Cheers DD. I’ll have a look on flea-bay and see what the going rate is.

:cry:

Dave Bowie should have hung up his hat before he produced the Glass Spider stuff. Up to that point he’d successfully reinvented himself a number of times. From Glass Spider onwards, it’s been drivel…. As for the new single, it’s like I’ve been transported into the story of The Emperors New Clothes; surely all of these critics can see it for what it is??

Is there a market for second-hand Isofix car seats? We’ve got a pair (well, 4 actually) that we would like to get rid of. They were quite expensive (these I think: Clicky-thingy) Maxi-Cosi Priorifix.

Once the kids moved up to the next age range, we purchased some of the Brittax Isofix ones. The eldest has all but grown out of his, the yougest will be good for another year yet.

Many Congratulations!

7.5 years in now and I still remember that moment like it was yesterday.

Everyday there’s something new – they’ll make you laugh, cry, happy, sad, scared & brave. I have a sense or euphoric love for mine that’s hard to explain. It’s all good 8)

Dusty in here again…..

Yes in Sardinia. Quite nice too.

Quorn is not vegan [everyuone knows this] but it is still a good joke

<raises hand>
Please Sir, I fall into the category of ‘everyone’ and didn’t know that. Do I lose £5? :wink:

wilko1999 – Member
ABC Warrior the stand-out performance in the dire Dredd / Stallone film

Yup!

+1 for ABC Warriors – although one of them did appear in the first (bloody awful) Dredd film

Titanic – am quite relieved about that.
+1 Dirty Dancing

Tamnavulin

Bruichladdie Rocks (can you still get that? haven’t seen it for ages)

Caol Isla +1

And as mentioned above – don’t discount blended either. Grant’s Sherry Cask is particularly nice (green label). As it can be had for under £15, it’s got to be worth a punt.

Cranberry
One of these depending on what size you need.

Ooooooh! They look swish!

The Argos one looks alright too – however, MrsG will probably want something stainless steel and shiny… Please God, don’t let Dualit do one. :|

^^^ Good joke :)

Don’t ask…. I’m concerned you’ll get all shouty ;-)

EDIT: Joking aside, we (me and my colleagues) really do try and, in most cases, succeed in adding value. My last client offered me a senior position with them when my work was finished. Very, very tempted but up-rooting the family and changing schools and MrsG’s job was not an option.

So anyone else in their early 40’s make a career change, going from a job that you know inside out and can do with your eyes closed to a totally alien job which you will have to learn as you go?

Yep. I work for one of them there Consultancy companies. The sales guys go in and say yes, yes, yes – we can do that. The resourcing managers look at the role and do a search on our CVs – if there are a couple of words that match, we get parachuted in. Last post was 2.5 years, current post is 3 weeks in and counting. Trying to stay one google search ahead of your client is a stressful as f***. I want out.

EDIT: Good luck OP. I’m sure you’ll be fine and dandy 8)

slight hijack

Our slow cooker is 23 years old and is ready for replacement. Any recommendations for a good one suitable for a family of 4? TIA

I tend to avoid Shitty-Link whenever I can.

The few dealings I’ve had have been dreadful. The round-trip to my “local” depot being almost 90 miles – even though there’s one in the next town 6 miles away! It just happens to be in a different county!!! AArrgghh!!!

If you’ve got a PC and a printer, do it yourself. Spend the cash you saved on ear-plugs and paracetamol. 8)

…oh and :D

What exactly is the problem here?

The problem is that the manufacturers instructions tell you expressly not to do that.

As such, when following the manufacturers instructions, the resulting pizza is rubbish.

If you don’t follow the manufacturers instructions, the stone will explode and we all know what that means…. it could be a child’s face.

Here is a picture of a baby robin:

Nick Drake. How did I ever miss him? :(

We don’t use it any more. It was a big, heavy lump of a thing that used to get in the way – we have limited cupboard space.

I use something similar to the one joolsberger linked earlier. I think we got them from lakeland plastics. Better and cheaper (so we can have a couple on the go at once).

My garden pizza oven will be completed in early spring :-D

I think ours was from a “Pampered Chef” party. As mentioned, if you ignore the instructions and heat in a nuclear reactor, it’s okay. The instructions definitely state not to pre-heat.

This is the bloody thing.

EDIT: Info taken from their US site:
About Stoneware:
No preheating — just place food on Stoneware and cook. (Dense frozen foods like meat should be thawed first.)
Absorbs and retains heat for even baking and golden crusts.
Draws moisture away from food so it cooks light and crispy.
Virtually nonporous, so it doesn’t retain oils, odors or flavors.
Microwave-, freezer-, conventional and convection oven-safe.
Nonstick “seasoning” builds up with every use: the darker it looks, the better it cooks!

Throw it in the bin. They’re crap.

My missus bought one (and an ‘onion chopper’ FFS (a whole separate rant is required for this subject)) at some ‘party’. Complete waste of money – it doesn’t work if you follow the instructions. To get it to work, you have to spend a fortune on electricity to heat the f’ing thing until it’s almost molten. Grrrr :evil:

One like the link in Joolsburgers post is what you need in a conventional oven. If you want authenticity, build a wood-fired pizza oven in the garden.

Born in Seaham (near Sunderland), brought up in Lancashire (village near Leyland).
College in Sunderland, first house in Lancaster (still miss it!)
Working in Barrow-in-Furness (for last 2.5 years)
Current home in rural Leicestershire (past 8 years)

My vehicles all carry a lot of miles :-)

They have one of these for £25 which is pretty cool – Clicky

It’ll handle both disks.

MrSmith – Have we met? :cry:

I try hard not to ‘hate’ people and encourage my kids to do the same. Hate is a strong word.

However, there is a person I used to work with who was the most offensive, obnoxious, arrogant, bullying c*** I have ever had the misfortune to meet. Even thinking about him all these years later is still upsetting. I would happily see him dead – and I do not say that lightly. :|

wwaswas – Member
Saw Big Country at Wembley Stadium. supporting David Bowie on his Glass spider tour – 1987 I think

Me too!

I preferred them to Bowie…

I saw them on the same tour at Roker Park in Sunderland. They were much, much better than Bowie. Really had the place bouncing.

Also saw them at the Mayfair in Newcastle. Still one of my top 5 gigs ever (and I’ve been to a fair few!)

Double whammy. It’s a bit cold in the office and the bright lights are making me all squinty :|

A couple of years ago I picked my nose after chopping up a scotch bonnet. I cried.

If you go to Amsterdam – the Supper Club is an interesting place to try (or it was about 8 years ago when we last went)

The tourist ones do – be a little more adventurous. :wink:

Edit: Clicky

Not sure about Bruges, nice to look at but dull once it gets dark and all the tourists go.

Depends what you want. Party central or romantic dinner….

The OP wants a romantic weekend away so I would anticipate a nice restaurant and relaxed drink.

Bruges is spot on for that.

Your hourly rate is too low – especially as you are a skilled craftsman. £45 to £50 per hour – as previously said.

If he wants you to do the kitchen, he won’t run away when you give him your first price. It’s time to start haggling….

So put your rate up and allow more time.

Bestmates birthday night out

and

Hes not been up here once since we relocated 7yrs ago.

Are you sure about the first statement?

I’ve known my best mate for almost 30 years. We live 200 miles apart. We both have families and we both have jobs involving working away / long hours. We make a point of getting together twice a year; once at his and once at mine.

Friends are important and you need to look after them.

Apologies for the slight hijack.

I drive a company (leased) BMW-320D – rear wheel drive. I do about 30k miles a year. My tyres are about done – fronts barely legal, rears shot. I’m managing okay in the current conditions by putting some extra weight in the boot, but would rather have the extra cold/wet grip afforded by the correct rubber.

I recently contacted the lease department to tell them I wanted to put winter tyres on and they refused. OEMs only.

Their reasoning was that as it snows very infrequently, then “snow tyres” will not be issued – I can have them at my own expense. I tried the argument that they’re winter tyres rather than snow tyres but it didn’t make any difference.

Anyone got any tips for persuading them otherwise?

Ha! Sandwich – I do that when I pass out!

When travelling to Saudi (early 1990s) my wife came with me to the docs to explain the complete and all consuming terror I experience when confronted with a syringe (same if I see one on telly – starting to feel very odd even just typing this). I was due to have 4x jabs in one session.

Doctor thought I was a wuss and putting it on.

Jab #1 sees me pass out and fall off the chair.

Jab #2 sees me so wound up I have my legs wrapped around the chair legs and white knuckles from gripping on to the seat so tight. I pass out and face plant. Doc rolls me into recovery to discover my tongue has flopped back – proceeds to insert fingers and recover tongue just as I start to come around. I realise there is a foreign object fiddling around inside my mouth and bite down hard. Doc yelps. Wife laughs like a loon and gives him her best “told you so” stare.

Jab #3 & #4 postponed and handed over to practice nurse. She was brilliant and made sure I was lying down when receiving jabs. This one girl spent ages reassuring me, talking to me all the while she was preparing the jabs out of sight. I didn’t notice when #3 was in and #4 felt like a slight scratch.

I still fill my pants at the thought of having to have one, but (because of this one great nurse) I haven’t passed out since what we refer to as the ‘fava bean’ incident.

A pie without a lid??? Witchcraft.

Didn’t spot this one first time around – just jumped over to Amazon to order a Suspension. They’ve gone up to £23.13 now. A fiver more, but still good value.

I love pies, me.