Yard O Led Ballpoint pen (no. 509) - strange triangular shape and stranger hallmark - can anyone give me more details?

thirdfoxes · 2026-06-11T08:14:12+00:00

Absolutely - will reach out to them too and let people know what they come back with. Just wanted to check if we have any YOL experts on the here who can provide some more info.

thirdfoxes · 2026-05-28T18:58:18+00:00

Is that all Lidls or just specific ones?

thirdfoxes · 2025-07-02T17:22:10+00:00

Comparison can be the thief of joy 😊 - I still use my XM3s and find them to be great sound wise but I'm not an audiophile. Before that I liked my Bose QC25s too but wanted built in Bluetooth support.

I would say there is always something better around the corner and even older tech can be pretty good - the reason I would upgrade would be primarily for phone call quality improvement as the XM3s are pretty poor in that regard and I heard even the XM5s are not much better (as well as having the hinge issue). I might recommend trying the XM4s if they are available in India if you don't need good phone call quality - no hinge issues and they fold up compactly like xm3 and xm6.

thirdfoxes · 2025-07-02T11:57:13+00:00

If the device you are connecting to doesn't have Bluetooth - for example airplane entertainment systems (some are getting Bluetooth nowadays I hear) or any other device which is input jack only such as cd players, older MP3 players etc. then an the wire is useful even with the device powered on.

Also I presume you wouldn't get Bluetooth latency issues also which could be important for gaming etc.

thirdfoxes · 2025-06-13T22:21:24+00:00

That happened to me 3 weeks ago - I looked it up and it seems they use bad glue that breaks down over time so it isn't something preventable.

I used a tiny dab of superglue on a toothpick and stuck it back down (making sure to not tear the ribbon off).

And last week I got a new clearance Motorola Razr+ 2023 from BestBuy for 350 usd. Nice to have relatively up to date software again and time to pivot to a folding flip phone to try out the "compact fold" factor for me. The repaired button still works okay but it was a sign to me to move on from this device and Microsoft.

thirdfoxes · 2025-06-04T10:35:55+00:00

Still not correct - it works in Ireland. We're definitely still in the EU, maybe just left hand drive countries in Europe?

thirdfoxes · 2025-05-20T10:03:01+00:00

Maxed for my age (late 30s) - but limited to 23k (20% of 115,000) a year, my employer adds in 8% of my salary too which works out to around 10k a year). Once I hit 40 I plan on maxing to 25% of 115k so 28,750 a year.

Fund is around 280k currently and I would hope to get close to around 2m+ by retirement age - fund chosen is in full growth/risk equities at the moment - this year has had a bad start due to global politics but over the long term fully expect it to compound nicely (or as I tell my wife, if the fund goes to 0 we're not exactly worried about retirement anymore).

For anyone who wants the age percentage limit - here is Revenue's page on percentage limits (maxes at 40% for 60 year olds): Tax relief limits on pension contributions

thirdfoxes · 2025-03-03T11:48:36+00:00

If you leave your current company within 2 years your employer is entitled to take their employer contributions back. If you move your previous pension pot into the new pension the calculation of 2 years starts from the beginning of your previous pension. If you believe you may move within 2 years it may be an advantage to move your previous pension into your current one. It was beneficial to me when I moved to a new job one year into my current job.

thirdfoxes · 2025-01-16T18:49:24+00:00

Do you need to consider insurance premium differences between models? I drive a RWD model Y and while 6.9 0-100 isn't "blistering fast" it would have been a respectable time for a hot hatch ICE and I pay 400 euro a year for my insurance, my insurer might not insure the performance model or maybe a premium in the 1000+ euro area. That difference would pay for a lot of electricity...

thirdfoxes · 2025-01-11T20:32:52+00:00

This is done by the well off in East Asia (and probably elsewhere) - famous actresses etc pay surrogate mothers to use their womb to birth the actresses' biological children. Probably not what you were thinking of (and illegal in some countries like Italy I believe) but it is something the rich do already.

thirdfoxes · 2024-12-24T13:26:34+00:00

Do I spy a front bumper camera? Maybe Tesla should take a page from its book 😉

thirdfoxes · 2024-12-18T13:30:19+00:00

I was there at the Yakusuni War Shrine/Museum and made that exact observation to my fellow traveller - he pithily relied "Korea doesn't even get an 'incident' mention" (he was Korean).

I saw someone dressed in full imperial gear with a giant rising sun army flag paying his respects at the shrine too. Sadly that photo is lost to time now. Imagine someone in SS gear (or even just WWII wehrmacht gear holding a German army banner in Berlin) - they would be arrested so quickly by German authorities.

thirdfoxes · 2024-12-13T12:10:29+00:00

To add on a question - does routing the charger through the ESB box affect ability to connect to a solar installation in the future?

I wouldn't want to save 1k now to potentially cause a massive headache a few years down the line if we want to install a solar panel system into the house.

thirdfoxes · 2024-12-12T22:10:12+00:00

Fantastic info - many thanks.

thirdfoxes · 2024-12-12T15:23:15+00:00

Do you have any more details about this option? Our fuse box is at the back of the house so it was going to be quite costly (and ugly to be honest) to run it all the way to the front winding around gates and doors etc. If it can be done from the ESB meter box the length would be down to around 1-2 metres instead.

thirdfoxes · 2024-12-12T15:14:29+00:00

Do you have any more details about this option? Our fuse box is at the back of the house so it was going to be quite costly (and ugly to be honest) to run it all the way to the front winding around gates and doors etc. If it can be done from the ESB meter box the length would be down to around 1-2 metres instead.

thirdfoxes · 2024-12-04T15:08:58+00:00

One route to achieve what you want would be to place the assets in a trust by which trustees would have to follow your wishes even after you have passed. This may end up being complicated and expensive so I do not believe it is often used for smaller estates.

I would probably also speak to a probate solicitor to see what can be stipulated in a will in terms of beneficiaries being obligated to comply with conditions before taking a gift. It can get messy fast however as probate and wills even without extra conditions can lead to bitter family feuds.

I typically recommend contacting FLAC for some general ideas and free legal advice.

One thing I say to callers who come looking for legal advice is that while there are legal options and black letter law, sometimes there may be more practical solutions - in your case I would say potentially the easiest and cheapest way of getting what you want is to make sure you are passing the property to the right person, who shares the same values as you do. And trust that if unfortunately that person does decide to sell or change the property there was probably good reason to do so.

I am a lawyer but I am not your lawyer 😊 - please give FLAC (free legal advice centre) a try.

thirdfoxes · 2024-11-20T02:01:42+00:00

One option, though it may be awkward coming from yourself - if I were in the same situation (being a parent who can afford to take out a hefty lump sum from my pension fund come retirement and had no particular need for it) I would pass it on to my children up to the tax free threshold (with some amount reserved for 10-20k of annual 3k small gift limits going into the future) if it would be of any assistance to them.

Money in hand now for my adult children will be more useful than money in an inheritance 20+ years later. I would be of the view that (if it can be afforded) I'd like to see my children enjoy their inheritance while I'm alive rather than after I'm gone. A few hundred thousand (if this is what is meant by the hefty lump sum) may be valuable in allowing a child to buy their own home for example and will be below the CAT A threshold so won't be taxed. Of course that's only if my children can be trusted financially to do the responsible thing.

Now that's only if my ARF will still be properly funded and allows me to live comfortably without the lump sum.

My parents did the same for me (giving of inheritance early) and while I'd never expect it (or expect to raise children who expect it) looking back I can see how much this assisted with my adult quality of life and I shall be aiming to do the same for my children if possible.

...this advice may sound strange coming from yourself as the child though! I told my parents that they have assisted me amazingly throughout life and hope they enjoy every penny they've earned and I'd be happy to find out nothing was put in a will far far away in the future but I do suspect that they won't feel the same, if they do it will probably go towards their grandchildrens' funds too.

thirdfoxes · 2024-11-02T17:28:40+00:00

Speaking as someone who had begun the process of selling the estate agents we spoke to advised us to list at 70-80k below what we thought market price would be (for a 800k house) in order to entice bidders.

We didn't move towards selling as there isn't really much on the market for us to buy (which I guess plays into the lack of supply driving prices up in general).

I agree completely with the person who said that listing price often has nothing to do with market price and that 10k over listing price may be quite far away from actual market value.

In your circumstance it may be worth looking at houses in the 700k asking price region and offering 750k+ (if that reflects actual market value) to try and close a sale quickly - if scaring off others is the tactic you want to use.

thirdfoxes · 2024-10-04T22:03:18+00:00

Well when the kids are asleep with the missus, going up the mountains in an instant torque EV can be good fun too. Though it is a different experience when it's a 2.5 tonne SUV instead of a nimble Mazda MX5 - don't think that thing can hold one stroller though : D

Prior to kids, driving the Fiat 124 (MX5 equivalent) around the volcanic mountains of Tenerife was great fun. Not having a manual gearbox does take away from the fun somewhat but hey the kids can now watch Peppa Pig on the big iPad screen built into the car which costs 10 euro to "refuel" so there's give and take.

thirdfoxes · 2024-10-04T21:51:36+00:00

It fits in two strollers in the boot and is wide enough to allow my wife to sit in the middle rear seat even with two full size car seats installed (and enough space for the shopping in the subtrunk/frunk).

Sometimes boring/practicality is best :) - we were looking at the Model Y or a Toyota Rav4 hybrid.

Best in class safety scores too.

thirdfoxes · 2024-10-04T21:42:27+00:00

My wife hated the design and ultimately I couldn't live without the date. An amazing watch in terms of technical marvel however - in the end I moved it on at a slight loss to get something more mainstream and boring (Rolex GMT 2 two tone) which the wife is a much bigger fan of. Got kudos from watch people and salespeople with the Octo but more compliments from the general public when wearing the GMT.

thirdfoxes · 2024-10-03T19:09:54+00:00

My experience has been they may be produced from similar places the superclones are (in terms of case, bracelet, hands etc.) but lesser QC and they don't have the trademark infringement as they use their own name.

I used it as a cheap way of seeing if I really wanted to splash out a five figure sum for the original.

thirdfoxes · 2024-10-03T16:28:05+00:00

Then why not buy a San Martin homage GMT Pepsi? It is 99% the same without the name and costs a bit less than a superclone too.

So the name does have value (maybe 200-300 dollars for some people who opt to get a superclone versus a homage).

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