IME it depends on the other half.
A female friend of mine was very generous to “disappearing” ex-husband in terms of giving him a divorce, selling the house etc. She could have put her foot down and refused to leave the house esp as children were involved but chose not to.

She is now happily remarried in a new house so it has worked out for her, so in the end she made the right choice.

Men can also make it hard for a woman…the best thing is to avoid a war but that is easier said then done when children, money and houses are involved.

Divorce solicitors and therapists.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she resigns today.

Interesting times. May was lured into a trap, including the deliberately claustrophobic room for her press conference, but she was badly advised about the likelihood of a good result.

The EU is ultimately terrified of Britain leaving “the project” but I think their manipulative/nefarious tactics may backfire, as they only serve to anger the leavers and also convert remainers to leavers. They obviously want a second referendum, and who knows they may get one, but the result will be the same.

UK needs to leave with a No Deal in March, and then I suspect towards the end of the transition the EU will suddenly come up with a deal that looks remarkably similar to Chequers. War of attrition etc.

Renting a place on your own is expensive, the forms/reference payments have doubled if not tripled since I rented ten years back, although where I am in the South East the actual rent payment hasn’t gone up much.

If he open to sharing then the SpareRooms website is good.

Thom Yorke once beat me to the only spare bike rack space outside the KA pub in Oxford; I initially thought he was a tramp. I could have gotten his autograph or pleaded with him to reconcile with Ronan Keating, perhaps changing the course of musical history.

Lesson: you really do have to be vigilant around the bike racks of Oxford.

Bitcoin is causing a lot of heartbreak and suicides due to the speculative nature of it. It is hail mary money, only put in what you are happy to lose. Its best not to get involved at all for most people.

Millenials think it could be the answer to their problems but ultinately it is just a form of high stakes gambling.

Terrible event but not going to be the last unfortunately.

A lot of the stuff built in the 50s and 60s was explicitly designed to last only about 30 to 40 years. The expectation was the economic miracle would continue and a new, better bridge/tower block/school would be built as a replacement later on.

Unfortunately the UK has used an unprecedented period of low interest rates to stoke another housing bubble rather than invest in its increasingly outdated infrastructure; Italy and southern Europe are even worse off.

Stokes will most definitely not lose his ECB contract.

There were representative from the ECB at the trial – if Stokes was coming to the end of his playing career, plagued by injuries, you can be sure he would have been on his ownsome.

Stokes knew this all along, and so did his lawyer; he never looked panicked. He is formally not guilty of affray; but the jury is still out on whether he is an arrogant ginger thug with a temper problem.

USA has a civil war and splits in two; China implodes via social revolution; EU goes bankrupt.

British Empire starts running the show again.

Huzzah!

There are a lot of Ed Sheeran and Adele wannables out there, which tells you something about the state of music. I listened to a Ed Wannable the other week and I thought he was having a stroke. Tedious/sentimental, just really bad. The sooner we can move through this the better.

George Ezra is allright, especially as he used to serve me pints of beer, and I like his new song. Maybe George will find a path out of the Sheeran malaise.Otherwise, the nail in the coffin will be when Van Morrison leaves us, I fear.

Unlike London, house prices in Cambridge could actually be fair value over the long-term, due to the economic success story there. But my god are they pricey. Hermann Hauser transformed that city by opening the first science park.

Pubs are always difficult to regulate because people are instinctively territorial in them esp if drunk. I know pubs where the landlords are too controlling; or where the space is controlled by the regulars – I’ve seen people picked up and thrown out of pubs by the locals if they were starting to misbehave; or where no-one really cares and they quickly go downhill.

But TripAdviser has undoubtedly changed the rules of the game and I’m surprised the staff put up with that kind of behaviour.

Then again, the people watching may have left as they didn’t want to see a fight start, and I’m always wary of the “come outside for a quiet word” tactic.

Down the bank transferring all that money to the NHS.

This could be the first of many invoices as suddenly she starts to notice “new” cracks.

I wouldn’t pay up, I would get another contractor to look at it, and also survey everything so she can’t come back with more requests in the future.

Feeling tired – falling asleep – waking up – feeling good again.

Landlady is going out with one of them, she has a weak personality and fondness for bad boys would be my guess. May also be on the dickhead dust too.

Thanks all.

I think some of my problems come from the fact I did lots of sports previously and picked up injuries which were never properly addressed. I also kept up the rugby binge drinking sessions for too long.

In terms of energy levels, much of this is also probably to do with just being very busy in terms of work and family. I’ve noticed it does return when I go on holiday.

The lifestyle changes are early days so hopefully I will start seeing some results – I will update this thread accordingly. Cheers, handybar.

Some good points esp about not skipping meals and accepting rest days not fighting them.

Mindfulness is basically meditation.

I think my main issue is energy levels. When i spend the day in london just walking around the next day i feel like ive been hit by a train. Hence the question about supplements.

Oh im 45 btw but my knee surgeon says i have the knees of a 70 year old due to injuries.

Alas I’ve arrived at mid-life without a pot to p%ss in but I did buy a baseball cap last week and I look like William Hague.

I’ve been down the pub (it has air-con) but only drinking soda waters and non-alcoholic beer. It’s too hot to drink alcohol and deal with any hangovers.

IME you have to abstain for around 2 weeks before you see any results. If I need to lose a stone then I just pack in the booze for a month.

Very glad the Sky Enforcer is out and now the way is paved for my boy Bardet to destroy Sir call me Dave Brailsford’s morally questionable Sky machine in the Pyrenees.

This is the stage my boy Bardet will start to dismantle the morally ambivalent Sir Dave Braisford Sky machine.

Go Bardet!

I’m expecting some big moves from my boy Bardet on the mountains today.

On the plus side I don’t have to hear people telling me It’s Coming Home, including members of the Royal Family.

Perhaps we could save that until the second immediately after England win a world cup.

Croatia were still less physical than Columbia, they just had more class in the team, they dominated the midfield from the start of the second half and perhaps Southgate should have bought on Dier to work with Henderson to shore things up there.

Mediocre ref and linesmen.

Kane miss probably cost the game.

Croatia got better as England lost confidence.

A fair result, I expect Croatia to lift the trophy (and Lee Dixon knows nothing about football).

I know someone who goes out to France all the time to get parts for old Citroens, which he restores back in the UK – I think he will move out FT to France soon. I wonder if there is a market to do the same thing for tractors.

I feel for the OP, it is annoying and anti-social, and he is in a difficult position.

If they are smoking skunk, then it is very pervasive and the smell gets everywhere, so I don’t see how anyone can question him on this point.

One of the good guys, a true gent, and a Spurs fan. RIP William Dunlop.

Re Oxbridge, it depends on the student, it is very intense at undergrad level – work hard, play hard – whereas you can go to Durham for undergrad, then do a 1 year masters at Oxbridge, which ends up opening the same doors anyhow.

Rural roads are great fun, but IME more dangerous due to unsighted corners, narrowness, country bumpkins in cars, potholes, and the wildlife running infront of your bike. I ride rural roads for a fun sunday out but not sure I would want to commute on them.

In terms of bike, I recently rode a Cabellero Fantic 500 and was very impressed.

I did history ba, ma, phd, (I liked being a student) and now work in City of London in something completely unrelated. I needed a ba degree to apply for my current role.

Thinking back to my classmates, a lot went into law and teaching.

However, I’m not sure if I would have gone to uni under the current tuition fee system, but that may be changing for arts/humanities subjects over the next couple of years, down to £6k.

I think it is right to be sceptical of higher education, as things like grade inflation, watered-down courses, etc are making employers think twice, even with students from the Russell Group. I also wonder whether law and banking – traditional destinations for many grads – will be hiring so much with the rise of automation.

The other thing is opportunity cost – my only regret about being a student for so long is that I didn’t buy a property in my 20s, and got caught out by the serious house price rising subsequently. Then again, I had a great time at uni, met some interesting people, used my brain, so if you value experiences over things, it’s probably the best choice still.

Probably best to check it out. The danger of fainting can be smacking your head on something.

I’ve fainted twice in my life – once at 10 years of age during sex education (molto embarrassing) and then at 15 when I had the mumps (the dr made a home visit, and I fainted and fell back and cracked my head against the radiator – lucky he was there to put the stiches in!)

I’ve flown from Stansted and Luton recently, they are both operating at max capacity, and are pretty horrible places to spend time. I’d probably jump on the train instead, it won’t take much longer once you factor in the waiting around and transfer times.

£50k is the average loft conversion price around here (south east).

I use my loft conversion a lot, it’s a spare bedroom with double bed, bookcases, and tv, and I can’t imagine using a ladder to access it, that would be a massive pain and I doubt any potential buyers would like ladder access.

All my neighbours are going mad on loft conversions and extensions at the moment; the last time that happened in the late 80s the property market crashed.

The main issue is that it gets really cold in winter and really hot in the summer, being in the roof, so it is not quite as good as sleeping in a “normal” bedroom.

A couple of filthy Flashmans.

Not long back from Spain (Palma, Majoca) and I’ve not seen it this heaving this early in the season. Perhaps people are taking earlier holidays this year due to the long winter, but I flew out and back at 6am and airports both in blighty and spain were packed, I dread to think what it will be like in peak season if demand increases.

I’d be tempted by Bordeaux – not exactly on the beach, but near some very nice beaches.

I’ve been to Lucca in August and it was incredibly hot…there was no way I could have ridden far on a bike even when very fit.

I’ve always been a worrier, and since my 30s it has started to get out of control. I’ve tried CBT and counselling – both of which have helped – but it is important to keep at it. I’m now trying mindfulness in addition.