Yes on the ipod this morning in memory…

Ooh, it were all floppy hair and guitars in my day

Tangerine Dream were the loudest stage act “back in the day” no guitars so no feedback to worry about, just synths and massive stacks of amps behind a curtain…
…nothing new under the sun…

I just make sure I give the slower folks struggling up the climbs a smile and an encouraging word or 2

alternatively, sprint hard on the approach and breeze past quickly with a friendly ‘hello’ while pretending to not to be blowing. Gives them something to aspire to, especially on hills…

My commute is 50 miles return trip, I do save it for nice days…

I ignited a bottle of butyl lithium (10 molar) during my PhD. I emptied a CO2 extinguisher on it, which went off like a flamethrower. It was quite exciting! I should have realised (and should have been told) that it would react violently. My students are better briefed and have to prepare for the accident before they start work.

We have a project making some of these legal high compounds for toxicology research in our lab. They are surprisingly difficult to make and purify, even in a state of the art university lab. I have also witnessed the talents of undergrad and MSc students in practical labs…
You don’t know who has made the stuff in the packet or what you’re getting and that is a huge problem.

+1 for cockers. Well bred cockers should have a ‘merry’ attitude to life, everyone is a potential friend and life is an adventure. Small enough to cuddle on the sofa, big enough to climb big mountains. Intelligent and biddable enough to train, but independent and sometimes stubborn. They are a bit high maintenance, but ours loved being groomed – you can clip them short if you don’t want the trouble.

I use iridium transitions for everything, including night riding. They work well for me.

two words of advice for the bruising – tight underpants

I had a conversation with a young lad from the local independent grammar school about fare dodging (he was trying to…). it went along the lines of –
you can afford to pay but are trying to avoid paying, you’ll get a good education, good job, become a captain of industry and likely screw up the economy and country because you haven’t learnt basic honesty and personal integrity…
this was shortly before the banking crash.

Churchill was said to be unhappy with the sudden end of the war, saying: “If it wasn’t for those damn Yanks, we could have kept the war going another 10 years.”

…not my first choice of dinner guest…

Keith Vaz was excellent on C4 news. The wars of the roses were all about where to get the best curry apparently…
He was not shy to say it was all about tourism.

Let him talk, while you listen, even if it is nonsense. Get interested in what he’s interested in. Learn to say “what’s the matter?” when he’s upset and listen to the answers. The dog eating the last pasta might just have been the last straw.
Don’t judge your boy – he’s 50% your DNA remember.
Don’t judge your wife – providing emotional security (molly coddling) is part of the Mum’s job description.
Remember – he’s only five…
Take a deep breath and count to ten…

wellies stop your trouser legs getting muddy, otherwise you’ll need gaiters plus boots. Plus you can hose them down when you hose the dog down.

As I remember, the first series wasn’t great, series 2-4 picked up and were brilliant in places, series five was OK.
I always remember “Who are you?” and “What do you want?” as the key questions.
One of the original arc-story series (other than Buffy) an idea which has unfortunately ruined Dr Who.

Yeah, we should go back to the days of no H&S stuff really.

This…it must have been so much fun setting off to work not knowing if you’d come back with a life-changing injury, lose your job, get evicted from your worker’s cottage and end up in the work-house…
How we miss those jolly good old days…

I remember him from my student days. He was due to give a talk to the Tory Reform Group in the Uni, many of us objected to his racism and the fact he was using our lecture theatre for the talk. The large lecture theatre was full of noisy, protesting students. He came in for about a minute, realised he’d not get heard and left.
I know you shouldn’t judge by appearances, but he gave me the creeps…

Civilians doing the states job for them hmm what’s that called again?

er…the police are civilians. Didn’t they teach you about the Peterloo massacre and Robert Peel at school?
Evil triumphs when good men (and women) do nothing…

rest, fluids, paracetamol/ibuprofen

A child I know lost control of her scooter on a sloping drive and had a nasty crash needing surgery to her face. She was wearing a helmet. I have no direct evidence if the helmet was fitted correctly (so many aren’t) or if it took any of the collision, but the feeling at the time from the witnesses was that it was a good job she was wearing it. Our two happily wear helmets for scooting because there’s no reason not to and it just might help in the event of a crash.

and is no longer the big mixed box of imagination-driven fun

“everything is awesome”
someone hasn’t seen the Lego movie…

Low calcium is easily checked by your GP. It could be caused by gluten intolerance, i.e. coeliac disease, leading to malabsorption of minerals, which also has lactose intolerance as a possible symptom.
If you just have a virus it will clear in a week or so.

here’s the details on ISAs – a good bet for at least some of your cash http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa

I’ll walk when the gears run out or the friction between back wheel and ground gives up (usually both).
I am not a fan of planned ‘hike-a-bike’ rides. If cycling is the new golf then lugging a big FS bike up a mountain is definitely the best way to spoil a good walk* – other than hitting a ball with a stick into a hole…

*Others opinions may vary…

at least he saw you…

not for me, I only record rides long enough to bother with bikey clothes

We got a Dakota 20 for Dab_jnrs Christmas present. He’s very impressed and got stuck in straight away. I downloaded the Open streetmaps UK map from toasty and stuck them on – no need for an SD card. We’re planning to go geocaching. It’s easy to use and the screen is nice and clear.

back in the day, I remember reading a letter in a hifi mag from someone working at the CEGB (yes that long ago!) that claimed that his kit sounded better when supplied by a nuclear power station over a coal station. I’m still not sure if it was a spoof…
My life improved considerably when I stopped reading hifi mags and started listening to music again.

I thought I might need to change my On-One smorgasbord tyres* (29″) for the mud season, but so far they have been ok (and I haven’t ridden much), plenty of grip and bite.

*the more expensive orange label ones

cute! Our Cocker loved clicker training as a pup (any reward based training is good). She loved rolling in the smelliest stuff she could find e.g. hedgehog poo and rotting salmon. She loved stealing socks and gloves. She was happy on walks in filthy weather, but always found the warmest, comfiest place in the house to settle down. She didn’t fetch balls (often), or swim (ever).
Just remember, they have been bred to work with a just bit of human input (unlike some working dogs) so they can be quite independently minded – stubborn even.
Also, your home, your rules. Some folks allow their dogs to sleep next to them on the bed without a problem, that’s not how we do it though.

I’m similar measurements to you. I asked the same question a while ago and ended up buying a small Lurcher. I have had to remove a few cms from the seat tube with a hacksaw for comfort but other than that it fit just fine from the box. It fits and rides just like a bike should, up hill and down dale…

we all have days like that. “what’s the matter?” is a good opening to allow any problems to come out and be talked over, and a cuddle…

lovely looking pup…
spaniels – don’t expect perfect heel work!

on one lurcher – carbon
salsa el mariachi – steel

Hi dicky,
8pm was chosen as the after the bath and bed routine ride time by the “Hexham Dangerous Dads”. You don’t have to be a dad or dangerous btw. We would welcome a few more riders…

I saw them in 1982, Those About To Rock tour, Apollo Manchester – so loud! Not as painful as Saxon though – that hurt…

was the dog’s name ‘Nomad’?

No, you’re not. I asked he same question a few months ago. I’m a similar size. I took the plunge and got a small lurcher, it fits just right and rides very well. Sitting on a few bikes in bike shops a medium would have been OK for a more stretched out ride.

Border collies were bred to respond to command and work under close control. Any play that reproduces this sort of relationship should keep your pup happy and healthy. Collies excel at agility, fly-ball and obedience work. My colleague’s dog was an excellent football goalkeeper.

Search YouTube for SRAM service. Nice videos show you how to do it. With the correct tools it’s fairly simple…

Search YouTube for SRAM service. Nice videos show you how to do it. With the correct tools it’s fairly simple…