I’m about 5’7 with shorter legs and a longer body.

I have a medium and it’s perfect.

So I guess it depends on your proportions and what you prefer.
Sorry I can’t be more help

I also have the BigDug interlocking tiles.

Easy to fit and add a layer of insulation so make it a warmer place to be.

Mine are the more rigid ones and they have lasted really well so would recommend

Well there is no right or wrong answer for you, and everything anyone will say will probably be obvious.

It changes your life – my wife (GF at the time) was 39 when we had our girl and it’s been by far the best decision I was ever persuaded to make.

Scary, yes, hard work, yes, worrying, yes. But I wouldn’t change it for anything, as I think most people think.

It’s not about manning up, but the fact that you are really thinking about it, communicating and considering it, will make you amazing parents.

Life is a journey we all take once.

Good luck in whatever you decide, there is no right or wrong – whatever you decide for you is right

The correct answer is always to buy another bike.

I have a tow bar carrier – use it on the camper.

On the rail near the van the bars would hit the window

So I slacken the stem bolts and turn the bars in line. 2 min job to straighten then tighten after taking the bike off. Makes it easier with multiple bikes as well.

I have on occasion put a bike inside the camper but rarely as it’s easier to pop in on the rack

As others have said you will feel better when you hand in your notice.

I would just have an open conversation with whoever you need to hand it to – explain that you’d rather not work all your notice and while the doc says he will sign you off sick, you’d rather not to.

Worse case they ask you to work it all – I would work my contracted hours and you will feel better than now

Best case they pay gardening leave – unlikely as others have said

Most likely – you do some work to handover and leave early

It’s usually worthwhile acting professionally no matter how badly they have treated you.

I also have a Coleman unleaded and it’s excellent – It’s bright and cheap to run plus it will warm a tent at night.

We also found it v useful at Mayhem.

In addition I have a couple of led lamps that run from a powerpack – they are OK but not really bright enough

I had a Garmin 510 which was fine for the 3 years I owned it. It died a few weeks ago and refused to turn on or charge.

After some research I bought the ELEMNT BOLT and couldn’t be happier. It has the same water and dust proof rating as the Garmin and the small amount of moisture it’s seen has been OK.

It is however so much nicer to setup and use. It makes the Garmin look difficult to use, temperamental and not very responsive. It is a different take on what a cycling GPS device is though – the required use of a smartphone could be a deal breaker for some but for me it’s a genius idea.

I had a similar situation and bought the following from Amazon

TaoTronics TT-BA07 Bluetooth 4.1 Transmitter and Receiver with aptX Low Latency & 3.5mm Audio Jack
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B016UF7J5C

£25 very small and can transmit and receive. Was v easy to set up and has been faultless in 2 years of use. Battery doesn’t last a huge amount of time – many hours but not many days, and I hook it up to a small power bank that lasts many weeks.

I recommended it to someone at work who now has them all over his house both receiving for a HiFi and transmitting to BT headphones.

A bargain and highly recommended.

D

Seems to me to be a sensible option worth exploring given that the current system is appalling, expensive to implement and doesn’t actually solve the problem of supporting those worse off people in society.

There will be exceptions but in short it’s the easy option.

We have a dog and use a slip lead on him when we go out walking – it took a lot of time and effort to stop him pulling – and still takes occasional effort as he isn’t perfect yet at 2 1/2.

Using a harness makes it easier for the dog to pull which they like and makes you feel better that they aren’t choking themselves – an easy option. I can’t think of many occasions where I’ve seen a dog in a harness that is walking calmly by their owners side (old dogs excepted)

There will be the excuse of ‘this breed’ or ‘my dog’ can’t be trained to walk nicely and not pull – all of which is clearly not true.

I guess it depends on why you want the mortgage paid off, your attitude to stability, how much savings you want or have etc

When I had the same desire, we went with a First Direct offset (the broker wasn’t happy and tried all sorts to get me to take a fixed rate mortgage) With interest rates so low it made more sense to have them offset the mortgage.

We transferred a lot of savings to a linked account and we overpay into this account. We just hit the situation of when salaries go in at the start of the month we have no mortgage, years ahead of when we would have with a fixed rate.
We still have accessible cash if we need it but are paying very little interest, soon to be no interest so it works for us.
To pay it off you don’t need a zero balance, just enough savings to effectively pay zero interest.

Given you need such a small amount you should have the pick of whatever you want

We only gave money for chores done.
Our daughter tended to do chores when she wanted something and added it to birthday / xmas money, then stopped when she’d bought it.

Seems to have worked but it’s a pain when I have to go back to doing allthe chores myself.

I’m a good bit shorter than you at 5’7 and went by the charts on the site.
It certainly feels shorter than I’m used to and I notice it when sat in the saddle rhe most but as soon as things point downwards it feels spit on to me and given what it’s best at this works for me.
It’s taken a bit of getting used to but every bike I’ve ridden is the same in that regard. 20 mins into a ride and it fine.

I have a Neo jacket from Upper Downs that I backed on Kickstarter a while ago.
It’s a cracking jacket I have to say but then it’s not cheap.
I’ve got an Endura stealth and a cheaper Altura one but I wear the Neo all the time at the moment.

it’s light, fits well, seems to be lasting well and British designed if that means anything to you.

I have one that I got via kickstarter a while back.
Used it a lot while camping and it will fully charge a decent sized power pack to full during a sunny day. We ran some led bulb off it during the evening and re-charged 3 phones.

Hard to fault.

I’ve not claimed with Pedal Cover but am covered by them for a second year now.

Part of the reason they are competitive is that the main policy has a very high excess to get the premium down and they then bundle an excess protection policy to cover the high excess.

I’m with FirstDirect and got a decent sized loan into my account within minutes at the advertised 3.3% rate.

Mind you we have more than the loan amount in a savings account (that we don’t want to empty and it’s so cheap to borrow at present)

I’ve got
a steel singlespeed (well 2 if we’re being pedantic)
a new long travel carbon full sus
an older Al full sus
a Ti hardtail

I love them all but each frame material is suited to the bike type.
If I had to choose one material it would be the type of riding first then the material.

Seems like a sensible move to me and one that I’m happy with.

I also have the Atera Strada 3+1.

Had it for 5 years or so and it’s well made, easy to use and would highly recommend.

I went about 3 years ago.

Hired a decent bike, rode over the bridge and explored Marin.
It wasn’t brilliant but had to be done – long fireroad stuff as you expect from the old school footage.

I wasn’t feeling great so didn’t go much further. Mount Tamalpais has better trails I think – There are quite a few to explore with iconic names

I’ve stayed at the Courthouse before and it was very nice – rooms were fine and the breakfast was good from what I remember.

It’s where I’d stay if/when I go again.

I live in between Warwick and Leamington and there are a few. These are the ones I tend to go to.

The Cricketers is good as it’s next to Victoria park so you can walk the dog then pop in. Great staff, atmospshere, beer and food – I go there quite a bit.

The Fat Pug on Guys Cliffe road – you can walk the dog along the river and pop up to the pub – nice place and decent beer.

The Rose and Crown in Warwick – been there on a Sunday for food with the dog. Nice place.

The Dough and Brew in Warwick, Dog friendly (not taken the dog there yet but owners says it’s fine) Great selection of bottled beer and good atmosphere whenever I’ve been there.

EDIT
Also the Stag at Offchurch – a decent walk there along the canal or over fields. The bar bit is dog friendly and the beer/food are good.

My 2p would be …

Unless you’re desperate for work, I would stick to the rate you stated for the 3 month period, you can then work out if you want the position as a permanent employee.If he thinks it’s too expensive then he’s welcome to find someone else to do the work for what he wants to pay and you wish him well and walk away.
It’s only 3 months and you both get to work out if it will work in the longer term – seems very sensible to me.

Don’t get pushed into a permanent position if what you like is the freedom.
Good experienced people in any industry are hard to find.

I’ve had mice in the garage and the snap traps – proper old school – are the best.I bait with peanut butter but chocolate and cheese equally work.

I kept them baited until Icaught none for a couple of weeks then put down a sonic repellent thing.

Worked for a while until I turned it off and left a clif bar on the workbench…

Sanderson soloist running 32×16

Fabulous bike. Rigid carbon forks help with the weight which is around 23lbs
I need some better photos of it as these are all I have.

Do it.
You won’t regret doing it – the fact that you ask the question shows that.
At that age kids will be better off with the experience as you will all learn so much by doing it.
Just look at the amount of formal education in Finland, and they have one of the most successful education systems in the world

If you don’t do it, you will look back and wish you had – been there.
It’s not a long time.

This is something I’ve thought about on and off for years.

We’ve always bought a 3yr old car for 10k and run it for around 10 years, then traded in and got another.

I did some work at a vehicle leasing company and it opened my eyes to the possibility of leasing one. The most desirable models are the best value as depreciation is lowest.
If you do go that route factor in £150 for a chips away and proper valet before you hand it back (advice from the leasing guys who go look at them) You’ll get no additional charges for sure where those that look tatty usually do.

They may offer for you to buy the car at the end – leasing companies love to sell to the person who leased (top money for them), dealers second (for desirable models), auction for the least desirable.

I’m in Warwick and a mate has one – Same inside leg and the M fits, just, with a couple of mm of seat post.
I’ve sat on it but not ridden – he reckons the M is just about right.

He will no doubt be along shortly

We’ve had a few rooms done and tend to make sure it’s enough for a whole day as a lot of effort goes into them getting to your place, carting all the stuff in and tidying up.

We usually spend £180 for the day I think. A half day is something like £150 as he can’t really get another half day job that makes sense.

We have a Border and considered a Whippet.

Ted gets left on his own a couple of times a week for a few hours 2 to about 5 depending on how life is. He seems perfectly fine with it and if we know he’ll be left we try and really tire him out the day before.

Whippets will sleep all day. Borders are more flexible and will fit into your routine.

Cracking little dogs – make sure you put in the hard work of properly training them. We are reaping the rewards now but it needs a lot of effort. Will post photos later.

I’m with you OP.

I give kudos where it’s due and I get irritated if I do an average ride with no trophies yet get kudos from people.

Just because it’s Strava and means nothing doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them like saying hello.

Idiots, the world is full of idiots

I feel better now :-)

The pensions world is a complicated one in a lot of respects.

With regard to workplace pensions a good rule is to put in the absolute minimum needed to get the company to put in as much as it will. Any money the company puts in is immediate growth and a no brainer.

Putting in more than the minimum is generally not a good idea. Workplaces like yours don’t do it because they want to, they will be doing it because they have to, by law. They aren’t motivated to choose one that will get you the best return, only one that is cheap to put in place. It’s likely you can invest in a better provider outside of work – advice needed.

If you are a high rate tax payer, pensions can be very good as you get full tax relief. If you are only just a high rate tax payer then even better as you get taxed a very small amount extra but all your pension contributions get 40% relief.

How much to save is usually as much as you can afford, which for most people isn’t a lot.

These days you need to bear in mind that when you retire you will have a lot less money to live on, but then you need a lot less money. You, hopefully, won’t have a mortgage and you will have more time to source better deals of food and other things.

You also don’t need as much in a personal pension as you used to need. You don’t have to buy an annuity and you can withdraw the capital which will also gain interest, 25% is tax free, to make it last longer. You may have capital from downsizing and you should get the state pension.

In reality you need proper advice, I’ve just been through all this recently and it’s a lot rosier than I assumed.

I had a Hollywood rack, similar but not the same as that.

Quality was good, but I just didn’t get on with the strap to the back of the car style. If you have a plastic bumper I’d reconsider.

I’d also re-consider the approach of going cheap (under £100). I carried > £5k worth of bikes on mine and felt very nervous for most of the trips but nothings ever fell off.

I currently have a Seasucker and am much more confident with it.

I recently bought a spangly new carbon Defy as my 8 yr old Alu Team Boardman was getting past it’s best.

I considered spending some money on the Boardman is very light and nice to ride but decided on buying new after a very long ponder – 12 months or so.

Best decision I’ve made in a long time.
You get new bike syndrome, so get get out more.
The frame and wheels are so much stiffer – I didn’t think I’d notice but it’s like night and day.
It’s a more comfortable ride and more responsive.
Disc brakes – say no more.
It’s lighter.

Mind you buying any bike that is 10 years newer should give a better riding experience (equivalent cost) Technology changes in that time have been massive and you will notice the difference. Whether it’s worth the money is something only you can answer.

Had mine on a Yeti since 2009 – never serviced and still fine.

go to a broker ?

They tend to know more about odd types of insurance needs

I have a pair of AKG K450’s and they are very good.
On ear but little sound leakage and very comfortable. They fold up and have a single replaceable cable so you don’t trash the headphones when the cable dies.

Highly recommended and bang on budget – I use them rather than over ear ones these days

I usually run whatever it is when I get it out of the garage after giving it a press to make sure it’s not lost a lot of air .

I don’t do optimum pressure as I doubt I could tell 90psi from 100psi from 110psi

Too soft – 70, 80 or so and I can tell, so I pump it up top 100 or so. Too hard and it’s a harsh ride so I let a bit out