opendestiny

Anyone have comments on the food? Good, bad, unmemorable?

Sorry about that - I was agreeing with you, not trying to pick a row... I think I clicked on the wrong quote button.

I find this thread fascinating (terrible logic aside). A raise in VAT sucks... but its about as equal as you can make taxation, as it applies to everybody. Tories also raised capital gains tax for higher-rate tax payers - from 18% to 28%, while for the rest of us it does not change. Now, maybe tories function different here than elsewhere, but in school we learned that Tories tend to be for elimination of taxes, and limited market regulation, whereas leftists tend to be the other way around (high taxes for lots of funding for social programs, and strict market regulations). With that in mind, doesn't it seem odd that the tories are raising taxes? Maybe its because there's a need for it... Yeah, raising taxes suck, but at the end of the day, where do you think the money for schools, hospitals, benefits cheques, comes from? I find it odd that people are very supportive of government money going into schools, hospitals, benefit cheques but most people seem to have no idea of where that extra money comes from. Here's a hint - schools and hospitals and, yes, benefit cheques, are paid for by your tax money.... the funding doesn't just magically appear because the populace want it to.

This is ridiculous. Its not like the fox knows that its a pet rabbit and that is immoral to eat it. Its a fox! All its thinking is that its a (relatively) easy meal for once. You know, like getting takeout. I mean, I'm not saying its a good thing, that foxes kill pets, just that you can't blame them for being foxes.

Any good pub quizzes in the city center on Tuesday nights? Specifically tomorrow? My dad's visiting from Canada and we wanted to do a pub quiz... so we went to the Dev Cat for tonight's but it was cancelled due to flooding.

Dev Cat's quiz starts at 9pm. Free snacks too, in the form of tiny sandwiches.

My point was more that Leeds, having an Ikea in it (or nearly), at least has things to do, since I enjoy walking around Ikea just looking at things. What's there to do in Sheffield? Meadowhall, Centertainment, Ice Sheffied? I already spend enough time at Ice Sheffield to know I don't want to spend any more time there and Meadowhall is... a mall that doesn't really have anything special as far as malls go. And, over priced low mid-level chain restaurants and expensive movies are not my deal. The buildings themselves in Leeds city center make it more interesting to be in, the architecture seems to be older and less industrial - less red brick and more interesting stonework. Walking around Sheffield city center is boring for me, maybe because I live here, and because there is nothing interesting to see. The shopping is mediocre at best - aside from a few stores on division street, and COW, what's there in Sheffield that you can't find elsewhere?

Well, after you add in all the surplus fees (4 quid just to allow me to pay??), costs to and from the airports they fly into (which are typically 90 minutes more travel plus 10+ euros each way)... Clickair or Vueling are quite good and are Spanish airlines, so no troubles flying into Spain there... You can get some really good deals on Easyjet if you look for them, Jet2 (especially in the winter), BMI sometimes has good deals (though I don't think I've ever seen a single fare less than 40 quid, to be honest). I'm going to Scandanavia in July and I had the option of flying Ryan Air or Norwegian Air... Let's look at the differences.. Norwegian Airlines Departs: Stockholm Arlanda (£10, 20min express train) Arrives: London Gatwick Fare: £37.70 Taxes: £0 (included in listed fare). Checked bag: £6 Payment fees: £0 Total less airport transportation: £43.70 Ryan Air Departs: Stockholm Skavsta (£12, 90 min. bus) Fare: £14 Taxes: £5 Checked Bag: £20 Payment fees: £5 Total less airport transportation: £38 Not really that great of a deal when I can fly out of Stockholm's major airport which is much closer to the city for only £6 more.

Leeds has better restaurants, better shopping. The royal Armories Museum, A medical museum... Walking through Leeds city center, Queens Quarter, Victoria Quarter, is much more cheerful than walking down Fargate, even when the weather is crap. AND Ikea. I know some of you will laugh and make fun, but I can amuse myself for hours just walking through Ikea without buying anything. I really miss that.

Britain has some good things - the NHS, Henderson's Relish, Midlands Pork Scratchings, decent public transportation. It also has some terrible things... Carling, the weather, the dole... But the biggest problem we've noticed is the beaurocracy and the excess spending associated with it. EVERYTHING requires paperwork here, and while for a lot of things it makes sense, for a lot of others it doesn't. I have to make an application to HMRC so I can make a tax return? If you're not the blood parent or official carer of a child, you have to make an application to the court to make an application for contact, residency, etc... which really increases the number of applications the court has to process. So much more would get done if the public sector was not so concerned about ticking boxes on paperwork that allows them to tick more boxes.

In Canada though, they're all different colours. And to be quite honest, this guy was quite drunk - he was my partner at the time's best friend, and paid for our party's tab because he refused to let anyone else pay..

Can't comment on the night scene, but as for the food we've never been disappointed.

Don't forget Brasserie 44... my partner and I both swore we'd leave the other for their mashed potatoes, they are THAT good. To be honest, I haven't heard of anywhere in the town center that's similar to those places. Leopold Hotel maybe? We've never eaten there, but it always looks pretty upscale.

They do... I once watched a guy give a pay off a $100 bill at the bar with $200 in cash and he told the server to "keep the change". I can only assume his cabbie got a similar (if some-what smaller for the lack of boobs) tip!

Mom's house.

As someone new to the UK.... how the hell do I go about dealing with income taxes?? I know I'm below the line thing for the 2009 tax year, and I'm pretty sure I qualify as a "resident but not ordinarily resident" (which means I pay tax here on money earned here and not in Canada, where I am still technically also a resident). Ultimately what I'm after is where is the nearest tax office in city center? Or if anyone knows how the system works exactly, that'd be great as well.

Here here. Where I'm from, you get a hefty fine for letting any animal run around outside uncontained. Ie, your dog can run around your back yard (if its fenced or the dog is secured by a rope or something) but they can't just roam free - its the same for cats. You're allowed to let your cat out into your yard, or take it for walks - our cat was leash trained, but if they're caught by the dog catcher, there's a fine to pay.

I feel like Brits (like many other peoples) are very offended when people poke fun and or deride their country or anything associated with it, even if its things that you poke fun of yourselves (eg, the NHS). On the other hand, you Brits seem far less offended by non-culturally specific, like the group of drunkards that I saw last week that were dressed up in black-face.

Acorn squash is easier to grow, keeps longer, and is less sweet. Delicious. Also, for cooking any kind of squash if you microwave it for 5-8 minutes (depending on the size), it'll soften the skin and make it much easier to cut.

My mom does a fantastic butternut - she just halves it, scoops out the seeds and bakes it in the skin for about an hour (depending on the size) with some butter brushed on, and about 10 minutes before it comes out she sprinkles some brown sugar on top. Delish.

I'd do it much differently... we usually do roasts at 185 for 20-30 minutes (depending on the size) and then drop the temperature down to 165 for 30 minutes per pound, plus twenty minutes. For that roast it would be an hour and 20 minutes, roughly. My partner and I both grew up in beef country though so we like our beef a bit on the rare side. If its brown on the outside, the roast is done enough for him, I like it a bit more cooked than that, but no more than medium rare, definitely.

I wonder how well courgettes would roast on one of those things. Or carrots. Or Potatoes....

I'm pretty sure ASDA carries some Root Beers, but I can't vouch for how good they are. I do miss root beer though, so if you find some locally, let me know!

I tend to go for an "Alton Brown approach" with my utensils - I never buy a utensil that is only useful for one job (like those spinning apple peeler thingys). I don't know what I'd do without a good silicone spatula, or a sturdy whisk. I love a good whisk.

Maybe unrelated the power went of twice in 10 minutes when I was in ASDA Handsworth earlier.