Congrats, we got our lil mutt a few weeks ago (11 weeks old)! We’ve been using this book  which is pretty good, though if you tried to follow all of the advice you’d never be able to do anything else with your time!

Oh, and pics please :)

My sense of humour generally involves taking the mick out of backfiring hypochondriacs and beta-male white knights, how does that work for you?

I have no idea what either of those are – do hypochondriacs have engines now?

In a similar vein it annoys me when I see a really expensive car carrying a shit bike.

Conversely, a really shit car carrying an expensive bike makes me happy – clearly they have their priorities right!

I’m guessing a lot of people on this thread also have expensive cars and shop in budget stores, would explain the apparent lack of a sense of humour of some posters.

Personally I’d file this one under ‘life’s too short’. Council don’t seem interested, and even if they get interested can you really see the neigbour replacing the trees? Or is it more likely it’ll just drag on over the next few years causing you stress/annoyance? Neighbor has already shown they don’t care by cutting them down in the first place, so they’re unlikely to be bothered all that much if the council start sending them letters telling them to put ’em back.

Yep, drivetrain needs replaced as it’s looking distinctly sharky! Hasn’t started skipping yet but it’s on its way. Whole bike could also do with being stripped back and regressed after a winter of riding in the peak, but my only work space is outside and it’s been too bloody cold to do it! Suspension has been serviced though as someone else did it 😁

Also, you can park just before Fairholmes for free if you’re doing a ladybower route, if you’re going out of Hope/Hayfield there are car parks that are not too expensive (also spots where you can park for free but harder to explain those!). Plenty of places to eat in Hope, most of which are bike friendly, and the Penny Pot and Ladybower Inn are good if you’re in Edale or Ladybower, respectively.

I’d second getting the VB guide, also some good ones here: http://flattyres-mtb.co.uk/route-guides/peak-district-mtb-routes/

THe VB weatherproof route would be doable regardless of conditions, has a couple of big climbs though: https://www.v-publishing.co.uk/blog/v-publishing-blog/2014-01-20—free-download-kinder-all-weather-circuit.html

This thread explains a lot about this forum

Sorry to hear that, Alfie has just arrived in our house and the thought of losing him is horrible.

I’ve looked into volume spaces but at £40 for some small bits of plastic I’m apprehensive!

Tried them with mine and got nowhere!

Had similar with a Float CTD, could never quite get it set up right – either it felt ok on the rough stuff but bottomed out regularly or it chattered all over the place on rough stuff but didn’t bottom out too much. Upgraded to an X2 and it’s much better after a bit of fettling to get the settings right. Would still like to get a Shockwiz hire for the day and tweak it a bit more, as I reckon there’s more in there that I’m not quite clued up enough to get out of it on my own.

When the conditions are like that it’s best to just call it a day and head to the pub IME – it’s not fun and it never will be. I got pretty decent at riding in flat light/ice during my seasons but it was still just a case of being happy to make it down rather than enjoying it, and the risk of spannering yourself is vastly increased.

I hate wasting a day when you’ve only got 6 days to ride a year, but I find it’s better to save the legs til you get decent conditions – I’m always a wreck by the end of a holiday if I go big every day. If you must go out, sharpen your edges, stick close to the piste poles – snow is usually better there and you’ve got a visual marker – and just try to stay loose and confident. The latter is easier said than done though, especially when you’re knackered!

FWIW, I had to (try to) call them out a few months ago on behalf of a little old lady whose car had broken down. They didn’t pick up and, while there was an option for a call back, it took about 45 mins for them to do so. Thankfully we’d managed to get the car going again by that point but I wasn’t particularly impressed with the service. In their defence, it was a couple of weeks before Christmas on a Saturday afternoon so there might have been an unusually high call volume that day.

I’m with them as well so thinking about changing when it’s up for renewal :)

I liked it, 8/10. Hard boiled, noir, and sci fi are favourite genres of mine and this was a mash up of them all. Haven’t read the books, might give them a try as a result of having watched – usually better done that way round imo 😄. Thought the acting wasn’t too bad, particularly compared with the expanse which had some terrible acting (though I still enjoyed it). Apart from Dichen Lachman that is, she was awful.

A friend has an apartment in Chamonix I’m considering a March visit to. Not been there before and was hoping someone could explain how it works to me, there looks to be a bunch of ski areas, do you need all of them, are some better than others? I’m used to skiing in Les Arcs so how does the local piste grading compare? Any advice welcome

Worked there back in 2005 so my advice may be dated, but essentially it’s a bunch of separate ski areas under a single area pass which are connected by a bus with about 10-15 mins between each one. The town itself has no ski area you can walk to easily but it’s a proper town rather than a ski resort so there is more going on. I lived in argentiere at the base of gran montet so pretty much rode up there all the time with the occasional trip to le tour, flegere never really seemed worth it. Piste grading was pretty similar to other French resorts, though there are probably fewer blues and more reds/blacks.

Most of the time it’s said in jealousy, though there are 2 cases IMO where it’s justified. First is someone who buys top of the range gear but has no idea how to use it properly and could get in trouble because of it, e.g. skiier with transponder, abs bag etc heading into the back country. Second is where the person is crap at the sport with high end kit and is a **** about it, e.g. slagging off someone else’s gear or lecturing the guy who is twice the rider they are on their skills.

I see where you’re coming from but the problem might be in how you phrased the question – your OP made it seem like it was all about how they spoke, ie sounding like a surfer dude = stupid, therefore downhillers are not as clever as roadies who are more articulate. You also mentioned you’d never really watched downhill before so it seems a little bit of an uninformed conclusion

As other posters have said, there’s a distinct culture that goes along with certain sports that informs how many in that sport talk – it’s possible that if some roadies went back in time and became downhillers instead they’d talk like surfer dudes. Certainly when I worked a couple of seasons in the alps I started using terms like ‘stoked and ‘gnarly’.

I do think there might be something to the point you make about IQ vs risk taking behaviour, but that didnt really come across in your OP.

<span style=”color: #444444; font-size: 16px; background-color: #eeeeee;”>I didn’t say you said you were.</span>

<span style=”color: #444444; font-size: 16px; background-color: #eeeeee;”>are you sure you’re as important in the workplace as you suggest?</span>

So is it the subtle difference between said and suggest?

<span style=”color: #444444; font-size: 12px; background-color: #eeeeee;”>The day before I go on holiday is usually the most stressful for me, and generally I never get stressed about work, are you sure you’re as important in the workplace as you suggest?</span>

Sometimes is, sometimes isn’t. Nature of the beast in consultancy, this time the stars have aligned nicely in terms of workload :)

Don’t believe I said that I thought I was important anywhere? Just that the job can be stressful. One of the most stressful jobs I ever had was working as a waiter and I could have been replaced by pretty much anyone off the street in that job.

<span style=”color: #444444; font-size: 12px;”>Registered with the kennel club?</span>

Sorry, should have clarified – they breed poodles and schnausers. No registration for this one of course as it’s a mutt :)

<span style=”color: #444444; font-size: 12px; background-color: #eeeeee;”>You seem to be getting snippy.</span>

Nope, finding this quite amusing. You said I didn’t come here for advice. I said that’s your opinion. You said nope, it’s your opinion. I’ve previously said (a couple of times now) that I considered the opinions people posted up but it seems to have become fairly evenly split. Given that you’d therefore pretty much get the same result from flipping a coin a bunch of times, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to side with the advice of people who know us IRL.

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”> </span><span style=”background-color: #eeeeee; color: #444444; font-size: 12px;”>Anyway, aren’t you supposed to be incredibly busy?</span>

Don’t believe I’ve said that anywhere? I said the job can bestressful, which it can be. I’m off on holiday tomorrow though, so not so much today…

Must be nice being psychic and being able to tell what people’s motivations are for doing things. Can you also post up the numbers for the Euromillions tonight pls?

“<span style=”background-color: #eeeeee; color: #444444; font-size: 12px;”>You didn’t come here for advice.”</span>

<span style=”color: #444444; font-size: 12px;”>”Incidentally, did you buy your dog from a gypsy puppy farm? ‘Cos that’s where all the trendy mongrel cross breeds come from.”</span>

No, apparently reputable breeder registered with Kennel Club etc, all certificates for mum and dad available and got to meet mum and pups at their house. Seemed very nice and knowledgeable so no reason to think it’s not above board :)

Probably wouldn’t have been my choice of breed or to go to a breeder but we needed a non-shedder due to my allergies which limited our choice of breeds and my wife had her heart set on what we got.

<span style=”color: #444444; font-size: 12px; background-color: #eeeeee;”>It was very clear from the beginning that you’d already made your mind up, and that all you were after was some post hoc validation. You just confirmed that by pointing out that you are not especially interested in the views of the people here.</span>

Yeah, I thought we were in the right when I posted, naturally. Most people who initially posted disagreed, I tried to offer some counter-points, but that remained the case. I then left the thread for a bit to have a think about the posts and reflect on our actions, as I was genuinely interested in opinions. Overnight it seems like there are a few more people who agree with our position, so I don’t honestly think there is a clear consensus on this thread that we’re being selfish and inconsiderate. Given that the opinions of people who know us IRL were unanimously that we weren’t being selfish, I think that’s our answer. Would you honestly suggest I should take your advice over theirs?

At this point it pretty much seems like you just want to pick a fight and bicker pointlessly back and forth (in true STW style), so:

“<span style=”color: #444444; font-size: 12px;”>You appear to be unaware of the difference between opinion and fact. Here, the OP gives his opinion that the visit is inconvenient, but offers very little to support that opinion, other than that he cannot be arsed. I find his attitude selfish and inconsiderate.”</span>

Inconvenient in this case is a matter of opinion, not fact. What I might find inconvenient you might not, and vice versa.

“<span style=”background-color: #eeeeee; color: #444444; font-size: 12px;”>Normal people don’t throw a strop when asked to make a very small amount of effort to host their mother.”</span>

We didn’t, we asked her politely to come at the weekend instead.

“<span style=”background-color: #eeeeee; color: #444444; font-size: 12px;”>Hilarious. That is precisely what he’s done. The entire premise of the OP is designed for us to agree with him rather than to establish truth. As a dog whistle for the self centered and needy, he could not have done a better job.”</span>

To me this reads as a very stroppy post. Pot, kettle?

“<span style=”background-color: transparent; font-size: unset; color: #444444; font-style: italic;”>she just hates not getting her own way and thinks she always knows best</span>
<p style=”padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background: #eeeeee; line-height: 1.2em; color: #444444; margin: 1rem 0px !important;”>I suggest you buy a mirror.”</p>
Might I suggest one for you too?

<span style=”color: #444444;”>’Staggering!'</span>

What, that advice from people who know all of the parties involved, their personalities, and temperaments is likely to have greater validity than advice of randoms on the internet who don’t know us from Adam? Shocking, I know.

Yeah, a little bit – but now I’m back at work and it’s Friday :)

Thanks for the input all, I took a step back from this to reflect on the responses as it seemed that many thought we were being very selfish. Since then it seems like more people are thinking we’ve been reasonable, which tallies with the real-world feedback my wife has had from those she’s asked about it including FIL and SIL, both of whom don’t mince words and would happily have told her if they thought she was being a knob.

It’s probably a 50:50 split on here now, but the feedback from people who know us and MIL IRL is what I’m going with.

FWIW my wife and I are in agreement on this one, I’m not twisting her arm. And we do like and get along with MIL generally.

<span style=”color: #444444; background-color: #eeeeee;”>The entire premise of the OP is designed for us to agree with him rather than to establish truth</span>

I think that’s because it’s our side of the argument. If MIL (or anyone on the other side of a disagreement) posted her side it would inevitably be crafted from their perspective and designed for you to agree with them. I also don’t think there is any ‘truth’ to this situation – it’s a disagreement over the emotional reaction to a request for a change in date, it’s not black and white.

For those that think I’ve thrown a strop, I apologise if that’s how it has come across. I saw it as presenting our side of the argument and trying to defend that position, and I got frustrated at one point as I felt some were misunderstanding and believing we’d refused a visit altogether. However, I thought I was reasonable in my responses throughout and didn’t think they came across as angry or stroppy – perhaps the lack of emoticon options in the new forum let me down a bit :)

I’ve re-read my OP and it does read as though we’ve refused a visit altogether, so apologies for any confusion :)

To clarify – She requested to come down during the week, we said it was inconvenient, can you come at the weekend instead? She said fine and suggested a date to which we agreed. She then took the huff about the fact that we’d prefer not to have visitors during the week, not the fact that she wasn’t allowed to visit.

No, no kids. And don’t want them either.

<span style=”color: #444444;”>No, but you don’t have a good reason for saying no.</span>

Again, genuine question – is the fact that it’s inconvenient and, to an extent as koldun suggested, stressful to have them during the week not a reason?

For those that are saying I’m just wanting people to agree with me and wanting my own way, I apologise if it’s coming across like that – I genuinely want to hear people’s opinions, but to me it seems like most are reading that we’ve said no to a visit altogether, which isn’t the case. We’ve simply asked for the visit to be at a weekend – is that truly unreasonable?

<span style=”color: #444444;”>I’m not going to pretend that I always look forward to a visit from the parents in law, but I wouldn’t dream of saying that they couldn’t come.</span>

Once again for those in the cheap seats – we didn’t say she couldn’t come at all, just that we preferred if she came at the weekend. She didn’t come back and say “that’s the only date I can do for the next few months” – if she had, we’d have said ok. She came back with another date at a weekend 2 weeks afterwards. After that, she took the huff. Is a change of date truly an unreasonable request?

<span style=”color: #444444; background-color: #eeeeee;”>So you’re getting a new dog and are both going to be out of the house all day when you first get it? </span>

Wife is taking time off the first week and I’ll WFH the next week, we do have a plan for this. She’s also not planning on coming while the wife is off, it was to be a few weeks after that.

<span style=”color: #444444;”>Because she’s your partners mum, and if you can’t grasp the fact that sometimes you need to put other people first then you’re a lost cause.</span>

And 90% of the time we do, in fact it’s almost always us putting their wishes first. Why is it wrong for us to ask for a simple change of date? After we said it initially she came back and said they’d both come down on a weekend 2 weeks after the date she suggested. But now she’s guilt-tripping my wife about the fact that we said it was inconvenient during the week. Are you honestly saying that any time a parent/in-law asks you for something the immediate answer is always yes and that you should never be able to say no?

Genuine question, just trying to get my head around this – why are our wishes less important than hers? Like I said, we’re not saying she can’t visit at all, just that we’d rather it was at the weekend. To my (admittedly overly rational at times) brain it boils down to agreeing a mutually convenient date for a visit and I can’t get my head around that we’re not allowed to say that the date she’s suggested is inconvenient.

<span style=”color: #444444;”>Why not just call her and apologise</span>

Because she’s unbearably (and I mean unbearably) smug when people do what she wants them to if they’ve intially been resistant.

<span style=”color: #444444;”>Is that not allowed, you did ask for opinions.</span>

We presented it as “We’re either calling him X or Y, which do you prefer” – isn’t it nicer to just choose one of the options rather than saying you don’t like either? If we had chosen one of those names (we didn’t in the end) then we’d always have known she didn’t like it. Not that it matters to me, but my wife would have cared.

I’m giving up on trying to quote as it’s not working…

<span style=”color: #454545; background-color: #ffffe0;”>I honestly think it’s the dog she wants to see (he’s a Cavapoo). We saw them at Christmas, so it hasn’t been that long.</span>

<span style=”color: #454545; background-color: #ffffe0;”> </span>

<span style=”color: #444444;”>This is 5yr old behaviour. “I want to come now and if I don’t i’m going to cry….waaaaaahhh waaaaah etc”</span>

This is part of it, she’s very used to getting her own way and usually has a strop until she does. Her other daughter’s husband hates dogs and refused to have the parents’ dog in the house when they came to visit and she moaned about it for months afterwards.

<span style=”color: #444444;”>Invite her down midweek, but name the dog after her.</span>

She also had a moan about the dogs name – we asked for peoples opinions on 2 options and she said “I don’t like either of them”.

<span class=”skimlinks-unlinked” style=”margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: #eeeeee; color: #444444;”>If</span><span style=”color: #444444; background-color: #eeeeee;”> she works weelkends then perhaps the ones she gets off she would like to spend at home?</span>

She works some weekends, not all. It’s never been a problem before to come at the weekend.

<span style=”color: #444444;”>As for whether you are terrible, then yes, you are.  You have posted a thread on STW about getting a dog and haven’t included photos.  That makes you bad, very very bad</span>

That would involve trying to upload a pic so it can be seen by the new forum and I wasn’t even able to do that with the old one!

Interesting that people think we’re being unreasonable, I didn’t expect that. For those that thought that, isn’t it sufficient that we’re saying come at the weekend instead (with no restrictions)?

For background, every other visit over the past 7 years we’ve lived down here has been at the weekend. She’s also not lonely, she’s got plenty of friends and FIL as well, but he’d be getting left on his own as he works during the week too.

Things are worth what people will pay for them. HTH

Done mine twice, first time I waited in A&E for a couple of hours to get an X-ray and get told they couldn’t do anything. Did get some nice (stronger) cocodamol though. Second time I didn’t bother, just suffered through it. As others have said, it’ll take a couple of weeks. Worst bit for me was trying to sleep and going from lying down to upright! Over the counter cocodamol helped, but not as much as the good stuff…