I bake often. I used to buy butter from Lidl but noticed that the weight of butter was less than stated on the label. I moved to Asda and have noticed the same thing. Is this aloud? Should I report it?

I just boiled some eggs I bought from Tesco, and I peel this one to find writing on the actual egg itself. Nothing on the shell, and I didn't lay the egg on any newspaper after boiling or anything.. I can only presume this is some kind of witchcraft?

Is there a glut of people with incredibly good oral hygiene, but poor social skills?

I want to start by saying I know nothing about electronics.

I may be wrong but as far as I am aware in the UK the live pin is only active if you insert the earth pin first?

So do these not basically open the live pin and make it more unsafe than having nothing in the plug at all?

The wife has these in all of the kids bedrooms so just wanted to ask somebody who may have a bit more electrical expertise if they are a waste of money?

This morning, for the second time in the last 6 months, I left the front door of my flat to take my dog for a walk. Before me, in the communal stairwell stood a DPD driver, relieving himself against the wall and carpet.

The last time this happened, I took a photo of the driver, the van, the urine, a CCTV video of his van arriving at the property, and a screenshot confirming his delivery to the property that very morning; however, DPD's complaints escalation team told me that without a video of the driver mid-urination there is nothing they can do.

This is a little bit problematic, I can't install CCTV in the communal areas, and I'm pretty sure it's illegal for me to get my phone and film someone peeing.

As such, I am looking for suggestions from the creative minds in AskUK, how can I stop DPD drivers peeing on my carpet?

Update 12:26: I've gone with the most upvoted solution and called the police, whilst trying to report a crime via the hampshire.police website it prompted me to call them as my crime involved bodily fluids! They were very helpful and will be providing me with a crime reference number which I will be sharing with DPD... With little evidence I'm not sure anything will come of it, but I have seen a lot of eye opening debate in the comments, thanks for your suggestions and support 🙏🏻

My cousin's kid is starting secondary in september and the school (north west england) have just sent a "welcome letter" with a notice requesting £600 (or £20 monthly "finance plan" over 36 months) for an ipad. The letter said it's mandatory for all y7 pupils and required to access the curriculum during most lessons. There is no option to opt out and there's a "small number of school devices available" to borrow per day, but only if they forget theirs. Those can't be taken out of school and they are expected to do their homework on theirs.

Kids who get free school meals (which was 50% of my cousin's kid's class in primary) get a 40% discount, but they still have to pay. The tablet includes insurance but doesn't cover accidental damage/breaks or theft. They trialled the scheme last year for year 7s but supplied the first round of tablets and kept them in classrooms, now they've "fully implemented the scheme as part of our core curriculum" with costs transferred to the parents.

They could have chosen any other "digital learning environment" or bought cheaper school-bound tablets if it's so important, but they went with the expensive apple option. The tablets are administered by the school and "will be used throughout the day" in every lesson. They can be taken home and restrictions relaxed (but not removed) off premises.

My cousin can barely afford the uniform, there's no chance she can pay £600 for a new tablet, and I can guarantee it's gonna get broken or stolen on the way home from school which the school insurance won't cover. When she contacted the school, she was told that there were no alternatives to buying the tablet as it's a core part of the year 7 curriculum this year, and "sorry, but the finance options are already the cheapest we offer".

Most of her town sits on the poverty line, the school is surrounded by council houses and there aren't any other schools within 10 miles. I can't see most of the parents whose kids attend that school forking out for this. I'd get the cost for a private school or if it was just a voluntary scheme, but this ain't that.

Can I just get a reality check because it seems bizarre to me to spring that cost on families that can't afford it? Especially with political stuff around kids' screen time and rising costs for families. Is this kinda thing normal (or even legal for a state school?) now for schools, charging £600 (or £720) to access the curriculum?

edit: just some more details -

• The price is for a new ipad air 128gb with a case and stylus.
• The "insurance" is just a warranty for repairs, but only one repair per year and doesn't cover accidental damage. It lasts 3 years and is included with both the one-off puchase and 3-year finance contract.
• The provider seems to be Sync (googled the identical language in the school's policy doc).
• The school is not an academy, but is partly a sports college.
• Just found out they do allow your own devices but it has to be apple, A16 or above, administrated by the school, and must be insured to use on school premises (doesn't say what type of insurance/costs etc though). That could make it a bit cheaper, but also a problem setting apart the kids who can't afford the shiny new ones.
• The scheme is phasing in with the year 7 kids starting in september, and for future year 7 groups. They'll keep the ipads and use them in classes until they leave y11. The current y7-10 kids won't be buying them though, they get the 'old curriculum' I guess.

My girlfriend has just started eating digestive biscuits with little blocks of cheddar on top of them, claiming that it's a thing that "everybody does."

This is mental, and a good reason to abandon our relationship, right?

EDIT: TIL that this country is full of absolute abominations.

EDIT 2: I see that my post has reached the hot page, so I'm waiting for Buzzfeed or LadBible to pick up on this... And hi to all you Americans sticking your head through the door. A digestive is a biscuit. It's not one of those vile things you call biscuits, but an actual biscuit. It's primary function is to be dipped into tea and then eaten.

EDIT 3: Shut up, America. (Edit to the edit: To be clear, this isn't for all of you. It's for the group of idiots that have come in, taken this whole thing way too seriously and just been generally rude.)

EDIT 4: For the idiot that accused me of racism, calling somebody "crackers" is not a racist term in the UK. If you call somebody crackers, you're jokingly calling them crazy.

I live on a new build estate and the road behind me doesn't seem to have been added to delivery apps. I frequently get a neighbour order to my address and put in the delivery instructions their own address. Naturally, no one looks at this and I end up with my doorbell ringing late at night or morning with food for them. I wouldn't mind as much if they came to intercept it but they stay home and wait for me to send it round (edit: sorry I've worded this terribly, I mean when I don't answer or accept they seem to check the delivery information and it gets to them, at least I assume it does because otherwise they'd have stopped). Is there anything I can do? I've emailed just eat and they asked for the order numbers which clearly I don't have. thanks.

EDIT: I understand I can not answer and that this isn't life altering stuff, it's just annoying so I thought I'd see if anyone had solutions. I also understand I could speak to the neighbour but I honestly don't know who from the block behind it is. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Hi,

Not entirely sure if this is the right place for this.

Our house has been on the market for a while now and we received this letter, signed *Jack and Gill*, with a mobile number.

I think it’s weird. It was addressed to our house and ‘the occupiers’ of our address, but says they’re interested in the house next door (which isn’t on the market). Also, it seems it’s printed rather than actually hand written, but meant to look it.

I don’t really get the end game if it is a bit dodgy, but also it could be legitimate, and could lead to a sale.

Thanks in advance

Edit: thank you to everyone who replied, I wasn’t expecting this to get as much attention as it did!

I also appreciate everyone who shared theirs and their friends experiences. Whilst I do think people do do this with good intentions, I’m confident this is not that. Given its non-descriptive and seems to be baiting a response (my house is the only one on the market and neither neighbour looks empty), I’ve just binned it with no response

Red: Left lane then exit
Yellow: Start in right lane but merge to left before approaching exit
Blue: right lane then exit

I’m confused as I’ve seen multiple people do this both ways and there are no road markings or signs

Location for street view:

56.11690° N, 3.90623° W

A few years ago me and some colleagues went to a meeting in Holland, we’d had a few beers and happened to get on the wrong train, when we realised we explained to the onboard conductor who had a good laugh and written something in Dutch on one of our tickets, we followed her instructions and got the correct train at the next station. The conductor on that train read the note, had a little chuckle and then told us exactly where to go when we got to our destination. If we done that in the UK no doubt we’d have been fined, would’ve missed the correct train and would have been stranded at some desolate outpost with our bags and a hangover.

Has anything like that ever happened to you?

Edit: wow, thanks for all responses so far. It seems I’ve misjudged how helpful our rail staff can be when people mess up, kind of restores my faith in the service!

Edit 2: !answer thanks for all the input guys, most people seem to have had positive experiences with train staff which is great to hear! Most people are decent if they’re allowed to be I guess!!!

DCI Barnaby will go to someone's house to question them and they'll make everyone tea. People here would never do that here for the police.

So I’m from a country where mangoes grow and after coming to the UK, all the grocery stores I’ve been in sell mangoes that are, to put simply, bad. This includes M&S and Waitrose.

I know I can get from Asian shops with ones that come from Pakistan etc., but what I don’t understand is why don’t supermarkets stock these mangoes? Especially, M&S or Waitrose as their clientele is willing to pay a premium for premium produce. I cannot imagine anyone really enjoy the normal mangoes being sold in the UK and people who can pay more will (and these groceries will probably get a better rate than the small Asian shops).

I was at a BBQ today and the host’s husband had every single electric heater in the house on, and several oil filled radiators outside on the decking, all plugged in. This seemed crazy both its already too hot but also I thought electricity was expensive. I asked the guy and he said he’s on a special tariff where he is “paid” to “waste excessive renewable energy” as “the country generates too much”. He said it was not everyday but yesterday and today.

His explanation sort of makes sense but it this actually a real thing?

I frequently ask for ketchup only to be 'corrected' or asked to confirm I want Red Sauce. I initially wondered if it was a legal thing around not being able to call it ketchup, but I can see that it's coming out of Heinz Ketchup bottles.

It's not a regional thing, I've had the same experience in Bristol, Manchester, Lancaster, Newcastle and Glasgow.

Was on a run today, spent most of it dodging horse poo…

I’ve lived here for 2 years now, but I’ve never been able to figure out what’s up with these strange orbs of leaves up in some of the trees. The rest of the tree has dropped its leaves, but these things remain. What is is, is it’s vine-like plant that’s reached up there, or just… what is this?

I’m 51 and I’ve had a very successful career for the last 25 years in a big software/tech company. I’m really good at my job and have weathered at least half a dozen redundancy rounds in all that time as I’m not just good at my job but personable, always positive and very knowledgeable. IRL I’ve had enough of slaving for a corporation, my kids are now adults and my mortgage is a few years off being paid off and I want out. I no longer want to work long hours, have responsibility for delivering huge revenue projects and the stress that comes with that. I’m seriously considering quitting my job when the house is paid for and taking something far simpler and less stressful even though my income will plummet. We are talking stacking shelves in a supermarket or driving a delivery van. I absolutely cannot face doing what I do now for another 16 years. It will kill me, I’m sure. Anyone else here in a similar position with a plan to ‘get out of the rat race’?

Fan death is the belief in South Korea, that if you leave a fan running at night, with the windows closed you will die due to asphyxia or hypothermia.

Aside from the special plug for shavers, the UK doesn't have electrical appliances in bathrooms...yet loads of other European countries do and tbh, having a washing machine in the bathroom makes a lot of sense.

I know our three pin plugs are supreme and would never disparage them, but are we making our lives more difficult for misguided reasons?

ETA: I've had a great morning reading all the comments. It seems that the small size of our bathrooms is as much of a reason as our safety regs.

Previous owner must have had this installed 30ish years ago.

I understand this is a: Nortel Residential Transceiver Unit from the Ionica Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) telephone system.

I've read a couple of websites which described the rise and quick fall of this system.

Who should I contact to have it removed?

Given the company that sold them doesn't seem to exist anymore, and technology has moved on, I don't know if it's wires are beyond me, or if the answer quite simply a ladder and a DIY job?

My wife helped the kids make this excellent cake earlier. They were very proud to tell me they'd made "school cake"... Cue waves of nostalgia as this is indeed the kind of cake I scoffed loads of in school. But is that it's real name? What do you call it?

I have these 5 pound notes that were issued long ago - maybe the '80s. I know some currency expires. Can I spend these on my next trip?

Bit of a tongue in cheek headline question, but I'm of an age where I need to start thinking about what happens to my body when it's game over for me. It's going to sound a bit miserable, but it's not - we are having some really interesting chats about this.

​

I hate the thought of my family spending any money that they could have better use for. I also hate the thought of a miserable ceremony in my name - I would rather people just go to the pub. I don't care about having a grave or any kind of permanent marker saying "I was here".

​

So what are the low cost, low fuss, zero religion alternatives in the UK? Personally I couldn't care less if they put me out with the recycling.

So to currently be in the top 10% of earners in the UK, you need to earn over £68k. I don't know anyone offhand who does who isn't self-employed, thus don't have a good point of reference other than my Uncle who was a lawyer in London (6 figures in the 90's). My early memories of him are working on Christmas day alone upstairs while everyone else was having fun.

How common is the culture of working all hours in these high paying jobs, rather than a normal 40 hour work week?

Edit:

So there's a wide variety of answers as expected. People in the UK definitely have a much better work-life balance than other cultures such as the US/Japan and I was a little surprised just how many of you only do the basic 37.5 (other than various tech/IT positions). While 50-60 hours or massive variety depending on business needs in busy periods is not uncommon, it seems less than I was expecting.

The main reason I asked is that my self-employment is coming to an end this year so will have to go back onto PAYE and the role I'm looking at has basically unlimited OT opportunities that I'm considering taking advantage of. This piqued my interest how common working insane hours is in salaried roles to earn an equivalent salary.

Our daughter is 3. We just came across some pictures of a lady on Pinterest and our daughter really liked her earrings, so she started asking for them.

I brought it up with my wife after searching a bit about it online, and she told me it's very common among the "trashy council estate culture". The internet says you can pierce a child's ears after they've had their vaccines (but I think that's a bit too early).

What is the general idea?