u/KILOCHARLIES

A few months back, I had to create my own API keys. Then RD had the purge. I was still running on skeleton sources, but the kids were happy enough.

Beginning of this month, trending anything is empty, browsing on popular only. I can live with it.

Last few weeks, Trakt hasn’t been working at all. I’ve tried re authorising but just get an error. Cleared caches, deleted all apps on their joke of a website, can’t authorise it at all.

Is it me or has the dream ended?

Years ago, BK used to be expensive and take ages to arrive so McD’s was always my go to. After being like a loyal puppy I stayed the course but things have fallen so bad over recent years (since Covid imo).

It’s consistently terrible these days. Food takes absolutely ages (40 mins once for standard items but usually at least 15 mins) yet is always lukewarm at best. The food quality is worsening, the price seems to constantly rise and with things like the food for thought deal and wrap of the day being removed, I had enough and tried the other side of the fence.

To say I was shocked was an understatement. The BK restaurant was cleaner and bigger than any McD I’ve ever been to, no need to squeeze the car into a tiny parking space and fight for a table, even the decor looked chalk and cheese compared to the blandness of a McD branch. It actually felt premium. The kids and I had a full on booth like the old days.

Next I downloaded the app, I can’t believe the deals on it. £5 for 20 nuggets, £6 for a meal, £3 chicken royales. Even things like choosing a milkshake as drink incurs no extra fee. The reward points too are basically 15-25% freebies with every purchase. Better than McD ever was, let alone recent penny pinching.

The food about 10 mins to arrive so still quicker than McD’s but it was so hot we actually had to wait for it to cool down. Even the kids small fries were falling out of the packet there was so many and the burgers were actually made by someone with more than one eye. It all tasted fresh and dare I say it “real food”.

My only gripe was paying 40p per sauce pot but the bbq was miles ahead of McD’s offering. Sweet chilli wasn’t though.

So yeah, if you’re reading this and haven’t ventured into a BK for a long time, give it a go and I bet you’ll be impressed. My kids and I have full on switched sides and I doubt we’ll be back in a long time.

There’s always disgruntlement on this sub with how things are for McD’s these days. Vote with your feet and try something you might have ruled out before.

A mate timed his install perfectly and had a multi split system installed two weeks ago. We all rolled our eyes saying it was a lot of money to use for two weeks a year but he argued that they heat, dehumidify and have air circulation as well. Obviously last week he wet his boxers in smugness and my group of mates ate humble pie.

Like everyone else here, I’m now looking at options to fit something similar at my house. It was only two weeks ago I was looking at installing radiators in each room as I currently only have a gas combi linked to a Johnson & Starley Warm Air system, which I hate with a passion in winter months. The idea was to install rads and pipework to work along side it. I budget around £3000-4000 for me to fit this myself (~10 rads plus a mix of copper and plastic pipes).

With me now considering installing Aircon, would it be practical just to rely on that for heating instead?

My initial assumption would be it a poor comparison to combi/rads. Aircon obviously runs on electric, so ~4x the price of gas. Also I would expect to be noisy and dry like the Warm Air system I currently have and hate due to it.

For context, I don’t have any solar installed (this will likely change in the next few years), I also have a large wood burner in my lounge, and given I need to heat ~8 rooms total a standard multi split system
(With 3-4 internal units) isn’t likely to cut it and using the type of system that is ducted to multiple rooms is probably my best bet. The positive to that is I have ducting already in my house for the Warm Air System.

Grateful for any thoughts

Despite being billed as no extra cost to landlords, I’ve entered my circumstances into HMRC and they’ve said these are the free options,…

1. ⁠Clear books (only free for one property)
2. ⁠FreeAgent (only free if you have a NatWest business account)
3. ⁠Taxheaven (looks like only one property and very basic features for free)
4. My Tax Digital (no mention of pricing whatsoever, wants immediate authorisation from HMRC to use which I guess would be a pain to change later if they hand you a bill)
5. TaxUpdates (same as #4)

Grateful if anyone has had the same dilemma and has any feedback. My guess is nothing in life is free and this is yet another expense to landlords have to swallow.

I have a Denon Receiver in my lounge. Currently shopping for a new receiver to build a new set up in a dedicated man cave.

When buying TV’s for instance, I always try to get a different brand in each room. As such I have Samsung in the lounge, Hisense in the bedroom, Sharp in the kitchen, and I’ve got a Sony in the man cave. Variety is the spice of life I guess.

I was tempted to go for an Onkyo, Yamaha or a Marantz (yes I know they’re a sister company) just for the sake of something new, but Denon is hard to beat for my needs.

For speakers I’ll definitely be going for a different brand than my other rooms too.

Is there any benefit of doing this? Will I get a slightly different sound from another brand’s AVR that I may like/dislike? Am I the only one who does stuff like this?

I’m guessing the features across different brands at similar price points are almost identical these days?

Grateful for your thoughts

A good few years ago when I set up my home theater, 2 vs 4 ceiling speakers were a constant debate.

I skimped and went with 2 and although I have been underwhelmed at the extra immersion they provide, I always wished I’d have pushed my budget for 4.

I’m setting up a second home cinema room in my house after my kids have taken over the first, but everything on a reasonable budget these days seems 7.2.

I’m about to DIY a central heating system into my house. Currently it just has a warm air system (which sucks by the way) which is powered by a combi boiler so it’s a straightforward case of running pipes and rads around the house and linking it onto the current system. 

I plan on running plastic pipes everywhere, hanging the rads and then getting a plumber to connect the tails (which will be copper or chrome), fill the system and test it all. 

For anyone who’s DIY’d this themselves, have you any advice or tips on what to do please. For instance…

1. I’m assuming the bigger the radiators the better? Also new radiators from the builders merchant (£200 each) are going to perform a lot better than second hand ones (£40 each)

2. A few rooms would be much better to suited to vertical rads, but apparently this should be a last case option as they put out little heat and are more for aesthetics than practicality?

3. A few years back the Tado thermostats from Screwfix were the go to option to switch rooms on/off and balance heating in the house. Is this still the case? I remember then being lauded for being cheap and reliable. 

4. For the pipes that are on show, are chrome pipes fine to use over copper? They are more expensive but saves me painting them white after. 

5. Would compression fittings for the tails be ok or is this not recommended? It would mean I could do all these fittings rather than get a plumber to solder them saving more costs.

 

Are there any things else I need to consider? 

Thanks for any advice 

I regularly sign contracts via Docusign and exchange via Whatsapp. The contracts remain in the files & Documents in WhatsApp on my iPhone.

I’m in a dispute with a contract holder and noticed he turned on disappearing messages. Now all copies of the contract have been deleted and I have no option to view them.

This is a scammers paradise. It means he now has the only copy of a signed contract. Everyone exchanging stuff like this has to manually save it to avoid being held over a barrel, something that wasn’t necessary before.

Is there anyway I can set WhatsApp so documents are automatically saved in future? It allows me to do this with photos but documents are obviously much more important.

Or is there a way where disappearing message cannot be declined to be accepted?

I’m shocked WhatsApp allows this without confirmation of deletion from the recipient.

British guy here visiting family in the Midwest for a week this coming Independence Day.

I’ve done NYC, LA, Florida, Vegas before but I guess that’s just like London where it’s a manufactured version of the country just for tourists.

What stuff would be good to do? So far I’m thinking…

Bar crawls to reconfirm you like to drink as much as me. Gun range, which apparently has an after shoot bar, which I like already. Getting sized up for a fitted cap (it’s always one size fits all in the UK). American breakfasts, a rib place & a steak place. Whiskey tasting. Clothes shopping.

Please don’t suggest anything sports related as unfortunately that’s not my scene. Anything car related works well though. Trying to maximise experiences so grateful for any suggestions.

I’ve spoken to the Philippines call centre 7 times in the last two weeks. As with all off shore call centres, as soon as they come across something that isn’t in their guidance instructions, they would rather tell me they are having technical issues and hang up on me rather than admit they don’t know what to do.

My PayPal issue is rare and as such I really need to someone competent rather than effectively a robot that reads from a guidebook.

Does anyone have a number (or email) for someone that’s not in the Philippines please?

Recently got out a life insurance policy. I recommend this for each and every person who has dependents and it’s criminal that it’s not promoted as a tax free) essential safety blanket for family planning.

My question is though, if worst came to worst, you ended up in a coma in a hospital, a foreign prison, kidnapped by aliens, what sort of overdraft limit is suitable for the average person.

I’ve never used one, always preferring cheap credit card debt if needed, but now I need a safety blanket for my safety blanket.

First time getting paid out from my employee sharescheme and it’s made the already tedious yearly self assessment even more confusing.

It asks me for my “Taxable amount” that I received.

Do I enter the actual amount I received (£23698) or do I only enter the “profit” I made from the scheme? I.e I paid £18000 in over 3 years, making the profit £5698.

Also, from my understanding, there are certain rules where it’s not taxable as I paid £20000 of it into my ISA within 30 days of receiving it. Where would I declare this as I’m not asked for any info about it.

Grateful for any help. Thanks.