The Ute and Minute were brilliant at getting cargo bikes out at sensible prices, I have fond memories of my Ute.

It’s a no from me as well, your emigrating mate isn’t doing you any favours with this deal, you are taking all the risk; if you need a car buy something in your price bracket not theirs. A Kia is the kind of thing that could easily do a heavy depreciation drop or just not sell, you would have to sell it privately to get a high price for it and so you need to be really confident you can flip it quick and at the price you want.

Proportional representation

Get rid of the HoL

Get rid of the royal family

Close all private schools and remove all religious schooling

Universal basic income and reform of taxes

Thatcher listened to health experts on HIV and got the messages out. that is the only thing I will ever say about Torys doing the right thing

Came to Manchester (Salford) for university and stayed, because of the nightlife etc and found work. Now still here because I managed to get on the ladder and kids etc. would need a good reason to move now and my dad and in-laws are within driving distance (riding distance!) so sticking.

nickjb:    I try and buy everything from charity shops”

I try charity shops and see nothing even close to wearable, if you have any tips I’ll be all ears please.

I buy when the item is worn out, I only replace not add to the volume. Happy to pay a proper price for things that get worn a lot and trying to get everything from places like community clothing and hebcotro. Probably about 400 a year when considering socks, pants, Ts, jumpers,  footwear but this is averages over xyears…

47 now, in the last two years really, noticed the change (and covid redesigning my social life was a factor also) but I have non-alcoholic drinks on longer nights out etc. a bad hangover lasts for 48hrs and I can’t eat properly whereas I used to keep eating and burn it off with general activity.

Definitely can’t drink on an empty stomach and if I go into a specialist beer place I’m glad that the stronger ones are often not pints

the fact that AF beers are decent nowadays has made it more palatable (pun intended)

Rouleur did a full interview and write up a few months ago, interestingly he got out of the pro peloton because he and his wife had a coffee shop and it was only lockdown forcing him to run that he realised he liked it

You’d have to be really fast in the first place to even think about wearing one, because that’s a strong look !

I can imagine that the theory is that the front of the helmet aligns with the hands at the end of the TT bar to create one uniform bow wave… would be rubbish if you can’t keep your head still tho

Alpkit Koulin

I’ve got an old pair of decathlon swim fins (the short blue ones) and they are great for holidays because you get get them in a suitcase and also get in and out of them at the beach without falling over or looking like a loser, they work surprisingly well. Plain tube snorkel. not those full face jobs, if they leak they are terrible and co2 headache is grim

I remember that series it was pretty good – and great to see Carol Kaye on there, it’s crazy to realise just how much she played on (as well as holding her own in a male dominated world)

Noise cancelling headphones are the best thing on a plane. As a specs wearer I just keep my prescription sunglasses on. A thick fleece if you can take it on the plane packed down or put it on in the airport

“My tutor insists on the thumb in the middle of the neck for mobility.”

Your tutor is right.

at an advanced level there may be a case for using thumb over in specific situations but it’s really not a habit to be building into a bassist who is learning. How you mute (with both hands) and how you move around the fretboard are all excecuted properly with the thumb at the back

Your fingers will get stronger before you know it, but getting into the habit of using as little pressure as you can get away with, is a good thing because your tone and tuning improves and your fingers recover easier

Bought the exact same pair of shoes without realising, I now have to get another pair knowing that it’s a match, or get something else that won’t be as good

the plain black one in the video you wouldn’t even look at twice if it wasn’t for the branding – it’s the minging dayglo ones that are the worst.

Layers and windproof outer are the way to do it – my  kids don’t play football but if I was going to do the parent outdoors standing around in winter job, I’d have a set of waders! super thermal, fully sealed to the armpit

I’m an AIDA qualified freediver, although it’s been many years since I actually did it

1- the netflix documentary stuff is the 1% at the very top of the sport so don’t treat that like it’s normal practice, but yes it’s dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing

2- catching anything whether scuba or freediving is really hard. you need to know where to go, what to go for and have the right kit – plus it’s an additional layer of complexity as well as the act of breathhold. even the experienced divers have days where they  come back with nothing

3- get a wetsuit that fits really snug and most importantly a well fitting mask and learn to snorkel before trying to get deeper

4- do not go deep on your own !

I can highly recommend Steve Millard – freedivers.co.uk – he really knows his stuff

Dunbar has a leisure centre with a pool that has a wave machine and a slide if you need an activity on a crap weather day

good to see stuff on the red button / iplayer, lets hope they are both good races

If this is going to be the thread for discussion etc do we need to make it a no-spoilers title please?

“But the real eye-opener was a specific email he was forced to disclose. On the subject of his declining acting career (due to becoming an edgelord on Twitter, now known as X), he wrote: “I’m getting a huge wad of cash for this game, and I suppose it’s better to be hated and rich than hated and recently fired from Asda.”

Our barrister, following up, asked: “What is the game, Mr Fox? How much do you earn from [political party] Reclaim?” His reply: “£250,000 a year.” As Marina Hyde pointed out in her column on Tuesday, the uber-rich Brexit donor Jeremy Hosking funds the Reclaim party.”

This article is quite the review –

theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/01/laurence-fox-high-court-online-abuse-libel-action-defamation

The adoption of proportional representation voting, binning off the HoL and replacement of the royal family with a person who can do the job* properly, can all be done at the same time.

Tax reform and getting rid of all private schools can also be done simultaneously with the above and would also have a massive positive benefit to the UK

(*Challenge of the performance of the prime minister and cabinet)

I’ve managed to take the prize of ‘billie pipers worst ex-husband’ from DJ Chris Evans and it wasn’t easy….

The fawning is the same as ever, certainly in the time I’ve been on this planet and the print media and BBC have a parasitic relationship with the royals.

I think the difference is that the popularity of the royals is dropping year-on-year and if they carry on with stupid stuff like protecting Andrew, propping up the dodgy mess of peerages and the HoL, the insane wealth and the way they don’t practice what they preach (Billy’s £1m prize for climate change but they own tons of land kept artificially bare with no trees..), the interfering with parliament law text – then we will hopefully get rid, or at least have a major restructuring.

I think the best thing would be to have an annual ballot like jury service and you do a year being a royal with a massive taxfree wage at the end of it and the deal that your job is there for you when you are done – unless you’re a small business owner etc and have a good reason to not

RustyNP has it right; it’s endemol and they have a track record for making telly that treats people like sh1t. I personally don’t think that the guy who won it was this genius, I think they’ve built an editorial narrative.

I bought their latest album and I quite like it. Although the idea that each album is a move onwards from previous is a bit of a stretch, this latest one is very much like Lullabies to Paralyze (and I liked that also fwiw)

I don’t have an expensive watch for that reason: they get scraped. Expensive watches like Rolex can get in the sea. They don’t tell the time better than a seiko

I spent 150quid on trainers for running and they are worth it because its a sight cheaper than a private physio because cheap shoes don’t cut it – law of diminishing returns applies I suspect but if your ankles/knees need the right running shoe then no complaints.

150 isn’t top end for running shoes, far from it… I do use mine for running only so that makes them last longer

musical instruments is an interesting one, there are expensive (like US fender standard, c.£1800) that are worth it but other ones – like custom shop that I think aren’t (easily 4k or more) because you are paying for complex paint and finishing. saxophones are the same, the different cosmetic finishes bump the price up but don’t make them better horns. law of diminishing returns applies and even professional musicians don’t buy the most expensive stuff, not unless they are utterly loaded

Good shout on the NHS – because when you compare what the UK govt pays per head compared to the US govt it’s a bargain. The US govt spends a lot of money on the charging pricing admin just to go out to all the healthcare companies, what a bl00dy sham.

Proper wool jumpers – get them from a UK manufacturer for all the right reasons and it becomes more expensive – but they really work and a good one will last and last. Same for hebtroco jeans

I agree with Apple, it’s just overpriced

New cars are ridiculous, I’ve never had one and never want one

Rolex

Music magpie do good deals and I’ve had good handsets from them before 

Portugese wine is ace and you will get the best stuff in Portugal – lots of region specific grape varieties so would hit google once you have the accomodation booked to see what applies in that area

Crianza, Reserva and Grand Reserva apply to the length of time that a wine has aged, DOC rules are in place like other bits of europe and anything Pago means its from a single estate and top quality stuff (will be pricy)

unless the cost is really horrendous I’d also choose Portsmouth to Caen (overnight with a cabin), you cut a lot of france driving out (although the france bit isn’t as bad, just avoid Paris routes) and Dover this summer could be a complete binfire with the lorries etc – although Binners’ suggestion of the chunnel first thing in the morning after a travelodge is an option

Whichever you choose, come off the Autoroute at LeMans and drive south on the D338, you drive down the circuit with the armco barriers and that road is the Mulsanne straight :)

Chinon is great for Red wines and if you go to Chenonceau I can recommend Simoneau wines, St Georges Sur Cher

I try and recycle as much as I can and although it feels like small fry, it’s the collective action if we have lots of us doing it

in Bury we have 4 wheely bins and the black bin goes out every 3rd week, the paper and plastic/glass on the other weeks (garden bin fortnightly, thankful that bury council send an email reminder of which to put out!) – this is better that a weekly bin that would have been the case historically, and we’ve been part of bury council for 15yrs now.. that adds up especially if you do stretchy plastic at Morrisons

I think it is worth it – the principle to hold is a mental benefit on the whole

And yes, driving less, fewer holidays are massive hits, every bus ride, bike ride is a massive win

[cynical] the private schools are still on holiday so all the main presenters are still off the air, normal service resumes monday [/cynical]

Mixers like Crodino or the AF one that Lidl does in the little bottles

Tonic water

AF beer – Nemo by Brightside, erdinger and all the other wheat based ones seem to work better than lager because the lager ones have a different mouthfeel

It’s the stupid rules about building permanent structures, trying to get things like golf in there just to get money, it’s all so corrupt, and it pulls all the funding from grassroots for the sale of a tiny handful of individuals at the top of their sport. Sod the Olympics.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/30/a-massive-betrayal-how-londons-olympic-legacy-was-sold-out

Cheers plumber, time for some internet rabbit holing :-)

I am debating getting an HX stomp, is there a safe method of running it from a normal pedalboard power supply? The manual would have you believe they only work on their separate PSU but lots of them are board mounted. Also if anyone has any tips on how to use or feel free to tell me they are overrated

Also is anyone selling one 🙂?