It’s a case of a few thoughtless riders ruining the reputation of mtbkers and nimbyism. But I’m surprised there isn’t more outrage about people sabotaging trails and putting peoples lives at risk.

Had maybe three or four proper fights all before the age of 21.
Won 2, lost 2, I’d say.
It’s often the small things that make a big difference – for one that I lost, I was wearing a tight jacket, so couldn’t punch properly.
Couldn’t do it now though, far too old and fragile.
Watch Knuckle on YouTube – they have Irish grandads fighting on that!

The Chinese military are 20 mins outside Hong Kong.
This is not going to be pretty.
God save the people of Hong Kong.

I’d rather there were 20 MPs from the different 20 genders (and counting) – Lucas is a transphobe implying there are only 2 genders at the end of the day!

If you are young and fit, I don’t see the point of an ebike, but we all get older, and if it means you can stay on the bike whereas otherwise you’d not ride at all, I’m all for them.

If this thread were on mumsnet, and the gender roles reversed, 90% of the posts would be, “He’s abusive, leave him” (bunch of flowers)

I have a bad feeling about the next 48 hours, I think there could be some very bloody retribution against the protesters coming up. China’s economy is flatlining, the gov know this could lead to widespread civil unrest on the mainland, and they may want to make an example of HK in the meantime.

Ive been off the mtb for four years due to an chronic knee problem, but Im only late 30s.
Mountain biking probably gave me an extra five years of fitness, and a lot of love, so if my operation works, I will definitely return to it, infact I don’t think I could do anything else than mountain biking – it would be like cheating on my girlfriend. I’ve looked into everything else, but I’d never recapture the freedom of grabbing my bike, hitting the woods, getting a bit of green, smashing some jumps, loving the Adrenalin, and feeling at one with the world when I crash on the sofa.

From the overweight people Ive known, Ive concluded it isn’t genetic as in there is a fat gene, but a lot of people have a sensitivity to stress which they self-medicate with food.
So saying someone is fat may work for a short while – but they will put the weight back on; or it could make the situation worse.
It’s all how we respond to stress, the only obese person I knew whose managed to lose the weight and keep it off says mindfulness and cbt were the main factors.

Yet another Rogue Maxwell?!
Where’s Peter Cook when you need him?

I’m not an office person, I went solo but found it stressful – clients not paying, having to keep a sales channel going, doing my own admin – so in the end I found a job which has loads of remote working, so I don’t have to deal with the office stuff much but get a nice salary at the end of the month.

Get a proper diagnosis from a knee specialist first. I was getting pain from competitive rugby, I went down the physio route (all along chucking all manner of knee snack oil down my gob off Amazon for knee pain), it turned out I had a bony problem which means I need corrective surgery. Playing on and training made it worse, I should have stopped and got a diagnosis from a knee consultant first (xrays and mris).
But this guy knows a lot about both bike fitting and the knee joint so if it’s just a muscle imbalance/bike fitting issue, I’d talk to him
http://www.organicmotioncycling.co.uk/resources/Biomechanics%20of%20Cycling%20The%20Knee%20v2.pdf

Does Old Trafford still have the dugouts that look like they were built by a reliable but unimaginative Brickie in the 1990s?

City and Liverpool will end up miles ahead, maybe Spurs, Man U, Chelsea following 15 points behind, then a massive gap to everyone else. I think it’s only a matter of time until the PL splinters and there is a pan European league. The situation is unsustainable.
The PL is no longer competitive – what’s the point in turning up at your local club to see your side spanked 5.0 before half-time?

Sounds exciting. I love me a barn conversion I do.
Can I just ask, have you discussed the issue of ownership? If the barn is on your gf’s family land, and you are putting money into it, then you need to think about what happens if you split up – have you effectively just paid for an extension to the family home with no ownership of your own?
The land ownership situation would concern me in this situation.

Nonsense!

One of my friends from school suffered/suffers (I havent seen him for ages) from paranoid depression. He could be incredibly charming and considerate in small doses, but then you went on holiday with him, he’d start fights with taxi drivers, go completely off the handle and upset everyone. I think it was probably a reaction to stress – of being out of his comfort zone, also lots of family stuff in the background. Alcohol was also a bad idea.
I think he has calmed down since but he will always have some of it.

Hey @andypaul, whereabouts in Europe are you, and how easy was it to get your job out of interest.
I used to go out with an Italian and spent a lot of time there, but it was very unlikely I’d ever be able to secure a job. Most jobs in Italy go to sons/family/family friends, but I only have experience of Italy and appreciate it could be more open in other countries.

British Consultate if he was British, if not Jamaican government/public records. Shouldn’t be too hard to find as long as he retained his name and she knows his date of birth.

@molgrips, I don’t think it is “nonsense” – the idea that Britain is “very much a European country at the heart of Europe” sounds more like nonsense to me.
I mentioned both the reformation and the empire, which taken together meant Britain’s historical development took place somewhat independently of Europe. Indeed there are protestant nations in Europe (but not many in the EU), whilst Germany was never reformed to the extent of Britain – around half of Germans are Catholic.
If the reformation hadn’t happened then I’d argue Britain would have remained a European country, as it had been beforehand. But since the reformation and the empire, it established links with the rest of the world in a way unmatched by any other country. You mention how English was originally a Germanic language, well during the Empire, English then became a new language for millions of others in other countries, so these things mutate over time and after a while a new structure is developed.
As a result of this history, it is my understanding that Britain is better understood as a Commonwealth country, not a European one. Only a small number of British people would consider themselves European.

@Educkater, Please can you cite those studies, happy to look into them and report back.

Interior decoration by “House of Misers”.

Has she ever acknowledged she has a problem with her anger – as in, truly acknowledging and trying to make amends? Otherwise it’s hard to change the situation and over time it just gets worse. If she is willing to address it then it can be turned around – I used to have an issue with my temper, but now I identify my trigger points, have done CBT, and learnt to remove myself from situations which set it off.

It’s not what you know but who you know…I increasingly distrust my local councillors, unfortunately a lot of them retained their seats so can continue subordinating the needs of the community to their own selfish agendas.

Volcanic temper eh? Yep we’ve got a few of them in our family, best to just let the dust settle, as it takes time for all to calm down. Surely her sister must have seen this side of her before though, so she perhaps would be better able to handle it then friends who haven’t known her so long?

My cousin Jane did this years back. The most important thing is to get some exposure to army life beforehand – she joined the army cadets – as it is quite a culture leap from the world of school especially for a woman. She found she took to it but said some people didn’t and ended up either leaving uni, changing degrees or just getting loans for them.
She left the army after about 10 years and is now a GP.

Reasons for Brexit
– Growing economic inequality due to trickle-down economic policies (they never work), deindustrialisation, the rise of the banks and the subsequent bailouts
– Then punishing people with economic austerity, whilst the bankers got off for free
– The EU is moving in a centralist direction over time; the Euro is a bad idea which only benefits Germany and maybe France but ruins the economies of southern Europe; the EU does not have a reverse gear so lacks the ability to reform itself
– Britain is not really a European country due to the reformation and empire, it doesn’t really belong in the EU in the first place – history matters

But the big question is – will Brexit automatically correct all the above? Or is it over time helping to radicalise the population and laying the ground for civil conflict not seen since the seventeenth century?

Currently in a nice hotel in Hertfordshire. It ticks all the boxes – good food, at a reasonable cost; air conditioning in rooms; big spacious room; relatively quiet; good wifi.
It’s my first time staying in a Novotel and I’m impressed overall.

Work is quiet – I assume a lot of my clients are away on summer hols – but the main roads are still busy, it’s weird.

How about the civil service? You’ve worked government contracts in the past. Ive worked with DWP before and they can be a friendly bunch, with more people focused roles.

@big scot nanny, have you had any surgery regarding your dislocating patella? or do you do physio to strengthen the muscles? are you getting any anterior knee pain just from walking around. Only asking as I have the same problem.

Or a private knee consultant – £200 a pop – excuse the pun. Some can see at short notice and without a drs referral.

Torn meniscus?
Ice and rest. You may need an operation if it keeps happening.

Massive 8 room new build went up in no time over the road from me, I think the fact the owner was a recently retired planning officer at the local council was a factor!

I stayed in a hotel a few weeks back, there was a group of around 4 to 5 Czech business people, who polished off three large bottles of tequila between them. I was amazed to see them all at breakfast the morning after looking as right as rain and gearing up for the day’s conference.

This thread is making me feel like a massive hotel underachiever – I normally order room service, boot up YouTube, and fall asleep by 10pm.

It’s odd, I did my A levels 20 years ago, but I always get a little anxiety around A level results day. Also sometimes get the nightmare where I return to school, but I’ve not been in for 2 years, I’ve outgrown my uniform, and I have to take my exams without having studied anything!

Internet is your friend, documentaries, youtube, forums.

The west sells out the brave people of Hong Kong in order to keep its people pacified with plasma tvs.

It really requires practice, I should put more time in. I sometimes use the phrases to calm me down, especially “Its just annoying” to redescribe situations, rather than catastrophising. A lot of it comes down to teaching yourself a new language – I guess that’s the best way to approach it, as if you were learning French or Italian.
The society around us has a vested interest in using full-blown extreme language which in the long run can make us overreact in unhealthy ways – parents to discipline children, the church to control people, the media to engage people.