It could just be cats hate you as much as you hate them….

So, cats have the ability to inflict allergic reactions on people they don’t like? Interesting… Let me know what your sister makes of that little theory… :roll:

No, copied and pasted the salient bit into an already open email

That’s no better Convert… :roll:

Perhaps, if you’ve got any more “already open emails” on the go, can you ask her, in her esteemed capacity as a “big cheese clinical whatever”, why it takes 3-5 years and 100s of injections for immunotherapy to occasionally work, and yet, as Hugo proudly proclaims, if you pick up a stray from the rescue centre, you’ll be cured in minutes!

You rang your sister to ask about a post on an internet forum?

Looks about as un-parked as your previous relationship!!!

Oh, I do apologise! What I’ll do is go back in time – to my childhood – come and find you, with your magical mystery dander-dosing techniques, and we’ll take it from there shall we? :roll:

No Hugo, I’m afraid you’re wrong. Very wrong.

You first link is nothing whatsoever to do with adults with cat allergies, it’s to do with children growing up with asthma. So let’s just park that one shall we?

Your second one is about allergy experts using very accurate microdoses and sensitive monitoring equipment to treat allergies to a protein found in peanuts.

Sadly, you clearly don’t understand allergies. Most people with cat allergies suffer from a gE/histamine mediated type 1 hypersensitivity reaction due to cat dander contacting the mucus membranes of the upper respiratory tract.

If you can find a way of controlling (and monitoring) how much dander one can absorb in a room full of cats, you’re a far greater scientist than any I’ve ever come across!

Allergies can reduce or disappear in time once living with the animal. My mum used to be allergic to dogs but grew out of it once she rescued one!

Utter codswallop.

Cats 1 Gatsby 0

And so your deep-rooted hatred begins…

Probably best I keep the current score to myself :p

Has anyone got experience of living with a cat whilst being allergic?

I used to date a girl who had a cat. I only stayed at her house once and ended up leaving at 4am with breathing difficulties after waking up to find my windpipe had reduced to the size of a minor blood vessel.

I couldn’t spend more than a few minutes in this girl’s company without sneezing uncontrollably, wheezing like a 40-a-day smoker and suffering prickly, burning eyes.

We tried antihistamines (supposedly non-drowsy) and I spent about a month in a vacant haze before I realised that this was probably a common ploy used by this girl to stop men getting bored with her. She was a divorced primary school teacher.

Up to 30% of the population are allergic to cats, so getting a cat is a great way to alienate yourself from a large portion of society. An even bigger chunk of the general populace like to hear occasional sounds of birdsong too, and getting a cat is basically depriving all the children of the sound of baby robins.

So if you want to turn yourself into a lonely, single, friendless person that smells of catpiss and is hated by most of the population, get a cat!

Very sorry, I thought the OP wanted to know about owning a cat… It would be rather dull if we didn’t have the full gamut of cat owning experiences for him to draw on, wouldn’t it. :)

Cheers for that Gatsby you stupid twunt.

No problem pigface… I presume this is one of those if-the-cap-fits type of flouncy hissy fits?

Cats: The scourge of modern society; latch-key lovers for divorced primary school teachers and other lonely spinsters who purr over their little surrogates on those long and lonesome nights before turfing them out to wreak havoc whilst they’re at work.

By far the most irresponsible pet that any person can own, an uncontrollable murder machine for morally bereft morons with absolutely no compunctions about killing anything that moves whether it be protected by law or not.

I you live anywhere near me, don’t get too attached to it.

I got tricked into buying water melone instead.

+1 for proper mudguards. Pure luxury.
Winter bike pictured yesterday…

A Ribble? On Parbold Hill?? And the sniper positioned on the top of Dolan Towers didn’t get you??? ;)

As others have said, it’s all about the kit. There’s not such thing as bad weather if you have good kit.

I was off the bike for 3 months this year after a bad crash, so I bought a pair of winter road shoes, a new rain jacket, and I’ve been praying for the weather to turn!!

Seriously, it’s always the first 10 minutes that are the toughest. After that sudden moment when you feel the cold water running down between your arse cheeks, it never gets any worse.

I rode yesterday in storm-force winds and driving rain, and in a perverse sort of way, I loved every minute of it!

The Sunday club group was whittled down to a hardcore of 4 by the weather forecast… We set off as friends and came home a band of brothers, reveling in the Strava hero kudos from all the wusses that could only manage a sufferfest or trainerroad sesh.

I love winter riding!

The Rex Olympico makes the slopes come alive… :roll:

I’m trying to imagine the noise he would make if he fell… Sort of like the Eastenders closing music played on gongs…

Would you be offended if you saw a soldier wearing a poppy on his uniform? I just saw an old man sitting in the foyer of Sainsburys, wearing a military great coat and medals, with a poppy pinned next to them. He was even selling the bloody things!! The cheek!

Maybe I need to get my affrontment gland checked out… :?

Nope, you’re absolutely right… You’re just being a bit sensitive.

So in that instance, “outside” would be far more appropriate. an alternative way of saying it.

Or “wrong” would be an alternative way of describing it… ;)

It means “beyond” rather than outside. So in that instance, “outside” would be far more appropriate.

Spectacles and sun glasses…

they are also based outwith the uk.

That’s twice I’ve read this word on STW today, what the hell is wrong with “outside”??

You’ll never get it back to natural wood as the wood has been dyed. Paint it with Zinsser Stain Seal to kill the stain and then paint it whatever colour you like.

I think it’s a great idea. Only last week, I was watching this ace video where 4 dwarfs tied a bald woman to a Mies van der Rohe day bed and then a fat man ‘tarmacked’ her chest while she laughed like a hysterical hyena. While this was going on, a chimp dressed as a Policeman fapped one off whilst chained to a fiberglass Venus de Milo.

I was interrupted by Mrs G halfway through and had to delete my browser history and I can’t for the life of me find it again.

It would be great if someone somewhere had a record of it, dying to know what happened!

My Dad did picture framing from home for 25+ years until he retired last year.

One of the reasons I chose framing is the type of competition. It’s either someone working from home (they’re hampered by lack of a retail/high street presence); older people looking for a nice, sedate retirement/hobby business; or your typical high street shop that spends the first 3 weeks of every month earning money to pay the landlord, rates, bank etc.

I already had the high street premises so it was just a matter of tailoring the space. Almost all my work is passing trade, although as time wears on, I’m getting much more recommendations and repeat customers.

From my own experience, I’ve always found it to be a very stuffy, conservative trade, so I’m trying to inject a bit more ‘modern thinking’ into it, with an emphasis on contemporary products and image.

Seems to be working, and it’s one of those businesses that doesn’t transfer well to web/mail order, so hopefully it’s a fairly safe sector to be in.

I had a derelict basement/lower-ground-floor in my business premises that needed renovating, but with no real use for the space, I kept putting it off. So, a couple of years ago I started thinking about what sort of business I could set up that tied in with my day job (graphic design) and didn’t cost the earth in machinery etc.

I decided to set up a picture framing business – having used picture framers in the past (and my arty background), I thought it was something I could blag my way through and be far more helpful than the other businesses I’d used.

So, I did loads of research, read everything I could, watched every video on Youtube, bought a load of equipment and set about learning to use it.

12 months ago, I converted part of my office premises into a showroom/gallery, and the till hasn’t stopped ringing since! What I originally planned as a little supplementary income side project has proved to be a thriving little business.

I meet a completely different type of client, get loads of satisfaction from creating something from a load of raw materials, and have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of learning new skills and setting up a business from scratch.
(The workshop looks nothing like as tidy as this now!!)

Pedal-strike Shin Fat.

Donated marrow.

Discharge.

I’m a big fan of Knopfler, whilst maybe not as technically brilliant as some, his ability to “hold back” is what makes tracks like Telegraph Road (live) so utterly mesmerising.
A real story teller, I cant think of one track where he over-egged it which is the downfall of a lot of technically brilliant guitarists.

I ordered a couple of pairs of the Galibier gloves (Mrs G needed some winter gloves) and I’m quite pleasantly surprised at the fit and quality.

They’re similar in thickness to the Endura Deluge and whilst they’re not quite as well-shaped, they feel snugger and warmer.

They don’t look like they’ll be very waterproof but I’ll have to see how they perform when the temps dip.

The problem I have with the Deluges is that when wet, the filling seems to compress and they loose all insulation… I might give them a good dowsing with Thompsons Water Seal and see if that helps!

This has served me well, first as an archery knife and now for general trail building purposes.

I fine ACE’s fly much truer and make less of a mess of the boss… ;)

I have the exact same knife but branded as “Rapala” – bought it from a fishing shop, very cheap and perfectly serviceable although it’s not the best steel… The Marttini filleting knives are excellent though.

Thanks again for the replies, I’m off to do a bit of nutscaping now! 8O

Thanks Superlightweight – that looks a bit better than some I’ve seen…

I should have expected these replies! :D Yes, I meant stability balls like in Wrecker’s link…

I have one of these that lives in my pocket when working in the wood… An Ontario Knives RAT. I think it was about 30 quid, fantastic knife for anyone who wants to go down the ready-made-folding-knife-that’s-not-particularly-hipster-but-works-really-well route.

If you’re painting it, some copper or ally pipe might be better as broom handles will sag in time…

I took a punt on a pair of the Galibiers theflatboy – I’ve got one or two other items which, as you say are excellent quality for the money, so they’re probably worth a try. I’ll report back!

I used Endura Deluge last year, and they were neither waterproof or particularly warm! So still looking for the Holy Grail!!

I’m still wearing Assos Insulators which are brilliant at this time of year and double up as a liner silk when it’s really cold.

Try Assos, neoprene style, good fit. Got recently a pair but haven’t tested yet.

I have a pair of the Assos neoprene rain gloves. They’re great in mild conditions down to about 5°c but they properly wet out – wetsuit style – and suddenly become dangerously cold! Brilliant on wet rides though.

I’m really interested to see how those Galibier fair, has anyone tried them yet?

Meh… It begs the question, WHY?

Now, had he made a little scale model of a Lamborghini with little tyres and cupholders and electric windows, and trained a little monkey to drive it… Now THAT would impress me…

A lonely man whiling away two-and-a-half thousand hours in his spare bedroom with his milling machine and oil can don’t impress me much. ;)