choffer

Up to 27 now. Hoping to add Tanzania by the end of the year to add one more. 

Current list:

Africa:

• Eswatini (although it wasn't called that then)
• Mozambique
• South Africa

Asia:

• Bahrain
• India
• Israel
• Quatar
• Turkey
• UAE

Europe:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Denmark
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Spain
• Switzerland
• Turkey (I crossed the bridge)
• England
• NI
• Scotland
• Wales
• Vatican City

North America:

• Canada
• United States

Oceania:

• Australia
• New Zealand

South America

• Nothing yet! 

New Idles (orange) vinyl turned up today. First listen sounds great. 

Tipping culture is about to go up a notch. On a recent trip to New York, tipping is being added as payment options in just about every scenario. I kid you not, I had an option to tip at a self service checkout while grocery shopping in Target. If it’s happening there, it’ll be here before too long. 

Normally yes, although the majority of places I go to regularly have long-since adopted the "optional" tip already added to the bill. 

Uber or black cab drivers get a tip/fare rounded up if they've been chatty or friendly (or sometimes just if they've not spent the entire trip blaring their own awful music, which seems to be a trend). 

13 minutes ago, tonyh29 said:

Escape from Colditz

There was a time about 7 or 8 years ago where that became a holy grail board game. Seemingly very limited supplies on second hand markets and it was going for silly money on eBay. By the time I found an intact set on the street (Brighton is a great place to go foraging), it was down to about £40 value. Keep meaning to getting around to playing it but the instructions do seem to make it sound a complicated game. 

14 minutes ago, regular_john said:

However, these groups have all shown that they can live amongst each other perfectly happily and peacefully, and in fact do so in multicultural and secular societies worldwide.

If you want to make broad generalisations, I'd suggest there are a good number of muslim countries where this is possible too. I've just returned from Istanbul and although I am uneasy about the politics of the country generally, I'd have to say it was a very warm and accepting place. I was there with my partner and a gay couple and we all experienced nothing but kindness and hospitality. 

Only watched one episode so far but mr.&mrs.smith looks promising. 

5 hours ago, HKP90 said:

Native vs. Immigrant

Unless it’s America where the shoe is most definitely on the other foot 

Depends what you want. If you just want a cheap job done, there's loads of places. I've had a couple of things framed by Adam and team at Sportsframes in Wellingborough (no representatives there though). They do everything bespoke but they really care about doing it properly. Most places will brutalise the shirt with staples or sticky tape but these guys manage to hang the shirt inside the frame in a way that if you ever took it out again, it would still be like new. Wouldn't go anywhere else if I had some sporting memorabilia that needed framing. Not cheap but will last.

I can only find one of the things they've done for me on their twitter feed as the rest were too long ago but a quick scroll through their work will give you a sense of what they can do.

157.7 km. West London Villa!

4 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

but I’m wondering  if some form of wellness check can get to the bottom of what it might be , anyone ever had one done privately and an in-depth one ? 

I’m fortunate enough to have the Bupa’s through work. (It does my yoghurt-knitting reputation all kinds of harm).
Having hit 50 myself last year, I took them up on the offer of a full health check and I have to say, it was incredibly (and occasionally invasively) thorough. 
If you have private healthcare, I’d get straight onto it. In fact, even if not, you can always pony up and pay to get a decent examination. 

On 05/02/2024 at 21:51, Mr_Dogg said:

 

I enjoyed Beef but felt it faded in the later episodes.

 

I’ve got one episode left and I can’t bring myself to watch it because I’m enjoying it so much, I don’t want it to end. 
Without having seen the final episode, I currently have the opposite feeling to you. For me, it’s got better with every episode. 
Opinions, eh? 

2 hours ago, sheepyvillian said:

Scrawling through Netflix, I decided to watch a film from 2005 called The Squid and the Whale. It's about a failed marriage and how that affects the lives of the two sons. Slightly pretentious, imo. It has a young Jesse Eisenberg as the older son. I don't know why but I've always found him to be really annoying, regardless of the character he plays.

I love that film. Must go back and watch it again. 
You are not alone in your feelings about Eisenberg. I mostly like the films he’s been in but I’m not sure he has all that much in terms of range. 

36 minutes ago, Genie said:

The BBC are not doing themselves any favours 

Yep. Giving the ghoulish Witchel more air time will undoubtedly hit their ratings. 

Enjoying the insight from Michail Antonio on Sky. I’ve always thought he speaks well when interviewed and he’s showing he’s got a brain on him (even if he’s keeping it warm with a daft hat). 

4 hours ago, TreeVillan said:

Surely that's a south African accent? 

Wouldn't it be a Skup if it were South African? 

1 hour ago, sidcow said:

Are there laws in USA about not allowing broadcasting of political campaigns? It wouldn't surprise me. 

There's money to be made in campaigns though and they're a whole industry. Some of them are insane(ly funny). 

On 29/01/2024 at 12:40, rjw63 said:

Also meant to add, it's a fantastic place for a holiday but LA has the most horrendous homeless problem, they are everywhere.

Not just LA. Same in pretty much every city in North America. I’ve been in Atlanta, NYC and Vancouver and was amazed at the number of opiate casualties roaming the streets like zombies. 
That apart, sounds like you had an awesome trip. 

Genuinely surprised that I'm a radical.

Economic Left/Right: -6.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.59