Isoblue is very well regarded for the money but still not cheap about £150 per shelf. Quadraspire EVO at £95 per shelf but looks tacky to me. The more expensive SV (£200 per shelf) one looks far better but costs more than the isoblue

Obviously not as much as her engagement ring 😥

I really like the idea of a Compass.

Never in a million years would I have come up with that one, but it sort of says ” … when I am gone Son you can look at this and always know in which direction to take your life next …”

Good, but can I look forward to my winter depression resolving itself by tomorrow morning? I fear not just yet. As Diane said please get a move on luv!

0 +1

thesurfbus – Member
How many miles are the folks with the A3 TFSI getting to the gallon?

Motorway driving 30 mpg perhaps 32mpg if I am taking my time

Elsewhere – commute a mix of local roads mainly perhaps 27mpg.

These figures are for the Quattro model – this hits the figures by about 20 to 25% according to the specs.

CountZero – Thanks for taking the time to explain that to me. I am on the lookout for Wrecking Ball, if I can see it for a decent price.

I would prefer to stick to my earlier mental images of Emmylou, if you don’t mind!, but even from that later pic you can see from her facial features, say her jawline and nose, that she was a fine looking woman in her day

BillMC – Member
Check out Hank Williams, he is incredibly influential despite being dead a very long while.

How very true, he brought Matt Johnson’s career to an early end, but I guess the signs were already there 😆

Thanks for your recommendations. Not a lot of choice in my local HMV (no Gillian Welch FFS) and as I didn’t take a list with me I was shopping blind. So only managed to come back with

This has “Polly Come Home” as recommended above.

Also, got this, and whatever CountZero says this is Country and not Folk in my book

James,

This NAIM pre amp (NAC 92) has come up for sale on PinkFishMedia. Nothing to do with me, it looks like a fair price and is near you I think.

Gary

Naim NAC 92 Pre for sale on PFM

Wichita Lineman is also a favorite of mine. I like the J Cash cover but can’t find it on youtube. Found this one though by REM

Gillian Welch – no one has mentioned her – just watched her duet with partner Dave Rawlings doing “Time the Revelator”

They are an incestuous lot these country musicians they are always playing with each other!

13thfloormonk – thanks for the recommendation on Death in Vegas – Polly (Dillard & Clark) playing on youtube now.

bassspine – Member
we got both sorts. country AND western

Yes, sorry about that basspine my standards are slipping.

I have some Lambchop that I have not listened to for long while. I will need to check that out, but I have Underworld playing at the moment 😆

but I can’t honestly say it seems that sure footed in the snow
due to the rubber band summer tires no doubt!

Yep that will be it. I like my cars like my women – low maintenance.

I have a “fully loaded” A3 Sportback 2.0T FSI Quattro S-line Special Edition.

I have had it from new for just over 4 years and really can’t fault it. The Quattro system makes it handle like a go cart, but I can’t honestly say it seems that sure footed in the snow, but it is all relative. A different drive to a rear wheel BMW not necessarily better or worse but definitely different.

Engine is sweet with a nice rasp when you put your foot down although not as smooth or refined as my old VW V5. If I went for something else it would need to be a flat 6 in either a BMW or Porsche.

But for the time being 200HP is sufficient for me. I have never driven an S3 so don’t know how much more capable it is, but at the end of the day it is same 2.0 4 cylinder engine

The Sportback is a nice bike friendly car without being too big. You probably can’t get any more bikes in than a Golf say but it is just a little easier.

NYC – Manhattan, 1 Union Square 14th and Broadway. Pretty much everything/everywhere you want to do/go is within walking distance. (but no biking).

James I picked up a boxed one owner from new Arcam 8 on ebay this week for £126. One went a few days later for £123. Not even sure why I bought it, but it was local and looked like a good deal.

If you are looking for a change then I would recommend a NAIM either an integrated NAIT 5 or an even older NAIT 3, don’t be put off by the low 30 watts power. Or for a bit more money go for a pre-power combo.

NAIM continue to service their amps and power supplies for ever and there are 3 approved service centers if you want to do it cheaper. All in all NAIM seems hold it value like no other bit of kit IME.

Bikeradar maybe – but I have had just as much success selling road bikes on here as on there.

If you want serious money with bugger all accountability try becoming an IT architect.

Oh if only that was true. Generally I would agree where the philosophy is architected design, but when you move to implemented architecture through SOA and the use of a canonical data model it is sadly no longer the case.

Currently I am working 50 plus hours a week, getting through perhaps 30% of the work that needs to be done, and in relative terms am being paid peanuts.

Not drawn a pretty picture in months 😆

This is one of my favorites of the year. A collection of covers perhaps my favorite being a cover of the Cure’s lullaby

I also went for the V5 2.3 litre. The engine was wonderful, a bit thirsty mind, but like all the mark IV Golfs it was a fairly staid drive.

That said, although overall it was very well built and generally reliable, the cooling fans failed several times, perhaps 3-4 times in the 6 years I had it from new. It was a fault with the fans in the V5 and didn’t seem to affect other models.

I played hell with VW for replacing fans that they knew would fail in less than 18 months or so refusing to pay £600 for fitting new fans that they new were most likely going to fail and all in all VW treated me well.

I was listening to Deadmau5 4+4=12 while reading this, but it’s prompted me to put on Wish You Were Here now. Haven’t played it for a while, thanks for the nudge.

I have been listening to WYWH myself alot over the last couple of weeks, alongside DSOTM and Meddle. Not sure about Meddle it is growing on me but taking time.

CharlieMungus – good point. I was probably thinking more the rock/hippy sort of stiff than the other genres you mention – but that said I wouldn’t mind knowing what where the then seminal pieces of work from the other genres.

Perhaps a better question might be to ask people to list their top 5 albums first recorded/released during the 1970’s (excluding the punk stuff!)

Thanks chaps and chapesses … please keep them coming …. and a few questions?

So which of the David Bowie albums would people recommend starting with? Just had a quick look on Amazon and realize there are quite a few I recognize from my yoof!!!

Which of Farewell to the Kings and 2112 was considered the better album?

I recently bought Paranoid and was mightily impressed. I think I have a fair collection of BS at my Dad’s

Never had Rainbow Rising, just Long Live Rock and Roll. I think when RJ Dio died, everyone was praising Rainbow Rising.

Any Deep Purple worth getting into? Where does one start with Led Zep?

As far as my nearest Audi Dealer – currently about 6 miles.

The streets “Dry Your Eyes” 😆

Personally I would doubt they would even need to justify the job role being different. The role did not exist the day after you left, but there were similar roles available in a few months time.

From my own experience Consultancies tend to use any downturn to let go the people they do not want to keep rather than the people who are not currently chargeable and “on the shelf”.

In the past I have experienced people being taken off big projects with key clients to be made redundant (literally walked out the door) which made the clients furious. The client then took the same personnel a day later on contract.

My experiences are no doubt tainted by Partnerships where the focus on cash flow is probably higher than other companies.

Good news you should get a very handsome payoff?

fatblokefromwarwick – Member
When my missus was rushed into hospital with emergency pancreatitis, I asked my boss if I could bring forward my already booked fortnight holiday by two weeks to look after our daughter etc.
She answered simply with a one word reply of ‘No’

Am I the only who thinks that these may have been the last words the said boss ever uttered.

Her response seems so wrong on so many levels it almost seems absurd

Surrounded By Zulus – Member
I simply wouldn’t give them the option of not giving me time off.

+1, I would bet all my bikes that if it was the Head Teacher’s grandparent that had died then he/she would take the day as special leave without a single moments thought. What is good for the goose etc.

Echoing the experiences of trail_rat when living and working in NYC my father had a cardiac arrest. I think I got the phone call at 4-20pm local time – I was on the 6:30pm flight from JFK to MAN.

I have a truce with my family (sisters etc) that we do not buy each other anything. So being a sad single bloke with a reasonable income it means I will typically spend:-

Top of the list is my Cleaner! – so perhaps about £50 (A saving on last year as I then had two of them :lol:)
Father – not a clue this year what to get – but typically about £200-300

Individually, that might seem a lot, but in total I expect it is far far less overall than many families spend.

Again I wouldn’t spend £1500 on a soundbar. I have listened to the B&W equivalent and shrinks into oblivion when put up against a separates set-up.

The Panasonic one at just £300 has won some awards, but I have only listened to it briefly. I suspect that is the way I will go for the short term.

At the moment Echo and the Bunnymen – not a single mention so far 🙁

Rega Brio always seem to get very good reviews for their price, but i doubt they come with a phono input as standard. You can buy a cheap Rega Phono mini stage for £70. £320 all in – less i bit for buying them both together?

I doubt a repair is economic. You could take a punt on s/h amp on the bay. Arcam seems to represent good value and could probably be had for the price of a repair. Again you will be lucky to get a phono stage as standard.

You could claim you wasted 6 years doing a PhD and never finished or failed. Unlikely to check that you were actually awarded a PhD.

I certainly wouldn’t want to employ such a waste of space so you may be in with a chance?

No 1 – What are you a hippy? I gave up on them a long time ago. Zero, half or balding clippers for me. If I try to do it myself I just shave the lot off. A day later you have the desired result.

Even though I say it myself I do not look like a thug, or a psychopath.

Geoff1 – I feel you are completely missing the point about depression. It is not about being happy or sad, rather it is a mood disorder.

Think in terms of the difference between the climate and the weather. The weather may change significantly from from day to day as can people’s emotions (happy, sad etc).

Changes in climate however, represent a significant long term shift. There will still be day to day shifts in the weather, so even depressed people will feel better on some days over others (ie. a bit more upbeat etc) but the overall frame of reference has been altered.

Resolving depression is about reversing the shift in climate and not the weather. The weather will always vary whether so you will always experience happiness and sadness whether you are depressed or not.

One of the relatively common side effects of ADs drugs is “Emotional Blunting”, you won’t see it on the drug leaflets. Yes, people no longer feel depressed, but the problem is they now no longer feel anything, neither happy or sad. The drug has created a climate shift, but screwed up with the weather.

All this said I prefer to think of Depression in terms of “Energy” levels. True clinical depression is physical in nature. You could give me any amount of money, the most beautiful women in the world, the nicest homes and cars in the most beautiful parts of the world etc and I guarantee you one thing I would still be depressed.

If people have ‘energy” then it is difficult to be depressed, hence the highs in bi-polar disorder. Take away the Energy, then in sets the lethargy, the irritability and the drop in mood etc.

PS. If you are having trouble with your new GF reaching orgasm, don’t be too hard on yourself – you can blame it on the Citalopram 😀

Blower – Member
i could recomend pregabalin as a good one to try.
done all the mentioned above over the years,but pregabalin seems alot better and more modern

Well I certainly wasn’t expecting anyone to come up with that one. Definitely a left field recommendation.

However, Pregablin (Gabapentin) is not an anti-depressant it is a AED (anti-epileptic drug).

AEDs are used as mood stablisers in bipolar disorder both in biploar1 and bipolar2, but even then there is very little evidence, if any, that gabapentin is effective.

To the best of my knowledge, even as a mood stabiliser it would not be a first line choice – Lithium, Valporate in some form, carbamazapene, Lamotrigine are much more likely to be used or even one of the atypical anti-psychotics (olanzapine and quetiapine).

Gapapentin is supposed to be good for anxiety as it is basically the amino acid, neuro-transmitter GABA and can pass the blood brain barrier, but my understanding is that it is generally used as an adjunctive therapy rather than a mono-therapy? Are these your experiences Blower?

OMITN I doubt any GP would go down this route without first giving 2 or 3 standard anti-depressants (SSRI, SSNI, NaSSa type drugs) a decent shot and even then most likely refer on the CMHT for a specialist consultation before taking any further actions re prescribed drugs.

OMITN – a quick scan of the NICE guidelines on depression may be helpful, it will basically outline the approach that GPs should follow in normal circumstances.

It goes without saying really but I would recommend going and talking things through with your GP as there are many different types of anti-depressants.

Even within a given type such as the SSRIs (of which Citalopram is one example) – one may work for you and one may not. You have Fluoxetine, Sertraline, Paroxetine, Escitalopram to choose from

Of all the SSRIs Citalopram is the one and perhaps the only one commonly associated with weight gain, the others like fluoxetine may result in a reduced appetite, at least upon commencement. So don’t think that the sugar munchies will result from every single AD. Although, sadly the vast majority of psych meds are associated with weight gain.

If weight gain is a concern then try to avoid Mirtazapine, which is commonly prescribed as a second line AD if a generic SSRI doesn’t seem to be working (you might as well be smoking “weed”). But on the plus side it may make you fat, happy and horny!

I would also talk to your GP about the feelings of “recklessness”. This does not sound right, the Citalopram may have been making you high or hypo-manic, together with three episodes of depression in the last 12 months, assuming you achieved full remission, I would be considering asking for a referral to a specialist.

See now that last post cuts me to the core. On the one hand i want to be nice and say i feel for you. On the other hand i want to shout out, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT? If someone handed me a sick note for stress and anxiety they would jump to the head of any P45 queue. Its not PC but then i dont think PC has done this country any favours

I would expect to be treated fairly and no differently from someone who has taken time off sick with a cancer diagnosis. Anything else is blatant discrimination.