This sucks man. Almost started crying when I got the email, told my boss and coworkers, and was making plans to celebrate with family and friends.
Article here. >!(a few years old but it's news to me)!<
according to space debris analyst Tim Floherer "Vanguard 1 will remain in orbit for several hundred, if not a thousand years." (but probably around 240 years)
Although the Vanguard is a remnant from an age of growing pains...
- operational equipment only lasted 6 years (1958 - 1964)...
- orbit is HIGHLY elliptical with a pedigree of 657.3 km and an apogee of 3,840.3 km!
- The first two launch attempts crashed and exploded.
- One full year after Sputnik 1 + 2.
- Was supposed to be first American satellite, beaten by Explorer 1.
It still had great value in scientific ways.
- First measurements of the outer atmosphere.
- Provides a baseline for atmospheric drag along with its sister Vanguard satellites still in orbit.
- First satellite with solar power.
- First very long-term satellite.(originally estimated at 2,000 years!)
It's even small enough to be HELD by then Senator Lyndon B Johnson... (although I imagine it's a model of the satellite...right?) He doesn't actually look to enthusiastic either... although photos can be deceiving.
Because of its small size, former premier of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev nick named it the "grapefruit satellite"..>! always a way with words Mr "America sleeps under a Soviet moon".!< It was famously called "Stayputnik" and "flopnik" by journalists of the day due to the first failures of launch and it is rarely discusses as more than a footnote in history....
But it still remains.... A living piece of history flying over our heads.
Really hope someone can offer some friendly advice here. Yes, I already have an accountant but I'd rather not involve them just yet.
I am self-employed and currently going through my invoices/expenses for 2018/19 tax year. I have just worked out my turnover for the year to be circa £87K. This was far higher than I expected! and has put into VAT threshold I believe.
My profit is more in the region of £40-£50K.
The year before was much less and current year is looking to turnover around £70k but with similar profit to the £40-£50K again
Questions:
- Have I messed up and gone into VAT threshold and technically need to register and pay back the VAT from that date?
- Is there any way I can avoid registering?
- Say that year was an exception, which it technically was as I did more jobs than usual where I have to pay other people. That doesn't usually happen and hasn't since.
- Put £3K of sales into the next tax year (2019/20) to keep under the VAT threshold (even though they were done and paid for in that year?
- Are there any other options I have?
I'm not a great DM, but we had fun.
Do you think being a DM makes you a better player? Does being a player make you a better DM? Or is it just that arcane idea of practice making you better at things?
A work friend of mine recently invited my wife and I to a game night at his place. This was our first time playing games with him, but based on our conversations at work, it was clear he was a seasoned board gamer (or so I thought) based on the games he mentioned he liked and terminology he used.
So, we get to his house and his game for the night is The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Deck-Building Game. I had never played it before but had played other similar deck builders (Dominion, Star Realms, Marvel: Legendary, etc.) He explained the game and we were off. Now here's where the issue came in. I played a card (not sure exactly which one, frankly it's not important) that instructed me to "Draw a card." So, I took a card from the top of my deck as I normally would and my friend said "Oh no, that's not how that works. When a card says draw a card, you draw it from the top of the main deck." I was kind of dumbfounded and then realized he was being serious. I replied "I don't think so, most of the time in these kinds of games drawing a card refers to your own deck. I guess we could check the rules."
So, we looked through the rulebook and weren't able to find a specific rule regarding drawing cards from decks. I could only assume that was because drawing a card is a pretty standard mechanic in most games. I also pointed out there cards that said things like "When you play this card, reveal the top card of the main deck. If it (meets whatever condition), put it into your deck/hand." I explained that if every time you "drew a card" you put the top card of the main deck into your deck, that would make those cards just strictly bad. We finished out the game playing the (correct) way and he admitted the game was way more interesting when you could actually control what was being added to your deck, lol.
What comes to mind when people talk about picks that made no sense at the time?
