Stumpy that's a very politically-minded reply from someone aware that suppliers and clients may read this!

Cheers for the info though. I intend, by means of this post and speaking to people, to get a recommended builder to do the work. Someone local who can be vouched for, not a cowboy :)

As I say, due to various reasons I won't touch everest. I have heard stories of leaks, poor service and failure to fix problems for long after they were reported.

The Southern Yeti – Member
I know a few average builders in the Glasgow area?

Would you pay them 30% of your annual salary to build a conservatory for you?

Sorry to hear that. I intend to use a small local company with a reputation to protect. I have heard awful things about companies like Everest; how they get to be big I will never know. Cheap materials and labour and low cost I guess. The Easyjet business plan!

You can only surmise that the previous occupier was as big a geek as the average STW user (and they are ALL average) and really wanted you and others to react like this when you find their student bit of fun.

Snow driving?

Find another way other than driving – stay indoors and be merry!

No mercury visible on the thermometer here at the foot of the campsies (Torrance) and it goes down to minus 10.

Just went out to change the chicken's water and must say it's the coldest I've felt for a long long time. Brain freeze just from breathing!

I don't think technology will have changed much, that's kind of irrelevant really. I think the main change will be a much bigger uptake of cycling by the general public, a marketing of commuting bikes by a few major companies in a way that reaches the non-cycling population, and a turn away from cars. When fuel prices start to soar due to the inevitable depletion of the oil fields, and car manufacturers drop production due to lowering demand, then things will really start to pick up.

Society has potential!

I think this is a silly question… because they're nice and make us feel christmassy!

Erk, not my type either!

I charge around £70-80 per panel and use good materials. Any costs for removal of the old material is extra.

I don't work in your area but ask on the forum at http://www.landscapejuice.com and you'll find a trusted local expert on the matter. Tell them Dan Frazer sent you :)

No point getting a bodge-a-job to do something you will be looking at every day and want to last a long time.

excess postal charges are against ebay policy so he should be reported. It obviously means ebay gets less profit than it should from the sale.

Plus a discretionary level of customer service should be provided by the seller which is not happening with this guy.

Neutral him if he's already given you feedback, I wouldn't even think twice about neg.

Don't be so touchy Creg… foxychick has the question I was talking about!

My carreer goes like this: Degree in anatomy for no other reason than I enjoyed it. Lab job for a year then 2 years of call centre work. MSc in Environmental management then 3 years work as environmental consultant. Then (as of 2 months ago) fling the office work to **** and run gardening business, be my own boss, make more money than before and finally able to shine and enjoy life!

I did the same as you at uni with regards to doing a non-relevant course.

Best to sit down, gently think it all over, and no matter how diverse or unusual, picture yourself doing something you'll enjoy and do whatever it takes to get there.

Anyone going to ask the blindingly obvious question here, or would that be plain rude?

Cut the branches off, then cut from the top of the tree down so the trunk is in manageable size peces. Hire a stump grinder from a tool hire place and buzz it down to 12" below ground level. Replace the hole with topsoil and a wee roll of turf and bob's your uncle. The roots won't do much and will just rot away eventually.

This is what an arborist/gardener would do.

These bands have nothing to do with Religion. They do not generally have beliefs in a god, they do not follow the guidance set out by Christianity and they do not represent it.

I cannot get over why they use the terms Catholic and Protestant. One of societies biggest misnomers.

Hrmph, I've just spent £2000 on tools! (600 mower, 200 brush cutter, 300 henchman ladders, 600 trailer, 300 hand tools!) Will the spending ever end?

Cheers for the positive input…boo to the STW Joe Bloggs'es who assume I sailed up the clyde in a …etc.

Nissan Almera Petrol, 1.5l, towing an unbraked trailer, max total weight about 600kg. No license issues, car is legal to tow it but just doesn't do the job right. Changing down a gear on these hills actually isn't making a difference and I'm still not able to pull the way I should.

Will consider lopro tyres next time I replace them, or have a serious look at going down a size, understanding that it will give me higher revs and show my speed very slightly above what it actually is. It would do more than simply increase revs…it has the effect of increasing torque a little, just wondered if anyone knew the ins and outs of actually doing it.

Van next year when some cash appears!

Tar muchly
D

I've just set up my own business.

Re: the action fund, it is available to people who have been made redundant. They must apply for it within 13 weeks. It can be used to get into employment or to set up your own business. It has literally JUST changed in as much as it now CANNOT be used for assets that can be sold (i.e. equipment, tools). You can, however, get support for branded clothing, insurance, tool hire etc. I have just been awarded a good sum to assist me, and the local council offer a £500 grant to new businesses too which has softened the blow between the two of them.

The only thing I have found takes a lot of thought is keeping careful track of things, from people's phone numbers to diary appointments, money spent/receipts, and careful pricing for contracts.

I am a gardener and have had much more to do than I thought:

Paperwork, including branded headed paper, invoce/receipt booklets, financial records/filing system for receipts.
Bank account – how many PIN numbers do I have now?
Equipment…don't even go there!
Vehicle- company details now emblazoned on my car.
Clothing – finding things that fit and getting them embroidered.
Insurance – easy one to sort out.
Leaflets/business cards – I did my own leaflet on powerpoint and sent the file to bestprint who did 1000 very high quality full colour prints for £45 posted. Used vistaprint for cards though I'd not go to them again. The spent 5 half-days doing door-drops. I hate doing this but it's got to be done… 1 call a week later so far (1000 leaflets delivered), but there should be a lot more come the right season.
Training/learning – Do you know enough about your chosen career to call yourself a professional? Never stop learning/asking questions. I have an excellent online network where other landscape gardeners share ideas, opinions and experience, from subjects such as pricing work to best equipment and up to date news on the industry (e.g. legislation etc).
Qualifications – My business requires at least 3 certificates to be held (pesticides and chainsaws).

Pricing is key though…get it right first time and don't go too low or you'll really regret it!

GOOD LUCK!

Is it one of those B&Q ones you got? These[/url] ones are much better tools to use and last infinitely longer if you get the chance to get one instead.

Spongebob – Member
Nice job, shame about the salary

That's a pretty pretentious thing to say… many people on here are on lower and your comment effectively attempts to degrade them, perhaps unintentionally.

I also don't see the problem with them. Been using the same ones for 2 years now, paid 50p each for them, and they take around 5 seconds to lighten right up, not 5 minutes! I like knowing I'm only using 11 watts instead of 60 too.

Och even worse, the girlfriend is watching this spirit-raising thing, it's such a joke, the people must be short of a few brain cells.

A little nature

I'm in the £0.00 gang. Don't enjoy drinking, although might on the odd occasion have a cold beer with a meal out or a wine at a special dinner in.

Shocked at those spending £50 or more a week!

That's why it's frustrating…I know there should be plenty but I have simply not seen any at all. The red stems should be very easy to spot at this time of year too!

What's wrong with hating fat people for being thick?

;)

Can't believe San Fran though, a doctor is there to take care of people, even those who eat awful diets and cause the US health insurance premiums to be so high. It cannot be reasonable to expect a fat patient to be allowed to continue being fat without making sure they understand that it is their own fault and they can do something about it!

Not all older boilers are inefficient. If your bills are still reasonable then forget changing it just for the sake of it,

Olly it weighs the same as ten xc racers… slightly too heavy for even two burly blokes to lift on end.

The post will weigh 500kg if your dimensions are correct. In addition to the heaving aspect there will be a lot of hardcore to clear out of the way first.

I suggest you will NOT be able to safely try and manually do this task with levers etc. You can use hand tools to dig out the surrounding ground down to hardcore level, smash any concrete base mixed through the hardcore and use a form of gantry to lift the post.

£43 to hire a suitable gantry at http://www.hss.com/g/69299/Compact-Demountable-Gantry.html You'll need some 1T strapping too and suitable material to protect it from being chafed.

You COULD call a local landscaper to do it, should cost under £100.

Can't ou just get by the way things are? Have you ever had your bins not collected for a week because of it? Missed a vital package delivery because of it?

I think the hope of changing the habits of dozens of people, with or without potentially involving third parties that will only make things miserable, is a lost cause.

Where do you park your car?

99% of people who have either lost their jobs or has pay freezes/cuts in the private sector have also "spent the last 20 years working away quietly as a public servant, noticeably not involving myself in any global financial crisis shenanigans, not paying myself silly bonuses, not lending money to folk who can't repay, not suckling at the teat of the great goddess of finance, just paying my debts on time"

It's unfortunate, but being public sector doesn't mean you have any more rights than private sector. It's just ingrained in the mentality of public sector that they get special treatment.

Yer not the only one!

Get in with people. It's only an hour to Stirling Bike Club for a trip as there are lots of nice sociable riders down this way and some great terrain.

Chin up!

Fling it into a pie.

Turn it into stroganof with sticky rice.

Do a veg curry and throw it in at the last minute to warm up with the sauce but not turn chewy.

Feed it to your chickens.

Don't upset it with rank mustard or horseradish!

Had to laugh last week out driving. I came to the end of a T-Junction and stopped to check for traffic. A woman on a horse was coming toward the junction, and on seing my car from the side of it's blinkers the horse jumped into the next lane, where the approaching car had to slam on it's brakes to avoid an equine moment. The woman then started spouting forth and screaming about the car and how it should have slowed down. I looked and saw the huge pile of crap her horse had just done on the road and shouted at her "Your horse isn't capable of being on the roads, and clean that mess up while you'r there".

She shut up and rode off, chewing the marbles in her mouth angrily.

So you reckon the reason those 70% want to quit is due to the government?

Yeah, of course it is!

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4709394.stm (some of this is amusing!)

About 10 million people in the UK smoke cigarettes, according to anti-smoking charity Ash. It says a further two million – the vast majority of them men – smoke cigars, pipes or both.

By age group, it is 20- to 24-year-olds who are most likely to light up, with about a third considered smokers. As people get older they become less likely to smoke, with the rate falling to 14% for the over 60s.

Manual workers and their families are almost twice as likely to smoke as those with a managerial or professional background (31% compared with 17%). And people living together are twice as likely to smoke as those who are married (35% compared with 18%).

Across the country, the greatest proportion of smokers is found in the North East (30%).

Many smokers start early in the morning. About one third of people who get through more than 20 cigarettes a day light up within five minutes of waking.

Smoker lies on a bed of cigarette packets

Among this group, eight out of 10 people say they would struggle to go 24 hours without a cigarette. Among all smokers, more than half would find the task a challenge.

Nevertheless, seven out of 10 smokers say they would like to quit. The proportion wanting to stop is highest among those who smoke 10 to 19 cigarettes a day. It is suggested many heavy smokers believe stopping would be too difficult.

The average male smoker is thought to get through 14 cigarettes a day, while women smoke 13.

So, smokers, why do you want to quit?

This thread is testament to the generalisations that are often made about smokers.

number of pubs that have closed since the smoking ban around my part of Glasgow, new area in the north of Glasgow, village in Oxfordshire where my family lives, villages in Ayrshire where more family lives… ZERO.

It is great being able to enjoy going to a pub. I used to avoid pubs due to the smoke. Now I, and countless other people (non smokers who are in the majority in this country) go to pubs more often and increase their business.

that is the reality, not the one the media tried to portray at the start of the smoking ban.

Get back to watching your soaps and barking about your 'rights' to nobody who cares.

Love seeing smokers defend themselves. Why should ANYONE else put up with the smell? It's primitive to use the "well they choose to be in the same place as us smokers, they can leave if they want" line. This could equally apply to noisy unsociable neighbours, cyclists on a road (where car drivers can drive dangerously and say simply that the cyclist chooses to use that road) etc.

No non-smoker should ever have to put up with it… heavy and damaging elements that are not easily cleared from the lungs. It's disgraceful. Do it to yourselves but do not in the least do it to anyone else.