Agreed it probably is more representative than the FPTP system, and I think it provides a good compromise between the extremes of pure FPTP and PR.

My post was mainly in response to the claim that the Scottish system is better than the Westminster one because it offer “proportional representation” and “recognises minority views”; both of which are not true.

If the Scottish parliament was like Westminster, I wouldn’t want independence – but it’s not. We have a voting system that recognises the minority views, and being based in Scotland it represents the views of Scottish people.

It only represents the views of some of the Scottish people.

Nope – proportional representation vs. first-past-the post. It’s a better system.

The Scottish parliament doesn’t use a PR system though! The majority of seats are voted for using exactly the same first past the post system as Westminster and the rest using a weighted form of PR which favours the larger parties. So you can get the situation where a party gets 44% of the popular vote, but gains a large majority.

To make things neater;

Assuming you will only ever enter the month into that cell then you can set up “data validation” which will give you a drop down list to pick the month from;

Data->Data Validation->Settings->Allow->List

If you use the month list from your lookup data as the “Source” input then you won’t have problems with typos.

I wrote off a Ford Orion once! I was riding to the start of a race and was dicking about with my shoes and just rode into the back of it. I went through the rear windscreen and woke up in the back seat, somehow managed to crumple the boot and wing and smash the rear light cluster. I spent the next few hours in A&E getting glass pulled out of my face.

Whilst it is for marathons, I have used the FIRST Schedule, low mileage, 3 runs a week, but more intense than many

There’s a FIRST plan for halves as well (It’s the first Google hit for: first half marathon plan pdf). I used a variation of the FIRST marathon plan last year and it’s pretty tough going. It’s not a million miles from Molgrips suggestion, basically one interval session, one tempo run and a long run.

I was lucky enough to get drawn in the raffle for a works hospitality ticket for Saturday and already had tickets for Sunday so really looking forward to the weekend.

Womens race is a straight shoot out between Vos and Compton, I just think that Vos missing several rounds of the world cup has given her the opportunity to peak, and being on home soil I think she will edge it. I hope one of the Brits can make the podium, but think Cant my spoil the party.

The mens race should be a stonker, Nys has had a shocker so far in the world cup but when he’s managed to stay on his bike, or not break anything he’s looked very fast. Albert has been consistent and LVDH on early season form was very impressive, if he’s timed his training peak right I think he’ll make it double Dutch.

Take a laptop and HDMI lead?

“premium quality jungle cock” was unsurprisingly never going to end well (it’s a type of fancy chicken)

I was waiting to check out of a hotel in Sheffield and Stephen Hendry was in front of me in the queue, because the snooker was on that week I cheerily asked how he was getting on; “I’m **** checking out aren’t I”.

The only time we use one is when we are on holiday and the dog has to go into the kennels. There is a separate company recommended by the kennels that go in throughout the day and walk the dogs individually, it’s €7/hr. I have no idea how good they are, the dog seems OK when we collect her so I assume she’s getting some exercise.

I wouldn’t expect the heat of a new weld about 10mm away from an existing weld would have any further effect on the strength of the existing weld.

Welding temperature of aluminium is about 660°C and the annealing temperature is 300-400. So regardless of the impact on the surrounding area, the plate you get welded on and the new welds will be annealed and weaker than the original structure (The yield strength of annealed 6061 is about 25% that of T6 treated!)

I won’t be making the frame any weaker overall than the original design.

I think that depends on a few factors; first how much of an impact will the welding have on the surrounding area (including the existing welds) and secondly how will the increased torsional loading on the chainstays change the stress distribution locally.

My own opinion (and I’m not a frame builder) would be cold setting 5mm would be less risky and easier than welding pieces to the frame.

My daughter goes to a private school, mainly because it was our only option to keep her in English language based education (we live in The Netherlands) she mixes with children from all over the world and from a huge variety of backgrounds.

She was also in a private school before we came here although in that case it was because we weren’t happy with the teaching in the state school she originally went to (which is consistently one of the best schools in the area). The school in England was a Steiner school, and was in no way shape or form elitist.

So from my experience;

Private schools entrench divisions and elitism.

Really doesn’t ring true, not all fee paying schools are Eton.

In the Netherlands they don’t give a rats

We’ve stopped listening to the radio in the car when my daughters with us because of that. Still get caught out sometimes when it’s on TV though.

Two countries made a partnership agreement in 1703

1707

Those countries were the Kingdom of England with its territories, and the Kingdom of Scotland. The UK is the name given to the partnership. .

Great Britain is the name given to the partnership formed in 1707.

If the Union is dissolved, surely both parties return to their previous status.

Scotland is voting to leave the Union, not dissolve it.

England is not the UK, and never has been the UK.

Agreed

Ergo, split the UK and you have England, its territories, and Scotland, not rUK and Scotland.

Nobody is proposing to split the Union, Ireland left the UK and yet it still exists.

Any membership provisions of the various international treaties that have to be revised because of the split will have to be the same for both parties.

It won’t, there are precedents for this.

IMO, ELMM is basically just a tag line for the slightly less catchy ‘create a calorie deficit by adjusting diet and exercise’ which is why advocates of ELMM (me included) keep pointing out that it really is that simple, and why all of the internal mechanisms that Molgrips mentioned don’t actually make any difference to that fact (in so much as they are a hidden part of the energy balance equation, but as long as the ‘answer’ is negative their actual value is unimportant).

What they do impact on is why you can’t say for 2 people exercising the same and eating the exactly same diet the outcome will be the same; or that if a person sticks to a specific diet and exercise regime it will mean that they will continue to lose weight at the same rate i.e. we’re all special little snowflakes.

I keep mine on a sky drive

Me too.

I use OneNote, I have a tab for each project and a scribble pad for general notes. Once a project is finished I move that tab to an archive.

I’ve not spannered pro ever – lining up handlebars exactly is a piece of piss using a bit of string tied around the seatpost (assuming exactly to be ± a couple of mm).

within couple of hours to keep a bit of interest for 3 or 4 days

Within a couple of hours from Chareloi you could be in Paris! First weekend of Feb is the cyclo-cross worlds over towards Rotterdam?

Both figures are useful but GDP is the best tool for assessing the strength of a country’s economy. The multinational age innit, where a country’s based becomes less important than the affect they have locally

I agree to an extent, the jobs and resultant contribution to the local economy is important but my understanding is that a significant lump of Scotland GDP doesn’t end up in Scotland, so all of the references to an iScotland GDP per capita being higher than rUK are a little misleading.

As an example (accepted an extreme one, but it illustrates a point) Whisky; Contribution to the UK GDP = 3billion, monies retained by the UK = 400million. That’s 2.6billion that is claimed as GDP but ends up outside the UK economy; that equates to £40 per capita for the whole of the UK, or £500 per capita for an independent Scotland – a staggering difference, which is as a comparison almost 25% of the current government spending on health care (per capita). It’s all well and good claiming to have a high GDP per capita, but it is pound notes (possibly :wink: ) ending up in the treasury that pay for services.

If your lot had never signed the Edinburgh agreement written by the Yes campaign which clearly details the timeline for the vote and the subsequent negotiations, then the no vote would have the right to rubbish any SNP Yes Campaign plans

FTFY,

My particular favorite from Salmonds Christmas list was renewables obligations – ‘We propose that a single GB-wide market for electricity and gas will continue, helping the rest of the UK secure its supply and meet its renewables obligations, provided that the system also meets Scottish requirements for security of supply.’

So you want the rest of the UK to subsidise the white elephant windfarms so Scotland can then supply it’s surplus energy back to the UK at higher cost than the UK can get it from France or Holland – Cake and eat it!

Scottish public spending is actually lower as a percentage of GDP than the UK as a whole, incidentally- Westminster and the No campaign make much of the fact that we spend more per head, but ignore that we pay for it, and more. 9.6% of public spending goes to Scotland, 9.9% of GDP comes from Scotland. Better Apart again.

I had a few discussions over Christmas about independence, we were staying with the inlaws and my FiL is heavily involved with the SNP so bangs the drum whenever he can. One of the things he mentioned time and time again was Scotlands higher GDP per capita. I’m no economist, so could be very wrong about this but my understanding is that the majority of Scottish industry is owned by companies registered ‘abroad’ (circa 60% with up to 80% of ‘large’ companies AFAIK) so whilst the profits from these companies are included in the GDP figures, they wouldn’t be included in the GNP because the money doesn’t stay in Scotland – none of the SNP people I spoke to had any real insight into how this would affect the balance sheet, if I was in a position to vote I would want some idea of the affect.

I lived in Sheffield for a while so had the Peaks on my doorstep, then we moved near to Bristol and I worked in Cardiff so a post work blast around Cwmcarn was a regular thing and then at the weekends the Brecons.

Now I live in the south of the Netherlands, my ride last Sunday was 60km with 70m climbing and I think 6 of those were when I had to go upstairs to get some socks, the riding is a bit rubbish*. I can get to Limburg in an hour which has some hills and the Ardennes takes a bit longer though.

Edit: I can beat Binners for beers though!

* To be fair it’s OK, just different, the ride above was started from my house and I never touched a road and although it’s flat it’s still engaging rooty terrain where you need to give it some pasty to get the most out of the trail. On group rides average speed of 30km/hr are the order of the day

AFAIK A balance bike would be classed as a toy, so would need to comply with BS EN71 and need a CE mark, but not necessarily CEN testing.

As a bare minimum you would need a technical file which details the design, FMEA/Risk assessment, calculations and test results, QA data etc. and a declaration of conformity which states which standards the design complies. If you are to be the signatory, you need to be absolutely sure that the list of standards if appropriate and that it does meet those requirements!

it would be quite easy with a 3 axis cnc to get the spacing correct in the old sprocket to remove the eccentricity but that also means you have to have access to one

If you had a CNC mill you may as well make a 42t sprocket from scratch.

Do the pan fried recipe above then a confit for the legs is really good, better than duck IMO.

We’re going over to the inlaws in Scotland, I’m not risking out of date Tennents so have put myself in charge of beer, this taking pride of place;

I wonder how many Dutch players cycle?

I know this one, well sort of. I know a couple of guys who play for PSV but they aren’t Dutch. They don’t cycle to training or anywhere else because they’re not allowed. They aren’t allowed to drive to training either, the club sends a car for them.

The problem is that Roubaix was never their trademark.

It is, and still is in Canada and Europe.

It’s owned by ASI (Fuji) who license it so basically Specialized use the Roubaix name but with permission so have no rights whatsoever to be trying to enforce its use by others. That is the sole right of Fuji.

Yes, in the US, none of this makes any difference to the situation in Canada.

The fact that Specialized tried to trademark a name in Canada that they use under licence has probably got them in a heap of trouble with Fuji who could quite justifiably withdraw use of it for a breach of terms.

Possibly, although Fuji have to tread a little carefully if they want to continue using the patents they license from Specialized, designing a new range of bikes takes more time and costs a lot more than a re-branding exercise. It would have been interesting to have been a fly on the wall during those conference calls though! It will be interesting if there is a challenge to the Canadian registration over the next few weeks, but I suspect everyone will just keep their heads down until all of the fuss blows over.

When ASI made their statement that as ‘trademark owner’ they were happy for it to be used by Cafe Roubaix, it made Specialized look like total clowns.

The quote was all woulda, shoulda, coulda. They have no rights to the trademark in Canada and no authority to license its use. It made them look like the good guys though, so a good bit of PR.

Everything since has been damage limitation, there was no sign of Specialized conceding any ground prior to that point.

Agreed

There’s two issues getting confused here

It’s not so black and white though is it, you don’t just have 100% pure and simple counterfeit or completely unrelated product. There’s the whole grey area in between, someone stickering up wheels with Specialized registered trademark (which it still is) is very much into the very dark-grey area, Epix cycle clothing very much whiter IMO.

Besides, anyone who calls a bike repair shop not only a “café” but also refers to it as a “studio” with an “executive professional atmosphere” deserves everything they get.

“magic injections that keep mummy looking pretty” as my daughter describes ‘spa’ treatments.

Wouldn’t and can’t happen

Could and can happen, you may want to check out the trademark registration EU002931533 :wink:

Much ado about nothing IMO. The fella who opened the shop was either incredibly naïve and didn’t even do a cursory trademark check before branding. Or he did the check, knew Spesh held the trademark and took the gamble that he would get away with it. He hasn’t, and now he’s crying about it on social media. He could easily have contacted the TM holder in advance and avoided all of this hastle but he chose not to. I honestly don’t see how Specialized are being painted as the big bad wolf here.

What impact would one fatal incident resulting from a catastrophic failure of a Café Roubaix wheel or bike have on Spesh sales?
If you were sat around the Specialized board room table would you take that gamble?

When someone asks about road bikes on a more modest budget the usual advice seems to be, “buy XYZ it’s got the same frame as the pro model but cheaper components. You might want to change the wheels for something lighter and as things wear out replace them with Ultergra/DA and get some bling finishing kit as and when” and what’s the difference between a 1.5k bike and a 4k bike, it already comes with Ultegra/DA, has better wheels and branded finishing kit. So really your mate is just missing out the middle bit where he wears stuff out and replaces it. Get him to a shop to have a ride on a few, Spesh Roubaix seems a popular choice, well respected company by all accounts too :wink:

Orbea MX24 team is a superb bike, may be slightly over budget though. There are lower spec models which would be under budget though.

And there’s the ‘tactical stumble’. When you’re running and a rider is closing in on you, a well timed momentary stumble causing him to lose all momentum and have to dismount whilst you’re already running :wink:

If you can run up and down hills at the weekend do you really need to fit in hill sessions during the week?

A flat recovery run, tempo run, some intervals and some core work along with a decent ride and a hilly LSR at the weekend would seem like a plan to me.

I’ve also been invited to the gym by a colleague

Sound suspiciously like a taxable perk :wink:

My daughter was getting interested in taking pictures a while ago and in the end we got one of the Olympus tough cameras which is ‘hers’. It’s waterproof, shockproof and easy to use. It has been dropped, stood on, used as a something to fetch in the pool and still works fine.

New it was over your budget, but on e-bay I don’t know how much they go for. IMO a cheap ‘normal’ compact won’t last 5 minutes if your 7yr old is as clumsy as mine.

Really?

Considering that HMRC, your employer and last but not least me, think it’s reasonable then yes, really.

IMO I don’t think there is a discrepancy in your companies policy.

To justify lunch as an expense it would have to be necessary due to being located away from your normal workplace to pay in excess of what is considered ‘normal’. It is perfectly reasonable for them to assume that if a temporary workplace has a canteen then you would use it and therefore the amount you would pay is a ‘normal’ amount*, if you chose not to then that is entirely your choice and not a result of the travel. If the temporary workplace does not have a canteen then you have no choice but to buy lunch elsewhere which is likely to be more expensive, and in these circumstances they have agreed to reimburse you.

The fact that you make a sandwich on a normal day is neither here nor there; you still have that option available.

* I’ve had this discussion during a HMRC audit when contracting at a company that had a works canteen. I didn’t use it and bought sandwiches which I claimed for and apparently wasn’t entitled to.