Convert….they will be getting other things but my eldest loves the tour and bikes it would make his day to think any of them had taken the time to write his name on a photo and sign it.

By the way if I saw any of them I would probably bottle it I wouldn’t want to disturb them, if I write a letter/e mail etc they can always just ignore it if they haven’t the time which is understandable in the circumstances.

Right here is the plan, the next person to see Wiggo or froome (in real life) or their wives etc can you let him/them know I’m after autographs for my kids birthdays please. Someone has to bump into one of them soon right?

How’s this for a missed opportunity at the time my best mates dad was Brian Lockwood (rugby league) I was always around their place when players popped in, he was always taking us to training sessions inc some of the eng ones …at the time to me it was just blokes playing rugby.

Cav would be a good one they know about him ‘he’s the one who can go really fast but is rubbish on the hills’

Bills is the only autograph I have oh apart from Jim Bowen ( i know, was inebriated when I asked)

He signed it, I was the one who asked….he was sat at the bar on a big stool at the local rugby club

Can’t do the forgery thing … If they are anything like me they will keep hold of them I would be found out eventually. I still have bill beaumonts autograph from when I was around their age

If I knew either of their addresses I would do just that ….not keen on contacting via sky figured they get hundreds of requests a day and mine would just get lost in the post so to speak, can’t see them phoning brad up to ask for a signed photo to Jacob or Sam

Didn’t you know it was my kids birthday ….sorry I spoilt it for you

Giddy kipper

sod it 34.9mm and a hammer should do it I dont mind if the paint comes off

spesh rockhopper no idea of the year

pretty sure 31mm seat post 36 or poss 35.5mm tube

Damn you all I was trying not to eat the sausages in the fridge…my will power broke with all the sausage chat. Sausage sandwiches for lunch

Nealglover ….what sort of money are you talking for a T5? (Apologies for the hijack)

I would need to see it as a lot depends on the current condition, and also what you want to achieve.

Anywhere from £150 for a quick clay, mop and wax.

Multiply that by 10+ if you wanted a full wet sand, paint correction etc.

Would just like a shiny van for a change, no point doing anything too special on mine, the bumpers were colour coded on a budget so would probably look terrible if the rest of the van was mint. Would like to get rid of a scratch in the bonnet though. Do you have place or travel around? Wouldn’t drag you to mine just to look at the van (i would probably turn into a quivering mess when you started talking cold hard cash) but if you were passing I wouldn’t mind knowing what needs doing I’d like to keep the van till it dies and would like to keep the paintwork decent. If you are passing (near junction 39 of the m1) and fancy a coffee let me know

Nealglover ….what sort of money are you talking for a T5? (Apologies for the hijack)

I’ve gone with the security bolt thing, to deter the casual thief, seen some chat about if you put one of those expensive locks on they will just break the cage off to get it and that costs more than a wheel to replace but I’m also going to spray the steel wheel pink and spray ‘Stolen – my Reg number’ on the tire it’s self in pink (obviously not going to write ‘my reg on it’ I just cant remeber what my reg is at the moment’

Hopefully they wont fancy the idea of having to clean/paint the wheel to sell it

I tried them they just said we can not compete with your renewal price from your current insurer

Made me go and look, still there, now how to secure?

scruff as I typed I just knew ther would be one who reponded in such manner, you win the prize. Good job I did not make mention of sliding down the firemans pole

just on the seatbelt thing, I alway’s get a note on mine saying they could not test the rear seat belts because they have kids seats fitted. They never fail it because they didnt test them.

I took mine to a VW dealer, was told the rear numberplate light didnt work and it was not a bulb problem. Fair enough I thought, wasnt happy though because it had some aftermarket chrome on which I would need to replace. Took the old one home, put a battery across it just to check, one worked one didnt swapped the bulb over ooo now the other one worked.

Went back to the dealer with my ‘test rig’to question their procedures, didnt have to pay for the new housing and they reimbursed me the cost of the new chrome.

Someone called Sarah jarosz…..bluegrass

The A&A always do that (in my personal experience), send the reminder letter out a couple of days before automatic renewal with the date on the letter of the previous month. My renewal was £212 quick phone call and it went back down to a proper price without any fuss.

I do remember a review of a really good one in the paper a couple of years ago cant for the life of me remember who made it though google ends up bringing up the same cheapo plastic ones all the time

I was looking at the skandika one but I have no idea if it is any good, it’s certainly more expensive then most of the others but I’m not sure if that is a sign of quality or just paying too much

I understand what you are getting at wwaswas but the problem I have at the moment is I have 2 kids 4&6 so they end up in kids chairs at a table appropriate for them then we end up with another table for me and the missus at our chair heigh. I was trying to get away from the two table issue.

It’s quite cool as a concept, I would have my concerns over how practical it is though. Like pie said would probably get a crafter if I had that sort of money

Sparks the BBQ in question is one of those fold down things like a v shape contraption doesn’t take up much room, everything we have is a fold up/space saving design maybe we just pack too much….must be more brutal with the packing next time.

Pictons set up is certainly unique what’s the deal with the gaps on the high top does a section fold open?

had a look at the double swivel, probably my next investement also

yeah I’ve a home made kitchen pod down one side but it’s all the other stuff clothes, bbq, awning, food, chairs, bucket and spade etc I have no idea how it would all fit in if I ever took the plunge and got a proper bed fitted (not that I will at the moment ours works a treat for us and can be put in taken out in 10 mins)

Having just spent hours searching the big box of lego to make up all the separate vehicles again I will watch this thread with interest. Was considering building a big draw type thing with dividers (for separate colours etc) that will fix/slide underneath the dining table for storage . Shhhh I sometimes play with the lego when the kids are not here must be the engineer in me. My kids get the hump when I would rather spend time looking for the right colour brick for a vehicle rather than the first one we find

yep we did this they both died (2007 Freelander) it’s a soldered in rechargable battery which degrade and eventually fail. So it’s £200 per new key or cut the fob open and solder in a new battery

Well I went for the DIY option

new battery £7
Soldering iron etc £15

working key sorted, saving £178.

Considering having a go at the DIY option what’s the worst that can happen I have to get a new key! How hard would it be to solder in anew battery for someone who has never soldered electronic stuff before?

When I say on it,s way out I mean not recharging very well or holding much charge the other one stopped taking on a charge last year

One is completely dead one is on the way out

I would add that number 1 started nursery when we both worked and he enjoyed it so much that was also part of the reason he kept going he had made friends and it seemed a shame to take him away from it completely.

Been a stay at home dad for about 4 years now (kids now 6 & 4) can honestly say I have never regretted it. Our kids alway’s did a couple of days at nursery for their social development etc (I’m pretty antisocial so it filled the clubs/classes gap) it also gave me an opportunity to do all the chores (housework, shed building, path laying, van converting ) etc that I would probably ended up doing at the weekend. As for the money side we have worked hard to be able to do it, the wife has a good job and when we lost my salary we cut our cloth to suit (having said that I’m cautious with money anyway so we bought a house we could afford with one wage, saved up for stuff rather than loans etc)

I don’t think it is for everyone but for me it is perfect

I have a T5 been using it for the last 4 years as my only car, drive wise it’s luxury compared to my previous but that was a landrover defender. Have a partial conversion, electrics, lined out, pop top. Made a bed that goes in the back and folds over the rear seats, kitchen pod etc that can all be put in/out in 20 mins. Spent 3 weeks in France last year with 2 kids (awning for long stay all in the van for the odd night) worked a treat. Doubt I would ever go back to a car maybe if I had a bigger drive and could have a bigger (sprinter sized) motor home and a landrover again.

couple more sprung to mind

in assembley they were talking about bullying teacher asks if anyone knew what to do if they were being bullied, my son sticks his hand up ‘kick them in the cacahuetes ‘ which I found out later is spanish for peanuts.

He also in the same assmbley, an easter one with the local vicar doing his bit. Vicar asks if any of the kids have any questions about easter my son pops up with the question ‘if God made the world and everything…who made god then?’