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    We need a floatation tank TR from GAB.
    "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

    Comment


      Was messing about on the NYSE with my new Revolut ac a couple of weeks ago. Small money, fun stuff really.

      Bought two shares in Rocket Lab, and it's eh, heading to the moon.



      I hold silver in tit for tat, and I love you for that

      Comment


        If the retards over on WallStreetBets get wind, it could continue to climb.

        Comment


          Originally posted by Raoul Duke III View Post
          We need a floatation tank TR from GAB.
          Found it pretty underwhelming the time I did it.

          Comment


            Originally posted by Denny Crane View Post

            Found it pretty underwhelming the time I did it.
            Me too, but we have yet to hear how many women were in Gab's tank.

            Comment


              Originally posted by hotspur View Post

              Me too, but we have yet to hear how many women were in Gab's tank.
              Take my hand , come with me baby to love land , let me show you how good it can be , sharing love with me I want to tell you.
              Float , float on...


              Fittingly sang by the floaters .
               
              Last edited by Solksjaer!; 09-09-21, 15:41.

              Comment


                Originally posted by Gimmeabreak

                I liked it, lie back, turn off the light, float, let the music fade away, relax. I suspect it would get better the more you do of it as it's all so new. Next time the novelty is removed and you can get straight down to the business of relaxing.
                I'm sure there's several euphemisms in there somewhere.
                "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

                Comment


                  Vintage kitchen honouring Lockdown 1 lunch club vouchers on Fridays and Saturdays is a nice surprise
                  People say I should be more humble I hope they understand, they don't listen when you mumble
                  Get a shiny metal Revolut card! And a free tenner!
                  https://revolut.com/referral/jamesb8!G10D21

                  Comment


                    Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                    Ate in Taza tonight. A spectacular food experience. Had the sharing platter for starter and just *wow*. Biryiani for main course, as the sign of a truly great Pakistani restaurant and it didn't disappoint, but would give a different main a go the next time. That onion bajji was a thing of glory. Where you see exactly why onion bajji is a dish. wowsers. TripAdvisor currently has them ranked as 6th in Dublin, but not sure if TripAdvisor rankings mean much anymore as its all about the Google Stars now, but its definitely way way way up there. These guys really fucking know what they are doing. €77 for the two of us, before tip, including a bottle of non-alcohol beer each, so not cheap, but not LaoLao expensive either.
                    Got a takeaway there yesterday evening for the first time. Onion Bhaji was indeed a thing of beauty, I absolutely love them and this was top of the tree. Thats as good as it got for me though but probably through greenness, as went for the Jinga(Prawn) Bhuna and it was too hot to appreciate the prawn. Chicken or lamb biriyani would have been a better choice. Have to say I didnt care for any dip I got bar the green minty one which came I think with a Lamb Bhuna which was also on the hot side. I felt the nan and the popadom wasnt unlike what you'd get in Tesco and was expecting more.
                    Overall enjoyed it but wasnt blown away or anything close.

                    I wouldnt have much experience eating Pakastani/Indian so put it down to being like an occasional cigar smoker going to Cuba full of beans before having a real Cuban cigar and needing a lie down!.

                    Was on the harsher hotter side of the Indian line I think. I'm not giving the place a bad rap at all and enjoyed it but just couldn't appreciate it like I thought I would. Bar the onioh bhaji.

                    Comment


                      Originally posted by Silver-Tiger View Post
                      Why is it an awful Idea? I know you're not going to be happy with the greedy pigs that profit from it but WC with 48 teams every two years would be great. Plenty of different nations to join the party every couple of years. Some surprises and some chance to show off pure dominance if it's there.

                      Not sure why it's more romantic to keep an idea that's nearly 100 years old.
                      I don't have a major problem with it going to two years but it throws up quite a few questions:

                      - What happens the continental competitions that "rotate" with it? Take the European Championships, does it also go to being held every two years? If so, as the ECs and WC rotate every two years, is the EC deferred for a year thus having a 3 year gap one iteration?
                      - 16, 3 team groups with 2 teams progressing from each is just naff. I don't really have any better way of describing it - it just sounds horrible.
                      - Does it take away from the prestige of the event?
                      - Player wellbeing. Many of the top players already pretty much don't have a summer off every second year and play all year round. This just adds to it. (Yes they are overpaid prima donnas - just sayin though.)
                      - Probably more i can't think of.

                      Comment


                        The 30 best mobster movies – ranked! from The Guardian.

                        A few in here now on my 'must see' list.
                        Last edited by BennyHiFi; 09-09-21, 19:05.

                        Comment


                          I haven’t seen a lot of the obscure ones but Casino is a better movie for me than Goodfellas, Scarface, Donnie Brasco and the Irishman.
                          This may or may not be an original thought of my own.
                          All efforts were made to make this thought original but with the abundance of thoughts in the world the originality of this thought cannot be guaranteed.
                          The author is not liable for any issue arising from the platitudinous nature of this post.

                          Comment


                            Originally posted by Theresa View Post
                            I haven’t seen a lot of the obscure ones but Casino is a better movie for me than Goodfellas, Scarface, Donnie Brasco and the Irishman.
                            I'd have Goodfellas slightly ahead of Casino. Those other 3 wouldn't even be on a good list. I'd put Freddy Got Fingered (not a mob movie) ahead of Scarface.

                            Gone full 'Glinner' since June 2022.

                            Comment


                              The one-hour each way drive from Foxrock to Decathlon (one hour due to needing to avoid motorways) was rather thrilling. I feel the road sign markings deteriorate massively once you leave the cloistered confines of the Dun Laoghaire / Deansgrange perfectly marked streets.
                              "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

                              Comment


                                Lol casino ahead of goodfellas . This is Just wrong . Goodfellas even had the 1st KAREN.

                                A PROPHET should be top 5 imo.

                                Comment


                                  Originally posted by BennyHiFi View Post
                                  The 30 best mobster movies – ranked! from The Guardian.

                                  A few in here now on my 'must see' list.
                                  Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

                                  Comment



                                    Gomorrah is an absolutely savage film, must watch that again soon.

                                    A Prohet (as Solks says) should be in there.

                                    Also missing is Mesrine (Part I and II) and City of God of the top of my head.

                                    No way is Casino ahead of Donnie Brasco - forget about it - or Goodfellas for that matter.






                                    Comment


                                      No love for Carlito's Way? I am shocked it doesn't make the list.
                                      No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity, but I know none, therefore am no beast.

                                      Comment


                                        “Crypto is essentially an economic cult that taps into very base human instincts of fear, greed and tribalism, combined with economic illiteracy as a means to recruit more greater fools to pile money into what looks like a weird, novel digital variant of a pyramid scheme,”



                                        Comment


                                          the unlikely love triangle ( the stone scene with Joe Pesci urghhh) ruined Casino for me. The narration in goodfellas was fantastic and Ray L peaked as an actor in it. It had everything including dark comedy . I'd only put Godfather 2 ahead (despite the fact that it insists upon itself ) :-)

                                          Comment


                                            5th Test looking like a cancellation due to Covid. No play today anyway, and India unlikely to want to stay beyond the scheduled finish of Tuesday as the players want to be back for the IPL resumption.

                                            Comment


                                              Originally posted by pokerhand View Post
                                              No love for Carlito's Way? I am shocked it doesn't make the list.
                                              Great film. One of my favourites.

                                              Enjoyed Road to Perdition also.

                                              American gangster.









                                              Comment


                                                Originally posted by ArmaniJeans View Post
                                                5th Test looking like a cancellation due to Covid. No play today anyway, and India unlikely to want to stay beyond the scheduled finish of Tuesday as the players want to be back for the IPL resumption.
                                                The forecast for Manchester was crap anyway so a rain-affected draw was the likely outcome.

                                                Can't help feel they have overblown it a bit though and will be prancing around in IPL uniforms this time next week...
                                                "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

                                                Comment


                                                  Valuer dude just came and went for the mortgage switch. I feel simultaneously richer (in terms of the market value is a lot more than I thought) and poorer (in that the works we're planning will probably add 50% of their cost to that market vaue).

                                                  "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

                                                  Comment



                                                    Yeah, only looked at the weather forecast and not the markets but a rain dance draw must have been c.1/1 fav so you'd think India would have turned up to lock up the series if they could have. For sure they'll all be out in their pyjamas next week

                                                    Edit:
                                                    Actually the forecast is now showing dramatically less rain for those parts than it was before so perhaps the prospect of four full days play had an influence.
                                                    Turning millions into thousands

                                                    Comment


                                                      Lots of discussion on the renewable issue, I can’t do the multi quote so I’ll just address a few

                                                      mellor correct that it’s really data centres rather than car charging where you would need to add generation capacity, as data centres have a constant load thereby increasing the peaks every day, whereas car charging mostly at night wouldn’t take place as the majority of usage occurs at 8am-10am and 5pm-7pm.

                                                      On nuclear energy…the main issue at the moment (outside ignorance and NIMBY) in terms of suitability is actually the minimum size of a nuclear plant is much larger than a small island like Ireland would ever need, as well as the almost inevitability of cost over runs (see Hinckley point in the UK). Our gas plants are typically 500MW in size and therefore have ideal increments to dial up and down for wind across the day, nuclear is more of a full base load harder to shift up and down the output and would need to be prioritised at all times.

                                                      as Denny mentioned when there is too much wind the grid becomes unstable and therefore parts of the country are cut off (curtailed) or the whole wind energy market is reduced (constrained).

                                                      The 35% load factor mentioned above means that for 365 days a year you get output of (365*24*size of max out put*35%) it doesn’t mean you can rely on it, so if energy demand is constantly 6GW and you have 7GW of base load conventional power (gas and oil) and 2GW of wind you couldn’t say… we only need 5.3GW of conventional because we’ve got 700MW of wind, because the wind energy could all come in one day or one quarter and you have nothing the next etc. As it stands we need conventional power to more than cover peak demand sitting idly by just in case the wind doesn’t blow.

                                                      Hitch, the building of 40-50GW of offshore wind wouldn’t solve this as all of those turbines output would be heavily correlated so you’d just have even more turbines not blowing. They would however make for an excellent match for a country like ours and say France which has already got High levels of base load ie Nuclear so we could bring down their energy costs at peak times when wind is blowing and they could add stability to ours.

                                                      Comment


                                                        Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                                                        The one-hour each way drive from Foxrock to Decathlon (one hour due to needing to avoid motorways) was rather thrilling. I feel the road sign markings deteriorate massively once you leave the cloistered confines of the Dun Laoghaire / Deansgrange perfectly marked streets.

                                                        You should have waited until today and you could have had some of the best street food going from Kwanghi Bites who has a food truck there on a Monday and Friday. It's a small menu but very good.

                                                        Comment


                                                          Hey Ya! was released 18 years ago today by Outkast.

                                                          500 million video views and quite the Wiki page for a single track too.

                                                          Get up on that table and start dancing!

                                                          Comment


                                                            Originally posted by BennyHiFi View Post
                                                            Hey Ya! was released 18 years ago today by Outkast.

                                                            500 million video views and quite the Wiki page for a single track too.

                                                            Get up on that table and start dancing!

                                                            The late great Ted from Scrubs did a version. Somewhat poignant now .

                                                             

                                                            Comment


                                                              Originally posted by Goodluck2me View Post

                                                              Hitch, the building of 40-50GW of offshore wind wouldn’t solve this as all of those turbines output would be heavily correlated so you’d just have even more turbines not blowing. They would however make for an excellent match for a country like ours and say France which has already got High levels of base load ie Nuclear so we could bring down their energy costs at peak times when wind is blowing and they could add stability to ours.
                                                              How much can we match over the currently proposed interconnector?
                                                              Turning millions into thousands

                                                              Comment


                                                                Friday m8s huppppah
                                                                "I can’t find anyone who agrees with what I write or think these days, so I guess I must be getting closer to the truth." - Hunter S. Thompson

                                                                Comment


                                                                  Originally posted by Goodluck2me View Post

                                                                  On nuclear energy…the main issue at the moment (outside ignorance and NIMBY) in terms of suitability is actually the minimum size of a nuclear plant is much larger than a small island like Ireland would ever need, as well as the almost inevitability of cost over runs (see Hinckley point in the UK). Our gas plants are typically 500MW in size and therefore have ideal increments to dial up and down for wind across the day, nuclear is more of a full base load harder to shift up and down the output and would need to be prioritised at all times.
                                                                  Would this be too big?



                                                                  5 or 600MW.

                                                                  And in the future there will be even smaller plants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_modular_reactor

                                                                  Comment


                                                                    Using an unexpected bonus to buy a suit. Dublin tailor, handmade in Italy. Was I robbed or blessed with the €1,150 price tag? I do fully realise its a fucktonne of money, I just don't know if it's a fucktonne for what I bought, or kinda standard for nice fabric and hand tailored. What's a price range for standard good suits?
                                                                    "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

                                                                    Comment


                                                                      Originally posted by Hectorjelly View Post

                                                                      Would this be too big?



                                                                      5 or 600MW.

                                                                      And in the future there will be even smaller plants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_modular_reactor
                                                                      It's the standard 'The Irish Economy' textbook point that nuclear wouldn't work for Ireland due to baseload. Smaller could work, but probably needs them to be much more widespread. But I wonder why we'd bother right now given the upcoming interconnector and the core comparative advantage of developing wind.

                                                                      Edit: the energy efficiency grid thing you posted yesterday was cool.
                                                                      "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

                                                                      Comment


                                                                        Have an odd enough question. Let's say you have a garage where the roof tiles have 'probable asbestos'. I'm guessing the most sensible approach is to don a very good mask and carefully remove them, rather than rely on experts to carefully don a very good mask and charge a few grand for doing the same thing? As in, the risks of properly contained asbestos, such as in a roof tile, are probably very very small.
                                                                        "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

                                                                        Comment


                                                                          Originally posted by Solksjaer! View Post

                                                                          The late great Ted from Scrubs did a version. Somewhat poignant now .
                                                                          Excellent version. Kinda miss Ted and Scrubs now.

                                                                          Comment


                                                                            Originally posted by BennyHiFi View Post

                                                                            Excellent version. Kinda miss Ted and Scrubs now.
                                                                            Poor old Ted died . Think lung cancer at 56ish His band the blanks did a few gigs . My fav scrubs character.

                                                                            Comment


                                                                              Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                                                                              Using an unexpected bonus to buy a suit. Dublin tailor, handmade in Italy. Was I robbed or blessed with the €1,150 price tag? I do fully realise its a fucktonne of money, I just don't know if it's a fucktonne for what I bought, or kinda standard for nice fabric and hand tailored. What's a price range for standard good suits?
                                                                              How much did your Brexit/Italian suits work out there in January?
                                                                              ﴾͡๏̯͡๏﴿

                                                                              Comment


                                                                                Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post

                                                                                It's the standard 'The Irish Economy' textbook point that nuclear wouldn't work for Ireland due to baseload. Smaller could work, but probably needs them to be much more widespread. But I wonder why we'd bother right now given the upcoming interconnector and the core comparative advantage of developing wind.

                                                                                Edit: the energy efficiency grid thing you posted yesterday was cool.
                                                                                Killed my uncle - mesothelioma . Prefer to pay imo

                                                                                Edit answered the wrong post . Reg asbestos

                                                                                Comment


                                                                                  Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                                                                                  Have an odd enough question. Let's say you have a garage where the roof tiles have 'probable asbestos'. I'm guessing the most sensible approach is to don a very good mask and carefully remove them, rather than rely on experts to carefully don a very good mask and charge a few grand for doing the same thing? As in, the risks of properly contained asbestos, such as in a roof tile, are probably very very small.
                                                                                  Neighbours should know the tiles contain ACMs and will probably rat you out. This will leave you both enjoying a happy life in your new 'hood and work out a lot pricier than hiring a specialist in the first place.

                                                                                  Comment


                                                                                    Originally posted by Dice75 View Post

                                                                                    Neighbours should know the tiles contain ACMs and will probably rat you out. This will leave you both enjoying a happy life in your new 'hood and work out a lot pricier than hiring a specialist in the first place.
                                                                                    Plus, where were the removed tiles "quietly" going to get disposed?
                                                                                    ﴾͡๏̯͡๏﴿

                                                                                    Comment


                                                                                      Originally posted by Strewelpeter View Post

                                                                                      How much can we match over the currently proposed interconnector?
                                                                                      700MW, which is due to cost €1bn.

                                                                                      Comment


                                                                                        Originally posted by Hectorjelly View Post

                                                                                        Would this be too big?



                                                                                        5 or 600MW.

                                                                                        And in the future there will be even smaller plants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_modular_reactor
                                                                                        That’s the ideal, the obvious problem with the modular ones is that you need “even more” communities not to object, but between that and some battery/storage type utopia you’d be well on your way.

                                                                                        Comment


                                                                                          Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post

                                                                                          It's the standard 'The Irish Economy' textbook point that nuclear wouldn't work for Ireland due to baseload. Smaller could work, but probably needs them to be much more widespread. But I wonder why we'd bother right now given the upcoming interconnector and the core comparative advantage of developing wind.

                                                                                          Edit: the energy efficiency grid thing you posted yesterday was cool.
                                                                                          Why do you think it’s the standard response?

                                                                                          the interconnect costs the same in capital terms (about €1m/MW) than wind does to build, it’s efficient frontier is different though as you both export excess wind and import excess base load. The EWIC is a good example. However you haven’t addressed the fundamental issue that the wind doesn’t always blow.

                                                                                          another cool solution is pumped hydro, where there is a salt cavern in Larne which is quite stable, the idea is to pump air into it at night when power prices are low (see demand low high wind) and then at 4-6pm or peak times let it power up using the compressed gas to reduce peak base load. All fully renewable.

                                                                                          Comment


                                                                                            Te trick with the asbestos is to not move it
                                                                                            Turning millions into thousands

                                                                                            Comment


                                                                                              I thought this article was pretty cool, I look forward to reading the book;

                                                                                              The Exponential Age will transform economics forever



                                                                                              https://www.wired.co.uk/article/expo...ge-azeem-azhar
                                                                                              Last edited by Hectorjelly; 10-09-21, 18:14.

                                                                                              Comment


                                                                                                Originally posted by Goodluck2me View Post


                                                                                                another cool solution is pumped hydro, where there is a salt cavern in Larne which is quite stable, the idea is to pump air into it at night when power prices are low (see demand low high wind) and then at 4-6pm or peak times let it power up using the compressed gas to reduce peak base load. All fully renewable.
                                                                                                There are c. 2million cars driving in Ireland, they average c.15Km a year, we are planning to be all electric in 20 years, it takes c. 30Kwh to charge 100Km

                                                                                                back of the envelope calculation tells me that by the time we reach 25% penetration of EV's there is no such thing as night rate power.
                                                                                                Turning millions into thousands

                                                                                                Comment




                                                                                                  Originally posted by Micknail View Post

                                                                                                  Plus, where were the removed tiles "quietly" going to get disposed?
                                                                                                  Dump truck into the local marsh I think is the normal play.



                                                                                                  Comment


                                                                                                    I spotted an albino Dalmatian today... it was the least I could do for it
                                                                                                    Turning millions into thousands

                                                                                                    Comment


                                                                                                      Originally posted by Denny Crane View Post



                                                                                                      Dump truck into the local marsh I think is the normal play.

                                                                                                      Hmmm, I have witnessed the "dig a big hole" method, just wondering how hard to not be obvious would be up in the big smoke.

                                                                                                      In other news I see Dr finance is impressed with Eoin o Broins book on housing - with the jist of where it all went wrong.
                                                                                                      I assume it's along the lines of any David McWilliams books whereby hindsight is 20/20.

                                                                                                      Must be fun to have just bought a house in Dublin!
                                                                                                      ﴾͡๏̯͡๏﴿

                                                                                                      Comment


                                                                                                        Originally posted by Dice75 View Post

                                                                                                        Neighbours should know the tiles contain ACMs and will probably rat you out. This will leave you both enjoying a happy life in your new 'hood and work out a lot pricier than hiring a specialist in the first place.
                                                                                                        Ah okay. I actually wasn't fully sure if it was a massive deal. It seems it might be!

                                                                                                        Edit: I wasnt planning to manhandle asbestos. I don't have a house in which to do it. Just that it was an issue with a house we were looking at, and was wondering if it's a big issue.
                                                                                                        Last edited by Hitchhiker's Guide To...; 10-09-21, 20:05.
                                                                                                        "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

                                                                                                        Comment


                                                                                                          Originally posted by Micknail View Post

                                                                                                          Hmmm, I have witnessed the "dig a big hole" method, just wondering how hard to not be obvious would be up in the big smoke.

                                                                                                          In other news I see Dr finance is impressed with Eoin o Broins book on housing - with the jist of where it all went wrong.
                                                                                                          I assume it's along the lines of any David McWilliams books whereby hindsight is 20/20.

                                                                                                          Must be fun to have just bought a house in Dublin!
                                                                                                          His books are genuinely very good. The man knows how to write down an idea.
                                                                                                          "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

                                                                                                          Comment


                                                                                                            The rotation of the earth really makes my day.

                                                                                                            The guy who invented velcro died the other day. RIP.

                                                                                                            I threw a boomerang a few years ago. I now live in constant fear.

                                                                                                            Comment


                                                                                                              Was looking through an external hard drive and all I can find is six measly photos of my time in NY for 9/11.

                                                                                                              Have a few physical photos somewhere but not sure where.

                                                                                                              Definitely had a digital camera with me at the time. Was probably too dumb struck to be taking pics.

                                                                                                              That day's plan had us on the top floor of the South Tower at lunchtime. Mad to think.

                                                                                                              Was inside the ground floor of them about 13 hours before it happened.
                                                                                                              I hold silver in tit for tat, and I love you for that

                                                                                                              Comment


                                                                                                                Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post

                                                                                                                His books are genuinely very good. The man knows how to write down an idea.
                                                                                                                Genuinely thought you were fishing for likes from Shinnerbots
                                                                                                                ﴾͡๏̯͡๏﴿

                                                                                                                Comment


                                                                                                                  Originally posted by Lazare View Post
                                                                                                                  Was looking through an external hard drive and all I can find is six measly photos of my time in NY for 9/11.

                                                                                                                  Have a few physical photos somewhere but not sure where.

                                                                                                                  Definitely had a digital camera with me at the time. Was probably too dumb struck to be taking pics.

                                                                                                                  That day's plan had us on the top floor of the South Tower at lunchtime. Mad to think.

                                                                                                                  Was inside the ground floor of them about 13 hours before it happened.
                                                                                                                  The Taliban had actually agreed to hand over Bin Laden to the Saudis (before 9/11 was planned).

                                                                                                                  It'd be an interesting counterfactual to imagine the history of the last 20 years if they hadn't reneged.
                                                                                                                  "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

                                                                                                                  Comment


                                                                                                                    Originally posted by Lazare View Post
                                                                                                                    Was looking through an external hard drive and all I can find is six measly photos of my time in NY for 9/11.

                                                                                                                    Have a few physical photos somewhere but not sure where.

                                                                                                                    Definitely had a digital camera with me at the time. Was probably too dumb struck to be taking pics.

                                                                                                                    That day's plan had us on the top floor of the South Tower at lunchtime. Mad to think.

                                                                                                                    Was inside the ground floor of them about 13 hours before it happened.
                                                                                                                    Cousins Fiancé was killed in it. Only engaged 3 weeks. Found his tool box about a year after in the rubble. I'd say she hates these Anniversarys.

                                                                                                                    Comment


                                                                                                                      Originally posted by Micknail View Post
                                                                                                                      Must be fun to have just bought a house in Dublin!
                                                                                                                      A (reluctant) landlord's tale (in one act... but there may be a sequel)

                                                                                                                      I just closed the sale on an apartment I bought in 1999. It was one of 4 one-bed units in a converted late 1800s Victorian three-story terrace building near the city centre. Quite quaint with plenty of character, above two small retail units.

                                                                                                                      It cost me e1,000 to get on the property ladder via the Shared Ownership Scheme administered by Dublin Corporation back then. Before my purchase closed I was made redundant for the second time in 3 years (in my late 20s) then the dot com bubble burst. Not great timing but I persevered.

                                                                                                                      Within a couple of years the management company fell off the companies register because the reluctance of the other owners to pay a monthly management fee - this ended up costing us 1,000s to remedy years later when the Multi-Unit Development Act finally saved me and meant the other unit owners HAD to engage with me in re-instituting the company or face potential legal sanction.

                                                                                                                      However only one other unit owner understood the significance and importance of having a functioning management company to pay the bills, file accounts, manage disputes etc... without one it would become impossible to effectively navigate the day-to-day administration never mind to sell your unit if you wanted to.

                                                                                                                      I moved out in 2006 having bought a house that I overpaid for and was almost immediately plunged into negative equity on both properties (for many, many years) but had stable employment in growing and popular sectors as did my partner so we just ploughed on paying the mortgages, never really noticing our net negative wealth cos we were just paying the same as rent really.

                                                                                                                      I never had any problem filling my apartment with tenants and the rent was about twice the mortgage so it washed it own face with taxes, fees, running repairs an all that. It reckon it cost me about 120K to keep it afloat as a landlord and that I earned about 130K from it over that period - thus making my "profit" a (taxable) 10K for all the aggravation and shoe leather I had to go through.

                                                                                                                      However it did also afforded me the opportunity to take a year off living and travelling in Australia and Asia-Pacific. So that was nice.

                                                                                                                      I almost had it sold one for a tidy profit once but it turned out it wasn't on the land registry and by the time I got that issue resolved the guy had pulled out and the market had crashed.

                                                                                                                      Fast forward to the 'landlord' years. I was a reluctant one (and am not expecting any sympathy!) but knew if I didn't drive things with the management company no-one else would.

                                                                                                                      In the 15 years I let the unit out these were some of the highlights of being a landlord:
                                                                                                                      • A fire next door which cause its roof to collapse which caused the rain to come in for years against a now exposed party wall and cause serious damp - we sent loads of legal letter but never got it resolved until the building partially collapsed and the landlord was forced to shore it up and issue got mostly resolved
                                                                                                                      • Our own roof got damaged twice - probably cos of water ingress from next door. The insurance paid up once but h second time we had to club together - a cash call - cos the management company didn't have enough funds to cover it.
                                                                                                                      • Two floods, one on the ground floor and one via the attic when a water tank leaked while the owners of that apartment below were on holiday and thus didn't notice for a few days (damage was minimal but cost a grand to fix in my apartment)
                                                                                                                      • An attempted murder in the hallway by one of the tenants relatives who tried stabbed him
                                                                                                                      • A Christmas Day flood in my apartment where it was raining so hard the rain came into my apartment in a river down the party wall - the tenant helpfully sent me a video around 5pm, just after I'd finished my Christmas dinner. IIRC it was shorting the electricity too.
                                                                                                                      • One tenant who annoyed all the neighbours by hanging their laundry all round the common area (and cooking exotic food - my neighbours were varying degrees of racist) and another who ruined half my kitchen by not reporting a defect in the sink so all the units on one side got rotted with water damage. Oh... and another tenant who witnessed a suicide in the building across the road while smoking out my window. And yet another one somehow managed to burn both the carpet AND the ceiling. I kept half their deposit - the only time I had to do anything like that - to fix it up and he nearly cried.
                                                                                                                      • Four reluctant owners (out of six) who would varyingly not show up to meetings, show up to meetings only to complain loudly and continuously about the cost of everything and then not pay their management fee for years and have to be threatened with legal action and still be in arrears (at the time of writing only about one-third of the management fees were accounted for)
                                                                                                                      • A management agent who abandoned ship because of the grief the property gave him (the current one seems to be considering the same)
                                                                                                                      • One time I even had to pay the whole block insurance myself out of some redundancy money cos the other owners were years late with their fees and there was no money in the account.
                                                                                                                      • And at the last AGM earlier this year I was the only person to show up
                                                                                                                      • When I was selling I found out the solicitor who helped my buy the property had absconded with a load of clients funds including about e500 I had given her for some tax bill which the Revenue demanded be paid in full to allow the sale to proceed - they generously agreed to waive the penalties when informed of the story.
                                                                                                                      So, to cut a long story short, I decided I'd had my fill last year and due to inflated prices now and having paid the mortgage down significantly figured it was time to sell and give myself a well earned break from the dreaded co-owners (who were almost always far worse t deal with than tenants).

                                                                                                                      It took a long time to get the whole thing moving and over the line for many reasons, not least of all the pandemic, the tax issue, missing deeds, lazy management agent and various other thorns in my side. But I had to persevere.

                                                                                                                      Ultimately I've walked away with a modest six-figure profit (from a 1K investment) and will quite happily plough this into my third and hopefully final property in Dublin if I can find something that suits in the coming weeks and months while keeping my half paid off current house for my pension. If I can't find anything I'll just hang in there and an opportunity will present itself eventually

                                                                                                                      So my (not so) hot take on the property market is:

                                                                                                                      1) Don't get involved in apartments if possible - if you're buying have your own front door onto the street so you're not relying on anyone else to pay or fix shit that goes wrong.

                                                                                                                      2) Buy what you can afford when you can afford it and don't listen to anyone telling you otherwise - as long as you're planning to live there for as long as you have to. If you're investing, though or think a swift turn around for a tidy profit might be for you then all bets are off. That game ain't for me.

                                                                                                                      3)If you have to be a landlord, don't be a cunt. I always undercharged my tenants (who mostly seemed genuinely grateful) because my mortgage was so low I could afford to. And they always got anything they asked for. You'll feel better about being a capitalist swine if you're nice.

                                                                                                                      4) Beware people with fancy pensions telling you property isn't suitable for a pension - by the time I retire I'll should have turned that e1K investment (loaned to me at the time by my then girlfriends parents - something I remain eternally grateful for!) into about a million quid of assets with a steady, decent income stream and all for the cost of just paying the equivalent of the rent for each gaff.

                                                                                                                      Even if things crash again the day before I retire I'll be alright and, more importantly, so will my son who inherits it all (unless I can degen it all away through a long and dissolute retirement).

                                                                                                                      So, for now, fuck being a landlord. Until the next time.




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                                                                                                                        That was a nice twist at the end from 'being a landlord is a fucking nightmare'.
                                                                                                                        "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

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                                                                                                                          Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                                                                                                                          Using an unexpected bonus to buy a suit. Dublin tailor, handmade in Italy. Was I robbed or blessed with the €1,150 price tag? I do fully realise its a fucktonne of money, I just don't know if it's a fucktonne for what I bought, or kinda standard for nice fabric and hand tailored. What's a price range for standard good suits?
                                                                                                                          Struck by an idea today. Somebody needs to setup a shared online body dimensions repository to link in with online shopping for a guaranteed tailor-made fit every time.
                                                                                                                          Probably some snazzy software could accurately capture using a phone or web cam. When shopping, your browser will auto fill your sizes from your Dimnsionizer \ Measurator account.
                                                                                                                          Maybe some B&M retailers, who do significant online trade, could host measuring booths, equipped with all singing all dancing sensors, to allow quick login to add or update one's statistics.

                                                                                                                          Fully expecting it to be done already. Should be easy enough to monetize. Could save online retailers a tidy sum on returns processing.
                                                                                                                          Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

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