Mark, that’s an excellent post and a really good perspective from someone with a different viewpoint.

I’ve never seen any parents preaching to people who don’t have kids.

Have you actually read this thread?! Also, I’ve had it twice in the last two days at work. Both unsolicited, both directly critical of my life choices (I hardly even know these people!), and both massively patronising.

Should parents really not be able to speak openly about their experiences for fear of offending non-breeders..?

Yes absolutely, but as soon as you start telling us that the personal life decision we’re making is wrong, with absolutely no knowledge about us, then don’t be suprised if we baulk slightly.

So whatever your pre-conceptions, ignore them because they’re probably wrong.

Did I mention how much this arrogant this approach comes across as?!

I was a pretty reluctant dad (I reckon many are

I’m not a reluctant potential dad. I’m not going to be a dad. I have no interest.

deny my partner something that was incredibly important to her

I also wouldn’t deny my partner this. It would end the relationship and it would have to be with someone else, I’m not in control of her life. If you’ve got that far into a relationship without having a sensible conversation that you feel obligated to have children with someone to make them happy, then we lead very different lives.

it’s like a switch goes off in your head that makes all the bad stuff disappear

Not much bad stuff going on in my head.

It’s basically a leap of faith, and one that very few regret.

Anecdotal evidence doesn’t back this up for me.

I just don’t understand the social acceptance of those who’ve had kids preaching to those that have chosen not too. Each to their own from my side.

You have no idea the special relationship your missing.

This is the arrogant approach that really bugs me. Yes I do have an idea. No I don’t want kids.

You did however want kids, but conversely you’re not going to catch me saying “You have no idea of the special life you’re missing” because I’m not arrogant enough to think I have any idea about you or what makes you happy.

Rant over. Sorry, but that assumptive attitude of “you don’t know what your missing/You’ll understand when you have them” really annoys me.

Rant actually over!

What location are you looking at, Manchester has a few options! Although they do reduce on a Tuesday….

If you’re looking at East Didsbury for beers and kebab you could do worse than:

Fletcher Moss
Dog and Partridge
Slightly more shiny/less pubby venue: Didsbury Lounge
Kebab: Urban Grille

If you go into Withington:

Red Lion
The Victoria
Kebab: Well worth the 10 minute walk into Fallowfield to go to Saajans (opposite Sainsburys)

West Didsbury – less pubby, slightly swankier:

The Metropolitan
Violet Hour
Folk
Curry: Great Khatmandu

If you want real ale and a “proper boozer” then The Met proabably isn’t your best bet…

Maybe the Dog and Partridge or Fletcher Moss in East Didsbury would be a better option.

Can’t argue with Either Khatmandu (Northendon or Burton Road).

Stay away from Rusholme. It’s well below the level of the places further south or in the city centre. Unless you like shisha…

The Gurkha Gruill is sadly no more, I believe. The Lime Tree is great for a veggie restaurant

Gurkha Grill is still going fine, well I went a couple of weeks ago anyway! Good curry house, but there are better options in my opinion. As to the veggie Lime Tree, I think you may be thinking of Greens across the road.

Shame about the limited pictures.

It would be great if it just gave 100% random shots. Initial shots wouldn’t look as good but loads more depth to the play.

8861

This is awesome and you have completely ruined the rest of my work day.

Have a look at Decathlon’s offering – they’ve started doing cycle to work now.

One of these or the next one up are cracking value

Next one up

I’ve also read that in a few places. Something to do with the footprint becoming shorter and fatter compared to longer and thinner. If it’s up or down then we’re talking pretty small figures.

It would be interesting to see what pro’s train on. I’m guessing that 25/28 is very common for comfort and puncture reasons. In fact I would wager that pro level riders probably train on more comfortable tyres than your average MAMIL!

I should have added that I actually have a 23 on the front and 28 on the rear of my commuter. Not intentionally, it it just came like that, but it works well enough not to change.

Virtually zero difference in rolling resistance from 23/25 and even 28. Well compared to the actually noticeable difference in comfort and grip.

It would be fine but normally done the other way round. More weight goes on the back.

What’s your reasoning?

Ugh, total waste of time

For great value I’d check out your nearest TK Maxx. I picked up a cracking knife and steel there for a fraction of it’s true cost and there were plenty of others.

So, have any of you bar room experts actually achieved what the OP desires, To substantially decrease your Cholesterol level?There’s plenty of “expert” advice here but not much in the way of success stories…

By eating well I’ve managed not to ever have a problem. I think success story might be overplaying it.

Kerrygold is great butter because the cows are 100% grass fed. In fact that’s a major selling point for it being a premium product in the US because the majority of their dairy industry is grain fed. It means that there’s very different fats in there.

And compared to pro-inflamatory veg oil based margerine there’s only one winner!

Mmmm, Kerrygold.

Also, if you’re looking for grass fed, rathern than grain fed, steaks then the premium Aldi ones are awesome.

I can’t remember the last time I had butter

Once you understand why you should keep the butter but lose the bread that you’ve spread it on then you’re a lot of the way there.

Statins should be a last resort after diet and lifestyle choices have been looked at.

A guy called Chris Kresser speaks a lot of sense on this if you’re still doing your research.

I’ve got some and like them. Also my first pair of SPDs so again no expert.

Also again I’m normally a 44 and 46 fit me spot on.

So basically +1 for above!

Except in this case exactly the opposite is true.

They did know the candidate.

They didn’t know where they stood legally (for a legal company) and are going to pay the fee.

Almost right, but actually completely wrong. And a wee bit shouty.

Enlighten me then as really am curious of how it can cost £15k to send someones CV?

Ok, here we go.

Assuming we’re talking about contingency recruitment, as seems the case here, you get paid once you place a candidate with a client.

You don’t get paid for anything else.

99% of what you do in recruitment you don’t get paid for. You spend you time trying to generate vacancies from clients, building your candidate database, etc etc. You pay for the staffing cost, the advertising, the rent and rates, everything up front.

The client sees the final piece of the jigsaw which is when the phone up and say have you got XYZ, and low and behold it they do have XYZ and they’ll email them over to you.

“bloody hell, all they’ve done is send and email and now they want £15k”

Here are the two points the making it hit home for me:

1) There are plenty of agencies out there in a free unregulated and very competitive market. Supply and demand and a push for value couldn’t be clearer and yet the agencies still demand what is considered and extortionate fee? Well guess what, most agencies, especially in the current market, are up against it and will go as low as they can to still actually pay the bills and god forbid make a profit. The fee paid is the bare bones market rate with very little margin in there, if negotiated anywhere near correctly.

2) If it’s so easy, why don’t companies just do it themselves, especially if it just involves searching a database and sending over a CV? It’s because it’s a professional service that they don’t have the skills/capabilities to do and professional services cost, whether that’s accountancy, consultancy, prostitution or legal!

Rant over!

edit:

It’s a captive market.

It couldn’t be less of a captive market. Candidates can register with as many agencies as they like for free, in fact recruitment business aren’t legally allowed to charge. They can apply direct. They can be a referral or recommendation from an employee (in this case). They can be on Linkedin. I’m not sure how less of a captive market it could be?!

The recruiter is doing his job…. Which in this case is trying it on.

They can’t just send a CV, shout about T&Cs and claim a fee, it would never stand up. Where would it end? Say a recruiter makes a random candidate call, finds out they are at final interview with their client and no CV has been involved, which is common with LinkedIn, etc. Do you think they can then just wing a CV over and claim a fee?!

Tell em to get bent and you’re considering how long to blacklist them for. Might even get a discount off the next fee if you’re, quite rightly, strong about this and play it right.

Or roll over. Not my money!

As a Recruitment Manager with 8 years external and internal experience I should probably chip in….

The recruitment company are trying it on. You’re already in discussion with the candidate. They can’t introduce someone to you you already have opened discussions with. The CV is an introduction thing is a red herring. Maybe in their T&Cs but not in reality!

Liking the standard tosh above about recruiters. 15k for emailing a CV? Yes, that’s exactly how it works….!

I’m sorry nickc, you’re comment came across to me as: ignore hunger pangs, ie don’t eat, as a good weight loss strategy.

Your bluntness may contribute to people misunderstanding your posts.

Your gut is actually part of your brain

Massively linked and I’d agree with this statement 100%. My guess is that molgrips was speaking figuratively rather than literally.

If you then don’t eat dinner then yes, that process will start to happen.

Suspend your traditional “beliefs” about what is a breakfast, lunch, or dinner

This is cracking advice, especially at breakfast. If you don’t want/don’t have time for bacon, eggs, sausage, black pudding, etc then almost all other breakfasts are grain/carb or dairy based. It’s just social conditioning, there’s no reason not to have veg, fruit, chicken, steak, whatever for brekky.

You don’t have to eat just because you are hungry.

You don’t have to eat, but your body wants feeding and so it’s going to chow down on anything it can get it’s hands on be it muscle or fat. Also if you stay hungry then your body will go into survival mode and your metabolism through the floor. It’s also bloody miserable! No need to be hungry and lose body fat quickly if you do it right.

Yes, I don’t think Bluetooth is going to give me a great sound.

That Denon thing looks decent. I’m not bothered about having to get the music wirelessly from the desktop, in fact I’d be happier with something hard drive based that I could connnect to with phone/tablet. If that makes sense.

That might be a bit out of kilter with the rest of my setup! Nice kit thought.

It’s a decent amp and speaker set, that I’ve got, for a non audiophile. I’ve got the music – I just need the bit in between.

The only issue I have is that I am also trying to do high-intensity training on the bike. For me, given my physiology, that uses up a lot of carbs, and I struggle to replace them with the slow-carb foods. So I’m trying a balancing act between reduced training performance and weight loss. Most people don’t seem to have this issue though, and I don’t have it if I’m not riding much.

Assuming that the high intensity also has some decent volume to it, then I also have this issue when training hard. Brocolli isn’t going to give you all the carbs you need in this circumstance!

This is where this kind of diet needs modifying. Maybe look at some non inflamatory (wheat/gluten/HFCS I’m looking at you) carbs that you can add in pre and post training. White rice, oats, sweet potato, even pure glucose powder are all options. Working out how much and when is a bit trial and error. Total guess – maybe 20-30g before/during and 50-80g after and go from there.

Cheers Col

Good week to start the late opening, good luck with everything.

With a low carb (or as I would prefer it “normal”!) diet it’s more what you eat than how much.

Eating full packs of butter is not entirely recommended, but chowing down guilty free on a big old steak is part of the joy of it.

+1 for the Bosch

My one cuts the grass better than the old massive petrol one I had. Feels like a toy though because it’s so light. Once you get over that you realise it does the job bloody well and puts up with all sorts of abuse.

I think along with Microsoft Security Essentials, these should go on the STW approved products list.

Hi,

Are you going to be doing any guided rides? It would be good to know Delamere a bit better than I currently do (terribly).

Atkins does work because it cuts out any carbs entirely. But that’s a bit over simplistic in my view.

We do need carbs, just nowhere near as much as the modern diet that’s based on grains, stachy veg (spuds, carrots, parsnips, etc), legumes, etc gives us. The nutrients in fruit and veg also help.

Assuming you don’t need an athletes style diet to compensate for masses of training, you should be able to get what you need from normal non starchy veg.

Yes, that’s possible.

If you just go for an extremely low calorie (<500 calorie) starvation diet you will drop the weight. This will be a combination of fat, muscle, everything really. Not recommended. If you add a load of chronic cardio exercise on to that then you’re going to put your body under a lot of stress and feel pretty rubbish at the end of it.

Doing it properly by changing body composition (losing fat not muscle mass), and not completely stressing your body, is also possible I reckon. Just.

Couple of scrambled eggs made with a bit of butter for brekky.

Small portion of something that once had a face with non starchy veg for lunch.

Small portion of something that once had a face with non starchy veg for your evening meal.

Diet is the major way to drop body fat. Don’t go mad on the exercise or your body will go into starvation/survival/recovery mode and your metabolism will go through the floor and you will crave carbs.

If you are going to exercise then either some low level stuff like walking or gentle swimming/cycling. Or do some high intensity/low volume stuff to get the body firing like hill sprints or lifting some heavy weights.

Oh yes, and sleep, 8 hours minimum. You wouldn’t believe the positive effect this has on things.

Hora, have you considered getting an IV drip set up so you can have it pumped directly into the bloodstream?

That makes it tough. I feel for you.

Is there a large space to your left when this happens?

This was my first thought Cougar….!

Then who knows!

Sort your sleep though fella. It’s crazily important!

Hora – if you’re looking at the same things as me, you’ve got to remember that’s per 8oz serving. I drink espresso daily but in espresso mugs!

Also googleing caffeine soap…

Way more likely it’s other lifestyle factors Kryton57.

Get a good night sleep?
Get some sun?
What food did you eat recently?
What drink (or substances) didn’t you drink recently?!
Any viruses or infections that you are recovering/recovered from recently?
Etc.

Weird that I can drink tea, which has the same amount of caffeine as coffee?!

Bit of a myth that one I think, well based on this anyway…