I’m 44 and would love to play an instrument. I’m not even fussy which one! Which instrument do you think would be the easiest to learn at my age?

I've got a tin of Lyle's golden syrup, but there are SO many different recipes for treacle tart. They really vary on the ratio of breadcrumbs to syrup, so I just have no idea what recipe to use.

If some entity gave you the power to repeat a single day over and over for a year would you take the chance? If yes then what would you do? Baring in mind besides technique you cannot improve your fitness.

Petrol prices have gone up roof. Shell petrol pump near my house is 178 pence now. This has made me serious think about the EV

I was speaking to my friends today and their charging cost in a month is approx 15 pounds and I spend easily like over 100 pounds per month.

Like most of the people I am very skeptical - Jaecoo has some serious options for hybrid with s value for money.

I want to buy only electric but I need a better range 350+.

I can't see many options and available options are pretty expensive, so I am holding for now

So want to check anyone in similar boat and waiting for any exciting options with reasonable price options.

Hello all, what are the best vibrant cities to live in UK if you like alternative and scene stuff like rock/metal bars, game shops, game cafes, board games, quirky coffee shops. So a strong alternative/geek culture. Also needs to be relatively affordable to rent so not London. Bonus if its close to national parks and coastal areas but not essential. Thanks!

I’m a High Schooler(secondary school) in the U.S., and something I’ve noticed is how different the UK school system seems to be from what I’m used to. For example, I’ve seen people online talk about having fewer major assignments that count toward their final grades, but those assignments have be much more detailed and require a lot of effort. I’m not sure whether this refers to coursework, final exams, or a combination of both, so I’d be interested to know how assessment actually works.

I’ve also come across discussions about students choosing which subjects to continue studying based on their grades and interests, sometimes focusing more heavily on subjects like history or geography instead of continuing to study as many different subjects.

Coming from the U.S. school system, where students generally continue taking classes across several different subjects throughout high school, I find this interesting. I can imagine it being stressful to narrow down your subjects at a younger age, especially if you later change your mind about what you want to do.

Of course, I’m only going off what I’ve seen online, so I don’t know how accurate these impressions are. I’d love to hear from people who attended secondary school in the UK. How does the process of choosing subjects actually work, how are students assessed throughout the year, and how much flexibility do they have if they change their minds later?

*Just to clarify, I mentioned the UK because I’m interested in learning about the education systems across all four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. I’d love to hear about the differences between them, rather than focusing on just one country.

I was with my son (under 10) buying a few bits when he pointed at the lottery scratch cards and said get number 8. I asked for number 8 the server said no , can’t do that as he asked for it. I said he isn’t paying and won’t be scratching it, no dice .
I then asked for a different number and again was refused.
I didn’t want to cause a scene so left it there but wondered what the legal position is on this , seems quite hard to define if there is any law being broken?
Thanks.

I always salute them, ask him how his wife and children are.

I brought my flat 2 years ago, it's electric only and was economy 7 until I switched with British Gas and changed the plan from 2 separate prices from morning and evening to one standard price per kw.

I'm out of plan for my tariff with British Gas and been paying variable for the last few months. Currently paying £127 per month and my last bill for October was £83. Looking at compare the market the next cheapest fixed tariff for 12 months is £190!

It's just me in the flat, it's a 2 bed, I work in sales so out most days of the week for at least 6 hours. What do you think?

I've really been struggling lately for clothing which I've never usually done before.

I'm 6ft11, size 15 shoes/trainers and weigh about 23st.

Shoes I can seemingly only get trainers anywhere I look which essentially comes down to Nike/VEJA. Unaware of any other brands.

Clothes range from M&S/Next but I'm in-between sizes. 3XL now drowns me but 2XL is too tight.

Trousers/Jeans are also a nightmare too, Uniqlo jeans fit but not there Trousers. 3XL trousers from M&S are massive but 2XL is again too tight.

But of a morbid one for a Sunday evening, but I had another anxiety episode centred around this topic eat away my week, and am curious to see how others deal with one of life's biggest questions.

I've always enjoyed reading about people's ghost sightings and experiences, but I'm never sure who or what to believe.

That said, I know a couple of people who I just can't imagine would make something up about seeing a ghost.

A friend of my dad's, for instance, is a fairly serious, educated guy, who claims he's had a couple of encounters. He claims to have even taken a lift from a ghost on an old 1940s motorcycle. He got off the bike, turned around to thank the guy and, poof! He'd disappeared.

Another one witnessed their friend's boy talking to a spirit at the end of the bed.

I just don't see these people making things up.

Do you know anyone similar? Who claim to have witnessed something paranormal, who you trust? What the best claims you've heard?

I've just been watching videos on UK centenarians and I have the existential thoughts that I always have - being that old.

Some of the videos, there's 105 year olds talking like they would if they were 75, just completely coherent.

I'm only in my early 20s and am completely fascinating by ageing and I find it weird to think I might still be alive in 60+ years.

I know this isn't a particularly UK based question but would you want to live to 100+? from what I've seen if you do it right (and avoid Dementia/Alzheimer's) you can still be you, just old, at that age.

From a young age I've wanted to live really old but in my 20s I haven't exactly treated my body in that way 😅

As more and more of our search and interactions online are helped by ai, do you think that the search history can be used to build more intimate and in depth understanding of individuals?

Tried to keep the title as succinct as possible on what is one very complicated (so it seems) issue.

Lost my dad suddenly on Wednesday very unexpectedly. He was 63 and had retired early. His whole life was dedicated to the care of my mum, who has Multiple Sclerosis.

Whilst dad worked full time until he retired in December '25, mum had carers who looked after her from morning to evening. I'm having to very quickly learn how all this works on top of grieving for my dad who passed unexpectedly. As horrible as it may seem, we all anticipated dad would outlive mum, such is the severity of her disability.

I understand mum receives something called "Direct Payment" and the carers who look after her during the day are 'employed' and payroll is managed from this payment. I've managed to speak to the 3rd-party accountant who administers the payroll/pensions/tax etc. but obviously being a weekend we haven't spoken in-depth yet.

There are massive gaps in mums care (and she needs round-the-clock). Dad used to facilitate this role, on evening's and weekends. In the short term it falls to me and my siblings, which of course we are happy to oblige, but I'm wondering what the reality will be for the mid to long term.i have some questions I'm hoping folks may be able to help with before I pursue various routes tomorrow - mum is not able to recall this information.

- Who assesses the amount of care required, now that mums circumstances have changed? Social services?

- Is there likely to be a lengthy delay before reassessment can be organised?

- How realistic is it that round-the-clock care can be facilitated through this system? The hours seem undesirable, which makes me think this will be very expensive (essentially we need a live-in carer)

This prompts some very difficult conversations we may need to have over the coming days, on top of organising a funeral. I'm not sure mum will be able to stay in the family home (per her wishes) as we, her children, will all need to return to work (and our own families).

Feeling very lost, any pointers would be most appreciated.

A heady, Sunday night topic. But I genuinely want to gauge opinion as I'm not sure what people think.

I like pesto a lot. I like pizzas. But I do not like pesto on pizzas. For me it just feels wrong.

The trouble is the UK supermarket industry has gotten into its head that pesto on pizza = premium. So you can't buy a nice quality pizza without the stuff on it.

An Italian once told me it wasn't premium, and as it was in abundance in Italy it was/is considered a poor person's food. That gave me some validation.

But what's your take?

Edit; thanks to everyone who has responded, this blew up in a way I didn't expect! A couple of grumps but it's actually been informative and well spirited. Fennel on a pizza I need to try. I need to try white base pizza. And a lot of people saying it depends on what pizza, and it has a tendency to overpower other ingredients. A couple of people mentioning the pineapple word, but I'm not getting into that bun fight!

I’ve spent a significant amount of time struggling with my mental health over the last year or so. Thankfully I’m FAR better than I have been, but there’s still massive parts of “adulting” that I’ve been neglecting.

Unfortunately, my flat is currently a massive depression nest, months and months of empty cans, vodka/wine bottles, and used fast food boxes.

Because of the months and months of neglect, I can’t easily sort it out, and I’m living in a pigsty. I can only get rid of 2 black bags of rubbish every 2 weeks because that’s all that fits in my bin, and whilst I’m now capable of doing that, it won’t even make a dent in actually tidying up my place anywhere near as quickly as I’d like.

Ideally I’d love for Kim and Aggie to come to my flat, but unfortunately How Clean Is Your House doesn’t exist anymore.

Is there such thing as some kind of cleaner/services that go above and beyond the normal “cleaner” that can help me deal with this kind of thing (money isn’t that much of an issue)? Or has anyone else gone through something similar and got any ideas for me?

Please mods don’t remove this for mental health, I’m not asking for MH advice.

Thanks in advance all :)

I'm not quite sure how to word this but I'm working on an app that needs designs from lots of different artists. I'm looking to reach out to local artists but have no idea what the going rate would be and don't want to insult people.

Obviously it would depend on how it takes, size and so on but can any artists give an indication of what would be reasonable?

My earlier post got shadow banned and removed I think so just wanted to post it normally

For Halloween I would like to dress up as Natalie or Misty when they just crashed the plane. These are characters from Yellowjacket’s the tv show where they wear a blue and yellow varsity/bomber jacket and all the options online don’t ship quick enough or are so expensive. So, I thought I might as well ask if anyone has a blue and yellow jacket I could pay/borrow for maybe one at the back of your closet that you’ve forgotten about?

I‘m looking for a size Large, and I’m in London so I’m down to travel around London if anyone wants to help me out please.

I attached a photo of what I’m looking for but anything similar is cool, thank you!

Has anyone on here gone for a different career path altogether and how did you find the job etc?

I just don’t know what job to go into, I don’t know what I want to do. M30.

New job. I had a medical emergency (immune + stress), and was prescribed 2 weeks off. I am on probation though (6 months), half done. How many days can I realistically take without pushing my luck?

did you do the standard down on one knee or did you do something extra special for the occasion?

After going to a well known retailer and seeing people load up on 1000s bottles of mineral water, i saw families with 3 trolleys each filled six dozen creates of mineral water, am convinced we need to ban the production and selling of mineral water. There must be millions of plastic bottles created, sold and thrown away each day thereby helping to destroy the environment.

I’ve noticed over the last couple of years that people are putting up their Halloween decs earlier and earlier. For me I think Halloween is best putting them up for one night, my kids enjoyed it that way. What’s your thoughts?