Don’t worry about work, that will sort itself out. Good for you for making the brace decision and doing what is right for you.

Out of interest, what could I expect to pay for a similar setup, fitted by a professional?

I find some of the attitudes on here of ‘it was ever thus’ very depressing. We shouldn’t be looking for a rush to the bottom, and it seems that as your lad is young then being treated badly is overlooked. I’m sure many people would be outraged if they were subject to verbal abuse in a more ‘professional’ environment.

We treat our apprentices at work very well indeed, and you can see this is reflected in their attitude and commitment to the company.

Seems you can’t have a thread on STW which has even the slightest mention of a car without one of the stw self proclaimed driving gods arguing for the sake of arguing

If you get a soundbar and want it to be easy for the wife and kids to use, look at getting one with hdmi and not optical. This should allow you to use your tv remote to control the volume

Oh no! Disaster strikes!

Maybe a fellow stwer could come and collect you in his hybrid BMW and take you to the shops to buy a new one. I’d give it a while though, there may be a delay as he doesn’t have Pro Nav so may run out of fuel before he gets to your house

I’m not sure the phrase “first world problem” does justice to the anguish this must be causing

I have recently been through this. I needed new frames, so chose the ones I wanted in Vision Express (£240!), then found them online for £90.

I looked at ciliary blue, and the thinnest lenses for me would be £95 (-1.74 index).

I went to Specsavers for a free eye test, and whilst there they quoted me £90 for the -1.74 lenses, with a £35 fitting fee. Given that I got a free eye test with them, I thought the extra £35 fitting fee was fair enough so I went with Specsavers.

Liam Gallagher

What you really need to ask yourself is “what sunglasses for a mass produced italian car”

Essel – a genuine thanks for your posts. It is very interesting to hear your view, my wife is a public servant who’s area is underfunded and under attack by the government and it is easy to draw parallels

A 10k drop might sound a lot, but it depends what your start salary is. If you are on 60k then it’s probably not that bad (especially as you lose 40% to the taxman), but if you are on 30k it’s a much tougher pill to swallow.

Also consider your day to day costs – will the commute cost more or less when you move to Devon?

If you like hearty food then definitely try the cape of good hope on the canal. Traditional pub with great food and great beers

As mentioned, the Saxon mill is a nice environment but it is very gastro pub, and I often find the food very underwhelming

I was on a China southern flight from Dubai recently which somebody was clearly smoking on. When I questioned it, they denied anybody was smoking. People have different standards in China. I think that £200 extra for Emirates is money well spent!

+1 to the wild boar.

Also try the cape of good hope on the canal in Warwick, good food and beer

Plenty of good ale around those parts. I’d go in search of a pint or two of bathams bitter

Looks like you are doing a good job, keep the pics coming as you go along!

Good luck, small donation made to a good cause

I’m not saying that they are comparable, but what I am saying is that we already have a large amount of automation in cars at this point in time. People on this thread are suggesting that based on sat navs and windows computers that they wouldn’t trust automated systems, but the truth is that they already do. A software bug in engine software, gearbox software, etc could put people in danger, but we do have standards that have to be adhered to, so that this risk is mitigated.

You are right, the decisions that a gearbox has to make are many many fewer than autopilot, but incorrect gearbox software could still result in tragic consequences.

Too late – I agree.

V8ninety – I see your point about responding to drivers inputs – if you press the accel pedal halfway, then you might reasonably expect the software to implement this for you. This should be the case but don’t be under an illusion that you have direct control, a software bug could prevent this from happening. Fortunately there are standards and procedures followed to mitigate this risk.

In this example though the driver makes the concious decision how far to press the accelerator pedal. Same with steer by wire, and brake by wires systems- they should respond to what the driver is asking for. The problem that I see with autopilot is the computer becomes the driver and makes the combined decision on how far the press the accel pedal, how much to steer, how much to brake. A huge amount of subconscious decisions and observations are made during driving which I don’t believe a computer is able to replicate yet, or maybe ever.

The inputs to the engine and gearbox are purely electrical though. The software decides what to do with those inputs, there is no mechanical override other than obviously the brakes – but in hybrid and electrical cars they are becoming increasingly computer controlled due to energy regen.

The point is that we already have a high degree of automation, which if not properly implemented and standards followed, could be dangerous. Teslas autopilot system implies that the driver doesn’t need to take any notice (even if that isn’t the case, that’s how it will be interpreted), and this is a step too far.

To those saying that they wouldn’t trust their life to an automated system on the basis on using a Windows pc, or that new tech up to now isn’t safety critical (sat navs etc), then how much control do you think you have driving a modern car with an automatic gearbox? The engine is fly by wire and the shift lever has no mechanical link to the transmission for selection of neutral.

There are standards that if aren’t followed the manufacturers will find themselves liable. Tesla are in a very grey area by referring to this functionality as beta, In my opinion it should not be present on a production car if it is genuine beta software.

I’ve done a few now. I find it easier to write if I come up with a basic structure, this helps to get the words down and then it begins to flow. My suggestion is

1. Introduction, maybe an opening joke
2. Thank everybody for being there, thank bridesmaids, parents etc
3. Funny anecdotes/piss taking of the groom
4. Wrap up with heartfelt bit about bride and groom

Easy peasy

You haven’t left it too late, so don’t worry about that

Google fasteners.

You are in Cardiff aren’t you?

Clicky

Before we bought our house we were renting. When I gave notice to the landlord that we were leaving, he contacted several letting agents to come and view the house so he could choose an agent. I then had a load of agents contact me so that they could come and inspect the place.

The look on their faces when they all turned up and realised I had booked them in for a block viewing was priceless

Another vote for st moritz. Been a couple of times, really enjoyed it.

Evo outlet on eBay

Another vote for the rage

Search for Evo outlet on eBay, they sell their reconditioned stock. My 255mm compound mitre saw was £99 delivered, which was a healthy saving over screw fix prices

I just turned up when I knew the surveyor was due to be present. I got much more from talking to the surveyor in person than from the report.

Remove cassette. Put in parts washer at work. Job done.

Does this involve much faffing or is there an image I can download?

Perhaps you could have taught him some of your awesome filtering skillz instead of being abusive?

The machines all produce the same coffee, so it’s really down to the style and extra features like how easy it is to get a cup underneath, basket for the old pods etc

If you fly business, make sure to take pretentious photos of yourself wearing crappy shoes

Can’t think of a name now but congratulations, you must be incredibly proud!

Pretentious flight picture, sh*te shoes.

Was going to suggest syncback free, don’t use it in my Nas but I do use it at work for network backups

Cheers for suggestions so far, I’ll be staying in the ibis hotel

Looks good but Google is suggesting it opens at 9am which is a little late. Any idea if this is correct or is google telling fibs?