Do you actually want bigger forks or an excuse for a new bike? I'm not sure it's entirely clear? 🙂

Cheers Tim. If it all comes unstuck we've got a backup house in Ashbourne which is actually *in* budget so I'm not going to lose too much sleep!

That's really useful – cheers all 🙂 Nothing to turn my hair white so I'll cross fingers that negotiations over price go well 🙂

Thanks.

cheers all – a lot of food for thought and sound advice. Much appreciated.

I'm getting the hint: not to worry about insulting anyone with a low offer cos once we agree he'll be happy as larry.

you're kidding? I thought 165k was getting a bit cheeky!

Okay, 2 weeks on. We're still first time buyers, have agreement in principle from the bank and are ready to roll. We've seen somewhere; the buyer, "has had to move abroad," house empty, no offers for a while and on the market at £179,995. What would be a reasonable offer?

Because then it would be like Bikeradar.

I finally found the time to get round the Monkey Trail today – loved it, really impressed with the work that's gone into it. Amazingly, I managed to cross the road without mummy holding my hand, there's one in the eye for the H&S naysayers 😉 Couple of switchbacks I have to go back to conquer, mind.

it's for people old men hoping that buying consumer electronics will make it seem like they're really, really living in the 21st century.

Helped you out there 😉

So took her on her first off road jaunt, only 4.5 miles but she did well loved the down, the bumps and just being out.

She's just become a role model too. My youngest (2 1/2) took one look at her and said, "That me with lovely pink he'met an' coat!" She enjoyed the video too, "That that girl! She go faster! I not go faster I go slower." 😀

Bad news 🙁 Hope you find it or at least the culprits. Glad you chinned up and had a good ride nonetheless.

cheers man

EDIT: And like an idiot i've just discovered that MediaMonkey, which i have a full version of, does it too. lol.

are you a hippy ?

*frowns disapprovingly*

Ere mate, you wanna take something for that frownin…
oh yeah, and…

Sorry if i'm a little late to the party

I have allways seen it as being a bit too much of an excersise in poetry rather than factual stuff.

Hmm, Blake* or Byron* vs. Haynes manual writers? I know which I'd enjoy reading the most.

*Yeah, i do realise that we're a long way from bike mags but i'm just going with the metaphor okay?

I found the climbing article mercilessly dull, not as bad as the pedal cars one but there you go. There'll always be some noise and some signal. On the whole, all things considered, Mercury in retrograde, ST is the best of the bunch. And they don't have that much SS stuff anymore, that novelty tie containership sailed a while ago ;-p

The stuff by Sid Barratt was dire IMO, never understood the fuss about him, maybe you had to be caught up in the moment at the time. Saucer full is excellent (except corporal clegg, which sounds like Barrett tripe).

Conversely, I think everything after Saucerful became increasingly beige and soulless sterile-rock-by-numbers until the plodding and the wailing and the **** dire, passionless gilmour solos and the suburban middle management saxaphones dreary shite of the 70s. IMO, like.

I like Piper.

the best "still" I've seen is currently on the front page of http://www.ft.com

That's a face that says, "Yip, I've blown it."

Looks like Labour have decisively lost power to me!

But power has become elusive. Labour might have dropped the soap but noone's picked it up.

What I'm quite curious about is how Murdoch will 'advise' the Times/Sun editorial position. Despite the full weight of Murdoch's media empire being behind him, his candidate failed to win; could psycho jellybaby rely upon the same level of support x months down the line?

It takes some serious mismanagement to not be able to convert that

<shudders> Brown might have been indifferent to poor but I'd hate to think how badly Cameron might have been. Piss up? Brewery? Weak shandies all round from the blue jellybaby.

Yeah but Greece has been a big factor and FTSE is reacting to world markets as much as anything (don't they just follow the Yanks?). If I was Gordon Brown I'd get the hell out of there – whoever ends up as leader of a minority government in the next few months is going to find themselves in a world of shit.

+1 grum

Conservative government, for, oh, about 9 months I reckon and then we do it all again.

Not bad, my guess is that they'll get 11 months – who's going to risk depending on their core support in a low winter turnout at the moment? The vote of no confidence will come but Labour will have to go through a leadership contest, s/he will have to establish themselves in the media so maybe even 14 months?

Everything veered deeper into shit, people listened to disco then punk happened. There was a climate of political uncertainty and confusion for a while and then there was Thatcher.

As Hunter S Thompson put it, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

You sound bothered

To be fair, he sounds like a lost, lonely old man clinging to an outdated and unreasoned point of view. I think it's very giving of everyone who is engaging him in dialogue as it is clearly providing him with the attention and company he needs. Mind you, I hope none of you are talking to ro in a 'professional' capacity.

I'm sure I'm still a bit fuzzy but… has Cameron really failed to win?

lol, yeah my missus has just come downstairs and asked if Labour have won yet. It's going to be a harsh awakening in the morning for her but…it's closer than I expected.

Bloody Loughborough. They've mixed it up a bit.

Y'know when y'see Sarah and then see Gordon, you can only conclude he must me hung like a horse.

Yeah, lets get some Doors on… 'Riders on the Storm…'

Jeezus, Dimbleby really should give it up.

why were sunderland so keen to be the first to announce, why not just do it at a normal pace?

because they want to be first at something?

Dammit, I must be losing it. I'm sur Alastair Campbell was making sense just then

Yeah, i saw you mention the New Inn and figured you'd need it!

'Skidmore' – yep.

There's a bottle for you Yeti.

Talkemada… there's a pot of mushroom tea in the back, help yourself.

Sorry, what's everyone having?

Wow! Chance of a Green seat in Brighton.

Margaret Beckett on Radio 4 sounds drunk.

Ah. My vote was well placed then. I was worried she'd gone all NewLabour and was toeing the Mandelson line, but no, pissed on R4. Class.

That's 2 up then 😉

Cambridge < Oxford
AND Hackney sucks.

Nevermind. That domino thing is shite.

for the win… doh, sometimes i have to accept i'm pretty coarse.

it's going to be a long night…

FTW=**** the world

good on ya julianwilson!

and ro? I bet "VN" love the quality of brits that visit them, just don't get sent back like that nice mr glitter.