1 – “the self employed cant be expected to pay tax PAYE. income over a year can be very volatile and even from year to year vary substantially. ”

don’t entirely disagree with that, but I do disagree with the ability of ‘non PAYE employees’ to pay dividends, pay wifes etc ‘token job’ salaries, do massive pension contributions, claim travel expenses, expense ‘wholly’, necessarily and exclusively’ things like 42″ plasmas etc etc, they have access to a wide range of ‘tax alteration’ schemes that ’employees’ do not. In a nutshell I think that ‘true employees’, like my dad who was PAYE in low skill jobs all his life are getting the smelly end of the brown stick.

2 – “the self employed cant be expected to pay tax PAYE. income over a year can be very volatile and even from year to year vary substantially. ”

Given I’ve been made redundant 3 times and ‘forced out’ once, I’ve also had “income over a year can be very volatile and even from year to year vary substantially” – I was expected to pay that PAYE and wasn’t allowed to move tax allowances from a good year to a bady year.

Fair – imho – is treating people identically. For me the differences are to much.

add to the pot self employed, ‘company directors’ etc who will be able to ‘account’ their way around it.

They deserve a mdeal for this, they’ve come up with a tax system that I think is now so complex that the politicians and civil servants and their army of special advisors and consultants don’t really understand what they have achieved till it’s all to late and somebody has found the loop holes/flaws/dodges after the new law is implemented.

string a bit of wire(cable/rope etc) along ground from side to side of dog run area (*fixed only at both ends) and tie dog lead to a slider on it, refrain from building a fence

I thought old fives were less than 150 fork limit (130 ?? ?? not sure) mine is 2004/5, unchanged, standard on 100 as supplied

do some research on an offset mortgage, it may/may not suit

Particularly appropriate

look at the two for one deals (smart and sports pair) and take a trusted female friend – as they will help prevent a dreadful fashion faux pas

consider weight and nose bridge size/style (as when it’s hot and sweaty you will possibly get nose marks/pain and down nose slippage where glasses slide down sweat – so make sure you get a fitting session – or a hairdryer – as you can heat and bend using that *Take care) -if you get the two blobs nose style they can dig in, my sports specs have a massive wrapround one piece entire nose bridge and extra long looped legs that gor right round ears – briliant for hockey – if you sail etc etc you can get laccy straps to go round back of head and hold normal glasses and I’d recommend this for any running/stopping etc sport – but not IMHO for biking).
I’m on titanium frame and plastic lenses (a lot lighter esp on thicker lenses) I get the protective lens coating to make them last longer

I prefer thin frames (less peripheral blockage/weight) and mine are set so I can slide them down my nose but they still stay hooked on – as in the wet I can view over the top of them and avoid fractal vision

*edit – learn the habit of putting them down lens up early (avids scratching)

gf and I have lapped Clatteringshaws (tramac and forestry trail ) and want to do Claterringshaws-Glen Trool off road, see also forest drives on OS Map as they will probably be good even in this weather

anyay found this – which way or may not help

http://www.mtbroutessws.com/mbkeymap2.html

can you shield it with a tarp/etc then get it rendered when it’s dried out

is it running down wall from the roof ?

as a complete punt (I’ve done all 3 but in a car with an mtb)

how about Arran (truly a mini Scotland, glorious, lap round, across and a nice forestry road – in fact we’re planning another week there next year) ferry N Tarbert then over to Islay (whiskey/eagles) and Jura (scenery, hills, whirlpool, scenery, not much else), looping back to Arran (or could go up to Oban. ) Arran is a popular cycling place – not sure about Islay/Jura (Islay is the sort of island where you get a hire car cheap as it’s running on 3)

Crinan Canal (slightly further N Tarbert is a GEM) but I think the whle Mull of Kinytre area is nothing special, so probably not worth the detour.

for a ‘tour’ with a difference http://www.savethepuffer.co.uk/holidays.htm

but I can’t put in cakes and puddings

look around I got Genuis (gf) free mince pies for gf(girlfriend) can get Xmas cake, there are quite a few things (but admittedly some of em are a bit iffy) – check out your localsupermarket ‘free from’ area, for dessert nibbles could get a decent pannacotta or creme brulee, eton mess is a bit summery I guess or am I wrang

gf likes crabbies ginger beer esp orange spicy one and sloe gin(*it goes well on a decent vanilla ice cream)

rice cakes, sesame snaps or try and find some gf crackers for cheese

my (elderly 80ish) parents got one, turned off on next visit, they got pissed right off with the constant changing of pictures – so I showed them the photos and got the ones they liked in paper mounted in frames – they’ve been around for ages

put yer hand in yer pocket and get the new exciting modern version

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Di-Blasi-R70-/320980330230?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item4abbeb26f6

or get a classic (*presumablt like an Allegro classic)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MOTO-GRAZIELLA-42-YEAR-OLD-MONKEY-BIKE-FOR-VW-CAMPER-BOAT-SUPERB-AND-ORIGINAL-/321043154375?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item4abfa9c5c7

gf is a coeliac, it can be pita when out, however
– chicken or vegetable kebab
– thai or indian – much is ok
– I’d say increasing ranges of stuff for sale/menu marking being found
– 3 types (sorry can’t remember which) of Sainsbury std sausages are GF
– get the gf free bread (getting better Genius, Warburtons) and those little black toster bags (ebay etc) and beware they stay king hot for ages – toasting seems to make the bread more bread like
I’ve just learned to read labels carefully and ask questions
meal with one of her mates last night who is a cook
– garlic mushrooms with toast (*ricecakes for gf)
– baked chicken thighs, creamed cabbage with sesame seeds and light mustard, baked courgettes, potato/onion rosti type thing, djionne mustard sauce gravy
– premade merangues, add fruit and cream
then old skool brandy coffees
and gf is a good cook and just works round it
fine by me

I **think** if you resister with coeliac society (do for tips etc anyway) you might get sent some free stuff (pretty surge gf occasionally gets a new range sent to her)

I don’t think this will work – but

try American format MM/DD/YYYY or DD Dec 2012

derek

my mum was a nurse on Fri/Sat evenings, I can assure you that vodka (*other alchohols and drugs also work in the same way) was indeed the cause of some form of attack.

I think it’s a great idea, we have a license system for cars and it seems to work very effectively as I’ve yet to see anybody on this forum complain about a car being used illegally or inappropriately.

knowing how much a trailer costs I’d try here

e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Box-Trailer-8x8x5-Go-Kart-race-trailer-Market-stall-/251194906072?pt=UK_Car_Accessories_Touring_Travel&hash=item3a7c6215d8

what about one of the box trailer hire places selling old stuff off

Is it really as bad as my childhood memory makes it out???

Possibly, I was in Girvan and absolutely hated it as a yoof, however parents are still there and now I enjoy the fact they belong to a community (lets face it did your dad ever manage to ‘borrow’ a steamroller) where people actually speak to you so my feelings are somewhat mellowed, but I wouldn’t live there – Ayr looks a bit more practical.

We enjoyed Somerset levels.

Also see Galloway forest tracks and general area. (Glentrool, Clatteringshaws etc etc)

Also have think about canals (Brecon is a brammer) and try the sustrans website map bit as that might highlight an area.

re: http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8110250/lower-back-stretches-lower-back-flexibility-exer.htm – seems bang on to me, these are pretty much the stretches I now have to do after biking/hockey/heavy gardening (they all seem to be hamstring shorteners)- if not then I pay next day, I also enjoyed yoga, till the class started being more meditation/chanting than stretching

what questions do you have ?

write em down as a memory jogger and ask them at an appropriate time or after they’ve finished asking

good luck

*edit if it’s a ‘semi-‘mobile phone (as they all are) make sure that you are in a good signal position etc

zippy – I might be misunderstanding and I’ve not yet finished first coffee – anyway

as a ‘simil;arish’ alternative see kite buggy, I was told to learn to kite surf in a field (*free of trees, power lines, twatting dogs/people etc etc etc) – as understanding wind, kite control etc is independent of the surfing and learning one skill at a time is easier than learning two – “if you can fly the kite lying on your back and pull yourself to your feet as and when you want and go back down as and when then you’ll do fine”

edit – ps – have you tried surfing – if not thats criminal, Saunton is a great beginner beach

If I hadn’t got a bargain Merrel 3 in 1 from TK Maxx I’d have got a Buffalo Belay.

if (using old style lego) ie the little blocks that were 4 dots by two dots on the top you build an square outer cylinder with a tiny 1 hole at the bottom – e.g. big enough to stick the fuse part of a banger out of, and then build a square insert of the correct size, drop on top of banger and retire you should be able to get the insert up to the height of a two storey house roof.

In Short – Yes.

You can surf on day 1 (by lying down, you should be able to catch a wave, glide and steer a bit), standing up is a whole lot trickier – you can stand up on day one, however it might be for a short time. It’s great fun so give it a go – you only need chest deep water and IMHO not much knee strain (walking in chest deep water-against waves, current/push/backwash can be surprsingly strong though, plus need to jump on board)

Windsurfing === (is sort of equiv to) surfing standing up + being able to sail – as a beginner all the pull will be on your back as you’ll be repeatedly pulling the bleeding sail out of the water – best learnt in light wind on a reservoir

you can’t windsurf directly into wind (well you can till you loose all speed) but you can tack pretty close against it though so you zigzag upwind going across the wind

me and gf wear 3/4 shorts and just below knee long waterproof socks (sealskins or black army ones – coz they were about 10 on flebuy)

re water over foot – we both use Shimano goretex winter boots with neoprene leg seals, I was truly impressed when gf avoided brambles by wading in shin deep water, feet still try as seal kept water out of boot (*re shoes – think about buying a size up to allow use of thick socks without circultion etc issues), a cheapo old persons tip would be to put feet in carrier bags – not so good nowdays as bags have got a lot thinner and have holes but it used to work for me on on offroad motorbiking

What about contacting Wigan library for old local papers of that date ? (to see if they advertised there – memory jogger type stuff)

psa2, Cotswold are(*were as of about a week ago as gf got one) doing down 600 fill(*or about) Berghaus for £80 in sale.

re lunch, are you going to dessert now

Bit inconsistent given the age discrimination that is applied to car insurance….

good point re pensions

abandon ship – everybody first

see Sports Direct (*also selling on flebay) they were doing Muddy Fox shoes for £20 to £25. I got a pair, they fitted fine, felt fine but I haven’t biked in them yet and have no idea of durability quality.

private – about £90 a filling, ditto remark about lack of nhs options.

1 Horse riders weigh a lot and still won’t do much damage.

mmm – not my experience, possibly where trail is manicured, maintained hardpack and/or where there is one 1 horse a month, however on natural dirt trails (the sort of trails I ride) a horse in the wet can make it totally unusable to any other user type (and give this years conditions has with depressing regularity), I’m also finding that quite a few trails (Berksish) are being horse surfaced – aka lovely natural flowing singletrack, flattened, ashed and 2metres wide…………….

re 4×4 – I wonder if they got a network of effectively free trails to play on if there would be such an issue ?

I car commuted from Maidenhead to Twickers in the late 80s and I had to get up about 6.15 to get a decent drive and free parking place then so gawd knows how hideous it is now, I’d probably do some commuting research -esp on public transport routes/costs, as my experience is that commuting is a ‘never ending grinder’ and a good Friday night for me used be sleeping on couch at 9pm as I was knackered after a week of long days and commutes, so I’d maybe also think about having to deal with the commute day in day out – it changed my perspective so much that I eventually changed jobs so I didn’t have to do it any more. I found just little things like being able to drive to a rural(as opposed to town) station, park for not a fortune, get a seat etc help.

re Bracknell, doesn’t have a brilliant reputation, – Swinley good, quite a lot of xc between Brack/Maidenhead
Basingstoke and (S of) has (imho) a surprising amount of stuff BUT it’s a bloody long cycle….

I used to do it with my dad, big muscle and ye olde proper job 15″x2″ real metal tyre levers and jemmys, also managed to inflate tubless car tyres with a foot pump (strap, ratcheted round middle of tyre to force beads and pump like b****ry, joys of living in the middleof nowhere….

for a nonish mtb/explore

N over Cav Bridge, W onto Warren/River NWish to Pangbourne, S into Pangbourne, S on yellow rd on E edge of Pangbourne (Sulham), S on bridle, over foorbridge over M4, Theale, thru SE ish to Canal, follow E, stop at Oracle Centre, buy trendy coffee, sit in blazing sun, follow canal and over blue bridge onto Thames path and W back to cav bridge, stop at Gorge Cafe for a tea
*edit (or add on from Reading on Thames E to Sonning bridge and back, meadows, riverside (*pensive) pub and thats about as far as decent path on S side goes

re punctures

http://www.michelin.co.uk/motorcycles/michelin-bib-mousse

I do both
gf lives near Swindon, me Reading – so have two sets of ‘home routes’ – happy to go for 1-2 hrsih for a 3 hr pootle – mainly as we like varied scenery etc.

Have done trail centres, esp when younger, do enjoy them but want to savour what I’m riding in rather than get through it as quick as humanly possible.

you could try a hockey gumshield as a possible cheeapie – the sort where you heat in water then bite on and let cool to shape it – probably a fiver or so

please note that I have never played hockey whilst asleep and have no idea what implications it has for sleep – apart from the fact if you get smacked by the missus it might prevent tooth damage