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Darth Walrus posted:lol, mystery solved: e: The 33 club is like the 27 club but for a whole lot of different religions and faiths.
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Dec 13, 2022 19:43
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Here's a late night horror story for you. One of the things I remember very very clearly during the brexit campaigning was that Cameron and Osborne were quietly pushing to have everyone's non pension state benefits paid in this new form of government crypto they had thought up. You would have had to apply for pound Stirling to be released for a specific item or you could spend this benefit coin via government approved shops from a list of vetted items. That was the alternative to brexit.
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Dec 13, 2022 19:55
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Sunak I think was proposing a while ago of creating government backed crypto or something too, basically intervening to legitimize and stabilize the market.
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Dec 13, 2022 20:01
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There's also the whole CBDC idea that started off by using crypto-type language but has distanced itself heavily from anything connected to cryptocoin or blockchain and is just Girobank on your phone now or something.
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Dec 13, 2022 20:17
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How is that any different from... normal money? Like I already have digital currency valued at £1 per £1, it's called money. OwlFancier fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Dec 13, 2022 |
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Dec 13, 2022 20:34
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The one useful idea that's come out of it is that it would be a guaranteed digital cash transfer system for sterling that's not dependent on a private platform. So like if I owe a friend a tenner or need to pay a roofer 50 or whatever I don't need to go to an ATM, they don't need to pay it into the bank, we don't need to exchange bank details to set up a payee on the banking app, we don't need to determine if we both have PayPal or Venmo or Zelle or whatever, and I'm not going to find myself paying 51.20 or them receiving 48.30 or whatever. So it's (discussing) doing for digital payment what Girobank did for bank accounts.
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Dec 13, 2022 20:39
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Mebh posted:Re: Cat chat. ah, you bastard, you've made me cry I'm sure I've told this story before but when we first got our cat, she didn't really warm up to us at first. Then a few months afterwards, we went on holiday for a couple of weeks and left her at the cattery. As soon as we got back and brought her back home, she was all over us. She's been a lap cat ever since. I think the fact that, after a couple of homes that didn't work out, we were the ones who came back, that was what proved we were good 'uns to her. E: Cat tax: this her 
Dabir fucked around with this message at 20:47 on Dec 13, 2022 |
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Dec 13, 2022 20:45
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Camrath posted:So I got back the results of a sleep study I did in august (referred this time last year) and apparently I have ‘very severe’ sleep apnea- I stop breathing over 70 times an hour while sleeping. They’re fitting me with a cpap system asap (so probably next June at this rate..)- anyone got any input on how they are to wear, what sort of changes I should expect etc? Friend has one and I've shared a room with him without noticing he was using it, so the sort of gentle darth vader noises it makes can't be too bad. He finds wearing it infinitely preferable to being woken up ten times a night by a sleep deprived partner yelling abuse about snoring.
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Dec 13, 2022 20:53
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Is anyone (in Scotland, if that matters) able to point me in the right direction on what you do to get childcare benefits? The government sites just give me calculators telling me we're eligible but don't actually explain what happens. Is it something a nursery just does automatically when you register with them?
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Dec 13, 2022 20:57
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Kin posted:Is anyone (in Scotland, if that matters) able to point me in the right direction on what you do to get childcare benefits? The government sites just give me calculators telling me we're eligible but don't actually explain what happens. Are you talking about free hours for a three year old, child tax credit or something else? If it's the former I think it will happen automatically but not every private nursery takes free hours so do check if that's the case. Otherwise you have to apply through the UK government website. I don't remember it being too tough. You can also register for a childcare account that will give you tax back for certain providers who are registered for the Government scheme. That might be England and Wales only I don't remember but is worth looking into.
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Dec 13, 2022 21:07
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I think it's the latter (I've got a 1 year old). The calculator said we get £2k a year to childcare costs, but that's separate to the child benefit we get I think.
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Dec 13, 2022 21:19
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learnincurve posted:You would have had to apply for pound Stirling to be released for a specific item or you could spend this benefit coin via government approved shops from a list of vetted items. Speaking of, we're getting there in terms of infrastructure - the missus tried to use a pre-paid Klarna card to split xmas present costs over 3 months, and one of the shops in question refused to accept klarna payments specifically for gift cards.
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Dec 13, 2022 21:24
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Kin posted:I think it's the latter (I've got a 1 year old). Is it this? https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-tax-free-childcare quote:You can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of your children to help with the costs of childcare. This goes up to £1,000 every 3 months if a child is disabled (up to £4,000 a year).
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Dec 13, 2022 21:27
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Gift cards in general are rife with scams (and also are scams in general, you are exchanging money for money that runs out and can only be spent in specific shops) because they are basically untraceable. Lots of scammers will try and get people to send them amazon cards or steam cards, anything they can use to buy things to turn it back into real money.
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Dec 13, 2022 21:28
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Bobby Deluxe posted:That sounds like a tory / new labour wet dream, being able to give welfare claimants money that they can literally only spend on an approved list of items. Bobby Deluxe posted:Speaking of, we're getting there in terms of infrastructure - the missus tried to use a pre-paid Klarna card to split xmas present costs over 3 months, and one of the shops in question refused to accept klarna payments specifically for gift cards.
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Dec 13, 2022 21:36
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Depending on the format they’re very much traceable unless they’ve been paid for in actual cash, it’s usually just not worth the effort and/or the police don’t give enough of a gently caress to do anything about it.
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Dec 13, 2022 21:36
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History Comes Inside! posted:Depending on the format they’re very much traceable unless they’ve been paid for in actual cash, it’s usually just not worth the effort and/or the police don’t give enough of a gently caress to do anything about it. Oh yeah you could probably trace it but that's the issue, trying to coordinate that requires going through a bunch of hoops that nobody actually will do, and unlike banks there's nobody potentially watching the account for suspicious transactions. Once the card or code is with the scammer they can spend it freely and offload the goods.
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Dec 13, 2022 21:39
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Camrath posted:So I got back the results of a sleep study I did in august (referred this time last year) and apparently I have ‘very severe’ sleep apnea- I stop breathing over 70 times an hour while sleeping. They’re fitting me with a cpap system asap (so probably next June at this rate..)- anyone got any input on how they are to wear, what sort of changes I should expect etc? Darn. I don't actually know anything about sleep apnea but I remember hearing some rumours that some cases of it might fairly easy to mitigate, like by wearing some harness thingy which keeps a tennis ball on your back to end up with a better sleeping position. Well, if that doesn't help at least it might be a funny story to tell later
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Dec 13, 2022 21:42
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if someone find a harness and tennis ball in your bed they ain't think it's for an illness imo
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Dec 13, 2022 21:47
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Camrath posted:So I got back the results of a sleep study I did in august (referred this time last year) and apparently I have ‘very severe’ sleep apnea- I stop breathing over 70 times an hour while sleeping. They’re fitting me with a cpap system asap (so probably next June at this rate..)- anyone got any input on how they are to wear, what sort of changes I should expect etc? The modern ones are dead quiet, my father in law has used one for as long as I’ve known my wife and he’s gone through a few, the older ones were practically just machine shop compressors that would be chugging away and you’d hear it from other rooms in the house. His current one you can barely hear it in the same room. If it’s one of the full mouth and nose mask jobs, get yourself a pack of microfibre cloths or whatever feels nicest against your skin and cut out a mouth and nose hole, then put that between the mask and your face. Apparently the rubber can be uncomfortable if not outright irritating to the skin and this is the secret pro-tip he picked up over the years to mitigate that.
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Dec 13, 2022 21:49
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crispix posted:if someone find a harness and tennis ball in your bed they ain't think it's for an illness imo
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Dec 13, 2022 21:56
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Speaking of cats and mental health: This snuggly boi (Westley) just cost us $500CAD again today because he keeps having urinary problems. This time he was peeing blood. The vet finally managed to get a urine sample from him after failing the last couple of times we had to take him in, did the urinalysis and.... it's normal. No infection, no crystals (can be an issue) they think it's just down to stress. He lives a very stress-free life, we think he just has anxiety, so we're putting him on Fluoxetine/Prozac to try and sort him out. Makes me a bit scared to go on holiday though - we haven't been away for a night since we got the cats 2 and a bit years ago but would like to get back to the UK at some point to see family, but I don't want Westley to get stressed out and sick when we're not there. Poor little expensive anxious kitty. But yeah, more generally, cats do definitely have personalities of their own and can react differently to things like loss. My parents had lots of cats over the years, usually in pairs of mother and child. When one would die or go missing, the other would have reactions ranging from nothing at all to seeming depressed and going out looking for them.
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Dec 13, 2022 22:24
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Mourning Due posted:
Your cat reminds me of my little one. She's an old lady really, just had her 16th birthday and can be a very vocal stress bunny a lot of the time especially as she's got older. But then she finds a comfy place to snuggle and can be so serene, just having her snoozing beside me on the cushion while I work is so calming, honestly one of the best things for my mental state in the day. We don't leave her alone much any more, there's always someone in the house looking after her. But we used to have neighbours round if we were off for a week, she never got on with catteries so it wasn't worth stressing her out for our convenience. She used to shun us when we got back for all of an hour or two but she's just too soppy to persevere with it.
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Dec 13, 2022 22:40
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Camrath posted:So I got back the results of a sleep study I did in august (referred this time last year) and apparently I have ‘very severe’ sleep apnea- I stop breathing over 70 times an hour while sleeping. They’re fitting me with a cpap system asap (so probably next June at this rate..)- anyone got any input on how they are to wear, what sort of changes I should expect etc? One of my brothers uses a CPAP machine and said it's really made a difference to sleep quality so he's much less tired during the day (with the knock on effect that he's been able to eat more healthily because he isn't in constant need of dosing himself up with sugary stuff to stay awake).
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Dec 13, 2022 22:52
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Camrath posted:So I got back the results of a sleep study I did in august (referred this time last year) and apparently I have ‘very severe’ sleep apnea- I stop breathing over 70 times an hour while sleeping. They’re fitting me with a cpap system asap (so probably next June at this rate..)- anyone got any input on how they are to wear, what sort of changes I should expect etc? My boyfriend uses a CPAP, he's a goon so I could get him to drop you a PM if you want
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Dec 13, 2022 23:10
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I really miss Bow every day  It's coming up to the 6 month anniversary of his crossing. We had an amazing relationship. When I went to the cat shelter to look for a cat, I was looking for a middle aged or elderly cat. A quiet cat. A cat that was suitable for a cripple with CFS to live with. However Bow had other ideas. He was a 7 month old kitten, took one look at me, and screamed "I'LL HAVE THAT HUMAN. THAT ONE!" while eating mouthfuls of food and doing figures of eight around my legs while chewing. I didn't get a say in the matter. I had him for 13 amazing years, and he was such a unique and amazing cat.  This is a pic of him balancing on top of the main scent bush used by the cat that controlled the North part of the estate (the Northern Siamese King), and doing a poo poo down the middle of it while giggling insanely. He started a major war that night. <3
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Dec 13, 2022 23:15
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Camrath posted:So I got back the results of a sleep study I did in august (referred this time last year) and apparently I have ‘very severe’ sleep apnea- I stop breathing over 70 times an hour while sleeping. They’re fitting me with a cpap system asap (so probably next June at this rate..)- anyone got any input on how they are to wear, what sort of changes I should expect etc? I have been using a CPAP for the last few years. While they are a pain to wear at first - you very quickly get used to it. The feeling of waking in the morning and actually feeling rested makes up for the slight discomfort for the first few weeks! Best advice I have is when they are issuing the unit, try and get a heated humidifier (my NHS supplied unit has one, but I did have to ask for it) - without it the air is cold and dry and led to me waking due to a dry throat. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.
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Dec 13, 2022 23:20
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Camrath posted:So I got back the results of a sleep study I did in august (referred this time last year) and apparently I have ‘very severe’ sleep apnea- I stop breathing over 70 times an hour while sleeping. They’re fitting me with a cpap system asap (so probably next June at this rate..)- anyone got any input on how they are to wear, what sort of changes I should expect etc? I may have said this before but honestly CPAP saved my life. Hopefully they'll give you a RESMED unit as they are fairly bulletproof. The big decision on comfort is between masks, I prefer nasal pillows rather than a full face mask, but by default they (IME) won't give you them unless you ask. The first few weeks after getting my machine felt like the most energy I'd ever had. https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/ is a cool utility to copy the data from your machine so you can see pretty graphs about your sleep quality from the data on the sd card without having to wait a year to have the sleep clinic in your trust download the data.
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Dec 14, 2022 00:23
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Thanks everyone for all the advice. Tbh I’m really looking forwards to getting started with the machine- I wake up every morning after eight hours of sleep still knackered and find it really hard to get anything done at all during the mornings as a result. Luckily I work for myself and fudge isn’t exactly time sensitive as to when it gets made, but it really does get me down that most days I can’t even get going till lunch time.
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Dec 14, 2022 02:00
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That sounds exactly like me to be honest. Where/how did you get the tests done, it sounds like something I should be looking into also.
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Dec 14, 2022 02:09
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Camrath posted:Thanks everyone for all the advice. I got one a few months ago and it's been a lifechanger. Same situation as you, ~80 apneas per hour and never felt rested or refreshed on waking. Having the machine was an instant relief for me, felt clear-headed and like a different person overnight. Not everyone has the same results, some people can't get used to having something on their face, etc. Good luck, I hope you get some of the same relief I've had!
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Dec 14, 2022 03:30
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Oh we posting our cats now? This is Lizzie. We got her when she was 1 years old, by which point she'd already had a litter of kittens and become homeless on the streets of East Grinstead, and been taken in by the rescue centre. She chose to take early retirement, and since we adopted her 7 years ago spends moreorless 100% of her time either sleeping, or cuddling. She has a cat flap and the entire world available to her outside, but she chooses to venture out only to do her business, or sit under a bush if it's hot. She is the most affectionate and chilled creature ever, and we couldn't live without her.
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Dec 14, 2022 08:49
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Julio Cruz posted:That sounds exactly like me to be honest. Where/how did you get the tests done, it sounds like something I should be looking into also. The NHS allegedly does sleep studies (like it allegedly provides a lot of services these days  ) but it'd definitely be easier to do privatelyIt's, uh, not cheap I am also in the 'wake up tired every day' party, permanent big eye bags, get sick all the time, etc. My partner says I kinda choke/randomly stop breathing for a few seconds in my sleep. I tried to get NHS help five or so years back but kept running into brick walls and no way could I afford to go private so I just kinda gave up
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Dec 14, 2022 09:11
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Barry Foster posted:I tried to get NHS help five or so years back but kept running into brick walls and no way could I afford to go private so I just kinda gave up This sounds like efficiency savings in action. It's like a very effective filter - make it so loving difficult to get any help that only the truly desperate have the will to persist through the layers of loving bullshit.
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Dec 14, 2022 09:59
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Darth Walrus posted:You were saying? That reminds me, a few years ago two Ulster Rugby players (and two of their friends) were on trial for Rape and other sexual offences. Some of the most damning evidence was taken from a group WhatsApp conversation they were all a part of. (Even though they were acquitted, the stuff in the WhatsApp group was used to kick them out of the International Rugby team for "bringing the game into disrepute. ") In the court case there was an extended legal argument about whether the jury could be told the name of the WhatsApp group (did the Probative Value of knowing the name of the group outweigh the prejudicial effect it would have on the jury.) In the end it was kept from the jury and just given a dry name like "the WhatsApp group." But the groups actual name was To Rape and Pillage. You couldn't make it up.
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Dec 14, 2022 10:35
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Theres probably threads on this website that we've posted in that, should the names be known in court, it would not look too clever so I can see why something like that might happen.
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Dec 14, 2022 10:43
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fuctifino posted:I really miss Bow every day  catte
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Dec 14, 2022 10:44
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We must not show the jury evidence lest it cause them to think the person is guilty.
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Dec 14, 2022 10:59
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Bobby Deluxe posted:That sounds like a tory / new labour wet dream, being able to give welfare claimants money that they can literally only spend on an approved list of items. ♫ I owe my soul to the government stooore... ♩
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Dec 14, 2022 11:04
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| # ? May 25, 2024 00:41 |
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NotJustANumber99 posted:Theres probably threads on this website that we've posted in that, should the names be known in court, it would not look too clever so I can see why something like that might happen. Being part of a WhatsApp that bants about rape probably does speak to the mindset of the alleged rapist though. I don't really see the equivalence you're making there. Maybe if WhatsApp had existed 20years ago in the age of ironic edgelords I wouldn't have objected to being in a pro-rape bants group, but now I would have a big fucken problem with that, and would have major suspicions about anyone who presented themselves that way
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Dec 14, 2022 11:12
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