u/optimalslate

Dubbi non ho - Pino Daniele

Labubu dolls, ugly and tacky imo.

Gladiator!!

As we all know he is an incredible rider for whom nothing seems impossible, but his dominance is reducing the amount of pro cycling that I watch. In quite a few instances where he has attacked early I have just switched off already knowing the result, despite 50, 60 or 70km left to be raced.

I did the Fred in May this year and despite all the hype about the brutal climbs my overwhelming impression was actually from the beautiful flat valley roads and descents.

Million Dollar Baby! I did not expect the second half of the movie.

This is the Primoz Roglic Slovenian national champs jersey from a few years back. The first one doesn’t have mesh panelling under the arms (so may be a supporter version without this technical detail) but all the details on it appear accurate (the sponsors and the partial Slovenian national colour bands around the arms and neck).

The second one is lacking Bianchi and Zuiver, and has full colour bands around the neck and arm holes. Not necessarily ‘fake’ but perhaps a lower spec version.

I’d go for the first one and tbh I’ve always really liked this design!

Your group is hitting all the right notes for this subreddit - MAAP collab wear, PNS and Velodrom own brand gear! Great pics, hope it was a fun ride!

I think an underrated factor is Nigel Farage’s constant campaigning (similar to Trump) which brings him close to the electorate and makes him relatable to a certain part of British society. This contrasts with ‘far-away’ Westminster politics / politicians.

I believe this is normal when standing as it reduces the fabric when on the bike.

At the start line of a pro race a few years ago I noticed the same thing in a few riders as they waited around (and found it funny tbh) but my friend who races set me straight.

They do make MIPS versions of both of those Abus helmets, but at a higher price!

I have these same rapha shoes and I found that soaking them in soapy water then using a clean brush got them really clean again.

I’ve seen pros use a power hose to clean their shoes but I’d be worried that would damage this knit fabric.

I feel there is a bit of an anti-academic sentiment in the UK at the moment.

This may be because general economic conditions aren’t providing growth and as many new graduate jobs as people would like, but it also seems to be fuelled by a long building ‘old wives tale’ of non university graduates doing better without incurring student debt.

However this always feels like it has a selection bias where the one person who did really well without a degree is highlighted whereas the many others doing well in their careers with a degree are overlooked.

I can appreciate that if undergrad degrees become the norm then they are no longer the golden ticket they once were. However they seem like a worthwhile option to learn higher level critical thinking which is so important in higher paid knowledge work.

In my school group one person is doing really well in sales / marketing without a degree. And several others are doing well in law & medicine with degrees (often plus master degrees), so I’d be interested to know what the actual stats are on this question not just the narrow anecdotal evidence.

Animal Kingdom (2010)

I loved Old Man Goriot, and thought a lot of its character’s insights on the intertwined nature of money and relationships are still very applicable.

Tree of Life (2011)- it just didn’t quite work for me.

Waitrose in Godalming definitely does but it seems like they sell out later in the day.

I think the biggest problem is a lack of self belief that we are a successful advanced economy with a creative and capable population who can solve problems, produce high quality cultural outputs and improve our circumstances. 

I have the MAAP flow jacket (non-insulated) but I don’t think it’s thick enough to be a worthwhile layer at the temperatures you’re talking about. It’s a very light wind jacket, and tbh doesn’t get a lot of use compared with gilets and my thicker rain/wind jacket.

I think that the national government would try to enact laws/ remove blocking laws to allow for more house building if a. they believed it would move the needle on the number of votes they’d receive (and therefore I believe they don’t think it’s an election winning promise) and b. Could find a way around or through local government who hold devolved powers over planning consent/ town and country planning act. 

There have been many initiatives to reduce the barriers to house building (like the national planning policy framework) but these are advisory and the final decision lies with local councils (as they should know what their local constituents want / don’t want). In W. Surrey this has become the main power of local councillors, and primarily the power to block evil developers from profiting off residents misery from increased traffic, construction noice & increased head count in school classes. At this local level the national housing shortage isn’t a high priority nor are the potential future residents represented, whereas local voters / residents are there to verbalise their objections. 

My suggestion for increased housing supply is that all development schemes over a certain size (say 50 or 100 dwellings) should automatically go to the national Planning Inspectorate for determination, and completely avoid the vitriolic local council committees which delay & distort approvals.

My wife and I are mid 30s living in Godalming and love it. The nature walks and pubs around the town are really nice, and there are a few gems in the town centre. We also have a decent friend group of similarly aged couples, so thankfully it’s not all retirees around here (and it feels like the demographics are shifting over time towards young families). 

For me going to the pub and out out to nightclubs has just become a less regular occurrence since the pandemic made me comfier just staying in. I’m older, have a nicer home and at home TV, eating and drinking is all better than it used to be. I still go to the pub every few weeks but only for 1-2 pints, and hardly ever to a nightclub which just don’t seem as fun or exciting any more. Probably just getting old but also the 3 years of Covid really severed the habit of drinking in the pub 2-3 times per week.

I totally agree that there is such a difference between what I observe day-to-day living and working in the south east & London with what the internet (particularly Reddit but other sources too) reports on the state of the UK economy & society. In the past 6 months it has made me shut out the internet doom and gloom as I think it may be a form of attention seeking for clicks, or possibly intentional mis-information, and not useful commentary on the state of things.

The aspect which I struggle to believe is that the UK is permanently screwed. Its position on the ‘global rankings’ may fall as other large nations develop but it’s still full of well educated, creative and skilled people who are keen to succeed. Government debt may be high but that doesn’t necessarily mean the private sector can’t thrive.

This feels like such a random list of possibly negative things by all these local authorities. What’s the intention of this list? Feels arbitrary and depressing to fuel some the ‘everything is screwed’ narrative.

E.g ‘’ Bromley is grappling with the challenge of balancing its budget with the need to provide essential services’’ glad to hear Bromley is being a normal local Council in 2025. Thanks for the update.

Seems like neither the Tories or current labour government have been willing or able to take the politically unpopular step of ditching the triple lock on state pensions.

Labour got slated for the proposed cut to winter fuel payments so removing the triple lock would be open to a lot of criticism for not protecting elderly people who have paid taxes throughout their working lives. However if the state pension was means tested then surely many claimants could be taken off it, reducing the state outgoings. I have no idea of the stats on this though.