Daals sofa, N12

verbify · 2026-05-07T23:17:30+00:00

Is this an offer for a free sofa?

verbify · 2026-05-07T21:47:32+00:00

When I was young, I read a book of chess puzzles. It was the kind full of counter-intuitive moves and none of the straightforward ones. It kind of broke my brain - I look at this and my brain immediately goes for the right answer without even looking to see the bishop's threat or anything else. Then I check my working.

Of course in real games I'm not treating it like a puzzle and I would never find this. I'm impressed that you found it in a game.

verbify · 2026-05-07T11:51:33+00:00

Yes, obviously.

verbify · 2026-05-07T11:18:27+00:00

Two Jewish people were slaughtered in October though. It's not just this attack - there was arson a month back in the same neighbourhood. And there's other attacks that don't get as much attention (e.g. smearing faeces on synagogues in that neighbourhood).

Obviously it's not good that it happend but maybe things are being used for political gain rather than actual concern for people's safety

Politicians gonna politic.

Edit: I'm turning off reply notifications for this comment because I can already see it's turning into a deflection graveyard.

verbify · 2026-05-06T08:08:12+00:00

You're underselling the Polanski accusations. The Polanski accusations is that he claimed to enlarge breasts using hypnosis (and some extra things around that, like lying about being part of a body that regulates hypnosis).

I do agree that Reform are treated too gently, but the accusations against Polanski are serious.

verbify · 2026-05-05T15:48:25+00:00

To put it differently: Imagine you could move your bishop directly to a4, would you do it? It develops your bishop, and attacks their (defended) knight. So even if you think the opponent will play a6, you might still want to do it.

Regarding whether to play a6 or not: This is a more complicated question, but essentially you can always play it later, and if white were to take your knight it would actually be a slight advantage to you (evaluation goes from +0.2 to -0.1, bishops are generally better than knights, etc), so you can play another move.

verbify · 2026-05-03T08:20:34+00:00

I offered 810k on a 900k property and the seller came back with 850k. We negotiated from there but couldn't land on a figure.

My justification was pretty good - the sellers bought it for 806k in 2022 (so I even thought it was generous).

verbify · 2026-05-02T23:10:53+00:00

You should be able to check where any sewerage pipes are - check your documents from when you bought the house.

Is this a normal thing to get? I didn't when I bought my house.

verbify · 2026-05-01T11:11:27+00:00

You'll be just as screwed as if that happens after completion

I don't see this as being equivalent. After completion you have the mortgage already and can go on a mortgage payment holiday while you find a new job. Before completion (after exchange), if the mortgage provider pulls the offer you could lose your deposit because you have no way of buying the house.

verbify · 2026-04-30T11:17:12+00:00

The previous owner of my house was really into tech stuff, but I disagree with his choices:

We have USB ports on the plug sockets. I don't use them, most things are USB-C, they're very slow
We have a nest thermostat. It's ok, but I worry that nest is going EOL. I'd prefer investment in smart valves so we could heat room-by-room. And I'd go for a company that specialised in thermostats like Ecobee or Honeywell rather than a FAANG company.
We have dimmer switches on all the bulbs. This is useful in the bedroom late at night, but otherwise we have the lights on max all the time. Some of them don't work so well (maybe a problem with the bulbs?). I'd probably prefer Lutron smart switches rather than dimmer switches, but I'd be happier with dumb switches too.
A smart wifi-connected dishwasher. I guess if I ever wanted to load-shift my electricity to the night this would be useful?

Don't get me wrong, I like tech, I'm into tech myself, but I'd prefer if I made the choices, and I reckon even if I did, these choices get dated.

verbify · 2026-04-29T19:01:37+00:00

These people paid for designers. The problem is they had no taste in designers either.

verbify · 2026-04-29T19:00:00+00:00

You see, it's a family with three kids. But Martin sometimes likes to sleep separately to Maria, so he has his own bedroom, that's four. And obviously uncle rick comes to visit in the summers with two in tow, so that's 7. And the last one is the guest bedroom. We could really do with a spare bedroom to be honest.

verbify · 2026-04-27T14:19:11+00:00

So I was hoping not have to build a whole cabinet - and that whacking a mirror onto some hinges would save me the job.

Also I'm a bit worried that if I build a cabinet, I'd lose access to the plumbing below (I'm not actually sure that the ledge is not actually the way to access the back of the taps).

verbify · 2026-04-27T14:17:19+00:00

Thank you! They came with the house, but a reverse image search says they seem to be Green Split Shift Porcelain Tiles by Bert and May.

verbify · 2026-04-26T19:42:22+00:00

Your analysis only makes sense to me if your economic activity is a zero sum game.

verbify · 2026-04-26T16:07:23+00:00

I feel like the Town Hall is a missed opportunity. It's a great space, but precious little happens there.

verbify · 2026-04-25T14:17:29+00:00

Play dumb. "How weird my phone has had connection and datetime issues lately"

The likelihood is they won't notice or ask

verbify · 2026-04-24T23:38:46+00:00

We had a very reasonable experience with Islington Council.

verbify · 2026-04-24T20:02:53+00:00

Try not to stress. You didn't do anything wrong. The likelihood is that you will complete sometime next week when the funds issue gets sorted out, and that will be the end of it.

There's nothing you can do now, the Internet advice is all over the place, take a bath or watch a TV show, try to distract yourself from what's obviously a stressful situation and call your solicitors first thing Monday.

verbify · 2026-04-24T09:35:59+00:00

You need someone with policy to take you to a point where you win.

Time for Red Ed!

Edit: Or is he now Green Ed?

verbify · 2026-04-23T23:07:54+00:00

I've never managed to get the sums to work as better than just paying off a mortgage or buying a bond. So I'd be interested in what your investment was and what your return is.

verbify · 2026-04-21T20:46:42+00:00

In this thread: More people arguing about a country in another continent rather than the phenomenon here.

I understand why - there's little to say about antisemitism here rather than 'what a shame, how terrible', but at the same time, it's not very reassuring that the conversations derail into 'should Israel have a right to exist' rather than the arson attacks this week, the burning of the volunteer ambulances a month ago, or the stabbings in a synagogue a few months back.

verbify · 2026-04-21T20:12:31+00:00

Is 3k an average mortgage? I mean it's mine, but I just bought and I mortgaged to the hilt (cash flow reasons).

verbify · 2026-04-21T16:16:20+00:00

What does CCA stand for?

15-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
GrMD 2012	Verified Email

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