I assume that some of these guys that are handing in their weapons know a little more about what happened than we do.  I would imagine that they have decided that the risk to their own liberty now outweighs the extra cash/job satisfaction that they gained from being part of the armed units.  Not sure why this would make them the ‘least appropriate’ types to be armed in the first place. Quite a reasoned response IMO.

New Kodiac, loading profiles was an arse but it seems to have settled.  One of the OPs points about auto locking the doors, do you mean whilst driving?  My dealer suggested that our car will autolock as soon as its >5mph.  We hear it every time we pull away.  Never thought to question that.

Our Volvo had issues as well to be fair, 19 plate xc60.  I guess some systems work well but I’ve yet t oexperience a perfect one.  Much prefer the old style buttons for everything approach!

Edukator – I don’t know how to do the quotes bit, but smiley face or not, the below was an over-reaction to Beard and a pretty offensive and  thoughtless character assassination.  Now he seems to be taking it quite well but I agree, an apology would be appropriate. You were made to look somewhat foolish, which is a you problem, not a STW problem. No one is hating you, merely disageeing with you in ways that are far politer than you were to Beard.  I’d always assumed that you were TJ on holiday, enthusiastically cantankerous, but you are wrong on this occasion and your claim of being a victim here comes across as somewhat self-adsorbed.

Intersting anecdotes The-Beard. Flaming people for their banter whilst bragging about taking the law into you own hands with vigilante actions and no mention of calling the police makes you a part of the problem in my view.

And I remember hauling some greasy dirt bag of a lawyer out of a bar after he tried to slap one of the bar staff because she wasn’t paying him enough attention
Would you have done the same if it had been a greasy dirt bag builder built like a brick latrine who had tried to slap a male bar tender? Your post reeks of macho sexist attitudes. 🙂

East Cheshire

1 large wheelie mixed recyclables

1 large wheelie ‘general’ waste

1 large wheelie garden waste that food waste can also be dropped into.

All fortnightly, garden waste about to become a chargeable service – £56 p.a.  We’ve been told that you can’t put garden waste into the general if you opt not to pay for the garden waste service.

Really good to hear about battery and small electrical collections.  We don’t have these yet but most supermarkets take batteries in store now.  These items are the biggest health hazard to the waste sector with fires etc

The insurance on the iX and the model Y were bottom end iX i.e. the 40, and mid range Y i.e. dual motor but not the Performnace model.  I can’t imagine (never having owned a properly rapid car) what the M60 and sub 4s Y would cost!

Direct line wouldn’t quote me for a BMW iX or the model Y.  Quote that I did get for the iX was just shy of a grand.  For reference, currently paying £250ish for a Mondeo.  Value of the car obvioulsy a factor but still extreme.  Cheapest that I could get for the Y was £1300 with a large (£750) excess.  Full NCD; mid 50s; no points on licence

Sorry, trying again.  ANyone have any real world experience of the BMW iX?  Reviews say great car but range is pretty poor at sub 200 in the colder months?  These tests are generally extrapolations so wanted to know how people are finding these cars in use?

Tried to get a model Y and for some reaosn I’m looking at 1300 insurance minimum!

Pubs off Carnaby street all seem to have tables outside.  Which part of central London would be helpful.  Not sure if that boat on the river still exists, near Kings College.

Pedal cover was a go to on here for years, previously it was M&S.  Then Pedal Cover went completely the other way and became pretty hopeless for bike cover.  Perhaps they’re back now?  Interested to hear what max value they have – Hannah suggested there wasn’t a top limit?

Think there is more than one Holiday Inn maybe?

watching with interest!  I had a look today at an Atera ebike version and it topped 500 notes!

Holiday in Mauritius, other half filled out a hire car company survey on the flight home…from Mauritius!

Anyone have any experience with living with a Beamer ix40?  I’ve got the green light for a new car at work (I’ve had 14 years out the Mondeo so got my money’s worth) and it makes no sense to me to buy a hybrid from a tax perspective.  Lease costs over two years are also much higher for hybrids it seems than full electric.

Trouble I’m having is finding anything big enough and some deals on the iX40 are tempting.  Reviews suggest range ain’t the best but if anyone has a longer term view?  Unfortunately iX50/iX60 are not happening…

Fair point, I’m not one of the noisy voices but did get drawn into the austerity bit. Easy done just picking up at the end of long threads

TJ, are there any policies that limit spending that you would consider sensible, rather than classed as austerity?

Edit – the reason I ask is that your example of the 2 child rule seems to me to be entirely reasonable and could perhaps free up funds for other spending that benefit other members of society.  Ultimately every party has to strike a balance and that 2 child rule is somehting that can be ‘planned for’ so to speak.

There are other issues that face us all that we have less control over – all kids should be getting a great education would be one such example.  Starmer would take away charitable status for private schools and use that cash for the greater good.  I think Labour are being cautious rather than ‘conservative’.

Wouldn’t you have to send a letter before actiom anyway?  That might at least give you more of an indication of his apetite for going to court.  Its the ‘his costs’ bits that would concern me, not sure how that would pan out but someone up there mentioned it.

If it were just your costs to worry about I’d be inclined to go thorugh with it and see if he showed up.

OK, the masking tape method will have to suffice.  Glad its not just me then!  I had foolishly assumed that modern fittings would have clever design and that I was missing something obvious!

mboy, direct from Intense.  Big chunk off rrp but still looked after us, 4 years ago now.

Thanks all, my expectations have been suitably adjusted!  Although now I’m grumpy that I didn’t get a bell that I would have thrown straight in the bin…

I’m new to ebikes and now busy planning rides that don’t involve hoisting this thing over any gates!  Lovely looking bike though!

Got the info from the shop – they accept sale bikes and ebikes and charge a premium direct to the customer which is scheme dependent.  For GCI its 5% of the sale price plus £25 shipping fee.  So £320 in this case over and above the ‘scheme numbers’.

OK, thanks!  makes more sense now!

Bugger, think that I may have misunderstood / simplified my thinking here.

If the bike is £5800

I pay roughly £3400

Where does the difference go?  Is the employer on the hook for the full £5800?  That is to say they are offering the employee an additional £2400 of benefit in their pay ‘package’?

There will be some NI employer savings but nowhere near enough to recoup the £2400 difference.

Seems I managed to convince myself!

Whyte E160 RSX on its way.

I’m hopeful that this will be the kick that I need to get over the ‘sat on my arse’ inertia and regain some fitness.  A smashed up hip and work pressures have turned me into a tub of lard.

Thanks – not sure how I mssed that!

Thanks for the clarity doomanic

I agree, it would be crazy cheap if another £1k comes off the starting price.  GCI don’t seem to list the bike shops that they work with!

I used the calculator to get to my original position.  VAT was then mentioned and I wonder if I need to subtract that from the “sales price” of the bike that I see in the shop?

VAT?  So for a starting price of £5000, I should instead be using £4000?

That would bring the original £7k ticket price down to ~ £2.3k?

I’m basing this on the Green Commute scheme, which states…

When the 3-month Hire Agreement with GCI expires, we will contact you with ownership options. We will recommend that you take the Extended Loan option (5 years and 9 months) to take the bike to 6 years old. At this point, there will be no Benefit-in-Kind tax payable to HMRC. If you want to take ownership before the bike is 6- years old, we will advise your payroll department of the tax payable for your P11D.

FB-ATB – was looking at end September

Blazin, thanks for the info re stripping out. So that’s around £450 that you would charge to strip a room like mine, with all walls currently tiled.  Maybe I should get busy!  I know that there will be no nasty surprises behind the tiles as the guy that did it 13/14 years ago was a stickler for doing stuff properly (also the reason I’m expecting the tiles to be holding on to the plasterboard for grim death, rather than chipping off easily!).

My assumption was that chipping the tiles off in that fashion will inevitably take half the plasterboard with it?  Is’nt it easier and quicker just to rip the plasterboard off with the tiles still on it?  Even if tiles come off relatively cleanly, surelay there’s some wall prep to do before applying new tiles?

Thanks all

Firstly, no the sweepstake winner will not be dumping in my toilet, ceremonial or otherwise…

Quote was £10k, which having read all of these posts, seems less outrageous than I thought, still 2-3k over the mark though IMO.

We will be tiling all round and using mid-range parts, I’ll keep an eye on ex-display.  I’m not convinced of the DIY prep bit, false economy perhaps. Should take more than a day to rip the existing stuff out surely?  Could take me a week with just a couple of hours per evening available.

Oh, and three weeks to complete the job!

Blazin – assume you not Cheshire based?

Thanks for all replies so far!  Would you expect a job like this to be a one man effort or would it need builder/plumber/tiler/spark all coming in at different times?

A couple of successful guesses as to price so far!!  Clue, it ain’t being done by alanl, unless he’s available!!?

Thanks, never used a waist pack but worth a shot at that price!

Seems these can be pre-ordered at same price for end of month delivery? Or will they just jack the price back up when they arrive?

Leisure Lakes worth a look – quite a few deals to be had there as well.

Can’t walk, got an interest free deal and that saves us £6-7k over the total cost of the car.  Anyway, picked up car and they wouldn’t take the full amount on a cc.  Agreed £2k max on the cc, rest had to go on debit.  I did dig out an old email from them (been waiting since end of last year for the car to turn up!) and it mentioned a £500 limit for cc but again, without reason. I just wanted the keys and to get the hell on the road!

Thanks Sui, have sent a quick message

Do Roofbox.co.uk part-ex stuff still?  I swapped out bars and footpacks when I changes cars and they gave credit against the old set up if you post it back to them.

Thanks everyone (mostly everyone!).

It was an idea about any financial regulatory issues which might give the dealer the high ground about refusing a cc over a dc payment that I wanted to be pre-armed with.

It is only the down payment, monthlys will come out of the bank account.

It is a new car but the added protection is helpful in any circumstance I think.  Points would also be a bonus…

Go or call your nearest American Golf shop. Ask them the question and they will advise and fit you if needed. At 500 quid the lot and occasional use, I wouldn’t worry too much about fitting.