There’s been a general dumbing down in the UK for a long time now, based on a lack of accountability – i.e. people get away with it. Look at the bankers. The rest of us are too busy working and upto our eyes in debt and stress to do anything about it.
My local train line has been cancelling trains left right and centre for the past two months. As a result many people are late for work and it threatens their jobs. The reason? They finally got some new trains but didn’t plan to train the new drivers on them in advance. But they won’t admit this – instead they make up lies, all to protect themselves. These problems had been pointed out in advance by the old school train drivers, but they were ignored by the new class of senior management, who in a previous life wouldn’t have been allowed out of the estate agents office.

Tad over-reaction old chap?

NAPALM DEATH?

Roadies tend to be obsessive and their cafes are the same – obsession with the perfect expresso, obsession with the right nutrients in the right cake, not my cup of tea – impossible to relax in them.

All heavy metal except Napalm Death.

The Irishman from what I’ve seen has the making to be a great unintended comedy.

Planning can go both ways, a friend of mine is a property developer and he normally gets things through, don’t ask me how.

When self employed I used to use a Ltd company structure – it is more expensive than sole tradership but a lot of my clients would only deal with Ltd companies.
I used to employ an accountant but now I’d probably use something like Sage and just pay an accountant to sign the accounts off.
Main issue I see is tax – self employed people have a tendency to forget about it, then they get a big bill from hmrc which they struggle to pay, so as a rule of thumb a third of your profits will need to be retained for HMRC.
I’ve since moved into a full time role – and the main benefit for me is that we have admin to do all this for us. I just found it a massive pain in the end.

I’d still be able to reach a similar level of fitness to 10 years ago if I really tried, but there is no way I could replicate my recovery levels – it’s just a case of the body getting older.

I looked into it in some detail a few years back. I concluded it really comes down to land-prices in the area you are looking at; in my area they were just too high, and adding in the build cost (and especially the groundworks) it was too expensive.
If land is cheap then it could offer maybe 20percent saving on buying a place, but costs do get out of control and sometimes places are hard to sell on if they are designed to a very personal vision, which others will not share.

Weird

Looking back on what I wrote, I think I should have been more positive.
There are lots of opportunities out there to do new exciting things and earn money.
Infact, the economy is changing so quickly, that change isn’t just a good thing – it increasingly has to be embraced.
The phrase which gets me through life at the moment is “Step by Step”, and it seems to work as it slows down my sometimes racing mind.
Best of luck.

Can you settle an argument for me?

What (insert most middle-class item in the world) should I buy?

I don’t especially enjoy being a wage-slave, my dad tells me it’s better to be unhappy with some money coming in than unhappy with no money coming in.
If you can find something you love and which pays, well you’ve hit the jackpot.
But you only see one side of things with those kind of tour services – they have to be jolly and show a happy face to the punters – but it must come with its own stresses like “are we going to get enough bookings for next season” etc.
If you are a bit depressed then I’d start “dreaming” about what you really want to do, but to then approach the change with small steps rather than doing anything too dramatic.

I go on them twice a year or so to lose weight and not get too many dodgy stares in pubs.
I can’t say I’ve found one I actually like – but I think that may be that I don’t actually like the taste of beer – let’s be honest, we drink beer because of the drug that is in it, not for the taste.
But I think no-alcohol/low alcohol beers are the future of the pub trade, but most landlords don’t get it – they are largely resentful towards the stuff as they know it means they can’t get people on the booze wagon which results in more cash.

The thing is OP, why did you bother starting this debate in the first place? You’ve already labelled anyone who thinks this is a bad idea as a “hater”…
You then have the cheek to tell everyone to “play nice” – when you’ve already started off by playing naughty!
You don’t want a debate, you want an argument, on a forum where the odds are stacked in your favour as you know most people here are pro-legalisation.

Big Dope – the only reason it’s being legalised is that there are fortunes to be made, and the businessmen and women are looking for new markets and new products in a low yield world.
Nothing to do with medical, humanitarian or economic studies I’m afraid.

Rumour is next year all cyclists have to carry a baguette and wear an onion necklace to handicap the non-French riders.

Not sure if Peleton will be the company that succeeds, but there will be more of a shift towards home exercise through connected devices.
I find the ITV4 TdF ads excruciating – there is more ad time than race coverage, and the selection of ads is just so weird – retirement homes, peleton, G on his Zwift, animal cruelty charities.
Indeed young people are getting into exercise in a major way due to Instagram – body obsession is going through the roof.
They built a gym next to my local pub, I initially thought it wouldn’t take off, instead the pub is now empty and the gym busy non stop. But none of them seem to enjoy it – it’s like a chore for them, but I suspect it is as much about being seen as anything. Makes me a little sad, and I’ve also noticed on the rare occasions young people are in the pub, they talk constantly about Instagram and how many followers they have.
In terms of looks though, I think mountain biking is probably one of the best sports you can do – it can build your upper body as well as legs. Not sure why the young Instagrammers arent taking it up more – plenty of Instagrammable pics to take out on the trails.

INEOS have a huge decision to make regarding Froome, I suspect it will come down to fitness tests to see whether they want to build the team around him again. He is going to be 35 for the next TdF. Would he be happy playing second fiddle to Bernal? If not, he could be off to ride for another team, now that would be interesting.

I know a couple who are retired and pretty much live on their motorhome, they rent out their house back in the UK.
I’d say it really depends on how realistic it is that you will get to use it in the time before you retire – by which time the motorhome itself will be pretty old if second-hand. The parking costs can add up too so research how much that is locally.
I’d be tempted to rent one first just to see then decide.

Blimey, ain’t ageing fun.

INEOS/Team Sky’s dominance is similar that to Man United in the 90s – a lot of it is psychological, I think many of the other teams are beaten before the racing has already started, even though on paper there isn’t much of a gulf.
The only thing that would change it is if there is a major unexpected problem at INEOS like two riders crashing or one of the other teams signs a rider of the quality of say, ahem, Bernal.

Happy to see Bardet crowned King of the Mountains and Bernal is here to stay, possibly a stronger rider than Froome – and you have to wonder what those injuries have done to him in the long term.

Barcelona, Rome, and Lisbon will still be mobbed by tourists.
I think Valencia is a good call – it has a very historic centre and a modern feel, far cleaner than Barcelona too. Seville is good too.

Re Mantua, the place is the Ducal Palace. Looks like a good itinerary.
Balsamic vinegar is made in Modena and it is so good it is almost like drinking wine.

The general rule: too baggy is always preferable to too tight.
Can I put a quiet word in for a “summer gilet” – goes well with a tshirt and shorts, and also has pockets for your valuables.

https://en.portal.santandertrade.com/international-shipments/custom-duties-and-local-taxes

Free 90 day trial

Oh and I should add – if it is an underlying bony problem, the more you delay any surgery, you will guarantee developing arthritis. But I could be wrong – but please see a consultant/surgeon, not a physio for this.

You need to see a consultant who specialises in sports injuries of the knee.
You may have an underlying bony problem like trochlear dysplasia – in which case, the physio can actually make it worse.
Get the right diagnosis from a specialist – you will need xrays and a MRI.
Of course, they may conclude that it is a soft tissue issue instead, in which case physio will work – but you’ve been doing physio for three years, it hasn’t cleared up, that to me suggests an underlying problem with the position of the patella.

Meds for short-term, therapy for long-term. The latter takes work/practice; the meds however can be different for everyone else.
I’ve been depressed probably three or four times in my, life – mainly situational – once clinical, in my 20s, dealing with lots of stress, and made worse by drinking to try and self-medicate.
The therapy can be hit or miss, I probably saw three therapists before I met a therapist who got to the heart of the issue, namely growing up as a sensitive person in a cold, very non-tactile family – which in turn went back to things like the second world war – my dad being a war-baby who never really knew his dad – then the fact his dad had died young. A combination of therapy and family history helped me see the faultlines. But it is a process, the main thing is that I need to look out for my triggers – normally an unholy trinity of lonliness, boredom and stress – and take preventative action, mainly CBT – challenging my negative thought processes. Just because my great-grandads and granddads lives were marred by war and death doesn’t mean the same will happen to me – I’d very much inherited the psycological family silver.
Still see the therapist once a month just to deal with the general grind of life, everyone should have one.

This week i have been mainly listening to U2s How to dismantle an atomic bomb.

Character assassination by over-reacting anonymous keyboard warriors on a public internet forum makes this the most Singletrackworld forum thread of all time.

I watch quite a lot of mountain biking videos on YouTube, there is a bit of a clickbait competition going on with people like Sam Pilgrim riding through urban areas in very borderline fashion. I wonder if that’s why the near miss/crash was included in this video to spice it up a bit.

Not pointless at all. It is pointing north.

That’s some serious riding especially given the heat. Impressive!
Yeah whenever I get the overnight ferry I’ve found it impossible to sleep either as there are drunken revellers or screaming kids, so I normally book a bed.

A mountain bike video AND an opportunity for judgement. I think this one is going to roll and roll.
I thought it was ok, I see a lot worst on the roads with car drivers pretty much every time I go out on my bike.
I also don’t think they were going that fast, but on a blind corner I’d probably ding my bell on the way down and take it slow.

Very sorry to hear the injury is that bad, on the plus points you are recovering – slowly but surely – and as others have said, if you can ride a rode bike you can ride a mountain bike – but perhaps a good idea to avoid the black runs.
The strongest cyclist I know had some major injuries in his 20s and sets off lots of alarms at airport terminals because of all the metal. He is now fit as a fiddle in his 40s, he is a roadie but he said he could just as easily ride a mountain bike if he wanted to.
The Dr may just have an image of downhill mountain biking in his head, not knowing the sport, rather than something like cross-country. A Dr who knows the sport may have a more positive view. They also have to have these talks with you to manage expectations – I’m going under the knife next month and I’m confident I will get back on the mountain bike at some point, but I won’t be doing technical downhill runs. I doubt I will run again either. But hey, life does go on.
I had to give up all field sports after my 2nd knee injury at 20, which was a pain as I played rugby at a high level and enjoyed football,and I adjusted well – you just learn to try new things – that’s what got me into cycling.

Looks like the nurses had some plaster leftover and decided to redo the walls.