The £500pm car allowance is just treated as salary from a tax point of view, so taxed at 40% (ouch).

Company can still give you the full 45p per mile tax free (just went up from 40p) for business miles. If you get lower than this, you can claim tax relief on the difference between what you get and the 45p per mile rate.

Not a tax accountant etc, etc. Just what I do with my car.

EDIT: 45p for first 10k miles of course. 25p thereafter

Lakeland microwave rice steamer. 2oz per person, cover with boiling water, nuke for 10 mins (assuming white rice), check halfway through if it needs more water.

Drain and serve – always perfect.

Quick hour long ride on the road bike at lunchtime. Nothing under the helmet, and my ears were still warm…

Lovely day.

As Rusty Trowel:
Lee Marvin Wandrin’ Star

And Bridge Over Troubled Water in the albums chart.

Good luck Mark and (new) family

Really liked my 900 and I even liked the post GM 93 and 95 I had.

Drove lots of others over the years, including a bonkers 9000 Aero with LSD and silly tyres that my boss bought. Always quite fancied a 9000 turbo (incredibly solid feeling cars), but never got round to it.

Pity for the workers and company as a whole.

Bought my daughter one earlier this year. Brilliant device, and perfect for what it does i.e. books. WiFi version with keyboard, but would probably buy the cheaper version without keyboard now.

I like Ferreira port – never had a bad bottle. Seemed to be what the Portuguese people I met recommended.

I like SDG Bel Airs. No issues with them on long MTB or road rides.

One of the cheshirekittens is Laura.

Don’t know why, always loved the name

I’ve got two Pure One Minis (office and kitchen), and a Roberts iDream clock radio (with iPod dock) in the bedroom. All sound fine to my ears.

I’d quite like the old fashioned looking Roberts one, but it’s a bit pricey.

When you’re out for a run on the local paths, and someone comes up to you and asks “Have you seen my hawk?”

Unless I’m much mistaken, Virgin is fibre to the street cabinet, and then coax cable to the home. The new BT Infinity service is also fibre to the cabinet, but twisted pair to the home (unless it’s a new build, or trial area, in which case you may get fibre to the home).

With Virgin, everything comes down the coax cable – phone, internet, TV using a system called DOCSIS. The latest version of DOCSIS can support very high speeds – coax is somewhat better than twisted pair at supporting high speeds.

Edit: Generally, Virgin is very reliable, except when you have a problem, in which case they are somewhat understaffed. After 8 years of pretty perfect service, this week they decided to switch off my broadband. Small change in the provision, and because I have an old box, they won’t support it any more. Reported Monday, engineer Friday.

32″ Philips here. Was top of the range when bought originally, and given to me for free (sister moved the the US). Picture still perfect, sound pretty good as well. Got better things to spend £700 on than a new telly.

My parents had the same, and couldn’t give it away when they want to LCD.

78kg here, 30-ish front and rear

Two photons walk into a hotel.
Receptionist says “Do you have any luggage?”
Photon says “No, we’re travelling light.”

Very sorry – wife a physics teacher.

I’ve boiled it down to – riding a bicycle downhill is good fun…

Actually, I love being outdoors in general, any weather. I even like the climbing – freak I know.

Hit 17 stone after the birth of our son. Bought a bike (Raleigh rigid something – still my pub bike) to get fit, and took it to Center Parcs. Did the off road guided session, and really enjoyed it.

Bought a “proper” MTB about 7 years ago (Marin hardtail), and still loving it. Still use the frame and handlebars of the proper MTB – everything else has been changed (some things several times).

Now 12 stone -ish.

Life Cycles in Bolton built my wheels about 15 months ago (Mavic XM819 rims on Hope Hubs). Back wheel needed some adjustment after about a year, front is fine.

Seem like decently built wheels to me, and arrived when they said they would. I think I have DT spokes, which seem fine (none broken), but I have no experience on any others on a decent wheel.

Fatima Whitbread got the only British gold medal in the Athletics World Champs in Rome in 1987. I was in the crowd, and it was the only opportunity to sing the National Anthem. Will always have respect for her, despite the people who will (inevitably) comment on her looks.

Was the season that Ben Johnson came through, and got banned the season after. His 100m world record run in Rome was amazing at the time (although drug fuelled in hindsight).

I’m 41, have two – aged 12 and 10. Been with my wife for 21 years (met at uni). We were lucky that all has been pretty smooth, and my 12 year old in particular is getting a wicked sense of humour.

There was an article in the paper a few years ago that I thought was excellent – an extract below – it pretty much summarised my experience; hours of pain (for my wife), minutes of sheer terror, followed by joy. They were very worried about my daughter as she was being born.

The grim, brutal truth is that childbirth is that cruellest of combinations: it is stressful and it is boring. Childbirth is hours and hours of unceasing, teeth-grinding anxiety. It is also so tedious you will want to cry. The good bit is at the end. Partly this is because you have a gorgeous little baby who may look a bit like you. But mainly it’s because it’s all over. This is the great unspoken truth of childbirth. No one is allowed to mention it. Other fathers don’t say anything. You won’t either. It’s against the rules. And one of the reasons no one mentions it is that mothers aren’t supposed to know. They will know, immediately after the birth and possibly for a few months afterwards. But later they will forget. They are biologically compelled to forget, for if they remembered, they would never do it again. Do not blame them, for it is not their fault. It’s your fault, like everything else.

“I can’t cope”
She will say these words at some point as well. There will be terror in her eyes. For all her preparation, there will have been no preparing her for what labour is actually like. And she knows, and you know, that she can’t wriggle out of it now. So all you can do is reassure her, and love her, and tell her she’s wonderful and brave and strong, and she can do it. Ideally, fathers should be able to practise this flannel during antenatal classes. None the less, whether you realise it or not, a lifetime of watching Clint Eastwood films has prepared you for this moment. Narrow your eyes. Let your jaw become granite. Chew on a match if you have one handy. Say what needs to be said and show not a scintilla of weakness. It’s your strength she needs. Go ahead punk, make my day.

The birth
My own first thoughts were, “F***! It’s a baby!” God knows what I had thought had been in there all this time. Then, because my girlfriend had had pethidine, it turned out that the baby wasn’t breathing. The next six seconds were the worst six seconds of my life. My girlfriend knew nothing about it, which was just as well. But I could see the baby being taken to the resuscitation machine in the corner and brought back to life: efficiently, without panic, skilfully. I just stood there and watched it, unable to react or, indeed, breathe. Four … five … six seconds, and then the baby inhaled a gobful of glorious hospital air. And so did I.

By Marcus Berkmann by the way

I had this dilemma about a year ago. Going from cheap hubs to much better wheels. In the end, I went for a Hope hub, mainly because a lack of maintenance doesn’t kill the hub. I believe the XT hubs are cup and cone (like the Deore ones, but better sealed I guess), and my chronic lack of maintenance would kill the cup, and therefore the hub. Hope (and many others) are replaceable cartridge bearings, and once they’re replaced, they’re as good as new. I have Shimano Ultegra hubs on my road bike, which are nice, but maintenance is less frequent of course.

Lotus Notes for me. After years of using it for e-mail, Outlook was a huge relief (really).

Done

You remove the seats by folding the backrests and then tipping the bases by 45 degrees, whist holding a lever (if I remember correctly). Pretty easy really. No tools required, just a bit of strength.

Wife has a C-Max with the 1.8 petrol engine you’re looking at, does about 10 miles each way to work each day, averaging 35mpg on mixed urban/rural roads. Only issues in 3 or so years have been the alternator (it seems it’s a common fault) and the boot opening switch. I also read the reviews, and most issues seemed to be for the diesels.

Bad:
– interior a bit rattly
– seats are really heavy, and with them folded forward it’s not that long (but it is very tall)
– electric handbrake is a bit rubbish (though it’s never failed, just user error)
– looks like Postman Pat’s van

Good:
– nice to drive; handles well and 1.8 engine is nice
– chain cam engine (I think it’s a Mazda engine – could be wrong)
– kids like the space and the tables.
– I think Honest John called it the most comfortable car he ever drove, and it is indeed very comfy.

We’re selling it to buy a smaller car. I already have a 7 seat bus.

EDIT: No need for twin electrics when towing a trailer, just a caravan.

Great bike as well

I’ve got the whole thing as a word file. Happy to e-mail.

Omega Seamaster here, simplest one. Rugged and looks nice – in my opinion. Wear it every day.

I like the link with my Dad – he has a Seamaster from the early 60’s and all the fonts, motifs etc. are the same.

edit: it’s the 41mm, and it doesn’t look excessive on my average sized wrist.

I have a Suunto (T4 I think). Watch features are great, but the strap is crap. I think I’m on my 3rd, all replaced under warranty.

I also have a Polar (F4 I think), and the strap design is much better – don’t need to split the electrical circuit to put it on. I bought the cheapest Polar with a strap with replaceable battery.

Always, either clear or slightly tinted, depending on where I am. My optician (who really should know better) got a shard of metal in his eye whilst riding to work, and was off work for a couple of weeks.

My standard answer to this is Islabikes. Had both 20 and 24 inch wheel versions, and they are light and robust. When we go camping, the acid test is that the other kids want to ride the Islabikes because they’re so fast. V-brakes (correctly sized for smaller hands, so much safer than adult brakes on a kid’s bike), no suspension or front mech. My son is currently riding the 24 inch wheel version with knobbly tyres.

They also keep their value extremely well when you sell them on.

I have an ex-demonstrator right now. Bought it at 6 months old with 5k miles on the clock. Now at 75k miles, never missed a beat.

It looked and felt like a new car. It did have the balance of the 5 year warranty, so not too many worries on that score.

Well done for the weight loss. Did something similar a few years ago, and still get nice comments from people I haven’t seen for a while.

Schoner, thought I was dreaming when I saw the STW sign. Real nice touch! You may have seen a 29er complete with knobbly tires, Twas I!

Daisy – saw you on the road, thought you were mad until I saw some of the descents. A nice hydraulic brake and wider tyres would have been handy. My hands hurt at the end.

Twas I! It just said hello to all STW forumers

Thanks for making me smile. Did the sign mention “free potato” or was I in a bit of a daze?

Agreed…
Anyone else see the ambulance in the ditch? It got out very quickly?

I really enjoyed it. There were issues with the signage (I believe we went wrong once, and a marshall on a motorbike put us a big group of us right), cars on closed roads and one of the feed stations. Didn’t spoil the day for me. Cracking day out in great scenery. Wind was tough though.

At Santander, they charged a tenner for US dollar cheques and the rate seemed pretty close to interbank (few years ago). Clearance was a few days, but they reserved the right to take the money back for a long time (see 12 weeks above), so assuming you’re confident the cheques will go through (you mentioned a tax refund), then you should be OK. Mine were from UBS, so I was fairly confident (though now not so sure of course).

Worth asking them I think.

The gaming issue is not download speed, rather a network latency issue (i.e. delay in your button press getting to the server).