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Congratulations! Made it to the UK from the US yesterday myself. Let’s hope our new lives will be great!
Welcome to the uk did you pick up your complementary kettle on the way in? Sorry the rail network is such a mess but what can you do. Glad to have you bud o7
Honestly, other than the fact that we were really confused about where to go due to poor signage (and missed our train twice and got lost when we were supposed to change trains), we enjoyed the train ride. We did pay for first class on for the Avanti West portion, but it was worth every penny. (Or am I supposed to say worth every p now?) And since we came from the land of very few trains that all suck, the actual train rides were great. And people were super helpful with our heavy luggage.
Glad to hear you arrived safe and well. Also, for your information :
Galleons: The primary unit of currency, typically made of gold. One Galleon is worth 17 Sickles.
Sickles: The second unit of currency, made of silver. One Sickle is worth 29 Knuts.
Knuts: The smallest unit of currency, made of bronze.
P.S. : Next time for the train you should get to Platform 9 and 3/4You mean they won’t accept cowrie shells or cocoa beans? What kind of a place is this?!
😋 Today i learned about :
Cowrie shells
(from GPT) … were widely used as a form of money in many parts of the world, particularly in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Their durability and portability made them a practical medium of exchange.
Such culture ! I’m convinced you will find a great job and i hope the best for your kid as well. Take care 😌Thanks!
That sounds a bit transphobic
It sounds like an RPG.
It’s still known as pennies here. It makes more sense for a pence to be called a penny than it does for a cent to be called a penny.
Good to have you here comrade.
Glad to be here!
You’d better have a tv license or your going to jail
Hopefully OP can live with trading “needing a TV license for a TV no one uses anymore” and “actual healthcare” for a “failing democracy turned Christian nationalist oligarchy”!
Only if you have a TV. Theoretically, you need one to stream the BBC/ITV and such on a computer/phone, but the onus is not on you to prove that you didn’t. You’ll get letters asking to confirm that you don’t need a licence, and then threats of an inspection to make sure you don’t have a TV that’s on and being used to watch TV, though I’m not sure if they follow through with the latter. (In the analogue days, they had detector vans that either could detect TV tuners tuned to channels or were a bluff to get people to pay up, though they seem to have given up on that.)
The detector vans were real, and they weren’t a bluff, but the tech they used wasn’t some high tech signal detector. The secret is that they just pointed a parabolic microphone (possibly a laser microphone at a later time) at your window and listened for the audio. The operator would flip through TV channels in his van and try to match the audio from your house to the audio from a currently broadcasting TV station. That was sufficient to determine if someone was watching broadcast tv or not.
They don’t follow up on the threats - or at least not regularly. (9 years and counting here - even if I somehow get caught and fined the max amount I’ve still saved money)
Ah interesting, here in Switzerland the rule was if you have a capable device that’s enough. They didn’t have to prove usage.
And now that they also stream online, any computer and smartphone counts. So they recently changed the rules to just charge every household.
Or learn the old “eat the TV before the inspector arrives”.
I guess I’m showing my age, but hopefully enough old folks get it.
“Don’t worry, lads. I always poo before I get up.”
Oi sunny boy u got a loisense for that loisense?!
Let me see your license request license
Oi sonny Jim this isn’t a loisense request this is a loisense request request it’s a different department Oi hope you’ve got all yer paperwerk in order jimbo
And a stabbing license
Edit: Y’all motherfuckers need to get educated https://youtu.be/g1HQ3Eyu2Jw
Stabbing? American here, never heard of it…, it’s like shooting but no range, lower body count, and not something a physically inferior person can do to anyone equally effectively, right?
I’ve heard this joke many times, never understood it.
Does UK need licenses for everything or something?
They have a license you’re supposed to have to watch the BBC basically a TV tax for people who actually watch it. License enforcement has always been off their rockers. Back in the day they said they had a TV detector van that they would drive around and detect if you were watching a TV without a license. They send you threatening letters if you don’t have a license. They’ll even come to your door and try to make you prove you don’t have a tv. You can just tell them to leave.
Welcome! Weather’s a bit shite at the moment and monsoon season (February to May) is just around the corner, but it’ll brighten up for 2 weeks in June and for the last 2 weeks of August.
Drop me a DM if you’re heading up Manchester way and I’d happily give you a tour and you’re more than welcome to come over to my family’s place for a Sunday Roast.
You should have seen what it was like when we left the U.S. in terms of weather. This is far better. Thanks!
Would you mind sharing how you moved to the UK and what the requirements / difficulties were? Thank you!
I am happy to share, but I am afraid it won’t help many others. I am lucky because of who my father was.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-british-parent/born-before-1983
Ah I see, well thanks anyways haha!
We welcome you!!!
Thank you!
Wondering why I hadn’t see you posting much recently. May and September are the two best weather months on the south of the UK.
Damn, that’s great to hear. Welcome in Europe comrade.
How does one move to New Zealand?
Asking for a friend.
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Move to Australia.
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Miss.
We treat NZ like another state so this isn’t all that far from the truth.
How did you know they were a “Miss”?
Because they found themselves in Australia, as opposed to New Zealand. They missed NZ by about 4k km.
And don’t call me Shirley.
Surely you can’t be serious.
So 4 megameters?
Can you convert that to quectometers, please?
Or 0,4 gigameters
Lucky guess that hit the target.
Usually NZ has less restrictive visa requirements, and is often called “Australia’s back door” due to Au/Nz free travel agreements.
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If you’re serious then here you go
Take a look at the skills shortages list as well, because if you can get a job in something on that list, you’ll have a much easier time. We desperately need Healthcare workers
You will be welcome here for the most part, but I have started noticing some things that are starting to annoy me, and I know I’m not alone, so fair warning:
Please remember why you’re coming here. Nothing annoys me more than Americans who move here and then never shut up about how things were better back home. We have no 2a, our stores are small, and we don’t tip. I consider those to be GOOD things. Also, even our right wing party (National) would be considered center left over there. (Sadly that seems to be changing)
If you’re just looking for what America was 15 years ago, Australia is what you’re looking for. That’s not a joke either, I mean that very seriously, Australia is a better fit. It’s the USA of the southern hemisphere (sorry Aussies, but tell me I’m wrong)
It’s a process, but it can be done! Good luck!
You’re right. Have always considered Australia the US and NZ Canada.
Americans fit in well in Australia so long as they’re friendly and check their ego at the door. Australian culture is a big moosh of many cultures but tends to cringe at American culture. You kind of have to be more about yourself rather than be all about being an American, then you will fit in.
Although you may not recieve as warm a welcome in Aus at the moment.
A LOT of Australians are mad at Americans for their political culture right now. We have transphobes and bigots here too and theres a lot of Australian bigots who are feeling very bold. Also theres a feeling from the more left leaning people that if we dont have enough resources and room for people fleeing ethnic cleansing, wars and famine we dont have the room for people who didnt like how their democratic election went. Also our cost of living isnt going down either…
Not saying you will get a hostile reaction, or even a negative one… just temper your expectations.
Don’t forget, Murdoch is Australian. So can’t blame Americans alone for all this mess.
FYI there’s a typo in here which had me reading it like “people-freeing ethnic cleansing”, which sounds evil as hell and not at all what you meant
Thanks for that, fixed.
It wasn’t a democratic election. The republicans succeeding in the 2000 coup is what got this ball rolling. They filled up the judiciary with compromised judges, bought out elections, used the tech bros to manipulate everyone. And structurally it’s not remotely a democracy, see the electoral college.
People fleeing have good reason to. I would if I could.
My take: Aussies are Americans with British humour.
…and really shitty Internet access.
Isn’t American Internet also known to be pretty bad already? At least in many places?
A lot of America is empty so this highly depends on what you mean
In the city the internet is great
I grew up in the armpit of SW Oklahoma. My parents’ Internet was 256 kbps in 2009. Today, they get a blazing 20 Mbps and it goes down all the time. My brother signed up for a satellite internet company that’s a bit more reliable and gives him something like 50 Mbps, but iirc, his data cap is something like 250 GB and then it’s overage charges. And I think he pays $120 a month for that plan.
My wife and I live in the Oklahona City area and get 250 Mbps, and only because that’s all we need. We were running 500 for a while, but we almost never needed that much. We have a 1 TB data cap and pay $50 a month.
We’re going to upgrade to fiber in the next few years. A local company is in our area and offers symmetrical 1 Gbps internet for like $80 a month. But there are upfront costs associated with getting it set up in the house that I don’t want to swing yet. But I’m thinking more about it lately because I’d love to self host something like Nextcloud and get off of Google Drive.
Anyway, yeah, internet in cities is mostly pretty good. Once you’re out in the sticks, well, good luck.
It really depends. I know of little towns in rural Idaho that have gigabit fibre to the house simply because the local phone company submitted the request for a federal grant. The money has been there since Obama, but utils need to ask for it, and certain local populations would rather starve than take any sort of handout from the federal government.
Oh my gosh, former Oklahomie for a while here! Can. Confirm.
I once lived in the Northeast by Tahlequah, and the options were dial-up, satellite (with that awful data cap and terrible pings), or a couple guys running an ISP that involved pointing a receiver at a radio tower but download speeds were restricted to like 40kbps.
For games I already had, SOME multiplayer was possible, and web browsing was mostly fine.
Example of DL speeds though: Metro 2033 said it would take like 3 or 4 solid days so my long distance GF (now wife!) literally just sent game files to me on a USB drive through the mail. LOL
Sadly they closed up shop, though.
But somehow, when I lived with my grandma who lived in a place called “Hennepin”, they got blessed with DSL. Made zero sense but I didn’t complain! Even though I had to put a second router in bridge/repeater mode so it’d reach me at the trailer I lived in like 20 yards away from the house! (Trailer didn’t even have plumbing. Winter was “fun.” LOL)
Absolutely wild how cut-off a lot of the country is.
The big stinky desert city I’m in now has its problems, and Cox charges out the nose, but at least we get unlimited fiber out of it.
Starlink might have been great for those folks if it wasn’t headed by such stupid evil…
Like in the burbs of Tulsa and we get 1gig but its super expensive and I hate it. Cox is the only choice. I would love to get out of this state at least if I can’t get out of the country.
I haven’t had issues getting 200mb + in like 10 years. It’s pretty common to find decent priced gigabit as well. I’m sure it’s kinda shitty in rural areas but it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be.
Wife and I looked into moving to Australia after we visited Sydney. I work in IT so not a problem for me to find a new job and my wife is in healthcare. She is a respiratory therapist which is in high demand but looks like your end of the world does nursing with a speciality in respiratory therapy.
Couldn’t figure out how that would translate but damn are we ready to jump over the bigger pond.
How about engineers in NZ?
I guess it depends on the kind of engineering you’re talking about, but for the most part, yes. Tier 1 straight to residency
Engineer ? Believe it or not, straight to
jailresidencySo residency immediately with a job offer? Woah
Possibly stupid question but what do you mean by “we have no 2a”?
Edit: 2nd amendment, thanks!
2nd amendment AKA bubba with a larger arsenal than an army arms room.
No 2nd Amendment, I.e. guns are strictly controlled and not just anyone can own one
Second Amendment (guns), I guess
No 2a, our stores are small and we don’t tip.
Next you’ll tell me that the government expects me to take time off from work to care for my health and family. And that having a personal car is expensive and unnecessary.
Well having a personal car is expensive…but well not exactly unnecessary. Wellington and Auckland have reasonable public transport. Bike lanes are not a thing really.
So close.
Meh. I joke. Not like I can exactly legally or morally move me and my son there without my ex in tow.
We have no 2a, our stores are small, and we don’t tip.
These are the only examples you can come up with as to why Americans might “never shut up” about it being “better back home?” I’m having a hard time taking that seriously.
I consider those to be GOOD things.
Well yeah, so would roughly 90% of all Americans. Well maybe the small stores thing from a convenience standpoint I guess?
What I’m saying is I’d like you to elaborate, this can’t be the whole story (signed, someone who has seriously given thought to moving to NZ). :)
Ha ha ha, I chose those specific examples because of a specific person. I had to work with that person for 6 months and it it felt like all they wanted to talk about was how you can’t get good pizza (you can) or how the shelves are always empty (they’re not) or how the water here tastes weird. (I mean, maybe. That’s subjective) By the end I just wanted to scream at them. We had a very heated debate about tipping culture one day at lunch. They didn’t understand that “I used to work in hospitality, and I wouldn’t have survived without tips” is not an argument in favour of tipping culture.
I realise I’ve generalized here, and it’s not fair to judge everyone by one irritating example. Sorry about that
Also anecdotal: I met an American in France one time. We were both travelling, so there were plenty of other things to talk about, but somehow he got onto the subject of how much he loves the 2nd amendment within 5 minutes of meeting him, max. I have no idea how he steered the convo there, it was like a magic trick. Blew my mind.
I think you’re equating Lemmy with America. You vastly overestimate how many people share that viewpoint.
Small store, no tips, be quiet? Sounds like heaven.
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it’s “govt.nz” so new zealand is the actual top level domain, and govt is their subdomain they use for government agencies, apparently.
(sorry Aussies, but tell me I’m wrong)
You’re wrong
An excellent point, and well made. But have you considered this?
I mean, you asked us to tell you that you’re wrong
I generally don’t agree that we’re culturally much like the US, but between AUKUS and Pine Gap, we’re definitely beholden to them
Drive on the left with right-drive cars is a big one.
I wish I could tell you you’re wrong, but… :(
And if Dutton gets elected this year it will get soooo much worse. Hey, New Zealand is a beautiful place! Maybe I’ll move there too!
Hell I’m not asking for a friend, I’m asking for myself… seriously… how?
Step one have money.
Wrong. You don’t need money if you’re attractive because someone else with money will give you theirs.
so …
Step one: Have money.
Wrong.
Step 1: be attractive.
so …
Step one: Have money.
I wonder how long it’s gonna take ‘em…
One can be attractive enough to fuck their way onto the island… That doesn’t require money to be hot
I am a little lost, are you talking about e.g. plastic surgery?
I moved to NZ with a backpack and 2000 dollars in my name. Seven years now, I have been permanent resident for a while
Welcome! North or South island?
The mighty Waikato
Beautiful! Congrats on your escape :-)
Not the Tron?, god forbid.
If it then I guess welcome new neighbour…
No. But I go there for Sal’s on occasion.
Congrats on having a backbone. Hope you enjoy the vast experiences in your new life!
Having a backbone would be to stick around and fight this shit; not flee.
That’s a bit harsh. Like my old man always said, “you gotta know when to hold 'em; know when to fold 'em; know when to walk away and know when to run.”
Your dad was Don Schlitz? Or was he Kenny Rogers?
Actually, my dad hated that song. It was my mom who was whistling it all over the house.
It’s not. Granted, I 100% respect and understand someone’s decision to leave the USA at this time, but there’s very little that’s courageous about putting yourself into a better situation. It’s the next option up from rolling over and dying.
Yeah, walking away from every person you’ve ever known and every support system you’ve ever had in hopes of a better future with no real promises to fall back on if it doesn’t work out isn’t courageous at all.
I’d call courageous moving into a red state… and then everything you said above still applies. I moved from a red state to a blue state in October. Everything you said applies to me, but I can assure you that my decision was not one that was “courageous.” It’s self preservation.
Self preservation can take courage.
You’re being nitpicky for no reason. Something can be courageous without being the most courageous thing anyone has ever done.
If the US had an actual democracy and ability to fight back, you’d be right. But we don’t, so you aren’t.
You can’t expect people to take up arms and go kill cops and politicians, even if that’s what’s needed. That is a hell of a lot to ask of someone. Why aren’t you doing that right now? Are you scared?
Yeah, them and everyone else is too.
Although I personally did begin educating myself and training with a rifle about 2 years ago; it’s not the correct tool for the job at this time.
Right now is a time to come together and organize. Earlier today on a different thread I posted up the .pdf of the memo from OPM that directed federal agencies to send out that fascist email that went out yesterday/ the day before, and within it, there’s a copy of the standard format email template that’s going to be used to fire a bunch of federal employees within the next couple of days.
I moved from FL to Colorado to organize around more people like myself; I am fighting right now but it’s not with a rifle.
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I didn’t expect such a backlash from a dumb comment which was only intended to reference The Gambler.
That song is about a gambler’s desire for selfish self-preservation, not “having a backbone”
It might be, but if you think about it, it also applies to life in general, which has a lot in common with gambling. Sometimes you have to take risks, sometimes the risks are stupid…
You’re kidding me! Now I need to go and read the lyrics.
Neither is easy.
People have been fighting for like 8 years now.
Its over, sometimes it best to just walk away.
Hope down under treats you better
Nau mai ki Aotearoa e hoa. (Welcome to New Zealand, friend)
Be warned, you’re in for some price shocks. Cost of living in NZ is nuts atm. Best of luck tho, it’s a solid place.
Nice, NZ will welcome you here.
good luck on your journey.
NZ? You a billionaire?
Ahhh, the privileged leaving behind the many to suffer that want to leave but can’t.
Sorry to say for you and me, but suffering under fascism doesn’t solve anything. If we don’t defect or rebel, we’ll just end up in mass graves.
Purity tests like this aren’t helping.
do you blame them? should they stay until everyone that wants to leave can too?
a lot of people fled nazi germany before they started killing people too….
and, you can leave too… just maybe not with much money….if i had a trans kid, i’d take them to any country that wasn’t trying to kill them…
Don’t say that on Lemmy. It’s full of the privileged pretending to be the meek, and they dont like to be called out.
Great choice and good luck!
just remember to keep voting, don’t let what happened to Venezuela happen to you guys
My brother in Christ, the UK is already addicted to Middle East and Russian money, they don’t need drug trafficking money like Venezuela to ruin their political system.
Sorry for everything you had to leave behind. Good luck in your new life
