I can empathise with much of what Molgrips says. 21st century Middle-England angst.

Similar age, position, feelings of frustration, under-achieving (or at least not getting much out of work/career), not a lot of spare time for DIY, household tasks, hobbies etc., wanting to do something more satisfying with life than 40-odd hours/week for somebody else at jobs that are all hassle and virtually no interest or satisfaction. I’d prefer to have the option to spend more time with my family and friends -and to be able to help people who are in need, rather than wealthy shareholders.

Yes, I can afford to eat and have more than enough to live on, but supporting a family, mortgage etc. mean that trying to ‘change direction’ feels impossible -If only I knew what direction to change to….

Like Molgrips, I’m inquisitive, but admit to being easily distracted. I have no head for business and finance bores me. Not really the ideal starting point for self-employment…. So I haven’t even looked into it.

Fear and a lack of risk-taking? Probably.
I’ve a feeling that I should have done something about it years ago, I didn’t make the most of my time with fewer responsibilities and have now left it too late.

Ho-hum.

MartynS – Member

Salford is a tough area…..NOTHING in the way of off road riding that is ridable to

The fact is that, unlikely as it may seem, 30% of Salford is actually open agricultural land, a sort of vast, banjo-playing, mid-western boondock ….within view of the Trafford Centre -spooky on a misty, exploratory night-ride.

Salford:

The remaining 70% of the city isn’t great, although not as bad as suggested by some on here.

Quantum of Solace was seriously sh*t.

It was just a collection of very loosely connected, cartoon-like ‘action’ scenes with a lame, instantly forgettable plot. Daniel Craig isn’t anything special either.

I won’t be wasting my time and money on the next one when/if it is ever made.

stilltortoise – Member
I'm still unconvinced that a book can teach skills effectively, but it's a decent enough attempt

Some books can go a long way to helping though.
In the world of motorbikes, "Twist of The Wrist 2" is superb. The Lopes book would take its place next to the toilet.

Nice one. I'll get it.

Get your spades out and plant veg in the grass verges

Do a bit of this and then mtb will seem quite straight-forward.

ps. Look at the way they are positioning themselves forward/back and sideways.

Don't grip the bars too hard

keep your arms loose.

Look well ahead

Brake before obstacles and speed-up through them

Don't steer any more than you have too

Put your weight where you need the grip
-When you become more confident, practice braking on corners to aid this

Relax

Get the hours in and it will improve, although, as with most things, some people seem more comfortable than others.

Where's the duct tape and where are the cable ties?

Woolover

Very Thick Jumper

TK Maxx had a few jumpers without big logos(although many more with them) the other week. I managed to find a non-scratchy one that fitted -Now is the time to have a rummage for jumpers when nobody else is.

Merino stuff is good, but always seems to be quite thin.

ps. Who the hell does buy that Rapha stuff??? -and why?8O

Bushwacked – Member

Simonralli2 – thats it – I'm just not living eating and sleeping work at the moment and can't see it happening

That's the problem I have.

I've merely endured work so far in my life & I can't ever imagine liking it that much. I've never had a focus or aim. The pay has always felt like compensation for serving time at the office rather than a reward for good work.

I don't want to look back at retirement age and have such a negative view of the decades of my work.

I'm hoping for a change of direction that will allow me to feel that I'm contributing, making a difference and actually enjoying it.

Just watching it now -Another good programme from the BBC.

Dr Alice Roberts -what's not to like?

There should be a lot more parking and reversing on the driving test.

In fact, I think that there should be an Autotest-style off-road section for the car test (as there now is for motorbikes). Reversing in a figure-of-eight, slaloms, swerves etc.

Spenco

Tron's post has a lot of useful info.

Fords may not be perfect, but they're fairly painless to live with and parts can be bought anywhere. Vauxhalls are less appealing in my view.

A later 306 TD/Citroen ZX in good condition might be a good buy.

VAG Fabia/Polo/Ibiza might be fine too.

Micras have good engines, but are terrible to drive.

Almera? or even….(go on forever. I know of a D Reg that has over 200K on the clock and still going strong)

Alternatively, be a bit different and get something older -if you can find something good. Older cars are very simple compared to a lot of modern ones, even if they're not as refined.

It's a rufty-tufty-looking car for people who want to have an 'image' whilst they drive around urban areas and have no need to cross the desert.

The girl (mid 20s with big sunglasses -a footy player's lass?) who was weaving about, tail-gating, pulling out into and cutting-up various people in a full-size Range Rover (with non-functioning indicators) on the M6 and M62 on Sunday afternoon would presumably be the target market. She would do marginally less damage in the smaller version when she crashes in the very near future.

Fantastic news.

ps. Praise the lord that George Lamb has left 6Music.

I was pleasantly surprised not to hear any fog horns or execrable links when I accidentally listened to 6Music when he was normally on.

6Music is no longer a no-go area on weekend mornings!

I've just had a look and Howies' stuff now looks about as exciting as Gap, for about 3 times the price.

don't get me wrong, Gap is ok for some things, but I see no reason to buy the current clothing from Howies.

Even the T shirts have lost their wit.

I'm not into football, but…

I did end up watching England v Algeria

Even to someone like me, with little idea of the subtle nuances of the game, the England players appeared very poor -I found myself wanting Algeria to score in order to spice things up a little.

The manager on the touch-line appeared as frustrated as the fans and it is ridiculous that people were immediately calling for his sacking after revering him so much for the past couple of years. How much influence does the manager have on an international team that gets together fairly infrequently?

The hype for the England team and for football in general is far beyond the reality. Football really isn't that exciting for 90% of the time and the England team didn't appear to be the conquerors of the world that some deluded souls appear to think that they are.

ps. Although it isn't entirely relevant to the Algeria game, the level of pay of the players(by clubs or otherwise) and the England manager(by the FA) is obscene.

I also find the worship and adulation given to people who can kick a ball skilfully quite distasteful, but I suppose that is up to the worshippers. I hope some of the clubs go bust as an example of how ridiculous and unsustainable their 'business' models are.

'Chorlton':

-The 4x4s are parked around the corner outside the organic newspaper shop.

'Didsbury':

Adjacent Areas:

Darwen:

I'm finding myself less interested in the World Cup and the obscenely over-paid England team this time.

It may be something to do with having no respect for a bunch of lads who are seen as heroes for kicking a ball about.

I don't have a St George Flag.

Big company:

run by finance and HR depts
wasteful

Small company:
Little structure or progression
You have to do everything yourself

I get paid.

I don't work long hours.

Erm…

LWR was quite good.

I watched 2 episodes of LWD before giving up.

I am indifferent towards James Whitham, but he was obviously a good rider.

I've noticed that lane hoggers are usually one of the following:

Elderly man (optional hat)
Nervous-looking middle-aged woman
Minicab drivers on the way to the airport.

The most annoying things on motorways are the following:

People who change lanes without checking their blind-spot.

People who drive right up behind a slow-moving vehicle before the thought of changing lanes occurs to them and then change lanes without looking -Other drivers should be on the lookout for these imbeciles.

Often bolshy young ("I'm F**kin' empowered, me") women or van drivers

Tail-gaters -What exactly is going in the mind of people who do this? So many people do it, there must be a lot of you on here.

Usually one of the following:

Pushy-looking blokes aged 25-50 in vans or Mid-seized cars (often base-model Audis or BMWs because that's the sort of car they aspire to).
The same bolshy young women.

I feel uncomfortable if I am a passenger with a driver who displays any of these characteristics and feel compelled to comment….

I have to say that the bolshy young women (typically in a Mini Cooper or a Punto adorned with pink things) seem to be taking over from the boy racers as the biggest menace on the roads. A lot seem to drive 'fast', but with no concept of what they're doing.

People have cursed/sworn for ever and a day.

The difference nowadays is that people tend not to moderate their behaviour in different social situations as they may have done before.

-blokes on the docks/in factories/in the pub would have been swearing a lot in our grandfathers' day, but done so much less when they went home to their families.

I've never been a habitual swearer. When I was heard swearing in the office, one of my younger colleagues actually commented on it
-Everybody else seems to swear constantly.

On sites, no sentence is complete without at least a couple of completely unnecessary **** and f**kings, frequent t**ts and a few c**ts. The older (35yo+) blokes still apologise for this in the company of women, so I doubt that they do it as much at home.

Swearing can be a release and used in the right place, can have an effect.

Habitual swearing ceases to be 'swearing', it sounds coarse and may suggest ignorance or philistinism.

coffeeking – Member
I know how I drive in a fast car. I rely heavily on knowing exactly how the car will react and usually give plenty of room for mistake/observation/the unexpected

Do you wear a T-shirt that says,
"I'm Mad, Me!"?

I'm fairly sure that I'd not have the balance and poise required to deal with pushing such limits on a crotch rocket, so to some extent through fear of my own stupidity, yes,

Do you not think that it is exactly the same thing, with different physical limits?

It's not fear of your stupidity, it is fear of riding a motorbike -Try it and you'll realise that it isn't that scary and is much more enjoyable than most driving. All of this,
"I'm just too crazy to ride a motorbike" is just daft.

You don't *have* to overtake people on a blind bend whilst pulling a wheelie and giving the finger to oncoming traffic and you won't because you'll realise that there are limits.

Real nutters don't give a sh*t and don't consider limits, they just ride/drive. I suspect that you're not one of them.

I noticed this weekend how many people are desperate to let everyone know how "well off" they are

Indeed, being someone who knows how great they are without needing status symbols also helps 😉

First step: Be born into a frugal family

Second Step: When you start work set up regular standing orders to savings account(s), don't spend it all and don't live for pay-day like a lot of people (even with good pay) do. Don't be too flash (it's an arms race)

Third Step: Marry a woman who isn't into 'hobby shopping' and is careful with her cash.

I've no idea how you actually get out of debt once it has happened though….. It would presumably involve massive cuts in expenditure as well as re-paying the loan

As a non-smoker and almost none of my mates smoke, since the 'smoking ban' came into effect, I've thankfully been spared almost all exposure to cigarette smoke.

Nowadays, when I am exposed to it, it seems to smell even worse than it did when it was more common-place. People used to smoke in public houses! How quaint it now seems.

Some may say "live and let live", but smoke spreads around fairly indiscriminately.

Maybe smokers should be required to use water-filled bongs that capture the smoke rather than open fires that they hold in their hands?

ps. I'm always surprised by mtbers who smoke. The two seem fairly at odds with each other….

He was easily doing 100mph along the straights but was bimbling round the corners like a complete novice.

He probably was a virtual novice. Most bikers don't do many miles and very few learn the ropes and become comfortable whilst owning a slow bike before buying a banzai monster.

-Any fool can wang the throttle open. Point-and-squirt

I'd have a bike, but I know I'd kill myself in a month because it would be too tempting to use the power and acceleration on the road.

No you wouldn't.

No offence, but the fact that you've said that means that you are actually more sensible than you think you are and are possibly just afraid of the idea.

When I got a motorbike I got a cr*p commuter and rode in all weathers and on all kinds of roads. Having cycled in the city for years I concentrated on making good observations.

Even now I don't ride a sports bike and have no delusions of possessing superb skills, although I'd like to think that I was now fairly competent.

I do, however, see some very poor (both dodgy and dithery) riding from people on incredibly potent bikes. Having ridden fast bikes I know that I couldn't do one justice.

As with road cycling, being aware of your surroundings and the potential for danger is an important part of self-preservation.

ps. As with a lot of things, I can't understand the lack of 'discretion' from a lot of people on motorbikes. There are times and places for some things and a sunny Sunday afternoon in a very busy national park isn't the place to be hooning about whilst having to dodge old duffers in Rovers.

Whilst driving, I've had to avoid bikers overtaking in the opposite direction on blind corners. They'll just wrongly assume that I'm a non-biking driver who doesn't understand.

Tilleys are good, but expensive.

Get a US army (or a good replica) Boonie in Ripstop and showerproof it(which will also sweatproof/Quick-dry it) with wash-in Nikwax.[/url]

It'll only cost about a tenner and they don't have to be in camo colours. Desert Camo is fairly discrete anyway though.

What army job were you thinking of?

As someone who hasn't enjoyed the world of work and needs a bit of adventure/excitement, I've often wondered if it would have been a good move to have joined the army. As an officer, probably in the Royal Engineers or the REME.

I knew a few people who failed to get a commission when I was at uni, some of whom were very much army-barmy types, so I'm assuming that it is fairly tricky to get through. Having said that, I've never had trouble with interviews or selection tests.

I'm too old now and the enforced re-location every couple of years wouldn't have suited me anyway.

what's the A49 between Shrewsbury & Hereford like?

Much nicer than the M6.

I'm fortunate not to have to work long or unsocial hours.

I work in an office with a couple site visit per week.

So little in the way of danger, some moments of pressure and reasonable pay.

I find it mostly very, very dull though…..

I would be more inclined to 'put more in' to something more interesting.

It is an excellent series.

The way the various characters from different backgrounds develop is what it is about.

As someone who knew family and friends who had been there and experienced similar things (jumping from a plane into D-day anyone?) it certainly made me think.

If I had the time (I'm still hoping to hear that I have been left a couple of million quid by a distant relative so that I can take very early retirement. Is that too much to ask?) I'd like to give it a go.

Doe the classes take a similar form to Ju Jitsu / JKD?