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Do you prefer the extended summer thread format? This poll is closed. |
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| Yes |
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126 | 44.21% |
| No |
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39 | 13.68% |
| I'm Scottish |
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120 | 42.11% |
| Total: | 285 votes | ||
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i am upfront about my lack of knowledge but i always take a great interest in what trades people are telling me and ask lots of questions, much like i imagine old socrates would have done if he'd taken his car for a tyre check or got someone around to service the boiler or have a look at the washing machine you can tell if they're honest because they'll enjoy telling you lots about what they do, if they become evasive prob best to take your money elsewhere crispix fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Jul 5, 2021 |
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Jul 5, 2021 15:33
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forkboy84 posted:Sorry, but it's not influenza. Like, there's more to an illness than how infectious it is & what percentage of people infected does it kill. Long COVID is being associated with everything from sudden onset of diabetes to shortness of breath & fatigue to heart palpitations. Sure, but the important thing here is that A. It's about as infectious as influenza, especially the new delta variant B. It has significant population reservoirs in say India, Africa, unvaccinated people in the US, etc where it can spread freely. Let alone the fact it's still fairly abundant in the UK. Therefore, you will never eliminate covid infections from happening in an unvaccinated population (children). There's simply too much of it around.
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Jul 5, 2021 15:39
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Is there any reliable single source for more numbers on long covid? It’d be good to see a breakdown of how many people get it but also what exactly it entails for what proportion of those people too - as I understand it the term covers everything from not being able to smell for a couple months after to dying of organ failure after a year in intensive care.
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Jul 5, 2021 15:48
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Jakabite posted:Is there any reliable single source for more numbers on long covid? It’d be good to see a breakdown of how many people get it but also what exactly it entails for what proportion of those people too - as I understand it the term covers everything from not being able to smell for a couple months after to dying of organ failure after a year in intensive care. I don't know about the numbers. But these are a couple of interesting editorial articles I read recently on long covid. Marshall M. The four most urgent questions about long COVID. Nature. 2021 Jun;594(7862):168-170 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01511-z Marx, V. Scientists set out to connect the dots on long COVID. Nat Methods 18, 449–453 (2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-021-01145-z
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Jul 5, 2021 16:03
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knox_harrington posted:That's not paranoia, it's a real problem. I've had several people try to mess me about in the UK. I've had a few tradesmen trying to take the piss, but it was always up front. When I first moved into my own place I'd get at least 3 quotes for anything major, and there was always someone who'd try their luck with a quote double the lowest one. No doubt thinking that someone in their early twenties wouldn't know any better.
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Jul 5, 2021 16:06
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Given how new covid (and long covid) are, there's not much detailed or reliable data about what it is, what damage it may (or may not) be doing, etc. The best we have is the ONS data here, which does show that you have a notability higher chance of reporting covid symptoms 5 weeks after you test positive than control participants did, and the may continue on for longer depending how long you require symptoms to be gone for before declaring long covid "gone". edit: I find the "long covid is not about covid, but the standard CFS that hits ~10% of people after any viral infection" theory quite valid, but the jury is still out and will be for a year or two still on this at least. Nothingtoseehere fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Jul 5, 2021 |
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Jul 5, 2021 16:06
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JollyBoyJohn posted:
Farewell, sweet goon... xtothez posted:I've had a few tradesmen trying to take the piss, but it was always up front. When I first moved into my own place I'd get at least 3 quotes for anything major, and there was always someone who'd try their luck with a quote double the lowest one. No doubt thinking that someone in their early twenties wouldn't know any better. Since being a temp secretary in an NHS building works office (nearly 40 years ago ahem), I'm wary of quotes that are too cheap. My bosses were always up for accepting the lowest quote, which often ended up with the contractor going bust or walking off the job when they could see what a loss they were going to make, and then having to get in another set of contractors on 'day rates' to finish the work (and finishing work someone else has started is always a pain) and end up costing them much more.
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Jul 5, 2021 16:14
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Seconding the suggestion to use local groups for recommendations. We’ve got a local forum and an active street WhatsApp group, both of which are excellent sources. And yes, estimate=/= quote. A quote should be binding, barring major unforeseen events. Jaeluni Asjil posted:Farewell, sweet goon... Totally agree with this too.
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Jul 5, 2021 16:15
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therattle posted:Seconding the suggestion to use local groups for recommendations. We’ve got a local forum and an active street WhatsApp group, both of which are excellent sources. It’s one of the things Nextdoor is good for, actually, that and lost pets.
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Jul 5, 2021 16:24
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Just found this: Trades people day rates for a variety of construction-related trades: https://www.homehow.co.uk/costs/tradespeople-rates
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Jul 5, 2021 16:24
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Jaeluni Asjil posted:Just found this: Plumber said he was 36 quid an hour so seems reasonable
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Jul 5, 2021 16:28
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JollyBoyJohn posted:So yes, broadly I don't trust contractors My years in a Leicester housing co-op taught me three things: 1) democratic organizations that accept government money doom themselves; 2) organizations that move to bigger offices are about to collapse, and 3) all builders are crooks. Some of those may be a little exaggerated, it was an embittering experience.
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Jul 5, 2021 16:35
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feedmegin posted:I got ripped off by a cleaning company that didn't, costing me about 300 quid from my deposit last time I moved plus what I paid them. It happens. I wonder if there's a link between distrust of tradespeople and rent culture. I am always interested in the psychological effects of things on people, and the fact that we have an entire generation that's rented most of their adult life, and tradespeople tend to have been assigned by the landlord. One of my first houses, we had a new washing machine leak. The old machine had been there forever, and when they delivered the new machine we had to install it ourselves and my housemate didn't notice that the fitting on the wall was a different thread to the hose that came with the machine. We explained this to the letting agent, they sent out a plumber who replaced the fitting with one compatible with the hoses all washers now use... And we got charged £90. The plumber, on writing out the invoice, claimed we'd damaged the (solid brass) fitting by putting the wrong size (soft plastic) hose on it and that was why he'd had to replace it, not because it was the wrong thread. We were naïve enough to think we could sort it out, contact the lettings agency, contact the plumber, try to get things sorted, but they ignored or said no to everything. None of us were legal savvy enough to start talking about small claims court or disputes and none of us wanted to get kicked out at the end of the year, so we just paid it. I'm sure everyone who's used to renting has their own tradesman horror story and I wonder if that contributes to a generational distrust of the trades?
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Jul 5, 2021 16:40
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Even if you accept that COVID can't be eradicated (which I'm not willing to do yet), there's still good ways to act and bad ways. Good ways would be locking down areas the moment cases get reported and finding out what happened, while bad ways would be, "Oh well, whoever dies, dies", and I'm sure the tories are going to go with the bad way
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Jul 5, 2021 16:44
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Noxville posted:It’s one of the things Nextdoor is good for, actually, that and lost pets. I use facebook, thugh by now I have a plumber I call first when I know there's gonna be a plumber required. Oh and today I bought timber for my shed build, the local place near me was half as cheap as the big timber store in the city, and they deliver cheaply to boot. I've had this experience often, hunting prices online and looking, and either a phone call or actual visit to some place that doesn't have an online presence gets me the best deal.
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Jul 5, 2021 16:58
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JollyBoyJohn posted:
lmao what
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Jul 5, 2021 17:18
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Looke posted:lmao what i know it was a kinda flippant post and I didn't explain myself but like I say the guy didn't seem like the most trustworthy even though it appeared to fix the roof but I was kinda worried he might have done a bad job etc (explained in previous post) so I didn't feel like calling a plasterer or a decorator to fix up the damage until I knew no more water would be coming though. Then before you know it its 7 years later
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Jul 5, 2021 17:25
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 Normal day on normal island
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Jul 5, 2021 17:32
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Who has switched electricity tariff? I have got 24 hours to decide whether to take advantage of the Unite offer which will save me approx £3pm. I'm terrified of it all going wrong though!
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Jul 5, 2021 17:41
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Bobstar posted:The picture I posted does share the very British phenomenon of "I must have a HOUSE with a GARDEN so that I don't have to SHARE like a COMMIE", which is still the goal for many here, even though apartment living is a thing too. I just like that the development hasn't been made entirely using the clone stamp tool There's this wild thing I've seen in Canada which I had never even considered as a possibility before coming here: Unfenced lots. It's hard to find pictures of it but we saw it quite a bit when looking at houses, particularly in newer developments, where they would have you usual suburb with detached houses, just with no garden fencing at all. Like you'd have your usual layout where you've got two parallel roads, and from one road to the other it'd go: Road Front Garden 1 House 1 Back Garden 1 Back Garden 2 House 2 Front Garden 2 Road .... except there's no fence between back garden 1 and back garden 2, and no fences between adjacent houses, there's just a big strip of open grass-covered land between the houses. You can see it a little here in an image from a home builder near me:  No fences. And these aren't cheap homes either. Admittedly some people once they move in do then fence off their bit of land but we went and looked at developments that were 5, 10 years old where nobody still had. Just wild.
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Jul 5, 2021 17:42
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I'm renovating a house at the moment, and have learned that if you start from a position of "every tradesperson is a cheating rat" you will not be disappointed. Decent tradespeople: Plasterer #3. Joiner #2 (he's great but mad expensive). poo poo tradespeople: Tiler. poo poo job and he was a dick head. Kicked off when I pointed out a few badly placed tiles. Went apeshit when I said "are you happy with them"? All plasterers. Especially the ones who subcontract everything out. All joiners except #2. Builder (omg, the worst). All roofers (didn't end up fixing it in the end so next time it rains it will leak). It's just the chimney flashing but quotes from £1200 (cash only from an Irish gentleman) to "you need a new roof mate, be about £30k". Plumber. Gas guy. The state of my flue. I think it might be illegal. It also looks marginally impressive from the outside so immediately all quotes jump 50% as they don't understand you're just a cheapskate goon. The other annoying thing is they come round, take an hour of your time up looking at the job and then never reply to you again. This, plus the fact materials have gone up 200% in the last year mean not much has been achieved. Feck paying £30 for a sheet of MDF.
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Jul 5, 2021 17:48
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Speaking of needing to repair our own poo poo, looks like our oven just gave up the ghost. At least it means I can go and pick out a good one to replace it.
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Jul 5, 2021 17:50
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Stormgale posted:Speaking of needing to repair our own poo poo, looks like our oven just gave up the ghost. Mine went recently, just stopped producing any heat but it was a repair success and for 7-8 quid and 10 mins work to replace an element I was sorted
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Jul 5, 2021 17:57
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Shyrka posted:Good to know I'm not the only one who gets all sadbrains about calling out a plumber. If you've got metered water you can turn it off there. I strongly suggest checking this before you have a leak because there's nothing like desperately trying to shut the water off at 11pm only to find that what you thought was the stopcock does nothing. The 'real' stopcock was only found by a neighbour phoning the previous, previous owner who said 'oh it's under the kitchen cupboards', which had been replaced and made it inaccessible unless you were stretch Armstrong, so shutting off at the meter it is!
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Jul 5, 2021 17:58
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Guavanaut posted:Sounds like character traits for the worst RPG. They can trade NFTs on the new, terribly named Nonce Finance. Even the FT is straight up mocking it with memes. 
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Jul 5, 2021 18:01
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Powerful Two-Hander posted:If you've got metered water you can turn it off there. I strongly suggest checking this before you have a leak because there's nothing like desperately trying to shut the water off at 11pm only to find that what you thought was the stopcock does nothing. This is the exact kind of paralysing existential dread that will cause to to start digging holes outside rather than use the toilet one day
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Jul 5, 2021 18:06
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Stormgale posted:Speaking of needing to repair our own poo poo, looks like our oven just gave up the ghost. One of my most satisfying self-helping experiences in a rental flat was the oven suddenly taking twice as long to do things and cooking weird, me figuring out one of the elements had gone, watching the electric meter spin to figure out which of the (different wattage) elements it was, telling the management agency to send someone to fix our oven and to bring a bottom element for a X model oven, and the repair guy being really happy at how easy this made the job 
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Jul 5, 2021 18:08
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DesperateDan posted:Mine went recently, just stopped producing any heat but it was a repair success and for 7-8 quid and 10 mins work to replace an element I was sorted Yeah, ours is tripping the circuit and it seems to be fine now (likely something overheating). It's honestly not a very good oven (came with the place) so it might just be better to get a good oven. (It's the only thing on it's own circuit and just turning it back on was fine, but turning on to heating was tripping it). We let it cool down and it can heat a bit but not risking it for now. Stormgale fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Jul 5, 2021 |
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Jul 5, 2021 18:15
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My garden doesn't have a fence round it either. Someone cut down one of my trees last summer! Presumably a neighbour but I have no idea who, when, or how I could do anything about it.
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Jul 5, 2021 18:24
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https://twitter.com/AdamBienkov/status/1412079786126725124?s=19
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Jul 5, 2021 18:31
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Bobby Deluxe posted:You will never get your deposit back, the bastards will always try and get a new carpet or kitchen cabinets out of it. I've mostly had "good" luck getting my deposit back. One time the nearby river burst its banks the day I was moving out and flooded the entire ground floor including my room. They couldn't figure out a way to pin that one on me. Another time the upstairs neighbour flooded their bathroom and their floor/my ceiling collapsed into my bathroom. After two months with no attempt made to start repairing it I said I wasn't going to pay rent until it was fixed, and left two months later. They kept the one month deposit which I was probably also entitled to but I did end up ahead, if not having a bathroom for four months can be called that. Still hadn't started repairs when I left, either. I've also managed with a couple short term lets to put off paying the deposit long enough that I moved out before the landlord got around to chasing me for it too seriously, nothing to withhold if the money is still in your account. 
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Jul 5, 2021 18:33
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My last flat was in a housing association and they gave so few fucks they didn't bother inspecting the place until months after I'd moved out and they'd already given back the full deposit by that point. So they didn't see how much of the lovely flooring our furniture had pulled up or how filthy the place was until it was far too late. 
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Jul 5, 2021 18:38
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I am going to turn into the loving Joker. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/05/lifting-covid-rules-england-what-boris-johnson-announced?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other quote:Where does this leave clinically vulnerable people or those not yet vaccinated? So, what, vulnerable people have to isolate for the rest of their lives, or hope the moment they inevitably catch this extremely transmittable disease doesn't happen for a few more years?
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Jul 5, 2021 18:38
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https://twitter.com/mikegalsworthy/status/1411915561127264256
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Jul 5, 2021 18:40
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Powerful Two-Hander posted:If you've got metered water you can turn it off there. I strongly suggest checking this before you have a leak because there's nothing like desperately trying to shut the water off at 11pm only to find that what you thought was the stopcock does nothing. I don't have metered water, but I think there's some kind of connection on the street under a metal plate that can be shut off? But that'd do so for all the other flats too. I'm pretty hosed if there's a leak, like even if that stopcock does work it's physically impossible for me to turn so I can't do anything with it. And it's clearly aimed at the kitchen sink so even if I turned that it wouldn't help if there was a problem in the bathroom right? This feeling of being completely out of my depth and clueless does not help the anxiety that comes with calling out a plumber.
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Jul 5, 2021 18:41
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People are always way more scared of electrical stuff than plumbing, but plumbing doesn’t have safety poo poo that (should) stop anything really bad happening. gently caress up your electrics, your breaker goes. gently caress up your plumbing, it ruins a whole lot of other stuff and you might not find out about it for months.
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Jul 5, 2021 18:52
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If you do get a plumber out to do any work around that area that requires getting everything out (new sink or tap or whatever) then consider if they can fit something like this if that is the main stopcock and something you might need to turn off in a hurry.
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Jul 5, 2021 18:52
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Extremely cool that the government has essentially just given up on the pandemic.
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Jul 5, 2021 18:57
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Pantsmaster Bill posted:People are always way more scared of electrical stuff than plumbing, but plumbing doesn’t have safety poo poo that (should) stop anything really bad happening. Also sometimes if your plumbing fucks up the first you know about it is when your circuit breakers go pop.
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Jul 5, 2021 19:00
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Doctor_Fruitbat posted:I am going to turn into the loving Joker. gently caress me that’s dark.
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Jul 5, 2021 19:04
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