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paying someone else to clean my house
Automatic cars. Cats. 29ers. Nihlism.
Bit niche I know. Ice climbing axes used to have wrist loops so that your hands didn’t slip off the shafts(!).
Might be OK on sport routes but a friend's wife dropped an axe half way up a multi-pitch ice climb in the Alps - that was a palaver and a half, we had to down climb several pitches to retrieve it. I'd always want them attached to me so they can't go missing even if I don't hang on the leashes. After the massive faff we ended up finishing the route, down the glacier mid afternoon, just in time for all the mini-creveses to open up as the sun had melted their lids, lots of the leader disappearing up to his waist every few hundred yards.....
Planning a cuillins traverse soon, it may see action then.
Ooh, wanna buy the rope?
Mine is sat in the cupboard looking at me pristeenly and forlornly every time I rummage about for scrambling kit.
Lovely lightweight 8mm by 40m Mammut loveliness. Seems such a waste to have only used it one day ever, but equally seems even more of a waste to trash it hauling the kids up various lake District ghylls.
Henderson's Strong & Northern Relish.
I though it was just another Worcester Sauce but I was wrong it was so good I actually "drink" it ... I am going to buy more. It is bloody good.
Automatics - amazing invention, would never go back to manual now.
Electronic gears on bikes - SRAM AXS is just sublime
Olives - took a long while to come to terms with them
E-bikes
Wide, carbon tubeless wheels on road bikes. Run at low pressures the magic carpet effect is incredible!
I’d always want them attached to me so they can’t go missing even if I don’t hang on the leashes.
When people say 'leashless' what they usually mean is wristloopless. Pretty much everyone I know, myself included, uses a leash of some sort when climbing 'leashless'. 🙂
+1 for Apple products
+1 for Henderson’s, since turning veggie I was looking for a Worcestershire Sauce replacement, Henderson’s fills the spot very well
MrsMC
First met at an event briefing when she was bossing around her group, and I thought "The poor sod that marries that."
26 years later, I'm utterly convinced I was right.
Norovirus. I thought it was a myth or at least just a tummy bug before the first time I had it. Turns out I was labouring under a misapprehension.
😳
Full suspension mountain bikes, after 10 years of hard tails
1x - Couldn't believe I'd not the options.
Dropper - hardtail still doesn't have one and I miss it every time.
Netflix - their own content is often reason enough to subscribe. I assumed it would be docusoaps(? - like TOWIE?) and cop shows only.
Pick up trucks then I saw the Ford F-150 Lightning.
It is so electric it will even power your house - if it is 120vac.
I want one but thankfully cant afford one even though it wont fit in a Devon lane or a parking bay.
I want one but thankfully cant afford one even though it wont fit in
aDevonlane or a parking bay.
FIFY. Is awesome though. I reckon you'd get 2 29ers in the frunk.
Beer.
29ers. I am riding stuff i couldnt on a santa cruz nomad on a 130mm travel 29er. And faster everywhere.
Kids. Who wants that hassle? Turns out me. Twice.
Red wine. Olives. Humus.
Always willing to learn
29ers here too. Thought wheel size couldn't make that much difference. But ditched 26" long ago after trying my first big wheeler.
Still not convinced by wireless earbuds. None I've tried got anywhere near loud enough.
Quooker tap in the kitchen
SUV's and brand new cars on PCP deals....same as what I was paying on loans for second or third hand cars for brand new motors.
+1 for paying someone else to clean your house
and building on that paying trades people for doing jobs you can do yourself - used to never consider getting a tradesperson in unless I had to or the job was too big for me. But recently got in a painter and decorator to do the hall starts and landing and he had the job licked in half the time I would have taken and did a far better job and didn't ruin things as he went along, like dripping paint on carpets and stuff. And wasn't really that expensive in the end.
Bose QC35s headphones, seemed insanely over priced and resisted for years. Wear them for several hours every day now.
Smart phones. Didnt think I needed anything like it, till I tried one
That was me with mobile phones (pre-smartphones). My BIL gave me his old Nokia which just sat in my pocket unloved. Then a colleague brought an iPhone 3GS into the office. I was instantly hooked, this was so much more than a phone and now a useful thing to cart around. I still don't use my iPhone as a phone very much. Or a camera.
Single speed. Always seemed like making life hard for yourself for no good reason and I was too old for that sort of nonsense. Love it now
Oh, and C&H of course
Automatic Gearboxes
Podcasts
Coriander
Android (Apple is truly shite)
Paint rollers
Guinness
Thermal vests
Sensible jumpers
@thegeneralist, aye, go on then. Could meet up for a ride to grab it from you? No huge rush, be good to meet in the lakes.
Onesies. Swore never ever. Got one as a Christmas present. Soooo cosy.
Titanium framed road bikes. Thought advocates were describing the emperor's new clothes. How wrong. Limousine smooth.
Salt and chilli chips
Titanium framed road bikes. Thought advocates were describing the emperor’s new clothes. How wrong. Limousine smooth.
Yep.
Oh, and C&H of course
Not sure I was ever sceptical
didn’t ruin things as he went along, like dripping paint on carpets
Bit that’s how you get a nice new carpet on insurance to go with the freshly painted walls.
For me- mountain bikes. Saw some lads at a bmx track on their diddy little bike & pyjama suits in the late 70s. Thought it was a fad like skateboarding. Then at uni a friend had a muddy fox in the late 80s til he left it unchained in Toxteth. Again thought it was a silly fad!
Marriage....
Turned out i was right...
Dual/multiple monitors. Resisted for years at work, as they'd take up too much room on the desk. Went on holiday, came back to find 2 monitors had been fitted in my absence, much to my disappointment.
Can't work without them now, even converted to them at home. (You think bikes are bad for differing standards?!?)
Nothing really bike wise. I suppose 29ers, as the first ones I tried weren't my cup of tea, and its still not a deal breaker if something is 27.5. Possibly 1x, I ran it in the early 00's on DJ/4x hardtails and DH bikes but liked 2 and 3x as I got older and went for longer, more XC/trail, rides for the range. Then 11 speed came out, I was worried I wouldn't be able to shift to an easier gear as quick as dropping from middle to granny, but 10 mins with it soon put my worries to rest.
Aperol Spritzers at the end of a hot day.
*hic
Unsprung weight every which way...
Traction?
Mmmm hmmmm
Pop?
Oh yes
General feeling of unencumbered wellbeing and manoeuvrability deftly juxtaposed with ploughable unflappability in any and all terrain or ****ery this space time continuum can provide ?
No Diggity
Dropper posts and ebikes.
I should be disgusted with myself.
Bumsex, yeah bumsex.
I mean bumbag.
Semi-slick tyres like the Rockrazor for proper riding. Just didn't think it'd work, then I didn't think it'd work for anyone that wasn't a biking god, then I thought it'd work sometimes, now I have one on the back of hte bike for a good chunk of the year and love it.
Though, I wish you could get a 2.6 29er Rockrazor 🙁
dubstep
Disney buying Lucasfilm. Wow, just wow.
Boeing 787 vs Airbus A380. Surely nobody would want to fly direct from say Newcastle to Los Angeles? Oh, apparently they do (well, did).
FAT skis on piste (>100 under foot). Hilarious. My god they can carve!?!?!
Snowboarding. Surely a fad?
Swapping to winter tyres in the UK.
Automatics – amazing invention, would never go back to manual now.
Until you have to drive an automatic Berlingo or Partner; the shift is so slow the damn things are like a nodding donkey. Of course, you can stick them into Manual and use the paddles, but they’re fixed on the column, so awkward to use. I’ve driven lots of them, familiarity has certainly bred contempt.
Otherwise, I’ve grown to love autos, I specifically looked for a semi-auto when I bought my new car - one-foot driving is so relaxing! 😁
Ok dubstep was a hilarious joke but this time I'm serious: Pairing socks, like your mummy used to do.
When you've got socks for all seasons stuffed into one drawer nearly overflowing they've got to be paired to spare you your sanity even just trying to find a pair of socks of matching yarn & texture nevermind colour/pattern. To accomplish this you need two sock drawers, one for odd socks, the other for paired socks. Every time you put them away pair them. Look for matches to the odd socks in the odd sock drawer. I'm now down to ~10 odd socks, I'm so happy.
I ran out of socks because of an 'odd sock' bag. The first odd sock went in, then its pair, and I had no idea.
The only sensible approach is a stockpile of identical socks and bin the rest.
Hoodies. 56 before I bought my first, harrumphed and thought why the **** does a sweatshirt need a hood that's as weatherproof as blotting paper which is mostly going to be worn indoors anyway? Now utterly convinced.
Chromebooks
mustard - used to hate the taste but now love it
dropper posts
full fat Greek yoghurt on museli
electric blankets in the winter
Edit:
Country music and bluegrass. Sneered at it for years, despite being a big folk music fan. Realised it's just American folk, ditched the snobbery and realised there's some incredible stuff out there. This realisation prompted me to be a lot more open minded and receptive to other stuff I'd previously ignored or unfairly dissed.
Spelling preventative preventive.
Fish (i thought it all tasted like the smell of smoked kipper until i was in my 20s)
Getting up at 4.45 to ride singletrack before work.
Keg beer.
Apple products. Always dismissed them as a 'lifestyle' thing until I got my first iPhone. Slowly switching stuff over as things break.
There is suspension on tractors?
When did that happen.