******* Thread now closed, please see volume 29 ********
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=18962
In this thread you may ask any question for which you need help, advice, suggestions or whatever.
It does not need to be motoring related. In fact, in this thread it should not be.
No politics
No Speeding, speed cameras, traffic calming
No arguments or slanging matches
Nothing which I think is not following the spirit of the thread
Nothing that risks the future of this site (please see the small print for details www.honestjohn.co.uk/credits/index.htm )
Any of the above will be deleted. If the thread becomes difficult to maintain it will simply be removed.
However, as has been said a couple of times, there is a wealth of knowledge in here, much of which is not motoring related, but most of which is useful.
This is Volume 28. Previous Volumes will not be deleted,
A list of previous volumes can be found here:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=18847
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Another off-the-wall one from the Land of Sun & Fun, if you can bear it.
Daughter, 21, will graduate this year and wants to go into textile design. This sounds a trifle flakey to me as a way of life so am trying to encourage her to pursue a backup option, desp[ite the fact she has so far excelled in her arts course. She was born in Bahrain, has travelled the world over, lived in the Gulf, Hong Kong, the Philippines, attended an independent school in Kent for her \"A\'s\" and for some unearthly reason has ended up in Tunbridge Wells, which is about as stimulating a lifestyle for a young person as walking around with one foot in a bucket of cement.
I want to offer her 3 choices of graduation present, and have got two nailed down:
1) a TEFL course (worldwide qualification, get a job anywhere, only a 4 week course and you can make good money in China/Korea/Japan/Thailand at it);
2) two return airfares for her and her b/f to do the one year Oz working holiday thing and perhaps settle there;
3) ????
Any ideas for Option 3? Mustn\'t be cash or anything convertible to cash, or a jolly, but something to aim for.
Been racking my brains all holidays.
Well, I did say it was off the wall....
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G.
Whatever you settle on, you appear to have one absolute priority correct - get her out of U.K. !
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Your generosity does you credit but I would give the grey matter a rest and just present the 2 options.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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But G - what does she want...
DVD
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Growler - don't knock the textiles option. There is serious money to be made in the areas of buying and developing new fabrics.
Graduation presents - I'd pick option 2 (but would she really want to take the boyfriend, or is she more independant?) but think you should ask her what she wants. Another idea might be for you to finance a stay in italy or similar, where she could gain valuable work experience with some/one of the major textile houses? She's after a job in an very competitive industry and something like this would give her the edge.
Oh, and would you like to adopt me? ;-)
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TEFL is great for a stop gap - usually very portable and you always have it to fall back on. Quality of courses vary so some homework would be needed. I'm not sure that the money is all that good to be honest, but I suppose the quality of language schools varies too.
In her shoes I'd rather have the airfares though (I had to save up for mine). Given that you are prepared to sub the b/f an airfare, where would he figure in the TEFL scenario?
Option 3? I assume she drives already?...
or...would you support her if she offers to work for a textile company for little or no salary in order to gain valuable work experience?
Just my thoughts.
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Rebecca and PG: thank you indeed for your thoughtful replies. Being a TEFL myself (alas under-used) you can make serious money in the Far East -- for example read the Taipei English papers over breakfast "wanted. English teachers, pure English accent, etc". If you're willing to venture to Mongolia for a year, you can come away with quite a bit more than you thought. My nephew is currently in N. Thailand doing very nicely thank you on the same theme. Beats stocking the shelves at Safeway.
Since I cut loose hitch-hiking across Europe thru Asia to Oz back in 196? before most people could find Iraq on a map, and then working my way round the country myself on a shoestring I have to feel this is more character-building than swanning around with a load of limp-wristed fashion types in Milano with gender ambiguity issues. However that was then and this is now, as I will, freely admit. I do have a share in a place in the Northern Territory, where aboriginal art may appeal to her as a basis for textile work. (Yeah, never mind Steve Irwin, we got crocs in the billabong there too).
I think I need to get her back to Asia (she is a mestiza anyways) and she can feed off the energy in these markets. If it was me I'd go for China, the #2 world power economically and any other way you look at it.
PG--email me your biodata with photo and I'll see what I can do........
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Mr G
Glad to offer TEFL advice - it's my business, and we run TEFL courses. Might even offer discount for sprogs of BRs...
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A household drainage question, if you will.
I\'ve just moved into a new house, and I now have the luxury of multiple WCs. On the first floor I have a main bathroom and an en-suite.
The vertical soil vent pipe is in the en-suite room and the en-suite WC branches off a soil pipe that runs to the main bathroom WC.
The en-suite WC backs up with foul water from the main bathroom.
I have changed the WC (as part of renovation works) but the problem persists. (I assumed the original toilet had a poorly designed trap).
Whilst the WC was off, water would seep out if I ran the basin taps in the main bathroom. This appears to be a poor design for the whole system. Obviously regular use of the en-suite WC alleviates the problem but it still seems fundamentally wrong.
Is there any thing I can do to stop this?
Are there non return valves that can go in the soil pipe behind the en-suite WC?
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Rob I?m not sure that I understand the layout of your drainage. However a basic system would involve a vertical soil stack in 100mm.
The top of this is open to atmosphere which is vital to prevent siphonage occurring in any appliances connected to the main stack.
All connections to this vertical stack would have its own connection into it and would have a necessary fall to ensure drainage.
That is the basic necessities to ensure good performance.
Now I?m a little bit behind the times in modern housing drainage where the soil stack runs inside the house, as opposed to the old method where an external soil stack was fitted against the side of the building but the principle must remain the same.
Anti-siphonage precautions consisted of the exposed open soil stack. If you imagine a multi storey building and someone flushed a toilet?.as the full bore of water passed a lower floor if a following volume of air wasn?t present it would suck out the water from the pan trap in this lower floor by siphonage due to a vacuum being produced in the stack. You may have heard something similar in some older building such as an old hospital bathroom with sound of sucking from baths etc . Sometimes extra anti-siphonage pipes were fitted.
If you could perhaps explain your system in more detail myself or others can no doubt suggest what is wrong.
alvin
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I think what Rob is saying is that the ensuite WC drains into a 'horizontal' section of the drain from the main bathroom, and is teed into the side of the main waste - in which case it will never be any good. The only solution I think is to re run either the waste from the ensuite, or the main bathroom, such that the ensuite drains into a vertical section of the main drain or is arranged so that it is teed into the top of a vertical section (toilet on 4" plinth anyone??), or alter it so that the pipe runs downhill from the toilet to the main waste.
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Only if there is a legal way!
I've read up pretty well on the inheritance tax issues, gifts during lifetime and needing to live another 7yrs to avoid tax etc....
But what about the care home issue? I understand just a measly £16K it discounted and the rest available to the state for paying fees unill it all runs out.
I can't find any time scale for the issue of gifts prior to entering a home being regarded as *not* an attempt to avoid care fees. It seems it is up to the local authority to judge every case and see if an attempt to avoid/minimise fees was made.
Hearsay indicates that there is a case for a parallel 7yr period as with the inheritance tax.
i.e. ...Give away everything to the kids, live another 7yrs plus, go into a home without fees and pay no tax when you die???
Any weblinks or actual experience welcome (I have the Inland Revenue and Age Concern websites already to hand).
Thanks,
M.M
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my dad says legal way is move to scotland.
my dad is distant raltive of gordy broown and heard rumours that gordy will kill 7yr pet rules next budget to get more tax from rich middle class people doon sarfeast england.
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MM
This site might be useful? www.counselandcare.org.uk
They've got some factsheets that includes info on funding.
I've heard of some supposedly legitimate tactics such as changing the ownership of jointly owned homes (from joint tenants to tenants in common)but I'm not aware of their success.
Definately an area for professional advice.
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AD,
Excellent link thanks. I'd looked at loads but none so far had confirmed a fact I needed...but one of the pdf factsheets from your site did.
Namely that the disposal of assets over 7yrs previous does not advantage you in a care home situation, as it does with inheritance tax.
With the care home fees application there is no time limit on the period they can investigate for disposal of assets to avoid fees.
I only asked because a contact had been advised that the 7yr rule applied to the care fee situation and I was worried it didn't.
Many thanks,
M.M
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MM,
I understand the point you are making. However if you give away all your money and possesions(outside the 7 years or not) to, say, your spendthrift son who spends it(notionally or for real) on gambling, wine, women and song.
They ithen investigate you and conclude you have deliberately disposed of it to avoid fees.
What do the Authority do about it when you require care in a home?
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Cardew,
Please understand I'm not making judgement on any of this, merely trying to understand it. However from the info I've read ....
If you are judged to have attempted to avoid fees by disposal your case is treated as if you still had the property. So if you gave everything to someone who blew the lot you'd have nothing to pay the home fees and the Local Authority wouldn't fund you either.
I gather also there are powers in place to approach those who benefited from your gift to pay some of the fees on your behalf if it was a recent event.
Above info is based on the wording of the law, I have no idea how it works in practice.
M.M
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MM,
Appreciated that you were seeking clarification of the rules. I was merely playing the devil's advocate and speculating how it might work in practice.
If it is deemed by doctors that someone needs care, and neither he/she or the person who 'blew' the money have realisable assets, the local authority would have no option but to fund your care. In practice, unless the former assets were easily traceable and realisable I would wager that they would not pursue the matter through the courts.
Put it this way. If the party in question retains their assets they will pay for care - down to the last £16.000. If they use a little imagination there is a strong probability that they will pay little if anything.
C
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Credit cards.
Anyone else have some low life use their card over the holiday period? Came back from staying with my parents and there was a message from the fraud dept of my wife\'s card asking to call them. Someone had kindly put £6500 on her card (all on New Year\'s day).
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Someone cloned my card last year - spent £5000 in shops all over London... fortunately, I took out fraud insurance when I got the card and didn\'t have to pay any of it. I think that in the end it\'s the shops that lose out. The only PITA was altering all my online payments (web hosting etc) to another CC number.
I didn\'t sign the back of the new one - just wrote \"ASK FOR PHOTO ID\" in the space and have never had a problem so far as I always have my driving license on me.
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cm - tell us more, how was card or number stolen?
iirc credit card company and all of us pay for the fraud and not you. and you are lucky fraud was so big that cc company notice it so quick. my friend was not lucky. his cc was cloned in paris 6 week ago and use for small amount payment. he only discover fraud when statement come this week.
btw these big fraud people are not usual low life. they are big business criminal gangs mainly from east europe and russia and alquaida bin laden.
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It\'s wifey\'s card and am 99% sure that it has one with a chip in so should have been harder to steal. I suppose that it is more than likely to have been a tele sale (unless someone has been thru our bins!).
There were 4 transactions, £500, £1k, £2k and £3k. I suppose that the CC company picked it up as it blew her credit limit.
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Who decides what bar code goes on a product? Is it the manufacturer, or do they apply to the 'bar code master' who allocates a code and ensures there is no duplication?
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Never let it be said that this site never provides an answer....
www.tinyurl.com/yvktv
Enjoy
DVD
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Thanks DVD, that was a very interesting read. But yet another 5 minutes of my life has been spent reading something fascinating which is of no use to me whatsoever!! :-)
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In the previous thread I tried to show how easy it was to quickly get rid of spurious/malicious cookies. It involved two lines in a BAT file. But the HJ posting removed my backslash lines making the statement incorrect. (C:backslash became C:)
Was this a one off or is it an ongoing postings fault ?
\\\\\\\\\\\\
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buzbee,
For some reason or another the site is stripping out the backslash symbol. I'll contact Stephen Khoo and find out why.
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Used to know but forgotten - and forgotten where to find out. For usual reasons of step children, wife and self do not have 'mirror' wills and it is important who dies first in law if we die together. A little voice in my head says it is the elder of the two but this may be a false memory.
If there is a presumption that (say) the elder dies first, can it be overridden by statements in both wills ?
Ta in advance for any clues or links Colin S
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Antiquated yet still current (huh?)law decrees that hubby dies first. Relative positions of messy stains on the airbags aside, that's the score here in blighty.
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Sorry ND do not agree with you.
My understanding is that the antiquated(?) Law of Property Act 1925, decrees that the eldest dies first (where there is no evidence who died first).
Unless of course you live in Scotland when the Succession (Scotland) Acr of 1964 applies. But I have no idea what that says as I have no Scottish family.
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We had that problem. We dealt with it in the will, along the lines of "and if we die within 30 days of each other from a common cause then the following happens"
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Just to confirm - eldest is assumed to die first.
You can normally get things clear by inserting a "survivorship clause" in a will - e.g. any legacy is dependant upon the recipient surviving the deceased for x days/months.
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How can i check for and get rid of "spyware" on my computer? I know absolutely noting about computers: i can turn it on, and i can type. All i have on it at the moment is zone alarm, AVG anti-virus, and that google task bar that stops p*****s.
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What I've found to be very good is something called Ad-aware. Once installed, you just run it and it searches your computer for all spyware and ads and shows you what it has found. You can then delete these. All this can be done by just 3 clicks so it's really easy. It is also handy for blocking ads before they get onto your computer; moreso now with version 6. I would try downloads.com for it but if you can't find it, give me a shout and I will try and email my copy to you.
Many thanks
Adam
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"Give Way"? Wait....I know this one...give me a minute
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If you get time adski, please e-mail it to me. My address is in my profile.
Thanks.
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I tried sending it but it's too big for Hotmail. I can do nearly as much.
Click on this link:
fileforum.betanews.com/download.php?fid=965718306
and the download should automatically start. (You will want to save the file to your computer) Should you have any more problems, just post on here.
Cheers
Adam
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"Give Way"? Wait....I know this one...give me a minute
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Ok , dont laugh. I have downloaded the software to my desktop. I clicked on the ikon, the clicked through the installation. thats all done. Now how do i run the program?!
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I'm not laughing....much. Go to start, programs, LAVASOFT AD-AWARE 6. You should then be presented with the program. From then on, it should be obvious....but if you get stuck, you know what to do.
Cheers..
Adam
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"Give Way"? Wait....I know this one...give me a minute
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Ah, i posted too early, i got it going myself! It says there are 197 new objects!!!!!!!! What do i do know? Do i "show log file" or click "next"?
(this computer is so slow, its not mine its my parents. Untill about six months ago it had no firewall (well other than the XP one) or anti-virus!)
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9 times out of 10, the log file will bore you to tears. If you press next you will get rid of all the objects on the computer. All the log file does is show you....er...the logs...in a file.
Thanks
Adam
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"Give Way"? Wait....I know this one...give me a minute
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Ok so which objects do i select for removal- all of them?
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yeah - they're all spyware objects. Get rid of them all
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"Give Way"? Wait....I know this one...give me a minute
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Thats not actually true.
Yes, its makes sense to get rid of them all, but half of what I find are actually harmless, but I haven't come across any problems yet deleting them all.
Remember to download any updayes once a week and re-run the program.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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thanks all. I put the items in quarantine in case i deleted anything important by mitake.
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Ben,
The subject of spyware has been covered quite extensively in previous volumes of \"I have a question\" threads.
Using the \"Forum Search\" feature (just under where you log in/out) and entering the word \'spyware\' into the message body box will recall them for you.
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Spikey is right - they're not all harmful but deleting them won't damage your computer. However, the quarantine facility is there for a reason so if you are unsure, just put them there.
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"Give Way"? Wait....I know this one...give me a minute
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For the first time in my life I've copied an audio CD, and it was not totally successful. I used Windows Media Player to copy the CD to my computer, and then to copy from my computer to a blank CD. Apart from losing two tracks, the copy plays OK on my computer, again using Windows Media Player. However, it will not play on my car CD player. Why is this?
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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L'escargot,
Just a thought - did you 'finalise' (I think this is the expression) the disc?
I had a similar problem months ago because I did not.
Matt35.
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Your car CD player is expecting a proper CD audio format CD; but just copying files from the CD via windows media player won't necessarily do this. Use one of the multitude of programs for burning CD audio. The 'big boys' are Nero and Roxio; but there are plenty of shareware ones to try; I've been using the one linked below; which foes the job fine:- www.feurio.com/English/index.shtml
Some CD players are fussier than others about playing 'burnt' CDRs; so I find it best to use a fairly low speed for copying i.e. 2x or 4x.
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Some CD players are fussier than others about playing 'burnt' CDRs;
I can vouch for that. My Vectra multiplay CD player will only play CDR's if I put them in position one of the magazine.
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Also check that you don't have a copy-protected CD, which allows you to make a copy but the copy is inferior in some way. Not many do this, but Dido's Life For Rent is one (although not in all countries I believe).
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Re-writable (CD-RW) disks can be a problem too.
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>>My Vectra multiplay CD player will only play CDR's if I put them in position one of the magazine.
Yeah; the CD300 units fitted in my Omegas are by far the fussiest CD players in the household : but then they won't play proper CDs for more than an hour or so without starting to skip. Seems to be a 'feature' as they both do it.
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Must say I have not had any problems burning CD's using windows media player and had no problems with playing them in any car player so far mainly Vectra/ Mondeo/ Ford hire cars in USA road trips. However SpanCan61's comment about burning at a low speed is totally correct 4x is the highest to give reliable results in my experience.
The only problem has been with one album which is in fact copy protected Chilli Peppers as it happens.
Please note I only copy CDs/software as a single back up copy for protection of my investment.
Rather in the same way when vinyl was the thing we used to to make a taped copy of a new pristine album so we could keep the disc in good condition. CDs are more robust but still can be damaged. The copied CD is used as the working instrument, the original kept as the back up.
I do not, and I believe the Backroom also should not, condone illegal copyright infringment for gain.
Sorry if this is considered to be po-faced, but I object strongly when some Far Eastern little twonk (factual not racist!) infringes any patent I or a colleague may have. Just watch those lawyers when unleashed!
FiF
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I do not, and I believe the Backroom also should not, condone illegal copyright infringment for gain.
To be fair, I don't think anything discussed here is advocating that. Making a copy for personal use to protect the original ought to be legal but probably isn't, at least in the UK.
One reason the music industry is in so much trouble at the moment is its failure to understand the implications of new technology.
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To be fair, I don't think anything discussed here is advocating that. Making a copy for personal use to protect the original ought to be legal but probably isn't, at least in the UK.
Totally appreciated W. Shall we say it was a quiet ass-covering stance before the conversation drifted and we all got culled.
:)
FiF
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For the first time in my life I've copied an audio CD, and it was not totally successful. I used Windows Media Player to copy the CD to my computer, and then to copy from my computer to a blank CD.
If you're creating an audio CD, one thing to avoid is turning your music into a compressed format (whether mp3, Windows Media or Ogg Vorbis) only to change it back into an audio track. You'll inevitably lose some sound quality this way because these methods all use lossy compression: they throw away the bits of the sound that aren't easily heard by the human ear. How successful this is depends on the level of compression: there's a trade-off between sound quality and file size. Most people would find this acceptable for music that you're going to be playing back on (say) a portable mp3 player or to store a lot of music in a small amount of disk space, but not for audio CDs.
'Copying' using Windows Media Player doesn't really copy: you're actually turning the CD tracks into Windows Media files. I was about to say this compresses them and reduces sound quality but I've briefly experimented with WMP and discovered that there is a lossless option.
Nonetheless, if all you want is a straightforward copy of a CD, there are better ways of doing it. By far the simplest way is using a program called Clone CD from www.slysoft.com , which makes an exact copy of most discs.
If you want a bit more flexibility (eg to make your own compilations), most CD burning software (I'd recommend Nero from www.nero.com ) lets you drag and drop tracks from the original.
For maximum flexibility, get hold of CDex from cdexos.sourceforge.net . This will enable you to turn your CD tracks into a variety of compressed file formats or (if you want it to be lossless and have plenty of hard disk space) wav files. You can then use your CD writing software to burn the wav files onto a CD.
All the software I've mentioned is available on free trial except for CDex, which is open source and therefore permanently free. None of it is any harder to use than Windows Media Player.
You don't say how you copied the tracks to a blank CD. SpamCan61 suspects you may have created a CD ROM containing music files rather than an actual audio CD. This would play on your PC but not in all but a small number of CD and DVD players. On the other hand, if you did create an audio CD, it could be that the tracks you created by ripping the CD, and then converting back to audio, were bigger than the originals. It could also be that the blank CD you used had less capacity than the original.
I'll remove my anorak now.
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I have nicked this from elsewhere - found it fascinating & hope you do too:-
HISTORY LESSON
The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.
Here are some facts about the 1500s:
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
* * * * * *
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children-last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."
* * * * * *
Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."
* * * * * *
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.
* * * * * *
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor."
* * * * * *
The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As
the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in
the entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."
* * * * * *
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and
then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas
porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."
* * * * * *
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."
* * * * * *
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and
death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
* * * * * *
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."
* * * * * *
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."
* * * * * *
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."
* * * * * *
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frostbite - you have been truly well done by urban legend. see
www.snopes.com/language/phrases/1500.htm
or my own ancestral homepage
fp.ayrshireroots.plus.com/Genealogy/Historical/Lif...m
if the link fails try via www.ayrshireroots.com/
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Spoil Sport! You will soon be telling us that Father Christmas doesn't come around on a sledge.
Well he does, my Mummy told me. So There!
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Oh well, it's entertaining at least. Glad I didn't claim originality!
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For once Big G finds himself a trifle discommoded and it is not (this time) from Growlette rubbing his neck and handing him his third glass of Oxford Landing\'s 2001 Cabernet while making unladylike suggestions:
Can this be true?
In October I consulted my UK estate agent about putting one of my two properties on the market and he quoted a price. I said I\'d think about it. In November he called me and said he would suggest a 10% uplift on such price since my place was very saleable. Now he faxes me and say I should look at a further 10% on a selling price, saying he has 3 people interested with available finance.
My immediate reaction was to fax him back today and say sure but increase the price by a further 10% if the buyers are that motivated.
He replied OK he\'d try. This means if X was the recommended selling price in October, then we are now looking at (X*1.1)X 1.1 -- his revised sale price, X another 10%.
Should I sell or hold.......
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bird in the hand and all that....
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mr G.
property price history and forecasts and other tools
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3371395.stm
answer depend on area and forecast growth.
judge whether your region has higher expected growth than alternative investments with cash.
calculate oportunity-cost as you may already know.
then decide.
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Should I sell or hold.......
Whether you sell or hold depends on whether you think the market has peaked or not (says he, stating the bleedin\' obvious).
The housing market in Britain has gone berserk in the past few years and the situation is reminiscent of the late eighties with one important difference: interest rates are much lower.
A recent Money Programme suggested that one of the reasons for the current boom is the growth in self-certificated mortgages, which enable unscrupulous mortgage advisors to encourage people to exagerrate their earnings. This is dangerous because buyers who overstretch themselves in this way will only be able to keep up the payments as long as interest rates remain at their present, extremely low, level. If this abuse is as widespread as the programme suggested, it\'s easy to imagine the effect on the market of either an increase in interest rates or a clampdown on dodgy mortgage applications.
To take an example at the lower end of the market, eight years ago you could buy a basic but acceptable terraced house in my area (East Midlands) for £30,000. For something in the low to mid twenties you could buy a house that needed some work. If you weren\'t fussy about the location, there were flats to be had around the £12,000 mark. There\'s now little property of any description for much less than £100,000 and this is the bottom end of the market. This sort of boom is relatively modest compared with what has happened in the south of England.
I don\'t know what the average salary is but I suspect it\'s somewhere in the low to mid £20 thousands. Many, many people earn considerably less and the mimimum wage would give you less than half that. Assuming that a lender should only lend roughly three times your salary this takes buying a house outside the capability of most individuals unless they have a substantial deposit. It\'s hard to see how this is sustainable.
This is just my twopennorth: to say I\'m no expert is something of an exagerration. Again, stating the obvious, there\'s a world of difference between asking for advice on what to do with a blank CD that costs 40p and a house that\'s probaboy worth a few million times this!
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The property market is certainly no place for the faint-hearted at the moment, I have a horrible feeling of deja vu, and quite frankly the current market is unsustainable in the longer term.
25 years ago I paid £12,500 for my house on a salary of just over £4K, therefore about 3X salary. Still in the same house as I like the area and the neighbours. Similar house across the road just sold in November for £180K, guy in the same job as I was 25 years ago now has salary of c. £22K, therefore cost about 8X salary.
Low interest rate is the only thing making the prices attainable, basically anyone buying in to the market is having a serious punt on the interest rate over the next 10-20 years. At least I had the benefit of galloping inflation putting my wages up and making the mortgage feel cheaper at the time. Not so sure that's going to be an option this time around.
Really, your decision, Growler, is do you think the market has, or is about, to peak and will you have the opportunity to get a better return for cash as the interest rates rise?
I don't profess to be an expert, otherwise I would be a lot richer than I am!, but I have nearly graduated from the best Uni, the Uni of Life, and I think I can see some feint writing on the wall.
Cockle
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Growler,
I have found that Estate Agents will always try to get the property on the market at as low a price as possible. That way it sells very easily and they get their fat commission with very little work. Or it has been known for them to get an accomplice to buy an undervalued house and then resell at a profit. That scam is usually employed on naive old ladies and you don\'t fit the bill!
However the price he quoted to you in October would appear to have been a gross underestimate of the true value if he is now prepared to market it at 33% more than that figure. That would give me grave reservations about his competence or integrity.
Would it not be best to get other Estate Agents to give you a valuation?
The decision to retain or sell a property, that you do not reside in, depends on so many factors and I have usually guessed wrong. My gut feeling is always to retain unless you have a need for the cash - new Hog?
C
PS
Surprised no reaction from you on the prediction that you will be returning to Blighty this year.(2004 Predictions) Could it be true?
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Growler, you don`t say whether your property is located in an urban or rural location, as there is now a growing trend for people, who are sick of inner city crime, to move out to the peace of the countryside.
As a result, prices in the far South West are now closing rapidly on the South East. !!!
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Sell. Rates going to rise, and plenty of subsequent repossestions. More stock on the market and lack of confidence will mean initial stagnation of house prices in many areas. I think better to get out while the going is good.
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Well, thanks all, my musings on one possible house sale flushed out considerable erudition, upon which I shall reflect. Actually yes if I do sell there will be a new Hog in there somewhere. But not one of those heretical V-Rod monstrosities.
Return to Blighty? I doubt if they'd have me, although the man from the Revenue might want to drop by for a cup of tea. I faxed 10 Downing Street and said if that Blair decided to sell my birthright for a mess of pottage by signing up for the EU Constitution I would burn my UK passport on prime-time Manila TV in front of the Brit Embassy. That must have done a bit of good because that one's gone away for a while. Thought he might have welcomed it actually, bit of a distraction, good day for burying Hutton etc.
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My home email account is being spammed by someone who sends large nonsense emails. I would rather not download these on a modem. Does anyone know a way to block them so they are not downloaded? Also, can I complain to anyone? The ISP is slow to respond to complaints. Is there any legal recourse?
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Leif,
I do have some idea of what you're talking about - I've seen some of the posts in another forum that we won't mention.
Anyway, back on topic, I've heard mailwasher is good at combatting spam. A google should easily find it.
Failing that, if you're using Outlook Express as your email software, and the spam is from the same person each time, why not set up a message rule - "where the from line contains people" then "delete it from server". Fairly easy to do, just goto the Tools/Message/Rules/Mail menu and fill in the relevant boxes.
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DD: Thanks. I'll try that.
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Sorry, didn't fully answer the question, as regard to reporting the spam, I take it you're forwarding it to the relevant ISP with full headers?
swhois.net is good at seeking out an ISP and who to report the abuse to, just by entering the IP address into the search box.
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I use a program called Mailwasher which I think came bundled with VCOM Systemsuite - it may be available separately and/or on trial, and I dare say there are alternatives.
It logs in to your mail account and displays a list of messages ready for download. You can choose to download as normal, delete, or "bounce" which sends an "undeliverable" message to the sender.
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Yes, it's free if you only want to use it for one standard mail account.
www.mailwasher.net/
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You could also try spamjab.com - free at the moment and works for me. It blocks things before you download them so you don't have to spend time online while they arrive.
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Leif -
is your ISP the the one who also hosts your home page ?
If so, you can use fsmail and read/delete mails on the server before you download them - v useful if you happen to have access from work
hth
Mike
--
Bora - what Bora ?
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Have a look at www.email-remover.com
I have been using this for some weeks - it allows you to look at headers, mark for deletion anything you don't want, all without downloading.
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I\'ve just tried to visit Leif\'s website from the link on his profile, and it didn\'t work.
Although the h t t p:// only appears once in his profile, if you double click it, it appears twice, so you are trying to go to something that starts http://....
So I thought i\'d visit my site from the link in my profile, and that exhibits the same behaviour, although I know it was working last week !
anybody any idea whats going on ?
p.s. - post heading is not meant to exclude stephen from \'clever people\' - I wish I could do what it takes to put a site like this together !
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Bora - what Bora ?
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Thanks for the helpful answers! Yes I forward them to abuse@freeserve.com along with the internet headers. I suspect they focus on the nasty kiddie porn reports etc.
Borasport20: If it makes you feel any better, I am a software consultant by trade with 20 years experience of coding so a simple (no forums) web site is not too hard for me. (For that matter I should know how to filter/bounce spam ... Oh well if ignorance is bliss I should be a happy person.)
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Thanks for the helpful answers! Yes I forward them to abuse@freeserve.com
Leif, try forwarding to abuse@theplanet.net instead.
In theory it will go to the same place where you have forwarded to, but from past experience, I have had more luck with the one I have just mentioned.
I suspect they focus on the nasty kiddie porn reports etc.
Freeserve are actually sometimes too nanny state with abuse reports sent to them. I know people that have lost their accounts for posting something quite innocent to a Freeserve newsgroup. Far less offensive than some of the stuff that gets posted on this site at times. If the first time a report is forwarded to them, the person is warned, the second time and normally there FS account is locked. If they sign up for another FS account and further abuse takes place, then FS have been known to block your phone line from their network.
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Dave - freeserve seem to be taking the 'english approach' to spam (i.e. - make it difficult for those who observe the rules and do nothing about the major problem)
They won't discuss what they could do about the 100+ spam i receive daily, (clue - more than 2 identical emails from the same source, with the same header from the same address !)
Nor will they discuss the fact that they will simply dump any email you send to more than 12 people. I've been sending a monthly email to 80+ people via freeserve for 2 years - nobody got the November edition. Why? Because freeserve implemented this 12 rule without apparently telling anyone, not even telling the sender that the mail hasn't gone
I hope to be changing to broadband shortly, and believe me, it wont be freeserve
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Bora - what Bora ?
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Well Borasport, if you are considering broadband, plusnet (www.plus.net) are now offering a service at £14.99 per month, which is probably on a par to dial up accounts these days. I've had broadband for 3 years now and would/could never go back.
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pdc - thanks for that, £14.99 is what we are paying fs for dial-up at the moment.
are plusnet any good, are there any sign-up charges, what is their customer service like, etc, etc,
Mike
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Bora - what Bora ?
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Please could anybody advise whether a part time employee is now entitled to be paid on Bank Holidays that fall on the days they would normally be working or not ??
I know the employment law for part timers has been amended recently, but can`t find anything after a search on Google.
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dude{p}: see si2000 no 1551
www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2000/20001551.htm
and
www.dti.gov.uk/er/ptime.htm
Leave/holidays/breaks: annual leave, maternity and parental leave; career breaks
Part-timers, like their full-time colleagues, are entitled to a minimum of statutory annual leave, maternity leave, parental leave, and time-off for dependants.
In some cases, companies extend these statutory entitlements with enhanced contractual conditions. When this occurs, part-timers should have the same entitlements as their full-time colleagues, on a pro-rata basis where appropriate.
In the case of career breaks, part-time staff should be treated no less favourably than comparable full-time staff.
To comply with the law:
The contractual holiday entitlement of part-time staff should be pro rata to that of comparable full-timers.
Contractual maternity leave and parental leave should be available to part-timers in the same way as for comparable full-timers.
Careers break schemes should be available to part-timers in the same way as for comparable full-timers, unless their exclusion is objectively justified on grounds other than their part-time status.
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From Dti
The rights of part-timers in relation to public holidays and bank holidays may not always be clear.
Under the regulations, part-timers should not be treated less favourably than comparable full-timers in their entitlement to public/bank holidays. Allowing full-timers the day off, but not part-timers, is clearly less favourable treatment and unlawful under the regulations unless there is objective justification.
To comply with the law, an employer must treat part-time workers as favourably as they treat full time workers. In some circumstances it may be enough simply to give workers a paid day off if their day of work happens to coincide with the public holiday, without giving time off in lieu to those who would not ordinarily work on that day. This may produce a fair result, for example where a shift system means that full-time and part-time workers are equally likely to be scheduled to work on a public holiday. However, where workers work fixed days each week, such a practice could put part-timers at a disadvantage. For example, because most bank and public holidays fall on a Monday, those who do not work Mondays will be entitled to proportionately fewer days off. In many workplaces, these workers will predominantly be part-timers.
In such cases, it may be necessary to remove the disadvantage suffered by those staff who do not receive particular days off as a result of their particular working pattern, for example by giving all workers a pro rata entitlement of days off in lieu according to the number of hours they work.
Whether either of these approaches meets the requirements of the regulations will depend on the particular circumstances. Whatever approach they choose to adopt, employers should bear in mind the principal that it is unlawful to treat part-timers less favourably than comparable full-timers unless there is objective justification for doing so.
The Regs are The Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regs 2000.
Feel you are being done? You have a right to submit a written request to the Boss to explain and he must respond in 21 days in writing. If still not satisfied you have the right to make a complaint to Employment Tribunal who may order boss to pay up if they find for you.
DVD
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I am trying to find out vague average running costs for various domestic appliances. I\'ve done some google/web searching which has taught me how to work out the price for each appliance individually, but that\'s not really what I\'m after. Curiously there seems to be a lot of info for Australia, but it\'s the UK that I need!
More like \'a tumble dryer = x per hour/year\' or \'a TV on standby = x per night\', \'freezer = x per year\' that kind of thing.
I realise that all appliances have varying efficiency etc, but it\'s only a rough guide I need.
I heard somewhere that each item on standby, or with a clock consumes as much electricity as a lightbulb, but not sure if that\'s true.
Many thanks!
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rebecca: try www.ukpower.co.uk/running-costs-elec.asp
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rebecca: and if that is not sufficient, e-mail the contact at
www.est.org.uk/est/documents/quotable_facts_and_fi...c
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Thanks Dalglish (and welcome to the BR if I may say so).
I\'d already found the first link, but it\'s a bit too specific really. I\'ll wait and see if anyone here comes up with anything, and if not, will see what the EST lady has to say.
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Rebecca,
Most appliance handbooks give the power consumption in the specifications.
Forgive me if you know this. (given your gender I can\'t say teaching Granny to suck eggs!)
1 unit = 1kWh = 1,000watts used and cost approx 6 pence.
An appliance on standby uses very little electricity. My VCR consumes 1.2watts on standby and my 32inch TV consumes 0.9watts. So approx 1 pence per week when on standby.
As you say the efficiency of appliances varies a great deal but some examples of my appliances:
TV - 122watts when on.(8 hours for 6p)
Bosch washing machine(hot fill) between 0.6 and 1.9kWh per load. (3.5p - 12p)
Bosch Dishwasher 1.50kWh per load(9p)
You know how often you use them in a year.
Fridge and freezer consumption varies tremendously. The most efficient are rated as \'A\' and typically use in the region of 200kWh per year for a large appliance(say £12). If you walk around Curry\'s Comet etc they display the efficiency rating and typical annual consumption.
C
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Pedant mode on....
\"1 unit = 1kWh = 1,000watts used and cost approx 6 pence.\"
Not exactly. If you use an appliance which consumes 1000 watts, eg 1000 kJ / s, for 1 hour THEN you will have used 1000 Wh or 1 kWh. Use it for 1/2 hour and you will have used 0.5 kWh.
Pedant mode off
It is near enough though, and will get most people an understanding.
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Richard,
\"Not exactly. If you use an appliance which consumes 1000 watts, eg 1000 kJ / s,\"
Are you sure? not a \'k\' too much?
Of course having introduced 1 watt = 1 joule/second, we could always confuse Rebecca even further by telling her that houshold appliances are largly inductive and we have to consider the power factor.
Rebecca,
It is arithmetic. A 100 watt bulb burning for 10 hours consumes 1000 watts this is the equivalent of 1 unit of electricity costing approx 6 pence.
C
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