My problem neighbours finally moved out late last year. It was a privately owned house so there was no way we could get them relocated by the council/ housing association. Instead we had to dig in and play the long game.

My advice would be to get some cheap digital voice recorders and every time the neighbours kick off record it. Then ring 101 and get plod round. If they can hear evidence of threatening and abusive behaviour it makes their life a lot easier when it comes to constructing a case. Web cams in windows are also a discreet way of recording bad behaviour that takes place away from their property; if the abusive behaviour is being perpetrated away from their house on a pavement or road they can be done for a public order offence but the police need evidence.

The people I had to put up with were drug addled scum who thought it was fine to make all sorts of threats and damage other peoples property. I found that the best way to deal with it was to be rational and polite and just get the police round as soon as things got bad. The local officers soon realised that I was a sane person who wasn’t causing the problems and they were more willing to try and find a solution. As soon as you start taking things into your own hands and get abusive back to the problem neighbours you very quickly loose the support of the police.

That said I did once loose it and threaten to batter one of my neighbours to death. The police didn’t get to hear about it thankfully and the numpty in question did give me a wide berth from then on as do some of my other neighbours even now(letting the polite mask slip from time to time was quite effective).

Its crucial that the other affected neighbours man up and join in the efforts to deal with the trouble makers. It gets wearing when only one or two of you are trying to tackle the problem for the whole community.

I’m lucky, the scum I had to deal with ended up spending all of their cash on booze and drugs and had to sell up and move out. Sounds like your tenants need to play things a bit smart, collect evidence and show the police that they will be getting a call every time things get bad.

Camera
Credit card machine
Knife
Magnifying loupe
Anti histamine tablets
Torch
Spare batteries
Hand cleaner
Bait box keys
Pens
Paying in book
Mini first aid kit
Business cards
Multi tool

Something by Maxpedition? Bit overkill but I use one for a survey bag at work and I have the impression it will outlast me.

Getting an appointment arranged to see a potential customer tomorrow. Its been a quiet week so far and when you’ve just started working for yourself every appointment made is a small victory in itself.

Peugoet Bipper – what are your thoughts on that?

They are quite small. You can get a bike in but I doubt there will be any room to sleep in one unless you find one with the fold down passenger seat option.

I drive a Qubo, the Fiat people carrier version, and even with both of the seats out it isn’t the longest of load beds and thats without the bulkhead that the van variant would have in place.

I run Midges on my Cross Check and On One Macinato. I love the wide flare when descending on steep hills.

If you want a slightly narrower alternative to Midges you may want to try the Tange Alloy Road Bar from Hub Jub. I’m just about to try a pair on the Macinato to see how they compare. Similar sort of flare, just not as wide.

2 years free business banking with Natwest is on offer at the moment. They probably aren’t the best bank in the world but the lack of charges was attractive to me.

As I treated a wasps nest from safe distance of 8 meters this afternoon it got me thinking whether the OP has tackled his own nest problem yet. Or is he in hospital, on a drip and covered in wasp stings?

Are all wasp sprays the same, any recommendations? A mate advised Digrain stuff, but nippon or rentokil is a bit cheaper.

If you can get it go for the Digrain. Their wasp nest destroying spray actually has kickback its so powerful. Plus the Digrain stuff comes in bigger cans.

Screwfix is pretty good. I recently had to buy a new one for work and they came in cheaper than the likes of Wickes and B&Q.

I’m leaning towards getting someone in to do it

As I work as a pest controller I’d say get somebody in to do it. An annoyed swarm of wasps can move very fast and with alarming coordination against somebody trying to kill them with a can of spray in an enclosed space like a shed.

If you insist on doing it yourself try to use a wasp killing spray that has a bit of range, you’ll at least have a couple of seconds head start! As said above, cover up with plenty of protective clothing.

Contact the British Pest Control Association (www.bpca.org.uk). They can recommend a properly qualified pest controller local to you. Should cost no more than £50 – £60 to deal with wasps.

Rentokil are taking the mickey, but then they often do with their prices.

I’m in Devon so can’t help :D

Chap I went to school with became an undertaker many years ago after going travelling for a year and coming back to find that his old job as a junior manager in a bank was a bit hollow. When I asked him about his job he said it was the most rewarding decision he had ever made. He loved working with people and helping them through a very difficult time in their lives.

He was a really cheerful bloke. I’ve moved away from the area but I can still remember getting a big grin and a thumbs up from him whenever he was driving past me in the ‘private ambulance’.

he has asked if i was being serious because i did not look like a cyclist

Somebody I know in passing said something similar to me the other day when they found out I’m a keen cyclist. I explained that I pedal with my legs not my stomach.

I wouldn’t consider myself lazy but I do like beer.

I went to see him and his spoof rock band “Bad News”

Somewhere in the house I have a Bad News CD. I’ll have to dig it out and play it very loudly in the car tomorrow.

I shouldn’t worry if I were you.

I work in pest control and we kill very few birds. Even the species that are already on the list can only be killed if very specific circumstances are met. Even then, it can be difficult overcoming public opinion which is why selling bird proofing spikes and netting is such a big business. Far better, and often easier, to exclude birds from an area than kill them.

About 10 years ago a sudden death in the family meant I had to drive to the midlands and back after what had been an already long day at work. About 70 miles from home, and very late at night, I hit the wall with fatigue. I stopped at the nearest services, bought three cans of Red Bull and necked them on the way back to the car park.

I was driving my mums little Fiat Punto and I can honestly say nothing got past me during the remainder of the drive home. With bulging eyeballs I hit warp speed as I left the car park and only slowed down to pull into the driveway at home. Haven’t touched that vile red drink since. I had a crushing headache for hours afterwards.

How about turn up, live by the rules of the job, get paid and not try to screw anyone over

Been there, done that, and sadly learnt the hard way that its generally best to look out for number one these days. I have unfortunately worked at some places where the treatment of skilled and talented members of staff has been truly shocking. I’ve seen people who were less belligerent and willing to fight their corner than me have their careers ruined by crap managers,one sided company policies and company infighting. I’m afraid that it has beaten any altruism when it comes to my employers out of me.

I’ve seen the standards that companies apply when considering the needs of their employees slip quite a lot over the years and it has heightened my cynicism.

Got made redundant last September. It was signposted from a long way out so I had time to build up some cash reserves and clear some debts. I got quite a decent payout for 6 years service and used some of it to retrain.

I’m currently working for a small company in the industry I now want to work in long term and already planning my escape into self employment using the remainder of my redundancy payout. I’m not earning a lot in my current job but I am building up my experience and learning how not to do certain things. I’m also able to spread the cost of buying essential kit out over a longer period.

Redundancy can be scary but I was always told by one of my old managers to have a plan B ready at all times (in my case this involved learning a trade with practicals skills and knowledge that will always be needed). Always keep some cash in reserve and always have an idea of something else you could move onto. It seems that the larger the company you work for these days the less inclined your employers are to look after you and give you decent long term opportunities.

I’ve always been mercenary when it comes to jobs and will happily screw my employers over before they do the same to me.

Get in touch with a local bee keeper via the British Bee Keepers Association (www.bbka.org.uk). If the swarm is a viable one a local bee keeper may take it away for a better life making honey.

More likely to be bees trying to establish a nest rather than wasps at this time of year. I’m getting fed up with customers saying that they want me to go out and kill some wasps when I know that its more than likely a bee colony. Had to kill some bees at work the other day( nest was in an awkward place that a bee keeper couldn’t reach and the tenant of the house had a severe allergy), didn’t feel right…

Buy full size V’s and a set of Problem Solvers Travel Agents. Job done.

As I am apparently a professional pest controller (I’ve got a certificate that says so and a white van full of toxins on the driveway) I feel duty bound to say get a professional in. The cost for dealing with a wasp nest should be around the £50 mark. Sounds a lot but then you are paying for somebody to turn up with the right equipment and pesticides etc and take the risk of being stung whilst up a ladder (never underestimate the ability of wasps to form a swarm if they detect they are under attack). Some of the over the counter stuff is good but the pesticides a pest controller is able to get hold of are much more specifically formulated (they usually have a stronger concentration of the active ingredient and may include other compounds that have the benefit boosting the active ingredients efficacy).

If you feel you should be able to tackle it yourself the wasp killing aerosols are good but make sure you buy a decent quality one. Digrain is a good brand to look out for. The powders available are very good but can take a while to finish a nest off (the upside is they are less likely to agitate the wasps whilst they kill them). The powder I use is formulated to attack the nervous system of the wasps and is slow acting but ultimately successful. It is also formulated to remain lethal for longer that the commercially available stuff. Diatomaceous Earth, if you can find it, is a possible alternative. It slices the wasps to pieces at the same time as dehydrating them to death and has no known insect resistance.

One chap once told me how his dad had tried to get rid of a wasps nest by sticking a burning stick into it. Once it had set fire to the nest, the shed it was in and the garage that was close by it did indeed get rid of the wasps…

Lost my mum to the bastard that is breast cancer. She was very unlucky and diagnosed late.

Chin up cfinnimore, the NHS can do wonderful things these days. Just keep the faith.

I once got dropped by a middle aged couple on a tandem. Damn those things can shift.

I had my Cross Check resprayed last summer. The guys at Argos did point out that I would be going from a tough powder coat finish on the frame to a more brittle paint finish which would need a bit more care. Despite that I’m very happy with the result. Just need to finish building the damn thing now.

The following is a terrible picture of a lovely looking frame…

It looks a million times better in real life.

I moved to North Devon several years ago. The job situation isn’t great but the countryside and the coast more than make up for it. As said above the traffic in Braunton in the summer is awful. Of course when you get a fantastic day in the middle of winter and there are no tourists around you’ll remember why you thought of moving to North Devon.

One word of caution, Braunton has been known to flood…

I’m seven years older than you
Probably not as ugly as Ton :wink:
My heart appears fine
I’m not slim however (optimised for gravity as I’ve started describing myself!)
I’ve been unemployed since last September
But…I’m not moaning. I have two interviews this week and if they don’t work out I’ll be starting my own business.

There is ALWAYS an upside to life. MTFU and go ride your bike.

I don’t like to think of myself as chubby, more optimised for gravity.

Not sure what my weight is these days but I’ve never had problems with wheels going out of true. My single speed road bike is built up with quite light wheels running 25mm rubber and they are as straight and true as the day the bloke in my LBS built them for me. Decent wheels that have been made well should be up to all sorts of use and abuse before they start to get a bit wobbly.

Unless you are desperate to get rid of the Astra I would run it for a while and put some money aside to buy something posher/ nicer at a later date.

I used to run a 1.6 Astra in my last job and by driving sensibly could easily get 44mpg out of it on a motorway run. I thought that was fairly acceptable and travelled all round the country in it. The engines in Astras seem pretty bullet proof and should see you reach well over 100k miles.

Always try to leave more good behind you than bad as you travel through life.

Stay curious.

I lost my mother to breast cancer but I have to say I’m not offended or upset by the campaign. Anything that raises awareness of cancer can only be good. Sometimes a strong, even offensive, message is needed to give people the jolt they need to do something/ donate/ get some symptoms checked out.

Cancer in any form is a terrible disease and sometimes needs bold actions to deal with it.

What! No way. You’ll be telling us there is no Santa Claus next.

Can’t see the point myself. I suspect my fatness would overpower its lightness :D

My late mum used to own a black Fiat Punto. Not the flashiest car in the world but she took a pride in keeping it clean and waxed. One day some scrote decided to key it for her. I have no idea why some scumbag did it but having seen how upset my mum was at having her pride and joy damaged I would have happily beaten whoever did it to death. That old Fiat is long gone (as sadly is my mum) but my attitude to people who key cars remains.

I make a point of parking at the farthest end of any car park away from the majority of idiots these days. Lifes too short for an assault charge…

I was TUPE’d across to my last employer a few years ago. As others have said you are protected in terms of length of service and notice period but pensions are not really covered all that well by it. Under the laws regarding TUPE you can technically only be made redundant if the company you are moving to can demonstrate valid economic, operational or technical reasons. I’d advise the OP’s wife to be sharp and alert to any changes the new employer makes, or tries to make, to the job once she has been transferred over. Tell her, and those being transferred across with her, to work together on questioning any changes. If they try to come up with any justifications for redundancies in the first month or so don’t be afraid to raise hell and challenge them.

Another thing to look out for is making sure the term of service is kept continuous. When I was TUPE’d a couple of years ago one of my managers (also being transferred to the new employer) was canny enough, and belligerent enough, to make sure we started at the new company as soon as we left our old employers. Our new employers only really wanted the contract and not those of us who came with it and were quite prepared to not take us on until a couple of days later which would have broken our continuous service.

The OPs wife will also be able to stay on her original T&Cs. Doing so meant that my eventual redundancy pay out was much higher than it would have been under the new companies contract of employment so it is wise to get the new company to sweat a bit and demonstrate what the advantages are of making a contract change if it is offered.

I guess the main message is to be cynical about anything offered by the new employer. If Mrs K is offered any changes by her new employers make absolutely sure it will be financially worth her while to accept them. When I was TUPE’d a couple of years ago I was told by one of my managers to start working on a plan B in case it all went pear shaped and sorry to sound negative but anyone facing TUPE should start doing the same. Good luck with it all and stay alert.

um…don’t you run thumbies UNDER the bars so you operate them with your thumbs ? Back in the day etc etc

I can always remember them being on top of the bars myself. Maybe us oldies have more flexible thumbs :D Be a bit tricky mounting the Pauls Thumbies units under the bars.

I’ve just fitted some Pauls Thumbies and some Shimano bar end shifters to my Karate Monkey.

I’ve been wanting to try this sort of set up for a while and have to say I absolutely love it. It just feels right in a rudimentary mechanical sort of way. My touring bike could be getting flat bars and a similar set up when I refurb it later this year.

My dad reads the Daily Fail. It gives him something new and immigration related to bang on about every day. I wouldn’t wipe my arse on it even if we ran out of bog roll.

Then again he also watches Crap In The Attic and Hovels Under the Hammer with the volume turned up to the max. I think it is all to do with getting old and the fact some peoples world view shrinks as they age.

Two words: Caveat Emptor

She bought it, now her problem.

My local bike shop is Cycles Scuderia in Bideford. They are road focussed but top blokes and seem to be able to fix anything.

Blogger is OK but doesn’t work too well with certain browsers. I had to download Google’s bloody awful Chrome browser last night just so I could update my blog.

Aside from browser grumbles it is pretty straight forward to get to grips with.

Just looked at your blog Dr P and given that it has details of how to make your awesome full English breakfast pie on it I’m very surprised nobody reads it. That magnificent creation deserves a global audience.

Nobody reads my blog, I’ve seen the google stats to prove it!

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