TBH the media hyped up the whole flooding thing,

Same thing happened when I lived in Oxford a few years back. The tv presenters were trying to get as close to the river as possible, I thought one might fall in (no such luck).

Almost too clever…I can only listen to his radio show for a few minutes as it fries my brain.

My excuse to myself is a high pressure job & caring for a very ill wife, I know this is rubbish as others do it without the prop of drink but sometimes it feels like the only thing that blots out the pain.

A lot of alcohol misuse is self-medicinal. You could see your doctor to get some anti-anxiety treatment, whether drugs or therapy/CBT.

I drink through a combination of stress and boredom. I can’t imagine my life without alcohol, as it’s a social release, but I’ve usually been able to break up the drinking after getting through difficult periods.

I’m not a great fan of these “Give it up” for a month initiatives. I think reducing intake over a longer period of time is the best approach rather than complete tee-total.

My local newsagent does well. He took it over a few years back, has modernised the inside, offers a greater range of products.
He did get robbed at knifepoint a while back though.

Those are some crazy stats.

Presently living in Suffolk which is relatively pleasant for the SE but increasingly a chav heaven so I won’t be staying.

That’s my retirement plans scuppered! Why is it so bad? I’ve driven for work around Suffolk and my impression is that it is quite an elderly population but on the whole it is a beautiful county.

15 degrees here, have the window open.

And blame it on the dating site phenomenon

This has got even worse with Tinder, which is putting all the other dating sites out of business.

There is no dating scene now, just hookup culture.

The answer isn’t a magic man in the sky, as this would of course beg the child-like question of where did the magic man in the sky come from?

God is self-created. He is independent of the universe, and its creator. So God is outside of space-time, whereas the universe and everything in it, is not (although black holes could be the exception to this).

That’s how adherents of the Abrahamic religions understand it, anyhow.

where did gravity come from?
…I think that can probably be explained with science.

Not so far. That could change of course. But the question remains: where did the conditions for the creation of the universe come from? The simplest answer is that they were created by a self-created God.

Why do people feel so bloody lonely? Arent you happy with yourself?

Humans need company, of that I’m sure. But whether they need a romantic relationship, depends on the person. I would go crazy without seeing some friends down the pub once a week, but I can live without a romantic relationship fairly easily.

Then again, someone once said, “It is not good for man to be alone.”

Arrogance is an issue, but so is insecurity. Generally the more you get to know someone, either through friendship or a relationship, the more you come to understand how petrified many people are behind the normal “I’m fine” behavior.
The problem is that people are invisible. You never know what someone is feeling or thinking. And online dating just tends to be a showroom where people put themselves on display, polished and often available for a test run.

My folks have pretty much tidied up, infact my dad started doing the washing up before the desserts.

Seems that, despite what the adverts portray, it’s actually a time of year that makes many miserable.
Family politics and tensions. Pressures to spend lots of money on stuff people don’t really want or need…and to wear hilarious Xmas jumpers.

Sadly, that’s often reflected on this forum. I’m expecting the annual, “Recommend me a good divorce lawyer” thread to start in the next few days.

Henrik Ibsen set many of his plays at christmas time. There is something about it which brings all the repressed thoughts and anxieties to the surface.

Don’t forget to write down your mothers maiden name, DOB and the first line of your adresse……

love you till the money runs out….or the police arrive

Well I am due to inherit my parents house… 😉

I took a moment to think of Jenn today. I hope her friends and family are ok at what must be a very difficult time of year.

My day: stayed at my parents house, got up at 10am, opened presents, sister and her kids came for dinner which we had at 2pm, I fell asleep until 3pm, then watched a movie.
Not an inlaw in sight and no conflict.

I think it’s a necessary event to get us through the shortest days of the year.
It also gives people the opportunity to go and see their families if they live far away. And kids enjoy it, I certainly enjoyed it as a kid and I wouldn’t want to take that away from the younger generations.
But in terms of materialism, it’s awful. I avoid the xmas sales like the plague and spend the spare time reading, watching movies or seeing friends.

Probably…the best of the Beatles.

There is no faith required to not believe in fantasy characters.

I agree. But the Christian claim is different from the “flying spaghetti monster” claim. The Christian claim as I understand it is that there was a man called Jesus from Nazareth who lived, was crucified (something the historical record attests to with Josephus), and then resurrected (something the gospels affirm, but which is of course open to doubt unless you were there).

And more generally, to deny theism requires faith, as the empirical evidence we have does not answer the question of how something came from nothing (the creation of the universe).

Stephen Hawking wrote that all was needed for the creation of the universe was gravity – but it still begs the child-like question, where did gravity come from?

For the record, I’m not sure of anything, but atheists who claim the universe could have created itself are making as outlandish an assertion as the early Christians who said that God became a man in the form of Jesus.

I heard a theologian who once said that believers and atheists had more in common with one another than they had with agnostics/sceptics, insofar as they are looking for certitude.
This is especially the case when it comes to proselytizing one’s faith in God or one’s faith that God does not exist.
Either way, there is a very human need for certitude, and I wonder where that need comes from.

I would second Kryton on this regarding picking up exercises off YouTube.
I self-diagnosed a knee condition incorrectly and joined up to a gym with group exercises. Boy, was that a mistake. Even when I complained about the effect on my knees, the trainer said all you have to do is more of this and more of that.
I ended up losing quite a bit of weight but aggravated the knee condition even more to the extent that I couldn’t walk.

Certainly feels like winter round here for once.

All you need are 6 good quality beers to get you started then anything will do (except Tennents).

9 here. I’m ok at remembering faces but connecting them to names is a growing problem.

My in-laws have informed me my beer-du-jour is Stella.

Reminds me of my favourite quote from a pub.

“Pint of Stella in a Fosters glass please”.

How come only one of you had access to a mug of tea?

As above, also do not bring it up in any interviews unless they do. Just make sure you have a response.

This thread has probably saved a few lives over the years. The cathartic value of venting.

Otherwise we could all be living a real-life game of Cluedo:
Frank Sinatra, in the living room, with an iron bar insider a copy of the Daily Mail.

Suggestions of how one can occupy themselves in an office on Christmas Eve?

Bring a tent and some Sod-the-Bankers placards?

Colour co-ordinated too.

I’ve already made my excuses about going to my mad uncles place on Boxing Day (or st stephens day, as I prefer to call it – my day, so I shall do as I please, i.e. staying at home and drinking myself into a warm slumber.

Don’t feel guilty, you are unwell. Just ask the other half to be extra understanding, and if you need to spend the period in bed, so be it.
I’m in a bad state and other than seeing my parents on xmas day, am just staying in bed, watching tv and posting on here.

No inlaws here, and my sister is now divorced so I don’t have to interact with her frankly horrid ex-in-laws. So it will be me, my parents, my sister and her two children on xmas day.
Oh and the cat, which is also getting increasingly mischievous.

I think I’d be very hard to change now too. I’ve been single for so long I’m simply too used to doing what I want, when I want. It is threads like these which make me think I will stay like this, as there are a lot of “complicated” people out there, and in all fairness I’d include myself in that definition.
Anyhow, I hope all the single people have a relaxing and enjoyable christmas 🙂

Understood, I’m just wondering how it will affect dating conventions in the future, as most of the people where I live who are in their 20s live at home now and say they can’t afford the rents (which I can believe in many cases).
We may be returning to multi-generational families (i.e. people can’t afford to move out until they’ve met someone).

Worst line i have heard was “When my parents die, i will get the house” i ran into the night screaming.

Unfortunately for the younger generations, this is the only way they are going to get on the property-ladder!

A few reports of quality FiLs passing away…I hope they are all spending xmas day in heaven drinking port and smoking cigars whilst the still alive MiL brings hell upto earth for the day.
(Apologies to the quality MiLs in advance)

I agree, drinking through it helps, it’s the only answer to the boredom of having to watch the misery of Eastenders on xmas day with equally miserable people.

Constant yammering and talking must be some sort of medical condition. I’ve known men and women who have it, except in this case, the suffering is not experienced directly by the patient, but those people around him or her.

Bring on the inlaw stories I say.