I live in a small rural community (up North) and don’t find any of this to be true, except for the trains bit (I drive so don’t really use trains) and maybe the Facebook bit as I’ve never used it. The housing is cheaper than it is in the nearby cities and towns. My village has queer people, young, old, ethnic minorities, and pretty much everyone gets on. The whole cops thing isn’t true at all; small communities by and large have friendlier and more welcoming people than cities in my experience. And countryside is objectively a nicer environment than urban sprawl, and better for you to boot. The view from the back of mine is fields with cows and woods, and I’d take that over a train line or tower block any day of the week.

But you legally own your house if your name is on the title deeds. The deeds say I am the owner regardless of whether there is a mortgage or not. The mortgage is recorded on the title deeds, but it doesn’t change the fact that I am the owner. I can do whatever I want with it.

In essence, I have a loan against it but in extremis, the bank can force me to sell. I would get anything over the loan amount I sold it for but the bank would have no reason to do this if I continue to pay.

I’m still confused. I own my houses and cars. I’m still paying for one of my houses (the one my mum lives in) but it’s legally mine as long as I continue to pay the mortgage.

Please clarify. I’m confused as headphones won’t change your skull shape, as far as I know.

Amateur!

Raised on tea. Elixir of the gods. And the water in it is still water. I’m well hydrated.

For suggestions, a good standard daily tea is Yorkshire Tea Biscuit Brew (it has malt in the brew so tastes like Rich Tea biscuits), and good Northern Irish teas are Punjana and Nambarrie.

Being Northern Irish, I was raised on tea and drink 8 to 10 cups a day. Can’t say I’ve ever noticed this. Where it is imbibed has no influence on the taste of it.

‘Expensive things’? Houses? Cars? Stocks? Businesses? Art? What are you thinking of here?

What the title says doesn’t make sense! Divers?

I’m British and have never said the first one you mentioned and don’t think I can recall hearing it. Nearly everyone one will use the second version - adver-tize-ment, although it’s most common to hear ad or ad-vert.

Edit: just asked my great granny who is 99, and she pronounced it adver-tize-ment, so not a generational thing.

You should not do whatever you’re thinking of doing.

aka Urchins.

People being nice to you only if you provide a benefit to them is certainly not something I’ve experienced in general. Sounds like this person knows lots of assholes.

Percentage is an odd way to measure it. I’m sure I’ve met thousands of people but would know scores who would rush me to hospital if I needed it as per your example. Still a pretty small percentage.

Depends what you’re waiting on, what you’re doing while you’re waiting, and how long you’re waiting.

Sweet. Keep going. You’re winning, I think.

Google says the longest cited Finnish word is “lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas,” meaning “airplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic non-commissioned officer student.” Can you make one longer?

Sounds like the way the US is going to me.

We’re not flummoxed. We’re simply emotional and empathetic. We don’t want people (or pets) we know and love to die, because we miss them. We can also see that, for example, a child getting murdered is an awful thing, less awful than someone dying in their bed of old age, but both are dead, and we will either miss them if we knew them as they were big parts of our lives, or we can empathize with the people who did know them even if we didn’t, as we know how it feels to lose someone. People who were always in our lives, who we cared for and lived with, but are suddenly not will leave a gaping hole. It would be inhuman to not feel these things.

One really stupid quote that I think is his, about how people will run from rain but sit in bathtubs full of water. Of course they do, Charles. Wildly different situations with water being the only link.