dagnabbit

sorry Sharki, visiting a mate in Essex that weekend, ho hum, hope it’s sunny, cheers

if it’s loose batteries, pad with blutack or I put a strip of insultating tape down one side of the battery and thus the lid holds it tight

all coffeed and toasted up, off to do a short Ridgeway trip soon, on Sunday might do ‘Hawthorn snow’ alley near East Ilsey, downhill, hawthorn blosson everywhere (*hopefuly) and I suspect an alcholic beverage outside a public house …….

fyi endura burner

see ebay 31.50

Hi guys, many thanks to all, deffo seems to be a Scottish Wilderness contingent, done lots of Memory Map research, tinternet and books, but on the ground recommendations always help.

Right, May/June, Plockton for a week (Glen Affric, Torridon, Loch Maree)then work S (Oban, Crinan Canal, Lochranza) to parents in Girvan

Spetember, camping at Grantown-on-Spey

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

hi sharki

yes me and Christine interested, esp if Scout hutting, but pretty busy this year, so date dependant,
cheers

Can you adjust the bite point 2mm (?) allan on inside of lever (*anticlockwise )

very handy post
(and cracking photos)

after some advice, as I’ll be doing this while bird visits Inverewe gardens. (I’m used to dragging etc)

Incheril, NW, Letterewe, Strathan Buide, Kernsary – which path from there: track N of Loch Kensary or cart track on S side

Cheers

use streetmap or bing maps (*at right resolution)
be aware that the legally relevant map is called the ‘definitive map’ and this is kept by each council, many of whom have produced their own online versions that are about as much use as a jersey made of dogshit

use lighting board, I think on a sunny day, no lightboard is asking for trouble, but then I actually will let people overtake when I’m not in a hurry, so MHO is obviously not relevant…………
fitting – read manual and see if car already wired/has plug hidden, alternatively locate light clusters, find predrilled towcable hole,buy correct cable (connector and cable) scotchlock to correct lights (*check manual scotchlocking can apparently upset modern cars),ziipy clip/mount (tow hitch etc – making sure cable doesn’t drag, rub, etc etc) and then you just plug in the light bar

and 1″ motorbike straps – thru hatch door from rear seat belt mounts to end of rack pins, these are then tightened.

with Bez, fitted properly they work

ebay, somebody doing new endura burners 31.50 posted (or there was about 2 days ago)

flat is very good, suggest taking proper legal advice, (** probably varies by Country) as under certain cases the state can take ownership of property to pay for care costs. (ie if your parents own it and and go into care there may be issues)

speak to 3 professional consultants for advice.

However, flat, what happens to it when you’re dead ?

Find out how long your direct relatives etc have lived as once invested in a pension you won’t get it back other than as a pension (and 25% tax free at 55)

You will do money purchase (so money is invested on your behalf – stockmarket etc etc etc), so bear the following in mind very carefully, the salesman will get commission on the sale and an ongoing management charge, they will be paid IRRESPECTIVE of how well your pension does, the point I’m trying to make is that you NEED to take an active interest in your pension and see how the investment is doing it is in your interest and you need to manage it ongoing.

You should have a fund risk profile (and this is dog rough as an idea)
– ie young, take a gamble, hope good rewards, time to sort it out if losses (ie stock market)
– middle aged, 50% gamble, 50% safe
– nearer retirement – reduce % at risk etc etc (ie cash and gauranted investments)

See Hargreaves and Lansdown SIPP This is where you invest your own money in your own fund via their ‘umbrella’

Currently (and probably going to change for the better) you need to take an annuity at 75 (ie you give ALL your pension fund money to X and X gives you a sum per year till death)

An Annuity of 100,000 pounds built up by you will provide an pension at age 60, of about £6000 BUT BUT BUT this 6000 is NOT RPI linked…..(it DOES NOT GO UP EACH YEAR ) if you go for one with built in escalation you will get about 4000… (annuity vary on sex, age(get better the older you take, market etc, if you inclue partner etc – http://www.sharingpensions.co.uk/annuity_rates.htm#text1), and fixed or escalating), you can also do drawdown – ie take a % of your fund and I believe thelaw will move towards this.

Sory for brain dump
Take professional advice BUT take into account that salesmen are often COMMISSION driven………….
cleary understand comission and ongoing management charges
important bits – you can take 25% of fund tax free at anytime after age 55
understand the terms annuities, fixed, escalating, drawdown (* there are law changes due here)

it’s a gamble – if you have no penson and die before you need it you win (term used loosely), if you have no pension and live a long time it might mean you loose also ……………

does 10% sound ok ? well you do the maths, how big a pension do you want, if you want a pension of 12,000 a year (that will escalte) I’d suggest you need to accumulate a money pot of at least £300,000

As an anside has the above given you a feel for how vauable a final salary (aka public sector pension) is, as there the employee carries no real risk/worry/hassle while you have to invest money in the stock market to get a viable return……….

mmm

I’d say as a free to use website it actually provides free speech and in some cases soapboxes……… :+)

a while (quite a while I think) ago there was an IMHO amazing program about a woman breaking the hanggliding record, (*memory hazy so some bits may be cobblers) but I think she broke the womans balloon height record at the same time, she was strapped to the glider which was strapped to the balloon, anyway there was a bit where the bloke with the camera said something like ‘from here you can see the curvature of the earth’ and then panned back – !!!!!!!!!!!!!!awesome!!, anyway at the top her eyes were frozen shut and the air was so thin that when they dropped her it didn’t glide it fell, it really did – just disappeared, landed in the Mongolian dsert, broke her arm.

Can’t find the bit I want but anyway:
Judy Leden MBE – Senior Instructor, teaching hang gliding, paragliding, aerotowing, tug flying.

World Women’s Hang Gliding Champion
World Women’s Paragliding Champion
British Hang Gliding Team Member
British Paragliding Team Member
Multiple World Record Holder (including absolute altitude record of 41,307 feet)

why not try Newbury, it’s ok, bit smaller, but from my VERY limited experience has enough facilities, IMHO I prefer it to Reading, riding to the N and further S, station, canal, pubs, centre, cinema, etc – everything you need

see spareroom,co.uk but that sounds doable
trouble is Reading is N of M4 (M4 = ..LONDON.., everybody goes to so you’ll be bollocked if you travel at normal rush hours….)
(and the sw bit of Reading is well, the phrase is Whitley whiff)
can you cope with a small village or are you city dependent ?

if you use train it’s got good connections,
rush hour traffic is an issue (ditto parking esp in certain areas)
near M4 (see point about traffic)
local riding poss better than you think
Universities etc so own social life
what do you want to rent, can post you a local paper if needed but tinternet will probably be better
Central trendy 1bd flat 725pcm, 3bed semi cheap area 825,
has some ‘nice’ IMHO bits and some not so nice bits, strangely nice bits are more expensive
big enough to have a centre and a few ‘orbits’,

dont laugh, don’t cough

once helped repair a Begian female motorbike racer with similar, tits out, vest on, breathe in, taped up vest with duck tape, very, very tight tight, off she went

I reckon the petition would be more effective if it was a paper book, chained to a post and at least 3 miles from the nearest point of car access………….

water ram pump

2l coke bottle, some ex motorbike bits, a metal rod, and some bulk car boot plumbing bits.

using only a drop of 3ft on the source water (and no other power source) managed to get water above roof of a two storey house

apparently invented by Montgolfier(as in balloon) brothers

(and as a young child I was allowed to shoot televison tubes with a .22 rifle, now that was a predrugs drugs experience)

they probably are, I had a huge barney with a mate who ran activity weeknds, he said a woman had complained about getting her shoes muddy on a ‘soft’ walking break , I didn’t believe it till I saw the letter ……….

lying on couch with bad man-flu(truly), wondering how many king legal firms are doing accident chasing on tv……….. laundry done, toast eaten, long day ahead ……………………..

is everything lined up ok (ie not pulling round tight corners etc)

an old motorbike tip was to get cable end to highpoint (with inner still inside), make a plasticine (etc)funnel at top of outer cable, fill with light oil etc and leave for it to soak down entire cable overnight

just fyi the HH 101 Blue Scotland bike routes dooesn’t cover either, nor does Stoner Exploring Scottish hill tracks.
(ps track reports appreciated cos I really want to do the Loch Choire one only managed 1/2 so far, and a few more in area would help)

In the Berlingo, fronts out, 3 bikes two foam cushions (*bikes are conveniently different sizes so can overlap), and a 1″ motorbike clamp strap round all 3 to a decent mounting (but not that tight)

try ebay (honest) and as a probably OT what about campsites with wigwams

what about Devon (Exmoor, Tarka Trail, beaches, surfing) I stay at Ruda, Croyde, and love it (however that’s as I’m there to surf but Exmoor is not that far)

Barmouth (N Wales) (beach, Myfannd (spelling) estauary – railway track awesome scenery, Harlech castle, coastal rail trip, Portmeirion, Coed Y and local routes) – deffo on ebay

preloved
gumtree
freecycle
or leave outside on with a note.. (honest)

I represented my university at ‘dirty scrabble’

we use big plastic storage boxes[for all biking gear- they can stack as well]each (we are a couple), single seat out, so two bikes down side (front wheel out), the two plastic boxes fit behind the twin rear seat (so use the twin rear set and foot well for all clean stuff and normal weekend stuff, campng gear etc).

I use motorbike straps (1″ hooks both end and adjuster) and 3m windsufer straps (1″ trap with adjuster), have managed 2 bikes, 1 Beta alp trail motorbike and an 8ft 6 surfboard (balanced on top diagonally,gf is handily short so it rested on her set headrest

dig, remove weeds etc etc
level
rake and remove stones bigger that 10mm
repeat above two steps till done
tramp/firm down earth (but not too much)
lay turf (butt ends up firmly so nearly overlapping(ie no gaps and very tight fit) do like brickwork pattern (ie avoid long straight lines) – use planks to avoid standing on laid stuff
water and stay off
repeat step above a lot for about 10 days

I found it surprisingly easy and rewarding (as compared to digging and removing a 4ft diamter tree root manualy) it was really easy and quick……

sorry if this is tosh but I’m not entirely getting the design, but could you use something like a hose pipe between the two and put the bolts thru that and compress it (or a gel pad or old style camping matress etc)

See Glentrool forest tracks (Forest Drives – these are cart tracks doable slowly in a car)

Also a circuit of Clatteringshaws loch
A712 W, 1istL N yellow road, W on Southern upland way, S over first bridge and road, from my LIMITED experience all tracks would be doable

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-747DQL
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-73WK6E my gf managed this and shees non technical

Bing maps shows lots of green dotted trails I’d GUESS as verry doable

Criteria for being scottish, well living in the Bahamas seems surprisingly relevant if you have a lot to say about independence

(Sean) Connery (will celebrate his 80th birthday with a party this evening surrounded by friends and family at his home in Lyford Cay, the private gated community in the Bahamas where his neighbours include hedge fund managers, shipping tycoons, and CEOs

You can ride from Storakaig (405, 620 ish) to Trudernish 464 525) BUT navigationally difficult, not all rideable, part of path on edge of cliff and bleeding swamp and tussocks at end (aka carry). Path removed from newer OS maps, Streetmap etc however I have old one, drop me a mail if interested. *I really enjoyed it, blazing sun, pretty sure it was a golden eagle hovering with me (huge), and eat at the Harbour Inn

gf does a spinning class, that would save getting a bike (and she’s 4ft 10), or try a gym bike and do your ditance

I get the waterproof plain black ones (ex army ?/) off ebay, used to be £7, for the money brilliant

had one on an orange 5 since about 2005??, serviced once, never let me down, bit fiddly on red valve, can’t really compare it as only 1 other bike, I also ride an 09 Orange 5/RP23 and I don’t notice any huge difference (old, unskilled..)

as an alternative search for campsites that hire wigwams or tipis or even presetup tents. Trouble with camping is that it’s like biking you can buy cheap but it’ll be heavy won’t last as long and be not as easy to use (*as a sweeping and not entirely accurate statement) last campsite I was at had a chip van …..

That way you could maybe bodge through weekend #1 with duvets and blankets and take it from there.
Coolbox (*filled up), Folding chairs, portable bbqs, led lights, plates and cutlery, loo roll, tin opener, sun tan oil, oilskins, beer, toys …………………., long pointy stick with a nail in the end (coz there will be some git snoring like a train in the nearby vicinity) and don’t pitch up to close to loos and road etc..

see also spareroom.com

You should inform your mortgage co and insurer and get written consent (ie you may not be covered for theft by lodger).

Get them to bring a passport, get a company reference is possible – see works pass etc, take a photo if no passport, note their car reg no etc etc.

Understand that the deal cuts both ways, it’s THEIR house as well as yours Mon-Fri, clearly state and agree boundaries, house rules etc before move in.

See HMRC website re rent a room scheme.
Understand the term ‘resident’ in relation to Council tax.

Invite them round, have a mate for opinion #2, always tell them that sombody else came first and they have first dibs(*or have another excuse to turn them down if you don’t like the look …)