Union rep …figues. The voice oif reason!

Peniosns as a whole are unsustainable at the moment it not about a race to the bottom or top …its ensuring that the pension system as a whole remains sustainable for the long term. At the moment there are too many workers thinking about me me me and not about what will happen to the future generations who will be paying their pensions at thier own expense.

Time for a reality check.

My Local.

Did and excellent job of rebuilding my leg!

EDIT – heres the clue Nurses are cute too …if a bit deadly….

Yes, three helemets broken!

Nr 1: is a cop out ….mum drove over in the car when I was a kid, fell off the shelf in the garage!

Nr 2: Went over the handlebars night riding in Dalby, not significant damage but enough to require retiring it.

Nr 3: Not long ago on a rocky decent from New Mills Golf Course in the Peak. High Speed crash and landed on shoulder/head. Helmet almost as bad as the OP but poly outer remained intact. No headache or concussion but I’m damm sure it would have been a lot worse had I not been wearing the helmet.

I’m not in favour compulsion to wear helemts, I just think its sensible …and you really don’t notice them (well I feel uncomfortable when riding on or off road without one tbh).

….and based on my experience you would have to be an idiot not to wear one on technical off road terrain.

Ok, I have a helmet almost as bad from a high speed crash off road. Quite frankly after destroying my third you would have to be an imbecile to ride off road without one. I feel quite naked riding without one, its just instinctive now.

….and I think the case or roadies has just been made 🙂

How about tethering to a smart phone and use the 3G?

The main problem with google maps is that they do not do OS mapping!

Beyond a roof over your head, food in your stomach and a fire on the go, nobody needs anything.

Isn’t ‘information’ i.e. broadband/internet now considered to be a human right or something?

In my experience its great as a lid light. 3 hours on max, good output and beam reach but the only downside is its a little heavy.

On the bars its pants, far too narrow a beam, bushes every time on a corner!

Complements the bastid well on the bars.

They can however put a wheel clamp on. It is also illegal to remove the clamp. Unfortunately they then have you by the balls!

They do make your wee orange!

I must admit that I had hoped that the Lib-Dems would be a moderating force for the Tories (I actually got the exact election result that I wanted).

Unfortunately the alternative is still unpallatable. Ed Milliband is still wet and useless and the Lib-Dems appear to have abandoned many of their principles.

It is however a little unfair to castigate the Toty party for the stiff sentnaces as the judiciary is independent and I suspect that many of the sentances will be reduced in appeal. Although unfortunately many will have completed their sentances by the time this happens. The main problem however is not the sentances but the lack of consitancy which brings the whole system into disrepute.

The Tories are right however on the auterity measures as the deficit is too high and to date we have successfully retained the AAA status. The trick now is to keep this while maintaining growth (however slow). I have zero confidence that Labour could have achieved this.

PDW is spot on. The insurance company is liable. If they will not pay up may I suggest a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

As an aside whether you are negligent or not they cannot exclude any liability for personel injury, this holds for home insurance too. I.e. the tile falling onto a person example!

Definitely. Crashed in my 5 year old specialised. Took almost the full force on rock and when taken off looked like new. It was only when I looked past the cradle that I saw the impact had punctured a panel through the structural inner yet the poly shell was perfect!

You’ll need a srtuctral engineer to undertake some load calculations on the as built construction and verify the wall is adequate. The engineer shoudl be able to advise if the wall is stable and what sort of factor of safety your likely to have.

As a general rule most settlement is relatively immediate (within a few months) and if there are any serious problems I would anticipate some signs of distress, i.e. cracking, bulging etc. This should also be the case at the loading points where stress concentrates. A building surveyor should be able to spot this.

Hopefully your insurance would cover this with a covering structural engineers report?

Why oh why on ‘your fired’ did the panel pitch suzy to win???

I’ve never seen someone so utterly useless.

+1 Reims

Paris is hell.

If you get out of the bath to have a wee

Bath = Yes
Shower = No

Does that make me middle or lower class. (Or lower middle, middle middle???)

Yep, classic scam!

I just don’t understand how anyone can fall for this. Just play along …they will soon be asking for the transaction/shipping fee (which they will have included in the asking price) ….

I’ve never used this as living in New Mills I have my own circuits!

http://www.romanlakes.co.uk/mountain_biking.htm

Definite scam. They come up with some tempting offer and for some implausible reason can’t wire you any money until you have paid a transaction fee to release the money from a foreign bank.

Just ignore anyone who doesn’t want to view in person and pay up front.

Funny that …neither are mine!

Now i’ve read very little replies and I can see that this is a difficult issue and one that has probably polarised opinion.

My opinion is that Elderley people should pay (as far as they are able to) for the provisions of care. This for the following reason:

Once they have passed away the proceeds of their estate will be passed on (normally) to their children. If we are to create a society not equal but of equal opportunity the wealth of parents distorts this. Hence why should the state pay for those that are able to pay themselves (either directly or through the sale of assets).

I’m not even going to go into the baby boomer arguments. Essentially I expect nothing from my parents, they have supported me enough and if they spend my inheritence on holidays or care, good on them. I’m old enough to make my own way in the world.

True but their stock control systme seems to have entered meltdown as has their customer service.

+ 1 Penmachno. IMO the best man made trail in the UK.

Still the natural riding in North Wales is phenominal. The Bike Fax Snowdonia has loads of great natural rides and details of the trail centres.

Stopped using CRC, been let down twice.

Back to Wiggle and Merlin!

Junkyard – You clearly don’t undertsand the industry.

Of course its financed by the bills – its a private business and its their only source of revenue. This would be the same whether the government owened it or not. The difference is that the government offloaded the infratsructure for a tidy proffit to pay off other debts and also offloaded the risk.

The water companies then borrow against the value of their assets (think home imrpovements).

Simples, anyway this is going to a tangent to the OP.

You are claiming that stating something is backing it up with logic and reason that is quite poor tbh.

I’ve never claimed to have definitive proof. I’ve only tried to explain why I belive it to be true. Prove me wrong ..i’m game for it!

Having worked with and or /in private and public companies I undertsand that state run enterprises are just not cut out for innovation and taking the neccessary risks to drive improvement. Public jobs are for life (excepting times of economic hardship)/ Private companies sink or swim on the basis of their proucts/ services whatever the economic climate. You understand this, you understand taht if your company can’r compete you go bust and lose your job.

I’ve seen it far to often in public organisations that people use it as an easy life. Arrive 9am, leave 5pm …what you need me to get this report/job etc. finished? Sorry I have a date with the weakest link …. and don’t get me started on unions like the RMT. I’ve had train drivers walk off site when we needed them for only an additional 15 minutes!

Its fair to say that pre-privatisation the asset condition was neglected. However it was easier for bills to rise as a private entity.

It was also neccessary to privatise the industry. The government simply could nit afford to modernise the infrastructure the sums invlolved were mind boggling and required long term private investment. I’m not aware that there is any direct subsidy from the governemnt for the water industry. There are cross subsidies to ensure that the cost of water in a region remains constant for all users but I belive that is part of the regulatory framework.

I’ve offered my opions backed up by logic and reasoning. That is all.

I have not and will not produce figures I don’t have the time or inclination. One area of interest to me is the state of the infrastructure. The water industry was pretty much saved by privatisation and private investment.

http://www.ice.org.uk/getattachment/c198a95f-69bd-4c46-8110-51b057ec20f1/State-of-the-Nation–Infrastructure-2010.aspx

Its worth having a look at historical issues and see how the quality of infrastructure has changed over the years. Energy will be the next big issue, not the transmission of but the generation of.

EVIDENCE you just cant say put your own opinion forward as true without actual evidence to support this.

Pot and kettle!

I can’t speak for the utility companies as its not my area of expertise. Ultimately what incentivices a monopoloy to innovate. If you want the government to join the fray and offer their own brand why not. The point is you need the choice of a free market.

heres a thought, why is it in the interest of a supplier to ensure adequate energy production in 10 or 20 years time. If you look at the time it takes to plan and build a power station that is the timescale.

Quite simply its because they are suppliers and not generators. Ultimately this area is heavily regulated and controlled by the government. You can’t just rock up and build a power station. Given the chance I’m sure they would like to build more and sell to Europe.

Ultimately the next generation of power stations will largely be financed by the private sector.

ie the poorer you are the more you pay for energy. Sounds fair doesn’t it.

Yes they still pay less than under a privatised industry?

The point is not just about cost to consumer vs profitability, but the unequal and unfiar way those cost savings are brought to different types of consumer.

Its a fair point but ultimatley what is preferable. A competitive and efficient industry that can offer the choice and lower prices or a monoloply that will be more expensive and inefficient for all?

Ok, now we understand what a monopoly actually is. Where is the incentive for a monololy to innovate, find better ways of doing something, reducing prices or offering choice.

2) ‘Monopoloy’ implies making profits for shareholders. Like Tesco. Or Newscorp. That is not what other posters are suggesting by re-nationalisation. Nationalisation implies not-for-profit, or proceeds reinvested into services or reduced costs to consumers.

mo·nop·o·ly
? ?[muh-nop-uh-lee] Show IPA
–noun, plural -lies.
1.
exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices. Compare duopoly, oligopoly.
2.
an exclusive privilege to carry on a business, traffic, or service, granted by a government.
3.
the exclusive possession or control of something.

Why do you need more than one tarif? simple question, look at your house, when you change energy supplier does a new wire get attached to your house, do they change the meter? No, what happens is you get a piece of paper from someone else they will charge you a figure that may or may not be cheaper than the last supplier, afterall the best tarrifs are only available via direct debit.

It doesn’t work like that. National Grid transport the gas/electricity to your house (rather like Network Rail).

Different tarrifs allow you to choose an arrangement that suits your needs. You can choose green energy, web saver tarrifs or traditional paper billing and retrospective payments. Why is direct debit cheaper – beacuse its more efficient!!

The whole point of having a more competitive tarif for DD is to incetivise people to purchase energy by the most efficient way. In effect they are passing on this efficienvy to you! Hence it really is no surprise that an internet only deal with direct debit payment is cheaper. Its cheaper because it costs the company less! Please tell me if you believe this to be morally reprehensible.

Current setup favours the internet savvy and well-off enough to have and afford direct debits. Promotes endless provider-switching which of course is not ‘free’ -all the admin etc has to come out of the equation somehow. Punishes the computer illiterate, elderly/vulnerable (doorstepping etc) and hand-to-mouth poor (‘payg’ gas and electricity, ever tried it? It’s well expensive!)

Yep, I have been on the PAYG elec and gas. It is expensive. I’m not saying this system is perfect …its not. It is however far better than a nationalised monopoloy.

Junkyard – You are of course correct. The market does not have morals. It merely seeks to maximise profits. The basis is that to make profits they need customers who make the choice based on competitive prices. Its almost like a game between consumer and producer as to who can get the most.

What is needed in any free market econoly is rules. Rules and regulators. I think that in this country the balence is ok. Room for improvement but there are sufficient regulators: Offgen etc. There are also various consumer groups and we have some of the best consumer regulation and consumer law.

Rubbish!

The point is you can choose to shop around …or you can stay where you are. You still havent come up with a convincing argument why this is bad?

Really is that the best you can come up with! The internet is the easiest way to compare prices but certainly not the only one.

The whole point of having competion rather than a monolopoly is that there is choice. The choice forces companies to innovate, find new cheaper and more efficient ways of doing thing (to get a competitive edge). Are you really saying that this is bad?