It would be a shame as I like the company, I’ve flown with them a few times and I think the overall service is much superior to the other low budget airlines for perhaps 20percent more money.
But it’s always been a tough industry and they’ve been unlucky with their fleet as above. I’d probably opt for EasyJet if they fly to the same place.

Yep what @Del says with tassels on, look on the bright side – you’ve only put in 4 years worth of funds, not 25 years. Solicitors may string you along but selling is the best option.

All competitive sport is expensive and a lot of those costs are due to the organisation that goes into it.
Even charity/voluntary events take a huge amount of planning and recruitment.
Take the London Marathon, they use a lot of volunteer marshals, but recently some of them – only a minority – were found to be abusing some runners by calling them fat.
If a lot of sponsorship money is on the line, you can’t really tolerate stories like that.

You’d be better off just selling the house, believe me.

There’s a bloke in a pub I use who likes to fatshame various clientele.
Turns out his wife left him and he has no real friends.

Oh ok good luck with that. Make sure with any knee injury you have the right diagnosis – I was prescribed physio which made my condition worse, turns out I have an underlying bony problem so being operated on next month. Just looking for something in the meantime to relieve some pain other than ice and rest.

Nothing useful to add other than take it easy and get well soon! Stay positive.

Thanks @mrlebowski
It’s a complicated injury but the current issue I’m having is patellar tendonitis.
I might roll the dice and give it a go just to see.

Blimey my googling has also revealed it can be used for erectile dysfunction!
So I need to clarify my original post – I’m looking to see whether it will help knee/patella pain.

I should also note I’ve not been to Ferrara or Modena, hence why I didn’t mention them. Looking online they look like really good places to visit.
Infact it looks like youve picked a great location as Tuscany and Lombardy get so busy during the summer.

Only did it once and that was for a charity bike ride. I cycled there and back so it was probably 110 miles all told – daggers in the legs by the end of it. Also got sunburnt on my thighs.

Lucca is fantastic, Verona is similar to Lucca insofar as it is a “complete” medieval/renaissance small city. Agree Pisa is a disappointment. Bologna is great.
Big crowds in the day in Verona esp around romeo and juliet balcony, so if doing a day trip I’d be tempted to spend the day itself on the outskirts – there are some pretty village towns nearby like Villagio sul mincio, and then go into Verona for the evening.
Also you are close to Lake Garda which has plenty of nice places to stop like Bardolino. Lombardy as a rule isn’t on the same level of beauty as Tuscany and it is more modern but there are lots of nice villages.
Mantua is ugly on the outskirts, v industrial, but the centre is great. So only worth a few hours in my opinion but the palace is a must and also gets you out of the heat.
As to Venice, I just avoid the place in summer, it’s manic like Florence. But if you don’t know if you will be there again, I’d say as soon as you get off the train go into the inner streets away from the tourist hotspots. Also take your own packed lunch as everywhere is overpriced.

Alcohol has offered a temporary solution to my main issues in life, stress and boredom.
But now it is taking away more than it gives. Much admiration (and envy) for your achievement – well done.

Nature red in tooth and claw, wheeley bin in pink and white.

That’s now officially the ugliest picture on the internet.

If you want to go north this time, then Verona is worth a day trip. San Zeno church then a walk around the centre.
Area immediately around Bologna is quite flat and boring from memory, Bologna itself is great.
Mantua for the palace, and Padua also good for a visit.

Ive not ridden my mountain bike for three years due to injury. Before that I was out three times a week on the trails, hols to spain and the alps…surgery coming up but I’ve no idea if I will be able to ride my mountain bike again, it’s a great source of sadness.

Yes when sober around your regular drinking buddies, you generally realise how repetitive the conversations are.

There is a link between mental rest and physical endurance just look how stress takes away your energy levels.
The eastern Europeans undérstand this with their spas.
In the UK everyone is forced to work like a loony but productivity remains low so they just replace you once your burnt out with a new person to burn out!

There’s a great book titled Rest
The most productive people like Darwin had a lot of downtime.

the best policy is to say nothing and if later accused, deny you knew anything in the first place.

If His Highness is “not pleased” can He at least be Merciful?

Genuinely surprised by some of the comments above – it seems suicide is ok for someone who acts like a “dick”. Wow.
As above, the valium and booze angle struck me as a strong possibility; anyway out of respect I won’t be posting on this one again.

All it takes is one high profile mistake and the internet never forgets…just a very sad situation. The last thing someone with a drinking problem needs is national exposure.

Am I not merciful?

Mainly my dreams. Last night I dreamt I was a heroin addict, then I dreamt I was Van Morrison trying to seduce Janet Planet at Stanford University. Weird.

I work with a lot of retailers, across sectors, pretty much everyone is suffering. Even ecommerce pure play companies are losing money as digital marketing is so expensive and amazon is eating up everything.
A florist near me “pivoted” and is now a coffee shop/breakfast place (surrounded with lots of flowers – she still does special events) and she seems to be doing ok.

Also if taking a year out, it could save her cash if tuition fees are lowered – but I don’t know whether that is a safe bet and when it would be implemented.
I remember at my uni people changed all the time – changed courses, dropped out, went somewhere else, but this was back in the day when it was cheap to attend, so I guess getting it right first time around is more important now.
The “Mathmos” I knew at uni all did well, many have gone into finance and one earns a fortune. Funnily enough it is his interpersonal skills which have helped him move up the ladder in addition to his maths skills. He also topped off his undergrad with a masters in computer science.
The biggest shame is only one engineering student I knew actually went into that field (he works for a formula 1 team and I often spot him on tv) but the rest all went into banking too.

Swinley is a lot of fun. I havent ridden there for years but it would be nice to have it on your doorstep.

It’s easy to change, just phone them up, they all need students as the sector has over-expanded. Many people change courses in their first year anyway.

Sorry for your loss.
In the midst of life we are in death.

Similar boat. I was in london for work friday and been in agony since, as my knee is so badly damaged. Surgery in August, just told work, who will hopefully be understanding. I can do my job from bed so not expecting to take too long off. Got drunk last night just through frustration so now hungover too!

@fisherboy, you are right to say it is not debt in a conventional sense, but I don’t quite buy the “graduate tax” argument either. The main reason being the interest rates on this debt/tax are running at 6percent, so over time if not paid off that debt/tax will get very big indeed. It’s still true though (as my dad happily once said to me) that it is written off if I die.
Keep an eye on the Augar review and whether it’s recommendations are implemented – I just think the 6percent rate of interest is completely unfair; these youngsters are being shafted.
But the whole system is unsustainable – think sub-prime – so it is likely it will all be written off at some point in the future.

The Russell Group unis are losing their prestige since they were allowed to increase their student numbers, some have seriously dumbed-down in order to get bums on seats and the tuition fees to fund the new buildings and there are issues of overcrowding.
Oxbridge is intense but good on the CV, you need a work ethic as well as talent, otherwise I’d keep a very open mind – I think a lot of degrees which have links with business and internships could be more relevant going forward and some of them are in the ex-polys.
There is also likely to be a change in how unis are funded away from pure research towards knowledge creation and transfer, under the Knowledge Exchange Framework rubric, and that could benefit the ex-polys at the expense of the RG.

People who moan about how expensive weddings are obviously haven’t paid for a divorce.

Fake that you are good at it by learning the language of bs, kiss the right arses, and move into a management role.

professors/tutors aren’t all living the dream, they are under a lot of pressure – some of which includes “selling” the uni at open days as if it’s the best place ever. there is a drop in student numbers due to demographics and now student recruitment is a major part of the job.
you normally know fairly early on what uni you want to go to, it just seems right, difficult to quantify the whys.
the eye-watering debt is the main difference since when i started way back in 1999

Just glad the hot day has coincided with a saturday, would not fancy my commute into london in this heat.

A couple in my local pub constantly talk about losing a loved one. I just assumed it was a person, it turned out it was their dog. They are very nice people, I’ve never really had a pet but for many people the connection is very strong.

I think getting married and not telling any friends and family is bound to lead to some upset – it’s just a question of how much. I wasn’t invited to my sister’s second marriage, which didn’t bother me, but I can understand why some people would get upset.
The mother in law, for instance, may find it deeply embarrassing as then all her friends will know about it.
If I were to ever get married, which I won’t, I would let people know, but have a very small wedding, maybe 10-15 people, then a party a week after with everyone invited.