inbred456 – landscaping is very hard to mess up? Are you nuts! It’s one trade where messing it up is almost inevitable if you aren’t highly skilled and trained!

Go for it.

I was made redundant in September 2009. I was working in environmental consultancy and hated it, hated the environment in the office, the report-writing, the hierarchy and manner in which people sucked up and schmoozed their way to the pointless promotions.

I responded to a gumtree ad for a gardener wanted. I then branded myself and did some marketing, and this kept the bills paid that first winter. By the end of April 2010 I was full time and earning more than I had ever done before in consultancy!

I am now an employer and have around 60 clients, work 12-months a year, a good brand, new(ish) vehicle and equipment, I have been trained in all manner of things that enable me to carry out large-scale professional works that I would never have dreamed of in the beginning.

I honestly can’t imagine doing anything else right now, although the weather this year has been a serious mind-killer.

My advice is to go for it 100%. Get the training and do some basic small jobs to get you in there. Always mention to customers that you are looking for recommendations as a lot of work comes from them (family, friends – I have a lot of clients refer me to their mothers actually!).

Don’t be put off by lack of experience. Spend hours researching equipment, methods and materials. Build a basic website via a wordpress template. Think of a brand name that people will remember, define your geographical area and try and stick to it, and don’t be put off by competitors, as there is ALWAYS space for an honest and thorough tradesperson.

Turn up on time, honour appointments, don’t say you can do something if you can’t, learn to weed out crap jobs on the initial phone call and just say you can’t fit them in, spend £300 on good vehicle signwriting as you’ll get work from people who see the van etc. A nice ford connect-sized van would be perfect.

Keep a close eye on expenditure – every penny out is not going into your pocket.

You can do it, and you’ll never look back.

Got to be said again, the Dialled Alpine is ideal for this and I am selling mine as I am not gnarly enough for it!

Sorry to hear it. I’m just up the road in Torrance. Nobody deserves a good bike simply by lifting one. But, they are no doubt scum who never get a chance at life, you are no doubt a much happier and better off person than they are.

EDIT – I just saw the other thread, oops!

Max Cavalera did a song about roots ;)

I was referring to the £2k mentioned by rusty mac

£2k is cheap for the driveway, I suspect the founds won’t be done properly. Get 3 quotes, from local firms with websites. That’s my advice. I’d suggest £3-4k is about right but depends on the size of course. You may end up with a place that would suit a double driveway very well… you just never know.

Are you sure you don’t want a very good used one?

I did a slideshow last week at my mate’s wedding and had dozens of people coming up to me afterwards saying how funny it was. I started with a simpsonized picture of the groom, and all manner of embarrassing pictures followed. Happy to give you some words from the speech for ideas! Did your brother have any embarrassing posters on his wall as a kid? Was he bullied at school? :)

You’re on a forum asking where to buy a belt? And worse still, getting serious replies?

I’m off for a bike ride!

The Alpine is great, such a fun and responsive ride. I’m selling mine as I’m finally able to admit I’m just an XC rider!

When my car dies I’m buying a Nissan Xtrail, 40mpg and 4×4!

Long cage for triple chainset.

Inners is fine, chicken runs. I do the 3 ‘drops’ on a 100mm alloy hardtail and I’m a jessie so don’t worry.

_tom_ how can I enjoy that picture when the kid’s ar*e is hanging out due to his idiotic low jeans?

The BBC is shocking and people don’t even see it. Why do you think they have reported NO negative stories about the Olympic opening ceremony/budget/royal family involvement? EVERYONE who I speak to feels sick about the way many things have happened recently yet you see none of that. The BBC is pro-London, pro-royal nonsense and I hate every aspect of that.

Don’t rebuild as that will cost a lot. I’d sell in bits if I were you. Don’t expect a fortune though.

Bronski Beat, smalltown boy

Me and the wife in May this year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEqtOzFME7o&feature=results_video

What do you need a map for? Go explore! Amalfi coast would be top of my list.

Have you gone to a large stationers/book shop such as Waterstones yet?

Hi Onceinalifetime, I replied with a link to photos of it, if you let me know your email address I’ll email you directly, thanks.

Dan

And fruit trees have really suffered… a combination of mild winter and soaking summer have ruined them this year.

17″ alpine for sale, fully built or frame only, get in touch or do a search on here :)

Nic Cage in the worst remake ever, Wicker Man

“Not the bees, my eyes, aaaargh!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4MqTCIDKhU

Oh, and on the same subject, South Park, Mr Garrisson teaching the kids about Mongolia:

“People from Mongolia are referred to as Mongols. Not to be confused with Mogoloid, as in Nicholas Cage”

The met office would know for sure anyway.

Oh, and this year I can categorically state that Fridays have been the worst day of the week for rain!

I work outdoors all day every day and this has been the worst summer for a long time. Talk of food shortages 100 years ago is irrelevant as we have better distance supply chains now, so we have probably had a worse summer this year than most of those which resulted in starvation!

Spend some time in Italy – people don’t give a stuff about other people’s driving. Ignore it, so what!

Spend some time in Italy – people don’t give a stuff about other people’s driving. Ignore it, so what!

But nothing beats having the freedom to fly along the amalfi coast on 2 wheels, stopping as you please for photos, nipping out on the bike for dinner at night or being able to park wherever you like. You’ll only crash if you aren’t confident.

For eating, I can recommend Il Liono Rosso, near the train station, Inn Buffolito and Vino Vero. All 3 are packed with locals. Also the pizza place hidden away off the main routes Mama Mia. Top quality wines for around E3 for a large glass, proper grub for under a tenner, all good good good. (yes I am biased and want to go back there!).

The 1 bit of advice, though perhaps not for the MIL, is to get a hire scooter from the stall at the harbour, amazing times to be had!

I can’t see the advantage of the 530 over the 520 – I’d get the 520 if I were you. Less bits to break or block up with mud and a tiny bit less weight too.

I never fell over when I started using SPD’s – it’s logical really. And to be honest for proper jumping flatties are still best, trying to jump with spd’s encourages bad technique and potential unclippage!

4 times the distance is a good rule of thumb for fitness gained through road riding vs running. Think about what your upper body is doing while running vs cycling. Also running uses more leg muscles than cycling and trains them to flex in more directions which uses a lot more energy as supporting fibres all get called into action at different times.

I think 2×9 setups sans bash are aimed toward XC racing, fitting a bash gives you the safety to be able to ride over stuff that might have had you off the bike carrying otherwise.

No need to change mechs etc. Just shorten chain and adjust the h screw on the front mech!

I have used chameleon in renfrew too and they were great, good job and keen price.

Boxing.

The other sports mentioned are purely governed by how hard you push yourself. Boxing – if you ease up for a second you get your head punched off by a muscly angry man.

No amount of lights would be too much, and as long as they are bright enough then no reason not to change between road and offroad! It’s the same light they put out after all! Get a helmet light on for road riding too, just try not to point it directly at cars if it’s a bright one.

Just a chain tensioner, a cog and spacers in place of the cassette and a new chain and chainring and you’re good to go :)

I stayed at Villa Monica with my new wife in May and it was lovely. It is up on the hillside but Pasquale the owner does a lot of free shuttle runs up and down to town through the day. The views from the balconies are quite simply outstanding. She will love you for it.

I spent the years from age 14-19 training and racing. My best 5k time was 15:15 when I was 18, but that was not good enough to get national places in senior races, just junior.

Proper training, without faff, gps and hrm’s, produces a different class of athlete altogether.

I really really miss athetics and still feel like a runner at heart but the body won’t allow it any more, and with a physical job I never have the energy to do any form of training!

I love imperial, when I was a kid (I am 30 now) I used to pore over weights and measures, I know them all. I think the UK has to keep something that identifies it as an independant country, we are changing to a very homogenous state in Global terms and it’s saddening. I will be teaching my kids imperial.

Keep imperial, don’t allow shopkeepers to be fined stupid amounts of money for not showing things in metric, get this PC EU-led drive stopped and keep what makes Britain British. Where is the uniqueness going? Ok, most of the semi-professional IT/accountancy city geeks on this forum will disagree but they have been taught the global way, not the British way, and should get back to their Quashquais for the weekend trail centre jaunts.

IMPERIAL ALL THE WAY BABY!