Any question answered...

Could you argue that every record you’ve bought and your turntables and mixer has been an investment in time to get you to this point as a professional? Allowing you to practice and refine your technique?

We used rentalcars.com to book one which ended up being with Tolis Cars. It was straightforward and we didn't have any issues which is as good a recommendation as I can give

I tend to use kayak and tick collect from airport (no shuttle) which rules out the more dubious (albeit cheaper) options.

Also get excess insurance from someone like questor.

I downloaded a big file from Google drive and it downloaded as a load of 2GB chunks named FILENAME-001.zip, FILENAME-002.zip etc

When I try and extract using 7 zip it only does the contents of the first zip.

I tried renaming to FILENAME.z01 etc but 7 zip didn't even recognise that.

I tried sticking them together with

Copy /B *.zip joined.zip

but again when I extracted that only gave me the first 2GB.

Any suggestions? I'm sure it didn't used to be this tricky but it's a long time since I've needed to extract a multi part zip rather than rar.

Could you argue

You could, but it's not an argument you're likely to win. Expenses occur after you have started trading. If you transfer relevant assets such as tools and materials from your personal possession to your business in order to start trading, you account for them at a realistic market value as though you were selling them to an unrelated party.

So you could go onto Discogs, get take the lowest estimate of your collection they provide, plus the average sale value of your mixer and turntables on eBay sold listings and claim for that? If that's true I need to get a gig DJing asap...

As IR told me, if you aren't making any income from your freelance job, you can't expense it anymore - "it's just an expensive hobby"...

But only if you then only ever used the equipment for business use I think.

Only if they are used wholly and exclusively for your DJ business.

No listening for pleasure or the revenue will be knocking at the door.

They're welcome to come over any time and listen to the records in a strictly professional context with me. Hands in the air if you love capital gains!

One could argue that listening to records at home constitutes preparation work vital for Djing. In the same way that, while I don't get paid for looking up how to do something in After Effects on YouTube that I promised a client I already knew how to do, but it's a vital part of my work development

Precisely. You have to know your breakdowns and your drops. Case closed

-spends half my annual earnings on Turkish psych-

They're on to us. Hide!

1 Attachment

Is the 'cage' of an 8 speed front mech wider than a 10 speed?

One could argue

Again, an argument which will need support from evidence. Using your work tools on unpaid projects is probably legitimate training, using them for pleasure or home improvement is a benefit which you're extracting from the business so it counts as personal revenue.

In general, for a side gig to count towards your overall profit/loss, you need to have a good faith belief, and make reasonable endeavours to ensure, that it will eventually be profitable.

How much do I need to spend to get a decent folding sack barrow that won't explode as soon as I look at it? Is this £22.50 bad boy from Argos going to be absolutely shit? I want something to lug ~15kg of cymbals/cymbal case about town.

IMHO I think you'll get what you pay for. I bought one almost identical from RS for around £80.00.
It did everything I asked of it.

We've got a very similar one at work and it's quite handy. I very much doubt it'll last long with 60kg on it, but 15kg should be ok and if you can strap or bungee your cymbal case to the back it won't bounce around. Since it's Argos, I'd just get one and if it's not suitable you can take it back.

Is this £22.50 bad boy from Argos going to be absolutely shit?

Yes. If you can stand the larger collapsed bulk, their 90kg telescoping model looks acceptable, £42 on Argos or less from some of the many other people selling the same product.

Hmmm, £42 seems like a lot to spend on not having to put up with a tired arm for a bit every couple of weeks but £22.50 seems like a lot to throw away on something shit. Maybe I'll just save the money and do some press ups.

£42 seems like a lot

It's £35 at https://www.vonhaus.com/vh_en/90kg-folding-sack-truck

Once you have a decent sack barrow, you will suddenly find a lot of uses for it.

That's the thing, this will be a secondary, very specific sack barrow. I already have a big, beefy one that I use for all sorts of stuff. I'd just like something less bulky for when I just need to transport this specific thing. The obvious option is of course to buy a cargo bike and not have to worry about the easiest way to transport my cymbals on public transport at all.

this will be a secondary, very specific sack barrow

Then do as @Jonny69 suggests; get the cheap Argos one and take it back when it breaks.

My cheap folder from Argos will often fold at the slightest provocation, unless it's on a perfectly smooth surface and carrying enough weight to hold the wheels in place.
Now I carry stuff rather than deal with the inconvenience...