It’s been done to death why Murray said what he said about “anyone but England”. It was banter, you know, a joke??

For me, I want England to lose at football but couldn’t care less in other sports. In fact, strangely enough, tend to support them when it comes to the cricket and the Ashes, etc. Not so bothered about Rugby these days I don’t mind either way if they win or lose now that Scotland are so crap at the sport!

The football thing isn’t to do with anti-Englishness – it’s more to do with a combination of probably envy – since my team don’t qualiy these days – and wanting to see all the smug pundits and over-hyped players get a wake-up call when they realise that ‘The Golden Generation’ are actually second rate international underachievers who ‘over achieve’ at domestic level due to the amount of ludicrously overpaid foreign talent imported to the league.

Watch ESPN classic and things like the English Euro 96 team or the 1990 Italia 90 squad or Mexico 86 – they would piss allover the 2010 group. English football is all image (can’t bring myself to use the word ‘style’!)over substance and it pleased me no-end to see them get a footballing lesson from the Jerries in South Africa last year 🙂

When my partner’s Grandad died 5 years ago we didn’t take our daughter, who was three.

I did want to at first but my partner said no and i’m glad we didn’t as I think seeing her Papa’s coffin would have been upsetting for her.

When we told her he had died she was devastated. I was suprised how bad she took it at three-and-a-half years old. Perhaps at 2 years they won’t know as much.

What we did do, was buy our daughter a teddy bear the day we told her and told her that was ‘Papa Bear’. She is 8 now and still takes Papa Bear to bed with her and won’t let us wash him or anything! His dog died a few months after him and Papa Bear got a little dog teddy to go with him – Papa and Frisky 🙂 and her way of dealing with it was for us to tell her that Papa has a special glass in the sky with which he can look down and see her.

We take our daughter to Papa’s ‘memory place’ a couple of times a year and we talk about him quite a lot. She has a picture of him beside here bed and a picture of her with the wee dog, Frisky, and her memory of him is very, very good.

She wrote him a letter a few months ago when my son was born to tell him all about the new Baby. She can talk about him, and could do within a few months of his death, without getting upset. Papa Bear definitely helped this.

However, don’t ask me about the time Papa Bear and Frisky went AWOL in McDonalds in the Vendee a couple of years ago!!! Thankfully some kind French lads handed him in 🙂

Not sure about the point of me rambling like this! Just perhaps trying to tell you something positive about my experience of this I suppose.

Ultimately though, don’t put added pressure on yourself by saying your Mum would have wanted them there because if it turns out you don’t take them you’ll end up making yourself feel guilty. You won’t be letting your Mum down at all if you decide it is for the best if they just come afterwards. I’m sure your Mum would understand you are doing what you think is best for your children.

Peace

Why should people, who are mtb’ers, care about the demographic of mtb’ers? I don’t understand??

ok, thanks

Yer Granddaddy was defending his way of life.

We’re over there destroying their homes and imposing our way of life on them.

Apart from that, it’s the same 😆

to be fair, I did follow that up and say muppet was a poor choice of word and take it back but that I agree with the sentiment i.e I can’t understand why someone would willingly volunteer to go over there to kill people they have no quarrel with.

Let’s agree to disagree.

didn’t say they aren’t more deserving.

middle class kids with illusions of grandeur? house on a plate?

how about kids wanting to enter a profession where a degree is a pre-requisite?

house on a plate? lol!

you’re deliberately missing the point I was trying to make.

No, house ownership is not an entitlement. Alternatives? a nice council house on a nice estate? where?

Education should not be the preserve of the wealthy.

Working and middle class kids will come out of uni burdened with crippling debt. How do they fund a mortgage and a pension and service their education debt on graduate pay? (If they can find a job in the first place).

But the government can fund the destruction of these other countries at the drop of a hat and then private companies will make a ‘killing’ in reconstruction contracts and new ‘opportunities’ under sympathetic governments? But it’s ok, cos these companies will be ploughing millions back into the exchequer in tax revenues won’t they? oh, wait…

Rule Britannia indeed

Muppets is a poor choice of word but I kind of agree with the sentiment. A lot of these lads are economic recruits who are trying to make something of their lives. Unfortunately, I don’t think it is particularly admirable to do that at the expense of the lives of others in a far-off land.

Not to mention the BILLIONS that have been spent laying waste to Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya when people in this country struggle to get on the housing ladder, will need to work to 70 then subsist on a poverty-level pension, will struggle to fund their kids’ higher education and we’re all being told we need to suck it up and take the shafting because the country is broke.

If the aftercare is so great then what is ‘Help for Heroes’ all about then?

Army housing would be condemned in any other walk of life.

a lot of the attitudes on this thread are very much like Dubya’s “you’re either with us, or you’re with the terrorists”.

I strongly disliked what Seosamh wrote on the Old Firm thread but have to agree with his sentiment here!

They don’t even have proper kit, hardly get phone calls home – family need to pay to send parcels out to them.

Then, when you get blown to bits and come back a shell of a person you have to rely on charity to have a life because the MoD don’t give a ****.

Really, anyone going over there is a bit of a muppet.

No muppets in the Army lol!

p.s. because it’s not about people feathering their nest – it’s about getting what they deserve to have a decent life in retirement.

I despair about the social conscience of this country.

Other than performance related conditions how could you possibly differentiate between a good teacher and a bad one, other than the good ones would be more likely to do better in terms of promotion, etc.?

You can’t use statistics for it, such as pass rates, because you are dealing with children, not numbers.

As I said, i’m not a teacher, and I don’t know how a poor teacher would be improved into a better one??

Perhaps someone who has worked with a ‘lazy fecker’ could answer that? I can imagine it pisses them off more than most if they have to work with people like that. But it’s going off on a tangent and is smoke and mirrors which takes away from what this is really about.

Also, Don Simon you said your pay was 60% of what it was some years ago. If you are self employed that is your choice and i’m guessing when times were good you were earning a substantial wedge – better than you could have earned in the Public Sector? You mentioned your pay is roughly 5k per month? is that after a 60% cut?

IMHO a spurious argument to say that Public Sector workers should accept this change to previously agreed proposals because the big money isn’t available in the private sector anymore??

Yeah, inflation has been 4+% for the last two or three years. In real terms, it feels like much more than this to me. I haven’t had a pay rise in two years and likely won’t get one this year. Doesn’t mean that because I’m feeling the pinch everyone else should.

this country is ****

It alarms me how many people have the attitude that teachers should just ‘suck it up’ and take the shafting because ‘it’s worse in the private sector’.

WTF! what kind of way is that to live your life? Let’s all be grateful for the scraps thrown from the big table????? Don’t forget to doff your caps when the boss walks by…

Isn’t teaching of children an important job? why shouldn’t there be good rewards in it?

I’m not a teacher.

Zoom or Bust?? Never knew there was a trail down that way – always that that was a little practice loop in there that brought you out at the top of Janet’s(?) Brae/Buzzard’s nest car park?

When did that all change? (only been at GT once this year and it was an aborted trip due to a friend becoming unwell).

Loved the new blue sections though that we tried

36*20 at glentress red route last time out was do-able on the climbs and felt a tad spinny elsewhere.

32*18 may be spot on for me.

Echo what others said about it being surprising (pleasantly surprising!) how quickly you get strong.

34*16 at Drumlanrig had me off and pushing once at a sharp hill near the start and totally knackered by the long hill near the finish.

Used 46*17 fixed on road – got up most things – albeit with square pedalling at times. Reckon 2.5 to 1 would be the perfect ‘all-day’ onroad fixed ratio for undulating terrain.

Offroad, don’t think I could be bothered with any more than 3-4 hours max singlespeed.

The high flats in the gorbals are being demolished over the next 18 months (don’t know if that was mentioned in the programme? missed it, just saw a clip on reporting Scotland last night).

Couldn’t believe how bad the flats were inside on the clip I saw.

They should move everyone out right now – it’s a disgrace.

For those interested in what the Gorbals looked like before they pulled the worst of it down (yes, last night’s example isn’t the worst) then google Sir Basil Spence and Queen Elizabeth Square development. Awful stuff. Quite interesting to read that the Norwegians came to look at it while it was under construction in the ealry 60s and were totally horrified.

Boriselbrus sums it up perfectly.

The obession with chasing fast times on dual carriageways is bizarre.

Keep telling yourselves it’s because these courses have good sight lines and are safer than country lanes – you’re only kidding yourselves, no-one else

Col. Dekker from the A-team

T2000 from Terminator 2

Behind Enemy Lines – the Serbian paramilitary with the Adidas trackie

Survivor – just generally a horrible (but compelling) film full or right bad bastarts

Aye, some right ‘orrible c*nts there!

Can’t believe no-one’s mentioned the Childcatcher from Chitty chitty Bang Bang 😯

Ah, the old Buckfast! Despite the image, it is a very nice tipple when mixed with semi-skimmed milk. Like a nice alcoholic strawberry milkshake.

Mmmmmmmmmmm………….

I can’t believe you left a 10 month old alone in a hotel room so you could go for a swally 😯 😯

Celtic – never defeated, always cheated since 1888

Rangers – defenders of the crown – rule britannia

Lol

**** the lot of them

spot on Gary M!

His point is probably not an ‘issue’ for a great many. It’s not an issue for me – I have more important things in life to worry about – however I have an opinion on it and it is quite clearly a factor in the sectarian divide up here as poly put across a lot more eloquently than me.

To deny any reasoned debate and to immediately post more extreme examples of the ‘against’ side of the discussion to try and make out that that particular view is representative of Scotland in general is dishonest and immature.

P.S. i have acquaintances who are convinced that the whole of the Scottish ‘Establishment’ is against them and their religion and football team.

Only problem is, one is a Celtic supporting Catholic. The other is a Rangers supporting Protestant. So who is right?

Interestingly, I have never actually heard either of them mention going to church 😀

It is quite disconcerting entering into debate with them – they are what I would call pretty intelligent people with very well paid jobs and positions of responsibility yet are totally blinkered.

Absolute victim mentality.

I work with a lad who can argue ‘we’ (Celtic) aren’t as bad as ‘them’ (Rangers) because it is proven that after an Old Firm derby loss for Rangers there are more reported cases of domestic abuse than when Celtic lose. Ok, so not as many of ‘our’ fans beat our wives as ‘theirs’ do so we are the moral guardians of the world!

He also reckons Lennon is subjected to the abuse because he is an Irish Catholic. Nah, I reckon it’s because he is a knob. Can’t ever remember Martin O’Neill or a devout catholic like Tommy Burns getting stick all over the country. Seem to remember there being a large outpouring of grief from both sides of the ‘divide’ when Tommy Burns died actually.

Goes to show the majority of people are decent and that the problem is perpetuated by the knucklegraggers on boths sides.

Excellent post Poly

In my opinion it is clear to the majority of people I know that the problem is two-sided up here.

To deny it is your entitlement but says more about you than the folks on this thread who are prepared to engage in reasoned debate about the situation.

“As someone who attended Catholic schools I was not segregated in anyway from the rest of society”??

Apart from when you were at school?

No non-catholic teachers allowed, etc.?

The person who raised the point about schools was clearly not saying it was the cause of scottish sectarianism – I feel you have deliberately misinterpreted his point in order to fuel your victim complex.

Why do straight guys like watching burds lezzing off but don’t have the same interest with the fellas?

Also, if you watch straight porn and get aroused – what is pressing the buttons? You are watching some chap fire his todger about left right and centre but that’s ok cos a burd is on the receiving end. But two blokes – all of a sudden a stiff walloper is a complete no-no.

Nowt worse than switching onto the ten minute freeview and it’s the, ahem, gentleman’s selection.

Have I said too much?

So, Simon Cowell eh? crikey

I’ve done one Sportive and enjoyed it. It was run by a club for charity however. Seems to me there are a lot around jumping on the bandwagon and offering not much for quite a lot of money. But, then again, each to their own.

One thing that hacked me off in the sportive I did (Ken Laidlaw) was a boy in full Hawick CC kit getting a tow up the first big climb off a van with a Hawick CC sticker on the back! I was just about to catch the bugger as well! Nightmare – s’pose some folks would sell their Granny for a win at tiddlywinks though….

Thanks, unfortunately it is not insured with a specific bike policy. I think my contents insurance is for theft, not accidental damage but i’ll check and see – thanks for the tip.

Of course, if it is all superficial the worst i’ll end up is a few quid down if I ever come to sell it. The trouble is determining whether or not it is superficial 🙁

Yeah, hopefully it won’t come to that.

On the plus side (from my point of view) it is easy to demonstrate that the faulty wheel did indeed cause the frame damage – the damage lines up with the wheel and tyre when the ruined wheel is put back into the dropouts.

From the retailer’s point of view – they probably get folks chancing it all the time and taking the piss so I’m kind of expecting not a favourable response but we’ll see.

Major pain in the arse either way – just glad I wasn’t hammering downhill at the time or it could have been a lot worse.

Cheers. Will let you know how I get on.

Hopeless situation, really?

Even if the damage is caused as a result of a fault which the retailer acknowledges?

What does it matter (in the eyes of the law) whether the frame (or any other damaged component) was part of an original purchase?

The retailer has been very good re. the wheels issue so far and they do have a reputation for good customer service so i’m keeping my fingers crossed

No, the frame is nothing to do with the retailer – just the wheels. (I built the bike up myself from various new and second hand components – with the wheels being one of the new components)

The incident with the wheels happened last Sunday and I reported it the same day. Retailer then told me within a couple of days they would replace the wheels. (retailer’s own brand)

I since discovered the other damage yesterday and have advised the retailer today and await their response.

The timber leveller, or wallplate, sounds like it should be replaced.

I would lift all the floor and look but just cut out and splice in new timber where existing is rotted/decayed.

Like-for-like replacement in terms of the construction I would have thought.

Renew the boards with treated timber. Perhaps the dampness has come from the underbuilding/dwarf walls. Maybe the damp proof course needs replacing. If so, renewing the timber won’t address the route of the problem. If you need to replace the DPC then maybe take the opportunity to treat the substructure brick with something like Thompsons waterseal or something.

Check the dwarf wall brickwork to see if it’s dry. Sounds like it’s fine if the timber in the centre of the room is unaffected.

I was at a large social housing provider in Glasgow who had a sign on the wall next to the coathooks “Coats off, thinking caps on”. Legendary.

What about “let’s sense-check these documents” or “I need visuals on that document”

I have written a few down from one particular monthly meeting I attend – keeps me awake: –

“We are breaking down the barriers of social inclusion”

“There’s a yin and a yang with everything”

“The interfacing of the electronic information tells you more than you think you want to know”

“financial strength is one of our strengths”

I swear it’s true – those all came from the same bloke at various meetings.

The last one is a personal favourite of mine.

Think you probably could but seeing as I wrecked the interior of said Fiesta putting bikes in the back of it I have been warned in no uncertain terms that no bike will ever grace the inside of the civic.

I’ve got an old 206 chugaboom for bike transportation 😉

That sounds so ridiculous – I have a car for transporting my bike 😀

Have a civic 1.8ESi with the glass roof.

0-60 is around 8 or 9 seconds if that’s yer bag and it returns mid 40mpg.

It’s like a tardis inside – looks small from the outside to me. Couldn’t believe the space in it when we were looking for a new car. Hadn’t really considered them as thought they were small and overpriced but the interior is class and, as I said, the space is brilliant. We looked at them by chance really and both decided there and then it was what we were going to buy. Touch wood it’s been good so far.

Plus, supposedly higher than average residuals – lower than average running costs plus it’s got to be one of the most destinctive cars on the road. Nowt bland about a civic, whether you like the styling or not 🙂

Had a fiesta tdci before that for 6 years – great wee car – 60mpg and torquey as heck! Sadly became a money pit near the end so got rid but reached 130k with hardly anything going wrong.

P.S. only trouble with Civic which i’ve since found out is you can’t get a tailgate bike carrier for them and you have to be careful with roof bars if you have the glass roof. A minor niggle to most but if you do a lot of travelling with your bike then it might be something to think about