Ask a stupid question….

[simonworden]

10 hours ago, air_raid said:

Re: mortgages. As a former bank employee it’s a Minor Annoyance (TM) when people in and around the industry who should know better throw out “remortgage” for anything from getting onto a new deal when the existing deal comes up, to further borrowing/taking a further advance. In high street lending a “remortgage” only refers to transferring your loan from one provider to another. Or at least it did when I worked for a bank.

Isn't that what most mortgage brokers mostly do apart from disappointing young hopeful people looking to get on the property ladder?

 

Also do many brokers still exist?

[air_raid]

16 hours ago, simonworden said:

Also do many brokers still exist?

Yes. A friend of mine disillusioned with working at the bank quit to set up as a broker with a couple of her mates and they’re doing well, get great reviews for service. As well as independents, several developers are in bed with the New Homes Mortgage Group who get you an advisor to both broker your mortgage and sort your home and protection insurances out. There will always be a need, especially when you want to sort everything out in as few steps and dealing with as few people/phone calls as possible, without being bound to the opening hours of certain providers if you need advice or help.

Sticking with finances, my stupid question for today is - how does the Euro work??

I like to think I have a decent grasp on exchange rates and the inherent complexities when it comes to single-nation currencies. To give two examples, Japan doesn’t seem as expensive as you’re told it is if you only look at food shopping - when I went a can of coke was about £1 when it was 70p back here. Pub and eating out prices were also reasonable, but it’s only when you look at rent costs relative to salaries and sizes of home therein that you realise how far your pay doesn’t go. In Poland, the pound goes really far in the shops but there’s again a huge difference to affordability of homes, especially buying. There are big differences within consumer goods, the relative food costs are reasonable but high end tech is far more expensive than we’d find the same products on our salaries e.g a new iPhone. On the flip side the natives are always shocked to find out how much we pay in tax for little back when in comparison their (admittedly high) taxes see the council act far quicker when things need sorting in respect to road surface repairs, vandalism, keeping communal areas in good nick etc, plus a police force far more willing to turn up if your neighbours are having a raucous garden party at 3AM and tell them to pack it in, rather than our mob saying “sounds more like anti social behaviour, report it to your council on Monday morning” who of course will do nothing.

With that said… how does the Euro actually work? I don’t understand how you get one price for the value in dollars or sterling when the salaries and prices aren’t uniform across Europe. The salaries/how many hours working the same job to earn X Euros and how far they go in the shops will vary from Ireland to France to Germany, but they have the same value in forex? I don’t get it. Explain.

Edited March 22 by air_raid
Big In Japan.

[simonworden]

7 hours ago, air_raid said:

Yes. A friend of mine disillusioned with working at the bank quit to set up as a broker with a couple of her mates and they’re doing well, get great reviews for service. As well as independents, several developers are in bed with the New Homes Mortgage Group who get you an advisor to both broker your mortgage and sort your home and protection insurances out. There will always be a need, especially when you want to sort everything out in as few steps and dealing with as few people/phone calls as possible, without being bound to the opening hours of certain providers if you need advice or help.

Sticking with finances, my stupid question for today is - how does the Euro work??

I like to think I have a decent grasp on exchange rates and the inherent complexities when it comes to single-nation currencies. To give two examples, Japan doesn’t seem as expensive as you’re told it is if you only look at food shopping - when I went a can of coke was about £1 when it was 70p back here. Pub and eating out prices were also reasonable, but it’s only when you look at rent costs relative to salaries and sizes of home therein that you realise how far your pay doesn’t go. In Poland, the pound goes really far in the shops but there’s again a huge difference to affordability of homes, especially buying. There are big differences within consumer goods, the relative food costs are reasonable but high end tech is far more expensive than we’d find the same products on our salaries e.g a new iPhone. On the flip side the natives are always shocked to find out how much we pay in tax for little back when in comparison their (admittedly high) taxes see the council act far quicker when things need sorting in respect to road surface repairs, vandalism, keeping communal areas in good nick etc, plus a police force far more willing to turn up if your neighbours are having a raucous garden party at 3AM and tell them to pack it in, rather than our mob saying “sounds more like anti social behaviour, report it to your council on Monday morning” who of course will do nothing.

With that said… how does the Euro actually work? I don’t understand how you get one price for the value in dollars or sterling when the salaries and prices aren’t uniform across Europe. The salaries/how many hours working the same job to earn X Euros and how far they go in the shops will vary from Ireland to France to Germany, but they have the same value in forex? I don’t get it. Explain.

Thanks for broker info. 

 

For the Euro, in terms of the context as I understand you've given. I've always understood it as the Euro is as much as any other currency is a tool that is shared for use but doesn't reflect the economics of the country. 

 

The examples you gave were pretty sound for explaining varying pricing and salaries to some extent. But they are set locally and the Euro just used as the measurement. It could be USD, Bit Coin or footie stickers and still have the same utility. Eg Cambodia uses the USD but prices for rent and goods are a lot lower. 

From what I gather daily use by the people isn't as impactful on currency until factored in all together. Euro's are essentially more powerful than one currency in each location as they have more demand globally for trade. More demand, higher value. Exchange rates and value are generally set by countries and big institutions buying and selling currency not by the plebs transactions. So different costs of living don't matter. Another example would be the USA where a can of coke will cost more in NYC and less in Alabama.

I find crypto bollocks helps to make it clear for me as bitcoin is technically a currency to trade for goods/services but it's used and promoted as an investment tool which changes the value. 

 

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Im clearly a moron, but I cant seem to upload photos on here. Show me a step by step, please. 

[SuperBacon]

9 minutes ago, ReturnOfTheMack said:

Im clearly a moron, but I cant seem to upload photos on here. Show me a step by step, please. 

You're a paid member. You should be able to just go to add files and select which kne you want, and then that's it

[ReturnOfTheMack]

11 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

You're a paid member. You should be able to just go to add files and select which kne you want, and then that's it

A limit was put on a bit back.

[Ronnie]

If you've reached the limit, you'll need to create space by deleting some of your older attachments. Alternatively, you could host elsewhere and then paste the link, as non-Paidos do.

[ReturnOfTheMack]

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

If you've reached the limit, you'll need to create space by deleting some of your older attachments. Alternatively, you could host elsewhere and then paste the link, as non-Paidos do.

You're a star! That attachments bit was a huge help. 

[air_raid]

On 3/28/2026 at 7:17 AM, Ronnie said:

If you've reached the limit, you'll need to create space by deleting some of your older attachments. Alternatively, you could host elsewhere and then paste the link, as non-Paidos do.

It broke my heart deleting old chippy photos so I could post new chippy photos.

[air_raid]

What exactly is the point of “online check in” for flights??

You buy tickets and register your passport. On the day you turn up, show your passport again and dump your luggage a couple of hours before take off. Then later you show your passport again, they let you in the plane and it leaves. What do the few arbitrary clicks to “check in” several weeks before the flight actually achieve?? I’m baffled.

[deathrey]

Yes someone please answer this. It feels like they have just added in extra steps for the sake of it, it hasn't cut anything out. You still have to do all the same stuff at the airport

Edited April 10 by deathrey

[gmoney]

This is a genuine bugbear of mine, and something I have argued about with my partner about. Probably not because she feels strongly about its usefulness, and more because she's sick of hearing me complain about it. The idea of a check in to my mind is telling the airline "I am here and I will be going on this flight". To do that a couple of days before is meaningless, because there's still potential that you won't get that flight. 

[Ronnie]

It means a speedier process for those of us travelling without luggage but that's not the reason it was introduced. You might remember that Ryanair used to charge to check in at the airport, steering people into using the new approach. Why? For a start, fewer people queueing for check-in at the airport (those with luggage using bag-drop) means a big drop in staffing costs when you consider the number of flights. It also means that you're less likely to cancel (no refunds once you're checked in), and they can start the process of getting you to pay for seats and extras, which you might have turned your nose up at when booking.

Short answer: it's for the benefit of the airlines, although it does mean less to do for the customer in some cases. 

[organizedkaos]

I assume there's some legal reason they have to ask you the "have you packed your luggage" "are you travelling with any bombs today?" and that it's on the airline not the airport (otherwise you could combine it with other secuirty checks). 

Possibly because it absolves them of responsibility... It's like how a lot of work training boils down to "We have now told you not to embezzle/sexually harrass people/accept bribes so we're not liable if you do". They just need you to tick a box that says "Anything that happens is my fault"

I also would guess policy for leaving without passengers is different if you have or haven't checked in. Although my assumption that everything those airlines do is to their benefit gets stuck here because it would make sense to not worry about people who haven't checked in but there must be loads of people who check in a coupla days early but then can't make the flight

[TibBo]

Why are some footballs rock solid to the extent they hurt to kick these days?

When I was a kid I got a free Mitre Delta Premier for opening a HSBC account. I think most the lads in my school did, because we had an infinite stock of those balls to play 20 a side games after school with.

I’m pretty-sure this was before the days of different quality of balls for the pros, and these were basically the same spec they used in the Premier League for real games?

These balls were amazing for anyone to play with.

Fast forward 30 years, and we have one of the official Euro 2024 balls, and it’s brutal.
Its like a rock to kick, and will give you whiplash if you header it.
Whats going on? Are new balls made different?

Is there anything to look out for when buying a new ball to give you an idea of whether it’s going to be unkickable?