DM loving the Sue Gray job.
Gotta love the way the poor tories portray themselves as victims of leftie plots.

Having said that, I can’t help thinking the Labour job offer to Sue Gray is just handing the Tories a massive stick. Another own goal.

Impressively strong gantry!

On balance I’d definitely prefer an estate (although I’m not sure how my old Volvo 940 would stack up from a size/environmental impact point of view). I’ve also had a Forester (a great car) in the past that was actually smaller than the 940…
At the moment it is surprisingly difficult to actually order hybrid estates so I’ve ended up ordering a Mazda CX60 as a company car. I’m feeling a bit conflicted but for balance we also have a 20 year old Cooper S. I’ll also endeavour not to drive like a ****.

This thread is possibly why I love Singletrack so much….

I like my Trangia for the ‘experience’ of using it.

For solo wanderings I actually use a mini which gets round most of the bulk comments. Non-stick frying pan is great for bacon.

No doubt Jetboils etc are far more efficient (well not for cooking bacon…)

@daveylad – don’t do it!

It’ll make you bad fettle – Clarkson and his farming mates say some bad things about Brexit!!!

Go for a walk at lunchtime

Get out with the dog

Spend as much time with friends as possible

One of the highlights of my week was watching a murmuration leaving work yesterday evening – I could even hear the birds wings – magic!

My mum really suffered at this time of year – so I totally understand how low people can feel

I ride a rim braked Kinesis Aithein in the Lakes – plenty of shit roads and steep hills. Don’t feel the need for disc brakes… But I’m a fair weather luddite… 🤣

Having said that I wouldn’t want rim brakes on my mountain or cross bikes!!!

Altered Carbon

Andor
The Peripheral

At least we (the denizens of Workington) got rewarded for voting in an ex-kipper 🤣

Raw material cost for elastomers has risen at an astonishing rate.

Having said that a quick look on Amazon suggests you only need to paying £7 – £8 for a box… (still a big jump in percentage terms).

No tips for the adolescent loss of recall other than it does comes back!

We also worked really hard on resource guarding from the start (basically because the breed can be prone to this so just ‘nip it in the bud’).We can take anything off Callie without any problem (including food). However we have friends with a WCS and he is sod for for not handing stuff over – even when it isn’t his!

Another point that I don’t think has been mentioned and might be contentious but I really wouldn’t recommend picking up the dog at eight weeks old. Try to leave him/her until ten/twelve weeks. That extra few weeks of socialisation with mum and siblings in our experience makes for an easier and less ‘flighty’ pup.

Working cockers tend to have shorter hair, smaller ears and a less domed head. All cockers are ‘high energy’ dogs but ones from a working line tend to be more so. Show cockers tend to be more sedate (note this is relative!!!) and are more feathered.

Not noticed a difference in terms of price hike or kudos though… Just a question of knowing the breed.

Here is a link if your interested: https://spanieldogs.com/working-cocker-vs-show-cocker-know-all-differences/

We have a working Cocker – they are amazing creatures but you have to put the effort in. We don’t work her but she is trained to a whistle.

They do need stimulation but note this isn’t the same as taking them for long walks (that’ll just make ’em fitter…). Simple things like getting them to look for treats in long grass. Let them sniff on lead walks!

Best advice I can give is to look at the Working Cocker Spaniel UK Facebook group – lots of great advice there!

I did something similar with my ’09 Flux (DW link).

Moved to 1×11 (11-42) with NW chainring (34) and clutch rear mech. Never dropped a chain so didn’t try to fit a chain device.
This freed up space on the bars for the dropper post remote.

Big improvement from my perspective and worked really well.

@tjagain The guy is a ‘local made good’ but who now lives on Cornwall. The amusing bit is he apparently supports local food banks etc whereas Jenky is on record as saying locals swap vouchers for drugs… Not an obvious fit 🤣.

But good enough to give an extra £67 0000/yr as a gift…

Centralist scum here. Also proper full on **** the tories remainer that is proud to work in UK manufacturing (so I have some real world grasp of the damage Brexit has done).

I like fast cars almost as much as I like bikes. Oh and I actually ride bikes (about 10000KM/yr).

Dogs are ace – particularly spaniels but I like cats too 🤣.

So I’m not sure what STW tribe I fit into but I do like it here…

Jenky is my local MP.

Trust me when I say telling him anything other than ‘well done for keeping Corbyn and his lefties out’ or ‘well done for getting Brexit done’ and you’re wasting your time… Have a look at the rest of his twitter account of bile if you don’t believe me.

You should have gone to the air museum – definitely not dull. Well, providing you like airplanes and tanks…. 😆

They probably just lack your excellent genes Davey.

Sellafield has opened new offices in Whitehaven with the aim of bringing more hard cash into the town centre. The harbourside is actually really nice!

So Whitehaven isn’t quite a ‘waste town’. Although it is full of jam eaters…

Agree with the ‘modifying cars’ comments.

IME they can be great fun but not as daily drivers.

My last modded car was a Saab 9000 Carlsson that Abbott Racing had tuned. I loved that car but basically I completely buggered the reliability. Fun while it lasted though!

Rolling road had it with 260hp at the front wheels so was ‘quite pokey’. Sorry Simon… I was young.
Also having said that 260hp isn’t actually that powerful if you look at a typical modern rep mobile. Plenty enough for a H reg Saab though…

I particularly like the ones where people drive up the river by accident 🤣

Howies. Not cheap but super comfy and seem to last forever. Also fit is absolutely perfect from my perspective meaning I can mail order without hassle.

I bought a refurbished Latitude 5289 from Dellrefurbished.co.uk in February.

Fast delivery, exactly as described – a few tiny cosmetic marks so I’d definitely recommend them.

Just had a quick look at the site and there are loads of machines <£500 at the moment so probably worth a look.

I assumed the awfulness is actually designed in to persuade people to sign up for the ad-free version.

Nothing could be that bad by accident…

Sunak’s ‘restoring integrity’ project continues apace 😂
https://news.sky.com/story/rishi-sunak-was-told-of-bullying-claims-against-gavin-williamson-days-before-hiring-him-12739618

I tend to watch it whilst on turbo – it puts an hour in!
Agree with bsn’s comment above though – Cathro’s Pinkbike stuff really is a cut above and the Academy suffers a bit by comparison.

Reading this makes me realise how lucky we are – our Cocker actively likes fireworks!
While she is from a working line, we don’t actually work her (i.e. she doesn’t go on shoots) so perhaps a combination of bloodline and training from a very young age – she doesn’t go mad at doorbell/hoover/lawn mower either.
Some dogs just seem to be more susceptible too. I feel your pain. It sucks for the dogs (and presumably other animals).

The Peripheral is definitely worth a look. I thought the book would be impossible to film but the screen writer (s) have tweaked the story a bit but kept the concept brilliantly. At least as far as episode 4 anyway 😃

And another of Truss’s appointees – JRM’s ex business partner Dominic Johnson gets the push too.

But here is the best bit – he was made a Lord to carry out the role as a government minister but he doesn’t have to give that back!!!

By some strange coincidence ‘Lord’ Johnson was vice chairman of the tory party from ’16 – ’19 and has donated £250 000 to the scummy bastards since 2014.

Ouch. Just had a look.

Down nearly 14% in 12 months (half of that after some event in September…). Up a total of about 6% over last five years.

Just as well I’m not planning on retiring soon 😂

I didn’t read that as a particularly damning review to be honest.

It’s just a bike designed for a particular purpose.

I’ve got a Lux Trail (slightly slacker head angle/dropper post/heavier frame) and its a great bit of kit for the riding I do (I live in the Lakes before anyone decides I live in Norfolk…).

Providing she hasn’t still got access to any big red buttons…

Local surgery helpfully came into the factory where I work today to vaccinate everyone over 50 who wanted it.
Really good take up. Just waiting now to see if I have any short term effects…

I’m pretty confident you can’t (ever if you are a Strava subscriber).

To be fair, my MP (Mark Jenkinson) is actually busy tweeting all manner of tory bullshit. I suppose he’s loyal if nothing else.

He’ll be looking forward to the conference. At this rate the **** will be in the cabinet (although Truss hasn’t actually had to stoop that low yet).

I have no time whatsoever for Andrew but there is no way he is ‘copping a feel’ of his daughter!

We fitted ‘genuine’ Karndean flooring 15 years ago to a new build. It’s still going strong (two kids and a dog have grown up in the house). Flooring covers close to 80m2.
It does have the odd scratch – however we fitted little felt feet protectors to the bottom of all furniture…
It is very slidey for kids and dogs though.

We fitted a cheaper version upstairs (ran out of money during the build 😀) – the upstairs looks far worse (but not terrible) in a much lower footfall area.