Creative Outlier One. About £30 so if they get drowned then it’s not that much of a problem.

Sureflap were good when one of ours broke part of the cat flap – they sent spares out for free. But if I was replacing it I’d get one that had microchip and an automatic lock in function.

From memory it was about £60/hour. This is the person I used, not sure if she does remote coaching but I guess it’s possible: http://www.mindful-coaching.com/index.html. I did the whole range of tools, Career Anchors, Belbin etc. and it was really useful for me.

I used a life coach for a bit once and found it really useful to focus me on what I wanted to do and what my skills were. A good one will do an initial consultation for free and it’s all about the fit with you. I know someone in Aberdeen if that’s any use.

Probably not much help but my mum has a Senseo machine (no idea which make) but I did some research and you can get refillable pods for them. There is also a company in Devon making compostible Nespresso pods ().

Stiff soles? If so then have a look at some lightweight mountaineering boots. They won’t be that light and will be fairly pricey but anything that will take a crampon will have a stiff sole.

Whack in a rubber bung firmly?

Reminders are part of the Calendar app. It looks like they’ve ported a lot of features into other products.

Honda Civic! I bought a steal of an old shape on 50k miles and have raved about it ever since. Brilliant to drive, the magic rear seats get used an awful lot and I’m now a Civic convert.

Agree – soap (decent stuff though) and a good sponge. Washes off quickly and you don’t worry about using loads of it.

I love my Kindle, it pretty much goes with me everywhere. I enjoy reading physical books a lot but I can travel much more easily with the Kindle (a few millimetres in a plane seat pocket vs. an inch), I can take loads of books with me and I can read every night whilst my partner sleeps with the Paperwhite back-light. Helps with sleeping too as I can progressively dim the back light. It syncs with my phone so I can read the same book on it if I unexpectedly have time to kill.

I appreciate and agree with all the anti-Kindle points above but this is one of the few devices that make me argue that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Penultimate and Evernote worked quite well for me for a while. iPad only for Penultimate though which was a showstopper in the end.

I have a copy of Countdown – it covers space flight from the early rocket experiments through the manned space programmes. It’s a fascinating read about the space race and the background to all the people and technology that made it happen.

I’ve got a compartively cheap Logitec (looks at bottom) K270 and it’s fine. If it was my own money then I’d probably buy a nicer one but the dongle is pretty slimline.

Is there a bike recycling workshop in your area? We often have DofE kids in volunteering to learn maintenance as a skill (or some do it as their volunteering).

Could it be that someone with a similar address or postcode has recently moved too and has made a mistake when setting up accounts? For a water bill I could see this – you move into a new place, call the water company who say there is an existing account so you stop that one and set up a new one – but you’ve got one part of the address wrong.

Could also be a letting agent (I once had a letting agent set me up with two electricity accounts when I moved on – one for my flat and one for another flat who knows where as they’d obviously just used the same name and address for two different meters/accounts).

The Big Drop stout is surprisingly good. I bought a bottle from Tesco and wasn’t expecting much but it’s good.

I very much feel your pain. My mum forgetting passwords is the bane of my life. I haven’t suggested LastPass as it’d just be another thing to go wrong. I did buy her a notebook to write them down in (not the most secure option but it’d not leave her house) but that went by the wayside.

A lot of her problems are caused by crappy wifi because she lives in an old house with very thick walls. I did suggest a solution that involved getting an electrician (who was in anyway) to run an ethernet cable from the router to the loft where I’d then fit a switch and a few access points the next time I was up to create a solid wifi network. The first part didn’t happen so I end up now repeating that the wifi is a problem with her forgetting every time.

Well it looks like he used to be chair of Alberta Beef Producers so maybe they can help?

New project between McDonald's and Alberta Beef Producers highlights sustainability

https://crsb.ca/about-us/council/

[Not sure why on earth I even searched for this. Oh yes, reading patent reports otherwise…]

I might actually have a pair of those Altura ones (assuming that I didn’t chuck them out) that I never quite got on with. They’re fine for what they do but ended up with SPD shoes and proper overshoes. Yours if I can find them.

Another option (but not waterproof) might be a large pair of Belgian booties?

I’ve been thinking about this and I reckon I’ll join the CTC because they seem to campaign and represent the sort of cycling i do better. Are SPD sandals obligatory though?

I can’t seem to find them on Netflix – are you not in the UK?

I use a 5:1 water/coffee ratio and put it all in a big French press jug for about 18 hours or so in the fridge (covered with cling film). Plunge is it in the morning then filter through a V60 filter paper to remove any residue.

I’m interested in this (and was going to put up a topic this weekend). I have a Jack Russell/Dachshund cross and was wanting to carry him on the front if possible.

Thanks all. I’m not planning to go straight back to work – but I am conscious that I’ll have a few days at home unable to talk so hopefully I’ll be able to work with a combination of email/Skype messages.

The thought about doing some work in the hospital is more thinking about using my time sitting around usefully rather than watching Netflix etc. I’ll take my phone and see how I get on.

I ended up drilling a steel fork to allow me to fit guards – with a slight extension as it was a suspension corrected rigid fork.

One option I looked at was if I could fit a star nut into the bottom of the fork and then drill the guard and just bolt through. It would be an almighty pain if I ever had to remove either star nut but I would have just dealt with it (cheap forks). I couldn’t use this method in the end as the internal diameter at the bottom of the fork was slightly larger than at the top.

To be controversial I’d not suggest Slaters. If you’re an odd shape go somewhere like M&S where they sell jackets and trousers separately rather than a set.

It’s the RNAS Yeovilton airday this weekend so may explain some of the more interesting aircraft around Westbury

Make sure you try the Rivers of London books though!

Right there’s no rapidfire shifters in 5 speed but there are a couple of 5 speed thumb shifters but that may not be ideal…

The ‘any 2 for £2’ sort of makes sense though – I’m presuming here that there were other drinks in the offer that cost more than £1 though!

Now the person who bought 2 of those ones to save themselves money though…

Brilliant, I’ll have a look and let you know what I find!

Is second hand ok? I volunteer at a bike recycling charity and we might well have something in the big box of shifters. I’m down tomorrow so can check if you want. Cost would be minimal + postage.

Ah brilliant. PR director at Saatchi (presumably) makes up or elaborates on a story. I wonder how much he won for the bet?

That doesn’t sound right. Are you making sure that you’re selecting to erase data stored on the phone too? I’ve factory reset my 3T a couple of times and it’s gone back to a clean phone.

Thank you!

What you need is one of these bad boys! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Monument-1459W-Master-Plunger-Unblocker/dp/B0001P0F4A/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1518262055&sr=8-7&keywords=plunger+sink

Repeated problems with a slow draining shower and it cleared it out. If it’s really bad then it may be worth pouring in some stuff first (or just use bleach) so that it breaks down a little before you plunge. Make sure that you block the overflow as you plunge too.

I’ve heard of care homes making a soup but adding double cream for extra calories. This will obviously only work for some soups but could make a nice vegetable really rich.

Thanks both. Good call on asking support, I didn’t actually think about that!

I’d definitely recommend Patagonia, particularly El Chalten. It was 12 years ago that I was there but it’s a great place for walking and climbing, just at the foot of Fitzroy.