PeachTea

recent watch:- The Last Of Us - great watch. Looking forward to series two

Current read is a non fiction book about ancient egypt. Fascinating read about egyptian culture and its history.

I went to see Davy Knowles on Saturday evening at the Gaiety. Despite not knowing any of his songs i really enjoyed the gig. He is a fantastic singer and guitarist. He also came across as a really nice down to earth bloke. Did anyone else watch whilst he was here last week?

its a heart attack in a mug but tastes good 😋😀

update on postage times. I have recently ordered online and both orders arrived within 5 days and that included the day when the weather was dire so the boat was cancelled.

i have no idea whether this person has a second property on the island. It is of course very possible but i was under the impression that he lives in Hong Kong. I do know ( because i walk past said property on a daily basis - twice) that it sits empty for the majority of the year except for his annual two week jolly jaunt ( which he has just recently had) .

I always thought that there was a notice put up in Peel . I think its in the noticeboard where they keep track of wildlife sightings which imo is a stupid place to put the notice in the first place. It should be on a sign on the actual beach rather than a noticeboard designated for wildlife updates.

going back to the point about hospitality i think its wrong for the gov to not at least reconsider their stance on the 22% tax for those on a lower income . They do have the power to rethink this decision. The VAT will be more difficult especially given the UK don't have any plans to review this currently. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06812/ I also do agree the market is saturated with coffee shops ( there are 4 within a 2 min walking distance in port erin alone). All offer more or less the same . Would maybe help if there was cafe's with different offerings but then there may not be the market for this ( i was thinking veggie/vegan cafes, or cafe that serves only hot chocolate - as in made from real chocolate that is melted similar to the link below) but they are probably seasonal as lets face it who wants to drink hot chocolate on a warm day. hot choc cafe> https://www.italianbearchocolate.com/

yes - I have one as a neighbour.

you must pour really small glasses of wine. I dont think have ever got 5 from a bottle 😂

The people they have helped are property developers only. These properties sit vacant having being bought by millionaires who return once a year so they can claim to be a resident. Wouldn't be such an issue if developers price their houses appropriately - a 2 bed in Ballasalla ( Dandara) starts at an eyewatering £324k. Its all about profits for the few and balls to anyone else. The gov don't give a monkeys about the hospitality sector or the people who work in it. sorry if i come across as shouty? Just utterly fed up of these fuckwits at the top.

never mind. I can see its been discussed earlier in the thread.

I have not read this thread so apologies if this has been addressed already but why have we partnered with a Singapore AI team? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cxez9z4xd25o

Since i moved back to the Island i have stopped paying attention to any of the tracking. It is never right and always shows as being sat in a hub somewhere despite it having arrived. This is the same for amazon parcels which more or less all show that they are yet to be delivered and could apply for a refund if i wanted. As its the seller who would lose out I leave it but post feedback so the seller is notified of the parcels arrival. As for IOMP and postage - i recently sent a small parcel to a friend for her birthday and paid for the parcel to arrive before her birthday ( I didnt post last minute either) and yet despite paying close to £10 to ensure a faster delivery the parcel still arrived a day late. I would blame the RM but whilst living in England I did not experience similar issues therefore i put this down to a combo of IOMP dithering with the mail whilst on island and RM for prioritising other mail over the IOM.

Not sure they needed a police car to stop people driving up to PSM though. Surely some signage would have sufficed. It was pretty obvious that the mess was being cleaned up.

Yea (now that i remember ) we had the same issue with queuing actually . The carvery itself is in an odd place in the restaurant. As for seating. I have never been to Butlins but I didnt give the seating set up much thought at the time of writing the post. I didnt mind the set up but I can see your point in that It is not very "restaurant-y" . It wouldt put me off going to eat there again though. But this could be down to where we were seated ( we were on the outskirts rather in the central section).

this looks like a Morton Bay Bug. They are native to Australia and believe they are similar to Lobster.

The Port ( in the Falcons Nest ) in Port Erin do a nice sunday carvery. We had 2 courses for around £20 a head. They were not shy with the amount of food given on the carvery. 3 meat choices, gravy, massive yorkshire puddings, stuffing, loads of veggies on offer. We thought £20 a head was good value for what we received. Food was delicious ( especially the ham). Quick service. Friendly staff. Nothing at all to complain about and we are planning on going again .

their head office is opposite ronaldsway ( on the industrial estate).

Probably will be spent on another daft project that no one asked for or another report that will be a waste of taxpayers money because the findings of the report dont align with cannans grand plan.

no such thing as affordable housing on the IOM. My sister and her boyfriend have recently purchased their first home . Its a 2 bed on Ballawattleworth which has cost them just shy of £290k. That is not a price that first time buyers should be paying.

quoting myself.. I was on IOM today and it brought up the silly pop up asking for an email address. Used the same address is in the quote and it has worked again.

I am in agreement about driving standards/ roads not being specific to the IOM . It is possible that because the island is smaller I maybe notice things more than elsewhere.

Yes - I have previously lived on the island and left 14 years ago . I returned back to live on the island again a couple of years back as my family all live here ( I am not Manx). Despite finding a job which pays me a fair wage for the role and being closer to my family I regret moving back. I do not believe the island has progressed in anyway since I left back in 2007 , if anything things have gone downhill. The main areas I am struggling to tolerate include:- Cost of services/ - for example, telecoms, utilities Living costs - rental costs have always been high on the island however they have spiralled to unacceptable levels. As i said earlier i earn a fair wage for my role yet i am still spending 40% of my income on rental costs and 25/30% of living ( ie bills, food, fuel, - the basics that i need to get by). The state of the roads . I have been driving over 10 years now and since returning i have had to replace 7 tyres. 2 of which just needed replacing due to wear and tear however the other 5 i attribute to the piss poor maintenance of the roads. The 2% tax increase . This will have a negative impact on my income. I am really unhappy about the increase and despite what Allinson says i do NOT believe for one minute this is a temporary measure nor do i believe that this money will be ringfenced for Manx Care. If i could be sure that it would be I would be unhappy about the increase but accept it is very much needed. Cost of the Ferry/ Flights and lack of reliability - Whilst i appreciate we have had some shocking weather this winter i cant ever recall the boat being cancelled as frequently. The costs for a car and a passenger are ludicrous . I personally think £300+ for a return journey is much too expensive. Given the SP are owned by the IOMG they should not be trying to profit. I also believe that residents should be entitled to a cheaper fare with residents providing proof that they are indeed a resident of the island. This could be done at the point of booking - for example uploading a letter with a name/address on or a driver licence ( the former could be shown at check in). it could also work in a similar fashion at the airport. The Manxman is not fit for purpose. It seems to me that the ship will mostly be fine during the summer months when the seas are calmer which is great but not in winter. There are other issues which annoy me . (Appreciate that these may not factor for a lot of people but they add to the " reasons to not live on the island list) limited banking choices. I miss having a Monzo account. I like the set up and the option of having multiple "pots" to put money into. Poor shopping choices. This is both groceries wise ( i miss Aldi/Lidl) as well as other shops ( clothes, shoes, electricals, home furnishing shops) Driving standards. I don't know why there seems to be so many drivers on the IOM that don't understand the basics of driving. Bugbears include: lack of indication, not using headlights in foggy conditions, giving way to drivers on the left so everyone sits like a knob waiting to see who makes the first move, drivers who seem to have to overtake no matter what, drivers who just drive at 30mph and slow down to 15mph every corner. Lack of other facilities - a modern cinema, bowling alley ( the one in Ramsey is rubbish and smells of chip fat), other indoor activities for when the weather is dire.

I bet he does on the sly.