cochyn

Gen Z have been weaned on the internet. This shit is as real (and divisive) to them as beans of a fry up is to the rest of us. I'm not saying it's right, but y'know; horses for courses. As with every internet 'success' story, there's millions of poor saps who've been taken in by all the hype and wasted their young years and hard-earned real money fruitlessly chasing these unicorns. This whole shebang has '1929 New York stock market' written all over it.

The next set of Building Regulations due next April will twist the construction industries' arm: All our current housing schemes are gas-free, full electric everything (heating and EV charging) in readiness. Rolls Royce are looking to manufacture small-scale nuclear reactors to be retrofitted to defunct nuclear power plants such as Wylfa and Trawsfynydd. If I were investing anywhere right now, it'd be with RR. Siemens are working on using excess wind energy to power hydrogen fuel cell plants. They're also looking to the roll out of a hydrogen-methane mix to existing gas networks. The only way out of this (as has always been the case) is through private-sector innovation, enabled by government tax breaks for R&D followed by legislative measures to push through mass adoption of proven technology. We ain't going back to coal. Not a chance. Though how people are going to adapt to the phasing out of gas @~3-5p per kW/h for heating for electric heating charged @~15p/ kW/h is a head-scratcher...

I've had a couple of Barbour waxies (not the Beaufort mind, they're mostly worn by earnest PPE students around here). I've found the silkoyl waxed fabric harder wearing and easlier to re-wax and keep looking smart that the cotton.. Don't worry about looking like a Dingle, Farmers around here wear Shoffel.

Am I the only to notice she's got a zombie's left foot there?

Oy vey!

Poetry, that. Great to see it hasn't been festooned with loads of massive tellies and its own bowling alley and whatnot. Bit beyond my summer house budget, mind.

Lardi B

Reminds me of the time the Tories tried to bring in a roof tax instead of the Poll tax. Your gran's bungalow in Corby would have ended up paying more tax than an oligarch's London townhouse. Batshit.

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We design a LOT of houses and flats for the affordable market. Climate change and post-Grenfell means all new developments are no-gas and ASHP's are the default for heating and hot water now. However, these new houses are maxxed-out with insulation and are practically air-tight. They also use a Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery system (MVHR) which passes warm exhaust air through a heat exchanger to warm incoming air. This last bit is crucial to making ASHP's cost-effective compared to gas-fired an fully-electric heating systems. Without it, the ASHP has to work much harder (higher running costs) and it's operational life is affected. IMO, ASHP's will be no good for the majority of the UK's older, uninsulated and draughty housing stock. Unless the homeowner is OK with massive electricity bills in winter as the immersion heater will be running full-pelt to supplement the ASHP unit. Short-medium term, the only benefit over gas will be if electricity unit prices fall by at least 35% or if the price of gas stays high.

Netflix (which I rarely watch - it's mostly shit series and long-winded doccos). She has Prime which has more hits than misses. Honestly, 4OD is my go-to as the back catalogue is vast and varied. I'd pay good money for HBO just for Curb. But it seems nigh-on impossible to acquire on these shores without a Sky subscription. And Murdoch can quite frankly go piss up a rope.

I thought Bobby was excellent all over the pitch last night. Won the ball back at key moments in the second half when they had their tails up and went gunning for the win. He's looking more like the old Bobby these days. If Dave's feeling a Big Moment from Ox, I'm going for a no-look finish from Bobby against the mancs this weekend.

Same. Looking forward to what it throws at me now. Be a change from car vids and fucking panel show clips from 2012

I used to cut him some slack as he was clearly being given the shitty end of the stick by the tories by being forced to clash benefits. What I now realise is the willingness to acquiesce, and the relish with which he did it marks him out as an utter cunt, as you say. The frightening thing is he doesn't even realise what a massive cunt he is. The cunt..

I hardly ever rewatch anything. But when Netflix isn't inspiring, these are my fall-backs: Fury Blade Runner 2049 Where Eagles Dare Dead Man's Shoes Goodfellas

I can't neg a brother. But let it be known my brow is furrowed in your direction, sir! She's still a snack.

Pre takeover, City fans were amongst the best in my match going experience. Decent craic and happy to share a cab up to Anfield. They always caught a break because they'd genuinely been through the fucking ringer throughout the '80's and '90s and suffered for their love of their club. The geordies on the other hand were like that special kid full of fake bravado you put up with out of pity. Won fuck all but reckoned they were everyone's favourite second club. I'll never forget the bunch of them outside cabbage hall in 2005 singing "you can stick your champions league up your arse"! It was the pity that saved them from getting filled in that day. Oh god, they'll be in-fucking-sufferable now...

I think it's important not to fixate on trying to bounce back to a previous state. See it more as a bounce to a different place in time. The pace of change is far quicker than our forebears ever new. So we need a greater degree of plasticity to be able to adjust to the ever-changing contexts our lives are in. There is also little time to mourn our past selves, so maybe we're better going with the flow. Unfortunately, I find this plasticity diminishes with age. Along with my tolerance for bullshit that has no apparent value or utility. I for one am embracing my grumpy side as it is crucial for filtering out the torrents of bullshit washing back and forth through my new-found chi, man.

Nah, Mikey Palmice every day mate. its a strange film as it crams in loads and yet says nothing much. It views like a collection of rushed set-ups to a lot of disjointed climaxes. Enjoyable enough though and it couldn't hope to match the series. My two bob: John Bernthal was criminally under used and should have been the central character along with Livia. Dialogue wasn't a patch on the series and relied too much on quips to lift it. Too many 'name' character actors doing bad Soprano impressions slightly overshadowed a couple of standout performances (Livia, especially). The rival black gang was a total plot device that should have been left on the cutting room flooor - it detracted from the family which had plenty to offer. Might warrant a second viewing..

Aye you're right, by a French-Dutch company. Good to know there's sunlit uplands somewhere, they're in the EU!

And just look at the craftmanship on that. France's most cost-effective.

And as in the case of a number of rail networks; bailing them out with taxpayers money when they inevitably fail. And yet, TfL - a publicly owned entity - manages to be highly efficient and well run in comparison. I've a pet theory that most Tories simply can't grasp that most people who work, do so for the sense of satisfaction it brings. Introduce a bottom-line mantra to any company and you replace the notion of pride in the job to "how can you make us more money"? It replaces the very human and empowering senses of loyalty and pride with the hollow drudge of satisfying the tyranny of the excel-sheet in the hunt for elusive profits. It's ultimately dehumanising and self-defeating. Public services are unprofitable by design - that's why the role of government isn't advertised by public tender every five years. Imagine if it was?

Ha! one of my favourite threads, threads. Here's a few links to some decent UK-made clobber. Probably mostly outdoors-y but you do need something that can keep the weather out. https://www.peregrineclothing.co.uk/mens/jackets https://mcnairshirts.com/ http://www.buffalosystems.co.uk/products/ https://www.phdesigns.co.uk/insulated-synthetic-and-down-jackets-pullovers-vest-gillets-suits-trousers-pants-salopettes https://www.snugpak.com/ https://fortisclothing.co.uk/

Interesting one, this. The 'plan' is to start introducing Hydrogen to the gas network over time and blending it with methane (natural gas), as I understand it. That's why you see the gas board everywhere ripping up roads to make sections of the network Hydrogen ready. The blurb explains how we'll get 'green' hydrogen through electrolysis of sea water using excess wind energy. The reality is the government prefers the use of 'blue' hydrogen which is extracted from.....natural gas! Purely because it's cheaper to produce at present and relies on spurious carbon storage methods to claim it's carbon neutrality. It's a classic Tory ruse; like getting everyone into diesel cars a decade ago purely because it ticks the boxes they have in front of them. Making Hydrogen from methane is like melting candles to harvest the wicks. Utterly pointless.

I remember my mate meeting me at the station on the way to the Boavista game and telling me Libyans had crashed a jet into the WTC. We thought "can a fighter jet fly from Tripoli to NYC - must be bollocks"? Got to Liverpool and sat in The Grapes watching it all unfold on the telly. Fucking hell. Anfield was a surreal place to be that night. The BBC docco about it (on iplayer now) is as harrowing now as you'd expect. But it perfectly recollects the utter confusion and disbelief in the immediate aftermath. There's a scene where Bush addresses the rescue teams at ground zero on 9/14: they begin chanting "USA! USA!" Seeing that now and the parallels with footage of massed jihadis chanting "Allahu Akbar" bring it into focus: This is Holy War (or at least an ideological one) with no obvious end in sight.