perhaps you could direct your BIL to this forum as he sounds ideal as a prospective STW ‘big hitter’ unless of course he already is one.

I’d be willing to bet he’s a big hitter on some other forum, probably one about air rifles, ales, or Tolkien. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of those things, I’ve just heard enough about them to last me a lifetime…

Is your partner’s sister’s partner actually “family”?

I’ve told the missus many times that I won’t marry her as I don’t want to be related to him – I’m only half-joking I think.

On another note… a lot of the stuff he’s doing/his dad has done points to just being socially awkward – and commenting that no one likes him (which he’s bound to notice) and he didn’t go and see the member of your family who had a heart attack nearby – why would he if no-one likes him?

I’ve made that point myself to the gf’s family in trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. If he’s that self-aware though he should know we don’t want him in our house either!

I think this guy may have been in my chalet when I was snowboarding in France over new year.

Something about that kind of holiday that attracts that type of person. We managed one holiday in a chalet with randoms and then swore we’d only ever do it with mates again! Bit odd though, as during my seasons working in chalets about 80% of the guests were great – but then you don’t have to have dinner with them every night.

Killing silently is a tall order, but a quick look at an anatomy chart will show that the larynx is an easy enough target—providing you can make a stealthy submerged approach, sneak up on your victim, and catch him unaware. Once that’s accomplished, grasp his hair as close to the scalp as you’re able to and yank his head back while using your Ka-Bar combat knife to make a lateral cut across his throat. Make sure you sever both the carotid artery and jugular vein while piercing the windpipe, and press hard; the larynx is a tough, rubbery piece of tissue.

We can’t do that til he gets life insurance. Has a 3 year old and refuses to get it to provide for her if he dies – which isn’t unlikely given that his Dad died of a heart attack at 50 (plus that fact that he’s quite widely hated).

Try and engage with him and keep drinking. Or take him on a bike ride and show him the joys or riding. You don’t have to talk and you could lose him if need be

I think this might be a quick way of killing him off! “Sedentary” would be the most polite adjective I’d use for him.

OP – is it time to redecorate the spare room? it really could do with a lick of paint. And that window frame still needs sorting. I suggest you leave all your tools and decorating kit in there while the job’s in progress – you never know what you may need.

That is a very good idea – we’ve been putting off getting the bedrooms replastered since we moved in, might be time for that to happen!

Its not the same but it follows the basic rules of ‘why put up with something you don’t have to’ just because it’s the sociable and right thing to do. I’m sure there must have been someone else for the mother to dance with. What would have happened if he really couldn’t dance for whatever reason.

He didn’t have any physical deficiencies so he’d have been quite capable of sucking it up for 5 minutes and trundling round the dance floor. I don’t think you can apply the same logic to both situations – in some situations certain things will always be expected of you and you’re being a d!ck if you don’t conform, e.g. despite being an atheist I’ve happily gone along to weddings that have been in a church despite feeling uncomfortable in them. In contrast, there’s no way I’d get married in a church. Both can have ‘why put up with something you don’t have to’ applied, i.e. I don’t have to go to the friend’s wedding in the church, but I’m being a d!ck if I don’t go cos I don’t like churches!

There may be another option, could you not just book a couple of days off and **** off to the zoo or something with the rest of the family?

No kids, just me and the gf – I’ll probably just bugger off with the bike on my own if he does come!

To which I put up a post saying “If one more fat person* feels the need to comment on my exercise regime then I’ll feel the need to comment on theirs”. The ensuing fallout is still the subject of discussion 4 years later.

Lol, I can imagine! My gf’s family is similar, thankfully I’ve not had any serious injuries for them to poke fun at and they’re taking a serious look at their health since the heart attack scare last year!

Shag your Sister-in-Law, then tell him???

Um no, it’s amazing how a few changes to the old genetic variation can result in vastly different levels of attractiveness!

mmm. Double standards?

I’m not sure that not wanting an ar$e in your house is the same as not dancing at your son’s wedding and leaving the daughter-in-laws mother with no-one to dance with. One is a situation where people generally only come by invitation and it’s the home-owner’s choice to invite them, while the other is a social construct during which certain things are expected of attendees, particularly those related to those getting married! I.e. it’s fine if you want to run around with only pants on in the house, but try doing it while you’re out at the pub at people are going to judge you!

Sure he’s a twunt though and not just got some sort of condition that makes him that way?

I have wondered about that, but I think it’s more that an overbearing father who was also an ar$e has turned him into an ar$e. Just as an example, the father refused to join the first dance at his wedding as “he doesn’t dance” and changed out of the formal gear and sat in the pub attached to the wedding venue in jeans and a t-shirt for the rest of the night. Twunt.

Why is his staying with you even being contemplated?

They invited themselves – a common occurrence with the gf’s family!

Tell your partner that he’s not welcome in your house, full stop. and let her deal with it.

Then stay the **** out of it, as otherwise you will somehow end up to blame for everything.

I’ve pretty much told her that, and she’s on the same page as me. However, she loves her niece and would love to have her come and stay.

Doesn’t sound like it’s your responsibility to house them to me?

I agree, and if I found out this was definitely the case I’d put my foot down. However, it’s just a suspicion at this point!

Imo life is too short to waste it on stuff like this and under no circumstances should you feel like a prisoner in your own home. You are under no obligation to do so. If your wife insists on him coming to the house I personally would be tempted to be out all day/weekend on a “prior engagement”

This is my opinion also – I know some people have to put up with far worse from family, but why put up with something you don’t have to? If he does end up coming I think I’ll head to the Lakes for the weekend or something – I’ll just claim I already had the trip booked and it’s non-refundable!

My idea would be similar to this but more blunt. Just disagree with him or talk over him. Just because someone’s a boring self centred **** doesn’t mean you can’t interject. If he’s telling you about his job just be blunt and say “look I couldn’t give a toss about your job, or anyone else’s job it bores me to tears”. Just be direct, be assertive and he’ll soon get the message.

At the moment it sounds like he’s convinced of his own superiority and he’s dominating you (and everyone else). Once he cops on that you won’t play his game he’ll either give up, or he’ll concede some ground to you and probably become less of a **** to be around.

The gf does this constantly, she rips the pi55 right out of him to the point that it can become uncomfortable. It just doesn’t seem to sink in that he’s boring us, he has a complete lack of self-awareness!

Has anyone actually told him he’s boorish and self-centered?

In a kind of jokey way, yes. He already knew that my partner didn’t like him when he started dating her sister as they knew each other at Uni.

I don’t see an option where you give the guy a chance and get to know him. If that’s not an option be honest with him.

I’ve known him for 7 years, and I kept trying to give him a chance thinking that maybe we were being unfair to him. We’re not – gf’s dad had a heart attack last year and he didn’t even go visit him despite living 20 mins from the hospital. Just an example of his personality!

Arrange to meet at a pub for a meal. Then you’ve only wasted a few hours, and can sit at the other end of the table!

Would be our preferred option, but then involves telling them they have to stay in a hotel rather than our spare room as they live ~3.5 hours away.

No-one in my partners family can stand her brother-in-law, including me –
even his wife?

She’s been moaning about him for the past 3 years – I’m surprised they haven’t divorced. He also treats her pretty badly, nothing physical, but more talking down to her, telling her she’s stupid, etc.

My gf’s father has had many quiet words with him about his behaviour over the years, none of which have sunk in, so I doubt that me telling him off will help any.

I’m fairly sure he doesn’t like me or the gf either, and I don’t think he really wants to come and stay. However, the company he works for seem to be pretty cheap, so I have a suspicion that they’ve asked him if there is anyone he can stay with while he’s working down here and he’s trying to use us as an alternative to a hotel!

Drinking in the park on a summer sunny day as a student in Glasgow and going for a pee in some bushes. Slipped in what I thought was a muddy puddle – didn’t occur to my inebriated brain that it hadn’t rained in a week or so. Came out of bushes covered in mud, which my mates then pointed out to me was mainly piss-based and stinking.

Still ended up going to the dancing that night (after a very long shower)!

I believe there was a study that found they provided no benefit in core strength.

You know you have trolled well when an antithread appears.

:D Nah, your thread just reminded me that I wanted to ask about this! I’m not getting as much of a kicking as you are though (yet).

We don’t typically have room to negotiate annual increases but there is some flexibility around promotions. I’m just trying to figure out what a reasonable offer on their part would be, as currently I’d feel a little disappointed if it only came in at around 10% total. However, I’m aware that I may be living in la-la land, so wanted some input from people who’ve been in similar situations!

I’m in the private sector and have had between 5-10% over the last few years.

No, it’s definitely skipping. I’m guessing I just missed the point where I could have changed it.

I reckon it costs me £25-30 per ride all in
Wow. I average 4 rides per week so at £25 that would be £5000 a year!

Count myself lucky I am easily satisfied and ride for free where I live…

Not really the way it works, I’m averaging 2 rides a week and it’s based on that, so if it was 4 rides it would be £12.50-£15. Since taking up MTB I’ve basically knocked going to the pub on Fridays after work on the head, so overall it’s probably cost-neutral!

I reckon it costs me £25-30 per ride all in (inc. petrol, etc). I’d spend more than that in the pub so definitely worth it!

Sounds like that could be a plan then – I do love watching skiers stack it when I’m on the lifts in the winter!

I know this will be a bit of a piece of string question, but how much does an average biking holiday cost with decent accommodation, food, lift pass, transfers, and flights? I’m guessing I’d need to budget about £1,200-1,500.

Morzine sounds pretty good, will need to look into prices. Normally ride solo over here but I’m a bit paranoid about having an off over there if I’m solo, which is more why I wanted to do the guiding rather than wanting directions.

Grand, it would be nice to have people to ride with so was thinking about doing a guided one. Where’s good for a mix of natural stuff and bike park Wales type stuff?

However, the one thing I’ve always thought about chemists, is no-one wants to be a chemist

Yep, did it as an undergrad and had zero interest in a future career slopping toxic chemicals about and wondering how bad the fumes were for my health!

As IA said, you don’t do it for the money. I did mine because I figured it would be the only way to get myself into a career I could actually get some satisfaction out of and be interested in (most days). Worked for me, I wouldn’t have my current job without it.

Well done! Was a complete anti-climax for me too, I couldn’t even be bothered getting a copy bound for myself. I found the harder part was actually having to read the damn thing again 4 months later to get back up to speed for my viva! Now that I’m actually working in a scientific writing field I look back at it and think it’s probably the worst thing I’ve ever written.

EDIT Have you seen Event Horizon?

Many moons ago, I’m guessing there’s something horrific in it that’s eye-related?

Anyone know if Evans have any decent ones? Got a £20 voucher for there I need to use and there’s not much else I need from Evans.

Meant to say, the call was based purely on this thread – I never contacted them about it!

Full marks for service, got a call this morning and my forks are going back in tomorrow to get checked over free of charge and with any luck will be back in time for the weekend!

Yeah, everything was done up tight so don’t think it’s that. Think it’s an air-sprung fork so not sure it’s that either, but I’ll check the spec.

If it was the bearings wouldn’t it be noticeable during normal riding too? Nothings changed with the wheel either, it sat in its usual place for a week but the difference is marked. Will check it anyway!

Same thing happened to my Heckler recently (assuming you’re talking about the Hex bolt that sits under the smaller silver bolt). Ended up having to drill the bastard out, and even then it only came out after some serious work. Got a free replacement after I took it into the shop I got it from.

Agree with Jon, watched it the other night and thought that, while technically and artistically impressive, it just wasn’t that entertaining. For the winner of best picture, it felt like a let down after seeing most of the other nominees from that year (boyhood, whiplash, grand Budapest and imitation game) and thinking they were fantastic.

8O

Normally it takes some twisting of their argument to compare a politician to the Nazis, but that’s just too easy!

I’ve heard people put forth the theory that he runs for the republican candidacy while spouting nonsense because it’s good for his brand and keeps him in the public eye. It’s scary that this time he has a chance of winning. Probably says something about the quality of the other candidates…

It’s great, innit? Curious to see where they go from here, as (as P-Jay pointed out) there ain’t much more of the story to tell. I’ve read that they may expand it out to bring in the Cali cartel more, hopefully it holds up once you remove Escobar as a central figure. Also read that the blond US DEA guy isn’t returning – fine by me, Pena is more interesting anyway. Which shows, given that I can’t remember the blond guys name or be bothered to look it up.

While I’ve no personal experience of them, I’ve done quite a bit of work in this area and the data suggest that there are benefits to using them. Meta-analyses of the studies in this area suggest a 0.5-1 percentage point reduction in HbA1c for pumps vs injections, which improves further if you can get the continuous monitoring type.

There’s also a PM at my work who has one and she loves it, says she wouldn’t go back to injections. Don’t know that it would be the same with a 6 year old though!

Most pumps are waterproof, so that shouldn’t be an issue, can’t really comment on the other issues.

The other point would be that getting a pump is expensive for the NHS – depending on budgets in your area it might become more difficult to get one in future, so it might be an idea to take it while it’s offered. It’ll be more difficult to move someone off a pump (if she likes it) than to prevent someone from having access to one!

I’ve got a Heckler, great bike and needs very little maintenance, but as has been said it doesn’t come in carbon. I’ve demoed the Nomad and the Bronson, the Bronson was good but not massively better than the Heckler, nice and light and chuckable, but not enough so to convince me to change. The Nomad was brilliant, a little better than the Heckler uphill despite the slackness (probably due to carbon vs alloy and VPP vs SP) and way better downhill. When I was chatting to the guy in the shop though, he said he’d gone from a Bronson to a 5010 and it was ideal for pretty much everything in the UK, so may be worth looking at if you’re fancying something a bit nippier!

No worries, happened out of the blue for me too after ~6 months of riding!

Do you have a dropper post with an externally mounted cable? I got this on my bike initially. I even suspected a dodgy shock and sent it back under warranty – they did find an issue with the shock but I still got the buzzing when it was re-fitted. Anyway eventually traced it down to the tyre rubbing on the Reverb hose as it drooped down when the saddle was down.

This is what it was for me when I had a similar issue. I was convinced it was the front too, took off the mudguard, etc to try and isolate it but turned out to be the rear tyre when the shock was compressed!

Own a SC Heckler (single pivot) and demoed a Bronson recently, which is basically the same geometry just with VPP and a carbon frame. It was no better on the downs and only a little better on the ups, so I don’t reckon that the single pivot was a substantially worse option!

On the other hand, the nomad I demoed was in another league…