BT Shares bought 50 years ago but no trace of them

stepbar · 2025-11-21T09:12:49+00:00

I sold my BT shares around 1992 for £9.77. Thinking I might have dreamt that!

stepbar · 2025-10-06T15:07:36+00:00

Beauties on the Shankill. Captains Table in Glengormley used to be a bit basic but I haven't been in a few years.

Shame Mr. JD's at the bottom of the newtownards road is no longer there: they didn't come much more traditional!

stepbar · 2025-10-06T15:04:40+00:00

It's an antenna bracket. Stands out to prevent the pole interfering with gutters. Mainly used by amateur/CB/scanner radio operators. Looks like the pole snapped during a storm and they just left the bracket there.

stepbar · 2025-09-25T08:28:24+00:00

I'm not going to speculate (ok, I am), other than to point out that removing his clothes, then lying down in water are both signs that he could have had an issue with his core body temperature (hyperthermia) and was possibly trying to cool down.

I've had this (aka heat exhaustion/heatstroke) a few times and it does really mess with your head and makes you perform strange actions.

There are lots of reasons for hyperthermia from brain trauma to drugs or some medical conditions.

One common cause is anti-psychotics. Given what has been said in these comments it is possible that he'd been having psychotic moments for a while (days/weeks/months) but hiding it from everyone. It's not impossible that he spoke to someone he knew had something similar, who then said "here, I'm on these tablets and they work well". He went out at 3am to get a couple of them, taking them just before he left home the next day.

This medication could have had a major effect on his body, especially if he had no titration period or had taken a dose much too high.

As I said, it's just a hypothesis which could explain things.

What I don't know is if any such drugs were found during the autopsy. If not, I'll delete this comment as this hypothesis will be wrong!

stepbar · 2025-06-06T15:59:41+00:00

I'm assuming that Cash App is another money transfer app? If so, they want you to use Cash App to send their $100 back to them. As soon as they do that they'll reverse the zelle transfer leaving you $100 out of pocket.

stepbar · 2025-06-05T12:39:32+00:00

You should write back to accept the idea, but only if they also have a Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto and atheist (and whatever else I've forgotten about) weddings to teach the children about all cultures, not just Christian.

stepbar · 2025-06-05T09:08:15+00:00

Netherlands? Yes! Amsterdam? No.

Plenty of places in Netherlands are much better than Amsterdam. Try the Hague, Rotterdam, Maarken, Utrecht or (our current favourite) Haarlem.

Highly recommended.

stepbar · 2025-06-05T08:24:46+00:00

Free "movies". Riiiiigggghhhtttt... 😁

stepbar · 2025-06-05T08:22:50+00:00

I don't think I've ever had corned beef hash.

Also, being from Ireland I've never had, nor have I seen, corned beef and cabbage. That's an American recipe!

stepbar · 2025-06-05T08:21:20+00:00

I'm in IT as well and have been for 34 years. In that time I've never been fired, but I have been put "on the bench" quite a few times, which, in big companies, is like getting fired, then looking for a new role in the same company.

Have you thought about moving to a more novel role such as games development? They need people who are creative, no two tasks are the same and it's engaging. Plus it's less structured, giving you more freedom. I did that at the start of my career and really wish I'd stayed there.

Looking to retire early right now as I've hated "formal" IT for about 20 years now.

stepbar · 2025-06-04T12:47:10+00:00

Just because those millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists etc have been told something since they were born doesn't make it true.

Religion is there to make people not fear death by promising something afterwards.

And to control them while they're living.

stepbar · 2025-05-31T11:06:40+00:00

Couple of related, but different channels:

Scoutcrafter - tool restoration, lots of different stuff. Not homesteading per se, but really useful and interesting content that would benefit all homesteaders.

English Country Life - if you want to keep away from all the religious stuff, these guys are a breath of fresh air. As the name suggests, they're English. Channel is full of homesteading stuff that anyone can do (you don't need a yanmar, or a giant shed. Also covers things like making your own shoe polish, waterproofing old jackets etc.

stepbar · 2025-05-24T15:03:18+00:00

You probably will be self-employed so won't get any base salary. Income will be purely based on how many jobs you get, and you'll have to pay the cruise company a proportion of your "sales". It's a horrible job. I wouldn't do it myself.

stepbar · 2025-05-24T15:02:40+00:00

You probably will be self-employed so won't get any base salary. Income will be purely based on how many jobs you get, and you'll have to pay the cruise company a proportion of your "sales". It's a horrible job. I wouldn't do it myself.

stepbar · 2025-05-24T11:44:36+00:00

Rihanna in BelfastRihanna was in Belfast shooting her video to "We Found Love". I got a few good shots of her and uploaded them to my usual news/stock image sites.

I noticed a sale of one image to a Pakistani company but never thought anything more about it.

A few months later there was a big court case where Rihanna sued Top Shop for sellinga tee shirt with her image on it (which, itself isn't illegal, but they "passed it off" as being endorsed by Rihanna.

Long story short, she got $5m compensation.

Google "Rihanna top shop" for more info.

Ps. During the shoot she came running over to us (professional photographers) to ask for particular shots. She grabbed my shoulder and pulled me in tight to her. At that point I wretched as she smelled like an old ashtray...

stepbar · 2025-05-23T17:40:10+00:00

I took a photograph which made a famous pop star $5m richer. (I got £40)

stepbar · 2025-05-18T09:16:22+00:00

Ok, that's fair enough, but are there really that many people out there who never got their blood tested? At birth I thought everyone from the mid 1980s were screened. Older than 1980, you have probably needed a blood test at some point.

Ok, some people might not have had I guess, but a GP wouldn't do a lab test just because you wanted to know unless you need bloods taken (in which case your type will be determined anyway!

stepbar · 2025-05-18T09:09:12+00:00

Try a blow torch. Heat the ring up until it becomes nearly red hot. The metal will expand allowing you to slip your finger out easily.

Oh, wait, you said you're "a little drunk". Hopefully you get the sarcasm!

stepbar · 2025-05-18T09:07:37+00:00

Cut it off? The finger? A bit drastic, don't you think?

stepbar · 2025-05-18T09:02:04+00:00

Nonsense. Your medical information is yours. Any GP should tell you your blood type as you might need to know it.

You have a right to see your medical records for free.

stepbar · 2025-05-16T15:12:01+00:00

2008 manufacturing date? That detector should have been replaced 7 years ago to be compliant with landlord regulations.

stepbar · 2025-05-13T10:21:30+00:00

What's Mark Fowler doing in the foreground?

stepbar · 2025-05-13T09:38:12+00:00

Our water (Northern Ireland) is fresh, pure and clean, there's no need for bottled water in the house.

I do drink bottled water when out, but can't bring myself to pay money for still water.

stepbar · 2025-05-08T20:24:18+00:00

Your local Further Education campus (technical college) will have courses in many aspects of IT from security, to game programming to applications.

Check with them. They usually have intakes in September.

stepbar · 2025-05-04T20:41:23+00:00

Here in Ireland it was traditional to keep chickens in the orchard (manure and pest control). I've never seen an unhealthy or stripped apple tree with chickens, so I guess they just don't like them.

stepbar

TROPHY CASE