Seemingly trivial things that intrigue you

TheBigBean

Thanks. The other is Kutuzov, but I have just googled and found out he was a field marshal. I also know field marshal Haig, because he had a drinks cabinet in Blackadder. Anyway, my revised total is one general and two field marshals.

orraloon

This received by email:

Hi redacted
Now is the time to sign up for the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card (Representative 63.9% APR variable)

Why? Why would anyone?

surrey_commuter

TheBigBean said:

Thanks. The other is Kutuzov, but I have just googled and found out he was a field marshal. I also know field marshal Haig, because he had a drinks cabinet in Blackadder. Anyway, my revised total is one general and two field marshals.

Grant and Eisenhower?
Wellington and Montgomery?
Napoleon and de Gaulle?

Pross

TheBigBean said:

Thanks. The other is Kutuzov, but I have just googled and found out he was a field marshal. I also know field marshal Haig, because he had a drinks cabinet in Blackadder. Anyway, my revised total is one general and two field marshals.

General Lee wasn't originally a car in Dukes of Hazard.

Pross

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

Thanks. The other is Kutuzov, but I have just googled and found out he was a field marshal. I also know field marshal Haig, because he had a drinks cabinet in Blackadder. Anyway, my revised total is one general and two field marshals.

Grant and Eisenhower?
Wellington and Montgomery?
Napoleon and de Gaulle?

I think it gets confusing with some of the British ones as they often have other titles (Lord, Sir etc.)

shirley_basso

orraloon said:

This received by email:

Hi redacted
Now is the time to sign up for the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card (Representative 63.9% APR variable)

Why? Why would anyone?

Treat it like a charge card to gain air miles. I think my Amex is around that. I just pay it off every month and now have masses of air miles and have never paid a penny in interest.

Do you honestly not understand this?

TheBigBean

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

Thanks. The other is Kutuzov, but I have just googled and found out he was a field marshal. I also know field marshal Haig, because he had a drinks cabinet in Blackadder. Anyway, my revised total is one general and two field marshals.

Grant and Eisenhower?
Wellington and Montgomery?
Napoleon and de Gaulle?

I suppose I should have known Napoleon as he is in War and Peace with Kutuzov and Wellington. I guess most of the others I didn't know were generals.

briantrumpet

shirley_basso said:

orraloon said:

This received by email:

Hi redacted
Now is the time to sign up for the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card (Representative 63.9% APR variable)

Why? Why would anyone?

Treat it like a charge card to gain air miles. I think my Amex is around that. I just pay it off every month and now have masses of air miles and have never paid a penny in interest.

Do you honestly not understand this?

How long are air miles going to be a thing? Seems like they might have passed their sell-by date, climate-wise. Rail miles would be better for the planet.

pblakeney

shirley_basso said:

orraloon said:

This received by email:

Hi redacted
Now is the time to sign up for the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card (Representative 63.9% APR variable)

Why? Why would anyone?

Treat it like a charge card to gain air miles. I think my Amex is around that. I just pay it off every month and now have masses of air miles and have never paid a penny in interest.

Do you honestly not understand this?

I do similar and get 1% cash back.
Not so lucrative now but used to pay quite well when travelling for work.

orraloon

shirley_basso said:

orraloon said:

This received by email:

Hi redacted
Now is the time to sign up for the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card (Representative 63.9% APR variable)

Why? Why would anyone?

Treat it like a charge card to gain air miles. I think my Amex is around that. I just pay it off every month and now have masses of air miles and have never paid a penny in interest.

Do you honestly not understand this?

Erm, maybe you explain it to me in single syllable words, spaced out and slowly...🤔

I never pay interest on credit cards, I ain't that stupid.

I'm intrigued by why pick 63.9%. Why not 163.9%? 1,639%?

Are they just hoping someone forgets which day of the month it is?

Stevo_666

morstar said:

Stevo_666 said:

morstar said:

Stevo_666 said:

Ben6899 said:

Stevo_666 said:

@Ben6899

Suppose I should page you back to the thread...

Thank you @Stevo_666 I will have a read through that link!

Re the pensions, just to be clear it's only needed if you make additional pension contributions out of post tax income as Pangolin says. If your employer makes contributions to the pension scheme, or you make them by deduction from your pay packet then it should all be dealt with at source and you don't need to file to get the extra tax benefit.

Sorry, but this is wrong information

You will be, as you are wrong.

In a salary sacrifice scheme, you reduce your gross earnings by an amount equal to the pension contribution from the employee - so you automatically get tax relief at your top marginal rate (in Ben's case, 40%).

https://thepeoplespension.co.uk/salary-sacrifice/#:~:text=Salary sacrifice pension tax relief,a lower amount of salary.
https://fleximize.com/articles/015428/tax-relief-salary-sacrifice-pensions

Quote from second article:
"With a salary sacrifice scheme, there is no additional tax relief to claim because the employee has been taxed on a lower amount of salary already."

It has already been stated that is how salary sacrifice works.
We are discussing where a scheme is not salary sacrifice and the need to claim.

Keep up at the back.

I wasn't - why would anyone not consider a salary sacrifice scheme given the benefits, including. All Ben needs to do is check that is available to him.

orraloon

Rental property pricing.

Agent just been for a nose round to size up and price this rented place I'm vacating next month. Just for interest, how much do you reckon...? +23% more than I'm paying!

Demand vs supply etc. How do people afford ever increasing rents?

Inflation, Spaffer's gift to the nation.

JimD666

How football gets away with only delivering under 2/3rds of a product and is still the most popular game in the UK. There are enough complaints (rightly) when Test Match Cricket can only manage 80odd overs in a day rather than the expected 90.

Imagine the uproar if they only bowled 56 overs!

Yeah I know comparing Football to Cricket is like comparing an Apple to an Elephant but still...

veronese68

I remember there was a mass shooting at a cinema somewhere in the s

orraloon said:

Rental property pricing.

Agent just been for a nose round to size up and price this rented place I'm vacating next month. Just for interest, how much do you reckon...? +23% more than I'm paying!

Demand vs supply etc. How do people afford ever increasing rents?

Inflation, Spaffer's gift to the nation.

Lad's girlfriend has just agreed rental on a place in London with a few of her friends now they are working, had to offer over the asking price and still got beaten to a couple by others offering more. It's mad.

First.Aspect

Got to love the drafts. So annoyed was the lad about being gazumped, he shot up a cinema.

briantrumpet

Why they decided to use this image to try to sell tickets for a youth orchestra concert. I'd want a word with the marketing team.

masjer

Before the pandemic, I'd have never thought that anyone would wear a mask under their nose.

mully79

If you build a "cow shed"

orraloon said:

shirley_basso said:

orraloon said:

This received by email:

Hi redacted
Now is the time to sign up for the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card (Representative 63.9% APR variable)

Why? Why would anyone?

Treat it like a charge card to gain air miles. I think my Amex is around that. I just pay it off every month and now have masses of air miles and have never paid a penny in interest.

Do you honestly not understand this?

Erm, maybe you explain it to me in single syllable words, spaced out and slowly...🤔

I never pay interest on credit cards, I ain't that stupid.

I'm intrigued by why pick 63.9%. Why not 163.9%? 1,639%?

Are they just hoping someone forgets which day of the month it is?

I think the representative APR includes any card fees for the year. Amex gold card for example is representative 60.1% but is actually 24.7% on purchases.

briantrumpet

Why is the musical Babes In Arms called Place au Rythme in French?

BTW, if you've never heard of the musical, you might know its most famous song: My Funny Valentine.

rick_chasey

At the bottom of guardian articles where they ask you for money they tell you how many articles you've read.

Recently it's switched to this line Congratulations on being one of our top readers globally – you've read 1117 articles in the last year

What number are other people getting?

(I'm also quite surprised it is quite so high - must be a glitch as I doubt they even write that many articles in a year?!)

rick_chasey

Separately, I'm quick to criticise the UK especially compared to Western European nations, but it is remarkable how much more backward France & Germany are when it comes to women in the workplace.

Couple instances with female candidates who want more flexibility in the working week to help with children, working with an international firm.

HR giving it to me straight "if they're UK candidates it is not a problem. For France it is a problem but if they are really good we can make a special exception but in Germany don't even bother".

Doing a search in Germany and the number of senior women who have set up their own business or have gone freelance because the expectations at top level are just unrealistic unless you have a housewife/husband or no family.

surrey_commuter

rick_chasey said:

At the bottom of guardian articles where they ask you for money they tell you how many articles you've read.

Recently it's switched to this line Congratulations on being one of our top readers globally – you've read 1117 articles in the last year

What number are other people getting?

(I'm also quite surprised it is quite so high - must be a glitch as I doubt they even write that many articles in a year?!)

LOL - you think they only produce 3 articles a day?

If somebody told me 100,000 a year I would not be surprised

surrey_commuter

surrey_commuter said:

rick_chasey said:

At the bottom of guardian articles where they ask you for money they tell you how many articles you've read.

Recently it's switched to this line Congratulations on being one of our top readers globally – you've read 1117 articles in the last year

What number are other people getting?

(I'm also quite surprised it is quite so high - must be a glitch as I doubt they even write that many articles in a year?!)

LOL - you think they only produce 3 articles a day?

If somebody told me 100,000 a year I would not be surprised

And apparently I read 5 (five) so could do better

monkimark

My cousin moved to France quite recently, her kids are at the local primary school and they have to be brought home for lunch every day - the assumption is that none of the mothers will have jobs.

rick_chasey said:

Separately, I'm quick to criticise the UK especially compared to Western European nations, but it is remarkable how much more backward France & Germany are when it comes to women in the workplace.

Couple instances with female candidates who want more flexibility in the working week to help with children, working with an international firm.

HR giving it to me straight "if they're UK candidates it is not a problem. For France it is a problem but if they are really good we can make a special exception but in Germany don't even bother".

Doing a search in Germany and the number of senior women who have set up their own business or have gone freelance because the expectations at top level are just unrealistic unless you have a housewife/husband or no family.

rick_chasey

surrey_commuter said:

rick_chasey said:

At the bottom of guardian articles where they ask you for money they tell you how many articles you've read.

Recently it's switched to this line Congratulations on being one of our top readers globally – you've read 1117 articles in the last year

What number are other people getting?

(I'm also quite surprised it is quite so high - must be a glitch as I doubt they even write that many articles in a year?!)

LOL - you think they only produce 3 articles a day?

If somebody told me 100,000 a year I would not be surprised

Ah yes maths fail on my part.

orraloon

So, the odds on Brenda making it to the Platinum holiday break?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61384527

96 and counting...

pblakeney

orraloon said:

So, the odds on Brenda making it to the Platinum holiday break?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61384527

96 and counting...

Could be a bumper year for hols if she does.
Jubilee, funeral and coronation.

Stevo_666

pblakeney said:

orraloon said:

So, the odds on Brenda making it to the Platinum holiday break?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61384527

96 and counting...

Could be a bumper year for hols if she does.
Jubilee, funeral and coronation.

But if she croaks in the next 3 weeks, they might cancel the double bank hol. Pray for Queenie.

orraloon

Hah. Bleedin' entitled salaried elite innit. Us hard workin' 😎 self-employeds don't benefit by paid-for days off. Snowflakes.

Stevo_666

orraloon said:

Hah. Bleedin' entitled salaried elite innit. Us hard workin' 😎 self-employeds don't benefit by paid-for days off. Snowflakes.

But you quit your well paid salaried job voluntarily IIRC. You make your bed etc...