Bluemarlin

This is so true, and one of my biggest gripes. I think, in part at least, this is down to the nature of social media, and the tendency to condense everything into an "either, or" position. This kind of thing was called black and white thinking, which is at best considered an unhealthy coping mechanism, or at worst the symptoms of a personality disorder. It comes from people being unwilling to accept harsh truths, seeing them simply as an opinion they don't like, rather than a matter of fact. As such, they become more and more entrenched in their comfort zone and delusional bubble. This also leads towards another trend, which I'm equally uncomfortable with, and that is that people nowadays seem unable to differentiate betweem someone stating a reality, and someone holding an opinion. For example, if I say women tend more towards emotional thinking than men, or that men tend towards being more aggressive than women, I'm stating well established facts. However, in debate today, people will take that as an opinion or preference, and label you sexist. And yet, without an understading and acceptance of those realities, there's no way of addressing any social issues they might cause. It makes debate, or at least any attempt to reach solutions to complex issues almost impossible, as to do so means first understanding the realities of a situation, and the nuances and even contradictions that occur in the real world, before one can even consider how to solve things. Solutions often require compromise, which fundamentally requires understanding and validating the other person's point of view, even if you don't agree with it. Instead though, people throw out their demands, like entitled toddlers, without care or comprehension of the wider implications.

It's swings and roundabouts. I've worked with US and European companies, and travelled to the US and various parts of Europe. Here are a few random observations, based partly on dealings with high level execs at large corporates, or successful entrepreneurs, and partly from visiting family over the last 25 years. Mostly I like the US, but it has it's downsides too. Europeans tend be happier and more chilled out, with a better quality of life. Americans seem more stressed, and will be dealing with routine work at all hours. Met far more European entrepreneurs than US ones, as most of the latter seemed to be employees, albeit senior level. Americans tend to treat negotiation in a confrontational, win at all costs way, while Europeans tend more towards win/win solutions. I found that with Europeans (and even more so Middle Easteners), that you could do a deal on a handshake, leave the contracts to the lawyers, and both parties will understand and honour the spirit of the deal. With American companies one had to examine the contract line by line because, if there was a loophole they could exploit, that would benefit them at your expense, they would have no qualms about using it. The level of service, and hence expectation is far higher in the US. People will complain more readily, and expect results. Somewhat surprisingly, other than in the leisure/entertainment/hospitality sector, this doesn't seem to result in any noticeable improvement in quality. In Europe, people are less likely to complain, as often it only results in a shrug. Things tend to get done quicker in the US, Europe less so. Spain is manana and Greece a day or so after that. They have some strange ideas about freedom. You can own a gun at virtually any age, go to war and get married as a teenager, watch porn at 18, but can neither celebrate nor commiserate any of these things with a beer till you're 21. Strangely they think that anything other than their way is not only socialism, but consists of third world living standards. I once heard an American being genuinely concerned about a move to a Canadian city, because he was worried about basic utlities like water and electricity. On a wider level, both are socialistic, but in different ways. European policy is weighted more towards the individual, with things like holidays, healthcare, employment laws etc. The US heavily subsidises certain corporations and industries, either directly with taxpayer money or through regulation, such as corn, food production, finance, agriculture, aircraft and auto manufacture. This results in certain things like making it harder for smaller businesses and entrepreneurs, as well as reducing consumer choice. Corn syrup appears in virtually all food items, which is why their Coke tastes so bad, and bioethanol in fuel has been an issue for much longer. The US is both a great place to live or visit, with many things to experience and enjoy. The people are mostly friendly and hospitable. It's very much sink or swim though and, if you're a swimmer, life is great but, start to tread water, or sink, not so much, and you're on your own. Oddly, and perhaps as a result of the myth of the American Dream, those either drowning, or most likely to, are just as vociferous about maintaining the status quo as the swimmers.

No argument, just a different perspective. Have a good weekend.

It's just people/businesses charging for what they can, based on a mixture of their revenue expectations, outgoings, and supply and demand. It's the basic economics of a western capitalist society. Things are moving more and more in that direction and, given that you're a relatively young man, I foresee many more things ahead that will annoy you. As for me, I'm meh, it is what it is. For all it's faults, the US is awesome Linas, you don't know what you're missing. Sure, tipping is a way of llife, but the food is cheaper and the service is way better, so you get what you pay for. Servers over there are exempt from minimum wage requirements, and so some just get around $2 an hour to be there, and make their income in tips. That said, depending on how good they are, and where they work, it can be a lot. As you're young, and seemingly successful, focus your energies on making money, and you'll become less sensitive about where you spend it.

We don't encourage that kind of thing round here 🙂

Ahh, so it's entirely subjective, in the sense you don't mind charges for a pool, as you don't use it, but dislike one's for parking. It's the same principle though, as the pool is still there, whether it's empty or not. Perhaps you can get someone to rewrite the matrix into Linas World 🙂 I doubt it's anything to do with politics either, and more about revenue. Bit like those signs in the bathroom asking you to re-use towels to save the polar bears, rather than for reducing their cleaning costs. You'd love the US Linas, as some places even add a "resort fee" onto the bill. I've also heard that some hotels add on a "parking recapture charge", to maintain the car park, which everyone has to pay, car or not. Personally, when I used to stay in central London I used to use valet parking. It was obviously more expensive than self park, but at least you felt you got some value for your money. In fact, with the right car, some places would even let you park in the reserved spaces they had out the front of the hotel.

No, I think he's saying that people with disabilities like deafness don't need to be parking near the store. You try telling them that though 😉

You do realise that free parking at a hotel isn't actually free, it's just built into other costs. So it's not the principle, or even the cost, and just the presentation that bothers you. It reminds me of a contract I was negotiating once, where the client baulked at the rates, and insisted on a reduction, as other suppliers offered lower rates. The rate reduction amounted to an overall cost of around £100k on a £3m contract. So, I redrafted the contract to incluce the rate reduction, but elsewhere added a £100k consultancy fee for something else. They didn't bat an eyelid and signed the revised contract.

Is it a ULEZ penalty or congestion charge one?

Looks to me like a 12v battery issue too.

Well then the solution for customers like you would be to make the room charges £10 higher and have free parking. Same cost for you, just a different presentation that makes you happy. The trouble with that though is that those customers who don't drive are paying an additional £10 for something they don't use. Can't please everyone. The latter isn't so much a rip off, and more a reflection of the value that hotels place on membership. Many large chains have membership/loyalty schemes, and reward members with offers and discount. I've enjoyed many of those benefits in the past. I guess then there's no right and wrong, just different ways of looking at things.

Indeed Malc. I believe that in some Scandinavian countries they don't even have a mandated minimum wage, as employers and workers trust each other to work it out together. They tend too come high in the world happiness tables too.

Not the worst idea at all, but the sale of the wheels will offset the cost of all seasons, and you won't have the faff of changing them over twice a year. For the record, I'm a convert to Cross Climates too, having driven them through snowy roads and mountains in Germany, as well as hot summers here and in France. They seem to work well in all conditions, as well as being quiet and comfortable.

I would agree, bin the third pary warranty and get the car checked over and serviced by Lexus and get their warranty. If Lexus find any issues then they're the responsibility of the selling dealer to resolve in the first 6 months, warranty or not. That £1600 saved on the third party warranty will probably get you a 3/4 year service plan, and accompanying Lexus warranty with your local Lexus dealer.

Pretty much my experience with Direct Line too. A big hike in premium, bit of shopping around, then back to Direct Line where they significantly lowered the hike.

Mine doesn't feel heavy at all. I'll also add that I run mine nearer to 39 than 33, but even at the lower end it doesn't feel heavy.

You played the old Christianity one two perfectly, where life is like being farked by God, and then cuddled by Jesus 🙂

To be fair, Jesus' dad would still smote the motherfudger, with great vengeance, and furious anger.

True, and yet some supermarkets (in my experiece Lidl, Costco, Morrisons and Asda) seem to manage wide enough parking spaces for all.

Trolly drivers would fail in the supermarket too, for hogging the middle lane, failing to look or give way at junctions, and parking in the centre of the carriageway.

As a free market capitalist, I share your view. I'm ok with an element of social redistribution though, whilstever we keep using public money to subsidise and bail out failed/failing businesses. If people want free markets, where you win or lose based on success or failure, then it should work both ways, or not at all. I don't blame it on anyone though, or think it's some kind of plot. The disparity we seem to have is more an unintended consequence of creating economic structures that rely on constant growth. A somewhat simplistic demonstration of how that works out, is to play a game of monopoly. As soon as someone gets the high value properties he can just sit back and collect all the money, while everyone else goes broke.

Very subjective, and most of the main brands do a decent job. Currrently I'm using Bilt Hamber to clean, and once a year apply 303 Graphene nano coat to the bodywork, wheels and windows. For the interior, both plastic surfaces and leather seats. I use a duster/brush, a damp cloth to wipe clean, and then wipe over everything with 303 Aerospace protectant..

Years ago, when I stayed in London hotels a lot, I used to use Lastminute.com. They had something callled secret hotels, where you could book unnamed 5 star hotels in the West End for around £100 a night. With a bit of google searching you could usually figure out what each hotel was from the pictures. Don't know if it's the same now. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but these days you can get much better value using Airbnb. For the cost of a hotel room you can often get a decent sized apartment, and either eat out at an inexpensive restaurant, or buy your own food and drink. Much better value, especially if more than one person, or a family.

Would help if you have any pics of the corrosion. For what it's worth, last year I washed the underside and then gave everything a spray of Dynax UB. I also cleaned out the wheel wells and sprayed them with Dynax S50. The Dynax stuff comes in a can with a long wand attachment with a 360 degree spray head, so it's easy to stick into any cavities and spray. Two coats of each are good. Once that was dry, for good measure I gave everything a spray of ACF 50. The Dynax should be good for 2 or 3 years, probably more in the wheel wells, so I just respray the underside with ACF 50 annually, as that part only takes about 20 minutes, as you can get under an RX without having to lift it. I also periodically give the underside a rinse with a lawn sprinkler in winter to wash off any road salt. Points to note. Cover the brakes with a plastic bag before spraying, and put a plastic sheet or cardboard under the car, as the drips (particularly from the ACF 50) will make a mess, and leave for a day or two to dry. I do all this late Sept/early Oct, as it's just after my annual service and MOT, and ahead of winter without it being too cold to be messsing about.

Some days I can manage it without any preparation at all 🙂