NHS 111 as a matter of urgency, I think.

Ulysses 31 and The Mysterious Cities of Gold.

We must be about the same age. Honourable mentions to Jonny Quest, The Centurions, and Captain Planet.

All electric vehicles are to pay £200

From 2025 it’s going to be more than this, I think.  Retrospective changes to fix the problem with old diesels getting away with paying £30/year needed too. I also don’t see why the congestion charge couldn’t be tripled or quadrupled in London, it’s the only place in the country with passable public transport. In fact, maybe make it proportional to the value of the car to deal with the ultra-rich driving like knobs in their gold-plated Lambos around central London.

Proper pay per mile that beats someone to death (err, financially) for doing journeys less than a couple of miles.

Fix the railway network before imposing tax on family holidays. Besides, thanks to more than a month of rail strikes the extra road traffic has released far more CO2 than could ever be reasonably avoided via tax on flights people take less than once a year.

Oh, and ban Krispy Kreme deliveries to the US embassy until they settle their congestion charge bill.

you’ll get more tax up-front out of savings that are made, and you will discourage savings among high earners, which will make people spend more (boosting the economy).

So as one of those who falls into that bracket, here’s what will happen:

1. I’ll go (more) part time, so less money overall goes into the economy.

2. I’ll just drop the money into salary sacrifice schemes (Cycle To Work, electric vehicle etc). If pensions are going to be taxed in and out, I’ll have the shiny new bike now, thanks.

If they fix the marginal rate issue then I’m actually fairly ambivalent about paying more tax, but I dislike being in the situation where I suffer nights out of bed and get taxed at 62% for the pleasure.

I would also expect this to be distributed fairly if it’s on pensions with a proper calculation of the value of public sector final salary pensions and appropriate tax.

Are we all in it together (middle to high earners?). Or is it just the private sector employees who are fair game?

I know this sounds like a horribly Tory perspective (and it probably is to be honest), but to clarify I don’t object to a higher tax burden in principle.

It’s perfectly fair to tax existing pensioners, it’s entirely their fault we’re in this mess.

Crossed what line? In my opinion Flyingox is deluding himself if he truly believes that the Israeli economy is not in dire straits and if he doesn’t believe that there is now an exodus issue. It is a perfectly valid opinion.

That’s not what you said. You made a fairly offensive racial slur.

Delusion is an Israeli trait which you seem to have picked up.

Crossed the line, I think, with this.

Antagonistic?? You suggested that I, quote,  “may not move in white working class circles”. I simply pointed out that I am white working-class myself and yes I do “move in white working-class circles”.

I don’t know how you’re “doing” quotes, but the random text size changes are really irritating.

In the 70s or 80s maybe not but nowadays it’s a bit much for the average 15y

Casually offensive in exactly the same way as if I said that all people turning 15 in the 70s or 80s are now technophobic incompetent hand-wringers who cheer for Farage and still haven’t figured out how contactless payments work. See, it’s not nice when it’s you on the receiving end.

100% depends on the 15 yr old and one would assume that the people who’ve known him for the entire 15 years of his life are best judged to make that assessment. And it’s not as if KA is short of cash, he’ll have had the ability to walk into any hotel and get a room if he needed it, probably including the presidential suite.

A lot of motorcyclists convince themselves that it’s careless car drivers who cause most of their issues – the ‘SMIDSY’ accident.  That is a factor (although one that can be mitigated significantly with advanced riding techniques) but in reality they are their own worse enemy.  And I say that as a long time biker who is still in love with motorcycling.

Some of the worst passes I’ve had when on my road bike have been from motorbike riders. I’ve no doubt they drive in the same way when in a car.

I’m sure that negligent and careless driving of cars is responsible for the bulk of motorcycle deaths, but only because they lined up every hole in the block of cheese first through their own decisions.

4mm + twisted pair

Sorry, should’ve said 6mm there.

In general you would use a combined cable (4mm + twisted pair) for an EV charger so the question you need to ask is why would your electrician do things differently from everyone else?

Load monitoring is standard on pretty much every other charger for a reason, and although you don’t have an electric shower or fetid sex pond now, you might get one. You would also need it if you ever get a home battery install, as they can pull an additional 5kW or more when charging. And on top of that, you might have a 60A fuse, which you can’t confirm without looking.

Oh, and check the electrician is happy to pull your main fuse to complete the work, as I’ve discovered that some (particularly bigger companies), are no longer prepared to work if they can’t isolate the supply via a two pole isolator switch prior to the consumer unit.

Fat tax on fast food.

Fat tax on highly processed food.

Manufacturers are not allowed to add salt to anything they sell as a “ready meal”.

Extra penalty for using a Drive Thru restaurant (air pollution + congestion).

Link business rates to active travel facilities (eg a supermarket which has terrible walking and cycling provision gets their business rates quadrupled or higher.

Pay per mile for road use by ALL vehicles, with a sliding scale highest at the shortest distances.

Extra funding for schools which have a reasonable proportion of students arriving by bike / foot / public transport.

Ban parking in town centres and offer free park and ride, or a pay and claim service for buses (eg instead of the shop refunding your parking ticket, they refund your bus ticket).

Allow e-scooters everywhere. Accept there will be some accidents.

Properly prosecute dangerous driving.

All pedestrian crossings get priority when the beg button is pressed.

Properly prosecute DPF deletes and remaps.

All motorways get 60 mph limit for air quality.

If rail operators get to raise their prices by inflation + x%, so too should the tax on fuel.

Public charge points are VAT-exempt.

Bicycles become VAT-exempt.

Two-stroke engines are banned.

Low income families collect a free crate of fruit and veg each week from a supermarket of their choice (funded by the tax on their enormous car parks suggested earlier).

Deal with crap PE teachers. Had I not been bullied by the teachers ‘cos I didn’t like football I didn’t start running properly until my 20s. Could possibly have competed at a national level if I’d started younger.

Teach kids how to cook more than a pasta bake in schools.

Probably more but running out of space.

My neighbour has one and the noise is intrusive.

Can’t be worse than five oil boilers firing up simultaneously at 6am.

Noisy ASHP outside units are usually down to bearing failure following a bad installation (they need to be absolutely level).

Use this guide:

And be nice to whoever collects the car (offer them a hot drink and use of your toilet). I’ve had them overlook some fairly hefty damage and my own repair with a touch up kit before because of this reason.

Ultimately it’s not in the industry interest to be obnoxious about it because you might choose to buy a used car next time to avoid the problem.

HSBC Global Money account also does the same thing as Revolut. Probably equally evil so it’s a toss-up.

I’ve never had a Revolut card transaction be declined even in dodgy places, including for cash withdrawals. It’s exceptionally reliable and if I were going out in the back of beyond with only one card, it would be the Revolut. Nationwide Visa credit card is 2nd, HSBC Global Money 3rd, Curve 4th, American Express 999999th.

I would be really, really, really reticent about doing this. Unless you’re going to proofread it immaculately then you run the risk of letting something wild into your description. It’s going to take as much time as just writing it yourself, but without the risk.

For what it’s worth, a spelling mistake would not put me off buying from a small online store. Spotting a ChatGPT-written description of an item would be an instant red flag.

Depends if it’s Openreach fibre or third party. I’m with BT because it was the cheapest (marginally) at the time, but they’re all much of a muchness so just go with whatever gets you a discount or benefit elsewhere (eg EE give more data on phone plans if you have broadband with them). Likewise Vodafone.

Ultimately the speeds and reliability will be the same whoever you use. If it’s a third party fibre provider then you’re stuck with them or one of their partner networks anyway.

He’s very much a far-right throbber and I have no doubt that Tesla management are working on a way to evict him from the job. Until then though he’s having a massively negative effect on their sales in the UK, in my opinion. The people who subscribe to his views are now in prison as opposed to buying Teslas – although I wouldn’t be surprised if this works as a sales boost among the rednecks he’s courting in the USA.

I’ve still not decided whether to get a replacement Model 3 on the work scheme and it’s about 90% down to Musk, and 10% down to “this car doesn’t feel like great value for money” with the number of features on the new one that are locked out or inop for RHD markets. On the bright side the Australians like Teslas, and they mostly subscribe to his unpleasant and backward opinions too.

4.6kW of solar, 10.6kWh of battery storage, using Intelligent Octopus. Heating is by oil but that will change this year. 7,000 miles of electricity go into the car each year at 7p/kWh (in fact all the electricity is at this rate as that’s when I charge the batteries).

My direct debit is at the minimum of £10/month and even with the outrageous standing charges I get a £500 refund twice a year. Could make a further £1000/year by force-discharging the batteries but not sure it’s worth the wear on the system.

I was told that the “Premium” audio in the Long Range variant is unbranded Bang and Olufson. Take that as you will.

Would have an ID 7 over a Model Y at this point. Better build quality, more space, longer range, not going to be keyed by everyone who walks past it, and no money going to Musk Enterprises. Especially not since they tacitly admitted on Twitter that they have no intention of bringing things like auto park to the UK due to the fact we’re RHD.

Never taken them off on multiple trips, never had a problem. Bike travels inside a VeloVault2.

(Although I managed to Pringle one of them by knocking the bike over in the hotel room).

HGV drivers tailgating in roadworks when I’m already doing 55 mph in the inside lane. You want to overtake? Go for it. But sitting behind me while flashing your lights and deliberately driving as close as possible just enrages me beyond belief.

Why is it that “professional” drivers are often the worst on the road?

Up to 45,000 miles on CrossClimate 2 tyres on a Model 3 LR and it’s still not below 4mm either end. Doing my head in – need to get below 2mm in the next three weeks and despite flooring it away from the lights on every opportunity they’re refusing to wear out.

Just because you had the toaster and the digital watch while we were still painting ourselves blue  is no reason to have a “us and them” attitude these days. If you don’t want us using “your” electricity, put up a giant windbreak along the west coast.

Anyone got one?

My dad owns one. Is pretty happy with it, I think. No problems doing longer trips, though I think the DC charging isn’t as fast as he’d like. Limited customisation options – it’s basically an ICE vehicle adapted to become an EV.

Think the biggest problem is that the paint is peeling off the bodywork and the dealer isn’t interested in fixing.

If the game is on Steam then ?.

That question mark was meant to be a thumbs up symbol… I guess the STW typewriter is still to be fitted with its emoji ribbon.

Works well for me – surprisingly powerful and can even handle Hogwarts Legacy at highish settings.

If the game is on Steam then ?.

If it’s on the Epic Store then even with Heroic Launcher and a lot of messing around it’s still a crapshoot.

If I can’t roll up to a charging point, plug a world wide universal cable in, wave a random bank card and arrive back 10 minutes later with a couple of hundred miles in the “tank” I don’t want to know.

That is literally how it works at pretty much every rapid charger in the country (if you have a Tesla it’s even easier as you just plug in and the payment is automatic).

Clearing the cache doesn’t accomplish anything on a modern Android phone.

After an update it takes a long time to optimise stuff if you have a lot of apps installed. This only happens in the background and lots of stuff can block it. Once it’s finished it should be back to how it was.

Otherwise every time you open an app it’s got to be recompiled on the fly, which is a painfully slow process.

the issue with renting is it delays your ride start till 9.30ish when it’s getting warmer, I’m normally on the trail at sunrise

In October that might be a good thing – Sedona is 4,500ft up. Bit of a random suggestion but the little restaurant at Sedona airport is really good, and the airport itself is pretty unique being on a plateau.

I cannot believe that the board at Tesla isn’t looking at ways to remove him. He’s so damaging to the brand at this point that there’s absolutely no benefit to keeping him there. I know several people at work who’ve decided against ordering Teslas solely because of Musk, and I chose not to get a replacement Model 3 because of his behaviour.

I’ve not got a camera on my bike because there doesn’t seem to be anything that has the battery life needed for a multi-hour ride.

Have sent a few videos to North Yorkshire police from the Tesla cameras showing crap driving around other riders though (close passes, overtaking towards oncoming cyclists etc), which usually have a positive outcome.

Can’t understand why insurance companies don’t mandate them.

I wouldn’t be worried about the battery in a used EV. On the other hand some suspension components are probably going to be subject to a harder life due to the weight and driving style, so maybe budget shocks etc into the plan?

Abused the battery of a Model 3 LR for 3 years and it’s lost 10 miles of range despite being filled to 100%, drained to less than 10%, and then Supercharged on the motorway.

I have a minipresso which takes Nespresso pods. It’s not brilliant and will leak manky coffee water into your bag because the internals trap water and the cap isn’t watertight.

Believe the nanopresso fixes this problem and I’d not even heard of a picopresso.

>> We literally all learned about it at school, but it
>> needs spelling out constantly, and more starkly.

Agreed. I remember my history GCSE was entirely on modern history and it covered both World Wars, but in each case only the lead-up and the causes. The same propaganda and speech coming from the far right is almost identical to a century ago, except it’s on Twitter now.

Don’t think my dad and brother will be talking to me for a bit after I called them a bunch of fledgling Nazis last night.

My local Morrisons uses open freezers for their frozen produce. Pisses me off no end.

Having said that the manager is a prick anyway, blocking bike stands with racks of garden plants and encouraging parking on the sole zebra crossing into the site.

No one rioted…

30,000+ people die each year from air pollution in the UK alone, but no one cares about that. Well, actually, they do, but only to the extent of destroying the ULEZ infrastructure designed to protect people. Pretty sure the same people who are out with angle grinders are the same ones throwing bricks at these riots.

I guess they’re fine with kids dying as long as they’re brown.

I hope that in the next few years Labour are brave enough to simplify and straighten out the tax system. The fewer rules, the fewer the loopholes. I don’t actually object to paying a bit more tax – in fact, as a relatively high earner I tend to feel that I get away with it quite well with anything that’s salary sacrifice basically being discounted by 62%, including part time.

Certainly the most irritating people that I work with are complaining noisily about the statement by Rachel Reeves, so it must have something right. Provided that an increase in taxation is applied fairly to everyone (ie no special exemptions for the public sector), then it’s likely worth it.

Plus being forced to construct a thought-out political argument is always a tad harder than posting unchallenged hyperbole

No one wants to come on this thread because whatever argument they make is immediately jumped on and dissected by you regardless of their political viewpoint or opinion.

O2 is roam free but there’s still a limit.

It’s also speed-capped which will break video-calling etc in Teams. Everyone at work is using Flexiroam, but you could buy a PAYG 3 SIM card and top it up with £10 for fast data abroad.