To ask what you should know but don't

[Donotunderstandmyhouse]

I have a thread (embarrassingly) atm about the the fact that I have no clue about my own boiler and heating system. Please could I ask you to make me feel slightly less inept as a parent to be and an adult by asking what you do not or did not know that you should ? I'm talking things like one of my friends knew nothing about council tax when we first moved out of our parents homes 🙈

The older I get the more I know I don’t know iyswim.

@KooMoo I know exactly what you mean and I'm only early 30s 😱 goodness knows what I'll be like when I'm older 😂😂😂

Just to help:

Good Friday = day Jesus died = hot cross buns

Easter Sunday = day he rose again = chocolate eggs

I was told it moves because of the phases of the moon, which is referenced in the bible (feel like I should go away and check that). Something like the 6th full moon of the year (or something!!)

Fish on Friday is a Christian thing, not necessarily limited to Roman Catholics

Fish on Friday is a Christian thing, not necessarily limited to Roman Catholics

Yet another thing I should've known but didn't

I didn’t know what the Notre Dame was until last week

Awesome to find I'm not the only pensionphobe out there - I know I can't afford to retire,but I don't believe that's necessarily connected

Iirc, fish on Friday is because Jesus was crucified on a Friday, so it's technically a fast day every week, but not fasting as we think of it today but in the sense of abstaining from rich foods.

As for tyres and cars - surely that's what the AA is for

Ah I'm just reading this adding to my list of unknown 😂😂

Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first new moon after the Spring equinox, or some such.

That's why it moves.

What I don't understand is why my Orthodox friends have a different Easter, but have caught up again by Christmas.

I also didn't know (and have just learnt this at Nct class) that milk when breastfeeding doesn't come in during your pregnancy. That i should expect colostrum first then proper milk hopefully a day or so after baby is born. I just thought I'd pop him out then he would be straight on the boob for hours..... I didn't realise they are only getting a tiny amount at first. I have seriously changed my expectations 😂

I didn't know the M25 was a circular motorway until I was about 27 and I have always lived within 10 miles of it.

Stuff about the military.

My DH says stuff like ‘well he joined as an officer’ or ‘purchased a commission’ when we watch period dramas and despite having it explained over and over I don’t get it.

Fucking Mr Wickham.

I don't instinctively know which is my left and which is my right. I have to think about which hand I pick a pen up with or hold up my first finger and thumb to see which makes an "L", to work out left or right.

As others have said, not a bloody clue about general car maintenance or how to do anything with my boiler. Or anything to do with flatpack furniture. I’m honestly pretty shit at things like that and I don’t have the patience.

I have just had built my own house.

I have project managed since the roof was on
I chose what sort of heating I wanted
I STILL don't understand it and it STILL doesn't work as it should. It's underfloor heating and absolutely brilliant but some loops just don't get warm.
Oh - and I'm in my 60's and have live alone for 30 (ish) years

Easter moves because Passover moves Jesus was crucified the day before the big feast of Passover, they petitioned to take his body down from the cross as they did not want it still up on the most holy Sabbath of the year Passover, the ancients Jews worked on a lunar calendar and so that is why it follows Spring Equinox
The Eastern orthodox church follow old Julian Calendar not Gregorina one so often their Easter is later but occasionally it does fall on the same Sunday

And embarasssingly and stereotypically I really don't understand the offside rule.

Here's the best explanation (again a bit stereotypical):

You're in a shoe shop, second in the queue for the till. Behind the shop assistant on the till is a pair of shoes which you have seen and which you must have.

The female shopper in front of you has seen them also and is eyeing them with desire. Both of you have forgotten your purses.

It would be totally rude to push in front of the first woman if you had no money to pay for the shoes.

The shop assistant remains at the till waiting.

Your friend is trying on another pair of shoes at the back of the shop and sees your dilemma.

She prepares to throw her purse to you.

If she does so, you can catch the purse, then walk round the other shopper and buy the shoes.

At a pinch she could throw the purse ahead of the other shopper and, whilst it is in flight you could nip around the other shopper, catch the purse and buy the shoes.

Always remembering that until the purse had actually been thrown it would be plain wrong to be forward of the other shopper.

Ooh,nice explanation, Ali!

@alibongo5 brilliant

Can you think of one for boilers and pensions now please 😛

What to do about pensions.

How to put air in car tyres

How to fill up my car myself (not in UK, self-service gas stations only now becoming a thing here).

How to make friends.

Which pedal is which on a car and what the different lights mean (I don't drive).

Embarrassing when DH asks me to help him check whether one of the lights is working properly on his car.

I stole the explanation of course. I saw it years ago and thought it was brilliant.

The thing I don't understand is what you need to understand about boilers? I've never given them any thought other than to ring up every year to get it serviced. Now I'm worried that I don't understand what I've missed?

And yeah pension.....I've always been public sector so I've just paid in and assume that when I hit 60, I'll get some money. But I have to wait longer for the state pension.

The various reasons for conflicts in other countries, like whether there was a coup or which are the two sides or a corrupt leader or whatever
I always Google it, feel satisfied that I understand it perfectly and then one month later, something to do with it comes on the news and I can't quite remember again
So whenever people mention the 'terrible situation in X', I'm always quiet and completely embarrassed that I have forgotten again

Pensions confuse me too. I’ve used this company to put all my workplace pensions together and that’s about it www.pensionbee.com/

@alibongo5 I needed to know how to set mine 🙈 I've lived here 4 years and I've only just discovered how to set the water and heating.. I just left it on factory settings before now. I'm wishful thinking/dreaming of how cheap my energy bills will be now 😜

Can't do boilers but pensions:
You and your employer pay money to a pension fund.
The fund takes a cut of this money (management fee).
The fund invests the rest.
This goes on till you retire.
By this time the invested money should be a nice pile of ££££. You hope.
Some or all of this money buys an annuity, which will give you an income till you die. If you die next week, you lose out. If you last till you're 101, you do bloody well out of it (actuaries are the people who work out how long people live on average and how much the investment should bring in and so on).
You can take some of your £££ as lump sum, but this will reduce the size of your annuity.

That is a money purchase pension. A final salary pension is different (and increasingly rare).