Has anyone else just had enough?

[Benfleet Brewery]

You are talking about what us international tax consultants call "permanent establishment risk"

I’m not an expert on this but the announcement from my company read:
“It is important to note that it is not possibly to work long term in a foreign country and remain on you country of employments payroll, as it gives rise to a number of complex tax issues including corporate tax liabilities and social security. There is also healthcare and life insurance coverage to be considered”.

 

[Horners]

I’m not an expert on this but the announcement from my company read:
“It is important to note that it is not possibly to work long term in a foreign country and remain on you country of employments payroll, as it gives rise to a number of complex tax issues including corporate tax liabilities and social security. There is also healthcare and life insurance coverage to be considered”.

Indeed even at the professional services firm I work at we have a nightmare with management consultants wandering round the globe creating tax exposure. From the company's perspective provided the overseas country is somewhere we have a double tax treaty with, you would normally say 6 months absolute maximum albeit no hard and fast rule.

 

[Horners]

My daughter works in international tax. The only thing I have thathomed so far is there seems to be a lot of Mexican standoffs with a mixture of bluff & bravado. The numbers involved are eye popping.

Yes they are but we are just trying to help companies pay the 'right' amount of tax. The UK has a staggeringly complex system second only to India. Although traditional aggressive tax planning has died a death your daughter has still chosen a great career just helping folk unravel it all.

 

[An Ankoù]

Ok for you international jet-setters and global financiers, but I thought we had started talking about the little man and the self-employed, working from home via his or her laptop. Whether that laptop is situated in Oldham or Naples really doesn't make that much of a difference, does it? Provided said worker can provide a UK address.

 

[muppix]

Anyone else just properly peeved at stuff at the moment? Or am I descending in to depression and need to give my head a wobble

Bit of a late reply but I'm throwing it out there for your consideration: try unplugging from the things in your life that bring little value. Or to put it another way, imagine your life as a bubble, one where you have 100% control over what you let in, and what stays out.

I stopped watching regular TV probably 15 or 20 years ago, because most of it was either dull or depressing. I dropped social media 3 years ago, because I work with big data / AI and understand better than most how populations are controlled via such platforms. I don't use algorithm-driven free news sources for the same reason, and avoid news sources which are overly biased and/or state owned, like the BBC.

Since adopting this strategy I generally feel much happier in myself, even if it's a little worrying to see how other people are led around like sheep, not asking the questions they should be asking. But that's their choice. My choice is how I feel about it, and because I'm not here forever I choose to spend my energy on nice things.

 

[chopps]

A meteorology professor stood before his Meteorology 101 class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty glass mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a jar of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open spaces between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar and of course the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous yes.

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and then proceeded to pour the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the grains of sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things -- your family, your partner, your health, your children, your friends, your favorite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

"The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. Play another 18.

"There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers."

 

[kelper]

Whether that laptop is situated in Oldham or Naples really doesn't make that much of a difference,

Well, your IP will show where you are. Unless you are crafty

 

[Mr_S_Jerusalem]

A meteorology professor...

That is brilliant

 

[chopps]

I can't take the credit unfortunately :)

 

[feemackenzie]

I am also late to this thread: background - marketing for years and then retrained as a teacher. Taught for 10 yrs UK, 2 yrs Qatar and now the uK. I'm fed up. I can't see myself teaching for another ten years. Limited teaching resources, insuffcient funding for support staff including specialists, huge rise in additional support but not matched by resources. Hey ho.

 

[Doive]

I think many people have experienced the 'Covid blues' this year, I certainly felt a bit down and grumpy during the first lockdown, with the change in pace of life. I used to work a job travelling 1,000 miles a week all over the UK and Ireland, working 12 hour shifts outdoors commissioning substations. Loved it - very demanding and a great consumer of time and energy, but very rewarding also. Did that for nigh on 15 years. Left that job last September, reluctantly, because of family demands, and took up a position locally doing an office based role in the same discipline for 60% of the salary, so was home every night on fixed hours, but the job itself is immensely tedious and soul destroying. I accepted it as a necessary evil, and threw myself into classic car projects and recreational drinking. Come the Covid pandemic, we were all told to work from home (not furloughed thankfully) for the foreseeable future, and nine months later I am still here. Really struggled at the beginning - in the space of six months I had gone from being an independent free spirit, to effectively being under 24/7 house arrest.

Excavated all my home brew equipment back in May after a few years of not brewing at all, some of the grains were actually still viable, so brewed a beer to lift my spirits. Been brewing on a regular basis since then, and now have three corny kegs and a keezer - I was drinking waaaay too much over the summer, probably 20-30 pints a week, drinking every night and putting on weight. Have cut down now to 5-6 pints a week, which seems much more sustainable. The cold weather has somewhat curtailed my outdoor classic car activities, so that's a challenge, and there are days when I'm immensely irritable for no apparent reason. My wife has asked during a tense exchange of views "are you depressed or something?", to which I had no immediate answer, but had me thinking. I don't believe to be irritable and short tempered is necessarily to be depressed, but it's certainly been a strange 18 months. I pride myself as a Grumpy Old(ish) Man, so don't consider irascibility to be particularly out of character.

We keep chickens as well, and for the last six weeks one of them has been indoors as she was very thin and underweight, so have been nurturing her back to health. She seems to have grown a strong attachment to me, and every evening paces up and down the kitchen at around 9pm, protesting mightily. It took us a few days to figure out what was wrong with her, but it soon became apparent she wanted to take up position on my knee on the sofa, and have a little snooze. I sit down, she comes running over, jumps up and makes herself comfortable. I've found this surprisingly therapeutic - we have had chickens in the house before to take care of them and nurse them to health, but never one who has formed such an affectionate attachment, or demanded attention in this way. She's a very sweet little character, and I'm very reluctant to send her back outside now she's back to full health.

One other thing I did last year that others have mentioned - I used to be a complete news hound, listened to all the news bulletins on Radio 4, watched evening news on BBC, read papers online, listened to podcasts about politics, etc. Stopped all that completely. The incessant and relentless influx of bad news and bitter conflict eats into your soul and gets you down, I felt much better when I simply stopped entirely. I speak several times a week with an old friend at the other end of the country, and he is utterly consumed by the news cycle - every conversation starts with "did you see on the news (insert terrible happening here)?" to which I reply "I don't watch the news". Same story with social media - Faceache is another depressant and time waster, more or less stopped using that now. Politics in this country has turned more toxic than any time in my living memory, and I say that as someone who grew up in the bad old days in Northern Ireland, and now live in Scotland, where political conflict seems to be in the water. Depressing and corrosive.

To the OP - you have highlighted something a great many people feel, and it's right to express and acknowledge it.

 

[chopps]

You know it's time to try and get back to normal when you start obeying a chicken's demands for cuddles @Doive :)

 

[Oneflewover]

I think many people have experienced the 'Covid blues' this year, I certainly felt a bit down and grumpy during the first lockdown, with the change in pace of life. I used to work a job travelling 1,000 miles a week all over the UK and Ireland, working 12 hour shifts outdoors commissioning substations. Loved it - very demanding and a great consumer of time and energy, but very rewarding also. Did that for nigh on 15 years. Left that job last September, reluctantly, because of family demands, and took up a position locally doing an office based role in the same discipline for 60% of the salary, so was home every night on fixed hours, but the job itself is immensely tedious and soul destroying. I accepted it as a necessary evil, and threw myself into classic car projects and recreational drinking. Come the Covid pandemic, we were all told to work from home (not furloughed thankfully) for the foreseeable future, and nine months later I am still here. Really struggled at the beginning - in the space of six months I had gone from being an independent free spirit, to effectively being under 24/7 house arrest.

Excavated all my home brew equipment back in May after a few years of not brewing at all, some of the grains were actually still viable, so brewed a beer to lift my spirits. Been brewing on a regular basis since then, and now have three corny kegs and a keezer - I was drinking waaaay too much over the summer, probably 20-30 pints a week, drinking every night and putting on weight. Have cut down now to 5-6 pints a week, which seems much more sustainable. The cold weather has somewhat curtailed my outdoor classic car activities, so that's a challenge, and there are days when I'm immensely irritable for no apparent reason. My wife has asked during a tense exchange of views "are you depressed or something?", to which I had no immediate answer, but had me thinking. I don't believe to be irritable and short tempered is necessarily to be depressed, but it's certainly been a strange 18 months. I pride myself as a Grumpy Old(ish) Man, so don't consider irascibility to be particularly out of character.

We keep chickens as well, and for the last six weeks one of them has been indoors as she was very thin and underweight, so have been nurturing her back to health. She seems to have grown a strong attachment to me, and every evening paces up and down the kitchen at around 9pm, protesting mightily. It took us a few days to figure out what was wrong with her, but it soon became apparent she wanted to take up position on my knee on the sofa, and have a little snooze. I sit down, she comes running over, jumps up and makes herself comfortable. I've found this surprisingly therapeutic - we have had chickens in the house before to take care of them and nurse them to health, but never one who has formed such an affectionate attachment, or demanded attention in this way. She's a very sweet little character, and I'm very reluctant to send her back outside now she's back to full health.

One other thing I did last year that others have mentioned - I used to be a complete news hound, listened to all the news bulletins on Radio 4, watched evening news on BBC, read papers online, listened to podcasts about politics, etc. Stopped all that completely. The incessant and relentless influx of bad news and bitter conflict eats into your soul and gets you down, I felt much better when I simply stopped entirely. I speak several times a week with an old friend at the other end of the country, and he is utterly consumed by the news cycle - every conversation starts with "did you see on the news (insert terrible happening here)?" to which I reply "I don't watch the news". Same story with social media - Faceache is another depressant and time waster, more or less stopped using that now. Politics in this country has turned more toxic than any time in my living memory, and I say that as someone who grew up in the bad old days in Northern Ireland, and now live in Scotland, where political conflict seems to be in the water. Depressing and corrosive.

To the OP - you have highlighted something a great many people feel, and it's right to express and acknowledge it.

Good post, found myself nodding at several points. I've started keeping chickens this year, and I totally agree that they are therapeutic - wouldn't want one in the house though with the amount of waste they produce!

I've noticed over the past few days that some of the toxicity you refer to is increasingly evident on this forum, which is a real shame. Generally a pretty friendly place. Maybe I'm just more sensitive to it?

 

[ITMA]

A meteorology professor stood before his Meteorology 101 class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty glass mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

....

"There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers."

Then the government burst into the lecture theatre, demanded that the professor hand over 50% of the balls, sand and whatever other **** he'd managed to squeeze in, and on their way out they smashed the glass jar and reminded the prof that there's no point "cleaning the house" as it will soon be repossessed, dinner parties are illegal and golf balls are worthless because golf club has gone bankrupt.

The students were then told they were breaking social distancing laws and each fined £1000 before being sent home to complete their worthless Meteorology degree on Zoom.

To answer the OP, if it wasn't for having an elderly parent to think about, who would be homeless if I weren't here to pay her rent, then I'd be on the first bus to oblivion. When she's gone, I'm gone too. I had a good life until 2020.

In the meantime, it's just a question of "can I order or brew the beer faster than I can drink it"?

 

[Nicks90]

And to top it all off, my office has just been invaded by the wife again. Her school has had a significant outbreak and has basically shut.
So she is isolating for 2 weeks and teaching from home. 4 months of putting up with an office invasion, finally getting it back, only to have sproglet isolating, get it back again and now swmbo invades.

God's sake!!!!

 

[ITMA]

Sorry to hear this, hope you can turn it around. It sounds like a right bloody nightmare.

 

[foxy]

Since adopting this strategy I generally feel much happier in myself, even if it's a little worrying to see how other people are led around like sheep, not asking the questions they should be asking. But that's their choice. My choice is how I feel about it, and because I'm not here forever I choose to spend my energy on nice things.

I have never really worried about the sheep mentality, I doubt it can be changed. Everyone is capable of analytical thinking, but it's easier not to.
Leads to the question, why is this so? And what would society be like if everyone was an analytical thinker?

 

[simon12]

View attachment 37153
I have never really worried about the sheep mentality, I doubt it can be changed. Everyone is capable of analytical thinking, but it's easier not to.
Leads to the question, why is this so? And what would society be like if everyone was an analytical thinker?

Very interesting questions, but I have no idea on the answer.

 

[muppix]

Altogether now: "Yes, we're all individuals!"

I have never really worried about the sheep mentality, I doubt it can be changed. Everyone is capable of analytical thinking, but it's easier not to. Leads to the question, why is this so?

Interesting question. As a random bloke on some forum - and with no qualifications at all - I'd say it's a combination of our conditioning and our need for reassurance by our peers. Conditioning because there isn't enough time for us to experiment on which berries are poisonous and which are safe to eat, whether we should vote Labour or Conservative. We look to people whom we trust, be it parents, friends, role models on TV, and allow them to influence or dictate, depending on how strongly we trust them. And reassurance because getting that +1 or that "like" affirms that we've won somebody's approval, a process we're then incentivised to repeat.

Sadly neither of those things are compatible with being overly analytical since that involves a departure from the herd, with the size of the departure being tied to society's tolerance for those that question. Every day I work with people who are adverse to open debate and other people who relish it. (I'm resisting the urge to introduce geo-political stereotypes here, but if you've worked with Americans and Scandinavians on the same team you know what I mean)

Suffice to say that it can make you feel isolated when you have arrived at a conclusion based on logical analysis and find yourself surrounded by a majority who have not only arrived at a different conclusion, but can't articulate their thought process and just get abusive instead. No wonder it's easier to just follow the herd.

And what would society be like if everyone was an analytical thinker?

Feckin' nightmare! You should meet my family ...

 

[simon12]

I have certainly had enough, I wasted lockdown 1 there was loads of stuff I should have got done but spent it drinking and getting depressed. Loved opening on July 4th and at least when I was working thinks felt back to normal for a while. Going in to lockdown 2 I was happy enough I could use the time getting all the stuff done I missed in 1. Then someone skips a red light and drives into me destroying my car and damaging my hand. I have since replaced the car but still can't put any weight on my hand or get anything done. Now in tier 3 so can't open cases are rising all over Kent so I will be lucky to be able to open by Easter but I do hope my hand will be useable before. I am lucky enough to have sort of inherited a flat in Tenerife which has just sold otherwise by Easter I would not be able to afford to open even Christmas with no restrictions would be cutting it fine.