Just a few days ago, was out walking the dogs at just about sunrise. About a mile from home, the lower plumbing started to rumble and I knew what was coming. Walked as fast as I could and about 100 yards from the garage door, eyes watering, the dam broke–just as a young lady walking her dog came around the corner. Needless to say I didn’t stop to chat. Went in the garage, took off pants and put them in a plastic garbage bag, cleaned up a bit with a towel and walked into the house, where Mrs busydog’s reaction was along the lines of “what the hell were you doing walking the dogs bare-ass naked?”

My brother-in-law is a hard-core roadie 20 years younger than I am. On a recent visit I took him on his first mountain bike ride on a mid-level technical trail. After a 10 minute warm-up ride from the parking lot to the trail head, he took off like a madman—-then we hit the steep rocky sections and his pace dropped to a slow grind. The combination of 7-8000 ft elevation (he lives at sea level in Seattle), 3 crashes resulting in some highly decorative rock rash and he developed a whole new appreciation for what MTB is all about. So wish I had a GoPro with me at the time.

hmmmmm

Must be a preview of the 2015 Redbull Rampage course start point 😯

I had a desert tortoise for several years that I “inherited” with a house I bought. Don’t know how he might compare with your Horsfield tortoise, but he would disappear into a hole he dug in the garden every year about the first of November and reappeared again after the last freeze and the ground warmed, usually in April. Of course there are the climate differences between the UK and here in the desert Southwest USA, but we do get pretty cold winters. One spring he just never appeared, but he was an old dude (Wildlife Ranger guessed his age at 75+)

I have had migraines for 40 years and have tried just about every prescription med there is–a lot have worked, but the side effects suck.
Finally discovered an over-the-counter product called Lipigesic M
It’s a gel (primary ingredients are the herb Feverfew and ginger) that you place under your tongue at the first sign of a migraine and, for me at least, works every bit as good as the prescription meds (and at about 1/10 the cost). It’s available on-line and at some of the pharmacies here in the USA, so maybe you can find a UK distributor on the web.
Costs here about $10/12 for a pack of 8 gels (some of the prescription meds I have had prescribed cost $35 a tablet).

Most excellent blog Mcmoonter. I lived in Idaho for several years back in the late 70’s and, being before the days of MTB, I hiked/backpacked and camped all over the state and your descriptions are spot on.
I am almost certain that the picture of the animal track you posted was that of a timber wolf (too big for a coyote).
Again, well done.

Hope you heal quickly !!!

I broke 3 metatarsal bones in my left hand on an OTB event–due to one moment of inattention, clipped a rock and BAM!!!

The Labradoodles

Mattie–8 1/2 yrs–the sweetheart of the rodeo

Echo–4 yrs –the rodeo clown

My sister-in-law has Jack Russell and it always acts like it is on speed, but she isn’t much on dog training.
We have 2 Labradoodles and I would have another in a minute. Intelligent, friendly with everyone and they readily tolerate our son’s young kids.
Until the labradoodles, I had German Shepherds for almost 20 years. Absolutely great dogs as well, but can be a bit more of a handful unless really trained well.

I do take in the occasional jaffa cake offering and sone xmas beers

I do about the same with a case of beer and a couple of pizzas a few days before Christmas.
I buy all my bikes and most components from the LBS and 20 years of dealing with the same shop, they give me a good price and will almost always squeeze me in if I need something tweaked that I can’t fix. Shorts, jerseys, gloves, etc. I tend to buy online.

read the book

Thanks–per your suggestion, checked it out on Amazon and will shortly be downloading to my Kindle.

I just hope there are cheaper options

Yeah, they aren’t cheap. I suggested to Mrs busydog that we could buy a large 2-person kayak, get a hotel each night and eat at a nice restaurant and still have money left over from the cruise costs–needless to say, that didn’t go over well.

What coolhandluke and iolo say above, using the flat side of large kitchen knife is the least expensive way to go and it does work.

We us a lot of garlic and if you want to really releases the garlic juice along with the crushed garlic, then I think Kuhn Rikon (link below) is the best I have ever used. Not cheap, but “industrial strength” and does a great job–and cleans easily.

http://www.amazon.com/Kuhn-Rikon-Epicurean-Garlic-Press/dp/B0000CD0HX/ref=sr_1_1/191-9457611-4214409?ie=UTF8&qid=1409604659&sr=8-1&keywords=kuhn-rikon+garlic+press

Amazing transformation you accomplished in that project, McMoonter.
Very impressive indeed!!

Best wishes to everyone having the medical procedures done.

Effective the first of September, I am only going to be working 2, maybe 3 days a week as I wind down the last 3-4 months of my career.

To celebrate, going up this weekend to ride the South Boundary trail in Taos and hit the ski area trails in Angel Fire on Monday.
Going to be very different not sitting in the home office 10 hours a day, week after week, etc. –but I will manage to deal with it 😀

Didn’t have time to read the entire thread, but if it hasn’t been mentioned, ‘A Canticle for Leibowitz’ by Walter Miller is good post-apocalyptic/science fiction work

Fluidmaster IM(limited)E

The one above is a piece of piss to fit. Just make sure your cistern’s deep enough to accommodate it

That is the one I recently used as a replacement. It is adjustable in height as the bottom riser screws up and down into the top, so unless the tank is really shallow, it might work. Mine has worked flawlessly. Another feature is if you have any debris in your water line that gets into the inlet valve, it’s easy to manually flush it out.

They seem to keep improving on those kind of plumbing products, so bet you can find one that will be more hassle free. As some mentioned above, at least the valve assembly isn’t too pricey. I replaced one a couple months ago with a much improved assembly and here in the USA it was about $17 as I recall—-and really easy to install.
EDIT

Looks like the top should twist round then lift off

What Northernmatt said–that is the way you flush debris out with my similar valve.
You shut off the water source, unscrew the top and remove it. Place a cup or glass over the open vertical pipe and turn the water source on for a few seconds (the cup will keep you from washing the ceiling in the process). That cleared mine up in one try. What could possibly go wrong 😆

some scale got lodged, preventing it from sealing properly

I’d guess this may be the problem. I have a similar looking inlet valve and recently had some work done on a pipe elsewhere in the house and some debris got into the line and some tiny bits got lodged under the valve seal so it wouldn’t shut off completely. Don’t know if you kept the instruction sheet when you installed it, but on mine, the sheet had a way to flush out debris that got under the valve.

Here in the USA, the stores break out the Christmas themes and decorations earlier every year it seems, then carry the post-Christmas sales well into January. I guess it is all just part of the commercial hype everywhere these days.

Don’t know about there in the UK, but here in the USA, a vet won’t give out a prescription med without an exam.
There are some cat & dog worming meds available over-the-counter I believe, but don’t know how their effectiveness is vs the prescription meds.

I was in Guam when in the Navy, but that was long ago and it wasn’t really developed much with still a lot of WWII wreckage/remnants everywhere.
A friend was there about a year ago and he said it has developed into quite a destination with lots to do, including good surfing and a number of mountain biking trails.
I just emailed him and he used a SpeedyPin phone card to make calls while he was there. I’d bet Google would identify others.

As above, the headwind thing and it always seems that no matter where I ride, there always seems to be more uphill than downhill 🙂

Neighbor of mine bought one and it only lasted about a month, but that could be due, in part, to our desert heat and intense sunshine as he left it out in the elements in direct sunshine all day.

and i give you the PT cruiser

A friend bought a PT Cruiser a few years back and got rid of it within months—referred to it as the PT Crapper

‘Shoeing solutions – rationalizing equine clients needs for going forward’

😆

‘Only’ 500 miles to Mesa Verde

If you are at the S. Rim of the Grand Canyon, it’s only about another 220 miles to Mesa Verde and pretty spectacular scenery along the way.

Zion National Park

Beautiful place and only about 2 1/2 hours from Vegas

Bryce Canyon National Park is also stunning and about 3 1/2 hours

Well, there’s always the Crazy Horse club–quite entertaining (err, so I have been told)

SFB, wishing you have a speedy recovery.

Also, a shout-out to all the emergency medical rescue teams, everywhere in the world

As above, Leonard Cohen & Stevie Nicks

Also the actor, Sam Elliott (Tombstone, The Big Lebowski)

I think I would be really reluctant trying it due to potential side effects

the feeling of fitness feeling after 3 weeks at altitude.

This ^^ does make a difference. I live at 6300 ft and ride in the 6000-9000 ft elevation range weekly and when I go down and ride at a much lower altitude, my energy level feels like it did 25 years ago.

McMoonter, I missed his thread when it came out, but that poolhouse is really nicely done. I showed the pics to Mrs busydog and she said if you wanted to adopt us and have us live there, we would pay our own way from the USA 😀

take your shoes and/or socks off occaisionally and wriggle your toes in front of it

The smell of sweaty feet and the random squeaker combined–now there’s office ambience taken to a new level 😆

I’m in Utah this week and they’re having a heat wave over here as well

Same here in New Mexico–been 32-36C for the past couple of months. Sure wish the summer monsoon rains would come

John Tomac, on the Sand Canyon trail near Cortez, CO a few years back.
He overtook us about 1/3 of the way up the canyon and met us coming back before we barely got past the halfway point. Of course, we weren’t really trying 😆

Curiosity question—do they sell the Toyota Tacoma in the UK?
I love mine, but not sure they are marketed in the UK.

same odds of a being eaten by a shark…

….on land.

after being struck by lightning—twice!

Part of the same issue–one would be well advised to use caution in dealing with wasps/hornets/bees, etc. as it can turn tragic. Just last week, a rancher near here had a full grown mare and her 2 month old colt killed by Africanized honeybees when they apparently disturbed a swarm.