If you are paying what Grey beard paid its worth taking a look at Google Nest as well – saves running wires all the way around the house (just to a nearby plug socket for power) and its got some very fancy facial recognition stuff built in (although the best is on the pricier cameras) if you want Google to know your every move its great!

Carpet needs a trim

Can you leave Mrs Cubist out of this!!

This needs pictures.

This needs pictures.

Great album. Thanks for the reminder!!!

I have a C63 wagon that was in that sort of price range. Added a decent exhaust, upgraded the air filters and had a basic ECU tune so my insurance and warranty aren’t screwed. There’s a real sense of occasion every time I fire it up from cold. Its a bit frisky in the wet but a sticky set of tyres made a huge difference. If you want fun and practical load carrying its perfect. I am, however, consuming a significant proportion of OPECs annual output. Next car is likely to be electric though because I have significant guilt about my environmental impact, but, the V8 was on my bucket list.

https://currexsole.co.uk/insoles/running-insoles-runpro/

I bought a set of the cycling shoe inserts from here for my new MTB shoes as my high arch was causing real pain. They made such a difference that when I started running again I got a pair of the running ones after suffering on my first few runs. They made a huge difference again. I’m no Haile Gebrselassie but it was foot pain that limited my distance and now its fitness.

The difference between football and all the other sports/passtimes mentioned (maybe with the exception of Rugby and the Welsh but I don’t know) is that there is an expectation that you will “have a team” etc… and there are definitely people who struggle to comprehend that a “bloke” doesn’t like football.

2019 – 44 officers died in the line of duty by firearms through felonious acts [FBI figures], 999 people killed by them with firearms [Washington Post police shooting data base]

If the guns weren’t there, a lot of people would still be me thinks.

Come on – the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun

Clearly this shows the good guys are winning! Yay!

“It’s all about driving fast and getting in fights”

It’s not.

Stock Broker?

I’ve been to Sherwood a couple of times since the easing of lockdown and it seems significantly busier especially with people on the red with no lid. I wondered if it’s because I’m going a bit later in the morning. Today at 0900 there was a couple who were dressed like they’d just come back from a night out having a can of Fosters sat on the trail. When I told them to GTF off the trail I got invited to fight. Given the number of other groups of riders sat chatting between sections there was no way I was the first rider who had come across them.

RichPenny
German Sausage Factory

That really would be the wurst!

There is a danger that if we have a series of demands from the overly ‘woke’ in attempt to edit out every potential item of offence (and there are many examples to chose from) then it gives those who would like to maintain ‘the good old days’ of racism, misogyny and homo-phobia a way to belittle the core argument. It certainly diverts the attention away form the core of the issue which is the inherent bias in society that disadvantages BAME communities and individuals. It gives the ‘PC gone mad’ brigade ammo to block out the important bits. Although as a privileged, middle class, white male maybe my view on this subject is less valid.

Gran Turismo, a descent ff steering wheel setup and VR headset. Brilliant combination. Cant wait for the PS5 version with better graphics and more cars on track though.

We had a long conversation when my wife first fell pregnant about what we thought would be the best family setup.

We both agreed that we were becoming parents and that we wanted to be the ones to bring our kids up rather than, if it could be helped, looking at childcare options. My wife worked in education so I earned 3 times what she did so it made a lot of sense that she would be the one to become a stay at home parent.

As it turned out 2 months after my son was born I got made redundant which threw a massive spanner in the works (company I worked for folded so no lovely payout for me) I started contracting and we debated my wife going back to work but given the cost of childcare of a quality we were happy with it was not financially worth it.

After my second child went in to full time education my wife went back to work 3 days a week and the balance works nicely for us. Without wanting to sound like a dick I earn enough its irrelevant if my missus works and everything is a joint account anyway so there’s no ‘pocket money’ type conversations between she and I.

Her work is massively beneficial to those she works with and emotionally challenging for her so 3 days a week works nicely for her mental well being.

At each decision point we have sat and discussed whats best for us as a family. There have been a few issues with regards to me “not pulling my weight at home” or her “expecting me to work a 14 hour day and do the chores” but we have reached a nice balance.

If she worked 5 days a week then maybe I’d have more exciting toys but she’d be miserable. I know which is better!

I’ve just fitted a Dashcam as I’m fed up of arseholes taking the piss on the roads.

I’ve just fitted a webcam as I’m fed up of arseholes taking the piss on the internet. 🙂

I once saw 33mpg from my C63 between Heathrow and Lincoln but normally I get about mid 20s in race mode I can get it down to single figures.

It’s like the advice to pull away in second gear. Why? It’s not like you need any less torque to move away from a standing start in 2nd than 1st.

In regular comfort mode my car never uses 1st to pull away. Automatic use fluid drive rather than a clutch plate so your not going to burn that out. Its slower to spin the engine up in 2nd so the power is put down smoother. In Icy conditions where smooth acceleration/braking is especially important slower revving makes it easier even in lower power cars.

If, as an employer, you are not allowed to exclude smokers from your candidate list. Could you refuse to employ a functioning alcoholic? I mean they are able to function so it doesn’t impede their ability to do their job. How about recreational drug user? They could get boxed every weekend and other than being a miserable so and so come Wednesday it wouldn’t interfere with work. Would it be unlawful to refuse employment on those grounds? Not just being a dick, I am actually interested where the line is drawn.

Yes but some on here have been moaning about TG for years, but no one has suggested a format that moves it on, and would get the viewer numbers it has.

3 “celebrities” are attached to the front bumper of three slightly related cars driven by racingdrivers who proceed to have a race around somewhere interesting whilst smashing the hell out of each others cars. The one with the most of their celebrity left at the end is the winner.

This format has celebrities which means it will bring viewers of celebrity shows in, it has cars for the Top Gear crowd and finishes with 3 fewer “celebrities”. Win, Win, Win!

Doesn’t boosting a car involve a turbo charger?

@ads678

I’d happily let my daughter run the country over the shower that we have to choose from on 12th.

Me too and my daughters only 10…

Did you do up the pinch bolts correctly?

Definitely torqued up correctly initially. During he trail side fix I just got them as tight as possible with the multi-tool.

Are you sure the noise was due to chainline? Maybe you just need a bit more B-screw?

Possible. Maybe I’ll have a play with that again.

These wtb’s look heavy, with a steel frame and fork, the wheelset is where I’m looking at a bit of weight saving.

I currently have a Trail Boss on the rear of my hard tail (Vigilante front) and they are heavy and draggy but the grip is OK

Dubai 5.0 have a rather swish fleet!

More Pics

foot down where appropriate and necessary.

It is never necessary unless you are a member of the emergency services. But some people are not very good at organising their lives and then think that the resulting time issues justify fast driving. They are wrong.

How do you over take safely without putting your foot down? Actually, being pedantic, without putting your foot down a little bit how the would you ever get anywhere?

I agree with her. And then she uses it. And then …

…read the comments. And then go and boil my head in tar. Feels good, doesn’t it? (Goes biking)

Did that NZ politician just ask how many Dick heads?

Used C63 estate? Although I don’t think the dog would enjoy it much 😉

I just bought one to scratch the V8 itch before going electric. Got 33mpg driving from Heathrow to East Mids. I know that’s not great but with 500bhp it’s not bad…. I do cycle to work so it does, in my self centred and broken logic, offset the poor eco credentials (although the less said about the flights environmental impact the better)

My mate was a Giraffe at Thorpe park, lost the job because some teenagers started trying to knock him over and he punched one clean out. Wish they had CCTV.

Surely this has to be the greatest conductor of all time?

My apologies. Daily Telegraph then, clearly a broadsheet man! 😃

That Corbyn one looked legit on my phone but I’ll admit it’s not great on a proper screen.

However Zilogs abilities of predicting my likely choice of newspaper based on a single image needs a bit more honing.

The number of variations on this theme with differing members of the politerati

Apparently one of the hardest things about presenting Countdown for Rachel Riley is not being photographed stood with her head in front of the first O…

I Have had a KS Lev, Reverb and a Bike Yoke. From my experience I’d only buy or recommend the Bike Yoke.

Run. Run away, as far and as fast as you can missus.

Well, if they go ahead, she’ll have to run because cycling will be out of the question.

I think a high 5 is what her boyfriend wanted to give her.

https://youtu.be/5K7YPxF7ka8l

Looks like they have no football today to keep them in the pub/on the sofa/off the street.

After we had a puppy hit by a Land Rover I was asked by the vet if we had insurance. We did, he mentioned they had a two tiered pricing structure to help out people without insurance. Not sure how I feel about that.

Having said that the surgery the dog needed was well over £4.5K and this was 15+ years ago, without insurance it was still going to be so costly we would have been left with a very difficult decision to make about the value of a dogs life.

As a teenager I once woke up in an MRI scanner after drinking Snake Bites made from Special Brew and Strongbow Super topped up with vodka and sherry. Not my proudest moment.

More recently I lost 6 hours of a night out in NYC after drinking a bacon martini which was so vile I still retch thinking about it. I expected a martini with a bit of crispy bacon in it, what I got was vodka and bacon grease.