billy

of course, some of us are luckier than others, but we each possess the incredible gift of life.

shouldn't we get on with making the most of it rather than hoping for a better existence in the next?

Seems that now France has knocked England off the Irish "public enemy number 1" spot there are quite a few openly cheering for England.

In any competition, if England gets knocked out then we always cheer for Ireland/Scotland/Wales... but up until recently the Irish would always support whoever was playing against England.... are the times changing?

(not that we've given anyone much to cheer for yet!)

My wife has been off work on maternity leave, and is due to go back soon. She wants to leave so we can have more children, but does not want to risk losing out on a possible redundancy payment. How would she go about letting her employers know she would be willing to take a redundancy? They are in the process of merging with another company and so its likely there will be job losses in the future.

The problem is, if they know she wants to leave then they might hold out on offering a redundancy to see if she hands in her notice, and get out of paying her the lump sum.

Its a considerable amount of money, and they are definitely the type of company who would try and get out of making the payment.... but if they are going to make people redundant anyway, then its better someone who wants to leave rather than someone who really wants to keep their job....

any suggestions?

My wife is 10 weeks pregnant, and we are waiting until after the 12 week scan (when the risk of miscarriage is lower) before we get everyone all excited with the news, but its so hard to keep the news to yourself!

what did you do?

I have accepted a new job abroad and leave in October, so will need to rent out my flat (I don't want to sell as I just signed a new 4 year fixed rate mortgage and would have to pay a large penalty fee).

Before I had the job offer, I was planning on paying off a large loan I have with my savings this month- this would be the first time that I would be debt free (aside from my mortgage) in 12 years!

If I use all my savings to pay off my loan, then I have no back up in case the new job doesn't work out, or I can't rent out my flat and I need to cover the mortgage payments...

So do I pay off the loan and get rid of all the nasty interest fees, but risk not having a contingency fund...

or do I play it safe and keep hold of my savings in case anything goes wrong?

I really don't know what to do! I've been waiting for years to be debt free... but if things go wrong I could be right back where I started...

Help!

On the left of the horseshoe shape, seats A13 and 14 to be exact... how much of the stage is obstructed?

Many thanks!

Its my first wedding anniversary this weekend and I've bought tickets to see Swan Lake at the London Royal Opera House.

I've never been to the ballet before, and I'm told the Mariinsky Ballet is the best in the world... but 4 hours of men in tights? I had no idea how long it was- what have I let myself in for?

I'm sure my wife will be over the moon and thats what's important, but are there any guys out there who have been? Is it brutal?

Any tips on how to survive that don't involve the consumption of copious amounts of valium, I must stay awake for this!

my wife and her brother own a jewellery shop in Dublin which is a little out of the way, and advertising budgets are limited... any ideas on how we can promote it using social media techniques? Anyone had any success with this?

Many thanks for any suggestions

I currently rent out a second property and due to the lower interest rate I am now receiving more money in rent than I pay for the mortgage.

The flat is rented to private tenants.

Should I be paying tax on this extra income? What is the likelihood of inland revenue finding out if I am not paying tax and what are the consequences?

Hypothetical scenario- all galaxies in the universe have a black hole at their centre, and all galaxies have begun colliding and collapsing in on themselves under the gravitational pull of the remaining "super black holes"

We are now left with only 2 galaxies and 2 super black holes which consume each other.

the question is- in this fictional scenario what would be the most accurate description of events, from a scientific perspective, as the final stages take place?

Thanks in advance for your answers and any critique on why this scenario would never take place is welcomed!

Civilian casualties were fine when we invaded Iraq... and they hadn't even fired one rocket at the west... what exactly is the difference now?

Hamas is a terrorist organisation that rules the civilian population through fear and intimidation- they have to be stopped, and how else can this be done in such densely populated areas. Hamas knows what the retaliation will be- why esle would they fire rockets from hospital car parks and primary schools?

I know that my opinion will be unpopular- and so does the media, which is why they take the opposing stance- to sell more newspapers, and therefore distorting the truth...

I bought my first property with a friend in 2005, which we used as our main residence until 2007 when we rented it out.

In 2007 I bought another property and moved into it with my fiance (now my wife)

In 2009 my wife and I are planning on renting out our current property and moving abroad.

Do I have until 2010 to sell my first property, and 2012 to sell my second property so I avoid paying CGT?

Should I contact the tax office to notify them which property is my main residence?

We're going to Tobago for a wedding in June and will be spending the week leading up to the wedding on the island.

After the wedding we thought that we would take the opportunity to visit Venezuela as it is so close.

Anyone done this? Would you recommend it? How did you travel? We figured that Tobago was too small an island to spend another week there- what do you think?

I own a leasehold property which I rent out to tenants and it appears there has been some kind of subsidence or damage to the structure at the back of the property. There is a very large, deep crack going from the ground up to the first floor at the back of the property- the bricks are falling away from each other.

I'm assuming that as the management company which owns the freehold is responsible for the buildings' insurance and any structural problems then they should repair the building?

Has anyone been in any similar situation? The management company always seems to find some kind of charges to send my way...

Its from 6pm until 1am and we have been advised to stay at the airport- will we be comfortable for 6 hours there? Is the airport nice?

I feel like I am at a cross roads in my life and I don't know which way to turn... feels like I have 2 options:

1. I continue to work in my long hours job, be thankful that I am employed, well paid and have the ability to provide a stable life for my family.

2. Take a risk, give up my regular income and do what I have always dreamed of- starting my own business.

Would I be crazy to do this with the country in or heading for a recession? Should I bide my time for a few years until the economy picks up?

I'm not the best at handling stress- given this should I stick to the guaranteed income and security my job provides me with?

What if I stick with my job and then 20 years down the line realise I should have followed my dreams while I still had the chance?

I don't expect anyone to be able to make the right decision for me- this will have to come from myself- but has anyone been in the same situation?

Any words of inspiration would be appreciated!

I can only seem to generate one url at a time using the Google Analytics url build tool

How do I do this for 300k keywords plus?

Many thanks for any help!

We live in London and are getting married in Dublin in a Catholic Church.

What is an appropriate donation for the following, and how do we present this to the parties involved (cash, cheque?):

- The Church we are getting married in

- The Priest who is marrying us

- The local Priest who is completing all our forms to enable us to be married in a Catholic Church.

I have no clue whatsoever about this but I would like to donate something to show my appreciation.

Please can I have serious answers from people who have had Catholic Weddings in Ireland!

(unless you are really really funny)

I am trying to download itunes on a windows vista laptop, it completes and shows the itunes setup icon and quicktime icon on the desktop, but no itunes icon.

I then click on the itunes setup icon and hit run and it just installs itunes setup again...

what am i doing wrong here? I've been going around in circles for ages now... please help!!