This is now one of only two bikes I own, and it hasn’t been ridden for a couple of years now. :(

Alas, it’s sitting in storage, so this thread represents a nice invitation to look at it again.

Croeso i Gymru!

One suggestion: I probably don’t even need to say this, so forgive me, but… remember that you are moving to a new country. As someone who is originally from Canada, and lived in a few different countries before landing in England, and finally, Wales, I will say that Wales is a wonderful place. Every place has its virtues and its vices, and in that respect, Wales is no different; but it IS different in that it has a divergent history, language, literature, and culture to England, and it is worth remembering and embracing that.

Sorry if I am preaching to the converted; it’s just that I have met a couple of English folk who came to Wales without realising that they were coming to something new and worth exploring.

Good call on the Fall Guy’s Ford pickup.

I also liked the pickup in Simon & Simon.

I can’t remember if I said it earlier in this thread, and frankly, I’m too lazy to go back through all the posts, but I returned to 50 mgs of Sertraline, and have decided that I will simply stay on for the rest of my life if that’s what it takes. As others have said of themselves, it’s not a magic fix for everything, but it definitely lends me a degree of steadiness from which I can work through other things better. In the past, I have gone up as high as 150 mgs, but 50 seems just about right. And I am grateful.

I actually bought an old Peugeot Boxer minibus that had been used by a school, and it took us all around the continent for a good few years before it needed so much welding it could no longer stay on the road. Of course, you can remove the horrible minibus seats and turn the interior into whatever you want.

But assuming that isn’t very appealing for most people, can I just warn you off one option?

DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER A VITO!!!

I got one to replace the old minibus, and I have never driven a more horrible, atrocious, poorly configured and poorly built vehicle!

Mine was a 2013 with a 2.5 diesel, and far from being able to list what was wrong with it, it would be easier to name the bits that were right. The tyres. And that’s because I paid for a full set of quality all seasons. Otherwise, nothing. And it’s not like it was a lemon. I mean, the driver’s seat was poorly designed, the foot-operated parking brake that needed a new cable every three weeks, the dash that could not be seen because of where the wheel was placed in relation to my line of vision… you name it. Never again.

Get a VW (of which I have had two) or get creative, but don’t get a Vito.

TBH if you don’t speak German already, when your Dad is/was a German then you’re in the same place as anyone…

How good are you at learning/understanding languages at all?

There was a fair bit of family politics at play in suppressing German in my home as a child, so what I heard was ‘on the sly’ from my dad.

I am fairly good at languages, having grown up in French school, and having studied both Latin and Greek for academic purposes. I also speak some Ukrainian.

But I want to learn German primarily because I feel like part of me is missing without it. I love the language anyway, but really feel like I should learn it because it’s mine. I spend quite a bit of time in Germany anyway, but regardless, want the satisfaction of know more about my own paternal language.

The revival of this thread got me listening to them again yesterday.

Musically, they really are stunning. And frankly – Morrissey the person aside – Morrissey the singer is perfectly suited to the band in the sense that I love the juxtaposition of his Anglican-choir-style sound with the soaring guitar of Johnny Marr.

I do many varied tours, walking, biking, alcohol based, historical, art, gastronomy and much much more.
I have my own company, I´m my own boss and love my life.

This sounds amazing. Well done, @iolo!

I’ve always wondered if people on here guessed what I did. There are some whom I’ve met and know, but discounting them, I’ve tried to keep it subtle.

Centre Parks with some good friends, book the kids into clubs and become very good friends.

:)

I find your parameters too broad, OP. I mean, we’ve been talking about Berlin on another thread; is Germany a possibility? If so, I would suggest camping in Eifel National Park, and visiting Monschau. It’s stunning, and the child will love both the natural surroundings and the town.

If you want to stay in the UK, then as someone said above, Northumberland. I don’t think there is a spot from Durham to Berwick along the coast that isn’t beautiful. Plus, you’ve got places like Alnwick Castle.

Then again, there’s mid-Wales with Harlech and the like. Also Cadair Idris for a bit of a hike. I would also suggest King Arthur’s Labyrinth. It’s pricey, but incredibly worth it. And if I could do it with my whole family, you certainly can with one child! ;)

Charlottenburg is worth a visit

My surname is very German and quite famous (German was my father’s first language), but I don’t speak the language. In any case, I went to Schloss Charlottenburg a few years back and took a German-language tour, following which I picked up a few items in the gift shop. The woman at the till rang up my purchases, told me the total, and I handed her my credit car (which has my title, my first initial, and my surname). She took note of this, then started to talk to me about it, except that I couldn’t respond to her beyond explaining that I couldn’t really speak German. So she looked at my card again, looked at me with deep disappointment, packed up my purchases, then handed them to me with my card, and said, ‘don’t come back until you speak the language.’ :)

I know it sounds mean, but I was pleased that she cared.

Anyway, it’s how I remember Charlottenburg.

Plus it’s a LOT of money for a 104k mile Volvo (Mine’s a year older, less miles and probably worth about £500!). I just can’t do it.

Well, I don’t know what yours looks like @bearnecessities, but the one you have linked to looks so-o-o-o beautiful! I would be sorely tempted.

I had a 1988 740 GLE estate in Canada, then replaced it with a 199 740 GLE estate as soon as I moved to the UK. The only difference between the two cars was that the Canadian version had the double headlamps as opposed to the single large lamp as in the picture above. The first of these two cars, especially, took us on thousands of kilometres worth of adventures. The second, not as many as my family outgrew it. But I flipping love Volvos old and new, and now drive a 2004 XC90.

I completely sympathise with your desire, and hope you enjoy it for a long time!

I have Audacity, but feel like I need a sound engineering degree to understand it!

All I can say is: great city! It is probably my favourite city in the world, and I would move there in a heart beat if I could.

As for specifics I would advise, there are so many; it really depends on what interests you.

Whatever you do, have a fantastic time!

Could be worse. You could have lost every ounce of fitness you once had, and put on far too many kilos! I can no longer even do a chin-up, and some of what I wore up until two and a half years ago is just a memory.

My wife who’s Canadian loves nearly everything about the UK, but thinks our houses are shockingly bad (build quality, size, price etc etc)

Your wife, who’s Canadian, is bang on right. As a guy who grew up watching his father and uncle build a log cabin, a house, a huge garage, and completely renovate and/or build more than a couple of interiors in Canada, build quality and philosophy remains the single greatest thing I can not get over about the UK.

* What has changed for you?

I left my former employment, and took on new work… work that I have wanted to do for the last 15 years. I am now doing what I have always wanted to do – albeit without any pay (yet!) – and am a million times more fulfilled.

* What hasn’t changed?

The busy-ness of life. My youngest kids still need to be walked to, and picked up from, school, and there is still a lot of running around in relation to activities.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

Notwithstanding the fact that so many people suffered a great deal, I miss the incredible quiet of the first lockdown. I know that it was not easy for a lot of people, but for us in the Saxon household, it was bliss.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

How wonderful life can be when we stop chasing after stuff, and just spend time at home with one another, reading, writing, thinking, and playing.

@Sandwich, she does indeed. Thanks for asking.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-turn-the-london-bus-into-a-mobile-foodbank

That’s phenomenal, @Cougar!

The sun and temperature in Cardiff today were wonderful. And I got lots done. :)

So you’re saying it’s because they’re lazy and just need to show some ‘get up and go’?

Okay, but I know that in captivity they can interbreed, but this does not seem to happen between other cat types.

I know we’ll say ‘nice dog’ to just about anyone who posts theirs on here, and fair enough; but Bert really is lovely! If you ever get tired of him, send him over to me!

I just don’t get private plates.

I have always been slightly bothered by the fact that mainland British plates reveal the model year of the car by default. I am probably wrong, but I always thought it could lead to a ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ kind of mentality. As in: ‘You may have a Range Rover, but yours is an ’08 reg, and mine’s an ’11’. That sort of thing.

Besides, as someone who used to lean toward the petrolhead side of things, I liked knowing model types, and having to work out the year from minor changes.

In any case, I just bought a used Volvo XC90, and it happened to have come from Northern Ireland originally, so it could be anything from 2002 to 2015, and only the most nerdy can tell. Moral of the story? Buy cars from Northern Ireland!

I keep saying you’re all a bunch of jerks. If you weren’t, Mark wouldn’t have had to start this thread.

I know it’s still on the first page, but one bump wouldn’t hurt.

Growing up in the 80s, it seemed to me an absolute certainty that I wouldn’t make adulthood. Me and my mates used to discuss where nearest to us the first nukes would strike

This. As a 70s kid and 80s teenager, I used to experience what psychologists called ‘nuclear nightmares’. I didn’t know they were a thing until I was reading Douglas Coupland’s 1993 book ‘Life After God’ (a series of short stories), in which one story is just a series of recollected nuclear nightmares. I remember feeling like someone had hit me in the gut when I read it, because I couldn’t believe that someone else had the same experience.

President Kim on the other hand… But he could ‘only’ destroy SK/Japan, rather than the entire planet.

I broadly agree, except…

The USA jumps in to help Japan or SK as they are bound to, then China jumps in because of some obligation to NK, then…

Boom. We’re back to the entire planet.

There’s simply no such thing as limited or regional nuclear conflict, as I see it.

Even if there was, though, I read somewhere that the nuclear winter from a mere six explosions from weapons the size they have now would be so bad that the destruction of crops would be such that billions would starve to death within a couple of years anyway.

We’ve really got to figure out a way to remove them from the menu.

This is my favourite thread! I am not a mathematician, but I love maths!

So, with Saxon approval, as you were…

Funny enough, Ton is one of the guys off here that came to visit me in hospital! If he has advice, I’ll be all ears.

I made it to the end of season 2 before giving up. I think Julia Garner’s performance is the main reason for watching.

I’m surprised at those of you saying you got no warning email. I believe you, but I have to say that I mostly delete incoming emails without reading them, and I know for sure that I got a warning email of auto-renewal from GCN+. It came in sometime in early January.

Wow, @P7eaven. Thanks for that. So much of what you said resonates deeply.

As for those who have mentioned depression and ADHD, I have been on various quantities of sertraline for a number of years now, and while it has definitely helped me mood-wise, I have yet to come to terms with the fact that I can hardly hold a train of

Biathlon. I loved cross-country skiing growing up, and I was a really good shooter. But I never got to combine them, and the challenge of trying to shoot straight while your heart is beating at 180 bpm is one I would relish!

Kool-Aid: pure chemically goodness

V8 Juice: so, so good!

Guinness: I just can’t get interested in stouts anymore

Yeah, sorry, wasn’t my intention to belittle anything

No problem.

Joking aside, it can be quite debilitating.

But I’m assuming it’s less prevalent than I thought, considering the responses here compared to Loakes shoes!

It’s just mortadella isn’t it, boloney just bring a corruption of Bologna (bologne)

I hadn’t heard of mortadella before, but have just looked it up. They look (and sound) similar, but I will just have to go out and buy some to check!

If they’re the UK made ones then they’ll outlive you.

Alas, they’re made in India. I can understand that that could entail a difference in quality, but do we know of any empirical data on that?

Liver with bacon. We used to have it fairly often growing up, but not since my late teens.

What Canadians (and Americans?) call ‘boloney’. A loved boloney sandwiches, but haven’t had one since leaving Canada in 2003.

If you fell down some stairs, would you never use stairs?
No, you’d take more care when on stairs.

Not a good analogy.

Like anyone who has an accident in which death is only narrowly avoided, and injuries are massive, there is a huge psychological component. I can hardly watch segments of GCN anymore without wanting to leave the room.