You know you're middle aged when

[robgul]

Yes, if you are in receipt of state pension.

Thanks - perhaps it dribbled through my bank account in the past and I didn't notice in previous years - I shall keep an eye out for this year (no sign yet)

You should have had it a couple of weeks ago I think - try between 4th and 8th of December

Aha! - found it on 14 Dec payment - it was an extra tenner on my state pension rather than a separate transaction as expected - presumably that's why I didn't notice it in previous years?   Winter fuel cash arrived in my account on 27 November

When my state pension started in 2012 they asked me if I'd like annual, quarterly or monthly payments (all apparently in arrears with no benefit of interest etc) . .  just to be awkward I said no pay it weekly, so they do.

. . . and good news on the Scary Brown Envelopes front  - HMRC's missive yesterday said I overpaid £400 or so in tax for 22-23 . . .  no idea how, possibly something to do with my non-working, non-pensioned wife transferring part of her allowance to me?

[andytheflyer]

Thx all!  I wondered why DWP gave me £10.

[ian]

In a pique of efficiency, I did my self-assessment yesterday which appears, for also mysterious reasons*, to have them owing me somewhere north of £3k, which is nice.


*my tax code is forever changing despite a stable income the majority of which is through PAYE and the only variable is an annual bonus, so every time I correct it, they change it to something else, and it appears random.

[Jaded]

Thx all!  I wondered why DWP gave me £10.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67787666

It could be a lot more…

[andytheflyer]

Not sure why I got it as I only get my pension from DWP, nothing else.  I thought you had to be in receipt of other benefits to qualify.  Did get the £500 Winter Fuel Payment though.  Which was nice...............

[ElyDave]

In a pique of efficiency, I did my self-assessment yesterday which appears, for also mysterious reasons*, to have them owing me somewhere north of £3k, which is nice.


*my tax code is forever changing despite a stable income the majority of which is through PAYE and the only variable is an annual bonus, so every time I correct it, they change it to something else, and it appears random.

I have the same to look forward to, the only benefit being that Mrs ED's tax year for her business is June-Jun, so she does all the numbers for the properties for me.  Mine will be complicated this year by heading towards the top tax bracket and the declining free allowance.

Mine is on a list and will probably be done on the 28th/29th

[ian]

In a pique of efficiency, I did my self-assessment yesterday which appears, for also mysterious reasons*, to have them owing me somewhere north of £3k, which is nice.


*my tax code is forever changing despite a stable income the majority of which is through PAYE and the only variable is an annual bonus, so every time I correct it, they change it to something else, and it appears random.

I have the same to look forward to, the only benefit being that Mrs ED's tax year for her business is June-Jun, so she does all the numbers for the properties for me.  Mine will be complicated this year by heading towards the top tax bracket and the declining free allowance.

Mine is on a list and will probably be done on the 28th/29th

They always count my personal allowance wrong on the tax code, which I don't understand because it's a very, very simple number. I think they got it wrong years ago and now I'm cursed to keep over- or underpaying in some curious financial oscillation. They did send me a note saying it's fine not to complete the assessment, but erm, no, not until you can do the sums right.


I suppose tax forms are a middle-aged thing. Mind you, I did my 1040s in the US some time ago*. Oh happy times.


*technically I looked at them, thought fuck this and took them to little tax shop in the mall. They said 'where are your receipts?' and I realised I was in a very foreign land. Apparently, if I'd religiously saved and filed every receipt I could have saved up $36.63 or somesuch. Americans have a very peculiar love-hate relationship with tax.

[T42]

When you remember removing that used varus insert from among the bars, gels & so forth in the cycling-fodder box but can't remember where you stashed the bloody thing.

[CAMRAMan]

I'm officially post-middle-aged, as bus drivers now wait for me to take my seat. Either that, or I'm too used to West Midlands bus drivers who couldn't give a toss and Warwickshire's are more patient.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I went to a birthday party on Friday. The birthday girl (who I didn't know) was 61 (I think) but everyone there was a friend of her daughter (or in my case a friend of a friend of her daughter). There were balloons. No, not nitrous balloons, just standard inflatable rubber balloons, that we all had a great time batting around in a room full of music. Some of the balloons had sequins inside and everyone know and again one would hit the empty light socket and burst, showering us with discs of sparkle. Afterwards, Becky, 43¹/₂, sound "I never knew middle-aged people could have such fun with balloons. I thought they were just for children."

[Hot Flatus]

You've just found out what Twitch is and how unbelievably big it is.

And your immediate reaction is that you just don't care.

[T42]

Thee and me both.

"Download Twitch and join millions" sez the second response on Glloog.

Fuck no.

[citoyen]

You've just found out what Twitch is and how unbelievably big it is.

And your immediate reaction is that you just don't care.

I've been aware of Twitch for a few years but it still baffles me. What does it say about the state of the world that people can get rich from other people watching them play video games? (Don't answer that, I really don't want to know.)

[chrisbainbridge]

You've just found out what Twitch is and how unbelievably big it is.

And your immediate reaction is that you just don't care.

Was that in the context of the granny who started playing fortnite and now has thousands of followers?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-68635687

[Hot Flatus]

You've just found out what Twitch is and how unbelievably big it is.

And your immediate reaction is that you just don't care.

Was that in the context of the granny who started playing fortnite and now has thousands of followers?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-68635687

 

No, bizarrely, that passed me by.

It came in the context of starting to dj which is, in and of itself, a sign of middle-age.

[Kim]

You've just found out what Twitch is and how unbelievably big it is.

And your immediate reaction is that you just don't care.

I've been aware of Twitch for a few years but it still baffles me. What does it say about the state of the world that people can get rich from other people watching them play video games? (Don't answer that, I really don't want to know.)

I used to think that, but I've come to realise it's not all that different to all the watching-siblings-playing-computer-games we did as kids.  A lot of the time I was more interested in seeing what came next in the game than I was in winning, and watching someone who was better at it was actually fine (even if the main motivation at the time was that there was only one computer and they wouldn't let you have a decent go).

The way I see it, Twitch makes about as much sense as podcasts^[1] or reality TV^[2].


_{[1] A radio programme about your niche interest, what's not to like?
[2] In which it's considered normal and ordinary for half the nation to spend hours watching randoms complete arbitrary tasks.}

[road-runner]

All those things above from Twitch to computer games, podcasts and TV pretty much passed my by as I made the decision with every one that I would be better off spending more time becoming a better musician. We each make our own choices and I do not regret mine. I am middle (or old) aged and living on another planet!

[Kim]

Similarly, I completely lost interest in gaming when I realised there was a nearly endless list of more interesting things you could do with computers.  Every now and then someone shows me a gaming thing and I'm awed on a technical level^[1], but I can't maintain interest.


_{[1] Much to the bemusement of TLD (who is presumably a proper grown-up by now) inna bunkhose in *checks notes* 2013.}

[T42]

I wrote a few matrix-based games back in pre-PC days, mostly based on the original Orb of Zot/Leather Goddesses of Phobos model.  I was trying to work out a combo of Cabell's Figures of Earth and HHGTTG but I dropped it when the first Sierra games came out and I realized the enormous amount of work, graphic in particular, that went into them. I played a few after that - Space Quest, Phantasmagoria & so forth - but lost interest after a while.  I'm too wary of worms, Trojans, etc. to get involved nowadays.

[hellymedic]

Your social media start with prostatectomy tales on one tab and colonoscopy comments on another...

[Lightning Phil]

You've just found out what Twitch is and how unbelievably big it is.

And your immediate reaction is that you just don't care.

I've been aware of Twitch for a few years but it still baffles me. What does it say about the state of the world that people can get rich from other people watching them play video games? (Don't answer that, I really don't want to know.)

No different than people getting rich from others paying to watch them play football.

[T42]

Putting things in the dishwasher after breakfast, you turn to get the knife you used for your fake butter, see it's no longer there and pick up the kitchen roll instead.

I did put it down again, though.

[alfapete]

Very many thanks for fixing it - it's my 'go to' social media site and now I can read, once again, topics like 'Soil Pipe Joint'

Which reminded me: BIDETS
At the age of 60 I've never had a tutorial about bidets, and we didn't discuss them when I was a child possibly because I'm not sure my parents really understood them either. I've certainly never used one.

Awaiting a plane at Kuala Lumpur airport recently, while sat on the throne, I noticed some information posted on the left hand side of the stall. The word Bidet was there, a picture of a lever, and a 'forward', 'back' instruction. The rest was in Malay. My curiosity was piqued but no more than that. Having completed my business and upon fastening my belt I noticed a lever just below the rim on the outside of the left hand (or right hand, depending on which way you're facing, but it's irrelevant to the story) side of the bowl.

In the privacy of the space it felt like an ideal place to learn a new skill. I leant and pushed the lever down (Front, I believe). There was a small trickle of water into the bowl, unimpressive. So next I raised the lever (Back, I presume) and was a little surprised. There was the noise of an electric motor and a small, brushed aluminium rod emerged gracefully from the back of the bowl towards it's centre. I noticed there was a rounded end, presumably for H&S reasons. Ooh, interesting.

And then water emerged from the end of it. But not just a trickle, a positive fountain! It sprang over the edge of the bowl, 150cm into the air, and ended up hitting the stall door, but only after I'd dodged out of the way. Now this might seem like the time to release pressure on the lever but unfortunately it was the time when the lever came clean off in my hand! And the puddle on the floor grew as the water continued to flow. Thankfully I managed to re-locate the lever and position it in the neutral position and the drama was over shortly before the water ran across the floor and out into the public area.

This particular facility was unusual in not having an attendant mopping the floors. I'm not sure whether I was happy or sad about that. Anyway, I was out of the country within the hour.

[Mr Larrington]

In other news, Malaysian police have issued an international arrest warrant…

[orienteer]

Designed and developed in Japan, where they are commonplace. We have one, sold by a UK company but clearly Japanese in origin due to the Japlish instructions. Front (for ladies only) or rear wash, hot air drier, heated seat,  and air purifier.