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Currently sipping a cup of Taylors Of Harrogate "Cacao Superior" coffee: Dark, velvety, hints of chocolate and blackberry. Black, naturally, with one sugar to "lift" the bitterness.
And the only biscuits in the house are for cheese ... 
This is while on hold to my energy supplier - who wants to raise my monthly direct debit by 40% - to tell them "put it back or I go elsewhere" given they owe me money, not the other way around...
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Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: direct debit
I pay essentially all of my bills on-line. And none of my bills ever direct-debits my account.
I find it easier and more productive to argue over a bill if I'm holding the money, and also, by never allowing anyone to directly debit my account, I have an historical record that any such debit is fraudulent. Bill payment is always a push from my end. A bit more effort. Also, a bit more awareness.
I do allow direct deposits. Anyone who cares to deposit money in my account is welcome to do so.* They are also welcome to pay my bills. Anonymously if they like.
Coffee: "Black Velvet" - black, no sugar.
* I hope not too many Nigerians are reading this
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Direct debit (in the UK at least) gets you better "unit" rates than "manual payment" or "prepay" methods, and allows you to "average the bill out" over the whole year so it's the same payment each month. Lets me plan how much I need in the current account and keep the rest in a separate account that isn't as vulnerable, pays me (pathetic) interest, but allows instant transfers between them.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: "average the bill out"
Interesting - in that my Natural gas and electric bills are both averaged, an option offered to anyone without having to pick any particular payment method. A few times a year it gets revised (up or down) and annually a balance due (one of us) is managed.
No difference in rates. I do only pay from one particular account, and the interest rate on that account is 0.05% which means they spend more on the ink to tell me about it than they actually give me. A bunch of online accounts, and similar things, exist. All of them push and pull to this account and it never reaches out to them. A degree of isolation.
Best interest I earn, now, is from NY State Municipal Bond funds. It's a bit over 3% (far better than any bank) and because it's municipal bonds there's no Federal or NY State taxes. Deposited to my bank account monthly. Taxable bonds offer notably higher interest. Another place that's nice and quite safe (well in normal times, anyway) is buying US Treasury notes directly from the Treasury (online account). They time your money up for 4, 8, 13, or 26 weeks, and are currently yielding about 2.4%. Exempt only from state taxes, so basically fully taxable. As good as any "CD" but only ties your money up for 4 weeks and can be set up staggered so that every week money becomes available for removal or reinvestment. Not sure how this plays out in UK economy. Actually, not even sure what interest rates are over in your end of the world.
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Official bank interest rates are 0.75% which makes them effectively negative given that inflation is higher than that!
The rates banks etc. pay are generally close to that (the rates they charge are not!) but there are longer term investments (ISAs and so forth) which offer similar rates and conditions to yours.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Both, of course.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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And I have yet to blow the world or myself up
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
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C-
Must try harder
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Happy birthday! ![Jig | [Dance]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/jig.gif) ![Beer | [beer]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/beer.gif) ![Badger | [badger,badger,badger,badger...]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/badger.gif)
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Happy birthday, youngster! ![Java | [Coffee]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/coffee.gif)
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Good luck, kid. in ten years you will catch me up, but I will have moved on by then - I hope!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Forogar wrote: but I will have moved on by then - I hope!
You know there's more than one way to interpret this, right? I'd think you wouldn't be hoping for that...
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Congrats on making it to the half century mark and we're all still here thanks to you!
I may not be that good looking, or athletic, or funny, or talented, or smart
I forgot where I was going with this but I do know I love bacon!
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So I haven't played with LEGO for like twenty years, but that's going to change tomorrow.
I just ordered the Millennium Falcon 75192[^] set.
The biggest LEGO set for consumers with 7541 pieces (that's probably more pieces than I've ever owned in a single set) 
I have a feeling this is going to be a fun weekend
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Winter eh? Stuck inside and need an excuse to avoid talking to the other one.
still I'd prefer to work on something that won't become a dust trap and won't be missing bits after a few years of moving it around.
Message Signature
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Lopatir wrote: still I'd prefer to work on something that won't become a dust trap and won't be missing bits after a few years of moving it around.
That's why I currently have my floor at home covered with newspaper and a freshly primed thingie that's about 80 cm long. Red, yellow, black and green paint will follow. If everything goes as planned, it will be able to blow away any dust it collects quite well. I only can't guarantee that it will not lose parts at some point, but that will just be my excuse to build another one.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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CodeWraith wrote: a freshly primed thingie that's about 80 cm long
Oo-er missus! 
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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Wait until I put the motor and the transmission back in.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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Lopatir wrote: Winter eh? Stuck inside and need an excuse to avoid talking to the other one.
How's that any different from other seasons? 
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I really mix the Lego "sets" of the 70's as opposed to the "kits" since then
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
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MadMyche wrote: I really mix the Lego "sets" of the 70's
Really? With what? Bourbon? Vodka?
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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Darn AutoCorrupt
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
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, or there's moving on as in passing on 
. It's the former I am hoping for! 
