The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

Doozergirl

vivatifosi wrote: »

What a stupid system! I never knew that was the case.

A brilliant excuse to drink champagne. :beer:

Doozergirl

Has everyone seen the sneak preview of the new forum? It looks nice.

I'm very happy that we will be able to directly upload photos. It means that I'll be able to add my own photos to our self-build thread. At the moment, other people have added some from my instagram account because this forum drives me nuts and I can't work out how to embed photos anymore.

And people might stop trying to explain their house layouts in words and post the floor plans.

I've taken a screenshot of my avatar but I fancy a change and may become Patsy from Ab Fab.

vivatifosi

Pastures, I came on to ask you if you are doing Transcription Tuesday next week. However I've just read your post above and wanted to say to keep your spirits up. You are more nimble and proceed able than anyone, and the fact that you've missed out on suitable houses in the past year tells me that something will come up, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Pyxis

Doozergirl wrote: »

Has everyone seen the sneak preview of the new forum? It looks nice.

I'm very happy that we will be able to directly upload photos. It means that I'll be able to add my own photos to our self-build thread. At the moment, other people have added some from my instagram account because this forum drives me nuts and I can't work out how to embed photos anymore.

And people might stop trying to explain their house layouts in words and post the floor plans.

I've taken a screenshot of my avatar but I fancy a change and may become Patsy from Ab Fab.

The trouble with the circular avatar space on the forum-to-come is that you don’t get as much of the picture as in the square space on the green skin.

Still, it does look like longer usernames might be readable in full on the one to come, and not truncated annoyingly as on the blue/white skin.
Not that that was a problem with mine! 😁



Does anyone know if all the emojis are coming with us? They’d better not leave behind the greatest emoji of all time.......... the eek!

I’ve not seen it on any other forum or emoji list, and it really is the most wonderfully expressive thing.


On another note.......
I don’t know if anyone’s been watching Richard Osman’s House of Games?

I started watching it recently, and at first I wasn’t sure, but I do quite like it now. Each daily episode has four people from TV/radio competing to win small brain games. The games vary from day to day, except that the last game is always AnswerSmash, where the name of something/someone in a photo has to run into the answer to a question below the photo.
So, for example, a photo of a teacup would run into the answer to the question “What is the name of a long-running TV serial about Edwardian servants and the family they work for?” Upstairs, Downstairs.

So the answer would be Teacupstairs Downstairs.

The games are a mixture of popular culture questions, general knowledge, and sometimes harder stuff. The one I like is Highbrow Lowbrow. Two questions, one very highbrow, like to do with Nietzsche, and one lowbrow, as in popular culture, have the same answer, and so you get 2 points for answering from the highbrow one, and one point if you only get it from the lowbrow one.

Eg, there was one about George Bernard Shaw’s übermensch, highbrow, together with who was Kal-El from Krypton better known as, lowbrow......answer Superman.

Because the games vary from day to day, it doesn’t get boring.




I watched an awful lot of daytime telly at the end of last year, due to being in bed a lot, and got hooked on the New Zealand Border Patrol series. It was quite an eye-opener. I am now an expert on all the things that are prohibited to bring into New Zealand, and more importantly, why they are prohibited.
Mainly foodstuffs. Things you might think are ok to bring in, because they seem innocuous, are a real threat to agriculture and wildlife, and good on them for being so strict.

It’s really funny when people declare they have no food in their luggage, and they they are found to have suitcases full of nothing but food.

I also got my ear tuned into the New Zealand accent, which I quite like.

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

Yes, I keep thinking "today could be the day THE one comes up....".

Trouble is, working out if I'm "positive thinking" or "mad".

While it's looking and feeling bleak and that I've missed some mythical boat, so should I just "pick the best one of those that you don't really want and just buy it now" ... I still believe "something will turn up soon".

I'll give it one more month, then pick "best that's for sale at the moment"

Thing is, PN, you have paid for 6 months of lodgings, so why give yourself one month's deadline?
The property market should start picking up after the Christmas lull now, so hang on in there.

Also, I was reading your thoughts on going for a flat. Hopefully, you have now discounted that option? The reason being that if you sold your old house because you wanted defendable boundaries, you really won't get defendable boundaries in a flat, you will have much less control over expenses, and you could have nuisances from every direction....up, down, left, right, not to mention no end of potential problems with parking/car spaces etc.
My heart sank when I read that you might consider a flat.

Of course, a bungalow flat would probably be ok. :rotfl:

PasturesNew

Pyxis wrote: »

.... paid for 6 months of lodgings, so why give yourself one month's deadline?
The property market should start picking up after the Christmas lull now, so hang on in there.

Well ... time slides by.

I've been waiting for it to "pick up", as it allegedly will do, only it hasn't. And now it's nigh on the end of January. I was expecting sellers to be chomping at the bit with details ready to go live 2-15 January.... an avalanche of property for sale. It didn't happen.... so, how long does one wait? When IS this alleged bounce? And, of course, most things come on at a silly/high price, so you have to wait 2-3 weeks before they drop, or consider dropping. Many sit well outside affordability ... until they've dropped... after a wait.

Yes, paid for 6 months, but it could be 3-4 for conveyancing and, I just kind of want to know where I'll be.

I don't like moving, being unsettled. I've always wanted to stay put, but that's not how life turned out.

I just want.... to open the door, put my bag down ... and have a kip at "home"

Soonest.

Also, I was reading your thoughts on going for a flat. Hopefully, you have now discounted that option? The reason being that if you sold your old house because you wanted defendable boundaries, you really won't get defendable boundaries in a flat, you will have much less control over expenses, and you could have nuisances from every direction....up, down, left, right, not to mention no end of potential problems with parking/car spaces etc.
My heart sank when I read that you might consider a flat.

Of course, a bungalow flat would probably be ok. :rotfl:

Not really keen on a flat at all, but not dismissing all of them with one stroke.

If one came up with: a garage beside the private entrance, with a private/gated garden (possibly a conservatory) where a portion of the flat had nothing above it - and if the layout and orientation were right - and if the service charges weren't high - and if it were C Tax band C .... and if there were defendable borders round the garden etc ... and no big trees .... I'd go view it

PasturesNew

Ironically ... one of the first houses I viewed I dismissed.... for "good reasons".

Roll on a year, it was sold long before I was able to buy it .... if it came up today exactly as it was then, at that price, I'd rip their arm off

When you see the endless dross and inadequates out there.... you look back on early "dismiss that for XYZ reason" and realise that the reason wouldn't stack up today as it's got other things and you could, at a push, actually live with the thing you were trying to avoid.

Some houses have appeared on the market, sold/completed, been lived in, relisted, sold and are about to complete for a 2nd time... since I put my house on the market and started looking (Sep 2018).

My timeline was:
May 18: Decide I wanted to sell.
Jun/Jul 18: Get house decluttered, sorted, handyman to do jobs etc.
Sep 18: On the market.
May 19: 4th viewer from early Oct 18 bought mine....
Oct 19: Completed mine.

And now we're ... nearly February already.

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

Well ... time slides by.

I've been waiting for it to "pick up", as it allegedly will do, only it hasn't. And now it's nigh on the end of January. I was expecting sellers to be chomping at the bit with details ready to go live 2-15 January.... an avalanche of property for sale. It didn't happen.... so, how long does one wait? When IS this alleged bounce? ut, but that's not how life turned out.

Well, December was a trying time for everyone, what with the election and all, and since Christmas, the weather has been awful, what with the wind and almost constant rain.
Not conducive to thoughts of moving house.

And it is still only January.

With the days lengthening, people’s thoughts will probably turn to moving from now on.

Doozergirl

Pyxis wrote: »

Well, December was a trying time for everyone, what with the election and all, and since Christmas, the weather has been awful, what with the wind and almost constant rain.
Not conducive to thoughts of moving house.

And it is still only January.

With the days lengthening, people’s thoughts will probably turn to moving from now on.

We accepted an offer yesterday. It was asking price, but we had recently reduced. Things picked up on the viewing front with five booked in a week. We get to cancel two of them.

It's definitely been weird. Lots of viewings, then the Brexit debacle in October. Flurry of viewings then the election. Then Christmas, now Brexit isn't all that exciting and thing seem to have picked up.

Quite a lot coming to the market over the last few days and few good signs popping up after months of stagnation.

Fingers crossed for a smooth ride!!

PasturesNew

In trying to find somewhere to live I'm having to pick my way round the "most deprived" areas....

For the sake of those in St Albans, looking at the interactive map of "good and bad areas", all those around you are "good areas", without multiple areas of deep deprivation.

Comparing density of deprivation and pretty colours on the map, I am effectively trying to pick my way round Luton to find something affordable in a "not so bad bit".

I don't have whole of area available to me .... and, half of what's left can be written off as that's where wealthy people/millionaires live so I'm not looking there.

One doesn't want to be in one of these most deprived areas, nor sandwiched between two

Nifty map. http://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd/idmap.html

This map's 'invaluable' for spotting where ward boundaries are and whether a really bad area's in the next road... or if the red's starting to disappear. I will be buying in an orange area.... red=bad, green=expensive, orange=achievable. If I hit it lucky, the area will be yellow (unlikely).