@binners, @fenred – I work alone at a computer most of the day – basically I was chain smoking all day and all night, absolutely disgusting.

@LoCo aye I got all that, binned a 40-100 fag a day habit and the following weeks were pretty horrendous but it goes, I think it’s just your body dumping all the crap out of it.

Do it Morgs 🙂

I have it on good authority that my er, “gentleman juice” tastes much better now I don’t smoke.

Thread of 2012

It has to be orange or pink

Hang on I wasn’t commenting either way, I’m certainly not a bike snob, apologies if it came across that way.

The chancellor said today: “But the principle that it’s not fair to ask someone who’s earning say £20- or 25,000 to pay for someone who’s on £80- or £100,000 to get child benefit is one that I think is very important.”

The chancellor is a **** moron. Someone earning 80-100k a year is subsidising pretty much everyone else through their higher rate tax contributions.

Ah – it is just good old politics of envy then? I have huge sympathy for the poor bloke only taking home £53k – how will he survive without CB? Where do I send the food parcels?

Hold on, isn’t *this* politics of envy?

Oh the irony of someone with two properties claiming they aren’t wealthy.

Breakdown of:
Monthly
Mortgage: £300
Council tax:£120
Utility bills: variable – maybe £120
Food: dunno – maybe £200
Transport costs: maybe £50 for bus fares for Mrs TJ
Clothes: very little and bought out of fripperies budget
Insurances: £13pcm and £240 pa
Etc…

So you *do* live like a student / gigantic manbaby – thanks for clearing that up.

I’d love to see TJ’s monthly budget so I can know where I’m going wrong

Are you really arguing that a family where one person earns enough to pay 40% tax is going to be on the breadline and going begging for food if their child benefit is stopped? Our household income is little more than that, and we’re certainly not.

Do you qualify for any tax credits or other benefits?

£43k a year is what, ~£2350/month take home if you pay 10% into a pension? I suppose £43k might be ok if you’re a gigantic manbaby who lives like a student or in your mum’s basement, but after paying housing costs, vehicle costs, food, utilities etc there can’t be much left over for a lot of people.

I don’t know why anyone would choose to drive a manual these days, modern auto boxes are fantastic. Sure maybe for the track but on the road? Madness.

In typical bombastic style I quit boozing (a bottle or two of red a night, most nights) as well as my 40-100 fags a day habit recently. I’ve tried quite a few soft drinks but none hit the spot, except whole milk with ice in it. Really works for me.

What an awful “restaurant” – poor food and you have to collect your own cutlery. No idea why it’s so popular.

It’s not necessarily dodgy, one of my tenants used to pay yearly up front in cash for a big discount. He was self employed (owned a burger wagon) and had plenty of cash but a patchy credit record. By paying up front it “took the pressure off” apparently – Never be surprised at human behaviour is what I’m saying.

He might spend it on a yacht. Which will put bread on the tables of many people who design, build and maintain the yacht, etc

Spent years on Maxxis but now converted to 2.5 Conti Barons black chilli for DH and 2.2 RQs black chilli for trail riding, no regrets and no more “what tyre” dilemmas 🙂

Grant say hello to Phil for me

Yes he is the boss, that’s his salary. When you’re the boss of a successful firm you too can have a huge salary.

There’s nothing ethically wrong with it but probably not a good business decision.

Some great stories here – @therag, @wrecker, keep it up. I’m clear of the fags now, I think it’s been 2 months (smoked 40-100 a day before that).

Dualit (if only Miele made kettles!)

I would go with the pension especially if you are a higher rate tax payer

If you think you’re “just telling it like it is”, or “just calling a spade a spade”, then it’s pretty likely that you’re actually a racist.

don’t wash at all. they also get tax relief on losses and most investment income is very safe

Just going to leave this here

Wait are men with pushbikes costing thousands of pounds complaining about a £3 parking charge?

Does anyone else find they get really depressed after drinking? Not just a hangover, but really dark thoughts and a flat grey outlook?

Your social class is inversely proportional to the size of your TV and the amount of facebook friends you have 🙂

Spend as much time as you can with your son. My father worked away for most of my life when I was growing up and I missed him terribly.

Edit: You can’t get this time back!

It’s not racist if it’s a racial minority commenting on a majority, the same as it isn’t heterophobic(?) for gay people to openly mock heterosexuals, and it isn’t generally considered sexist for women to make lewd remarks to men or mock them mercilessly.

Probably social mores, not worth getting worked up about.

Date the cheque and form September 2011 and post it

plastic sandwich bag?

whilst they can’t afford to pay her a decent wage or offer her the career progression opportunities she’s after, they certainly can’t afford to lose her

This business is untenable – aaaahm ooot

Keep it up therag! The first day is the hardest

I used this – end up with one massive wireless network and fast speeds for small money Extend Your Wireless Network

Ex smoker here, 40-60 a day on any given day (A really bad day I could smoke 100 cigarettes a day). It was important for me to realise the following things:

– Smokers are drug addicts. I was a drug addict. You are a drug addict.

– Smoking doesn’t make you feel better, it just numbs the cravings for nicotine. Each cigarette numbs the cravings created by the last one, and sets up the cravings for the next one. It’s a subtle trap.

– You aren’t “giving up” anything. You’re gaining your life back. Imagine how good it feels not to have to constantly think about your next fix; offending others, being a social leper, stinking. I now enjoy dining out with friends, going to the cinema, things that when I was a smoker I never enjoyed because all I could think about was my next hit. I’m now much healthier and wealthier too.

I would suggest reading the Carr book which is available as a free PDF download now Google Docs Allen Carr – his style is a little blunt and repetitive but his message is spot on.

My god what a bizarre thing to post.

@corroded never a truer word said that man! I’ve had far more failures than successes but have learned from each of them, so none of them was a waste of time.