Click the pen icon, select 'Create a Post'. A Friday night ramble about nothing in particular as the filling between data/information content, which is rewarded well but can take some time. So I've decided to just start writing and let what comes to mind be the topics of today. (Headers added for topic skim)
HMRC - Tax/Relocation bullshit
This morning I received a letter from the UK! No, it wasn't a love letter, it was some correspondence from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. You see, I'm trying to organise being removed from UK tax and National Insurance, and at the same time, get registered with the Spanish government for taxes and healthcare, or Seguridad Social as it is called here.
They were replying to my letter dated the 10th November....
And as it turns out, with some useless instructions on what to do next. Please complete form bla bla bla and return it to us by snail. It is a joke that in this day and age, everything has to be posted to HMRC (does she want to see her face on the envelope?) and has an expected turnaround of six to eight weeks. Anyway, I went to the HMRC website to find the form and read the instructions for completion.
Don't fill this form out if you plan to live in 1 EEC country
Right. So in 13 weeks, you've managed to point me in the direction of a form I shouldn't fill out. Brilliant.
Meanwhile, on the National Insurance front, my Spanish solicitors asked me to apply for health cover from the UK using form bla bla bla, which was rejected by HMRC because I plan to live in Spain - like I told the solicitors on the 12 December 2020 when I met with them for the first time. They are now 'getting in contact' with the Spanish government to find out what to do with a Brit working for a UK company on their soil, but 'may not be able to help'.
It is fucking stressful when your future is in someone else's hands, especially when they don't know you and likely couldn't care less about what happens.
I called the HMRC twice today, because the tax office and the National Insurance office are 200 miles apart and don't talk to each other, and think I made some progress.
My UK tax situation is apparently in the hands of my employer, who need to fill out form bla bla bla to give an indication of the % of my working year that I will be on UK soil. Easy, 0%. My employer have been excellent to be fair, and I fully expect them to follow up on my email today. I don't have to fill out any forms, but can fill out form bla bla bla 'if you want'. Sure.
The second call was to HMRC National Insurance office, where I was told that I legally have to pay NI contributions for 1 year and then I can choose to contribute (to my state pension) if I want. Do nothing until around September, he said.
Thanks for listening to that moan, I feel a bit better now.
Planks!
Soooooooo, what else is going on? Planks! planks every day, for around 4-6 minutes so far, but I think that will rise a little when I step up to advanced in a few weeks. A friend here told me about an app focused only on planking. I told her I have my own collection for that business but then realised we'd not been friends long, and she's German, and so the 'joke' slipped by in silence.
An app for planks is what I need though to actually do some planks. Yeah I've heard they are a great compound exercise, working multiple muscles at once, growing your back, strengthening your core, and making you an all-round Don - but they are fucking boring as hell, aren't they?
So with a lady (same one who does the Google maps navigation) giving instructions and time countdowns, I've been doing the short routine each day for a week now, and my back, arms, shoulders, legs, and belly are sore! But sore in a good way. Considering the amount of exercise I do, I am pretty surprised that six minutes of not moving and just holding a pose is kicking my ass so much. It's pretty cool and I shall continue.
Sleeeeeep
Sleep, you illusive thing since 20 years ago you, has been back on my agenda to improve upon. As @revisesociology discussed today, the crypto revival and recent obsession with the portfolio refresh has been disrupting sleep of late. That and the earlier sunrises and woman in the apartment above who gets up at 6 and puts what sound like high heels on to walk around in.
So the plan has been to switch electrical things off at 11:30, throw darker material over the curtain rail, and get some earplugs. And combined, I think they are helping somewhat. A remedy but not the cure though - that is HIVE at Aggy prices and who gives a shit about money anymore. At that point, a poor nights sleep could be accommodated with a Bloody Mary, a massage, a dip in the pool and 2 hours on a sunbed :)
Hive, always a little Hive
Never far away from my thoughts are things like, what should I post about next, I wonder what TM is shilling, has Taraz sorted his toilet out yet, is Galen stocking up on recipes to share, should I buy some more tokens on Hive Engine, will I get a gold foil Splinterlands card this fucking season or what, when does the beerman re-open, how many pancakes has azircon got now, and other things as well.
It feels like there are a lot of things going on, and with the price action of late, it's pretty compelling viewing.
Alright, I've waffled enough, I shall continue my wine and go see what other people are chatting about.
Cheers
Ash
Does the app have a place to record your session called, the plank bank?
There certainly is a lot going on and I am struggling to keep up with the markets. Totals go up and I don't know which token caused it :D
No, but one of my other apps does :) You should download it, and don't tell me you can't spare 6 mins!
Totals are going up - do we care? :D
I am thinking about doing some tonight before bed. I guess that is the best time.
I don't worry too much about the totals - though it is nice to feel a little digital flush.
"Digital flush" sounds like an obscure sex thing.
Better than digital thrush I guess?
Anytime is good I think as long as you do them - I'm kicking off the day with them, after a coffee.
I wonder when the beerman will reopen!!!
That's what I hate about planking, it really is as boring as hell even though it's a fecking great exercise!
Asher is close to reaching enlightenment and is getting to the point of master planker. It's all a question of mind over batter.
It's is said that his planking is second to none and that he can even plank with either hand.
I have been, the video told me to :O
These days it is certainly mind over batter.
I got my mind on my crypto and my crypto on my mind.
I think we will have made it mainstream when rappers are commonly singing rhymes about making another Bitcoin.
It is bound to come, them hoes are over-played.
😂
!ENGAGE 100
ENGAGEtoday.I hope it is tomorrow, so you can whizz down there and stock up and get some videos out!
It is boring as shite, but with a little incentive (robot google maps women), I can get through 6 mins each day and can feel it is doing good things!
I fucking wish. In Scotland just about every kind of entertaining page is closed. Off-licences, pubs, cafes, restaurants. I think it will be another couple of months man!
In the meantime, there is always Foster's... ;0D
I hope you haven't stooped to Fosters dude, it is the absolute pits!
Our man @galenkp says the Aussies take turns pissing in the cans before they ship it over :O
I would never stoop so low. We say the same thing about Tennents later up here. The said is foul yet oddly popular as an export!
When I used to work in an Off Licence, the Tennents Super was pretty popular. 4 cans of that and you are headbutting lampposts and calling everyone a cunt!
Hehe, up here they call that Jakie Juice. It's quite popular with the tramps!
Damn bureaucracy! These systems are so slow. It'll all work out in the end, I'm sure.
I hope so, it's really getting to me - super stressful. If all does work out, I'm going to celebrate in true British fashion, although hopefully not being sent home at the end of it :D
Promise not to pass out in the sun. (You can prepare by applying enough SPF 100 sunscreen before partying.:)
100?! What is the point in living!
Do they sell sunscreen in Finland? serious question!
If you pass out in the sun and sleep from dawn to dusk shirtless, your skin will burn very badly.
Of course, they do.
Where I live, the highest solar angle of the year is about 90-61+23 = 52 degrees.
The percentage of the radiation intensity of sun is then sin(90) ~ 0.79 or 79% of that on the equator at midday (during the equinoxes [on the equator, the radiation maximums are never achieved at the same time on the 61th latitude and the equator]). The average daily maximum temperature in July where I live is slightly warmer than that of London, UK, which means people will be spending a lot of time at the beaches particularly during the hot spells. So, yes, sunscreen is necessary particularly for small children.
Thanks for the info. So it's pretty essential for a few weeks a year, and then you can stick it in the cupboard for next time.
I've never owned anything over factor 30, but try not to spend more than an hour in the sun in the summer - in Spain that is, UK is no cream bar face :)
It depends on what you do and what you wear. I think it was last summer or the one before that when I was doing gardening in the back yard one sunny day in June for a couple of hours. The day was quite warm although not hot but because I was shoveling dirt and carrying heavy bags, it felt hot and I took off my shirt. That was a mistake. The first night was very uncomfortable. My wife had to apply some lotion onto my back to ease the pain. It got easier but my skin was peeling for a over a week after that.
When I was a kid I remember getting a bad sunburn a once or twice.
I can manage without sunscreen at home from mid May to late August but only if I keep my shirt on.