This happened to a close friend of mine when he was 20, he did recover through medication and close observation, and now leads a normal life, some sad stories here, hope it works out.

This is the reason I only ride twice a week generally, there’s no way around it my legs need rest days and I won’t put up with the aching leg feeling.

Accountancy friend of mine left a big 4 job for a SME accountancy firm (about 30 staff). He enjoys it a lot more as he is out meeting with tech clients around Old Street area. So maybe you could look at joining a smaller accountancy firm with a tech focus?

Women with no sense of decorum when it comes to ablutions.
Such as, “I need to go for a wee”, when they could simply say they needed the toilet.

Tory here, but Badnewz is shoring up the UKIP vote.
Cue abuse.

I went past an aggressive old dog on my ride today, although in this case it was the husband who was on the leash.

I had this from Saturday to today, started with muscle aches, ended with the $hits, luckily I could work from home. Paracetamol sorted out the muscle aches.

I like old Hank Williams and late Johnny Cash.
The recent stuff out of Nashville is IMO over-produced and lacks soul. I tried to listen to a live acoustic session by Brad Paisley and it was awful, a lot of the new stuff is testament to the quality of the technical engineers in the Studio rather than the songwriting skills of the artist.

Check out the Open to Export[/url] website

UK Trade & Investment also offer a number of free or subsidised services, things like market research and trade visits. They can sort you out with an International Trade Advisor.

As much as I curse them, hangovers always keep my drinking to a reasonable limit. I had a busy social week just gone and spent the weekend in bed feeling rotten.
Someone told me a definition of an alcoholic is someone who can’t stop drinking for two days.

Perhaps we could set-up a STW birthday virtual office cake fund. Obviously at Waitrose.
Happy Birthday.

Online gambling is a bleeding menace. I’ve seen two families wrecked in less than a year because of a habit that got out of control – not helped by the ubiquitous ads on TV.

I also shared a flat with a spreadbetter who lost 30k plus in 3 months.

Support group I guess is first port of call, I imagine they will have people who know what the best way of handling it is, e.g. stopping access to bank funds, banning themselves from sites (but there are so many of them!).

I’d like to see online gambling made completely illegal.

As above I think Knox knows what happened, and was probably instrumental in the killing.
Feel for the victim’s family, they are living in purgatory.

Divorces left, right and center among people I know this year. My observation about their various settlements: although gender plays a big role, i.e. women seem to get a good deal, it tends to come down to who is the nastier party, e.g. using mindgames, lawyering up, poisening the kids against the ex, until the other partner just caves in. I have seen a depravity to human nature which they don’t teach you about in school.

Fair enough chap, I hope that made you feel better.

I have zero sympathy for the “poor pilot”. If the theory that he deliberately crashed the plane is true, then he has committed an act of mass murder.

The only ex I still think about was hardly an ex, as I only saw her for a few weeks.
I think the reason I romanticise is the fact that we never got past the honeymoon period. She did have bad breath mind.

Uffici is worth a visit, from memory you can book in advance so you don’t have to queue.

Lucca is a great place to go btw, a good place to hire a bike for a morning.

I used to own a TV which without warning would go to full volume for a few seconds.
My family used to complain it scared them senseless in the middle of the night.
I then gave it to my cousin Kevin and it proceeded to do the same to his family.

I’m looking forward to it. I think Blur have the musical range to transcend their time. They have always been open to new influences and each band member is very individual.
Anything to save us from the unremitting boredom of Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and co.

I can’t abide “special” occasions. Birthdays, Christmas, Mothers Day – they are poisonous occasions when people get highly emotional, overexcited and/or depressed.
I think your boy has the right idea.

Epic Steve, re getting booted from private schools if the money runs out, admittedly I only have experience of one school, so I imagine it depends where you send the kids. But if the family goes bankrupt, which is not uncommon, then there is no possibility of the kids for being able to stay for more than a year. The other parents would be asking, why are we then paying XX amount a year?!
My pennies worth: I attended a “failing” state school on a council estate, but I succeeded, ending up with a PhD from Oxford. The private school sector gets good results because they churn out the coursework, revising it again and again until it is A star.
I would be in favour of bringing back grammar schools, but I wouldn’t want to start another war on this here forum!

One word: Expensive.
Haven’t read all this thread, so apologies if this has been said already, but when doing your financial calculations, make sure you factor in private school fee inflation.
I worked at a private school for a maternity cover once and if you can’t keep up with the fees, you are out. They may be registered charities, but they are ruthless and it is ultimately a monetary transaction.

This forum is up there with Championship Manager in terms of negative impact on national GDP.

I’ve known a few MTBing couples down the years. Some get on really well and make a great team, others end up bringing their domestics onto the trails and which point it’s Exit Badnewz.

Just out of interest, any STWers who have made it BIG with bitter ex-wives living in council houses?

I only go at walking pace anyway.

Then why don’t you just walk with the bike?

I can’t stand people who cycle on pavements, the more they caution or nick the better.

I only enjoy climbing when I’m very fit, the sun is out and with a fun group.
Otherwise I’m too tired to enjoy the descent and more likely to have a bad off.

Good time of year to be made redundant – Spring around the corner, lots of bike rides, jumpers for goalposts etc

Ive got my fingers crossed this is the arrival of spring.
Off for a ride later, planning a longer one for Friday or Saturday when the wind should have gone.

US companies are well known for pushing you to your limits, plus being ruthless when they need to be.
I’d do some research around them first.

In terms of saving, it used to be do-able to save for a deposit for a house. I don’t see how that’s possible now unless you are on mega-money.
Cars you may as well take advantage of the credit offers.
So I spend my cash on quality items, rather than lots of crap. But I don’t see the point in saving as the economy doesn’t reward it anymore.

Had to switch off after seeing the little boy having his baby teeth taken out.
The mother should be put in the stocks for a week.

People blaming Russia need their heads tested.
The blame falls on the EU and their muscle NATO for setting up camp in what should have been left as buffer zones after the fall of the Soviet Union. They are the real aggressors in the long term.
We are also on the precipice of another financial crisis, thanks again to the EU and its utopian idea and reckless enforcement of the single currency.

Good sunny day yesterday down south but the bite in the wind was a reminder winter isn’t over just yet.

Sounds very positive, this is good news, says badnewz.

Also Obourne underestimates how the internet has undermined the traditional newspaper business. The fact is it’s impossible to make much money out of papers now, The Guardian is a massive loss-maker, but I get the impression the DT owners wanted to try to stem the losses and Obourne has interpreted that as some kind of mismanagement.

Obourne’s articles have been getting decimated by the comments on the DT. He is an average journalist at best, and no great loss. But the DT has been going downhill for a long time now, featuring as much fluff as MailOnline.

This thread reminds me why I never got into road cycling.
Exit Badnewz, pursued by a never-tested-positive bear.