nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Off Topic Thread 5.0

[Deleted User]

Thread continued from here https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057835955&page=250

The usual rules apply. Non-rugby talk here. Consider this a social place, but like a pub, things like religion and politics can be divisive, so don't say things here you wouldn't say to someone's face in the pub. Sober

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

jacothelad

Zzippy wrote: »

We're currently looking to change cars as we need something that fits three child seats now. Prices are still pretty high but there's definitely fewer cars available. Plus the option of going over to the UK to get a higher spec car is gone now as you have to self isolate on return.

Try NI then. A V90 has 2 built in rear booster seats. There is lots of room for 3 child seats in the back. When the kids are ready the booster seats are already there. I don't need them but they are there. Good car too.

Zzippy

We're currently looking to change cars as we need something that fits three child seats now. Prices are still pretty high but there's definitely fewer cars available. Plus the option of going over to the UK to get a higher spec car is gone now as you have to self isolate on return.

Squidgy Black

errlloyd wrote: »

The fun in cars is the PCP bubble. Some stupid percentage of new cars are bought on PCP. PCP is priced based on the value of the underlying asset second hand to the dealer. If everyone starts defaulting the market should flood.

The PCP thing is a bit of a funny one. When it started really kicking off a few years ago, everyone kept saying wait until 3 years time and there'll be mass flood of 3 year old used cars on the market, but I don't think it ever really materialised, at least not in the way that people expected it to.

errlloyd

The fun in cars is the PCP bubble. Some stupid percentage of new cars are bought on PCP. PCP is priced based on the value of the underlying asset second hand to the dealer. If everyone starts defaulting the market should flood.

[Deleted User]

awec wrote: »

My da works selling cars and he was hoping to be kept off for a while longer and eventually paid off, but they ended up having to bring him back early as they were so busy. Says he’s flat out at the moment.

I was in the market for a car just before covid. I put it off as I expected the market to dive but prices haven't shifted much.

I think there will be a lot of deals to be had in the new year though. As has been pointed out, a lot of money has been put aside - but we're still heading for a whopper of a recession.

thomond2006

Some of my friends working from home are back part time but the overall sense is normally won't return before 2021 at the earliest.

awec

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Was chatting to a friend who is involved in the car sales industry who said recently the demand for used cars from their places has spiked and they think it’s related to people who have to commute not wanting to do so on public transport. I think prices on them had come down a bit as well, wasn’t fully following the conversation

My da works selling cars and he was hoping to be kept off for a while longer and eventually paid off, but they ended up having to bring him back early as they were so busy. Says he’s flat out at the moment.

Buer

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Was chatting to a friend who is involved in the car sales industry who said recently the demand for used cars from their places has spiked and they think it’s related to people who have to commute not wanting to do so on public transport. I think prices on them had come down a bit as well, wasn’t fully following the conversation

There's a not insignificant number of people who have not been paying for childcare or gone on a holiday in the past 6 months which leads to them having a few thousand quid which they hadn't budgeted on having at the start of the year.

Financially, the lockdown and Covid has actually been beneficial for certain people in the short term.

irishbucsfan

Buer wrote: »

Yup. Loads of places have had people back in the office on a reduced basis. The big multinational companies (particularly those with an IT/internet focus) aren't planning on returning this year but most others were well on the way to repopulating their offices and had signed of on their office amendments.

The traffic on the road at rush hour in pinch points is extremely noticeable. We're not back to full traffic but, for the peak of the school holidays, we're not far off. Although we do have to consider there are people who have ditched the train/bus and are back in cars now also though which is increasing traffic too.

Was chatting to a friend who is involved in the car sales industry who said recently the demand for used cars from their places has spiked and they think it’s related to people who have to commute not wanting to do so on public transport. I think prices on them had come down a bit as well, wasn’t fully following the conversation

Buer

Squidgy Black wrote: »

On the WFH, a lot of places were starting to bring people back in to the office, even if just on a part time basis, or at least putting roadmaps in place to do so.

I know a few of my mates were told September was when their offices were opening back up to allow people to come back in, but that's all being pushed out again.

Yup. Loads of places have had people back in the office on a reduced basis. The big multinational companies (particularly those with an IT/internet focus) aren't planning on returning this year but most others were well on the way to repopulating their offices and had signed of on their office amendments.

The traffic on the road at rush hour in pinch points is extremely noticeable. We're not back to full traffic but, for the peak of the school holidays, we're not far off. Although we do have to consider there are people who have ditched the train/bus and are back in cars now also though which is increasing traffic too.

Personally, I've been working from the office for a few months for about 60% of my hours The place is 80% empty and has been well kitted out with sanitiser, distancing measures, elimination of touch points etc. If we went back into a lockdown, it would be brutal. I'm dreading that the schools won't open but every sign indicates they will do so unless there's a continued significant increase.

Squidgy Black

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Some restrictions coming back but appear to be focusing on shielding. Elderly to limit their time outdoors and indoor family gatherings reduced to six.

They seem to be pushing work from home (where possible) again albeit from what I can tell people are doing this anyway. Outdoor family gatherings reduced to 15.

On the WFH, a lot of places were starting to bring people back in to the office, even if just on a part time basis, or at least putting roadmaps in place to do so.

I know a few of my mates were told September was when their offices were opening back up to allow people to come back in, but that's all being pushed out again.

[Deleted User]

Some restrictions coming back but appear to be focusing on shielding. Elderly to limit their time outdoors and indoor family gatherings reduced to six.

They seem to be pushing work from home (where possible) again albeit from what I can tell people are doing this anyway. Outdoor family gatherings reduced to 15.

errlloyd

If anyone knows of a "no rush" screen repair service that can do a Galaxy S9+ for less than 150 quid I'd love to know. Smashed my screen on that phone a few weeks ago. Decided to buy a oneplus as a replacement anyway, but I'd love to fix the Galaxy as a spare.

pickarooney

DGRulz wrote: »

Always amazes me how much places charge to fix phones, I assume theyre charging for speed and know how. I've done screens on tablets and phones for some of my immediate family that were willing to wait for the part to come in. It's not a terribly difficult job most of the time, once you're careful. Most a screen has ever cost me was about €30 but usually takes about 3 weeks to get to me.

Yeah, people want it done quickly and don't want the hassle of transferring everything to a new phone, plus they have no idea how to go.about changing it themselves.

DGRulz

Bazzo wrote: »

Have done it myself on several occasions successfully. Having looked at the instructional video for this phone and with the curved screen built into the frame I'm not touching it with a bargepole though. Maybe after I've replaced it in a year or two I'll give it a go so I've a spare in good nick if I need it.

Yea, have to say I'm not sure I'd be willing to touch a curved screen phone for anything more than a challenge. The first phone I ever tried to repair was my HTC a few years ago. Had to take the back off to get near the front, was a nightmare.

bilston

Bazzo wrote: »

Unbelievably I've just done the exact same thing. Fancy curved screen so a mere £250 to fix. It'll annoy the **** out of me but I'll buy a screen protector and soldier on for a year, the scree isn't very badly damaged, just a top corner.

How did I manage it? I was trying to replace a dipped headlight bulb in my golf, doing it the proper way so I basically had to dismantle half the ****ing front of the car to remove the unit(no joke). Somewhere around figuring out where bolt number 20 was to remove I'd left it on the engine block but it slid off and hit the ground as I was messing with the headlight unit. After I'd done the bulb and put it all back together I realised I could probably have just shimmied my hand down and yanked the card out to replace it.

I genuinely think I'd cry if that happened to my brand new S20+

Neil3030

Zzippy wrote: »

Good analysis. What influence can governors being to bear on the USPS though? If Trump's lackey there removes enough sorting machines and cripples the postal service what can they do? Sure they can extend counting deadlines but go too far past election day and the Supreme Court will rule against them.

Counting is the quick part, since it's a fairly simple two horse race. It's getting the votes received in time where Trump is trying to interfere. The simplest thing states can do to combat him is bring forward the window for receiving votes, i.e., many states will let you mail it in a month before the election. They can then decide to accept votes that are postmarked before the election, and received up to a certain number of days after. Already some states allow votes received up to 10 days after, once they are postmarked prior to election day.

As for the SCOTUS leaning on states to hurry up - I'm open to correction but I'm not sure that's how it works. SCOTUS can rule on a contentious result declared by a state (e.g. Gore vs Bush in 2000), but there first needs to be a result to dispute, and thereafter someone needs to bring it to them. A state taking a while to accept and count votes doesn't fall into this category, I wouldn't think. The electoral college are the body that oversee the election, and they meet in mid December. The new sitting Congress will formalize the result on or around the 5th of January. So I reckon there's leeway for states to take at least a few weeks if not longer to receive votes and declare their results.

Bazzo

DGRulz wrote: »

Always amazes me how much places charge to fix phones, I assume theyre charging for speed and know how. I've done screens on tablets and phones for some of my immediate family that were willing to wait for the part to come in. It's not a terribly difficult job most of the time, once you're careful. Most a screen has ever cost me was about €30 but usually takes about 3 weeks to get to me.

Have done it myself on several occasions successfully. Having looked at the instructional video for this phone and with the curved screen built into the frame I'm not touching it with a bargepole though. Maybe after I've replaced it in a year or two I'll give it a go so I've a spare in good nick if I need it.

DGRulz

Always amazes me how much places charge to fix phones, I assume theyre charging for speed and know how. I've done screens on tablets and phones for some of my immediate family that were willing to wait for the part to come in. It's not a terribly difficult job most of the time, once you're careful. Most a screen has ever cost me was about €30 but usually takes about 3 weeks to get to me.

Bazzo

mfceiling wrote: »

I feel for you!! My phone was a basic enough Samsung A40. Paid €125 on adverts for it...new screen was €140!!
Went on adverts on Friday and bought a new redmi note 8 for €110. Seems grand...big screen, big battery and the camera is fine. I'm not really in need of a top of the line phone so this yoke will do rightly.

Probably the smart route to go down. I'm a sucker for buying a new flagship phone and just looking after it for 3-4 years before replacing, had a good track record until now. :pac:

mfceiling

Bazzo wrote: »

Unbelievably I've just done the exact same thing. Fancy curved screen so a mere £250 to fix. It'll annoy the **** out of me but I'll buy a screen protector and soldier on for a year, the scree isn't very badly damaged, just a top corner.

How did I manage it? I was trying to replace a dipped headlight bulb in my golf, doing it the proper way so I basically had to dismantle half the ****ing front of the car to remove the unit(no joke). After I'd done it I realised I could probably have just shimmied my hand down and yanked the card out without dismanting half the car.

I feel for you!! My phone was a basic enough Samsung A40. Paid €125 on adverts for it...new screen was €140!!
Went on adverts on Friday and bought a new redmi note 8 for €110. Seems grand...big screen, big battery and the camera is fine. I'm not really in need of a top of the line phone so this yoke will do rightly.

Bazzo

mfceiling wrote: »

20 years I've owned mobile phones. 20 years and I've never dropped one of them and broken the screen.....

Until tonight.

Feck it.

Unbelievably I've just done the exact same thing. Fancy curved screen so a mere £250 to fix. It'll annoy the **** out of me but I'll buy a screen protector and soldier on for a year, the scree isn't very badly damaged, just a top corner.

How did I manage it? I was trying to replace a dipped headlight bulb in my golf, doing it the proper way so I basically had to dismantle half the ****ing front of the car to remove the unit(no joke). Somewhere around figuring out where bolt number 20 was to remove I'd left it on the engine block but it slid off and hit the ground as I was messing with the headlight unit. After I'd done the bulb and put it all back together I realised I could probably have just shimmied my hand down and yanked the card out to replace it.

Zzippy

Neil3030 wrote: »

The degree to which Trump can hurt Biden by undermining the USPS will depend on a combination of things.

Two critical points to consider are (1) the electoral college is administered by each individual state (so Governors are in charge of ballot deadlines, etc) and (2) that according to recent polls, it's 25% (R) vs 50% (D) who are likely to use mail-in ballots.

What point (2) here means is that Trump could set fire to every single mail-in ballot, he burns 1 (R) vote for every 2 (D) votes. In other words, unless Trump is within 25% of Biden, he can can't do a damn thing in that state. And that's the worst case scenario where all mail-in ballots get torched; the required lead for Biden comes down as a function of how many mail-in ballots get successfully counted. If they can even count half of the postal ballots, Biden only needs to be 12.5% ahead. If it's three quarters, it's 7.5%, and so on.

So really, Biden's safe and likely states will not be affected by any USPS shenanigans, and Trump can only help himself in the Swing states. We now need to go back to point (1) above, which relates to Governors calling the shots. I'm going by the map on RealClearPolitics, which lists 16 swing states: AZ, FL, GA, IA, ME-2, MN, MA, MI, NK, NE-2, NV, NH, NC, OH, PA, TX, WI.

Of these 16 states, 7 have a Democrat Governor, who will move heaven and earth to defeat Trump. Even if the remaining 9 Republican Governors throw the political freedom of their citizens under the bus for Trump, and further, they can discount enough votes for it to even matter, Biden has a Democrat overlooking the electoral process in Wisconsin (10), Pennsylvania (20), North Carolina (15) and Michigan (16). Win three of these states from four, he's the 46th POTUS.

Good analysis. What influence can governors being to bear on the USPS though? If Trump's lackey there removes enough sorting machines and cripples the postal service what can they do? Sure they can extend counting deadlines but go too far past election day and the Supreme Court will rule against them.

Bazzo

Trump straight back on the birther bandwagon for Kamala Harris. "Not a racist" though of course.

stephen_n

Neil3030 wrote: »

The degree to which Trump can hurt Biden by undermining the USPS will depend on a combination of things.

Two critical points to consider are (1) the electoral college is administered by each individual state (so Governors are in charge of ballot deadlines, etc) and (2) that according to recent polls, it's 25% (R) vs 50% (D) who are likely to use mail-in ballots.

What point (2) here means is that Trump could set fire to every single mail-in ballot, he burns 1 (R) vote for every 2 (D) votes. In other words, unless Trump is within 25% of Biden, he can can't do a damn thing in that state. And that's the worst case scenario where all mail-in ballots get torched; the required lead for Biden comes down as a function of how many mail-in ballots get successfully counted. If they can even count half of the postal ballots, Biden only needs to be 12.5% ahead. If it's three quarters, it's 7.5%, and so on.

So really, Biden's safe and likely states will not be affected by any USPS shenanigans, and Trump can only help himself in the Swing states. We now need to go back to point (1) above, which relates to Governors calling the shots. I'm going by the map on RealClearPolitics, which lists 16 swing states: AZ, FL, GA, IA, ME-2, MN, MA, MI, NK, NE-2, NV, NH, NC, OH, PA, TX, WI.

Of these 16 states, 7 have a Democrat Governor, who will move heaven and earth to defeat Trump. Even if the remaining 9 Republican Governors throw the political freedom of their citizens under the bus for Trump, and further, they can discount enough votes for it to even matter, Biden has a Democrat overlooking the electoral process in Wisconsin (10), Pennsylvania (20), North Carolina (15) and Michigan (16). Win three of these states from four, he's the 46th POTUS.

That’s excellent analysis of a murky system for outsiders.

jacothelad

Bazzo wrote: »

The numbers here seem to be kept very hush (surprise surprise). I get the Irish numbers daily by either catching them on the radio for the previous day or scrolling through twitter but haven't seen any UK numbers in ages despite also listening to BBC 2 and following a few British news sites on twitter.

In the last 4 weeks about 2,000 Covid deaths have been recorded. But it's o.k. as it's not affecting anyone the Tories give a flying Gove about. No point in telling the dullards who vote for them that they are being skewered by an arrogant, inept and criminal bunch of serial liars.

The UK government have now changed the way they count deaths and no longer make the figures available to the public.

"Daily reported COVID deaths are now measured across the UK as deaths that occurred within 28 days of the first laboratory-confirmed positive COVID test. Data using the old and new measures can be downloaded here. (It can't)

The deaths page is being re–developed." PHE

Neil3030

Zzippy wrote: »

If he does then the Democrats will never win an election again. He will probably get another two Supreme Court picks in the next four years and that will be game over for any opposition to vote suppression and gerrymandering.

The degree to which Trump can hurt Biden by undermining the USPS will depend on a combination of things.

Two critical points to consider are (1) the electoral college is administered by each individual state (so Governors are in charge of ballot deadlines, etc) and (2) that according to recent polls, it's 25% (R) vs 50% (D) who are likely to use mail-in ballots.

What point (2) here means is that Trump could set fire to every single mail-in ballot, he burns 1 (R) vote for every 2 (D) votes. In other words, unless Trump is within 25% of Biden, he can can't do a damn thing in that state. And that's the worst case scenario where all mail-in ballots get torched; the required lead for Biden comes down as a function of how many mail-in ballots get successfully counted. If they can even count half of the postal ballots, Biden only needs to be 12.5% ahead. If it's three quarters, it's 7.5%, and so on.

So really, Biden's safe and likely states will not be affected by any USPS shenanigans, and Trump can only help himself in the Swing states. We now need to go back to point (1) above, which relates to Governors calling the shots. I'm going by the map on RealClearPolitics, which lists 16 swing states: AZ, FL, GA, IA, ME-2, MN, MA, MI, NK, NE-2, NV, NH, NC, OH, PA, TX, WI.

Of these 16 states, 7 have a Democrat Governor, who will move heaven and earth to defeat Trump. Even if the remaining 9 Republican Governors throw the political freedom of their citizens under the bus for Trump, and further, they can discount enough votes for it to even matter, Biden has a Democrat overlooking the electoral process in Wisconsin (10), Pennsylvania (20), North Carolina (15) and Michigan (16). Win three of these states from four, he's the 46th POTUS.

Dave_The_Sheep

Deleted User wrote: »

I can't see schools staying up for any length of time unless other restrictions are brought in to balance out.

Once schools reopen - and they will regardless, unless we turn into Italy in March - then all bets are off for transmission. It won't be possible to make kids socially distance and maintain hygiene etc.

[Deleted User]

mfceiling wrote: »

I'm not sure about this. It's 200 out of 4.5million. We've got to get back to some sense of normality and even though we're getting a highish number of cases, we are managing.

The face covering is helping, people working from home is helping, good hand hygiene is helping.

I was pessimistic at the very start of this and thought our hospitals would be overcome. 6 months on and the hospitals seem to be coping fine.

I'm referring to the governments guidance on phases. I was under the impression that consistent +100 cases would mean a retreat to phase 2?

200 is a fair jump from where we were, it's not a good trend and suggests a potential strong growth rate right as we come out of Summer. The hospitals aren't over run because we all locked ourselves in our houses for 3 months and that's going to be very hard to implement a second time.

I can't see schools staying up for any length of time unless other restrictions are brought in to balance out.

mfceiling

[Deleted User] wrote: »

200 cases today - we could well be back to 20km / County limit by the end of August.

I'm not sure about this. It's 200 out of 4.5million. We've got to get back to some sense of normality and even though we're getting a highish number of cases, we are managing.

The face covering is helping, people working from home is helping, good hand hygiene is helping.

I was pessimistic at the very start of this and thought our hospitals would be overcome. 6 months on and the hospitals seem to be coping fine.