Nice people thread part 7 - a thread in its prime

zagubov

mystic_trev wrote: »

Ahhhhh memories. I was one of the first 'Tourists' allowed into Albania in 1986. To get there I had to fly to Belgrade via Zagreb, then pick up another flight to Titograd, now called Pordgorcia. I then joined the Official Tourist Bus to Yugoslav border. We had to walk across the border one, by one, having our Passports checked half way across by an Albanian soldier, whist being over looked by machine gun posts!

Once over the border, we entered what can only be described as a European time warp.As you say no cars, just the bus taking us to our first destination. It really was like being in a land that had turned back the clock by two hundred years!

I wish I'd done that I was a great armchair traveller as a student in that I wanted to visit most countries in Europe but only ever seemed to end up in Spain or France. Half of Europe was cut off anyway and seemed like the dark sifde of the moon, but Albania seemed so mysterious; nobody seemd to know anything about it at all. It was famous in Scotland for the fact that when Partizan Tirana was playing against Celtic they could only find one man in Scotland who could translate for them ( a Yugoslavian man living in Ayrshire I think). Jock Stein had to go to thier embassy in Paris and shout requests for visas through the letter box in his best schoolboy French so Celtic could do the return game.

There was a travel agent near Bristol that was the only one in Britain that organised tours to Albania. My cheap foreign radio was marked in eastern bloc styations abnd picked up Radio Tirana at night ( I lived out inh the sticks and had no telly). They had a hilarious but serious English langiuage programme we'd sometimes catch where they politely savaged every other country in the world for our colossal piolitical errors. They had politics like an evangelist has religion.

I thought here was a mistake in my geography book which shoe]wed exportts and imports of various countries but nothing for Albania. Turns out the constitution banned foreign trade and if they did have to trade anything they had to pass a special act of parliament to make it happen.

I gather the airport was only open two days a week and they had an airport barber who used to cut the hair of a minimum perfcentage of male visitors.:D

Think yourself lucky you arrived by bus! Did they criticise your haircut or facial hair when yiou visited?

mystic_trev

zagubov wrote: »

Think yourself lucky you arrived by bus! Did they criticise your haircut or facial hair when yiou visited?

Can't remember as it's too long ago, but I don't think so. I do remember one of the woman having a copy of Cosmopolitan confiscated. She got it back when we exited. As she pointed out, it had been well leafed through :rotfl:

Wheezy_2

Hi guys and girls, been away visiting mommy for a couple of days, hope all is well with the NP's?

PasturesNew wrote: »

So my PM box won't be filling up as much this year then.

Don't worry, my smutty PM's will keep coming!

PasturesNew wrote: »

Appalling rates of interest I am getting.... have to sort that all out and close/open a raft of new accounts now I'm settled again and will have time.
Most seem to be paying 0.1%-0.8%.

Yes, we were looking to put some money away the other day, risk free, easy access, and it's dire...2% gross with virgin was top of the table pfffft

CKhalvashi

t

Wheezy wrote: »

Yes, we were looking to put some money away the other day, risk free, easy access, and it's dire...2% gross with virgin was top of the table pfffft

I know, it's disgusting at the moment!

You'd be far better spending it in the way that we do (two of the silver, and the black Peugeot are our company cars)

CK

Wheezy_2

CKhalvashi wrote: »

t


You'd be far better spending it in the way that we do (two of the silver, and the black Peugeot are our company cars)

CK

You mean I have to invest in Peugeots???

Is that a Macedonian restaurant? It's not the Georgian flag at the entrance is it? AFAIK the Georgian looks a lot like the English flag.

Google street view is funny. My car is also on it, but parked at our previous place. On the streetview of our current place, you can see our neighbour lounging in her front garden - face fuzzy of course.

CKhalvashi

Wheezy wrote: »

You mean I have to invest in Peugeots???

Is that a Macedonian restaurant? It's not the Georgian flag at the entrance is it? AFAIK the Georgian looks a lot like the English flag.

Google street view is funny. My car is also on it, but parked at our previous place. On the streetview of our current place, you can see our neighbour lounging in her front garden - face fuzzy of course.

The Kings Arms is Russian now, the one in the middle is Macedonian, and the entrance on the right is Georgian (The one that used to be Baro Bax).

It's so easy to get to, and as some NP know, I used to live in Valetta Road. The Peugeot is outside the drivers house, the BMW and Merc are both outside our house on Street View, but nothing funny apart from a large amount of scaffolding, oh, and the police at the bottom :eek:

CK

ETA: This is the Georgian flag, and it looks a little like the English flag, I admit. Thanks to highlander.ge for the photo.

CKhalvashi

sss555s wrote: »

Do you submit your ltd annual return yourself?

Always thought it was best to use an accountant, but would save a good bit by doing them myself.
They say an accountant will save you his fees and more, but i'm not so sure if that is the case in reality.

In 2007/8, the Holding co paid 42p in VAT, down from an estimate from HMRC of £200k-ish, so accountants can be worth their weight in gold in come circumstances, however it's certainly not always the case for small amounts.

CK

chewmylegoff

PasturesNew wrote: »

I have a question for Mr Smug.

"Our records show that your 2011-12 PAYE Notice of Coding includes an adjustment for tax underpaid. Underpaid tax for 2011-12 included in your tax code for 2012-13: £ 0.00

If this figure is not correct, select 'No' and you will be given a chance to amend it below"

Er ... WUT?

Just click next assuming £0 is right? Simples!

PasturesNew

chewmylegoff wrote: »

Just click next assuming £0 is right? Simples!

That''s what I did

PasturesNew

sss555s wrote: »

They say an accountant will save you his fees and more, but i'm not so sure if that is the case in reality.

I wouldn't dare go to one.... I figure there's nothing they can save me that'd cover their bill as my incomes are smaller than the sort of people those words are written for