@DrJ. No not at all, I think it's a marvellous piece of technology.
I'm just not an owner – my current mobile works as a phone fine, and I have a laptop in my backpack every day on the commute, so watching movies etc is better on that, when I'm not reading (which is rare).
I must confess to iHate for the Apple marketing hype – not their kit, but the whole 'lets put an i or an e followed by a capital letter'. Rounding everything off and making it white like a 60's plastic chair isn't much better either.
But the iPhone, and what it can do, great.
And noted the smiley, so no malice intended!

No dont do it! E-book readers are pish at the moment

Horses for courses then. I have an hour plus commute by train and I wouldn't be without my BeBook. There's a fair bit of media online that can be had and the BeBook is essentially a linux system so no messing about with DRM only or anything.
Battery lasts a couple of weeks, and I charge it at work from the USB port, takes about half a day at most.
Got a 2gb card in it and something over a thousand books that hardly dent the storage capacity.
It's also got a built in MP3 player – not that I use that really.
So, I think it's great. Also useful for directions etc to job interviews.
But then I'm not an iPhone person so perhaps I'm different.
Reckon on about once a fortnight at most between being asked about it….

Back.
So, 4 runs down the hill before it started to p*ss down.
Out of that, first run had a flat, so pushed back from half way down, next good, then next after that another pinch-flat. Nice gent stopped and helped with changing (gave me a tube) and then finished that and one more.
All in all a good day, not least as other than an errant back tyre bike worked fine and new gearing is perfect for descent and road ascent.
Shall be going again in a couple of weeks!

Not a patch on this (at least there's a bike in this one):
Caravan on the hill

And stuff from failblog:
Another caravan
Funny if it's genuine.

I've rebuilt my DH bike in proper form (ditched the double ring, 'narrow' tyres etc) and am off to give it a run. I'm currently so unfit I'm not enjoying any lengthy rides (kids too, so rarely get the chance). Tomorrow should be interesting…

Given that I'm carrying a little 'excess'* I'd probably ask if they have a spare iced bun.
Seriously if they're proper exercising good on em. If they've bought a 'rig' so they they look cool as they eat their MacD's then lard@rse.

Some chick I used to work with who was in imminent risk of being bed bound category said she wouldn't swim cos she would look stupid.
I think that she was just worried greenpeace wouldn't let her get out…

*Understatement of the year.

Fandabbydozie

Taught the 3 year old to do that with both thumbs up.
Marvelous.

Old heckler and a shock everyone hated. But works a charm on my bike.

One word: Wrestlemania.

@ Samurai. Confront them, but not with a sword.

My desk, I have a dozen or so plastic caps from those fruit drinks with a pop-up lid. I left one on my desk, and now I've got obsessive about collecting them. It can't end well.
And a plastic Elvis – not mine and no idea where it came from or why it's around.

* You actually took the time to calculate the score

I think I'm not in any way autistic.

@west kipper – it's mostly because I'm not fit enough to make it an event.

@peachos not really shyte no. It's what I think of climbing. Sorry your opinion doesn't match mine.

Nice buildings, for a few weekends sleeping at the back…

Uphill can be rewarding, but usually not challenge to anything other than fitness. Downhill is a challenge to skill, or I'm not going fast enough…

Now flat, that's fitness and skill!

yeay flatland riding. 8)

bassspine – Member
10 speed

Yes, that is tosh isn't it. Glad I visited the site.

flats, no spd's, no flats… and repeat.

Single speed is fun

Can you get the LBS opinion in writing – would go a long way if you can get an expert opinion on record.
Get them to quote building a like for like replacement too.
That will give you good grounds for your insurance to claim back from the other party. Let your insurance do the haggling.
Make sure you claim big for injuries and recuperation, that'll get negotiated down to something sensible then.
And don't feel bad about claiming, that's why you and the other party have insurance…

We had an old spaniel that used to get stiff on a long run (shooting days). My Mum used to crumble half an aspirin into something it would eat – seemed to free it up quite well as I recall.

The problem isn't the volcano as such, it's the ash cloud. So all we need is a whole bunch of fans to blow it off course.
And, given that the jet engine is in basic fact a fan, surely all we need to do is fly lots of aircraft through it in the same direction and all's sorted – say an approach flight path.
Sure a few aircraft may peg out, but the greater good will be served and what's more there'll be interesting news for weeks, big aircraft crashes are always interesting…

Can't you just buy her a new kettle or something. Practical and a gift!
8)

I used to be a bit like that.
Realised that it wasn't the jump that scared me, it was hitting the ground… obvious I know. But, then you can work on jumping by really checking out your landing point and ensuring that it's good. Then the jump is just flying without wings!

Nowt wrong with usage from me for I.E.
V6 of the app is pants, which is where a lot of this comes from.
But there's also a load of security issues (or were) in it.
Personally, I can't use it on linux box easily, and I want something that synchs my bookmarks, hence Opera and now Chrome.

So, I read a load of the replies on here, and have now just put Chrome on my Kubuntu (which sounds oddly fetishist). Am typing in said browser now… nice!

@br
Indeed it is the case. We have 6000 users on I.e.6 dammit…
And our customer facing sites are all compatible with I.e. 6 onwards because of that.
That and Firefox (we develop with that), and Safari. Most other browsers get a look in but not much of one I must say.
And we don't do WAP! lol.

Should point out that the 2.4 sport goes like wet shit off a shovel (that being that dry can sometimes not trundle quite so fast).
It's amusing to give the local hoons a good run for their money in their clapped out holden v8's!

do a google on crv and fault and you'll get a good read too…

Avoid the 2.4 sport one – they have a valve clearance issue around the 150,000km mark they need a valve re-allignment as they over tighten in time. Causes stalling at lights etc. I know, we have one.
And on ours we're using the Air-con to stop us spending too much on anything else… new compressor, then new pipework, and still freezes up if on max in stationary traffic (which is needed when it's 38.c outside).
Personally I wouldn't buy another, but we're in Aus so it may be a different spec.

I'll say that Opera used to be my favourite browser. If only because it synched my bookmarks between my work (XP) pc and my home (Kubuntu) pc. Was ace. Latest version is broke (on both). Not great.
Used to have a nice feature on the toolbar that turned on/off images too. Now it's buried under a 'helpful menu item'
So, install anything but the latest and it's great…
One thing I will say, in Kubuntu, the default Konqueror is terrible. Kubuntu is nice though. Very good on networking and drives all round really…

Marvelous, what a wonderfully obscure present…

How about:
"Darling, this is an excellent present, and something I really want to do in a few years time when I've mastered some of the other finer points of my trade. But, at the moment I really want to focus on my health and wellbeing, that being my bike and the fitness you then enjoy… any chance we can cancel it this year getting the cash back? We can then re-book it in a couple of years time when I'm more prepped for it"

So, not actually saying it's cr@p but at least getting yourself out of the hole.
Then, one drunken night in a year or so you can mention how it was a terrible present and the emotional pain will be less (the physical nutsack kick may still smart).

Just read your last post.
Well sorted.

Andy

Oh, and as above. ETA is far better. Flick switch, climb, flick switch, descend. Easy.
Unless of course you forget to flick the switch and have a hairy decent with 30mm of travel front and 130mm rear – nearly died as the back pogo'ed around…

I have U-turns. Only adjust before a ride normally – XC/extreme (110/140). Other than that they stay as is.
What I did do was buy a metal u-turn doobry from Jenson USA. Following the useless plastic one slipping and not working properly. Best investment ever.
But then on the later noes perhaps it is metal?

Cheers all – and no, not a troll. A genuine question, albeit a controversial one.
As it happens he's not come from a religious standpoint, t'was based on a learned investigation!
Anyway, apologies for not interacting a bit more in the discussion, overseas so was asleep through most of these comments!

You're going to want a spell checker too.

simonralli2 +1
Go with it, if you need to cry, cry – you're showing your (man) love for a mate.
Remember the good times and think how he'd want you to celebrate his life not mourn it!
And, once he's been settled, go and have a chat with him, I did that with my Gran and other than being a massive emotional event it was one of the best things I've ever done.
Just remember, religion or not (I have none) he'll be about to listen to you when you need him most.

'Old skool' enough?

Ah, I turned down a career pleasuring pigs for money (as it were).
Was at a place called the 'pig improvement company'. Two thirds of the jobs was OK – 1/3 labwork, 1/3 caring. The last 1/3 was 'collecting'.
Turned offer down after that.

Interesting, no, I work in IT. Closest would have been handling all the Talk Talk cold calling calling data for the UK (in an agency). Morally it was the worst place to work : "Yeay, we cold called over 100,000 people this month"
Not something that goes on the CV…

Excellent thread, picked a random page (15) and it was going on about celery!
STW at it's best.
Marvelous.