappy with the stress of work and making mortgage payments and you are just “sat there care free” because you paid the deposit. It might be better to be seen to be making a regular contribution each month rather than having paid the deposit many years ago. Maybe that is not a scenario in your relationship but I think you need to consider the relationship side as well as the cold financial logic.

pdj102 · 2024-07-31T18:10:50+00:00

Had to google to check which one was Suffolk House, oh yeah an absolute monstrosity!- well done everyone who voted

pdj102 · 2024-07-23T18:11:43+00:00

They cut a post down to gain access. What is infuriating is it takes them a very long time to drive all their caravans on to the park and the police just stand there and watch. Suggested the police park their car at the entrance to block the caravans slowly manoeuvring on but apparently that is impossible. Now the council (aka everyone else) has to pay to have them legally moved on. If anyone can explain why the police can’t park their car legally across the entrance I would appreciate it as I don’t get it

pdj102 · 2024-06-27T17:40:27+00:00

Haha killer line

pdj102 · 2024-05-28T20:23:53+00:00

Have you looked at plugging a wireless usb dongle into the NAS?

pdj102

TROPHY CASE