What do you have to lose?

Having to get someone else in to do it yet again afterwards?

If you’re playing that card then “in a professional context” you would be legally obliged to give him the opportunity to repair the unsatisfactory service before you were entitled to seek financial compensation.

Nope. You can demand a refund if the work is unsatisfactory. CRA 2015. He assured us everything would be satisfactory by the time he finished. As he has subsequently admitted it’s not, we are entitled to ask for a refund.

With a “lifelong close friend” though, this is into the realms of AITA fodder on Reddit.

What’s that supposed to mean?

He screwed up, he’s offered to make it right. Do you actually want it making right or do you want the cash? If he doesn’t fix it, someone else will have to and you’re starting again.

He shouldn’t’ be having to offer to make it right. this is the point. He’s an experienced professional. Turns out that he’s only used this water based crap once before, so we’re sort of guinea pigs. We wanted top quality work, and believe me, we’ve paid top dollar even for London. So for him to walk away thinking it was anywhere near acceptable, is really poor on his part. We shouldn’t be having to try and negotiate anything.

If you don’t mind losing him as a friend and have time to burn then you could try chasing him for a partial refund, but that does look like you’re just trying to get money off.

The friendship is more important. But we do need to have it out properly. We can’t leave it as it is. He knows he’s **** up, so the onus is on him to sort it. He hasn’t even offered any dates to come and sort it. So we’re going to get someone else in anyway. I’m forbidden from saying anything, as I’m not as diplomatic as my wife. I did have a massive go at him when I discovered he was sanding paintwork down with a power sander without any dust collection. What a mess. Dust was blowing under doors and through keyholes. This is basic stuff! I think we’re going to have to get a ‘neutral’ mutual friend to have a quiet word. Best resolution is an apology and significant refund. Worst thing for him, would be losing our friendship. So it’s down to him to fix it really.

How so? Flaky, poor coverage? Brush marks?

We were promised a near-gloss finish. The thing with proper oil based gloss paint, is that it takes a long time to dry, so you get that ‘annealing’ which leaves that lovely smooth shiny glossy finish. Water-based paint dries too quickly so you don’t get such a shine. Ok, but the actual standard of painting was terrible too. Streaky, uneven finish, brush mark, runs, the lot. Dreadful. One of the worst paint jobs I’ve ever seen, and definitely the very worst from a professional. I’ve rarely seen a complete beginner do worse, actually.

Don’t know why he insisted. It’s the customers choice to go water or oil-based once furnished with the facts regarding the pros and cons of each. Water-based won’t go yellow for example. But is less hard-wearing and will show brush marks more.

Had it been done well, we could have accepted the slightly less than glossy finish you will inevitably get with water based paint. His instance was based on ‘health reasons’. Ok, fair enough. This we now know wasn’t really the case; he just wanted the easiest job possible.

I’m not seeing the problem here. Why not let him, and find out? It’s not going to cost you anything and is unlikely to be worse.

If he did such a poor job in the beginning, we have no confidence in him improving much on that. Why let him **** it up twice?

He screwed up, he’s offered to make it right. Do you actually want it making right or do you want the cash? If he doesn’t fix it, someone else will have to and you’re starting again.

I don’t really see why, in a professional context, we need to give him a second chance. As I said, it’s not like it’s a couple of small snags, it’s the whole **** job.

I really don’t get this

I have explained it all previously.

It looks to me like the Labour party have done that

It doesn’t look like it to me.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59910107

The current shadow health secretary’s answer to the problems with the NHS is to further privatise it, basically. That does not fill me with optimism for a future under Labour. It’s clear Streeting has learned nothing from the past, and is willing to repeat the same mistakes.

https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/twenty-five-years-on-its-clearer-than-ever-that-new-labour-failed

We had our home decorated about 6 months ago. Not bad, a few snags here and there. General standard was ok.

BUT

The decorator insisted on using a ‘new technology’ water-based paint for the woodwork. We tried arguing we wanted a nice shiny gloss finish, but he was adamant this stuff would be great. OK.

It was SHIT.

Unfortunately, we paid him before the job was completed. To make matters worse, he and his wife are lifelong close friends of my wife. And otherwise, a truly lovely bloke. Their kids are surrogate niece and nephew to us. Initially, he tried claiming that there was nothing much wrong with the paintwork. He then admitted it was substandard, and agreed to make good. My view is that he’s had his opportunity to do it properly, and failed. It’s not like it’s one or two snags (the other snags weren’t fixed in spite of him promising to do so before he finished), it’s all the woodwork in the entire house. It’s terrible. What a disaster.

So we’re now in a position where what we actually want is a significant partial refund, and to have to get someone else to do it properly. He, obviously, wants to come in and do it again. But we’re fearful we’ll just end up with another substandard job. So there’s the potential for a seriously damaged friendship at stake. It’s a disaster. We’re facing losing a significant chunk of money, in order to not let that happen. But that’s still not right, and isn’t really a proper resolution; we’ll always be resentful unless we get at least some of our money back. It’s significantly more than the OP is losing out on, too.

WWSTWD?

‘Idiot, stupidity, daft’…not very convincing techniques for delivering an argument or evidence, might be of some use in the playground.

What about calling someone a tory, when they’ve already stated they want a Labour government?

Erm nope I was replying to cookeaa’s comment (that I don’t think was entirely serious anyway) and that’s what most voters actually want at the moment… not “unless you sign up to ALL of these ideals/beliefs you are a closet Tory”.

Sorry. It wasn’t clear.

They don’t have to vote Tory though do they… there are more than 2 parties.

But then if someone were to express their intention to vote for anyone else, they’d run the risk of being accused of more or less voting for the tories anyway…

Other than for storage, any reason to go for folding saw over non-folding?

Not unless you need to carry them about to different places really.

I agree about learning to saw rather than relying on saw guides which is why I cut so many of those bloody little blocks. Later ones were freehand but saw guide makes it fool proof though – at least for my level of fool.

There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with using such a guide, but to be good at woodworking, it’s good to learn good techniques. Kayak’s explanation of his sawing technique is an example of how someone has learned the skill of using a tool effectively. I find that very often, it’s actually easier to just grab a hand tool, than setting up a machine. For example dovetails; yes, you can buy expensive jigs to use with routers, and yes, you will (with a little practice) be able to produce perfect dovetail every single time. But for all the time and expense involved, you can produce near identical results by hand. Which is far, far more satisfying. I’m not a total luddite, machines have their place. Nothing beats a track saw for a clean, straight edge along a board. Taking weeks to chisel out something a router can do in seconds, is folly. But producing a clean, crisp dovetail with no gaps, entirely by hand, is a true pleasure. The reward is as much in the doing, as the finished product.

Nope this stranger on the internet is convinced that you’re a Tory.

Ok. You believe what you want. In other news, the Earth is a globe… 🌍

Every time I wonder how the Tory’s get most people to vote against their own financial self interest I get reminded it’s the Labour supporters doing that job for them.

That’s daft. Wanting a decent government who are actually capable of making the changes necessary for our society to survive, let alone progress, isn’t ‘doing the tories job for them’. Only an idiot would make such a conclusion.

In order for Labour to be effective, it needs to look at the mistakes of the past, its own included. And not make them again. And it needs to listen to all its members, and entertain a broad range of ideas. This is called learning. If Labour is unwilling to learn, it will be unfit to govern. Calling people tories for pointing out the blindingly obvious, it sheer stupidity.

Kayak23; seen these beauties?

https://www.workshopheaven.com/gyokucho-fugaku-folding-japanese-saws-set-of-3/

Great for pulling out if challenged by a rival gang of woodworkers…

The guy in the shop told me that I ‘must’ make a magnetic saw guide

I don’t know a single decent woodworker who bothers with such a thing. You don’t ‘need’ it. Sure, it can be helpful as a beginner, but it’s far, far better to practice sawing until you can saw a perfect straight line. If you still can’t, use a machine. As for dovetails; again, practice. Practice practice practice. You will develop muscle memory which will enable you to produce consistent straight cuts, time after time.

The Ryoba saw is a great tool. So versatile. But also consider saws with a stiffening spine; this helps to prevent that flex. That’s probably what’s been hampering your efforts, if you’ve only been using a jack saw. They’re good for rough cutting timber fast, but not for finer stuff. A decent dovetail saw is very useful, as the finer tooth count helps when cutting down the grain. I have one, a Veritas, excellent quality, but for very small work, I use a little Dozuki Japanese saw, which has the stiffening spine. That’s probably my favourite saw, and the one I reach for most.

So I’m assuming you’re another closet conservative troll

Assuming stuff, without bothering to check the facts, can end up with you looking a bit stupid:

“We need a change of government. We need a Labour government.But we need a Labour government that will actually bring about the changes our society needs, not to just paper over the cracks.”

Posted 20 hours ago

Oh. 🤭

Im paying no more attention to the cheats and spending my time watching everyone else for some car racing. That’s as far as my interest goes unless something is done with RB to level the playing field in 2024 and I might get interested again*

*In will be interested in Mercedes 2024 redesign.

K thanx bye. See you in 2024.

Not ’till the election is called, no.

Why not just put one out now anyway? Why not just announce some clear policies?

Plenty were announced at the Labour Party Conference, and have been repeated recently, including at the TUC only, what.. yesterday?

I’ve read Starmer’s speech. Something about New Deal (ooh, that’s original…), something something Green, repealing the 2016 Trade union act is good though, but minimum for Labour really.

That’s why we’ll end fire and rehire…
ban zero-hour contracts…
extend parental leave…
strengthen flexible working…
better protections for pregnant women…
mandatory reporting on ethnicity pay gaps…
statutory sick pay for all…
a single worker status…

Again, standard fare for Labour. Pretty sure Corbyn said all of this. I’m still not hearing anything new. He’s still steering clear of committing to re-nationalisation of public utilities, reversing the privatisation of the NHS, making university education free for all again, stamping out corruption and cronyism, etc etc. The average person in the street won’t pay any attention to the TUC conference, they need to hear stuff over and over again, that reassures them. And in this respect, Starmer has largely been silent. It’s been people like Mick Lynch that have held more truth to power. We need more people like that. But Starmer doesn’t like people like that…

I don’t think you’re making the point that you think you’re making here.

So, please tell me; what is it?

“What Keir Starmer actually said:”

Nothing, then. No actual policies, no actual manifesto, just ‘we’ll have one if and when needed’. Hardly convincing, is it? Where is then Kier? Up your arse? Pull it out ffs. Show some balls. Not Ed, though. Nobody needs to see that.

It really isn’t.

It really is.

The problem that the Tories have isn’t what new labour did 30 years ago

It very much is. As I said before; New Labour laid the foundations for what thew tories then did to the NHS. Anything that wasn’t ‘profitable’, such as mental health care, got slashed. Costs rocketed, with the public footing the bill. I’m not saying New Labour were 100% to blame for what has happened since, but those responsible still need to be held accountable for their actions. Whilst waiting lists went down, other services suffered. New Labour’s 1997 pledge was: “Our fundamental purpose is simple but hugely important: to restore the NHS as a public service working co-operatively for patients, not a commercial business driven by competition.” Yet here we are.

So what? Your personal reflections of your own experiences of historic treatment by the NHS are literally worthless as data, sorry

I wasn’t actually arguing with you, merely pointing out that the current situation may well be worse than it was 30, 40, 50 years ago. The NHS was probably at it’s best (in modern times at least) under New Labour from 1997-2010. At least it matched most of the rest of Europe. But so what? That should be the minimum. but huge mistakes were made, and should not be repeated.

So if we do get a GE you’re feeling more inclined to vote Tory right now?

How on earth did you arrive at that conclusion? Bizarre. You missed my point; whilst we do indeed desperately need a new government, we need one that will be effective in reversing the damage the tories have done, which means a lot of re-nationalisation/un-privatisation, lots of investment in crucial areas, and one which is going to stand up to money and stop the corruption and rot that is bleeding our society dry. Currently, I am not convinced Labour under Starmer is capable of that. That doesn’t mean I’m going to vote tory though, that’s just ridiculous.

do you really want to quibble over the Blair/Brown years right now?

If you want to learn why a house’s foundations collapsed, then it’s a waste of time focussing on the roofers. If Labour want to govern effectively, then they have to look at their own mistakes and learn from them. They have to think about the long term, because that’s what will help keep them in power and keep the tories out.

Ignoring why the foundations failed, will just lead to another collapse.

But it’s still Labour that need to prove something to you about their fitness to govern?

They need to convince a majority of the electorate. Right now, it looks like they could sleepwalk their way into Downing Street. But they still need a plan. Merely relying on ‘we’re not the tories’ isn’t really enough when the nation needs rebuilding.

No it isn’t.

Yes it is.

Everything that New Labour did 12+ years ago pales into insignificance alongside the wrecking ball that the Tories have been wielding.

See: Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And whilst New Labour may not have caused as much damage domestically, what they did do was lay the way for the tories to continue as they wanted to; IE, make themselves and their friends richer at the expense of the rest of us. Now I don’t blame the entire Labour Party for those illegal wars, or indeed much of the damage that the party leadership helped enable, but the party has to acknowledge and take responsibility for its past mistakes.

Before New Labour it wasn’t uncommon for folks to die on a waiting list, after their reforms (the 18 weeks wait) that stopped and equally the need to spends thousands on private surgery

That’s a pretty revisionist view of what really happened. The benefits were very temporary; the long lasting damage much more permanent. Blair’s ‘reforms’ left the public with a much, much larger bill for healthcare, and the inevitable decline in standards. Billions were wasted in dodgy contracts and failed IT systems. Healthcare was taken out of the hands of clinicians, and put into the pockets of the rich. Blair did not leave the NHS in a healthy condition.

The NHS today s back to where we were pre 1997.

I remember it as being a lot better in the 70s, 80s and 90s when I was growing up, to what it is now.

just to be clear to all the thick people who still don’t realise/ admit whose fault this is.

Oh look…

Intelligent. Don’t understand something; call someone else ‘thick’.

What I will grant you is that some of it goes back to that “bigoted old woman” that Gordon Brown met. The fact he went crawling back to her apologising for saying what was true – she was thick and bigoted and needed to be told that – meant that views like hers suddenly had some legitimacy behind them, the other thick and bigoted people thought they were valid views. Views later courted and weaponised for Brexit.

And there you have it; the privileged elite labelling people as ‘bigots’, without bothering to try to understand where their fears came from. And you wonder why Labour lost so many voters?

We need a change of government. We need a Labour government.But we need a Labour government that will actually bring about the changes our society needs, not to just paper over the cracks.

His ‘merit’ is now two tainted WC’s as well as being a sport sportsman.

But I’m sure you are right. No one outside the UK cares that RB have cheated their way to another championship.

Lol! Want some vinegar with all that salt?

Now; this weekend’s racing. Anyone want to discuss that?

Unlike son of Jos?

He’s there on merit though. He is much better than his dad ever was. Mick Schumacher hasn’t proved to be much cop either.

No it isn’t. Whilst New Labour inevitably effected the trajectory of the UK this is all on the Tories.

It was New Labour who started the stealth privatisation of the NHS through the PFI scam, The Foundation Trust scam, and the ‘Unsustainable Provider’ scam which saw the sell off of NHS land and properties. It was New Labour who accelerated the tory plan to stop free university education and make students pay for it, it was New Labour who courted big business at the expense of working people. It was New Labour that took us into an illegal war which saw the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people, and caused a humanitarian crisis which will last many decades into the future.

I’d argue that Corbyns dragging of the Labour Party towards the precipice and aquiessance with Brexit have a lot more to do with where we are now than anything Blair and Brown did.

But ultimately this isn’t Corbyns fault either

Blair and Brown were in power. The tories simply carried on their work. We are where we are right now, as a direct result of New Labour. Margaret Thatcher, when asked what her greatest legacy was, said ‘Tony Blair’. That says it all.

Forget all that, it’s boring and hardly anyone outside the UK actually GAS anyway.

Now that Max has his second well deserved WC, who will take second this season? Will it be a battle between Perez and LeClerc, or could Russell sneak in and grab it? Or will Carlos Sainz suddenly discover some of the driving talent his father had, and prove he’s not just their cos he’s someone’s son?

The problem (for Labour) in holding a GE before Christmas, is that they’d have no time to really prepare a proper manifesto or form some solid policies, and if they did win, they’d then have the poisoned chalice of this coming winter, where many people will die through cold and malnutrition. Would they have time to force price reductions from the energy companies? I can’t see that happening under Starmer. The tories have done so much damage, they’d be leaving nothing but smoking ruins for their successors to have to try and fix. Perhaps it would be better to wait until after winter, then push for a GE with a tide of anger behind them; this would maybe enable them to form some decent much needed socially beneficial plans, such as a programme of nationalisation of utilities, control of transport, a pledge to make education more accessible, and a reversal of the creeping privatisation of the NHS. Trouble is; a lot of what’s happening now is a result of New Labour’s actions. And I can’t see Starmer reversing much of that.

Oof.

Sam Allardyce. He’s not averse to the odd bung either…

I was wondering this just yesterday! Saw it on a telly programme, definitely an iPhone, thought ‘why doesn’t my iPhone do that?’ 🤔

There really isn’t anything I’d consider worth paying a sub for.

I have to actually take back this earlier comment of mine. ‘Bad Sisters’ is the first genuinely good thing I found on Apple TV. It’s worth a month’s sub alone. Highly recommended.👍🏻

HotD is crap, let’s be honest. Entertaining, but it’s drawn out way too much. Each episode has about 5 minutes of anything actually happening, right at the end. You could just cut those segments out and put them together in one long episode really. It’s not written very well, it’s largely not acted very well, the gloomy ‘style’ is, I suspect, to hide the shoddy CGI, set and costume designs etc. I judge a programme by how often I’ll look at my ‘phone whilst ‘watching’ it; HotD doesn’t hold my interest much; like others, I’m often just half watching. The scene with the fighting children was disturbing though.

If you pronounce Mötörhead as suggested by the use of umlauts, then surely it should sound like ‘Muurtuurhead’. Which sounds a bit Geordie. Like. Man. Y’knaa. Pet.

Hh, totally not a metalhead, but Maiden. Cos they’re the only band of they type that produces sound that’s anywhwere vaguely like actual music.

The solution to poorly performing public entities is not privatisation, it’s running them properly.

Amen.

For a number of jobs…. yes. It’s more efficient, cheaper (and we all want stuff to be cheaper) and better quality.

Please give examples.

Some are – I always do – you’re not forced to do it.
But why wait in a queue of people with trolleys just to buy 4 things? There aren’t any petrol pump attendants any more – are you complaining about that also?

My local Sainsbury’s have moved to all self service tills except the cigarette counter, where it’s 5 items or less. So if you have a trolley full, you have to stand in line anyway. Not all the SS tills work, they are frequently out of order. Queues are now much longer than before. Any problems, and there’s just one member of staff having to deal with all customers. We had to wait nearly 10 minutes on our last visit, because that staff member was having to deal with several other customers with issues, and all we needed was for her to verify our alcohol purchases. You have to place every single item on a bagging area (which I presume checks weight), and can’t start actually bagging anything up until all items have been scanned. So what used to be a 10 minute wait max, from joining the queue for a till to walking out will all purchases bagged up, actually took around 25 minutes. Please explain how that’s ‘more efficient’. Also; please explain how this system helps those who are sight impaired, have learning difficulties or just can’t use the technology.

They kinda have. What’s happened is that the cost savings/efficiencies have allowed prices to be kept down.

There will be savings, but there will also be costs incurred for the self-checkout facilities. Overall it will save money (see above) and make the experience better for those that want to use it.

Any savings will be dwarfed by price rises in energy and food costs.

Plus, as all supermarkets (or most of the big ones) are doing the same, any cost savings are taken up keeping prices down to compete.

But prices are actually rising. And the experience for customers is generally worse. I can’t imagine what it’s like for staff, but thankfully I am lucky enough not to have to work there.

But for those apologists of tory policy/anti-unionists, there’s something you seem to be unaware of/have ignored, and that is the impact to our society. So if people lose their jobs, how will they pay their mortgages, feed their families etc? How will they buy goods in order for the economy to keep moving? If increasing numbers of people become unemployed and reliant on benefits, who foots that bill? Where does that money come from? Shareholders?

Cost of everything; value of nothing…

Did the union movement learn nothing from Scargill’s destructive rampage in the 80s… He played the big man, took Thatcher on and lost, or at least the people he represented did… Accelerating the destruction of their industry is not looking out for the members interests.

It’s an amusing viewpoint. Revisionist bollocks lifted straight from tory propaganda, but amusing nonetheless. So Scargill was to blame for the destruction of many mining communities, rather than Thatcher’s ideological hatred of working classes and in particular Labour voters (plus her desire to help further enrich the already wealthy ruling elites) ? So unions are to blame for the decline of industries, rather than the exploitation of cheap foreign resources and labour (in countries with often appalling human rights records)? How funny.

You were joking, right?

Hmm. Have to say, having recently been there, probably Marseille. Great city, fantastic food, weather, loads of sun etc. Close to both Alps and Pyrenees for ‘proper’ MTBing, plenty of great riding nearby though. But most importantly, and unlike most place mentioned so far; culturally diverse. An exclusive White enclave would be my idea of hell.

Employees are mostly the source of most inefficiencies

So; a world where everything is done by robots, that’s the answer?

They’re trying to but the unions are not happy (no surprise there)

Why do you think the unions are unhappy?

They have, but see the above.

Have they? Doesn’t seem so, if they’re ‘going bust’…

Re the Sainsbury’s example: We, the customers, are now doing our own scanning work. Thus no more need for checkout staff. So why haven’t prices come down to reflect this ‘modernisation’? Surely Sainsbury’s must be saving a fortune in wages.

Problem is, there is no scenario without job losses.

Isn’t it therefore a good idea to look at options where as many people as possible can retain employment? Why has the PO/RM failed to adapt like other businesses? The bosses have surely been paid enough to come up with some ideas, no? As for demand falling:

https://www.betterretailing.com/symbol-group-news/post-office-news/online-sellers-and-drop-go-driving-explosion-of-parcel-demand-in-post-offices/

There’s a potential solution right there. Why has there been no significant investment in such a service? The PO could be cornering the market here. As montgomery above alludes to; the problem isn’t a ‘lack of demand’, or the need to ‘modernise’, it’s because the PO has been mismanaged for decades, and left to rot. Managed decline.

So combine a falling business model with uncooperative unions and the future is bleak. Nothing to do with privatisation, asset stripping or lack of investment.

‘Uncooperative unions’. You know that the union’s job is to represent its members, don’t you? Who are justifiably worried about losing their jobs. Since ‘modernisation’ seems to be shorthand for ‘reducing the workforce and making the remaining workers work even harder’, then all power to them for standing up to ‘progress’. I’m sure the tories would much prefer a completely union-free workforce to use as they wish, but let’s at least try and prevent the slide towards such a shit world, just for a while.

My local Sainsbury’s has ‘modernised’ by laying off 2/3rds of it’s workforce and going to self-service checkouts. This has led to much longer queues, myriad problems with items not scanning properly, a huge increse in theft/attempted theft, and a thoroughly miserable workforce. Great.

Still; as long as the shareholders are happy, that’s all that matters.

All of which you can probably get online far quicker!

Just seems like bank branches, something from a previous generation which has no place in the modern world.

No place in YOUR modern world perhaps, but millions still need and rely on post offices for myriad reasons.

Post offices are more important than pubs.

My mum, until she died, was completely reliant on local post office services to take out cash, pay bills, send letters etc. She wasn’t able to access online services. When they closed her local bank branch, she became unable to access their services, so I had to step in and sort things out for her. This affected her independence, and made her unhappy.

Sometimes, it’s a good idea to step out of your own bubble and think about other people. And how things affect THEM.

I’m sold on Uniqlo jeans now too. Stretchy!

Jeggings! I find them excellent for cycling in, so much comfier than regular non-stretch jeans. They do wear out quicker though, and are a bit hot for warmer weather.

let the postal union destroy the letters business

Straight outta the Tory playbook. Blame the unions, blame the workers. Never blame the bosses. Never blame the profiteers. Never blame greed.

Most of mine now come from Uniqlo, as they offer a free alteration service, which is great as I’ve got short legs. Bit of a pita that it’s not a same day service any more though. The quality is reasonable; as good as most other brands often costing a fair bit more. Not amazing though. But cheap enough to have for a few years at least. I did buy some Levis more recently, from the Levi Haus shop on Gt Marlborough st. They seem a bit better, and were only £65 rather than £100+, as they’re end of line or something. New Levis are so expensive now!

Uniqlo Japanese selvedge jeans are excellent quality

Yeah, they’ve definitely upped their game from a few years back. I had a pair then, that were awful, but got a new pair a few months ag, that are significantly better, and nicer even than some much more expensive brands. Fact is, most stuff is cheap crap made in sweatshops, but with branding to push the price up to silly levels. Whilst you can find the odd genuine bargain in TKMaxx, most of it is barely worth the ‘discount’ price anyway.

I use a Henry in my workshop; serves as a general hoover, and as a dust extractor for when using power tools like a bandsaw, tracksaw, router, sander etc. It’s excellent. Been in use for over 10 years now I think. It’s crap in the house though, as it’s too big and bulky to manoeuvre around things, and the brush is crap on carpets. Modern spinny brush heads are much better for that. Had a Dyson DC59 handheld for about 8 years, but the battery died and other bits broke. Bit plasticky and flimsy tbh. Not a patch on older UK made Dyson stuff. Replaced with an AEG QX9; it’s basically a dustbuster type thing in an upright housing. Very versatile, very manoeuvrable, pretty effective. Much quieter than other hoovers. Seems better made than the Dyson. Does fine in our home, but then we’re not filthy bastards with animals shitting and shedding everywhere. The capacity isn’t great mind, but see previous comment.

Not too bad thanks, should be getting my old analogue penis upgraded to digital soonish

Sorry, what? 🤔 You’re getting a DAC on your dick?? This requires further explanation, methinks..

Anything to do with ‘having a Jodrell’?