Honeymoon with virgin??

An underused phrase these days I'm sure

haha yeah I didnt notice that one :D

have you checked out other hotels on tripadvisor as well?
Might be worth going in armed with some other options you would accept

went with virgin for our honeymoon (South Africa and Zambia, multiple locations)
found nothing was too much trouble and they were very flexiable when we wanted to alter parts of their standard ittinery
Just start off patient and polite on the phone and you might get what you want without having to resort to threats of legal action etc

Failing that you could just threaten to write to Mr B and request they give you a fortnight on his private island

lockerbrook was an absolute mud bath and stream last saturday, the rain all day didnt help, neither has the forestry works near the top
In fact whole of that area was just drenched last week. Cut Gate will prob be even worse, still some small patches of snow around in places too

used disco mediums the other day, had to get a file to them to get them to fit – much thicker pads than original Formula Oro pads and even with pistons fully retracted I couldnt get wheel in between
7 miles in a very wet peak district with only one decent and they are ready for replacement
Never again (and I have another 2 pairs to get through)

The M62 across the Pennines
Scammoden Bridge and Dam – largest rockfill dam in UK
The Pennine Way footbridge (actually two self supporting cantilevers, there was originally a small gap in the middle)
Ken Wildes Farm (popular belief has it he refused to sell up and move – not the case it sits in the middle of the two carrageways for Engineering reasons)
All built during the worst winters and wettest summers on the moors for years, even the dumptruck bodies had to be heated so the peat could be transported away from the site
A true understated Engineering marvel
http://www.motorwayarchive.ihtservices.co.uk/m62bounpole.htm

My Pro 2 SPs with 355 rims where faultless on first ride in Peaks on Saturday, and that included hammering down Lockerbrook and Hagg farm descents
355 rims will be more than adequate for you (Im just shy of 13 stone and have Olympics on the HT and 355's on the full suss)

I couldnt believe the weight (1600g F&R and thats 12mm maxle rear – although measured without athe maxle) of the wheels, a full pound and a half lighter than what they replaced

You get 2 spare spokes with the Hoops anyway (so 4 if you get front and back wheels)
I dont imagine spokes will be any harder to come by as the wheels become more common

Winter Hill TV Transmitter

there are taller in the UK but none in quite such a demanding location
Its not called Winter Hill for no reason!

Local to me (and not that well known) is the Millenium Walkway in New Mills, Derbyshire. The town sits on top of a deep gorge where 2 rivers join and there have been mills down there for years (derelict now) along with all the accompanying weirs and dams and 2 huge viaducts over the gorge.

In 2000 a bridge was finally built to connect the two ends of the footpath (previously walkers had had to go up into the town and round to the other side to continue their walk).

The bridge won a design award but the architect was killed in the London bombings of 7/7, there's a plaque on the bridge in his memory.

Stan Brewster was his name, he wasnt the architect but the Engineer that oversaw the construction. He was also immensly proud of the finished walkway
I worked with him on a job in Derby, it was my first job as a young Engineer straight out of university and Stan helped me alot and instilled in me alot of the values that I try and practise to this day. I only knew him for a relatively short 18 months but he made more of an impression on my education and career than anyone before or since
If I can have even a quarter of the life that man had then I will know I have done my best. In my eyes the man was a legend and for that reason the Millenium Walkway has a special place in my own personal list of Engineering greats

Lactic
When she first did it (she jumped down from a wall stile and landed funny) she hobbled around for a bit but appeared to run it off and didnt seem to be in any pain
She was fine for a while but seemed very stiff and used to hold her leg up after she had been lying down or sleeping
SHe always seemed to just shrug it off so we didnt think it was anything serious. After going away for the weekend she became quite lame and the stiffness and limping became more pronounced and lasted longer, she also seemed in pain this time
We took her to the vets who kept her in, and x rayed her, they did some keyhole investigations and operated to pin her ligament together with titanium plates
Total cost was over £2k but fortunately we have insurance who paid out the lot no questions (petplan, our premium hasnt really increased much over 6 years despite having made a significant claim nearly every year – she is quite accident prone!)
As a result partly of the operation but mainly because it went untreated for so long she now has arthritus in that leg so occasionally (mainly during cold spells or heavy exercise) she will still limp but again generally walks it off after 5 mins. It doesnt seem to affect her too much fortunately and we have some tablets but we try not to give her them too often

er, I think you have missed the point of breeds

no I appreciate exactly what you are suggesting, that labs being a relatively new breed (1600's) as opposed to sighthounds (6000 years) are more likely to inherit problems, this is probably true

Sightounds are very placid dogs No inherited problems and much cheaper than some inbred pedigree dog.

But I meant it in the sense of a breeder that breeds for profit mating two closely related dogs – mother/son, father/daughter or sibling/sibling in order to produce dogs of similar characteristics / temperment etc

"the mating of individuals more closely related than the average of the population from which they come."
Malcolm B. Willis BSc (Dunelm, 1956) PhD (Edin. 1960)

Mine came from two completely unrelated working dogs (unrelated in as far as can be traced back 5 generations) and it was the first (and last) time the bitch had been bred.

You see alot of labs that look washed out with sunken eyes – the result of over bred stock from a limited gene pool

My lab – Poppie
6 years old


has over £2k of titanium in her leg (snapped cruciate ligament few years ago, we took her up Snowdon not long after not realising what she had done she made it up and down but was lame for a days after hence us realising there was a serious problem)
She is the softest thing in the world, will let you do anything to her and just sit there and take it, before getting her own back on you with a huge face lick and a stinky fart when your not looking

(and she might be pedigree but no inbreeding here – both parents where working gun/field dogs)

just email paypal back and ask if their fee structure has been approved as being 'fair and reasonable' by the banking ombordsman :?

Paypal protection means naff all for seller or buyer anyway, several times I have had items go missing (selling and buying) and everytime I have been left out of pocket

I'll continue to use paypal gift as I dont wish to give my bank details out to strangers, if paypal wish to stop me doing so and cannot justify how they derive their fee structure then I close the account, simples.

any dog can 'turn' Hora, just like any human can 'turn' alot of it comes down to their upbringing and training and even then whilst domesticated it is still essentially descended from a wild pack animal so will always have that nature buried somewhere within
And at least with a 'brand' over a rescue you know the history and can instill some training and control their behaviour from day one (not condoning getting a rescue dog but if there are small children around I would want that extra level of confidence)

I wouldnt say they are any more lively than some other dogs either, and some of the other suggestions are much larger. True they can be a bit skittish at times, but again any dog can

If you do end up getting a lab though – females are smaller and supposedly also less dependant

I wouldnt risk mine (Lab) with 30k off road, not at a sustained pace or without plenty of water available (they dont know how to use a camelback!)
Not even before she snapped her cruciate climbing Snowdon and got arthritus (cost us £2.2k and counting in operations and titanium plates in her leg)
Still for all her clumsiness and costly health problems we wouldnt be without her
Moral of the story – make sure you take out insurance (and get them microchipped)
Cost wise – factor in £20-30 a month insurance, £30 a month food, worming tablets, flea treatments etc, minimum of £50-75 a year vets bills

If you away even only 2 days a week for more than 4 hours at a time a rescue from the RSPCA is out – our local branch won't even let you have a rabbit if it is ever lilkely to be home alone for more than 4 hours!!
So basically they will give animals to the unemployed who cant afford to care for them but not if you have even a part time job! – No wonder the branch is threatened with closure cause of lack of funds

another vote for a lab, they are far from boring. Common maybe but boring definately not
Just keep the weight of them, I see so many overweight labs its saddening
2nd – boxer
avoid any of those annoying little yappy breeds

I thought that too
Seemed to be more adverts than there used to be as well
Its so thin even the postie doesnt bother to read my copy anymore ;)

is the blue tape no the same as Stans just a different colour?
After all didnt Spesh rip the rims off Stans Olympics and got threatened with legal action in the states over it?
If not just use Stans tape, should work just as well

they seem to be steve – some good feedback on the '10 warranty replacements on commencalownersclub.com
Heard of a few LP's snapping recently at the chainstay near the bottom bracket area

yep 2 years for original owner only, but Commie are pretty good generally with warranties etc so he may be lucky, or possibly get offered a cheap replacement frame.
The 2010 models are much improved quality wise and the cracking issues seem to have been resolved (or passed on to Lapierre ;))

run Nobby Nics year round onthe H/T for last 18 months
just switching to 2.2 Rubber Queens now
Also Maxixs tyres – High Rollers on my full susser, some of the others are good year round too

Whatever you do, get it done to meet building regs – that way you can class it as a room and it improves resale value.

that very much depends. In some (alot) cases like GrahamS highlights that can be prohibitly expensive and would not recoup the level of expenditure in resale value
Mine for example we would have had to loose half of 2 bedrooms to put in a staircase – to gain what – another very small bedroom, so 4 small beds instead of 3 larger beds

im in middle of doing mine myself, only for a bit of an office space
Had electrics and a proper decent loft ladder put up there professionally when we did extension. Rest has been down to me
Piece of piss really, just need to be careful with eaves ventilation to prevent damp
Of course it wont have building reg approval so could never be classed as a habitable room as such

Mercian Cycles in Derby
Primarily road and touring bike manufacturers (and have been longer than Raleigh) but do good job on repairs, resprays and stuff like that on all bikes
Decent prices too

Its nearly April, they are pointlessly using up (ie wasting) the rest of the budget so they dont loose funding for next year
Local Councils are great like that!

new one; http://www.jenniegow.co.uk/

Suzi who?
forgotten already

sorry – it was outside the villa but locked up
"it was taken from OUTSIDE the villa. Was tied to one of the shackles they provide with my Kryptonite lock (NOT one of the free basic locks CP give out)."

http://www.commencalownersclub.com/index.php/topic,6008.0.html

saw a thread on commencalownersclub.com about a fortnight or 3 weeks ago about someone who had their bike stolen from inside the chalet at Sherwood CP
Be careful – very careful

They are, but you don't usually draw up one set of plans for planning and another for building regs.

Depends, you can do
I did – did the planning ones myself, got permission and then got an architect to detail up building reg drawings
Very much depends on both the council concerned or if the developer is going down a full building regs approval route or a notice & inspection route.

If you raise your concerns then the planning dept have to consider them and at least request more detail from the developer

Seems there is nothing more confusing than planning regs …….

Oh there is – Building regulations!! :)

planning regs and building regs two different things
doors opening in/outwards, fire escapes and indows etc come under the building regs
It is unlikely these will be fully considered as part of the planning which is more concerned more with the visuals and impact on the property and neighbours (unless you highlight the issues as part of an objection)
Difficult to comment without seeing the proposal but it is theoretically possible it could get planning permission and then refused at building reg sign off stage as they cant actually build it to meet the planning app and still comply with building regs
Yes commercial and domestic have diff requirements esp concerning fire regulations and means of escape, if that passageway is the main route for escape from multiple properties then highly likely it cant have doors or windows opening outwards into it that could cause an obstruction

Well if I can fit an entire Commencal Meta (medium) 2 wheels, overnight bag, riding kit and laptop bag entirely in the boot of a Hyundai i30 (remove wheels, seatpost and loosen handlebars)…….

I enjoyed it immensly
After 7 laps I went out washed both cars, did some gardening and took the dog for a walk.
Came back in 2 laps before the finish and could pick it up again straight away, nothing had changed
Hadn't banked on getting anything done at all yesterday afternoon
Thankyou Bernie and Hermann Tilke for making my Sundays more productive :lol:

me too sometime

Because he'd have been OK in a head on with somebody only doing 60mph?

no obviously not you daft insensitive c***
but if the presence of a camera slowws people down and makes them pay more attention….

scottyjohn
I work collegue of mine was killed on the A9 a couple of years ago and two others seriously hurt, he had only been driving a few weeks – head on collision with an idiot that was booting it along trying to overtake a lorry before the end of the dual carrageway and failed to pull back across in time
I think that proves the case for speed camera vans at the point in question, and the case for more observation and concentration, the use of both would have meant you noticed the road had become a single carrageway and noticed the van with a big blacked out window

Next time your complaining about 3 points on your license just bear in mind that you are at least still around to use your license

And as for anger management and calling people (k)nobs then I refer you to your earlier post refering to coffeking as a 'dickhead' :roll:

if you cant have a quick rant about it on a forum for like-minded people without being flamed its a sad day.

This is a forum for mountain biking mate not ignorant speeding boy racer nobs so don't tar us all with your brush (there, now we are like minded – we both use petty insults)

…and SJ if your up the arse of a 'truck' so close you cant see the camera van then given isaid truck was probably limited to 55mph anyway something tells me if you got done then something about your story isnt 100% true, you couldnt have been that close to the truck or with speed differences you would have been underneath it :wink:
You just didnt see the camera van, or you were trying to get in front of the truck before the end of the dual section and had your foot down?

Money spinning cash cows yes but….
if you can't tell the difference between a dual and a single carrageway road and their respective speed limits without big signs to tell you then I would suggest with 3 points and £60 you are getting off very lightly
Your frankly not safe / clever / observational / concentrated enough to be driving

the problem I had with BETD was that when I tried to add 2 sets of different size bearings to my basket it only gave me the option of next day special delivery at £7 not the normal post £2.50 option
I dont want to pay an extra £5 postage when I wont be in to sign for the package and it will be 48 hours before its back at the post depot for me to collect anyway so it will actually be longer before I get my mitts on them!!
The extra £5 also meant it was cheaper to get 4 6805 2RS Enduro MAX bearings from the CRC sale and 6 SKF 608 2RS's from GAP bearings (via ebay)
(BTW Atlaz, these are for a Commencal Meta not a Giant so dont go ordering those sizes for youself)