I ride predominantly on my own now that most of my old riding buddies have started families.

I don’t mind it, as I am not a big talker when out riding, but prefer riding with a friend or two, any more than that and it becomes less enjoyable (mainly the risk of punctures – a binomial distribution and all that!)

Going out with others is a big motivator though. When really into road riding I would be out on the bike at 8am all through the winter to meet my riding partner for 8-30. Even today it was 9-30 and yesterday nearer to 10.

Very rarely ride in the afternoon, if I don’t get out in the morning, then all hope is lost for that day.

You should have skipped the Rego and just started on the Guiness

One of my close friends trained and practiced as a mid wife.

She must have been in the profession for close on 30 years now, spent the first 10 years training and doing standard stuff, she then specialized in ultrasound scanning, so a 9 to 5 job with no shift work for the best part of another 10 years. For the last 8 or so years she has been in a “managerial” best clinical practice role first at a regional and now at a national level I think.

She has been sponsored through a couple of MSc courses since I have known her, and all in all seems to have done very well out of it, both in terms of career and financially. Earns more than me as IT architect in a big blue chip / corporate

Most importantly she seems to be able to turn off outside work.

By contrast a couple of my old university friends who are teachers seem completely obsessed (and not in a good way) about the job and are unable to talk or take much of an interest in anything else. Probably just their own personalities, but I don’t think any job should shape someone’s life so much.

You don’t mention what frameset you have? But in the absence of that information I would still say new frame set and wheels and pick up s/h finishing kit as and when you see something come up. Good roadie bars and stem etc can be had for peanuts s/h.

I had a Felt F1 for a few years and it was obviously way more bike than I ever really needed. Its finish was as good, if not better, than any other top end bike manufacturer, but the HT was a bit short for my liking. If/when they revise the Z series I would be happy to buy another.

My LBS has said that last year the lead times on delivery could be a bit variable.

Waiting for the Sun to come out, not looking too promising at the moment, bloody weather forecasters

36 hole Mavic Open Pro on 105 hubs, but not sure you would be able to get a set built for £200?

For factory wheels I have always thought Fulcrum Racing 5’s are hard to beat. It may be all in my head but they seem to ride like a higher end wheel set compared with similarly priced Mavic models. I have always thought it was down to them being a little stiffer. Merlin normally do them at a very good price. But, they may not be the best wheels for everyday commute.

Cancel your direct debit and offer to pay it back over 36 months or thereabouts, that is the same period over which their error has been has running.

If it were me I would cancel the direct debit and tell them to sod off, but I enjoy toughing these sort of things out. I would certainly make them work very hard for their money.

I would still do mathematics. As others have said, do what really interests you rather, than thinking of it as a stepping stone to a vocation (bar the obvious courses like medicine etc).

I would like to think I would work harder, but I still got a First, but I could have still applied myself better. I wasn’t really a very hard working student, it just came easily.

I would probably look to do something more productive in my leisure time rather than just the usual drinking and pursuing endless causal sex with varying degrees of success. Definitely more sport.

Pay up as per covenants within your lease, doesn’t really matter whether it is £1.50 or £1500.

I would also read your lease thoroughly, freeholders can have some some pretty draconian rights within leases in their favor and you never know when you may want them to give you a concession of some kind. For example, technically I should not keep bikes in my garage FFS

I have a shared freehold and it is amazing the little tricks the board get up to to keep hold of my money illegally.

Champagne, nuts, canapes, a glass or two of good wine, a nice meal, a movie, do a bit of celeb spotting (very few TBH) ask the crew to make uo my bed and get some sleep, ask not to be waken until the very last moment. Oh the joys of First Class travel, a nice management “perk” 😀

If you are not traveling in the rush hour you have plenty of choices.

I would say anywhere from Putney to Hampton Wick and Hampton Court on the SW London corridor is a reasonable commute and generally very pleasant leafy areas. Personally, I would avoid living over the bridge in Kingston or Surbiton, as that means crossing Kingston Bridge/Hampton Court Bridge.

Walton for me would be a no-no as that involves crossing Walton bridge. Weybridge probably the same.

So IMO on the SW corridor best to stay north of the river, although I did the commute from Putney to LHR for 7 years without too many problems in the rush hour.

Winsdor is too touristy for my tastes.

You could also look at west of the airport, Bagshot, Ascot, Sunningdale, Virgina Water.

Basically lots of choice, may depend on whether you are after more of a London feel or a Surrey/Berkshire feel?

Edit. Personally, I never took to Northfields and Ealing, but loads of younger BA people live there.

Electricity £36 per month, Gas about 40p per month 😆

I fell for this one the first time I heard it on The Mentalist – Peter Bradley Adams – Darkening Sky

I have taken Venlafaxine on two occasions.

The first time for a year or so switching from Mirtazapine. In lay non medical terms these two ADs are regarded as the two “most powerful antidepressants” and are generally only used as 2nd and 3rd line treatments, a sort of if these don’t lift the mood then nothing will approach.

IIRC all ADs come with the warning that they may increase the risk of suicide in the first few weeks of treatment, whether Venlafaxine is any worse than others I don’t know.

Venlafaxine worked a little too well for me and triggered mania (technically hypo-mania) which although pleasurable at the time had some fairly negative results (mega spending sprees) and I lost a lot of friends with my erratic perhaps selfish behavior.

I never really got on with it, I couldn’t sleep well if at all for about the first 3 months whilst taking it, although whether this was down to the Venlafaxine or stopping the Mirtazapine I was never sure. However, after that I slept better than when taking the Mirtazapine, and Mirtazapine is one of the most sedating ADs. So who can tell.

I also had lots of small but annoying side effects, muscle jerks when sleeping, jaw clenching, brain zaps (nothing particularly worrying but just annoying). But the worst thing was I just felt wired all the time, either the dose was too small, or too much and we could never find the right balance. I found it really hard to relax and sit still, could barely watch 30 mins of TV before losing interest, becoming distracted etc.

Venlafaxine has a very bad reputation for discontinuation syndrome and for some people it can be a very difficult drug to stop taking (or so you will read on the internet). On the plus side I had no problems whatsoever, whereas I always felt I struggled coming off Mirtazapine which doesn’t have anything like this reputation.

The problem with ADs is that people’s experience are so very personal and what works for one person can create a living hell for another.

Both Prozac and Venlafaxine have driven my to the point of suicide, I don’t get on with drugs that really hit the Serotonin system. Fine if I am relatively stable, as when I switched from Mirtazapine to Venlafaxine. But the second time I took Venlafaxine I was in crisis and it made me so anxious that I was driven to the brink of suicide again.

I now take Lamotrigine an anti-epileptic drug that is used as a “mood stabiliser” and it really works for me. No side effects (or at least any that are noticeable) and once again I feel normal, calm relaxed and with a healthy range of emotions.

I wish you both very well, if you have a good shrink (ie one you trust) it really helps. I wouldn’t read too much into my experiences, as I say, no one can really predict how a particular med with work or affect one individual

£26.50 peanuts. Have you seen how much the tube fares are without an Oyster Card 😆

One option might be don’t take the car and take the train? But it would help if we know where you are driving from?

Toyota are doing 0% on the Yaris and other models. Seat have couple of Ibiza models with close to £2500 off so are very competitively priced on a Lease deal. Neither are perhaps as powerful as the VTR?

I agree with your views on s/h motoring. I think you need to think through what you would want to do after 2 years, not sure I would want to walk away from that after sinking £3k in a C1?

Look at Marks and Spencer Loans, they do car loans with deferred payment over 1 – 5 years at 6% APR. Eg £10k loan with £3k deferred at the end. You can also keep the loan going at the same rate for another 20 months. IMO they offer more flexibility than the standard car lease deals offered by manufacturers.

I’d have one – or a Yeti if I wanted that sort of thing.

Er … well so would I, but that statement sounds like a tautology to me. To say “.. I buy the things I want …” is very insightful (Pendant over) 😆

Definitely go through the insurance route. A small knock is unlikely to affect your premiums too much next time round. Let the insurers deal with it, you never know how these things will play out.

“… (and doesn’t have the image problems) …”

Oh yes it does, as you say it appeals to your miserly sensibilities. If you are happy living with a fulgy car and cheap plastic interiors then so be it … each to their own.

Gave my polish cleaner a call, to see if she could nip round first thing Sunday morning to clean up as I am holding a dinner party tonight 😳

Another happy Nationwide customer here. 2.5% for god know how many years now, no fee, no redemption penalties 😀

Been doing it for about 5 years and insure a V8 Disco and a V6 A4 for about £450 a year

Bloody hell, I have a clean license full no claims and was offered £1400 plus a year for my two cars. Bastid London post codes, albeit as I am only starting off on a 2nd car, I only have a no claims discount for one car.

Ooo… Nice watch that one!

I have a few seiko watches, I would add these to your list. Most I paid for any of mine was £200. I also bought my dad one for £225, and he is thrilled to bits. First present I have bought him in years that he actually uses.

Over the last week I have been coming to the same conclusion myself :lol:, but there are lots of petrol heads running two cars?

legend, I would agree with you that the Audi’s were/are blander inside. Rear wheel drive BMW versus front wheel drive Audi, then no competition., and I would still probably say that the rear wheel drive BMW is more involving than the Quattro, and more fuel efficient. Still love the Quattro mind.

New or s/h. Sounds like new?

If new have you considered the A3 S3 Sportback or even the RS3. Not knocking the BMW but when I was looking (albeit 5 years ago), then pound for pound the Audis were far better specced and have a much better tactile feel of quality.

I did enjoy the BMW to drive, but the Quattros are also fun around corners 😆

Perhaps s/h the price / equipment differentials begin to even out?

It must be a good looking bike, because no one has commented on the fact that you have committed the ultimate road bike sin and taken a photo of it with the chain on the inner chain ring 0/10 😆

That looks much better proportioned and how a road bike should look. Enjoy.

I can only assume that GPs, their staff the drug reps and the drug companies must act within the same anti corruption and bribery laws as the rest of us.

As Boradin Bob says no party would benefit if their unlawful behavior were disclosed.

I can not quite remember the details of my anti corruption course but a drug rep taking a GP out for lunch or dinner would not per se be seen as corrupt. Taking them away for a weekend on their company private jet or taking them out for lunch every week would be seen differently.

Nice bike is tha the 105 model?

IMO you should be using a longer stem on a M or M/L frame, 110cm and up.

Yes you have got short legs!

2cm off the HT is a lot IMO, given you are still using a few spacers. You don’t say how long your stem is. Given your unusual body I think a good bike fit is recommended.

Edit. It also looks like your bars are higher than your saddle. Is the drop right for you? If not then you may get away with a shorter HT?

When I suffered anxiety attacks in my teens, my GP put me on Valium for two weeks. Which would have been OK if he had also told me that I shouldn’t get pissed out of my head whilst on them. I suspect Docs don’t do that so much these days.

Although I can see the immediate rationale of not worrying your son about the nature of the attack now, if it occurs again then I would seek support from your GP. The problem with Anxiety is it feeds on itself, far better to tackle it head on early before it becomes an established pattern.

Being bi-polar I am no stranger to extreme and prolonged anxiety attacks. Anxiety is perhaps the most debilitating problem with my illness.

Unable to make any specific recommendations, as they may not be matched to your kit, but I would be willing to take punt on some good, well respected, s/h speakers.

At £400 the market for s/h standmount speakers would really open up, for £300 the market may be tighter, but still worth a little time looking IMO.

I have always been a buy everything new sort of guy, but over the last year the proportion of my system that was bought s/h has increased significantly In fact of the 5 electronic boxes 1 CD player and 4 boxes for the amp then only the pre-amp was bought new. Huge savings to be had

First 30 days Listen and Learn and change nothing – so option 2 for me.

If someone came in to an interview and said they would do 1 then they would be straight out the door.

How do you know that anything needs changing, right now. They may be looking for someone to oversee a well oiled machine, they may have made significant changes already, the team may feel exposed and insecure they require support to help them through change. What is the business agenda and priorities.

If you are being brought in to cut and fire, improve sales and margin by X then so be it. But is doesn’t sound like a job with clear P&L accountabilities.

Its not clear to me how important it is to be near to (or have easy access to) Euston or Kings Cross, St Pancras to get the trains oop North! Nor how much oop North you are.

I live in SW London, using the M4/M3 to M25 to get to the M40 or M1 is not a major problem (although to be fair I only go as far the M40 19/20 as I am heading to Liverpool).

So one thing to think about is whether you want to be North or South. SW London is very nice and leafy in the main part. Out from Putney to Barnes to East Sheen to Richmond, to Twickenham to Teddington Kingston, Hampton Court and Surbiton etc.

But if you want to be much closer to one of the key train gateways to the North then it is irrelevant.

I would only disclose my current salary/benefits package in so much as to ensure that it was worthwhile having a face to face discussion and that there was a reasonable chance that the employer could and would be willing to meet my salary / remuneration expectations. Ie just shy of £x, where x is most certainly rounded up

But, I am typically asked what I am looking for rather than how much am I earning currently. In my view what I currently earn is irrelevant. What I ask for it what it would take for me to move to the new company.

I wonder whether there is a sort of seniority /salary threshold where the conversation moves from what you earn plus £x to we will pay what it takes and wait as long as needed to get the right person.

One of the acid tests for me is whether a prospective employer “walks” when I disclose my current notice period.