Nice People 13: Nice Save

silvercar

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've always said that London's very cheap, except the housing. Over the years I've compared like-for-like and London's always been cheaper.

I agree, but you have to live somewhere and the housing is stupidly expensive. If you live further out your transport costs increase and your access to the cheap everything else decreases.

London also gives you access to the expensive stuff, but I accept you can ignore it if you wish.

LydiaJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

The thing is, if I announced to people in general "let's do something, have a BBQ, go to a beach" in August, there'd be more likely somebody interested .... than if I said "let's do something, come to my dark/wet area and let's do something in the cold/dark/wet".

I'm not fussed about doing something outdoors. Something centred on eating (and talking), indoors, is fine by me. But people won't come if they have gone away on holiday in some other part of the country/world for a couple of weeks.

I do usually manage to get at least one or two of my work friends to come out for a drink with me if I have an official birthday on A-level results day (almost always the Thursday closest to my birthday). Sometimes even 3 or 4 of them, but if I had a birthday in term time very likely 8 or 10 of them would come. I have only managed to get together with my church friends to go out for my birthday once since I moved here, and that was at least a couple of months after the actual date. That's probably because there are 4 of them who are particularly important to me, so I like to try to find a date that all 4 of them can manage, and if it's difficult then I run out of steam to bother trying.

LydiaJ

Helpful Builder has just sorted out a few small problems for me, but says that the slow leak on my kitchen tap is beyond repair. He has put it back together again, so it is usable for the week, and I am to choose and buy a new tap for him to fit when he comes back on Saturday.

I have never chosen a tap before. Do the NP have any advice of how I should go about choosing, places I should look, brands I should avoid, or issues I should take into consideration???

Happy Birthday PN. Am happily thinking of you with your tree and so glad you have a house in which to enjoy it.
:bdaycake:

zagubov

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've always said that London's very cheap, except the housing. Over the years I've compared like-for-like and London's always been cheaper.

There's loads to do for free - nothing to do for free in a lot of the rest of the country. Loads of places to look for things/get things cheaper due to competition. Transport is cheaper and goes to more places, more often, for longer hours (some even 24 hours/day).

I had a (high earning) friend in London who took another of our friends out for an indian meal. I looked up the menu online and found that the sit down price was about 2/3rds of what I'd have to pay for a takeaway.... and it wasn't a one off/special, or a place they had to seek out, it was simply "an indian restaurant within a mile".

London's even got a beach

I stick by what I said ages ago that I'd take a city over a town any day. You can live really well very cheaply in any big conurbation. If a place is big enough to have competing stores and entertainment venues and services and suppliers you'll get good deals and good value for your money. It'll be worthwhile running all-night stores and facilities and the transport will be good. There has to be a critical mass for that to happen.

I've got friends who live in a farm out in the sticks. They're into live music big time and always going to gigs, but they're happy to travel two hours away to Manchester or London or Birmingham. I've not got the stamina or resilience for that; it wouldn't suit me at all. I'd rather live in a city so I'd have the choices within reach.

lostinrates

LydiaJ wrote: »

For me it's the temptation to compare the path I'm on now with the path I thought I was on before everything went wrong with LNE. But I do try to resist it.

The other phrase I used to find kept cropping up to describe my experience of life was a quote from "Through the looking glass":

Yes, exactly the kind of thing I mean too.

But here we both are. nothing we can do about it but pick our selves up. We, and those who are likewise through the looking glass, just have to learn to accept so etchings are kinda back to front and go with the weirdness. Rules of refraction etc don't change cos 'its not fair', mores the pity. We're not going to be unchanged by these trips down rabbit holes but....doesn't have to be all bad IMO. Little bit of a mind bender is illuminating too.



Running total of teas is 41. Someone requested I went back and made them a coffee. So that would make 42.

That's also The end of it for today.

'Its only once a year was trotted out ' as I asked them to pop the dog poles through the gate....

And I smilingly reminded them it might be for them but not for us. Hunt were last week first time this year, hunt will be next again, then cycle race etc etc.....l

We like the events really, but its the ...entitlement and feeling we should be almost grateful that puddles me off a bit. Puts my girls out with the ponies too.

Doozergirl

silvercar wrote: »

I agree, but you have to live somewhere and the housing is stupidly expensive. If you live further out your transport costs increase and your access to the cheap everything else decreases.

London also gives you access to the expensive stuff, but I accept you can ignore it if you wish.

...Access to the expensive stuff and the urge to compare, compete or keep up with the people with expensive stuff. Potentially decreasing happiness as per Lydia's study, which I find absolutely true.

I am much happier since I decided not to compare. Not only is it incredibly damaging, you're usually comparing yourself to, and chasing, an illusion - meaning you will never be happy.

LydiaJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

In the past I've always trusted/relied on my PC clock to tell me the correct time. The other month I bought a radio controlled clock, that has the correct time by some voo-doo/magic ..... and the other week I noticed the two differ, so I checked the time (from TV teletext) and reset the PC clock.

I've just noticed they are 10 minutes different again, PC said 13:28, clock was 1:18 and TV said it was 1:18, so I've just reset it again.

Does anybody know why my PC clock, after PC clocks always automatically updating for the last 15+ years, is suddenly not telling me the right time?

How odd. I know my mobile gets its time from the network and is always a minute slow, but I've never heard of PC clocks being out by as much as 10 min. Will be v interested to hear what caused it if you manage to find out.

Doozergirl

The clock in my car insists on being 2 minutes fast. I can set the right time and it will manage to work itself two minutes ahead and stay there until the clocks change again.

Nikkster

LydiaJ wrote: »

How odd. I know my mobile gets its time from the network and is always a minute slow, but I've never heard of PC clocks being out by as much as 10 min. Will be v interested to hear what caused it if you manage to find out.

Do PCs get their time from the internet like mobiles can? I thought they kept time via the battery (i.e. you set the time, and the battery keeps it ticking over when the computer is switched off). Perhaps there isn't quite enough energy going through that bit of battery so it gets noticeably slow more quickly.

I am expecting that this is complete nonsense btw!

michaels

PasturesNew wrote: »

.... than if I said "let's do something, come to my dark/wet area and let's do something in the cold/dark/wet".

Open goal

PasturesNew wrote: »

In the past I've always trusted/relied on my PC clock to tell me the correct time. The other month I bought a radio controlled clock, that has the correct time by some voo-doo/magic ..... and the other week I noticed the two differ, so I checked the time (from TV teletext) and reset the PC clock.

I've just noticed they are 10 minutes different again, PC said 13:28, clock was 1:18 and TV said it was 1:18, so I've just reset it again.

Does anybody know why my PC clock, after PC clocks always automatically updating for the last 15+ years, is suddenly not telling me the right time?

Perhaps connected to your google being blocked, right click on the clock and find the settings re internet time sync. If it is not internet syncing then a flat bios battery may be affecting things.

Doozergirl wrote: »

The clock in my car insists on being 2 minutes fast. I can set the right time and it will manage to work itself two minutes ahead and stay there until the clocks change again.

We have the clock in our car (and my watch) a couple of minutes fast on purpose.