He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
Anecdata alert: Mrs J didn't want kids. Then, as she got older and we got in a long-term and stable relationship, she decided otherwise.
Yes, it is more stressful, and at times you can be unhappy. But the rewards are numerous, and the happiness is heavenly.
Then again, I'm a stay-at-home dad, not a mum, so I might have a different perspective.
Sainsbury's was empty yesterday and the week before. If this means more than the usual number of childless couples are on holiday before the schools break up, then we might need to be a bit careful interpreting poll shifts.
Of course, it could just be that all the shoppers headed to Tesco instead, where there is a far greater choice of strawberries on sale.
Or it was just a coincidence given the times you were in there? Unless you spend all day in the shop to get a general feel (#shelfstacker) ?
"Beware of extrapolation from small data sets" is what I'd like inscribed on my tomb stone.
Surely your claim is only anecdotal. Do we have any real evidence that that is what you would want? After all the sample size is very small (1)
Sainsbury's was empty yesterday and the week before. If this means more than the usual number of childless couples are on holiday before the schools break up, then we might need to be a bit careful interpreting poll shifts.
Of course, it could just be that all the shoppers headed to Tesco instead, where there is a far greater choice of strawberries on sale.
Or it was just a coincidence given the times you were in there? Unless you spend all day in the shop to get a general feel (#shelfstacker) ?
"Beware of extrapolation from small data sets" is what I'd like inscribed on my tomb stone.
I'd only believe that if it's on many tombstones ...
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
I have no issue with the idea kids bring happiness and meaning to most people's lives, along with the frustrations and stresses of parenthood - we'd not survive as a species otherwise - but people can find meaning without kids, and people with kids are not immune to things nihilism.
It's like the idea that people will, in effect, grow up once they have kids, putting the kids first. Most parents do, but it doesn't happen with everyone unfortunately.
That actually reminds me of a lazy cliche I look forward to seeing TV shows stop using - you have these shows sometimes where characters (usually female in this case) who are constantly saving the world in death defying ways or something, putting themselves in extreme risk or devoting what seems like 24 hours a day into solving crimes, then you have an episode where they have to look after a child, and then they start looking into adoption. It annoys me not because I have an issue with single people adopting, certainly not, but because it usually comes across as someone just deciding 'I'd quite like a child to make me feel better' even as they clearly do not intend to change their life in any way in recognition of supposedly wanting to change their primary responsibility in life.
Other TV cliches I want to see end are social workers and hostage negotiators being portrayed near universally as terrible at their jobs - I've lost track of the number of times on cop dramas where the protagonists know so much more than supposed professionals at those two roles.
Rant over. Phew.
And now I need to do some preparatory work for tomorrow AM.
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
Anecdata alert: Mrs J didn't want kids. Then, as she got older and we got in a long-term and stable relationship, she decided otherwise.
Yes, it is more stressful, and at times you can be unhappy. But the rewards are numerous, and the happiness is heavenly.
Then again, I'm a stay-at-home dad, not a mum, so I might have a different perspective.
Given you’re a stay at home dad, I think your wife must get a lot more support than a lot of working mums out there. In my family, I think it’s not the kids themselves, but the workload involved for the mums that causes the unhappiness. The dads could be a bit more supportive.
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
I have no issue with the idea kids bring happiness and meaning to most people's lives, along with the frustrations and stresses of parenthood - we'd not survive as a species otherwise - but people can find meaning without kids, and people with kids are not immune to things nihilism.
It's like the idea that people will, in effect, grow up once they have kids, putting the kids first. Most parents do, but it doesn't happen with everyone unfortunately.
That actually reminds me of a lazy cliche I look forward to seeing TV shows stop using - you have these shows sometimes where characters (usually female in this case) who are constantly saving the world in death defying ways or something, putting themselves in extreme risk or devoting what seems like 24 hours a day into solving crimes, then you have an episode where they have to look after a child, and then they start looking into adoption. It annoys me not because I have an issue with single people adopting, certainly not, but because it usually comes across as someone just deciding 'I'd quite like a child to make me feel better' even as they clearly do not intend to change their life in any way in recognition of supposedly wanting to change their primary responsibility in life.
Other TV cliches I want to see end are social workers and hostage negotiators being portrayed near universally as terrible at their jobs - I've lost track of the number of times on cop dramas where the protagonists know so much more than supposed professionals at those two roles.
Rant over. Phew.
And now I need to do some preparatory work for tomorrow AM.
My local A&E has a big sign up saying, if you do not have Chest Pains, Breathing problems, severe stomach pains, broken bones, very deep cuts, then you will be turned away. They do and they have an out of hours GP practice round the corner.
They enforce this very strongly. I have been three times in the last 18 months with my father and the place is empty.
The problem is that shifts it onto the local doctors. If they haven't 'satisfied' this frequent visitor after a few visits, then both GP and patient will become unsatisfied and the patient will try somewhere else - perhaps another hospital. It seems sensible for there to be another, additional system to try to help those very rare cases that can clog up the system. Perhaps it could be seen as a healthcare social worker.
My local A&E has a big sign up saying, if you do not have Chest Pains, Breathing problems, severe stomach pains, broken bones, very deep cuts, then you will be turned away. They do and they have an out of hours GP practice round the corner.
They enforce this very strongly. I have been three times in the last 18 months with my father and the place is empty.
The problem is that shifts it onto the local doctors. If they haven't 'satisfied' this frequent visitor after a few visits, then both GP and patient will become unsatisfied and the patient will try somewhere else - perhaps another hospital. It seems sensible for there to be another, additional system to try to help those very rare cases that can clog up the system. Perhaps it could be seen as a healthcare social worker.
We have what are called walk in medical centres. They are sent there. They are geared up to do minor stuff whereas the expensive A&E experts do what they are trained to do.
So we now know that Southgate has already named his team. Can PBers guess it?
I think he should play Rashford and go with Dier over Henderson.
My team would be: Pickford, Trippier, Rose, Walker, Stones, Cahill, Dier, Deli, Rashford, Kane, Stirling
That's way too attacking for Southgate. He won't go with only one defensive minded midfielder, and it will always be Stirling vs Rashford for starting place as long as Ali and Kane are fit.
If I had to guess it will be (not that it would be my selection),
Delusion of the year award - Philip Lee, the former junior minister who resigned over Brexit, has hired a PR firm to promote his chances of succeeding May as Tory leader
It is a great weekend if you hold betting slips on Jeremy Hunt or Sajid Javid as Mrs May’s successor.
It was of course Boris and Gove who actually originally promised the Brexit bonus for the NHS May has now had to deliver, Hunt would have been unlikely to have got it without the Brexit vote
What rot this is @HYUFD. The NHS needs more money stand still in the face of an increasingly aging and obese population. The Government was always going to have to do something about it. The extra funding will not come from any mythical Brexit dividend, it will come from higher taxes.
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
Anecdata alert: Mrs J didn't want kids. Then, as she got older and we got in a long-term and stable relationship, she decided otherwise.
Yes, it is more stressful, and at times you can be unhappy. But the rewards are numerous, and the happiness is heavenly.
Then again, I'm a stay-at-home dad, not a mum, so I might have a different perspective.
Given you’re a stay at home dad, I think your wife must get a lot more support than a lot of working mums out there. In my family, I think it’s not the kids themselves, but the workload involved for the mums that causes the unhappiness. The dads could be a bit more supportive.
Well, I am excellent...
I know what you mean, but there's another side to this: I know loads of fathers who get fed up with having to be at work during the school play or sports day, or even miss their kids during frequent long business trips. As well as the stress of having to do well in order to bring the necessary income in. One dad loves the once a week he can pick his lass up from school, just so he can see her face when she sees him walk in through the door.
In fact, we have good friends of whom the dad stays at home whilst the mother works. She feels she misses out on things as well.
We're incredibly lucky in that we can easily survive on one salary: if we couldn't, I'd go back to work. But I do think that more men should look at part-time working, and companies should be more open to family-friendly working.
And another point: kids are *fun*. We have one one child, and he makes me laugh at least four times a day. I do things I wouldn't do without him. I meet people I wouldn't meet without him. Having a kid is limiting, but it is also broadening.
Delusion of the year award - Philip Lee, the former junior minister who resigned over Brexit, has hired a PR firm to promote his chances of succeeding May as Tory leader
It is a great weekend if you hold betting slips on Jeremy Hunt or Sajid Javid as Mrs May’s successor.
It was of course Boris and Gove who actually originally promised the Brexit bonus for the NHS May has now had to deliver, Hunt would have been unlikely to have got it without the Brexit vote
What rot this is @HYUFD. The NHS needs more money stand still in the face of an increasingly aging and obese population. The Government was always going to have to do something about it. The extra funding will not come from any mythical Brexit dividend, it will come from higher taxes.
Longer term of course national insurance will have to rise to pay for more funds for the NHS but the extra £350 million a week for the NHS coming in 2021 exactly as the transition period and our payments to the EU end is of course no coincidence
Delusion of the year award - Philip Lee, the former junior minister who resigned over Brexit, has hired a PR firm to promote his chances of succeeding May as Tory leader
Delusion of the year award - Philip Lee, the former junior minister who resigned over Brexit, has hired a PR firm to promote his chances of succeeding May as Tory leader
Delusion of the year award - Philip Lee, the former junior minister who resigned over Brexit, has hired a PR firm to promote his chances of succeeding May as Tory leader
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
I'm probably a bit older than you and I've begun to find the opposite among my friends. The ones who have children definitely seem happier than those who haven't. It's also the time that everyone seems to be settling down and coupling up, again those who aren't on that train definitely seem unhappier.
One of my friends who is a bit older has definitely become bitter and twisted about not having children when she was able to (she's early 40s). She blames her mother but in all honesty it's her own fault for prioritising her career over her husband (who left her because she didn't want to have kids for another 5-7 years). She's bitter at her ex husband (who has since got married and started a family) she's bitter at other friends who advised her she was making a mistake at the time (she didn't talk to me for 3 years after I said I thought she was making a mistake by not having kids and pushing her husband away. Unfortunately she's also become bitter about other friends having kids as well. I genuinely pity her situation, even though it was self inflicted.
In an odd turn of events it feels like my male friends are now more ready to settle down and start families than my female ones.
I notice that the stupid trend of last WC where players had odd coloured (by that I don't mean glow in the dark yellow, I mean when they had glow in the dark yellow on the left foot and similarly toxic orange version on the right) has been consigned to the dustbin of history.
Neymar has been deeply unimpressive in this match. Coutinho is a completely different class. Really didn’t see anything wrong with the Swiss goal.
Would definitely not have been a foul in 20 vs 20 local park games we played as kids ;-)
I have to see it has been really refreshing how many times men going down poleaxed with theatrical dives have just been ignored by referees in this WC. Even though they were not good enough to go I hope some of the Premier League refs are taking notes.
It is a great weekend if you hold betting slips on Jeremy Hunt or Sajid Javid as Mrs May’s successor.
It was of course Boris and Gove who actually originally promised the Brexit bonus for the NHS May has now had to deliver, Hunt would have been unlikely to have got it without the Brexit vote
What rot this is @HYUFD. The NHS needs more money stand still in the face of an increasingly aging and obese population. The Government was always going to have to do something about it. The extra funding will not come from any mythical Brexit dividend, it will come from higher taxes.
Longer term of course national insurance will have to rise to pay for more funds for the NHS but the extra £350 million a week for the NHS coming in 2021 exactly as the transition period and our payments to the EU end is of course no coincidence
All the media reporting today has been from devoted remain supporters trying to trash any Brexit dividend. I can only assume they hate the idea of Brexit savings in due course going a good way to endorsing the bus pledge
Switzerland, Iceland, Mexico showing that in modern international football few nations are push-overs. All very well organized teams even up against the best of the best.
Switzerland, Iceland, Mexico showing that in modern international football few nations are push-overs. All very well organized teams even up against the best of the best.
Switzerland are ranked 6 in the world by FIFA. They have shown tonight that that is not completely ridiculous. Mexico qualified handsomely. These teams know how to win.
Switzerland, Iceland, Mexico showing that in modern international football few nations are push-overs. All very well organized teams even up against the best of the best.
Switzerland are ranked 6 in the world by FIFA. They have shown tonight that that is not completely ridiculous. Mexico qualified handsomely. These teams know how to win.
To be fair, Mexico hardly have to qualify against world beaters. But Switzerland and Iceland certainly have difficult qualifying route.
I cannot abide football and have always dreaded the World Cup tournament and the outbreak of hysteria that comes along with it. On this occasion, however, we appear to have been spared the OTT hype as manifested in flags draped everywhere at supermarkets , restaurants - and indeed workplaces. For that , I am grateful . No problem with people enjoying the game but found it very oppressive to have it imposed so relentlessly in the face of those who have no interest at all. Much better this time so far - and hope it stays that way.
Sainsbury's was empty yesterday and the week before. If this means more than the usual number of childless couples are on holiday before the schools break up, then we might need to be a bit careful interpreting poll shifts.
Of course, it could just be that all the shoppers headed to Tesco instead, where there is a far greater choice of strawberries on sale.
Or it was just a coincidence given the times you were in there? Unless you spend all day in the shop to get a general feel (#shelfstacker) ?
"Beware of extrapolation from small data sets" is what I'd like inscribed on my tomb stone.
I'd only believe that if it's on many tombstones ...
You don't need that. You can keep sampling the same tombstone if you need confirmation.
Tragically, or magically, I could only have predicted one of those names. Indeed I only know one of them - Kane.
There should be a German compound noun for the declining interest in a sport, as you age, exacerbated by the total relentless failure of your national team IN that sport.
It's happened to me across all sports I used to love, and not just because of national mediocrity. e.g. I used to love Test cricket but Flintoff's Ashes killed that off. It was so amazing, Such a dramatic and brilliant and peerless summer of sporting theatre, which went right to the wire, which could have been won by either side after weeks and weeks of contest (but which WE won!) after that I kind of lost interest.
There was and is no way Test Cricket will ever get more tense and exciting and satisfying, over a whole series, than those Ashes, so ever since then I've felt like What's the point and Meh
Same goes for rugby. After England won the Rugby World Cup, against Australia, in Australia, in the last minute of extra time, my interest in rugby took a serious dip, which has never really recovered. I still follow England with some enthusiasm, but I feel a peak has been passed. I guess we could defeat New Zealand in NZ in the last minute.... but even then, nah
All that's left for me is football, and England to beat Germany 9-3 in Berlin in the World Cup Final but we're so shit our best hope is reaching the quarter final.
It's kind of sad. Sport used to be a big part of my life but it's gone, and it's been replaced by kinky sex. Which is just as fun but not quite as communal.
If you want to try to wean yourself off the kinky sex, there's always motorsport. Or fishing.
Supporting either of these rarely tend to equate with sex of any kind.
@MaxPB Thanks for your response, sorry to hear about your friend who now regrets not having kids. Interesting to hear that your male friends are keen to settle down now, tbh I don’t get the sense that anyone among my friends (female or male) is that keen to settle down atm. That could change in the next few years though.
I cannot abide football and have always dreaded the World Cup tournament and the outbreak of hysteria that comes along with it. On this occasion, however, we appear to have been spared the OTT hype as manifested in flags draped everywhere at supermarkets , restaurants - and indeed workplaces. For that , I am grateful . No problem with people enjoying the game but found it very oppressive to have it imposed so relentlessly in the face of those who have no interest at all. Much better this time so far - and hope it stays that way.
Ahem - avoid Bermondsey to stay in blissful ignorance:
Tragically, or magically, I could only have predicted one of those names. Indeed I only know one of them - Kane.
There should be a German compound noun for the declining interest in a sport, as you age, exacerbated by the total relentless failure of your national team IN that sport.
It's happened to me across all sports I used to love, and not just because of national mediocrity. e.g. I used to love Test cricket but Flintoff's Ashes killed that off. It was so amazing, Such a dramatic and brilliant and peerless summer of sporting theatre, which went right to the wire, which could have been won by either side after weeks and weeks of contest (but which WE won!) after that I kind of lost interest.
There was and is no way Test Cricket will ever get more tense and exciting and satisfying, over a whole series, than those Ashes, so ever since then I've felt like What's the point and Meh
Same goes for rugby. After England won the Rugby World Cup, against Australia, in Australia, in the last minute of extra time, my interest in rugby took a serious dip, which has never really recovered. I still follow England with some enthusiasm, but I feel a peak has been passed. I guess we could defeat New Zealand in NZ in the last minute.... but even then, nah
All that's left for me is football, and England to beat Germany 9-3 in Berlin in the World Cup Final but we're so shit our best hope is reaching the quarter final.
It's kind of sad. Sport used to be a big part of my life but it's gone, and it's been replaced by kinky sex. Which is just as fun but not quite as communal.
I'm at the love football, but hate footballers stage. I've never kicked the kinky sex habit, fortunately..
Sainsbury's was empty yesterday and the week before. If this means more than the usual number of childless couples are on holiday before the schools break up, then we might need to be a bit careful interpreting poll shifts.
Of course, it could just be that all the shoppers headed to Tesco instead, where there is a far greater choice of strawberries on sale.
Or it was just a coincidence given the times you were in there? Unless you spend all day in the shop to get a general feel (#shelfstacker) ?
"Beware of extrapolation from small data sets" is what I'd like inscribed on my tomb stone.
I'd only believe that if it's on many tombstones ...
You don't need that. You can keep sampling the same tombstone if you need confirmation.
I can see where your success in business has come from.
Tragically, or magically, I could only have predicted one of those names. Indeed I only know one of them - Kane.
There should be a German compound noun for the declining interest in a sport, as you age, exacerbated by the total relentless failure of your national team IN that sport.
It's happened to me across all sports I used to love, and not just because of national mediocrity. e.g. I used to love Test cricket but Flintoff's Ashes killed that off. It was so amazing, Such a dramatic and brilliant and peerless summer of sporting theatre, which went right to the wire, which could have been won by either side after weeks and weeks of contest (but which WE won!) after that I kind of lost interest.
There was and is no way Test Cricket will ever get more tense and exciting and satisfying, over a whole series, than those Ashes, so ever since then I've felt like What's the point and Meh
Same goes for rugby. After England won the Rugby World Cup, against Australia, in Australia, in the last minute of extra time, my interest in rugby took a serious dip, which has never really recovered. I still follow England with some enthusiasm, but I feel a peak has been passed. I guess we could defeat New Zealand in NZ in the last minute.... but even then, nah
All that's left for me is football, and England to beat Germany 9-3 in Berlin in the World Cup Final but we're so shit our best hope is reaching the quarter final.
It's kind of sad. Sport used to be a big part of my life but it's gone, and it's been replaced by kinky sex. Which is just as fun but not quite as communal.
I really enjoy sport. The only thing I really care about, though, are Spurs. I genuinely wish I didn’t. They have ruined far too many days for me. Ridiculous, but true. On this Fathers Day, I remember that it’s all his fault. God rest his soul!
Tragically, or magically, I could only have predicted one of those names. Indeed I only know one of them - Kane.
There should be a German compound noun for the declining interest in a sport, as you age, exacerbated by the total relentless failure of your national team IN that sport.
It's happened to me across all sports I used to love, and not just because of national mediocrity. e.g. I used to love Test cricket but Flintoff's Ashes killed that off. It was so amazing, Such a dramatic and brilliant and peerless summer of sporting theatre, which went right to the wire, which could have been won by either side after weeks and weeks of contest (but which WE won!) after that I kind of lost interest.
There was and is no way Test Cricket will ever get more tense and exciting and satisfying, over a whole series, than those Ashes, so ever since then I've felt like What's the point and Meh
Same goes for rugby. After England won the Rugby World Cup, against Australia, in Australia, in the last minute of extra time, my interest in rugby took a serious dip, which has never really recovered. I still follow England with some enthusiasm, but I feel a peak has been passed. I guess we could defeat New Zealand in NZ in the last minute.... but even then, nah
All that's left for me is football, and England to beat Germany 9-3 in Berlin in the World Cup Final but we're so shit our best hope is reaching the quarter final.
It's kind of sad. Sport used to be a big part of my life but it's gone, and it's been replaced by kinky sex. Which is just as fun but not quite as communal.
I really enjoy sport. The only thing I really care about, though, are Spurs. I genuinely wish I didn’t. They have ruined far too many days for me. Ridiculous, but true. On this Fathers Day, I remember that it’s all his fault. God rest his soul!
I read a study that showed sports fans feel twice as much depression after a loss than they feel elation after a win. Given I am a Leeds fan, my return on investment must be even worse.
Delusion of the year award - Philip Lee, the former junior minister who resigned over Brexit, has hired a PR firm to promote his chances of succeeding May as Tory leader
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
You're quite young, no? Early or mid 20s? (forgive me if I am wrong)
Many of my female friends, when we were all in our 20s, were adamant they didn't want kids. I have witnessed several of them end up so desperate for kids they have been through heartbreaking sessions of IVF, to no avail.
Having kids is no panacea. It doesn't guarantee happiness. Sometimes it means the opposite. But sprogging is what we are here for and I would say my childless friends in their 50s, are fundamentally less "contented" than those who have reproduced. There is just *something* crucially missing from their lives. And analyses show this is true, childless people, especially women, in their 40s and 50s seem to be unhappier than parents.
Interestingly, other analyses show that this happiness difference disappears as you get even older. And whether you are a parent or not has almost no effect on your reported happiness in your 70s and 80s - the state of health and the quality of your social life is much more significant.
It's the only thing that has ever come close to reconciling me to the thought of my own death. Either I will die and my children will attend my funeral or I will attend theirs, and the latter prospect is even more unpalatable than the former.
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
You're quite young, no? Early or mid 20s? (forgive me if I am wrong)
Many of my female friends, when we were all in our 20s, were adamant they didn't want kids. I have witnessed several of them end up so desperate for kids they have been through heartbreaking sessions of IVF, to no avail.
Having kids is no panacea. It doesn't guarantee happiness. Sometimes it means the opposite. But sprogging is what we are here for and I would say my childless friends in their 50s, are fundamentally less "contented" than those who have reproduced. There is just *something* crucially missing from their lives. And analyses show this is true, childless people, especially women, in their 40s and 50s seem to be unhappier than parents.
Interestingly, other analyses show that this happiness difference disappears as you get even older. And whether you are a parent or not has almost no effect on your reported happiness in your 70s and 80s - the state of health and the quality of your social life is much more significant.
Those in their 50s now that had kids in the 90s or earlier had the chance to have 2 or 3 sprogs and still enjoy a middle class lifestyle, with a nice house and garden in a good part of town. The problem for the current generation is that, unless you've done seriously well for yourself, the choice is kids or middle class lifestyle. You can't afford both.
Tragically, or magically, I could only have predicted one of those names. Indeed I only know one of them - Kane.
There should be a German compound noun for the declining interest in a sport, as you age, exacerbated by the total relentless failure of your national team IN that sport.
It's happened to me across all sports I used to love, and not just because of national mediocrity. e.g. I used to love Test cricket but Flintoff's Ashes killed that off. It was so amazing, Such a dramatic and brilliant and peerless summer of sporting theatre, which went right to the wire, which could have been won by either side after weeks and weeks of contest (but which WE won!) after that I kind of lost interest.
There was and is no way Test Cricket will ever get more tense and exciting and satisfying, over a whole series, than those Ashes, so ever since then I've felt like What's the point and Meh
Same goes for rugby. After England won the Rugby World Cup, against Australia, in Australia, in the last minute of extra time, my interest in rugby took a serious dip, which has never really recovered. I still follow England with some enthusiasm, but I feel a peak has been passed. I guess we could defeat New Zealand in NZ in the last minute.... but even then, nah
All that's left for me is football, and England to beat Germany 9-3 in Berlin in the World Cup Final but we're so shit our best hope is reaching the quarter final.
It's kind of sad. Sport used to be a big part of my life but it's gone, and it's been replaced by kinky sex. Which is just as fun but not quite as communal.
I really enjoy sport. The only thing I really care about, though, are Spurs. I genuinely wish I didn’t. They have ruined far too many days for me. Ridiculous, but true. On this Fathers Day, I remember that it’s all his fault. God rest his soul!
I read a study that showed sports fans feel twice as much depression after a loss than they feel elation after a win. Given I am a Leeds fan, my return on investment must be even worse.
Especially given how many fans pick a successful team to support when they're young only for that team to sink back into mediocrity and / or underachievement for the next few decades.
There's not been much for Leeds fans to cheer for a quarter of a century and their period of sustained success ended over forty years ago.
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
You're quite young, no? Early or mid 20s? (forgive me if I am wrong)
Many of my female friends, when we were all in our 20s, were adamant they didn't want kids. I have witnessed several of them end up so desperate for kids they have been through heartbreaking sessions of IVF, to no avail.
Having kids is no panacea. It doesn't guarantee happiness. Sometimes it means the opposite. But sprogging is what we are here for and I would say my childless friends in their 50s, are fundamentally less "contented" than those who have reproduced. There is just *something* crucially missing from their lives. And analyses show this is true, childless people, especially women, in their 40s and 50s seem to be unhappier than parents.
Interestingly, other analyses show that this happiness difference disappears as you get even older. And whether you are a parent or not has almost no effect on your reported happiness in your 70s and 80s - the state of health and the quality of your social life is much more significant.
Those in their 50s now that had kids in the 90s or earlier had the chance to have 2 or 3 sprogs and still enjoy a middle class lifestyle, with a nice house and garden in a good part of town. The problem for the current generation is that, unless you've done seriously well for yourself, the choice is kids or middle class lifestyle. You can't afford both.
This is a very fair point. We had three kids in London between 1990 and 1998. We bought our first flat in Archway - two bedrooms and a garden - for £60,000 in 1991 when we had a joint income of around £35,000. On the same jobs at the same seniority today we’d be on around £50,000. The flat would cost £500,000. Just before our third was born and we had risen to a joint income of £60,000 a year we sold the flat for £80,000 and bought a three bedroom house in Hornsey for £125,000. I’d guess that would now go for £700,000 or so. We were very, very lucky.
Tragically, or magically, I could only have predicted one of those names. Indeed I only know one of them - Kane.
There shoul
It's kind of sad. Sport used to be a big part of my life but it's gone, and it's been replaced by kinky sex. Which is just as fun but not quite as communal.
I really enjoy sport. The only thing I really care about, though, are Spurs. I genuinely wish I didn’t. They have ruined far too many days for me. Ridiculous, but true. On this Fathers Day, I remember that it’s all his fault. God rest his soul!
I read a study that showed sports fans feel twice as much depression after a loss than they feel elation after a win. Given I am a Leeds fan, my return on investment must be even worse.
That's exactly why I stopped getting fussed about football (or at least, supporting teams - mine were Hereford United, Leeds United (like you) and England - (yes, exactly))
The happiness accrued from their success was dwarfed by the misery induced by their much more frequent failures. I stopped supporting clubs in my late teens, and I stopped giving much of a toss about England in the early Noughties after the Nth time they were knocked out by Portugal in the Quarters after a penalty shoot out. I just decided, overnight, not to care any more. It's quite liberating. And I still enjoy a spectacle like the World Cup.
Nowadays I only decide to support teams on a per match basis. E.g. Iceland against Argentina, and Mexico against Germany. I have found it quite satisfying so far.
Tragically, or magically, I could only have predicted one of those names. Indeed I only know one of them - Kane.
There shoul
It's kind of sad. Sport used to be a big part of my life but it's gone, and it's been replaced by kinky sex. Which is just as fun but not quite as communal.
I really enjoy sport. The only thing I really care about, though, are Spurs. I genuinely wish I didn’t. They have ruined far too many days for me. Ridiculous, but true. On this Fathers Day, I remember that it’s all his fault. God rest his soul!
I read a study that showed sports fans feel twice as much depression after a loss than they feel elation after a win. Given I am a Leeds fan, my return on investment must be even worse.
That's exactly why I stopped getting fussed about football (or at least, supporting teams - mine were Hereford United, Leeds United (like you) and England - (yes, exactly))
The happiness accrued from their success was dwarfed by the misery induced by their much more frequent failures. I stopped supporting clubs in my late teens, and I stopped giving much of a toss about England in the early Noughties after the Nth time they were knocked out by Portugal in the Quarters after a penalty shoot out. I just decided, overnight, not to care any more. It's quite liberating. And I still enjoy a spectacle like the World Cup.
At the risk of turning into a grumpy old man, teams were different back in the old days.
The same dozen would appear game after game after game and stay season after season after season.
Not like the seemingly random selections and revolving doors which clubs use nowadays.
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
You're quite young, no? Early or mid 20s? (forgive me if I am wrong)
Many of my female friends, when we were all in our 20s, were adamant they didn't want kids. I have witnessed several of them end up so desperate for kids they have been through heartbreaking sessions of IVF, to no avail.
Having kids is no panacea. It doesn't guarantee happiness. Sometimes it means the opposite. But sprogging is what we are here for and I would say my childless friends in their 50s, are fundamentally less "contented" than those who have reproduced. There is just *something* crucially missing from their lives. And analyses show this is true, childless people, especially women, in their 40s and 50s seem to be unhappier than parents.
Interestingly, other analyses show that this happiness difference disappears as you get even older. And whether you are a parent or not has almost no effect on your reported happiness in your 70s and 80s - the state of health and the quality of your social life is much more significant.
Those in their 50s now that had kids in the 90s or earlier had the chance to have 2 or 3 sprogs and still enjoy a middle class lifestyle, with a nice house and garden in a good part of town. The problem for the current generation is that, unless you've done seriously well for yourself, the choice is kids or middle class lifestyle. You can't afford both.
Very true. Kids in my area are a significant indicator of wealth, in the middle classes. LOOK, we can afford to have FOUR.
Many of my friends have only had one, because that's literally all they can afford, in London, and maintain a reasonably pleasant lifestyle.
And of course that had major knock on effects in people living more atomised lives, less involvement in PTAs or Neighbourhood Watchs etc, weaker civic society, greater frustration at the compromises they have to make, increased support for political extremes... UK absurd housing prices are damaging our society in so many ways.
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
You're quite young, no? Early or mid 20s? (forgive me if I am wrong)
Many of my female friends, when we were all in our 20s, were adamant they didn't want kids. I have witnessed several of them end up so desperate for kids they have been through heartbreaking sessions of IVF, to no avail.
Having kids is no panacea. It doesn't guarantee happiness. Sometimes it means the opposite. But sprogging is what we are here for and I would say my childless friends in their 50s, are fundamentally less "contented" than those who have reproduced. There is just *something* crucially missing from their lives. And analyses show this is true, childless people, especially women, in their 40s and 50s seem to be unhappier than parents.
Interestingly, other analyses show that this happiness difference disappears as you get even older. And whether you are a parent or not has almost no effect on your reported happiness in your 70s and 80s - the state of health and the quality of your social life is much more significant.
Those in their 50s now that had kids in the 90s or earlier had the chance to have 2 or 3 sprogs and still enjoy a middle class lifestyle, with a nice house and garden in a good part of town. The problem for the current generation is that, unless you've done seriously well for yourself, the choice is kids or middle class lifestyle. You can't afford both.
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
You're quite young, no? Early or mid 20s? (forgive me if I am wrong)
Many of my female friends, when we were all in our 20s, were adamant they didn't want kids. I have witnessed several of them end up so desperate for kids they have been through heartbreaking sessions of IVF, to no avail.
Having kids is no panacea. It doesn't guarantee happiness. Sometimes it means the opposite. But sprogging is what we are here for and I would say my childless friends in their 50s, are fundamentally less "contented" than those who have reproduced. There is just *something* crucially missing from their lives. And analyses show this is true, childless people, especially women, in their 40s and 50s seem to be unhappier than parents.
Interestingly, other analyses show that this happiness difference disappears as you get even older. And whether you are a parent or not has almost no effect on your reported happiness in your 70s and 80s - the state of health and the quality of your social life is much more significant.
Those in their 50s now that had kids in the 90s or earlier had the chance to have 2 or 3 sprogs and still enjoy a middle class lifestyle, with a nice house and garden in a good part of town. The problem for the current generation is that, unless you've done seriously well for yourself, the choice is kids or middle class lifestyle. You can't afford both.
Very true. Kids in my area are a significant indicator of wealth, in the middle classes. LOOK, we can afford to have FOUR.
Many of my friends have only had one, because that's literally all they can afford, in London, and maintain a reasonably pleasant lifestyle.
You live in Primrose Hill. That is 0.1% territory.
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
You're quite young, no? Early or mid 20s? (forgive me if I am wrong)
Interestingly, other analyses show that this happiness difference disappears as you get even older. And whether you are a parent or not has almost no effect on your reported happiness in your 70s and 80s - the state of health and the quality of your social life is much more significant.
Those in their 50s now that had kids in the 90s or earlier had the chance to have 2 or 3 sprogs and still enjoy a middle class lifestyle, with a nice house and garden in a good part of town. The problem for the current generation is that, unless you've done seriously well for yourself, the choice is kids or middle class lifestyle. You can't afford both.
This is a very fair point. We had three kids in London between 1990 and 1998. We bought our first flat in Archway - two bedrooms and a garden - for £60,000 in 1991 when we had a joint income of around £35,000. On the same jobs at the same seniority today we’d be on around £50,000. The flat would cost £500,000. Just before our third was born and we had risen to a joint income of £60,000 a year we sold the flat for £80,000 and bought a three bedroom house in Hornsey for £125,000. I’d guess that would now go for £700,000 or so. We were very, very lucky.
And it's not just the money. Working hours have gone up spectacularly over the last 30 years. So to get to the level of income you need now, you don't have the spare time to actually raise them. That is the cultural legacy of work, work, work Thatcherism. Conservatives have themselves to blame for the collapse in family life.
@MaxPB Thanks for your response, sorry to hear about your friend who now regrets not having kids. Interesting to hear that your male friends are keen to settle down now, tbh I don’t get the sense that anyone among my friends (female or male) is that keen to settle down atm. That could change in the next few years though.
I'd say it goes beyond regret for her. Most of my friends are in their early 30s. I am as well, my fiancé is in her late 20s and we've had the kids conversation already and we're probably going to get on the train almost as soon as we're married later this summer.
I think it will be something that changes over time for you and your friends. I do think there is so much pressure on women to have "successful" careers and prioritise that over family life and I've found women who don't have kids have begin to regret the decision after the age of 35.
I remember my mum sitting down with my sister about this a few years ago when she was against having children, don't make a decision based on today's happiness that will cause a life of regret and bitterness was essentially what my mum said.
I read a study that showed sports fans feel twice as much depression after a loss than they feel elation after a win. Given I am a Leeds fan, my return on investment must be even worse.
Especially given how many fans pick a successful team to support when they're young only for that team to sink back into mediocrity and / or underachievement for the next few decades.
There's not been much for Leeds fans to cheer for a quarter of a century and their period of sustained success ended over forty years ago.
I suppose that's me and Arsenal. I actually really enjoyed the 2006 to 2013 years when I thought we punched slightly above our weight.
I reckon Arsenal fans are where Liverpool fans were about 15 years ago. Nowadays I think Liverpool fans accept that they don't have a god given right to win the league. It might take some time and few managers for Arsenal fans to realise the same applies to them.
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
You're quite young, no? Early or mid 20s? (forgive me if I am wrong)
Many of my female friends, when we were all in our 20s, were adamant they didn't want kids. I have witnessed several of them end up so desperate for kids they have been through heartbreaking sessions of IVF, to no avail.
Having kids is no panacea. It doesn't guarantee happiness. Sometimes it means the opposite. But sprogging is what we are here for and I would say my childless friends in their 50s, are fundamentally less "contented" than those who have reproduced. There is just *something* crucially missing from their lives. And analyses show this is true, childless people, especially women, in their 40s and 50s seem to be unhappier than parents.
Interestingly, other analyses show that this happiness difference disappears as you get even older. And whether you are a parent or not has almost no effect on your reported happiness in your 70s and 80s - the state of health and the quality of your social life is much more significant.
Those in their 50s now that had kids in the 90s or earlier had the chance to have 2 or 3 sprogs and still enjoy a middle class lifestyle, with a nice house and garden in a good part of town. The problem for the current generation is that, unless you've done seriously well for yourself, the choice is kids or middle class lifestyle. You can't afford both.
It would be very difficult to in London, Oxford, Cambridge and all the other places we're told Britain's future lies in emulating.
But less so in northern towns which sound like lower division football clubs.
Being relatively rich in a cheap place is easier than being relatively rich in an expensive place.
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
It is a great weekend if you hold betting slips on Jeremy Hunt or Sajid Javid as Mrs May’s successor.
It was of course Boris and Gove who actually originally promised the Brexit bonus for the NHS May has now had to deliver, Hunt would have been unlikely to have got it without the Brexit vote
What rot this is @HYUFD. The NHS needs more money stand still in the face of an increasingly aging and obese population. The Government was always going to have to do something about it. The extra funding will not come from any mythical Brexit dividend, it will come from higher taxes.
Longer term of course national insurance will have to rise to pay for more funds for the NHS but the extra £350 million a week for the NHS coming in 2021 exactly as the transition period and our payments to the EU end is of course no coincidence
All the media reporting today has been from devoted remain supporters trying to trash any Brexit dividend. I can only assume they hate the idea of Brexit savings in due course going a good way to endorsing the bus pledge
I thought the amusing part was Jon Ashworth, who is one of two vaguely sane and intelligent human beings in the Shadow Cabinet, all over the airwaves bleating about how it was uncosted.
While he was correct, Labour criticising someone else for false accountancy practices after their 2017 manifesto was the irony of Stalin accusing somebody of being a bit paranoid.
It is a great weekend if you hold betting slips on Jeremy Hunt or Sajid Javid as Mrs May’s successor.
It was of course Boris and Gove who actually originally promised the Brexit bonus for the NHS May has now had to deliver, Hunt would have been unlikely to have got it without the Brexit vote
What rot this is @HYUFD. The NHS needs more money stand still in the face of an increasingly aging and obese population. The Government was always going to have to do something about it. The extra funding will not come from any mythical Brexit dividend, it will come from higher taxes.
Longer term of course national insurance will have to rise to pay for more funds for the NHS but the extra £350 million a week for the NHS coming in 2021 exactly as the transition period and our payments to the EU end is of course no coincidence
All the media reporting today has been from devoted remain supporters trying to trash any Brexit dividend. I can only assume they hate the idea of Brexit savings in due course going a good way to endorsing the bus pledge
There are no dividends, or anti-dividends for that matter. Just magic money trees. The Conservatives have to do something about hospital funding otherwise the healthcare headlines will get grimmer for them than they already are. Personally I wouldn't talk about Brexit dividends. Not because it is financially illiterate and fundamentally dishonest. Neither of those things stopped Brexit being carried forward. But because it introduces a completely unnecessary controversy into a story that could be a good news one for them.
Those in their 50s now that had kids in the 90s or earlier had the chance to have 2 or 3 sprogs and still enjoy a middle class lifestyle, with a nice house and garden in a good part of town. The problem for the current generation is that, unless you've done seriously well for yourself, the choice is kids or middle class lifestyle. You can't afford both.
Very true. Kids in my area are a significant indicator of wealth, in the middle classes. LOOK, we can afford to have FOUR.
Many of my friends have only had one, because that's literally all they can afford, in London, and maintain a reasonably pleasant lifestyle.
I think it's more than just money.
Having children is a biological imperative, for men and women alike, and I'm inclined to think that those who don't do it will always have regrets, even if they are only "what ifs..."
The trouble is we have a society that is absolutely at odds with that biological imperative. It's one that encourages us to prioritise our careers, to travel extensively, to live free and never tie ourselves down. Marriage and kids are absolute anathema to that.
Dating has changed a lot in the last few years and not for the better. Why settle down with that guy (or girl) when there is always the possibility of something better around the corner? So we go from relationship to relationship, putting it off because the time is never right. And once time is actually running out we end up going for the first available person who may well be far from our first choice. I've had friends in their late thirties settle and end up absolutely miserable with their partners and the commitment free lives they used to lead.
I'm inclined to agree with Max on this, many of my friends have achieved great financial success but ultimately feel they are leading empty lives. Those who married and had kids relatively early seem much happier and better adjusted. Funnily enough though, it is the men who want to settle down and not so much the women, at least not until it's (very nearly) too late. Is it because women see marriage and children as curtailing their freedom in a way that men don't? I don't have the answers, but something is very definitely "up".
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
Yes, I'd agree with this. It's why I quite like going to watch golf. It's an insanely difficult game to be any good at.
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
Yes, I'd agree with this. It's why I quite like going to watch golf. It's an insanely difficult game to be any good at.
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
I went to the Open a few years ago and the best part of the day was the hour or so I spent watching the pro on the range. I remember Phil Mickelson warming up with pitch shots to a 50 and 100 yard target and not only did he basically get every one close, more actually squared hit it than missed.
It just showed how much better the elite pros are than even your local club scratch golfer.
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
Yes, I'd agree with this. It's why I quite like going to watch golf. It's an insanely difficult game to be any good at.
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
Is that a reference to the football or the sex life comments?
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
You're quite young, no? Early or mid 20s? (forgive me if I am wrong)
Interestingly, other analyses show that this happiness difference disappears as you get even older. And whether you are a parent or not has almost no effect on your reported happiness in your 70s and 80s - the state of health and the quality of your social life is much more significant.
Those in their 50s now that had kids in the 90s or earlier had the chance to have 2 or 3 sprogs and still enjoy a middle class lifestyle, with a nice house and garden in a good part of town. The problem for the current generation is that, unless you've done seriously well for yourself, the choice is kids or middle class lifestyle. You can't afford both.
This is a very fair point. We had three kids in London between 1990 and 1998. We bought our first flat in Archway - two bedrooms and a garden - for £60,000 in 1991 when we had a joint income of around £35,000. On the same jobs at the same seniority today we’d be on around £50,000. The flat would cost £500,000. Just before our third was born and we had risen to a joint income of £60,000 a year we sold the flat for £80,000 and bought a three bedroom house in Hornsey for £125,000. I’d guess that would now go for £700,000 or so. We were very, very lucky.
And it's not just the money. Working hours have gone up spectacularly over the last 30 years. So to get to the level of income you need now, you don't have the spare time to actually raise them. That is the cultural legacy of work, work, work Thatcherism. Conservatives have themselves to blame for the collapse in family life.
It’s more the Internet means you cannot escape work in many jobs. You can’t blame any polticians for that.
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
Yes, I'd agree with this. It's why I quite like going to watch golf. It's an insanely difficult game to be any good at.
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
I went to the Open a few years ago and the best part of the day was the hour or so I spent watching the pro on the range. I remember Phil Mickelson warming up with pitch shots to a 50 and 100 yard target and not only did he basically get every one close, more actually squared hit it than missed.
It just showed how much better the elite pros are than even your local club scratch golfer.
I followed Mickelson during a practice round at Royal Liverpool in 2006. He played a trick shot where he put the ball up against the rear face of a bunker. He managed to loop the ball over his head and land next to the pin. Very impressive.
It is a great weekend if you hold betting slips on Jeremy Hunt or Sajid Javid as Mrs May’s successor.
It was of course Boris and Gove who actually originally promised the Brexit bonus for the NHS May has now had to deliver, Hunt would have been unlikely to have got it without the Brexit vote
What rot this is @HYUFD. The NHS needs more money stand still in the face of an increasingly aging and obese population. The Government was always going to have to do something about it. The extra funding will not come from any mythical Brexit dividend, it will come from higher taxes.
Longer term of course national insurance will have to rise to pay for more funds for the NHS but the extra £350 million a week for the NHS coming in 2021 exactly as the transition period and our payments to the EU end is of course no coincidence
All the media reporting today has been from devoted remain supporters trying to trash any Brexit dividend. I can only assume they hate the idea of Brexit savings in due course going a good way to endorsing the bus pledge
There are no dividends, or anti-dividends for that matter. Just magic money trees. The Conservatives have to do something about hospital funding otherwise the healthcare headlines will get grimmer for them than they already are. Personally I wouldn't talk about Brexit dividends. Not because it is financially illiterate and fundamentally dishonest. Neither of those things stopped Brexit being carried forward. But because it introduces a completely unnecessary controversy into a story that could be a good news one for them.
What is does do is commit TM to the 20 billion NHS boost no matter how it is raised but by the mid twenties there will be a Brexit boost
@MaxPB Thanks for your response, sorry to hear about your friend who now regrets not having kids. Interesting to hear that your male friends are keen to settle down now, tbh I don’t get the sense that anyone among my friends (female or male) is that keen to settle down atm. That could change in the next few years though.
I'd say it goes beyond regret for her. Most of my friends are in their early 30s. I am as well, my fiancé is in her late 20s and we've had the kids conversation already and we're probably going to get on the train almost as soon as we're married later this summer.
I think it will be something that changes over time for you and your friends. I do think there is so much pressure on women to have "successful" careers and prioritise that over family life and I've found women who don't have kids have begin to regret the decision after the age of 35.
I remember my mum sitting down with my sister about this a few years ago when she was against having children, don't make a decision based on today's happiness that will cause a life of regret and bitterness was essentially what my mum said.
I have endless examples of this in women of my generation - 40s and 50s - who were especially sold the You Can Have It All idea - career, sex, travel AND kids and money and everything. They realised, too late, it was bollocks.
At least two of them became actively suicidal about their childlessness in their 40s. One got very very very lucky with the last attempt at IVF, she is now a blissfully contented mother. The other failed - after seeking out sperm donors - and is now dealing with continuing and deep depression.
This is just my experience, it could be unique, it is anecdata, but it is also the truth (in my close circle of friends)
Well, I'm 42 and still a virgin, I see myself as PB's "Counter-SeanT"
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
Yes, I'd agree with this. It's why I quite like going to watch golf. It's an insanely difficult game to be any good at.
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
I went to the Open a few years ago and the best part of the day was the hour or so I spent watching the pro on the range. I remember Phil Mickelson warming up with pitch shots to a 50 and 100 yard target and not only did he basically get every one close, more actually squared hit it than missed.
It just showed how much better the elite pros are than even your local club scratch golfer.
I have played competitive golf with many low handicap and scratch golfers, some who turned pro but did not make it as a tournament pro. There is indeed a huge gap between a top amateur and a tournament winning pro
@MaxPB Thanks for your response, sorry to hear about your friend who now regrets not having kids. Interesting to hear that your male friends are keen to settle down now, tbh I don’t get the sense that anyone among my friends (female or male) is that keen to settle down atm. That could change in the next few years though.
I'd say it goes beyond regret for her. Most of my friends are in their early 30s. I am as well, my fiancé is in her late 20s and we've had the kids conversation already and we're probably going to get on the train almost as soon as we're married later this summer.
I think it will be something that changes over time for you and your friends. I do think there is so much pressure on women to have "successful" careers and prioritise that over family life and I've found women who don't have kids have begin to regret the decision after the age of 35.
I remember my mum sitting down with my sister about this a few years ago when she was against having children, don't make a decision based on today's happiness that will cause a life of regret and bitterness was essentially what my mum said.
I have endless examples of this in women of my generation - 40s and 50s - who were especially sold the You Can Have It All idea - career, sex, travel AND kids and money and everything. They realised, too late, it was bollocks.
At least two of them became actively suicidal about their childlessness in their 40s. One got very very very lucky with the last attempt at IVF, she is now a blissfully contented mother. The other failed - after seeking out sperm donors - and is now dealing with continuing and deep depression.
This is just my experience, it could be unique, it is anecdata, but it is also the truth (in my close circle of friends)
Well, I'm 42 and still a virgin, I see myself as PB's "Counter-SeanT"
He forgot to mention financial ruin but other than that I agree.
Most of the women among my friendship group don’t want to have kids. Tbh, I think in my family those who have chosen not to have kids seem much less unhappy and stressed than many married, working mums in my family.
You're quite young, no? Early or mid 20s? (forgive me if I am wrong)
Many of my female friends, when we were all in our 20s, were adamant they didn't want kids. I have witnessed several of them end up so desperate for kids they have been through heartbreaking sessions of IVF, to no avail.
Having kids is no panacea. It doesn't guarantee happiness. Sometimes it means the opposite. But sprogging is what we are here for and I would say my childless friends in their 50s, are fundamentally less "contented" than those who have reproduced. There is just *something* crucially missing from their lives. And analyses show this is true, childless people, especially women, in their 40s and 50s seem to be unhappier than parents.
Interestingly, other analyses show that this happiness difference disappears as you get even older. And whether you are a parent or not has almost no effect on your reported happiness in your 70s and 80s - the state of health and the quality of your social life is much more significant.
Those in their 50s now that had kids in the 90s or earlier had the chance to have 2 or 3 sprogs and still enjoy a middle class lifestyle, with a nice house and garden in a good part of town. The problem for the current generation is that, unless you've done seriously well for yourself, the choice is kids or middle class lifestyle. You can't afford both.
It is a great weekend if you hold betting slips on Jeremy Hunt or Sajid Javid as Mrs May’s successor.
It was of course Boris and Gove who actually originally promised the Brexit bonus for the NHS May has now had to deliver, Hunt would have been unlikely to have got it without the Brexit vote
What rot this is @HYUFD. The NHS needs more money stand still in the face of an increasingly aging and obese population. The Government was always going to have to do something about it. The extra funding will not come from any mythical Brexit dividend, it will come from higher taxes.
Longer term of course national insurance will have to rise to pay for more funds for the NHS but the extra £350 million a week for the NHS coming in 2021 exactly as the transition period and our payments to the EU end is of course no coincidence
All the media reporting today has been from devoted remain supporters trying to trash any Brexit dividend. I can only assume they hate the idea of Brexit savings in due course going a good way to endorsing the bus pledge
There are no dividends, or anti-dividends for that matter. Just magic money trees. The Conservatives have to do something about hospital funding otherwise the healthcare headlines will get grimmer for them than they already are. Personally I wouldn't talk about Brexit dividends. Not because it is financially illiterate and fundamentally dishonest. Neither of those things stopped Brexit being carried forward. But because it introduces a completely unnecessary controversy into a story that could be a good news one for them.
What is does do is commit TM to the 20 billion NHS boost no matter how it is raised but by the mid twenties there will be a Brexit boost
If you believe that you will believe anything, I'm afraid. Whatever. Theresa May should be gone by then and whoever is around will do whatever they do. It's the next couple of years that matter in terms of minimising bad headlines for the government. As I say, I would personally remove Brexit from the healthcare equation. The government doesn't need to conflate two problems it has.
I've returned to the workplace these last months and do not have time for the weekly shop, getting my haircut, getting my teeth polished, going to the pub....how the fuck anyone could work and have kids today is quite beyond me
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
Yes, I'd agree with this. It's why I quite like going to watch golf. It's an insanely difficult game to be any good at.
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
I went to the Open a few years ago and the best part of the day was the hour or so I spent watching the pro on the range. I remember Phil Mickelson warming up with pitch shots to a 50 and 100 yard target and not only did he basically get every one close, more actually squared hit it than missed.
It just showed how much better the elite pros are than even your local club scratch golfer.
I have played competitive golf with many low handicap and scratch golfers, some who turned pro but did not make it as a tournament pro. There is indeed a huge gap between a top amateur and a tournament winning pro
I can't imagine what a low handicapper would be scoring on this US Open course if the worlds best are struggling to get near par.
It is a great weekend if you hold betting slips on Jeremy Hunt or Sajid Javid as Mrs May’s successor.
It was of course Boris and Gove who actually originally promised the Brexit bonus for the NHS May has now had to deliver, Hunt would have been unlikely to have got it without the Brexit vote
What rot this is @HYUFD. The NHS needs more money stand still in the face of an increasingly aging and obese population. The Government was always going to have to do something about it. The extra funding will not come from any mythical Brexit dividend, it will come from higher taxes.
Longer term of course national insurance will have to rise to pay for more funds for the NHS but the extra £350 million a week for the NHS coming in 2021 exactly as the transition period and our payments to the EU end is of course no coincidence
All the media reporting today has been from devoted remain supporters trying to trash any Brexit dividend. I can only assume they hate the idea of Brexit savings in due course going a good way to endorsing the bus pledge
There are no dividends, or anti-dividends for that matter. Just magic money trees. The Conservatives have to do something about hospital funding otherwise the healthcare headlines will get grimmer for them than they already are. Personally I wouldn't talk about Brexit dividends. Not because it is financially illiterate and fundamentally dishonest. Neither of those things stopped Brexit being carried forward. But because it introduces a completely unnecessary controversy into a story that could be a good news one for them.
What is does do is commit TM to the 20 billion NHS boost no matter how it is raised but by the mid twenties there will be a Brexit boost
If you believe that you will believe anything, I'm afraid. Whatever. Theresa May should be gone by then and whoever is around will do whatever they do. It's the next couple of years that matter in terms of minimising bad headlines for the government. As I say, I would personally remove Brexit from the healthcare equation. The government doesn't need to conflate two problems it has.
The media were attacking her announcement, as the public and health care professionals welcomed the announcement. As long as TM delivers the promise it does not matter but there will be a good number of the electorate pleased that she has called a Brexit bonus
So the unanimous opinion of the media is that Mrs May has tried unsuccessfully to pull of a publicity stunt by linking the increase in NHS expendidure with Brexit.
How to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. She really is a second rate politician or she's badly advised. Can she really last until next year?
So the unanimous opinion of the media is that Mrs May has tried unsuccessfully to pull of a publicity stunt by linking the increase in NHS expendidure with Brexit.
How to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. She really is a second rate politician or she's badly advised. Can she really last until next year?
You colour your judgement by your politics. The public interviewed were very pleased as were the health care professionals and she will deliver the 20 billion much as you hope she doesn't
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
Yes, I'd agree with this. It's why I quite like going to watch golf. It's an insanely difficult game to be any good at.
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
I went to the Open a few years ago and the best part of the day was the hour or so I spent watching the pro on the range. I remember Phil Mickelson warming up with pitch shots to a 50 and 100 yard target and not only did he basically get every one close, more actually squared hit it than missed.
It just showed how much better the elite pros are than even your local club scratch golfer.
I have played competitive golf with many low handicap and scratch golfers, some who turned pro but did not make it as a tournament pro. There is indeed a huge gap between a top amateur and a tournament winning pro
I can't imagine what a low handicapper would be scoring on this US Open course if the worlds best are struggling to get near par.
This course is impossible and would see many good amateurs near 100 gross
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
Yes, I'd agree with this. It's why I quite like going to watch golf. It's an insanely difficult game to be any good at.
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
I went to the Open a few years ago and the best part of the day was the hour or so I spent watching the pro on the range. I remember Phil Mickelson warming up with pitch shots to a 50 and 100 yard target and not only did he basically get every one close, more actually squared hit it than missed.
It just showed how much better the elite pros are than even your local club scratch golfer.
I have played competitive golf with many low handicap and scratch golfers, some who turned pro but did not make it as a tournament pro. There is indeed a huge gap between a top amateur and a tournament winning pro
I can't imagine what a low handicapper would be scoring on this US Open course if the worlds best are struggling to get near par.
This course is impossible and would see many good amateurs near 100 gross
I don't know why they are struggling, looks on the tv like wide open fairways and massive greens ;-)
The great thing about the US Open is that the stupid Americans spent yesterday willing our boys to fail. Now Tommy's stuck +2 on the board they've gone very quiet.
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
Yes, I'd agree with this. It's why I quite like going to watch golf. It's an insanely difficult game to be any good at.
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
I went to the Open a few years ago and the best part of the day was the hour or so I spent watching the pro on the range. I remember Phil Mickelson warming up with pitch shots to a 50 and 100 yard target and not only did he basically get every one close, more actually squared hit it than missed.
It just showed how much better the elite pros are than even your local club scratch golfer.
I have played competitive golf with many low handicap and scratch golfers, some who turned pro but did not make it as a tournament pro. There is indeed a huge gap between a top amateur and a tournament winning pro
I can't imagine what a low handicapper would be scoring on this US Open course if the worlds best are struggling to get near par.
This course is impossible and would see many good amateurs near 100 gross
I don't know why they are struggling, looks on the tv like wide open fairways and massive greens ;-)
The pin placing and speed of the greens are on the edge of being playable. Plus the rough is very difficult
It is a great weekend if you hold betting slips on Jeremy Hunt or Sajid Javid as Mrs May’s successor.
It was of course Boris and Gove who actually originally promised the Brexit bonus for the NHS May has now had to deliver, Hunt would have been unlikely to have got it without the Brexit vote
What rot this is @HYUFD. The NHS needs more money stand still in the face of an increasingly aging and obese population. The Government was always going to have to do something about it. The extra funding will not come from any mythical Brexit dividend, it will come from higher taxes.
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
Yes, I'd agree with this. It's why I quite like going to watch golf. It's an insanely difficult game to be any good at.
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
I went to the Open a few years ago and the best part of the day was the hour or so I spent watching the pro on the range. I remember Phil Mickelson warming up with pitch shots to a 50 and 100 yard target and not only did he basically get every one close, more actually squared hit it than missed.
It just showed how much better the elite pros are than even your local club scratch golfer.
I have played competitive golf with many low handicap and scratch golfers, some who turned pro but did not make it as a tournament pro. There is indeed a huge gap between a top amateur and a tournament winning pro
Cricket is similar. I played club cricket and found players who could not get close to county level unplayable. A bog standard county spinner is a million miles ahead of any half decent club player. When you get to Graeme Swann, let alone Shane Warne, levels you’re talking one in one hundred million freaks of nature.
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
Yes, I'd agree with this. It's why I quite like going to watch golf. It's an insanely difficult game to be any good at.
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
I went to the Open a few years ago and the best part of the day was the hour or so I spent watching the pro on the range. I remember Phil Mickelson warming up with pitch shots to a 50 and 100 yard target and not only did he basically get every one close, more actually squared hit it than missed.
It just showed how much better the elite pros are than even your local club scratch golfer.
I have played competitive golf with many low handicap and scratch golfers, some who turned pro but did not make it as a tournament pro. There is indeed a huge gap between a top amateur and a tournament winning pro
Cricket is similar. I played club cricket and found players who could not get close to county level unplayable. A bog standard county spinner is a million miles ahead of any half decent club player. When you get to Graeme Swann, let alone Shane Warne, levels you’re talking one in one hundred million freaks of nature.
So the unanimous opinion of the media is that Mrs May has tried unsuccessfully to pull of a publicity stunt by linking the increase in NHS expendidure with Brexit.
How to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. She really is a second rate politician or she's badly advised. Can she really last until next year?
Suspect most people will just hear £20bn for the NHS and not really all the hullabaloo surrounding it...
For the sake of argument if we go along with the fiction of the "Brexit dividend", by allocating all of it and more to the NHS, it begs the question of what happens to all the other things Vote Leave were saying we could spend the money on like housing, schools, scientific research, etc.
For the sake of argument if we go along with the fiction of the "Brexit dividend", by allocating all of it and more to the NHS, it begs the question of what happens to all the other things Vote Leave were saying we could spend the money on like housing, schools, scientific research, etc.
twitter.com/vote_leave/status/721078177989279746
Thankfully there wasn't a bus with those demands printed on the side.
For the sake of argument if we go along with the fiction of the "Brexit dividend", by allocating all of it and more to the NHS, it begs the question of what happens to all the other things Vote Leave were saying we could spend the money on like housing, schools, scientific research, etc.
It is a great weekend if you hold betting slips on Jeremy Hunt or Sajid Javid as Mrs May’s successor.
It was of course Boris and Gove who actually originally promised the Brexit bonus for the NHS May has now had to deliver, Hunt would have been unlikely to have got it without the Brexit vote
What rot this is @HYUFD. The NHS needs more money stand still in the face of an increasingly aging and obese population. The Government was always going to have to do something about it. The extra funding will not come from any mythical Brexit dividend, it will come from higher taxes.
Maybe I am just a weirdo, I super enjoy my sport but I don't take the result (good or bad) away with me. No kicking the cat in Chez Urquhart.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
Yes, I'd agree with this. It's why I quite like going to watch golf. It's an insanely difficult game to be any good at.
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
I went to the Open a few years ago and the best part of the day was the hour or so I spent watching the pro on the range. I remember Phil Mickelson warming up with pitch shots to a 50 and 100 yard target and not only did he basically get every one close, more actually squared hit it than missed.
It just showed how much better the elite pros are than even your local club scratch golfer.
I have played competitive golf with many low handicap and scratch golfers, some who turned pro but did not make it as a tournament pro. There is indeed a huge gap between a top amateur and a tournament winning pro
Cricket is similar. I played club cricket and found players who could not get close to county level unplayable. A bog standard county spinner is a million miles ahead of any half decent club player. When you get to Graeme Swann, let alone Shane Warne, levels you’re talking one in one hundred million freaks of nature.
Seeing international cricket live, especially test match cricket, is an incredible treat. I think Sky’s coverage is excellent but nothing prepares you for the incredible skill, speed and bravery that you get to appreciate seeing it in person. Strangely, it’s the bowling I remember most. It’s almost inhuman what they do to their bodies to hurl a cricket ball accurately at 85mph over 22 yards. It looks quite sanitised on the TV by comparison. Brett Lee at Lords, Broad at Headingly and Jimmy Anderson pretty much anywhere. Just incredible.
Comments
Yes, it is more stressful, and at times you can be unhappy. But the rewards are numerous, and the happiness is heavenly.
Then again, I'm a stay-at-home dad, not a mum, so I might have a different perspective.
Edit. I see JJ made the same quip. Apologies JJ.
It's like the idea that people will, in effect, grow up once they have kids, putting the kids first. Most parents do, but it doesn't happen with everyone unfortunately.
That actually reminds me of a lazy cliche I look forward to seeing TV shows stop using - you have these shows sometimes where characters (usually female in this case) who are constantly saving the world in death defying ways or something, putting themselves in extreme risk or devoting what seems like 24 hours a day into solving crimes, then you have an episode where they have to look after a child, and then they start looking into adoption. It annoys me not because I have an issue with single people adopting, certainly not, but because it usually comes across as someone just deciding 'I'd quite like a child to make me feel better' even as they clearly do not intend to change their life in any way in recognition of supposedly wanting to change their primary responsibility in life.
Other TV cliches I want to see end are social workers and hostage negotiators being portrayed near universally as terrible at their jobs - I've lost track of the number of times on cop dramas where the protagonists know so much more than supposed professionals at those two roles.
Rant over. Phew.
And now I need to do some preparatory work for tomorrow AM.
Pleasant evening all.
If I had to guess it will be (not that it would be my selection),
Pickford, Trippier, Young, Walker, Stones, Cahill, Dier*, Henderson*, Deli, Kane, Stirling
* or Delph.
I would go
Pickford, Alexander-Arnold, Rose, Walker, Stones, Cahill, Dier, Linguard, Deli, Kane, Rashford
But that would probably have us concede a shed load against a good team.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/unicorn-former-minister-phillip-lee-saddles-up-to-succeed-theresa-may-86k6m0jbv
I know what you mean, but there's another side to this: I know loads of fathers who get fed up with having to be at work during the school play or sports day, or even miss their kids during frequent long business trips. As well as the stress of having to do well in order to bring the necessary income in. One dad loves the once a week he can pick his lass up from school, just so he can see her face when she sees him walk in through the door.
In fact, we have good friends of whom the dad stays at home whilst the mother works. She feels she misses out on things as well.
We're incredibly lucky in that we can easily survive on one salary: if we couldn't, I'd go back to work. But I do think that more men should look at part-time working, and companies should be more open to family-friendly working.
And another point: kids are *fun*. We have one one child, and he makes me laugh at least four times a day. I do things I wouldn't do without him. I meet people I wouldn't meet without him. Having a kid is limiting, but it is also broadening.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/06/17/filming-israeli-soldiers-in-action-could-soon-become-a-crime/?
*wakes up with a start*
One of my friends who is a bit older has definitely become bitter and twisted about not having children when she was able to (she's early 40s). She blames her mother but in all honesty it's her own fault for prioritising her career over her husband (who left her because she didn't want to have kids for another 5-7 years). She's bitter at her ex husband (who has since got married and started a family) she's bitter at other friends who advised her she was making a mistake at the time (she didn't talk to me for 3 years after I said I thought she was making a mistake by not having kids and pushing her husband away. Unfortunately she's also become bitter about other friends having kids as well. I genuinely pity her situation, even though it was self inflicted.
In an odd turn of events it feels like my male friends are now more ready to settle down and start families than my female ones.
Supporting either of these rarely tend to equate with sex of any kind.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/is-this-londons-most-patriotic-housing-estate-a3864011.html
And why does he call himself Neymar Jnr - its not as if his dad was anyone anybody has ever heard of.
Fife
Lancashire
Staffordshire
Cambridgeshire
Herefordshire
Berkshire
Surrey
Kent
One down from yesterday but with Lancashire being an exciting first time entry.
Classic Swiss efficiency.
There's not been much for Leeds fans to cheer for a quarter of a century and their period of sustained success ended over forty years ago.
The same dozen would appear game after game after game and stay season after season after season.
Not like the seemingly random selections and revolving doors which clubs use nowadays.
I think it will be something that changes over time for you and your friends. I do think there is so much pressure on women to have "successful" careers and prioritise that over family life and I've found women who don't have kids have begin to regret the decision after the age of 35.
I remember my mum sitting down with my sister about this a few years ago when she was against having children, don't make a decision based on today's happiness that will cause a life of regret and bitterness was essentially what my mum said.
https://tinyurl.com/yb9avd54
It made Neymar Jnr the most highly paid player in the world, until Messi got upset and demanded a pay rise! I suppose that's me and Arsenal. I actually really enjoyed the 2006 to 2013 years when I thought we punched slightly above our weight.
I reckon Arsenal fans are where Liverpool fans were about 15 years ago. Nowadays I think Liverpool fans accept that they don't have a god given right to win the league. It might take some time and few managers for Arsenal fans to realise the same applies to them.
But less so in northern towns which sound like lower division football clubs.
Being relatively rich in a cheap place is easier than being relatively rich in an expensive place.
But both need the necessary skill-set.
What I actually really enjoy is seeing live elite sport, being able to witness incredibly talented individuals do things you know you could never do e.g. One of the highlights of a few years ago was seeing Adonis Chapman pitch from only a few rows behind home plate. Seeing an individual throw a baseball at 105 mph is really something special (and I am not much of a baseball fan).
While he was correct, Labour criticising someone else for false accountancy practices after their 2017 manifesto was the irony of Stalin accusing somebody of being a bit paranoid.
Having children is a biological imperative, for men and women alike, and I'm inclined to think that those who don't do it will always have regrets, even if they are only "what ifs..."
The trouble is we have a society that is absolutely at odds with that biological imperative. It's one that encourages us to prioritise our careers, to travel extensively, to live free and never tie ourselves down. Marriage and kids are absolute anathema to that.
Dating has changed a lot in the last few years and not for the better. Why settle down with that guy (or girl) when there is always the possibility of something better around the corner? So we go from relationship to relationship, putting it off because the time is never right. And once time is actually running out we end up going for the first available person who may well be far from our first choice. I've had friends in their late thirties settle and end up absolutely miserable with their partners and the commitment free lives they used to lead.
I'm inclined to agree with Max on this, many of my friends have achieved great financial success but ultimately feel they are leading empty lives. Those who married and had kids relatively early seem much happier and better adjusted. Funnily enough though, it is the men who want to settle down and not so much the women, at least not until it's (very nearly) too late. Is it because women see marriage and children as curtailing their freedom in a way that men don't? I don't have the answers, but something is very definitely "up".
That said, there's nothing quite like a last minute winner away from home!
It just showed how much better the elite pros are than even your local club scratch golfer.
(or should that be PB's "Anti-SeanT"? I dunno...)
It’s more the Internet means you cannot escape work in many jobs. You can’t blame any polticians for that.
@SO
I've returned to the workplace these last months and do not have time for the weekly shop, getting my haircut, getting my teeth polished, going to the pub....how the fuck anyone could work and have kids today is quite beyond me
How to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. She really is a second rate politician or she's badly advised. Can she really last until next year?
https://twitter.com/vote_leave/status/721078177989279746