What have you been doing today?

[Mottie]

Right, off out now to see our grandson in a gymnastic display.

He did well - even in his Batman costume (the theme was hero's and villains).

 

[Brigadier]

Can't specify which pads, @JohnD , as it is a company car serviced at main dealer.

Will bear in mind if / when I buy my own.

 

[Notch7]

I'll repeat, if you find yourself with £100k you don't know where to put, First Direct will give you 4.6%. Closing it any time, will cost you only 8 days' interest

Ive got that in premium bonds at mo, I wonder if I should change.

I might check back on prize money and see what the return has been

 

[securespark]

I wanted to demolish the shed and put a new one in its place, but then I saw the price.

500!

So we went and got some new pieces of shiplap to replace the rotten ones. When I've built it back up again, I'll slap that Creosotey stuff all over.

Edit: Just slapped some on the fresh wood. Stands out like my belly.

Just had a crazy idea that stems from my days in the food industry. What about I paint them with gravy browning? It's E150c and used (amongst other things) in brewing beer.

I'll maybe try that!


Edited for clarity.

 

[JohnD]

Mmm, 4.6% eh?

With inflation still topping 10%.

 

[Mottie]

Went over the allotment late tonight to water my plants. Soil was quite dry in some of the beds considering I only watered it yesterday. The ones that were still 'damp' were the ones I had covered with a wood chip mulch. They were also comparatively weed free which shows the benefit of mulch. We have two piles of mulch - one either end of the allotment. Trouble is, the mulch up my end is rubbish - one plot holder got someone in to remove a pine tree from his plot and they chipped it and added it to our pile and it’s rubbish - pine needles and small cones. Looks a lot like dried grass and when the wind blows, it blows it all over the place. Its a lot of work barrowing the good stuff up from the other end of the allotment so I think tomorrow, I’ll clear the back of the Golf out, put the seat down, sheet it up, load it up with the good wood chippings and drive it up to my plot.

 

[securespark]

I'll slap that Creosotey stuff all over. Edit: Just slapped some on the fresh wood. Stands out like my belly.

Worse to come!

Having said I can pick the stuff to protect the shed, Mrs Secure has pulled the "I hate it!" card!

Now she wants a Mediterranean Blue paint!

HTF am I going to cover that stuff?!!

 

[Justin Passing]

Mmm, 4.6% eh?

With inflation still topping 10%.

View attachment 305212

Yep, it's going backwards, but if you had to put a bit somewhere, where would you put it, short term, immediate access?
Assuming you wanted to be sure it wouldn't drop 30% like that line on your chart did.
Medium/Longer term sure, an index tracker fund may suit.

There's an obvious one probably worth a punt, at the moment...

 

[Mottie]

Worse to come!

Having said I can pick the stuff to protect the shed, Mrs Secure has pulled the "I hate it!" card!

Now she wants a Mediterranean Blue paint!

HTF am I going to cover that stuff?!!

Look up Cuprinol garden shades. I used 'seagrass' on our shed at home and it’s lasted well. They have some blues in their range. https://www.cuprinol.co.uk/product/...9XAxsxB0uxKESm9_g4gaAhU2EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[securespark]

Cheers. Will it go over the top of a fresh slap of Creocote?

 

[Mottie]

There’s only one way to find out…..

 

[Mottie]

Sad news today - I dropped and smashed one of my favourite espresso cups. I'd brought that all the way home fro Italy with me.

Even sadder news - I ran over a baby squirrel on my way to the country park to walk the dog this morning.

On the good news front, I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel to our drain saga - the workers tell me the drains will be sorted and fully operational by the end of the day. Or tomorrow! They are fitting a manhole in the road too, then it’s just a matter of making good to my neighbours front garden and their neighbours drive and the street with some tarmac and then they can go on to their next job at the top of the road! This job has turned out to be quite a bit of work and no doubt cost for Thames Water. No wonder I had to chase, pester and annoy the life out of the CEO since Christmas to get it done. Once it’s all done and they’ve moved on, we can all start washing our cars again and not find then covered in dust within 10 minutes where they have been digging up the road with cutters, grinders and Jack hammers. All my neighbours should thank me…….

 

[JonathanM]

A couple of my internet banks are down today, so I've been ringing instead.

Something I've noticed recently, with more than one call centre in the financial sector, is that the music they play whilst you are waiting is incredibly distorted and is breaking up constantly. This makes it very unpleasant to listen to. It isn't a connection issue, because the voice that comes on intermittently over the music is fine. I'm wondering whether this is done on purpose to make you want to hang up.

 

[Diver Fred]

A couple of my internet banks are down today, so I've been ringing instead.

Something I've noticed recently, with more than one call centre in the financial sector, is that the music they play whilst you are waiting is incredibly distorted and is breaking up constantly. This makes it very unpleasant to listen to. It isn't a connection issue, because the voice that comes on intermittently over the music is fine. I'm wondering whether this is done on purpose to make you want to hang up.

Aah, the joys of a VOIP switchboard. The distorted, chopped music is due to how many people are, like you, in the queue waiting to speak with an 'agent'. To 'share' the music the SW connects that audio stream to different callers in turn - microseconds apart. The more users the greater the gap between an individual caller being connected to the music port.

 

[JonathanM]

Aah, the joys of a VOIP switchboard. The distorted, chopped music is due to how many people are, like you, in the queue waiting to speak with an 'agent'. To 'share' the music the SW connects that audio stream to different callers in turn - microseconds apart. The more users the greater the gap between an individual caller being connected to the music port.

Thank you. You seem very informed on this subject!