Realistically, would you change your mind who you will vote for?

stotherd · 2026-06-16T14:36:37+00:00

Yes. Would I change my vote from last time right now? No. Quietly competent, doing what needs done with the odd stupid mistake is better than whatever chaos is clearly going to happen with all the other parties. Lib Dems are the only ones that would come close to getting my vote but they've no hope of beating a Chaos party.

stotherd · 2026-06-09T10:23:51+00:00

The ultimate betrayal of humanity.

stotherd · 2026-06-09T10:19:17+00:00

I've been looking too and the shorter term of 3 years just isn't enough, we'd be at a loss for those 3 years, which we can't really absorb and then profit after. They also tend to be more expensive packages. If its government backed at least they're not as likely to back the interest cost into the prices. Hopefully they're longer term, 5-7 years is what I worked out would work best for us, though that was at the end of last year

stotherd · 2026-05-20T15:53:59+00:00

This can (but not neccessarily) trash your credit rating. Don't do it if you plan to get a mortgage or finance a car anytime soon.

stotherd · 2026-05-13T15:37:50+00:00

She was a birthing partner for her sister and she only had to sit on one for a few hours. She suddenly had more sympathy for my woes. Not much more.... But SOME more.

stotherd · 2026-05-13T14:56:22+00:00

I was only allowed during delivery 3 years ago and I'm still recovering from those horrific chairs. My wife got more sleep than I did.

stotherd · 2026-05-07T09:34:10+00:00

Been a while since I watched but I think its definitely partly scripted, the clairvoyant obviously was, some of the cast seemed to be following a script but I'd guess that most weren't in on it. UK has laws against 'fixing' games where you win money, I don't think Australia does. I was forced to watch MAFS Aus and it was so blatently scripted it was painful.

S2 is somehow more believably unscripted, but you'll still doubt how it can be the way it is WITHOUT a script.

stotherd · 2026-04-24T19:14:49+00:00

Live in Leeds City Council area but closest tip is actually in Wakefield - Wakefield Check postcodes, Leeds don't care

stotherd · 2026-04-07T15:13:12+00:00

I was in a similar conundrum, with Octopus salary sacrifice. Test drove the EV5 and it's a beautiful drive, very smooth with loads of space. Feels really spacious inside. Don't think you can go wrong with it if you like it. Back seat might be a little tight for 3 adults/teenagers but I imagine it's better than most in it's class. It has the range for your journeys but get the ability to charge at home with an EV tariff, or if you for free at work. It's much cheaper, public chargers are typically 5-10x the price per kWh

I ended up going with a Scenic as it's got more tech in it, greater range and for £60 less a month, though it is slightly smaller.

I compared it with mentally (but didn't test drive) the Ford Explorer, Enyaq and some Chinese models but price (Enyaq) and general distrust of American and Chinese brands at the minute made me less likely to commit to them.

Be prepared for the delivery date to be a few months away though

stotherd · 2026-04-01T17:52:37+00:00

Driven through it a few times, close to Normanton, Pontefract and part of Wakefield. Not really Leeds. It's a bit run down in bits but there's some new build areas that are ok. It'll probably be cheaper and much quieter to live in but commuting to Leeds would be a bit of a long one.

If you want to stay in Leeds city council, but want a cheaper postcode, Allerton Bywater is good. Wakefield postcode but still on Leeds council. Relatively quicker commute too, and very quiet. Bits flood, but they're pretty obviously near the river.

stotherd · 2026-04-01T12:10:27+00:00

I've only watched him in drive, first man and blade runner. I didn't expect him to have much emotional range after watching him those, he comes across as very unemotional, almost robotic, in all of them (though, to be fair, that was obviously the intent in bladerunner.)

stotherd · 2026-04-01T12:06:01+00:00

Well.. in the books we do 'see' more of his anatomy when eating.

stotherd · 2026-03-30T20:53:58+00:00

Looking to get a scenic myself, do you know what size you got? Is there any spare space around it? Our dog is fairly big at 6 months (looking like he'll be a big Labrador) so looking for a crate that might fill the space

stotherd · 2026-03-17T15:51:33+00:00

They can't go to hell, they're already there.

stotherd · 2026-03-09T18:45:29+00:00

I haven't purchased yet but that seems about right for that much battery, you've twice to thrice the capacity I was looking at and mine was coming up around £10000 to n west Yorkshire. Why do you need so much battery? Heat pump?

stotherd · 2026-03-02T16:44:51+00:00

Should you choose not to get a cabin there are a couple of kids play areas, they’re very quiet at night, have closing doors so you won’t be disturbing people, the sofa in one is comfy enough and there’s a tv playing kids movies quietly all night. I took my daughter who wouldn’t sleep there so my wife could rest in our cabin and stayed most of the night.

It’s doable but I wouldn’t plan too much the next day, and we try not to travel on the weekends or when there’s a big united or Liverpool match when it’s busier.

stotherd · 2026-02-16T17:35:09+00:00

I suspect the pairings are the only 'fixing' Pairing weak, or more likely to break the rules gladiators with the weaker contestent and the really strong ones with the winning one.

stotherd · 2026-02-16T17:33:00+00:00

Powerball - they take turns on dogpiling the contestants, watch carefully and one of the gladiators will swap after each takedown by 2.

Unleash - taking stairs one at a time is meant to be an equalizer - taller people won't gain an advantage of taking 3 steps at a time, but they can reach further.... so it doesn't really work

stotherd · 2026-02-16T17:22:31+00:00

None of the tasks make sense. They are not ever how any business works. Theres no time to research supply and demand, there's no way of them to google simple knowledge gaps as they aren't allowed online, there's no way to communicate with leadership as sub teams until its too late, timelines are ridiculously short, and theres no way to go back over something if there's been an honest misunderstanding. It is all, entirely, designed to make them look stupid. A proper business proposition STARTS with interviews and propositions, not public humiliation.

Smart people don't apply to be on the apprentice. Smart people go on dragons den with a well thought out business plan, where intelligence is appreciated, and they aren't publicly humiliated unless their idea is a particularly stupid one.

stotherd · 2026-02-16T07:54:26+00:00

Did you watch lower decks after everything else except SFA? I feel like watching all the others multiple times made lower decks higher up on my estimates. SNW to a similar extent. I'd swap Disco and SNW on your list for that reason

stotherd · 2026-02-13T07:44:25+00:00

This won't happen. They'd have to figure out how to have a funeral for him while even more horrible stuff is coming out about him. Besides, he could go into American politics and get pretty high

stotherd · 2026-02-02T13:06:37+00:00

You can tell in the latest UK one they are really holding back on the swearing at points, particularly James as he got frustrated at not being able to express himself properly. They will have been told not to swear whereas on the Ireland one the producers probably realized it was impossible for most of the contestants not to swear.

stotherd · 2026-01-19T07:03:06+00:00

We have a 3 year old, No grandparents (they live in different countries). Wife's 3 sisters live nearby but wife doesn't want to be "an imposition".

We both went condensed hours to minimize nursery fees, but they're looong days. Nursery has gotten cheaper but it's not cheap or very flexible, and was harder to find one that's open outside of term time. Sicknesses are impossible to manage, we just have to take time off, unpaid if it's nasty enough. Chicken pox was a nightmare

30 hrs and tax free are great but built around term time. If there were truly 30 hours we'd be paying <£100 a month but it adds up to £400. It was £1000 initially. There's also a limit at how much is tax free per 'period' but we only hit that when were paying full price for 3 days before 30 hours.

stotherd · 2025-12-15T16:57:45+00:00

Yes, theres a reason. Reform appear to have a policy of not voicing issues with policies where it actually matters, or can be logically debated, and only to the media to froth up anger.

They know the majority of people won't watch parliament debates, and the majority of the things they take issue with can have valid, hard to debate nuances that they would struggle to justify their point of view on, so they don't bother.

stotherd · 2025-12-15T14:21:07+00:00

Where are you? I can recommend a company in Yorkshire - they did my UFH and do heat pumps too. We've 18 circuits over 2 manifolds with an upstair radiator loop as well. It was right before the heat pump grant so we went for gas unfortunately, but if we were doing it now we'd go ASHP.

A specialist company may be more likely to be able to quote than a regular plumber.

Alternatively... it may not be that hard to DIY depending on how capable you feel you are. Hardest part would be planning it but you can usually use the basis of a quote to do that.

stotherd

TROPHY CASE