bickster

Just put a new hole in my belt (and its not near the end of the belt for any smart f***ers )

Well thats one for the reasons not to live in Australia list

Not true, we get in at 60 too on Merseyside. There is a cost but it's £12 a year (admin fee I guess.) I think it depends on your local authorities. Here its the Merseyside Combined Authority i.e. the one with the Regional Mayor that allocate the money for it. I took the missus to get hers the other week

Commuters exiist everywhere not just London ULEZ are coming into force across the country very soon and in a more ludicrous manner than in London. The Manchester one, is going to be the whole of Greater Manchester, the entire combined authority. Drive a car that day - pay! In Liverpool its even sillier, they aren't doing it as combined authority, they are doing it per council. On one journey I could go through three of them and have to pay three times. I could easily go from Crosby to Birkenhead and have to pay three charges in 10 miles (plus a toll). Even sillier is the one in my Local Authority, you couldn't make this up, there will be three zones. Two right outside the dock gates, you know, the docks that have just been expanded so they can get the largest ships in the world in, that run on Diesel and pollute far more than cars and the other just up the hill from... The docks. Even funnier, private cars will be exempt but buses and taxis will have to pay. The rest of the country is as usual more f***ed than London. Our busses are massively shit. we're still waiting for our new trains, which hilariously will mean a reduction in services (from 4 an hour to 3)

Wordle 526 3/6

No thats not what I'm talking about Your bus fares for example, in 2019, were subsidised from the public purse by £700 million. That doesn't happen elsewhere. Our taxes subsidise your public transport

I'd be brassed off if I was you too

Oh do trot on

A lot more than you. The rest of the country subsidises London's public transport

See, thats a bad day on London transport, it's a typical day with TransPennine Express / Northern Rail / Avanti. You don't realise what it's like outside London TransPennine Express have even invented a new term, pre-cancelled, for the trains they cancel the day before

You'd be red faced if was just the one

Yes and no, the ITV highlights programme on ATV/Central on a Sunday lunch time was called Star Soccer, then there was the Soccer Six tournament and that ran into the 90s (but lets not talk about that because sha were the only team to win in twice) but even today Soccer Aid the charity match is still a thing Its not as commonly used these days but I suspect that it started to fall out of use when the US started taking an interest in the game more seriously and UK football fans began taking the piss out of their ludicrous commentators. It's not a UK class thing its a "Oh do f*** off, yanks don't understand the game" thing

nah, definitely a rugby area thing, that isn't always a posh thing. South Wales valleys for instance Its not really a class thing its a differentiation between two sports thing. Where rugby is still popular the term soccer is often heard.

Time for my usual Soccer is an English term post.

retune the telly? What are you using? I've forgotten that was ever a thing until your post, why on earth would you need to do that in the modern world?

F*** that increased risk of poorly played bagpipes

I'm pretty much exclusively coffee and with a breakfast I prefer it after I've eaten

I don't mind them but when potatoes get introduced into the mix, thats when a fried breakfast needs wet

IF Labour play this right, it'll be a lot longer than 5 years (we aren't the USA)

I don't own this but I discovered it last night after it popped up on my Spotify Fred Pallen and Le Sacre du Tympan - X I think I'd describe it as Gallic cinematic psyche-jazz. I was playing this in the car last night and a customer asked me if I was feeling suicidal, why is it rich people have no cultural sophistication? It's on my list and I'm exploring the back catalogue

There is the smell of a General Election in the air The following have all recently announced they are standing down at the next election Gary Streeter (SW Devon) - 67 years old, massive majority been in parliament since 1997. Nothing to see here but... Chloe Smith (Norwich North) - She's only 40 and was elected in 2009, majority 4500 and has held a decent number of ministerial / secretarial positions. Still could be a one off WIlliam Wragg (Hazel Grove) - He's only 34 and was only elected for the first time in 2015, majority of 4500 and is currently the chair of a select committee Dehenna Davidson (Bishop Aukland) - Age 29, only elected in 2019, the first ever Tory to hold this Red Wall seat, majority of 8,000. Has only just been awarded her first position (Under-Secretary of punching down) under Truss which she retained under Sunak. In her announcement she says that The time feels right to devote her time to her life outside politics, what???? OK all that could mean nothing but... If that tweet doesn't scream General Election incoming to you then maybe this will... Convinced now? Sod knows what they think they have up their sleeve but 4 announcements of leaving office, 3 of which are VERY surprising and those two tweets all in the same week. Something is in the air.

Considering the Iron Horse played such a pivotal role in expanding the country from East to West, the US really is shit at long/medium distance rail travel. It's a really awful example of privatised pubic infrastructure

Hate to break this to you but... that might not quite be true any more

I think you're making a grave error, you'll feel more at home here