Ok, never done this before, and being a bloke, struggle to ask for help. I guess I'm hoping for some advice and to just get it off my chest. I've created a new account for this, for which it will shortly become obvious why.

I've got myself addicted to cocaine.

There, said it.

About a year ago, I went on a Stag with some relatively new friends. That was when I bought coke for the first time. I've used very occasionally in the past, but never actually bought any for myself. There was no pressure, I guess I just wanted to have fun and boost my confidence with new friends and some people I'd not met.

A month or so later, I had another night out and thought it'd be fun to buy some more. Then I bought more... And more... And more.

I'm now buying pretty much weekly and keep telling myself that this will be the last lot. Obviously, it never is! I'm now just doing it at home, not even when going out anymore.

Life should be good, I've got a great wife, 2 lovely kids, a nice house and a stable job. It just feels like something, I don't know, is missing? I feel like I should be happy, but for some reason I'm actually not. I'm approaching mid 40s, so I guess it could be a mid life crisis!

Luckily I earn fairly well, so I've not got myself in any real money issues yet, but I need to stop. My wife doesn't know, but I am not being a good husband at the moment. My family is everything to me, and I worry I will if I tell my wife.

Wtf to do?!

For me it would be where the sun is shining, the house is tidy and there's no chores to do.

Start off with a decent breakfast and a decent mug of coffee. I'd have had my run the previous day so can rest a bit. Maybe head out for a walk, grab some lunch at the local garden centre. I've just redownloaded the game Ingress after not playing it for years, so maybe play that for a couple of hours.

Get home and watch the F1 while I prepare and cook a lasagne in the afternoon. Smash said lasagne with a glass or two of a nice red wine and then spend the evening playing Minecraft for a few hours, then an hour or two of reading before bed.

The reality though is far different as I have two young kids!

> A report that dives into the good, the bad, and the distinctiveness of Brand Britain. After five changes of brand leader in eight years, not to mention all the events in between, how's the brand looking? Does ‘Britishness’ still have that distinctive edge? And, what’s the impact, if any, that Brand Britain has on British brands? > > Expert information, insight and analysis brought to you by British Chamber of Commerce x Ipsos x JKR.

> We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how Jammie Dodgers got their name as well as what their signature heart cutouts mean. > >But as surprising as those facts were, I was even more astonished to learn that Jammie Dodgers ― even the ’Original Raspberry’ kinds ― do not use jam made from raspberries. > > Those listed on Burton’s site (Burton produces the biscuits) says that it uses a “raspberry-flavoured” version of another fruit’s jam. > >Even their cherry and cola-flavoured versions use the same unexpected base. > > ... > > According to Burton’s site, the original raspberry brand contains 27% “raspberry flavoured apple jam.”

(all the pictures in the slideshow are of tower bridge too)

The salted egg yolk flavour does sound pretty good.

But do the categories (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral) just make no sense against the possibile answers?

The instructions for the game are at the top. A player picks a word from a card and the other player has to guess the word they've picked, starting by asking if it's an animal, vegetable or mineral.

Apparently it's a good night for it.

Source and bonus panel at SMBC

What do you think? It would essentially help to keep the fox population under control and add a bit of excitement to our hiking and biking trails.

The Fen Raft Spider is roughly the size of an adult male’s hand, and can spin webs as big as pizzas (25cm).

They are also semi-aquatic and can run across the water’s surface to capture their prey.

“Oh William, you are so funny!” “Darling, do have another piece of cheese.” “Don’t lick the fucking camera lens.”

How can anybody be so far up their arse to think it’s a good idea to push this nonsense out.

Having seen it crop up few times within various posts, I looked up the word ‘cromulent’. Merriam-Webster gave a cromulent answer, except for this bit that doesn’t travel so well to this side of the Atlantic.

It's been ages since I've sat down and read a magazine. But there are times when I don't have the motivation to read a book and I just want a quick, well-written article to enjoy.

To give an example of the sort of content, someone shared this interesting article on Lemmy the other day about the ways in which far right tech CEOs mimic AIs being trained on their own data. It was a really fascinating idea!

I'm not too fussy about the content - science, technology, gaming, nature, opinion pieces, politics (but not too heavy).

For the longest time I used to get the National Geographic, which always had good content. But I feel a bit burnt out with those. Something along these lines on another topic would be perfect.

Can anyone recommend any particular magazines?

> Terry’s Chocolate Orange have tried to switch things up by bringing out a new flavour of their iconic citrus-shaped snack, but a lot of fans aren’t having any of it. > > ... > > Its quality and deliciousness has remained tried and trusted throughout the years, but that hasn’t stopped Carambarco – the manufacturer behind the brand – from experimenting with different flavours and concepts. > > ... > > Then, in 2023, Terry’s went beyond the original orange flavour for the first time ever, bringing out the Terry’s Chocolate Mint ball. > > ... > > This week, however, shoppers have been left outraged after a new variation appeared in B&M stores across the country. > >Introducing the Terry’s ‘Chocolate Milk’ without the orange. > > Naturally, fans of the cult classic treat were outraged – and many were left wondering whether there was any point in it without the key ingredient.

I just heard of a Non Educated Delinquent (NED) but that's Scottish

And it is delicious.

After the nearest outlet shut its doors, and facing a walk of almost 800m (!) to the next closest, I decided to try Aldi's not-greggs-but-basically-is.

And honestly...They're not half bad. We tried the rolls, chicken, and steak bakes. They're about 1/4 of the price. And live in the freezer. Ideal.

This post was not supported or sponsored by Aldi. No free snacks for this albatross.

I had a great night on Saturday, celebrating a friend's 50th birthday, we stayed over too, so no fighting over who gets to drink!

Anyone devastated? probably not, I much prefer piccalilli anyway.

Obviously this is fucked. But the idea of a British crocodile expert was so foreign to me that I clicked this to see what hype beast it was because I assumed it was about a footwear expert 😭

On the way to work, i need to cross the road, so i use the zebra crossing, traffic slows down, i begin to cross, but a cyclist decides he's overtaking the traffic which has now stopped, missing me by about a foot, im actually a bit dumbfounded, obviously i called him a cockwomble, and some other choice words, but seriously, some people infuriate me beyond belief!!

I work in a team of 5, 3 have rang in sick.

I can see my patience wearing thin today!

I have just found £160 in an old wallet that ive not used for 6 months.

Although it's not really a win, the wife said we can use it to pay for paint and decorate the living room.

Note to self, don't be so open when finding spare cash!

!casualconversation@lemm.ee

Not UK centric, but more active than here, so joining both might be interesting

..what are some of the things i can expect from this place?

I have become very tiresome with how those mods seems to be on some sort of power trip.

His voice is still burned into my brain even now all these years later. Good childhood memories.

Specifically, given the name is "Great Britain", I'm curious: does Northern Ireland compete under the Union Jack? Or are they with the Irish team like they do in rugby union and cricket?

Thoughts?

Asides from what was mentioned in the article, I think the current rules are unforgiving of children who have family abroad whose school holidays don't align.

Screw inflation

I don't know if this is too self-promotey to put in the more serious subs so I'm putting it here. I need to blag being able to do the django framework so I spent a week fannying about with it to make this. Feel free to mess about with it, give feedback or repost it on reddit or any other lemmy knock-offs.