i put 15% into mine (6% + 9% from company), which is all pre-tax so it works out around 20-22% of my take-home pay. Just had the paperwork through from last years performance – the pot gained 50% through the stockmarket (a rare occurance, due to it having a smashing year). Pensions are great because they're all pre-tax, even if 'those thiefing manager gits' take 1% a year, having 25% extra per year cos you're not taxed on it is quite nice.

I might not live to see the benefit of it. I'm 27, and commonly ride off large objects high in the sky. On the flip side, I could live till 100, in which case dropping 6% of my take-home on a monthly basis to live in comfort for 35 years seems like a pretty good deal. My grandpa died last year. He was 97. He'd been pulling his pension for the same number of years he'd been paying into it (started work for the government at age 23)

worth thinking about..

another vote for bearback. They've got a hottub on the balcony ffs!

ebay is a good place for cheap cars. I've taken a £75 volvo across the sahara, a £80 volvo 3,800 miles around europe, and a £200 volvo (damn inflation) to cyprus, via the eastern block and turkey. Depending on where you're going, insurance can be a bit dodgy (a lot of the further afield countries you buy insurance on entry, so no point paying extra for cover there). The better trips I've had involve a one-way trip – so you can leave the car there (or flog it, as we did in cypurs) and fly home. Don't bother with breakdown, just take some basic knowledge with you. It's surprisingly easy to limp a car a couple of thousand miles

The Flying Ox – Member

5lab – Member

out of interest – would this also apply to lodgers, if you rented out your spare room? Or as that's not a business transaction (rather, a private one) does the law not apply?

just wondering where the line is drawn

Discrimination is discrimination regardless of where and how it happens. And generally speaking, if you offer to let someone stay in your room and they agree to pay you rent for the priviledge, you have all the ingredients for a legal and binding contract/business transaction.

true, it would still be discrimination (not arguing that) but would it be illegal? discrimination itself isn't illegal – for instance if I like to hold a door open for a hot girl, but not a bloke, that's entirely up to me, and not illegal (in fact, it'd not even be frowned upon). But quite a lot of ads for rooms to rent say stuff like 'girl wanted for house full of girls', or words to that effect. Its discrimination, but as neither party is a business, is it illegal?

nearly every bike i've had has cable mounts with a slit through the top for this exact purpose

as with others, I'd not worry about the milage, but the prices is off

I got a (just under) 6 year old diesel mondeo estate with similar milage for under a grand

how much does a diesel yaris go for these days? would fit the bill if cheap enough

failing that, diesel lupos are stupidly economical

a crown race is one held on land owned by the queen. For instance, a lot of the gorrick series are advertised as crown races, due to being held in swinley forest. if you do well, you get a hat from a cracker which must be attached to your helmet. The colour represents your success, much like tdf jerseys

hth.

out of interest – would this also apply to lodgers, if you rented out your spare room? Or as that's not a business transaction (rather, a private one) does the law not apply?

just wondering where the line is drawn

hookworms go up to 2.5". Not totally slick, about as much tread as a normal road tyre

if the wife doesn't use it much, why wouldn't you just pop them in the boot?

also worth considering other things that fall on the border of 'decorating'

for instance

plastering £2-500 per room
coving – diy = £50 per room
skirting – diy = £20 per room. pain in the arse if the walls aren't true (they won't be)
doors – £100 each for anything quarter-decent.
door frames – the twirly bits round the edge – £20 per door
handles – £20 per door
plug sockets – £100
lights – anything. Replacement basic fittings – £100. changing lights to downlighters (if you needed a sparkie) – £500 per room
kitchen – £5k
bathroom – £2k

I've had to do all them on my place, not the whole way through

any oil in your water? should be fairly obvious. if there is, hg is gone

easy Jon – how's tricks? you need to get down here for a ride, sharpish (I've not ridden since xmas so I'm nice and slow)

the rims are pretty good, not mint but don't look too bad. The brake might already be a 806 (its outside, and cold, so sod that till tomorrow) – if not it's very similar.

I might just stick one of these on

http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/product/298/DNA_VBrake_Plate

and use an old v-brake I've got kicking around

its wierd though – surely a v brake should suffer the same flex issues as a side-pull? obviously the arms are straight but its not that hard to make things strong?

bit of an update on this – sleasyjet paid up, in full, for all costs my gf incurred (booking a last minute flight, getting back from gatwick, getting to heathrow, and getting from geneva to lyon at the other end), without grumbling the other day. Very good of them

thanks for the offer but I don't have any mount for a top-pull brake – has to be side-pull :|

seems strange no-ones made one with a load of metal on it to get round the flex – its not as if weight is a bit issue?

.. anyone?

ah – ok hadn't realised that – so what time does the last racey thing run on sunday?

I'm working on the assumption I'll get into Sunday's race as its the last race – so the latest case scenario. If I don't get in, then no worries, I'll still make my flight.

Thanks for the help – I'll go ahead and book

Hugh

i'd vote for a sigma 18-200 os – worked very well as a single lens for me

I back it up with a 10-20mm sigma and a 200-400mm sigma for long range

the 10% figure is for a roof rack, with some crap on it

I only loose ~15% tying 8 surfboards (total hight approx 2', full width of the car, overhang front and rear) to mine, so I doubt very much you'd get 10% with 2 small bars.

no, no lyrics, just reach for the sky..

oh t'other thing, sony are quite flexible with the warranty dates, if you're within, say, 18 months.

the laser went in my ps3 (release day special). I got sony to replace it with a warrantied refurb unit for £130. I think there is a way of force ejecting disks, but can't remember what it is..

my console arrived after 2 days. Worth baring in mind you'll loose all your save games etc.

one key thing to consider – rental on a given place is only likely cheaper in the short term..

lets say your house costs £1200 pm on a mortgage, or £1000 on a interest only mortgage and the equivilent would cost £800 to rent. Assuming interest rates stay broadly the same, you'll be paying the same amount every month for your time. on the other hand, rent increases broadly in line with inflation – currently averaging around 2.5% pa. By 10 years in you're paying the same amount as the interest only mortgage, and by 17 years in you're onto the repayment mortgage – after 25 years the interest only mortgage would have cost you a total of 10% less than the rent (despite looking 20% more expensive on paper) and the full mortgage only 10% more (but it'd give you an asset at the end of things)

it obviously comes down to a whole lot more than that. Personally, with a kid, I'd not consider the rental option if owning was out there – chances of having to move every 6 months just isn't worth it. I'd be careful of jumping on the consolidation option as well though – putting your 20k onto 5% over 20 years will probably cost more in the long run than leaving it on 10% for 5 years (cba to do the maths).

tighten your belts, cut up the credit cards, and push through

there's a load of building regs around creating bedrooms that you should look into – for instance they need an external light source (window) of a certian size, some ventilation, power, fire regs and so on. Most of its fairly sensible but worth figuring in when you do your work. You'll probably find it easiest to move the utility room, as the kitchen should already have the requisit hot & cold water & waste & power which the other might not have

have a look and see the layout of any identical flats in the same block – might be a reason why its not a bedroom at the moment

whats the advantage of a wood burning stove over just having an open fire (with, presumably, smokeless fuel on it)? more efficient? less hassle?

I'd think i'd miss the open flames??

?

I've been to over 40 countries, so I can add the following to the list

georgia
gibraltar
mauritania
western sahara
syria
lebanon

aids.

you can download POIs (points of interest) to most satnavs (tomtom's definately support it), and there are loads of sites which offer LPG poi databases (the one offered on tt's home app is pretty good, and free). the accuracy isn't always 100%, as its supported by user input

http://www.hotukdeals.com

deals on 32" (from £200), 40", 50" – whatever you want really

is there a reason why a nice set of budget shures isn't on your list? I've been using them for ages, and they're very good.

should be able to get them for around 40 notes

I found some tinnies in my drawer at work (!) that were a year gone. Had them anyway, they were fairly nasty – very hoppy flavour.

felt fine, other than the taste.

I've 8" (snigger) with some loftboards on top, I think any more than that and you're not going to see a lot of benefit

B&Q have their insulation this cheap every year. They have 15% off if you spend over £50 tomorrow onwards (but they do that quite often too).

this

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Home-improvements-and-products/Home-insulation-glazing/Loft-insulation

suggests going 5cm-25 isn't a huge benefit, so I recon 20-30cm is even less?

I'd waste your money on some spades, and build a nice trail. Or, some loft boards, board it, stick the wife up there and turn the dining room into a bike workshop

I've got 75mm fittings, and run 78mm bulbs. Take your bulb out at home and see if you have some play on the fitting itself – mine are sprung so can do ~5mm either side

where the **** is the plaster coming from? has someone plastered your roof? :o

I wouldn't chop the boards down – as mentioned they're t&g on all 4 sides, and the floor will be stronger if you keep them that way.

My floor had ~800mm centers, the boards are 1200mm. So I laid another set of joists, over the top of the last ones (at 600mm intervals), secured down and built the floor on that. This gave twice the height for insulation (8" vs 4"), allows cables with ease, and made laying the boards easy (you also want to stagger the boards so the joins don't line up, this worked well for me).

The reccomendation is for 400mm between joists. I recon 600mm is fine (they move a bit if you bounce on them, and might not be suitable for heavy traffic, but seems fine) – I'd say 800mm between them may be pushing things a bit if you want to support weight – especially if you're only going to have 2" of the board on a beam at either end (doesn't take much to bend chipboard, and you don't wanna be putting your foot through it

cost me about £120 for the flooring, about a fiver on screws. There's another thread on here for last week with lots of details. Takes about a day, very satisfying job

Agreed, however, all flights cancelled to\from gatwick today were both legs (ie, milan to gatwick and gatwick to milan). With this the case, surely any planes that should have been in Gatwick already were (if you see what I mean)??

Apparently they've said they'll pay for any flights with other airlines, which makes me suspicious that either somethings going on,or they're telling porkies. Mrs. 5lab is trying to get a bunch of french people, who don't speak english, onto a train to Dover (bless) so they can cross there. I don't envy any of them..