Games I’ve enjoyed playing together with my now 12 year old daughter on Xbox (in date played order):-
– Lego games (Indiana Jones)
– Overcooked (2)… can get a bit mad and shouty in our house
– Rocket League
– Fortnight, Fortnight Fortnight… pretty much all she plays now… unfortunately she won’t let me play anymore as I’m not up to her standard !

I think the earliest we can resume in school is after Easter.

13 kids attending local primary school out of the usual 30’ish kids. Teacher expected to teach those in front of her whilst also juggling the rest of class via Teams. Similar numbers across all year groups. I’d say school has already resumed ! (My daughters secondary school appears much tougher on allowing them in)

[this is North Yorkshire, England]

I’m off for a cold shower..

(making me happy – Toyah was the only ever ‘pop star’ poster I had on my wall as a teen)

I’ve a nice compact Canon S95 sitting in a drawer here (charger and possibly spare battery too)… would go for way under your budget

The item was a Garmin 245

currently £179 on Amazon!

[bit late now it seems but still…] In contrast to some others here I’ve just come back from a great weekend. Friday paddleboarding on / in Windermere was peaceful with few people or boats out despite the sunny weather (we went from Low Wood Bay). Saturday at Grizedale, again was only moderately busy, I’ve certainly known it much worse. We were able to turn up and hire bikes without pre-booking (BikeTreks have taken over the hire place) and we only came across a few people whilst out on the trails !? I notice there was always a queue of traffic heading into /through Ambleside but I think that’s the norm.

Re: Cruz, although the bars I bought from Roofbox are perfectly functional, cosmetically they are a step down. On mine the Cruz label is missing entirely from one bar end and on another has been applied at 45 degrees. I’ll remove all the stickers to make it look less shoddy.

Wheelbase ? Have a look in Staveley but buy / get support in the smaller Ilkley shop.
There is also Chevin Cycles in Otley (and Skipton) but I’ve no significant experience with them.

Tip #1… check and remember which side the fuel flap is on and how it opens before entering your first [small] petrol station on fumes…. It’s not a fun environment to practice manoeuvring your new van out of the way after blocking the pumps for 5 minutes, with a queue of cars behind and you’ve still not figured out how to open the flap !!!

Tip #2… keep a water hose and tap connectors (and spares as they go missing) for water tank filling – I was surprised / disappointed that a camping & caravan club site couldn’t sell or lend us a connector on our first trip and relied on us borrowing from another camper. Also buy the longer electricity cable – some sites can be quite a distance from ideal pitch to hookup.

Tip #3 – if parked sideways across a steep hill, the top of the motorhome might be leaning downhill and so much closer to any obstacle (a farmhouse roof in my case) than the cab level… check this before driving off / any closer or you might end up with a nice gouge in your van (and damaging a building).

Enjoy.

We love ours (2008 1.8 petrol) and wouldn’t know what to replace it with. With 3 of us it solves any fighting about who sits up front – and still no issue with daughter now 12 years old still enough shoulder room (and can always slide her backwards if required).

One quite large issue – failure of air con compressor…. something had seized. I got the impression that it’s not uncommon as it sits at the bottom of the engine bay picking up all the crud from the road. I was also told it wasn’t possible to bypass. Honda wanted about £1300 but an independent did it for about half – having a honda specialist is worthwhile as I found a ‘regular’ garage pretty useless in part finding anything other than the official, highly priced, honda parts.

Further thought… 1.8 petrol mpg not fantastic (but worth it for us)… on a long run think most I’ve seen is about 44mpg on the computer (so less in real life) and local runs between 36 and 40mpg.

p.s. if you don’t buy it and they are selling, feel free to message me the details… I might be tempted by a slightly newer / lower mileage one (if petrol)

I was going to sell on Ebay but the 10% fee turned me off. I had lots of interest by advertising via Facebook Marketplace in various local / outdoor and cycling groups and sold within a few days (Still had to deal with the silly offers etc.)

…all of Felicity Kendal’s underwear that needs a good wash.

It kind of has already, the legislation covers all invoices paid in April, so if you are on 30 day payment terms, work you do in March is under the new regime.

I think they changed that, only work undertaken in the new tax year :-
https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tax/hmrc-policy/ir35-scope-of-off-payroll-rules-changed-from-april-2020

Or does it have a decent cafe/WiFi?

Note. That Saturday is the first day of the Yorkshire Swimming Championships there and so everything is likely to be rammed. Unfortunately your time slot is probably going to fall in the change of session between morning and afternoon so I wouldn’t think you’d even get to see much swimming.

p.s. Only 5 minutes’ish drive to White Rose shopping centre (if you are really stuck!). Quite a few food chains for lunch and perhaps a mooch around the shops.

I love a bit of John Squire so – The Seahorses – Do It Yourself

You, yes, you behind the bike sheds, stand still, laddy

Didn’t realise Now TV wasn’t widely available – it is on my Samsung.

We’ve sorted him out a new smart TV

are you sure the Now TV app is not available on the TV ? I find this is the easiest way of watching and no need to buy a stick (and switch TV source to the stick which can be a bit of a pain)

PSA – Rocket League for Switch is currently half-price @ £7.50

Have a look at Overcooked… a great co-op game which often results in much shouting and laughter

Teenage Fanclub – Like A Virgin

(recorded on the album The King)

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Planes Trains & Automobiles

Damaged our flooring on an install which the guy photographed and acknowledged at the time but they had a resolution process designed to frustrate and hope you give in (We did)

On Gargrave Road (above the park) it’s a dotted white line cycle lane but it’s useless as one side is full of parked cars Monday to Friday daytime and both sides suffer from being covered thick with leaves and twigs / sticks.

Looking at web sites for Dave Ferguson and Chevin suggests they both hire bikes – you can google them.

And bike shops:-

Bike shops: Dave Feguson’sChevin Cycles with “interesting” customer service

Also a cycle cafe, The Clubhouse https://www.theclubhousecc.co.uk/

We’ve had two of these on the go for the last year and they have been fine for step counting / showing time (have to tap screen to see time).

Fitness Tracker

I wasted loads of time visiting different places and comparing prices and in the end went back to the first (and most expensive one).

The NHS wouldn’t do a single tooth even as a front tooth trauma injury, had to be multiple teeth to qualify. There was a prospect of going to student clinic at Manchester but after 2 assessment visits I realised it wouldn’t work for me as you had to fit in with their rigid timetable, it would require many visits and the administration side was hard to get in touch with and a bit disorganised. The cheapest clinic I found appeared to be poorly organised, didn’t answer the questions or deliver the information the assessing dentist had promised, so didn’t trust them. A BUPA one was almost too relaxed, didn’t foresee any issues with my case which had alarm bells ringing as this didn’t fit with the message I’d been given at the other assessments.

Once I started , I must have have had at least a half dozen appointments plus a yearly check up with the implant dentist in addition to my regular dentist checkup. The real shame is I moved further away during the process which  made it troublesome. If I had to do it all over again I’d find someone decent close to home in preference to saving a few hundred (/ thousand !) .  The tooth is excellent and I rarely even think about it now.

Sounds familiar. I had to phone them to get mine sorted in the end, they were quite helpful on the phone. I think I was somehow registered as  being based in USA despite my UK address and this threw all the payment verification into a tiss,

Halifax: http://www.phoenixbowmen.co.uk

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective  (I’ve only watched first season so far but I think it’s worth a watch)

Stayed here a couple of years ago https://www.puertoazulsuitehotel.com/en/offers/%5B/url%5D

Good location, decent rooms and food. Massive bike garage underneath with track pumps and possibly a few tools. The web site doesn’t mention the bike stuff as far as I can see so worth checking that it’s still there.

I agree with a cheap HP (since more expensive models have all failed anyhow), I chose a cheap HP (Deskjet 3720) from Tesco using the Instant Ink Plan (I’m on the £1.99 a month). Downside on this model is that there is no flatbed scanner but can feed single sheets through. Instead I often use CamScanner app on phone instead.

A friend used to drive over from Ripponden and catch the same train at Littleborough into the city every day. That should save a fare chunk of the train fare as the journey is all within Greater Manchester but you’ve got to find a parking spot unless you fancy climbing Blackstone edge on your bike every day. Also re: train fares if going over the border it used to be cheaper to break the journey into 2 tickets – one for the Yorkshire Leg (think Walsden last spot but can be an issue as some trains don’t actually stop there) and the other for the Manchester side …some conductors don’t like it (not a problem if you get season tickets)

We had to turn off Goosebumps for my 8 year old but everyone is different.
Hotel Transylvania (and 2) are pretty good.

Yes, Clive Barker, The Damnation Game I think was a good one.
I should read it again myself.

The wind direction and strength up there makes such a massive difference to the times. The wind rarely pushes you up but I know from the days when I was a bit Strava obsessed that a lot of the top times get set on the rare days the wind is helping. Pick a good day and you’ll be right !

New Balance MT610 (v5) here. Very much a regular (/ light trail) trainer rather than a walking shoe style.

e.g. https://www.sportsshoes.com/product/new691256

2014 model + “a shade over 5’11” + medium size = just right for me

I ‘struggled’ with a hire bike in Majorca. I found the road surfaces there very slippy / difficult to stop without locking up the wheels once a little rain fell. I had a minor off going down Sa Calobra ! After that, I think my mind was made up that there was a problem and I didn’t get over it and so it spoiled the rest of the descending that week (it was often damp). The Combination was, as you mentioned, Vittoria Rubino (pro?) tyres (although I’ve previously used in UK with no disasters) but I think the problem was more likely with the braking – poor / hard brake blocks (guessing), possible other issues with brakes (felt very on/off), brakes the ‘wrong’ way round, and my mental block after the first incident.

If I was to go there again I’d probably hire a disc-braked bike and take my own tyres (probably conti 4 seasons). Might be a bit silly given I’ve managed fine in the wet UK pennines on rim brakes and Rubino tyres but that one incident got in my head and I wouldn’t want to spoil another weeks riding.

Forget the plane and take the gentle walk from Jiri, may take and extra week or two.

Warm clothing / sleeping bags for sitting around in the evenings as it was freezing (sun cream for day time when the sun can be blazing).

I think these were the people we used many years ago – http://www.travelandrvcanada.com/%5B/url%5D

We were able to get out to them via public transport from Vancouver city.

They took it very well when I returned their brand new motorhome with a demolished rear bumper (but I had taken their extra insurance)