PhobosAnomaly

Certainly in the UK, the £1 preauth was just a check to see if the card was valid. Once the issuer returned the thumbs up, there was no cap on what you could draw from the pump.

Either a scenario like the above would happen, or people who were running on fumes two days before payday would do this stunt - full up with sixty quid's worth of fuel - and when it bounced, would go back in on payday and be like "hey that's weird, sounds like your machines are acting up" and nobody would be any the wiser.

Now it's a near universal £99 preauth at unstaffed pumps.

That coalition was the gun that fired the round into the Lib Dems foot.

I mean, I probably would have done the same thing - LD hadn't seen any real form of power for a hundred years or so, and getting a seat at the top table and having a Dep PM is a massively attractive option - but the compromises made has sealed it's fate for a generation of voters.

Shame, because they don't half put out some sensible manifesto pledges, but what's the point in proposing policies if the party is going to not just leave them unfulfilled, but actively tip it on it's head?

Welcome to politics, I suppose.

It never ceases to amaze me how useless Labour have been since Blair and Brown took over.

I've no issue with their policies - far from it for the most part - but how any party can be so completely ineffective at reflecting their voting base is really quite impressive.

They could have literally sat back after ten plus years of Tory pocket-lining and shithousery, and just road the coattails of "being less wank than the government before" but nah, that would be too easy.

It's actually a masterclass.

Oh man, the flak cannon was a shotty by a different name!

I'm surprised you didn't go for the Redeemer. Ramming that into someone's boat race was satisfying as fuck.

There was something satisfying about yeeting a toilet at an enemy. Have that.

The double-barrelled shotgun from Doom II. The power, spread, and generally plentiful ammo allows you to say "fuck you" in a loud, brash way every time the trigger is pulled.

Controversial opinion, the Doom 64 sound is far meatier.

🎵 KEN LEEEEEEEEE-EEEEEEE-EE-EE-EE-EE-EEEEEEEE! 🎶

I know it's a cult classic, but I couldn't get my head around the film, it didnt enjoy it at all. Perhaps it's because I went in with the desire to see another J-horror in the vein of Ring or Ju-On or Dark Water etc.

I'm going to treat myself to an Ito box set after Christmas and read the visual novels instead I think, give it another bash.

I never finished it.

I followed a viewing guide, watched the odd feature length episode where it was supposedly appropriate, and watched through to the penultimate episode.

It advised to watch Crusades and sweep up anything else that hasn't been watched before watching the final episode...

...but Crusade was so awful (in my fifteen year old opinion) that I never finished the spin-off series, and never got to see the finale of B5.

Shame really, but perhaps better for my health. The other half and I quite often sat down to dinner with an episode on and easily polished off a bottle or two of wine most nights.

I can only speak from a British perspective, but it's not even the size of the cars that bothers me, it's the seemingly endless abdication of responsibilities or driving skills that come with it.

"Oh this car has a 4x4 capability" - then drives through the snow like it's a hot summer's day.

"Oh it has adaptive cruise control" - then stares blankly into space rather than anticipated hazards the cameras won't have seen.

It's really frustrating, like "nah fuck everyone outside the bit of metal around me". The size seems somewhat immaterial (with the exception of children and persons of smaller stature) - a chunk of metal around an SUV coming at you at 30 or 70 mph is going to ruin your day as much as a Smart car is, sadly.

I got into Pokémon Go because my eldest wanted to play it.

Now, when I'm out and about in a new town or city, I use it to learn about cool shit that I wouldn't have noticed otherwise.

Some towns have "history trails" or "plaque walks" which make for banging running routes too in unfamiliar places.

It's entirely subjective, but I'd argue you've been misinformed. The Verstappen era was much like the Vettel era, but the midfield is closer than ever. The F2 and F3 are often the standout events of the weekend, but it's a good time to be an armchair F1 fan (the ticket prices for most western events are fucking ludicrous mind).

I agree with the Sky sentiment though. I fucked the company off years ago - I was riding good deals for a number of years but when they wouldn't honour them any more, I sacked it off.

F1 TV and a VPN is a brilliant option - fairly inexpensive by comparison and the coverage of F1 and the feeder series is really decent - not sure how it will look after the Apple TV announcement mind.

Otherwise, there's the IPTV packages you can find online - one or two races often make the cost worthwhile, or if you're dead keen on not spending money, then the F1 YouTube channel put highlights of all the F1 sessions and the F2&3 race sessions up mega rapidly - to the point where if I've missed the first half hour of a race, I just wait the extra hour or two and get the highlights instead.

It's a good time to be an F1 fan just now.