What about an X5?

Just looking on their website at maintenance costs and they’re not that bad for a £50k+ car

…..although if you buy a car like that and running costs are a concern you’ve bought the wrong car ;)

Ahh well, I’m sure you’ll but another at some point ;)

Bad bits – The steering has very little feel,

have to agree with that, came from a 13 year old 323 coupe and really miss feeling where the wheels are pointed
Otherwise no complaints

The servotronic or sports steering options sort that. Iirc servotronic is a £180 option.

The woman had a longstanding history of mental health issues. I would have thought you (as a fellow sufferer*) would think perhaps there was more to this case than meets the eye.
Put your pitchfork down. A horrific act yes, but this woman clearly has a mental health issue of some sort.

*unless I’ve mistaken you for someone else of course

I’ve never noticed a difference or had any reason to complain about supermarket fuel but will make an effort to switch for the next dozen fill ups to see if there is a difference.
I’ll only be switching to branded rather than the Max Power diesel as my fuel card only covers regular diesel :(

I’m no expert but lapse generally means they’ll disappear. If these are options that have been given to you by your company (for good performance etc), most tend to have a date they expire by.

I would go option 1 but you should have a stock admin or hr dept who can advise you better than teh interwebz

The TNF ones get a little too hot and sweaty/smelly but last well. In all bar 3 months of the year they are too warm.

The ultimate slipper is made by Drapers of Glastonbury. When wearing them I skip and swirl about like Snow White with birds tweeting all around me.

They also don’t stink and regulate temp well and can be worn almost all year round.

I’m totally gnar core when it comes to slippers (I wfh) :)

Edit: add appropriate tune

.. These http://www.draper-of-glastonbury.com/products/29/maine are Awesome 8)

The Air is their best ipad in a long time. After the 1 and 2 they got a bit big. They’re now the size the should be. Recommend paying through the nose for the apple leather smart case. Covers front and back, easy to get on and off and doesn’t add to the bulk.

Turner xl would prob be a good fit for you – I’m riding a flux in that size and it’s perfect.

I’d get Miele in to repair it. It probably won’t cost that much and if you don’t repair it properly your warranty could be toast.
They have their own dedicated man* in a van full of spares.

* may also be a woman (but probably not at the same time)

Clean em once with wonder wheels (or pay for a valet*) and keep on top of em. If you clean em once a week (or once per tank of fuel) you shouldn’t need anything more than soap n water.

* I’d recommend a valet as your car will come back awesomely clean and you could have spent the day doing something fun instead

captain slow – Member
Oh **** I have no idea who you are talking about.
It’s official. Sandals and socks for me this summer

Would just like to point out that there are two captains…this one will never wear sandals with socks

POSTED 5 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

That’s what you/I say now….. ;)

I did ask the mods for a name change :(

Oh **** I have no idea who you are talking about.

It’s official. Sandals and socks for me this summer :(

footflaps – Member
I’m not convinced there will ever be a return to what was previously considered normal house prices (pre-browns reign).
Depends where you live, in Cambridge it seems there never was a dip.

POSTED 1 DAY AGO # REPORT-POST

Exactly. And with HTB, fwd guidance and a return to 95% mortgages, I really don’t hold out much hope. I doubt even an increase in supply will help because it is in no ones interest (who has money already in housing – gvt, banks, construction) for demand to meet supply and the prices to fall back.

Those hatch bags look perfect. Question for mr hatch bag – does the boot liner extension also protect the rear passenger doors?

There’s no doubt the market has picked up a lot in the past 6 months. Here in the overheated SE HTB isn’t helping. Typically for 250-300K houses there’s an increase of between 10 and 50K depending on which agent is marketing the house.
Some agents are taking the pee. Some vendors are. As always a house will only ever sell for what someone is willing to pay and with Carney talking low rates for years to come, this particular bubble I fear has only just begun and may never pop back to a decent size.

During the last credit crunch houses in the SE only fell back a little. They’re back in full force in a strong market now – we’re back to it being a sellers market and so prices are on their way up sharply.

I’m not convinced there will ever be a return to what was previously considered normal house prices (pre-browns reign). In fact, with Carney talking low rates over an extended period and raising the possibility that 5% BOE is a thing of the past I think it more likely than not prices will head upwards sharply (thanks for that Mr Carney).

YMMV and IMO etc of course

Edit – Just to add – Zoopla can be bollocks – talk to a few local EA’s.

I used a Vertex 4 in mine and it made a huge difference. I’ve just taken out the optical bay and fitted the 500GB drive in it that came with it and it now boots slightly slower and makes a bit more noise (being seriously fussy).
Will probably put the opt back in it as I don’t need the capacity yet. I was going to set it up as a fusion drive but as I understand it, it won’t use the HDD part until it needs to (and it won’t for another 70GBs)

nealglover – Member
Considering the mass nature of the business, the number of complete tools out there that will happily drive on slicks or drive an older car and refuse/don’t plan for or don’t expect big bills, it’s not suprising there are horror stories.
Although I kind of agree with that, you can’t blame the customer for putting wheels back on the wrong way round when the car arrived for new brake pads with the wheels/tyres all fitted correctly.

You’re right but the bold bit comes in to play.

It happens – I provided a similar experience of a supposedly more expert main dealer.

Find a good garage and stick with it. Doesn’t matter what logo is on the front.

Although cars are becoming more locked in to the main dealerships via the eng mgmt software for fault codes. It’s a good thing for the “expertise” but does limit your choice by removing competition.

I’ve only ever had great service from KF. I’ve had a few services there on a car and there were no problems and it was cheaper.

I’ve had the “sorry can’t repair that” on tyres and have been shown why and have no complaints.

Considering the mass nature of the business, the number of complete tools out there that will happily drive on slicks or drive an older car and refuse/don’t plan for or don’t expect big bills, it’s not suprising there are horror stories.

A local main dealership, on a 3 year old car, messed up a service and forgot to put oil / enough oil in. The mgmt light came on after a few miles, pulled over, checked the dip stick and it was bone dry.

Awesome – I’d be like a school girl. I’d offer him a pint and ask a few questions. He’s written/co written some great songs.

Not at all all DrP – I like a good tattoo but the belieber tat had me reaching for the record button :D

Thuka make some awesome beds for small people. http://www.roomtogrow.co.uk/?gclid=CKbbhoqolrwCFZShtAod3H0Anw

We bought their high sleeper for #2 and it is solid. No problem fitting us both in for story time ;)

Kenwood chef

wiggles – Member
Just be aware of what could happen with insurance claim.

Eg. Car stolen after a year, insurance pay market value of 7k you still have 9k worth of loan to pay.

POSTED 6 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

+1

If you are buying a new ish car, take out Gap insurance too.

Never take it from a dealer, google it and arrange your own policy. If you are buying on tick, you really should get Gap insurance as it is not expensive and covers any shortfall between purchase price/outstanding finance and what the car insurance will pay.

I’ve had bread makers and have done it by hand in the past.

Kenwood chef + dough hook FTW.

The best possible balance of speed and taste and with the final knead by hand, clean fingernails ;)

Stop digging for compliments ya big wuss…and it’s about time you posted another ;)

Like jimster says if it motivates you to play then furry muff, but to be on topic for a mo, the question was in relation to the OP who already seems motivated and enjoys playing.

I’m another diesel fan for driving – less gear change, more torque etc (manual).

When I change my car next 18-20k pa, having driven modern autos now I’ll be after a petrol auto :)

You need to calculate the break even point over x number of years based on your mileage taking into account mileage and additional purchase cost as a min.

Or you buy one or the other because you prefer it.

Personally based on what I know from the OP I would buy petrol in your position. Modern petrols are getting pretty efficient and you appear to forecast low mileage.

It was a while ago but I seem to remember my last calculations on break even for me ( over x years) was approx 18k pa

OP – having seen one or two or your vids I dunno what you’d get from it.

Have you considered getting guitar pro or downloading videos from the lick library site if there are specific songs/techniques you want to learn?

Or another way to look at it if you can’t decide on the moral question – If you haven’t got the balls to walk into HMV or Asda and take it without paying why think its ok because it’s online?

I’ve had a vendor change their mind after survey. The little old lady that was buying my house decided to sell hers out of chain and she’s ended up without a house in the end as we couldn’t find a suitable alternative.

Good luck – be patient but keep your options open. Down here in the SE it’s raging again – there’s some ridiculous pricing going on by some of the agents.

Apple Smart Cover.

The apple cases are really worth a look. I’d never used an apple case before getting my Air. It’s expensive bit very nice – doesn’t add to the bulk and feels nice being leather.

Ask a local chap to take a look at it before you do anything (if you’re not going to get the local chap to fix it though, do the decent thing and pay him for the call out).
I made the error of using BG for a little while. Mostly incompetent in servicing and diagnostics and keen as mustard to sell me a new boiler.

My boiler is about 12 years old now and went very noises last year. It was still working ok but was incredibly noisey.

The bearings in the fan were wearing out, the fan was replaced and the boilers been great since.

If you’ve an old boiler that is simple, I’d repair it and stick with it. The new boiler will probably break before the efficiency savings pay for it.

Perhaps rather than banning smacking and spending cash on enforcing an unenforcible law, they would be better to spend the cash on parenting lessons:

That way, the smackers will understand not smacking isn’t akin to acts of water boarding or mental cruelty, and the anti-smackers will understand smacking does not necessarily equate to physical abuse.

We’ve chosen not to smack. I was smacked, my wife wasn’t. Our kids are well behaved. I hope that I keep control and never feel it is my only option.

The govt should focus on other areas of child welfare. Smacking and abuse are already covered.

JEngledow – Member
Depends what you want it for
I want it for soldering PCB’s -my wife got me a Useless Box Kit, but I also plan on using it while getting my old remote control car working for the boy.

POSTED 2 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

That’s Awesome :D

The £20 maplin job will be perfect. Pickup some solder, braide, a solder sucker and a heat sink while you’re there. Assuming you have wire strippers you’re ready to crack on. A stand for the iron would be good too.

Depends what you want it for.

I got a controllable job form Maplin which is great. With the right temp/tip I can go from soldering SMD onto home made pads (lower heat, smaller tip, fiddly) to soldering leads onto the back of pots (lots of heat needed).

This one – http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/60w-professional-lcd-solder-station-with-esd-protection-a55kj

I wouldn’t use a gas iron unless I was outside or needed portability. Get yourself a solder sucker and some braid while you’re down there. You may need a heat shunt depending on what it is your soldering.

If you don’t want to spend that much, the Antec 18w will do you nicely.

There are better ways to get the point across to children.

I don’t see a need for it and have never smacked my kids. If I need to smack my kids I’ve failed and been out smarted.

What happens when your child gets older or the smacking no longer hurts and the “didn’t hurt” comments come out? Do you smack harder and harder until they crack, do you re think then or do you cross the line? Better not to travel that road from the outset…

Each to their own and all that but isn’t it time to move with the times and use your head. If you do and are successful, why would you need to hit someone so much smaller than you.

Think I prefer my link Slogo – for a few quid extra you get a caddy for the opt drive

Samurai – no. When you look in the storage view (from about this mac) it shows the files using up storage in groups like music, video, photos and other. Most of my files are listed other and I’d like to know if I can search on these files for some easy deletes.

Have you tried the Allen Carr method?

It helped me. I had a few failed attempts as we all do but eventually nailed it using a number of his techniques and philosophy.
As I liked beer at the time I hit that challenge head on during the evening of day 1 by going to the pub (with smokers) and had quite a few. Nailed it and never looked back.

The trick with stopping is knowing you will never do it again. Get to that phase, by whatever means work for you, and enjoy it.

I’d wish you luck op but you don’t need luck. You just need to know ;)

/steps onto soap box

Better to abstain if driving. The sooner they reduce or scrap the limit the better.

What’s the point of one and even after one you are marginally impaired. Why risk yours and others safety.

If you have an accident and have alcohol in your blood it is listed and would be listed as a factor in any civil or criminal proceedings.

/steps off soap box