Message Board - Maison de Stuff

Message Board MONTHLY (daily)
Lox, I look forward to your post, you studied economincs I believe. Sheri, I think John has resigned himself to global economic meltdown, hence becoming a baked bean farmer when the NWO arrives ( see here for a slightly more interesting(crazier) take on it )
Kev

Sat Oct 11 13:53:34 2008

Could someone tell me what's wrong with John?
Sheri

Sat Oct 11 13:16:56 2008

Right, well we're off out for the day. Maybe a short boat trip on the Thames, followed by a wander round St. Paul's, and maybe a spot of late lunch.
John

Sat Oct 11 11:57:00 2008

Aha! Johnsbeans.com is unregistered. If my extensive three minute research into domain name availability is not a sure sign that I've uncovered a massive niche in the market, then I don't know what is!
John

Sat Oct 11 11:10:38 2008

Oh I see, not a squatter, they sell bean bags.
John

Sat Oct 11 11:08:37 2008

Som squatter has taken beansbeans.com though. Tsk.
John

Sat Oct 11 11:08:06 2008

It appears beansbeansbeans.com has not been registered. Presumably the first step to establishing a farm is to register a domain name for it, right?
John

Sat Oct 11 11:07:07 2008

Beans. Beansbeansbeans. Beans.
John

Sat Oct 11 11:05:18 2008

I would specialise in broad beans, pinto beans and haricots (the bean of baked bean fame). No kidney beans or butter beans though, they're just crap.
John

Sat Oct 11 11:03:56 2008

I reckon beans are the way forward. Great shelf life, highly nutritious, currently I believe them to be undervalued culinarily speaking, they're a lot more interesting than people think. Low in fat, high in protein, very space effective to grow. If I had the capital to hand to buy a small plot of farming land to start my new life in bean farming I'd be off like a shot.
John

Sat Oct 11 10:52:18 2008

Hmmmm not convinced about any perishables. Plus, do onions actually have much nutritious value? If starving, could you survive on a diet of onions alone? More importantly, would you want to?
John

Sat Oct 11 10:39:19 2008

Onions.
Jonny One Ball

Sat Oct 11 10:02:45 2008

Ciao everyone. Upon my return from Rome (where I am at the moment) I will try to dish out some basic concepts about modern investments. I did speak with John about them last time we saw each other, but we didn't go too much into detail. Generaly speaking it seems that in the UK, like it happens in Italy, banks have pushed on investments that were sold as "risk free" but that in reality were quite the contrary.... Anyways more on it later! :P
Lox

Sat Oct 11 09:50:45 2008

The BBC news website must be doing a roaring trade this week - I've certainly spent more time reading it this week than probably the rest of the year combined. Another article I found interesting was this one about investing in gold. This always seems to pop up whenever there is economic uncertainty, and it is interesting to see that gold prices have roughly doubled in the last three years, from 8000 a kilo to 16000 a kilo, suggesting also that mid-2005 was really when our current economic troubles began (or at least when the sort of people who buy gold in times of economic strife went and did so more than before). Somehow I am unconvinced though, given that it is an essentially worthless commodity in and of itself with respect to basic human necessities - it has little nutritious value and is impractical for house building. As my Mum often used to say "people will always need to eat" and I think something food related is probably a safe bet now - although obviously you'd need to pick and choose here - buying ten grand worth of cream cakes may not be an ideal choice... however I do wonder, despite the problems of UK farming in recent years, maybe agricultural land is a good idea?
John

Sat Oct 11 09:28:40 2008

Thanks for the link to the jokes John!! I like the beer-can one!! :-D
Nigel

Sat Oct 11 08:48:35 2008

Morning all!! :-D
You explain it very well John. For all it's worth I hava a sneaking feeling though that no prediction can work in particular instances only in larger trends (very Asimovian). For one thing I think this latest disaster is less to do with statistics and more human greed. Not at the savers level - it's human nature to want the best for our savings - but at the city-trader level. Their panic and base-greed elevates or wrecks companies that are otherwise trundling along, employing people, providing a service and are perfectly liquid, making a (perhaps) small or large profit.
Nigel

Sat Oct 11 08:42:26 2008

Has anyone else seen the page of credit crunch jokes on the BBC website? Some of them are really actually quite funny.
John

Sat Oct 11 08:40:20 2008

That concludes today's lesson in probabilistic economics. Good morning everyone!
John

Sat Oct 11 08:28:23 2008

Well I thought about this some more and realised Taleb is making a point of some worth. In "traditional" gambling (e.g. a roulette wheel or playing the lottery), assuming a small stake, there's a high probability of a small loss, and a small probability of a large gain. Compared with an investment where there's a high probability of a modest gain and low probability of a huge loss. It is possible for both of these scenarios to have an expected value of less than zero. Most sane thinking people are aware conventional gambling is pretty much just throwing money way, so effectively they understand the negative expected value. However people are apparently less clear that the same may well apply to savings.
John

Sat Oct 11 08:25:05 2008

So I guess this is like saying, over the course of a year you have a 0.9 probability of making, say, 500 quid on your 10,000 investment, and a 0.1 probability of losing the whole lot. So the expected value is 0.9*500 + 0.1*-10000 = -550. Well yea that is less than zero, so obviously not an attractive prospect. Hmmm somehow I'm not that impressed by Mr Taleb any more - the problem is not that we ignore the risk, it is that we cannot get anywhere close to accurately quantifying it. If a proposition for a savings account was put to you, and you were told up front you had a 10% risk of losing your investment, the majority of rational people would just not go for it.
John

Sat Oct 11 00:43:15 2008

What an interesting (and possibly crazy) man. It seems my recently savings account were a "Taleb distribution".

"...a high probability of a low gain and a small probability of a very large loss, where the expected value is less than zero, but is camouflaged by the appearance of low risk, steady returns."
John

Sat Oct 11 00:22:36 2008

Well at least one person saw this coming - Nassim Taleb is currently indulging in a riotous festival of "I bloody told you so!". He must be feeling very pleased with himself.
John

Sat Oct 11 00:13:46 2008

Hello all!! :-D

Well for my two-penny-worth (which is actually only worth 1p at current prices :-( ) all off-sure tax-havens or trading centres are likely to be vulnerable right now. It's clear to my mind that neither Jersey, Guernsey or Iceland (et al) have enough revenue from income-tax generated on their indigenous populations to pay off any potential money-market catastrophies. They are merely "conduits" run by international banks. True the Channel Islands are probably better built to weather these storms - they've been at it for years. Keeping money in Britain is thought by some to be almost heretical, but for such a small country we are actually very rich by world standards. And now I think about it, are actually off-shore as far as Europe is concerned...

Hmmm... I take all that back... Perhaps I need a rethink!!! :-D
Nigel

Fri Oct 10 16:05:55 2008

Johns mum, Yep Woolworths are on a little upper today on a sea of red. Looks like they sold some stores to Tescos today, tescos recently reporting that they are doing quite well even though we are heading for a recession, I think woolies were in a bit of trouble due to the nature of the businesses, Tescos is a good move. Clearly Alan Sugar is a bright guy and saw this was a good match. Woolworth group up 17% today, lets see if he sells off tomorrow after hes taken his gains :):):)
Kev

Fri Oct 10 15:27:16 2008

I think the labeling would be nice, but essentially this role is normally taken on by a IFA person, however who would spend Ł100 to invest a thousand just to be sure the bank was safe. Also inevitable the IFA usually isn't so independant as you might think at the time.
As to your point about Icesave not being into lending and BTL etc, so therefore not being obviously at risk is a good one. However iceland as a country has been sailing close to the wind for ages, High interest rates, part of the carry-trade with Japan read here for more info. On that point alone you just can't expect and average savings investor to require an economics degree to judge wether they will lose cash when their bank goes belly up...
Kev

Fri Oct 10 15:20:51 2008

Apparently it is a good time to be buying shares - Alan Sugar bought loads of shares in Woolworth's this morning.
John's Mum

Fri Oct 10 15:20:22 2008

Hmmm I wonder if in the future there needs to be better labeling on financial products - "savings" does more or less have the word "safe" in it, and if perhaps from the outset the risk was made more explicit we wouldn't be in this mess now. Although equally the economy would fail to operate because no-one would have anything saved anywhere.

On balance I did not consider Icesave to be considerably more risky than any of the UK banks - they had got less involved in the sub prime mortgage market for a start, not to mention the fact they had lent a lower proportion of their assets than their average UK counterparts. Almost all of their UK customers were savers, not borrowers. Whilst in my brief dalliance with Bradford and Bingley I may have been a bit naive and not really done my homework, I had actually spent a good while looking into the relative security of Landsbanski, and don't think I was being particularly ignorant or naive there. Icesave did offer good interest rates, which were obviously attractive, but they were not always the highest, and I resisted any move to those other banks because I thought they'd be riskier...
John

Fri Oct 10 15:06:26 2008

I am sure everyone will get their money back from Icesave either from the taxpayer in general or from the assets seized.
However, for me anyway, it raised the question of "Safe" savings and how there is an assumption that savings in banks have always been guaranteed as a safe place to put your cash. For myself I get the risk, a bank paying greater than average rates e.g. the Icelandics, Bradford and Bingley, Alliance and Leicester were doing so for a very good reason i.e. they are inherently far riskier than say HSBC. This point is lost on most people, and thats not suprising really since the risks are never explained and who has time to look at capital deposit to lending ratios or how much BTL exposure banks have when they just want to put a few grand somewhere safe.
Of course one of the reasons why this isn't explained in a nice chart rated from 1-10 is because if you say a bank is risky who will use it or deposit there, thats the stuff bank runs are made from.
On a brighter note I hear the FSA are going to rush through the deposit guarantee scheme so it should be weeks rather than month before you get the cash back :)
Kev

Fri Oct 10 14:35:06 2008

The other day I calculated how much income tax I paid in the last 12 months, and compared that to how much somebody on the median average UK salary (around Ł20k) would pay. Owing to the non-linear nature of income tax. It turns out I am actually paying the equivalent of 6 average people. Even if Alistair dipped into the treasury's petty cash tin and refunded me the entire value of my Icelandic savings I still would have contributed the same income tax as around 3 average taxpayers. So it occurred to me one way to solve this in my case would be to only charge me income tax at 50% of the usual rate over the next year. Iceland can keep the money they've stolen from me and apparently can't pay back, the treasury doesn't have to magic a load of cash out of nowhere, I get my money back, and I'm still doing more than my fair share (by a factor of 3x) towards paying my taxes.
John

Fri Oct 10 14:04:07 2008

Iceland goes up for sale
Kev

Fri Oct 10 13:18:31 2008

Jon: Abigail gets a contribution towards her childcare costs (all donations greatly received) plus we get child benefit for our two. I see this as tax back as I pay substantially more tax than we receive in benefit. So you're hunch was correct.
dsp

Fri Oct 10 12:36:39 2008

Morning. DSP: What tax money actually going up north? That surely isn't right is it? I thought it was all staying in london to help those traders get their bonuses. Does that mean that we are helping out people who are on or below the poverty line? That doesn't sound like our government to me.
Jon

Fri Oct 10 08:40:08 2008

Morning All!! :-D
Yes Travis, it's a shame voting for your real feelings is classed as throwing away your vote, isn't it? I resent that. The fact is we have a choice and we should make it. Just because the two leading parties sneer at us - as do their voters - I don't think it's wrong. One life/One path is how I see it.
Nigel

Fri Oct 10 08:39:08 2008

Morning All.
Kev

Fri Oct 10 08:27:45 2008

For what it's worth, in a useless gesture I shall throw away my vote on a third party candidate. Not because I think he'd be a good President, but because I think we need a third party.
Travis

Fri Oct 10 03:48:17 2008

Jon: It's nice to know where your tax is going. I saw some of yours near me the other day. Thanks for that.
dsp

Thu Oct 9 21:31:59 2008

T-Boy: Obama. Please god, Obama. You can only be the "Leaders of the free world" if we get to vote!
Rob Lang

Thu Oct 9 16:18:58 2008

Let's look on the bright side. It's not just the UK economy in recession. It means that I now know what some of my tax money is going on. I'll be able to find a cheap house soon. If the value of my house goes down, then I think I'll be paying less home insurance.
Jon

Thu Oct 9 16:18:53 2008

Totally different subject, but before I forget, young John ... news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7660405.stm Don't know if you can remember Clumber Park, but it was your Grandad's favourite Sunday afternoon outing.
John's Mum

Thu Oct 9 16:04:49 2008

I think at the rate this it turning out, Johns Zimbabwe note is going to have turned out to be a wise investment :) :)
Kev

Thu Oct 9 16:02:53 2008

Norfolk County Council have lost Ł32.5 Million and Great Yarmouth Council, Ł2 Million. Can anyone beat that. Looks like my council Tax is going up.. GRRRRRR
Kev

Thu Oct 9 16:01:35 2008

DSP: I believe the phrase that we are looking for is from Dr Gerard McKee: We'll I'll be fucked. or Simon Watson: Damn economy's out.
Jon

Thu Oct 9 16:00:51 2008

Travis: as far as I'm concerned I'd like obama to get in. Purely on the basis that he is black. I think it would be a sane gesture in the light of humanity, that it only took 70 ish years for segregation to be shown to be abolished. However I have no idea what plans either of the two parties have. Perhaps I should care more, but as I can't affect it then is there much point?
Jon

Thu Oct 9 15:59:16 2008

John, is it time to cash in that high value Zimbabwe banknote yet?
John's Mum

Thu Oct 9 15:56:25 2008

John: No, All my money is either in the bank or in shares with bnp paribas. I've fully fallen for the whole... banks are safe mentality.
Jon

Thu Oct 9 15:55:04 2008

What a fucking mess.
dsp

Thu Oct 9 15:27:01 2008

Quick poll of the non-Americans: what are the general perceptions of the candidates for the upcoming election (in the US, that is)? It's surprising how different things look from outside. Apparently, a vast majority of non-Americans favored Kerry last election.
Travis

Thu Oct 9 15:26:48 2008

It would appear that Ł600M of Council money is also entangled in Iceland. This could get horribly recursive, if the treasury uses tax payer's money to safe guard tax payer's money.
here's the scoop
dsp

Thu Oct 9 15:24:30 2008

So our turmoil is really a nuisance to other 'civilized' countries? Sorry about all that. Not my fault. It's all a shame, but apparently we're (the DOW) making strides so far this morning.
Travis

Thu Oct 9 15:20:53 2008

Hello Jon! So, are you a keep-all-your-money-under-your-mattress kind of chap then?
John

Thu Oct 9 14:15:43 2008

Oh and hello to everyone. I'm at EMC this week so I'm mostly enjoying an internet proxy which allows access to mds.
Jon

Thu Oct 9 13:54:05 2008

Personally, I highly believe that everyone takes way too much for granted. Don't get me wrong, I'm always happy that John can have more money than say Nigeria. Why do we all think our money is safe in banks. Why are we happy to sign over our salary into a bank account?
Jon

Thu Oct 9 13:50:33 2008

Morning Maisoneers!! :-D
Oh go on Sheri!! I've no idea!! :-D
Nigel

Thu Oct 9 09:11:49 2008

Morning All. Had to go via the moon to get to work this morning. It was carnage on the roads.
Kev

Thu Oct 9 08:31:45 2008

Well I too feel concerned. As a citizen of the world I did my duty. I voted. No need to tell you whom for.
Sheri

Thu Oct 9 07:29:25 2008

It's quite shite that you have to loose your savings because some stupid git who's going to retire to some Caribbean island messed up some investments. England has a quite unlucky history under this point of view, I can still remember the guy who bankrupted Barings in 2 days... :( I hope that the UK government will step in to help those who are likely to loose their money...
Lox

Wed Oct 8 18:38:49 2008

Hi Gloom-mongers!!!! I have friends in Iceland and they are simply shell-shocked... They aren't actually guilty of much personally. Sadly banks are banks wherever they are geographically. There was an eclipsed news-report about off-shore tax fiddles the other day, involving some nicely-rich celebrities who are clearly hoping all this bruhah will cover-up their naughtyness. Personally I think we should stop spending money fighting wars in the middle-east and use the funds to keep our country afloat. It is obvious thet the *real* way to wreck a country is not to wage war on it, but undermine its banks...
Nigel

Wed Oct 8 18:06:27 2008

I think Mr Irony just popped his head round the door and said hello. Apparently that site is run by 3 guys from Iceland ( click on the FAQ. Soon to not have any Country or vote at all.
Kev

Wed Oct 8 17:11:24 2008

Tim: I'm not sure if I find that site reassuring or hugely depressing. I wasn't at all surprised to see that basically the whole rest of the world prefers Obama, as do almost all the Americans I've spoken to (admittedly a biased sample given that most of them are living outside the US)... and yet still I have this fatalistic premonition that McCain will get in.
John

Wed Oct 8 16:49:46 2008

If The World Could Vote
dsp

Wed Oct 8 16:40:24 2008

This is actually good news for savers worried about their money. Like Rob says armageddon averted, indicating the UK Gov will guarantee all monies in UK banks its just they won't say it out loud so they don't spook the investment markets.
John, was the cash in an ISA wrapper, it'll be interesting to see how that pans out whether they can be transferred back into the UK intact.
Also its looking really bad the Icelandics, their currency has bombed totally, unless something is done they are gonna need Red Cross food parcels cos they won't be able to import anything.
Kev

Wed Oct 8 15:27:43 2008

OK then, I promise to go out and spend irresponsibly if I get my money back.
John

Wed Oct 8 14:39:03 2008

No John, it is as simple as that. The FSA have to step up, if 5bn of people's savings go down the drain, the economy will nosedive as people tighten belts to recoup the loss. That's what the FSCS is there for. They don't really care about your savings, they care about a lot of people not spending money.
Rob Lang

Wed Oct 8 14:37:14 2008

Yep, it is at least slightly reassuring that Alistair and chums have stepped in like that, although obviously it remains to be seen whether they can really afford it. They really ought to be able to though - the government has already benefited from the income tax on these savings, I imagine the bulk of what Icesave had was in ISAs which is by definition money that has already had UK income tax paid on it. I'd actually be almost satisfied if the government just gave me back the income tax I originally paid on all the money that went into Icesave. Even if I did get back the full amount as a kind of large tax rebate, I'd still have paid significantly more income tax in the last 12 months than the average UK taxpayer.
John

Wed Oct 8 14:30:28 2008

At least they have got lots of hot water, John! ;-) The UK government appears now to be guaranteeing the savings of anyone in the UK who had money in Iceland, so you should be OK, hopefully.
Bryan

Wed Oct 8 12:18:32 2008

Maybe I was a little too harsh earlier in my comments about Iceland. However pissed off I may be right now about that money, the worst case scenario for me is probably not as bad as things are going to be for the average person living in Iceland in the next few months. I've just lost a large chunk of my savings, whereas it is sounding like their entire country is in a state of utter financial ruin.
John

Wed Oct 8 11:52:19 2008

Blimey, it's interesting to think there are at least as many people with Icelandic bank accounts in the UK as there are people altogether in Iceland.
John

Wed Oct 8 11:48:40 2008

Iceland is bankrupt. 20 Men in "charge" have ruined that country of 300,000. The 300,000 ordinary Icelandics will be made to pay. Disgusting really.
Kev

Wed Oct 8 09:12:56 2008

As a vegetarian and a pacificst I abhor war and don't believe it is ever justified under any circumstances. However, now that I personally face significant financial loss I'm prepared to make a special exception in this case, and wholeheartedly believe we should make a full scale invasion of Iceland. If I have to take my capital back in pickled herring I bloody well will.
John

Wed Oct 8 09:06:37 2008

Hmmm OK so apparently the Icelandic government has flatly refused to give anyone in the UK their money back, and Alistair Darling said the UK government will step in to help out (see here). Not sure if that is good news or bad news really. I am developing a very strong dislike of Iceland now - there will be no further purchases of Bjork or Sigur Ros albums on my part.
John

Wed Oct 8 08:57:48 2008

I'm not so much worried (I'm in good health and have a roof over my head etc) as just utterly crestfallen and miserable about the whole thing. I can survive without that money, but I worked very hard to get it, so it is hugely demoralising to see it potentially disappear like that.
John

Wed Oct 8 08:52:36 2008

Rob: it's more complicated than that, there's this whole "passport" scheme thing, which means that Iceland has to cover the first Ł16,000, and some reports suggest the FSCS will *only* cover what's over and above that. Meaning if Iceland - now on the brink of national bankruptcy - is unable to cough up, any sums under Ł16,000 might get nothing back at all.
John

Wed Oct 8 08:49:36 2008

Sigh. I am struggling to muster the enthusiasm to go into work. What's the point of working hard to earn money when it just disappears in an instant like that?
John

Wed Oct 8 08:47:00 2008

Did you bank with the UK arm of Icesave? I am sure that if you bank with the UK arm of a bank, you get FSCS (financial services compensation scheme). It's not gone into liquidation, so you probably won't need to go through the paperwork hassle but you've not lost anything. So, stop fucking worrying, you'll make yourself ill.
Rob Lang

Wed Oct 8 08:36:19 2008

Morning All. Sorry John, no Joke. Did you know that the GDP of iceland is just $20bbn ? Now thats a fucking joke when you consider how much money their banks have lent out!!!!!
Kev

Wed Oct 8 08:26:06 2008

I was hoping to wake up this morning to discover a big "April Fool! - Ha ha Icelandic joke, we thought we'd catch you off guard by doing it in October" on the Icesave website. In reality that does not appear to be the case.
John

Wed Oct 8 07:59:47 2008

I had no idea Iceland had diversified into financial products. They should clearly stick to "prawn wheels".
dsp

Tue Oct 7 23:55:21 2008

Have just got off the phone with my Grandmother, who has seen on the news about the Icelandic bank problem, remembered me mentioning I had money there, and is now fretting on my behalf. I was starting to calm down and now I'm really annoyed again!
John

Tue Oct 7 22:57:20 2008

Rob: no I've never had anything to do with the RBS.
John

Tue Oct 7 21:01:48 2008

Also, for fuck sake, don't get a mortgage now, everyone's going to get stiffed for interest rates: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7625419.stm
Rob Lang

Tue Oct 7 19:51:44 2008

Hang on, have you actually lost the money with RBS? The bank hasn't gone under. Have you phoned them? Regardless, if it does go under, I got the feeling that up to Ł35k will still be honored by the FSA. Try moving your finances to HSBC or Lloyds or a mutual savings like the CoOp.
Rob Lang

Tue Oct 7 19:50:38 2008

Still, it's not all doom and gloom over at BBC News today - on the lighter side here's a story titled: Monkeys work in Japanese restaurant.
John

Tue Oct 7 17:51:12 2008

I don't think credit crunch is really the right word for it any more - I wasn't asking any banks for credit, quite the opposite. I'm really annoyed that I've been stung by this when I have absolutely no debt whatsoever. It's people getting into more debt than they can handle (particularly mortgages) at the root of all of this problem. So people in their nice cosy houses that they can't really afford have just stolen my hard earned carefully accumulated savings.
John

Tue Oct 7 17:35:46 2008

Well the credit crunch is certainly picking up pace, but we need to see the bright side... Sooner or later it will end. If it doesn't money and job certainties are certainly NOT going to be a problem as we are going to worry about bigger things. If it ends stocks are going to rise again, and John will recover his money!
Lox

Tue Oct 7 16:51:07 2008

Oh the irony is free flowing today. I've just received a mail from First Great Western saying that they've finally refunded me for a pair of train tickets I bought over a month ago and was never able to use, to the sum of Ł100.

Do you know that phrase "You look like you've lost a pound and found a penny."...? What I have experienced today is precisely that, only scaled up by 10,000 times.
John

Tue Oct 7 16:41:33 2008

Well, if this all blows over, I reckon you should be entitled to free holidays in Iceland. Money is nice, but your health and family are better.
Kev

Tue Oct 7 16:16:48 2008

On the bright side I went to hospital yesterday for a scan, and it turns out I don't have a second hernia (as my GP thought I might have) after all. Which is good, because I'll no doubt be out of a job soon, and given that I no longer have any money I wouldn't have been able to afford the surgery.
John

Tue Oct 7 16:13:14 2008

A further irony being that Chie and I had occasionally talked about going on a belated honeymoon in Iceland. Oh it's a cruel world.
John

Tue Oct 7 16:11:34 2008

Look on the bright side John, your deposit money is currently proping up Iceland. Your doing your bit.
Sorry i'll get my coat.
Kev

Tue Oct 7 16:06:17 2008

Shit. That sucks.
dsp

Tue Oct 7 15:47:22 2008

Having been nagged until we were nearly going spare by people with houses about how we were "throwing money down the drain" by renting we had actually gone to see a mortgage advisor last week, and had started looking at houses etc. Now that a large chunk of what would have been our deposit has been flushed down the drain that's no longer a very realistic prospect. I am going to bloody well strangle anyone who criticises us for renting now.
John

Tue Oct 7 14:59:59 2008

I think its all going to be rather messy, I think the other Nordic countries might stump up some cash for scheme, but like you say it could take weeks to get your cash out. Stupid Banks.
Kev

Tue Oct 7 14:51:24 2008

Yea I deliberately kept the amount I saved there below the amount that would be covered by the first scheme, thinking that would be safer. Obviously I wasn't putting all my eggs in one basket and all that either - I have the larger part of my savings in an entirely unrelated UK bank, getting very close to bugger all interest, which I assume means it is fairly safe - for now. Still, all that aside, there's a good ten grand that I'm now not sure if I'll ever seen again. :(
John

Tue Oct 7 14:48:59 2008

Looks like the yanks have decided a nice little war will sort out the cash flow problems..... link
Kev

Tue Oct 7 14:31:42 2008

which did you run? RBS?
Rob Lang

Tue Oct 7 14:30:27 2008

Doh John, are you really with IceSave? They have a two part compensation scheme, something called Passport which is the first 20K Euros and then the FSA guarantee kicks in. I found this page on MSE that shows you all the banks FSA scheme overlapps Theres also some stuff about the icelandic banks. :(
Kev

Tue Oct 7 14:28:51 2008

Oh I am really hugely depressed now. I know there's all those FSA guarantees and all that stuff, but I bet that is going to take months and require reams and reams of paperwork to go through. Bloody shitting hell.
John

Tue Oct 7 13:48:19 2008

Well it seems like I did a run on the wrong bank last week then. Shit.
John

Tue Oct 7 13:40:33 2008

John: Carry all your saving around in a bum bag.
dsp

Tue Oct 7 10:45:46 2008

Yes John, buy some gold krugerrands and get a money belt.
Kev

Tue Oct 7 10:35:09 2008

It seems there's a bit of a renaissance in gold buying - maybe you should invest in that John and see if your curse works on gold too!
Simon

Tue Oct 7 10:25:05 2008

If they're using tax-payer money (i.e. my money), I think that I should get dividends every year the bank makes money in the future. Directly. Into my bank account.
Simon

Tue Oct 7 10:24:30 2008

Well as a tax-payer I feel that using public money by the Billions to rescue a bank or two should actually count as Nationalisation... And not merely satisfy the greed of city traders...
Nigel

Tue Oct 7 10:02:40 2008

John, I suggest the Bank of Mattress. Icesave say no.
Kev

Tue Oct 7 09:43:26 2008

Given bonds typically have a fixed return rate over a long period, getting them for less means a higher rate of return for your investment. YMMV.
dsp

Tue Oct 7 09:14:13 2008

John you're absolutely right. A good time for bargain hunting. There are many funds which are based on government bonds are also available for bargain prices. A better risk-balance than just individual companies or bonds.
dsp

Tue Oct 7 09:13:04 2008

John, if you are absolutely and without any possible doubt sure beyond any provisos that you are completely sure that the company won't fold, be bought out at rock bottom or be nationalised then buy now. The only "safe" investment is government bonds and even those have a risk factor.
Rob Lang

Tue Oct 7 09:00:58 2008

Morning all!! :-D
Happily the phrase/warning that stocks may go up as well as down is slightly fallacious in that you have to be able to compare values *against* something. Given it seems the whole world is crashing at the moment we should all be on a level playing field. Against, of course China which manufacture everything. However they need not be smug as it is we who buy everything from them...
Nigel

Tue Oct 7 08:54:44 2008

Morning All
Kev

Tue Oct 7 08:19:36 2008

Addendum: Investments may go down.
The FSA

Mon Oct 6 22:38:24 2008

Lol sorry John, I just though that "THE FINANCIAL TOUCH OF DEATH" had been applied to the current markets. Btw I suggest stocking up on tinned beans and tomatoes, oh and and cancel that trip to Reykjavik ( they'll be too busy fighting in the streets to check you into the hotel )
Kev

Mon Oct 6 22:37:12 2008

John, is it possible to post to the board using a script now?
tom

Mon Oct 6 21:56:51 2008

Investments may go down, as well as up.
The FSA

Mon Oct 6 21:33:33 2008

Oh I see, have just been to look at the BBC news website. Isn't now potentially quite a good time to be buying stock though? Assuming it will go back up again (which of course you never know) there could be some bargain deals out there!
John

Mon Oct 6 20:28:34 2008

Kev: no - why do you ask?
John

Mon Oct 6 20:24:04 2008

So John, you didn't perchance invest stocks and shares today did you?
Kev

Mon Oct 6 19:24:37 2008

Nigel: Yeah but that would go straight into the coffers of the MIGHTY Italian state, which is equal to say "you'll never see it"....
Lox

Mon Oct 6 19:16:47 2008

How about "... Italian customs and excise increase export costs levied on the purchaser by 10-percent every week an item due to leave the country remains unpaid for" ??
Nigel

Mon Oct 6 16:42:57 2008

I am a bit bored today... Waiting for replies at work... Does anyone of you have a good idea on how to get a bloody Australian customer to pay for the goods that ordered? I am having serious problems in working with the land of Oz recently... :(
Lox

Mon Oct 6 14:34:11 2008

John, did you ever get the urge to stick your foot out and trip up random passers by?
Kev

Mon Oct 6 10:52:11 2008

Have just moved desks, so am no longer sitting in a corridor. Which is nice.
John

Mon Oct 6 10:14:29 2008

Mmmmmorning Brrrrr!!!
Nigel

Mon Oct 6 08:49:17 2008

Morning Dsp.
Kev

Mon Oct 6 08:23:57 2008

<Kev>Morning!</Kev>
dsp

Mon Oct 6 07:58:48 2008

John: It will be interesting to run a bit of analytics on the site... My bit of the blog has been using it for the past 10 months, and I got some surprising contacts... :P
Lox

Sun Oct 5 14:42:17 2008

I thought I'd give Crossover Chromium a quick go - it appears to be some sort of Wine based port of Google Chrome for OSX/Linux. Rendering is a bit jerky and flickery, but other than that it does basically seem to actually work.
John

Sun Oct 5 14:11:31 2008

No Kev, I wouldn't dream of it.

(click here for great deals on industrial talc)

John

Sun Oct 5 13:56:08 2008

Afternoon all. Still raining here too. John, does this mean that you will soon be monetizing the maison with popups and popunders and banners indicating to me that I am the 1 millionth person to view this site and I should "click here" immediately to claim my free prize?
Kev

Sun Oct 5 13:09:36 2008

Oh and by the way, I've finally got around to adding Google Analytics to some bits of the site (the main page, plus some bits of the blogs). It'll be interesting to see the results in a few days' time.
John

Sun Oct 5 12:43:04 2008

Still raining here, but I'm actually quite enjoying it - I'm having a nice time pottering away with the computer, with the very pleasant sound of the rain on the window. Unfortunately it probably won't last, Chie will start getting bored soon and drag me out to go shopping or something.
John

Sun Oct 5 12:13:30 2008

Ah! Good to hear John!! Must be fate... ;-) Well the rain has finally stopped here, so maybe I can venture outside...!!
Nigel

Sun Oct 5 11:36:30 2008

I did one of my periodic checks for cleanliness on the Maison' just now, and it seems the introduction of Akismet a while back has made a marked improvement to the amount of spam we're getting on the blogs - I think it has been well over a month since I last checked, and in that space of time I accumulated less than 10 spam comments on my blog, and a similar handful-or-so on the main maison blog.
John

Sun Oct 5 10:36:09 2008

Morning Nigel!
John

Sun Oct 5 10:28:07 2008

Morning Maisoneers! :-D
Nigel

Sun Oct 5 08:20:32 2008

Webmasters! Sign up for woopra . com. It's in BETA (free) and very awesome.
tom

Sat Oct 4 19:58:55 2008

Nigel: I thought that there was some mixup there, but I didn't say anything, after all is always nice to be mentioned on the board... :D Spent the Saturday in bed for heavy headaches and general slackness...
Lox

Sat Oct 4 18:40:31 2008

... er ... I seem ot have got my names mixed up a bit there... Still... Good Afternoon!! :-D Horrible rainy day here so I've been in my garage doing... Guess what?
Nigel

Sat Oct 4 15:01:34 2008

Well Good Morning again!! :-D :-D
Yes, so true Lox - My job is My hobby = Perfect!!!
Kev - Luxury, I quite agree! :-)
Nigel

Sat Oct 4 08:44:52 2008

Its a shame I can't start work at 10:30am every day, then thing would be perfect. Night all :)
kev

Sat Oct 4 00:23:35 2008

lol. morning Nigel, Yes I think my job is my hobby is very fortunate.
kev

Sat Oct 4 00:21:30 2008

'Morning, by the way! :-D
Nigel

Sat Oct 4 00:09:26 2008

Well personally, Kev, it would just be plain and simple "envy" I think!!You lucky, lucky, lucky.... ;-)
Nigel

Sat Oct 4 00:08:49 2008

It seems having a job that is enjoyable, or working with people in an enjoyable environment is quite important I think...
Kev

Sat Oct 4 00:02:48 2008

Begs an interesting question on how people who do jobs for money rather than for he most interesting thing imaginable get by each day. Very though provoking. Hmm......
Kev

Sat Oct 4 00:00:02 2008

No sarcasm John, It did rain, I had a great week off work and it turns out I like working with computers.
Kev

Fri Oct 3 23:57:52 2008

Was that sarcasm Kev?
John

Fri Oct 3 22:21:16 2008

After 1 month I finally got back my B&W Zeppelin... Now I can listen to my Ipod at home again!!!
Lox

Fri Oct 3 18:55:12 2008

Evening All, well I just had a great week off. Unfortunately it mostly rained. Never mind. Itching to get back to work next week.
Kev

Fri Oct 3 18:33:23 2008

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Mad Mumsie

Fri Oct 3 14:06:11 2008

Quiet today...
John

Fri Oct 3 13:24:51 2008

Morning all! :-D
(Wake up Kev!! ;-) )
Nigel

Fri Oct 3 09:17:17 2008

Look after the pennies, and the pounds get spent anyway.
tom

Thu Oct 2 21:54:11 2008

Crap, I owe you a quid then. It is exactly this sort of wild and carefree attitude to money that has got the US economy where it is today.
John

Thu Oct 2 07:58:01 2008

Cmd-shift-4 (or cmd-shift-3 for all the screen)
tom

Thu Oct 2 07:12:27 2008

Tim: How did you take that screenshot? Is there some sort of shortcut?
Lox

Wed Oct 1 23:44:30 2008

Doh. :p
tom

Wed Oct 1 23:15:12 2008

John - would you like my PayPal account for that Ł1 ?
dsp

Wed Oct 1 22:21:42 2008

FTW:

dsp

Wed Oct 1 22:21:08 2008

Hi all ... Yes, I've got GMAIL, what do I do?!?
Nigel

Wed Oct 1 22:13:07 2008

I do not seem to own a font called BRADLEY....
Lox

Wed Oct 1 21:45:19 2008

Tim: Where do you check the fonts on the mac?
Lox

Wed Oct 1 21:44:47 2008

I don't believe you - bet you Ł1 there isn't a font called Bradley.
John

Wed Oct 1 21:37:37 2008

OK, which wiseguy put a font on my Mac called “Bradley” (please notice my pretentious use of curly braces)
dsp

Wed Oct 1 21:23:16 2008

Nigel: You have to own a Gmail account and have John in your "favourites" to access it... (me thinks..)
Lox

Wed Oct 1 21:03:17 2008

Hi all!! :-D
So then, is this banter all a joke, or based in fact? I notice the news mentioning peeping-tom web-cam voyeurs!!!!
Nigel

Wed Oct 1 19:41:58 2008

John: :D
Lox

Wed Oct 1 19:12:14 2008

Lox - ahhhh you've found my webcam then.
John

Wed Oct 1 17:36:42 2008

John: I KNOW FOR A FACT, that at 20:48 of 22nd September 2008, you were either NOT at home, or you were having some other kind of actions that require lots of darkness... :P
Lox

Wed Oct 1 16:30:03 2008

John: Lovely that scale!! I wonder why the Romanians, but it's quite interesting... Very fit for the Americans!
Lox

Wed Oct 1 13:37:27 2008

Mornin', ladies and gents.
Travis

Wed Oct 1 13:27:50 2008

http://www.vivi.ro/appreciation_scales.jpg
John

Wed Oct 1 11:33:53 2008

Hairlair
Mad Mumsie

Wed Oct 1 10:44:32 2008

Buongiorno!
Lox

Wed Oct 1 09:32:27 2008

Morning Maisoneers!! :-D
Nigel

Wed Oct 1 09:19:25 2008

Morning all.
John

Wed Oct 1 07:29:23 2008

Incidentally, the money from my bank run on B&B just arrived safely, and an unrelated credit card snafu has also just resolved itself (I guess some stuff in the banking world happens at midnight) and so my financial dilemna that was taking place earlier today appears to be largely fixed. Still waiting for a refund from First Great Bloody Western though.
John

Wed Oct 1 00:13:17 2008

I had a look just now in the program guide for the London area for BBC2 around 9PM on Thurday and couldn&t find anything matching that description.
John

Wed Oct 1 00:08:44 2008