I wouldn’t worry about it – until she does it again.

Don’t make a big deal out of it would be what I’d have done – ignore the bad /reward the good.

A decent UV chapstick ?

Without knowing what you’ve remembered it’s a bit of a hard question to answer

If you can wait a short while, it may be worth checking out Litelok

A kickstarter that’s about to deliver. Very light lock with a gold sold secure rating. You can pre-order now and the latest update has them shipping in a week or so.

They have videos on the site showing the security and weight – perfect for commuting.

This slightly applies…

Was chased by an agent to apply for a role at a competitor. Almost everything about the role was the same so I declined but he talked me into having a phone interview. On the interview I asked them the question of why would I change for the same money doing the same things, in a very similar culture. They didn’t take it as I expected and reported back that of all the candidates I was the only one suitable and they wanted me to attend a second face to face interview with the head of division (or whatever)

The agent was very excited as they were hard to please it seems so tried to talk me into taking the following day as a holiday (or calling in sick) and making a 100 mile drive to meet the head of for a breakfast meeting at 7am.

I guess it pays to be disinterested.

+1 for don’t use poison and the smell.

+1 for put down traps (not humane ones)

IME it’s difficult to find the exact entry point as they can get through very tiny gaps.

Traps also give you confidence that you are actually killing the little buggers. I guess them taking poison does as well but you get to keep a count with traps.

We went to California a couple of years ago,a few days in San Fran then hired a rather large SUV and did a small road trip, ending up just outside Yosemite. We went into the park for 3 days then meandered back to SF.

Highlights as others have said are the places you come across and we stayed in motels every night – there are loads around and we tended to start looking mid afternoon

We enjoyed Monteray – as beanum says the Aquarium is rather good, drove up the big Sur, lunched in Carmel (weird place), stayed in San Jose (with an afternoon at the Winchester Mystery house)

I’d happily go back and do more travelling around with no real timetable but a general idea – distances are very big and the kids will need some entertaining, so plenty of stops to look around places.

At this current time – its possible to get savings interest rates that exceed your mortgage interest rate if your not on a 90% mortgage.

This is a good point – make sure you take the tax on interest into account though – makes a big difference if you’re a high rate tax payer.
(if you’re paying 5% mortgage interest you need an acct paying above 8% interest to make it worth it as a high rate taxpayer)

I think when I worked it out they key was that all the money we had (in linked accounts) was offsetting and the best savings accounts meant locking the money up for a while.

When we first bought our house we did a 2 yr fixed deal. I was amazed at how little of the capital we’d paid off by the end and while our mortgage advisor was looking to get me to take another I looked around myself – very much like you are.

I wanted to overpay and save up to do the work on the house that needed doing and, on doing all the sums, an offset was easily the most cost effective as long as rates didn’t head skywards within a few months. 6 years later we are 2 years away from paying the mortgage off.

The offset saves us about £2k in interest payments a year as both our current accounts are linked to it, as well as the savings acct (with overpayments, doing up money and other savings)

With a fixed rate you are limited in how/when you can overpay, with an offset you’re always overpaying with all the money in your current acct.

I don’t think an offset would sit too well.. maybe.. but I don’t plan of having much “cash” sat in my bank

Do the sums and work it out, I had a similar view until I saw the break even point of low interest rates and offset effect.

I have an RCX100-II.

Bought it to take to San Francisco on holiday a couple of years ago as I didn’t want to lug the DSLR plus lenses with me.

Fantastic camera, got some quality shots that are almost SLR quality – from such a small camera it’s very impressive.

I bought the leather Sony case which is very good, wouldn’t necessarily help in a heavy impact but is certainly up to the usual knocks from carrying it about.

I like doing random acts of kindness.

I decided to give most of the money I would have spent on lunch to a homeless chap before xmas. He always sits in the same place and it must have been his luck day as when I got to him there was a lady serving up some food and a drink. The look on his face when I gave him the £5 made me happy all day.

I’ve stopped trying to give people at bus stops a lift as they all seem to thing I will abduct and murder them I think.

My favourite was giving a (fellow) biker £5 to fill his motorbike up as he’d forgotten his wallet. People (mainly the wife) laughed and told me I’d been scammed. The bottles of wine that arrived at work 3 weeks later from him (I assume) were lovely.

My dad was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer about 4 years ago I think.

He had the Whipple procedure and just in the nick of time – another day and he wouldn’t have been strong enough.

Doing the op they found that it was terminal, but the procedure would give him longer. It’s a major op so recovery time reflects this. Thankfully he was quite a fit bloke so did well.

Without the op he would have had weeks. With it he was given 8-12 months. He lasted 22 and we had some really nice times together.

The fact that the surgeon says it went well is good news as thy tend to be straightforward these days. Fingers crossed for you sister.

It’s a market.
It moves.
Take the long term view and all will be fine.

Ride your bike and think happy thoughts

My experience is much the same.

I mainly have Prime for the free next day delivery as I work away a lot and it’s nice to not have to worry about not being in.

While I’m away there is usually something I’d like to watch on the video side, listen on the music or watch on my kindle and this is getting better IMO with the move to making their own – Mr Robot was very good.

Just for video, or music I wouldn’t bother but it helps justify the free delivery for me.

It will, of course, all depend on the company.

My experience of larger private companies is that you usually don’t get a pay rise for a promotion as pay scales overlap. One of the reasons that I actively refused going for promotion at my previous company. They sell it by saying your ceiling for pay is now higher. I prefer the same money and less work/hassle/politics.

In my current, much smaller, company I got a promotion and pay rise last year out of the blue via a phone call from the CEO. I was apparently doing more than the job warranted – to me I was just doing my job.

Smaller companies tend to value individuals more, and pay/rises/promotions reflect this. Larger companies see individuals as resources and they have rules to reflect this and stop people getting a dual pay increase.

I think a 20% pay increase given the circumstances is being optimistic.

I listen to a lot of podcasts these days – many of those mentioned above.

One that’s not been listed is Stuart Goldsmith’s The Comedians Comedian.

I have some Lezyne Femto lights as smaller additions.

Well made, easy to take on/off with rubber strap. Hard to fault.

When you’re on your last legs, drooling into your dinner and thinking back on the fun/adventures and madness that is mountain biking you’ll be able to answer the question yourself.

In the meantime (spoiler alert) the answer will be yes.

I think you’ve worked that out for yourself there.

She’s 28 and you’re not her dad.

When I was a kid it was stockings first in Parents bedroom.
Then we went downstairs to see if he had been…
Presents in a pile for each person.
Breakfast then free for all.

Now we do stocking, a few presents for daughter to open on her own, then wait for the family to arrive and open one at a time together with kids handing them out.

Both work well IMHO – the thing is to do it the same every year. Whatever it is the kids like to know what will happen and how it happens.

This is one hell of a willy waving thread.

Interesting comment. You could say the same thing of a “who’s got a degree” question. Anyone without one might think it’s willy waving.

A PhD is 3 years of learning how to do academic research. If you’ve not done one it sounds really difficult. I was in awe of people who had one before I started mine and after I was awarded I realised that half the people who got one (well those in my research group) were really poor. By the end you know a bit about how to research. Post-doc is where you then start to apply what you learned. In the same way that a degree grad knows the basics of their subject.

It’s not unlike doing a degree – after A levels it seems really difficult (or it did before they were cheapened) but afterwards you realise it wasn’t that difficult.

I must say I am in awe of everyone here who has the dedication and drive to stick to a phd or anything above a degree for that matter. I can’t comprehend how you guys manage it.

It was the best 3 years I’ve ever had. 3 years of working on a subject I really enjoyed, reading around and trying to replicate techniques to my field, getting frustrated when it didn’t go as planned and having a week in the pub, then working all night and getting some amazing results.

Imaging being able to have all the time you want to work on something that interests you.

The hard bit is writing the thesis.

Applied Chemistry and Computing – 1996

Wow nearly 20 years ago.

We had a near the top of the range Canon wired printer that was excellent.

I replaced it with the equivalent wireless one and it’s excellent.

Ink via the internet is cheap enough, does scan and send to PC, photocopy, wireless and print from Mac, phones etc
All very simple to set up and use.

And not much above £100 I think.

First time we went skiing the Mrs had problems with her shins hurting.

She bought some shin length medium density foam type inserts, put them inside her socks. All rubbing and movement was sock on foam and a happy time was had by all.

The number on the credit card isn’t the same as the account number.

If you lose the card they give you a new one, with a different number but the account behind it is the same – the Lizards make sure of it.

I’ve always handed my boss a printed letter when I’ve resigned.

Included in my view of when my last day is and leave them to it.

If I recall the last time (large consultancy) I was then contacted by HR with all the appropriate forms to fill in.

I’m about storming past on the hills as they scream: burn the witch. very self satisfying until you run out of a gear on a flat descent or spin out.

This. Choose a gear that allow you you to do this.

First few rides I did in a SS with a mate on a geared bike I stormed up the hills leaving him crying into his gear shifters (and died at the top but he never saw that)

When you spin out on the flat it’s the gear, when you fly up the hills you’re a riding God.

My favourite way of dealing with them is to say, in a polite and cheery way, that I’m really sorry but I don’t answer questions from cold callers.

Some try and say that they aren’t selling anything – which I like to say is great. Some say they aren’t cold callers so we exchange words on what a cold caller is and how they are one.

Some just want to clarify information, some want to get me to do a questionnaire. All met with a cheery I’m really sorry but….

I can be disappointed when they hang up immediately as it’s amusing to see them keep on trying and I end up feeling happy rather than angry.

I quite like the tracing the call approach ^^ – Might try that next time.

We use Natures harvest frozen raw meat as it contains meat, fat and bone. Then add in raw frozen mixed veg and leave to defrost.
As our Border Terrier is still a puppy we add a small handful of puppy kibble to the top.

We buy one bag of meat and one of frozen veg at a time so it doesn’t take up too much room. We then make up 2 days worth at a time in tupperware boxes and leave them in the fridge.

It doesn’t smell and IMO is the best diet as it’s what dogs evolved to eat.

I’ve had mouse problems in the garage which over the past couple of years.

Humane traps are good for catching them but useless at stopping them as you have to drive the little buggers a hell of a long way away to stop them returning.

I ended up (much to my daughters dismay) with snap traps, bit blocks and sonic scare devices. It stopped them for a while but they are back at the moment.
The snap traps are the best IMO as they kill them quickly and you get a sense that you are winning the battle. Not so pleasant to deal with.

I don’t like bait blocks as they can die inside and the smell is awful when they do.

It’s a personal thing but a Charge Ladle worked for Ms and Mrs R

Managing a budget at work and managing your own budget are different things.

Being able to and actually doing it aren’t the same.

If you always spend less than you earn there is no need to budget.

Are you seriously suggesting that they got to those senior positions without having any budgetary skills?

Ironically I’d say yes. It’s quite possible to be a senior well paid partner and not have to budget.

If you earn a shed load of money you don’t necessarily have to budget. The consequences are far less than if you earn very little. (You may need to stop having a holiday rather than not having food for your children)

When did the wealthiest 1% become middle class?

Having money has little to do with class.

mboy put it perfectly.

All about living within your means no matter how much you earn.
If you don’t then it’s not a nice place to be.

It has been a concern for a while but we’ve not seen the widespread consequences of resistant bacteria. Evolution means that bacteria will always end up becoming resistant. The long term effect is that a lot of people would die, but some would become resistant to the bacteria

I think it was 30 years or so since the last one and then that’s not been used a lot to keep it in reserve but it seems that’s no longer effective in China.

I don’t mind them saying that they need a plane to make sure they can work while travelling in a nice environment to feel fresh, secure etc.

What isnt’ acceptable is trying to justify it on cost saving measures – saving 750k a year with a £10m re-fit cost just doesn’t work. Those sorts of figures are less than small change to the overall spending plans.

It’s also bloody awful timing when you’ve tried to push through reducing the tax credits of the lowest paid people in the country and announcing another set of government cuts.

Let’s see if Corbyn decides to bring it up properly at PMQ

I got a Squeo from kickstarter (in fact I ended up with 3)
Water and dust proof, decent sound and battery life. Quite small (around the size of an iPhone 5) and well made.

There are dealers outside of the SE. Just not that many in total so you may have to travel to get one.

As said previously the elite bikes are sold only via LBS not Halfords. Makes a lot of sense as it’s a totally different market.

I already have a Boardman – 6 or so years old and the £3500 Ultegra Di2 SLR will be on the short list for it’s replacement.
It’s priced the same as many other Ultegra Di2 disc bikes but I suspect they will be a fair bit lighter at 8.2kg

I’ve bought the basic Coleman shelter (2 in fact) and they are showerproof not waterproof. The walls are OK and if fitted properly to a well put up shelter are OK but not great.
If you tie them down properly they will withstand more wind than most gazebo’s.

The limitations ment I ended up buying the deluxe shelter though. These are properly waterproof and the walls will zip to a groundsheet to make a very windproof (but not sealed) and waterproof shelter that you can sleep in if you wish.

They are more expensive for a reason but build quality is worth it if you’re going to use it a fair amount.

I got a winter n+1 bike last year and went singlespeed.
Copes with the mud and lack of cleaning better and gives a different perspective to riding.

It’s also cheaper, silent and allows you to appreciate the nice days when you are spinning out.