Dog not well

Hands up, who doesn’t love a Cornish Patsy?

Me. I cannot even smell one without gagging. When I was 12 I bit into one and it had a cigarette end in it. Fifty years later I can still taste it when a pasty is mentioned.

really struggle to see the Greens winning Herefordshire

I’m in that constituency, North Herefordshire. It might happen. There are lots of green councillors on the Council, Ellie Chowns is very well thought of locally and they have been throwing a lot of resources and effort into canvassing. Conversely we have had nothing from the Tory, Wiggin. Unlike Ellie, I have not yet anyone who has actually met him have a good word to say. That includes me, I have met him three times.  His vocal support for a local farmer who was sent to jail and given a £1.2 million fine for  wrecking a stretch of the river Wye ( who happened to be a personal friend and Tory activist) didn’t help in some communities.

Mine was 60% up with Direct line. Strangely, my dad’s went down about £80, also with Direct Line

I had an informal one , at my request, with the head of the organisation as I had lost any respect or confidence in the HR employee ( not a department, it was just her).

Was very polite and explained a few issues that would have short and longer term consequences for the department that I was leaving in particular with H&S compliance that no one had seemed to consider. I think he thought that I was being awkward but I genuinely wanted him as ultimately answerable to understand his responsibilities. I don’t know if it made any difference as I have absolutely no contact with anyone since.

Edges.

When I was five or six I almost fell down a large pit, probably part of a drainage system on a building site ( my parents’ friend took us to see his new school being built when he probably shouldn’t have). I stepped on a concrete paving stone which cracked and I ended up with one foot trapped and the rest of me in the hole. I remember it being bottomless but probably ten or fifteen feet deep.

Ever since I have hated edges-quay sides, cliffs, bridge parapets etc. etc. As a kid I would walk as far away from any edge as possible  but if forced to stand near an edge I would feel strangely drawn to lean out and fall- scared the pants off me for years

Strangely enough I don’t have a fear of heights if I have started from the bottom, such as climbing ladders or masts of boats.

Mountain biking has greatly helped me come to terms with this, but I still am very uncomfortable on some rides with drops to one side

My paternal grandfather was in the Royal Engineers in WW1 attached to the Black Watch for most of his time in the trenches and acted as a fire warden in WW2. My maternal grandfather was not fit due to cancer surgery pre war but was a manager for RFD manufacturing life rafts and life jackets for the forces. Two of my great uncles served with the eighth  army in the western desert and then Italy. Neither talked about it to me. A third was killed in the Steinbock raids ( baby -Blitz)  in January 1944 whilst under training.
Another uncle was a conscientious objector in WW2, joined the Society of Friends Ambulance unit and served in the western desert and Italy helping develop blood transfusion services . The work they did was incorporated into development of the National Blood Transfusion Service in 1946

The image icon is available for me on IOS. It has been absent on a couple of occasions so it might be worth logging out then in again ?

Good to get the stud made, QC tool posts make things much easier

Since there are no selective state schools in the area, if we want the best education on offer, this is way to get it

In my experience selective schools are not the only ones which can provide excellent education, especially if parents of bright kids are supportive of their local schools That applies in the Godalming area as well as anywhere else. For context I lived in Godalming for fourteen years and worked in the Sixth Form College there and had links with the local schools, both local authority and Independent, including RGSG and Charterhouse.

hoping for a toddler like meltdown from the spoiled brat who thinks he knows more

Close, he’s now snippily accusing those criticising him as ‘politicising D-Day’

It’s ridiculous that a party with only 43% of the vote can get such a massive majority.

The Tories had an 80 seat majority with 43.8% of the vote in 2019. FPTP gives such results. An actual majority I.e. over 50% of the votes is rare. Labour has never had this  ( came close in 1951) , the tories have but not for many decades – pre second world war

Another option would be fine nickel silver  or nickel chrome wire which would have more tensile strength than lead. Scale would be 38swg?

Five of my great grandparents were born abroad and emigrated here just over a century ago. They were what would now be called economic migrants. Every generation since has contributed to society, including fighting and in a couple of cases dying for Britain in two world wars. I doubt if my family were that unusual. Perhaps because of that and because two of my nephews were born and raised abroad but had their university education here and now both live and work here ( they are lucky to   have dual nationality so they can work freely here and in the EU) I have a more relaxed attitude than many to the concept of migration.

it always amazes me how many people don’t see me as an immigrant because I am white and speak English.

This, although being Irish and Italian immigrants my family were not immune to prejudice in Edwardian London

That’s American black walnut

yes, it’s laminated from about 12 layers of veneer. I have found that works best for the beaks as they are stronger

Kingfisher in maple, cherry and walnut. The base is yew

I would choose a solar watch of a make of your choice. Was given a Titanium Citizen chronograph 22 years ago, it is my daily alarm still and has never had to have a battery change

Even if they give you a slightly high purchase price, the value of knowing the car and its history from new would be worth quite a bit in my view

Holiday insurance is not just for issues whilst on holiday.

When my mother died in 2018  my brother had booked a three week holiday in New Zealand that would have started about a week before. He had holiday insurance as part of his Nationwide account. She died only about three weeks after her diagnosis and he had arranged the holiday months before. The insurance company paid out nearly  £8000 to cover flights, accommodation booked, car hire etc. with very little hassle when he cancelled for illness of a close family member.

my Dad did national service for 3 years out in the middle-east and said it was the best thing that could have happened to a young lad

National service was 18 months, two years during the Korean War for some men ( like my dad, and boy did he resent the extra months ) They were then on the reserve list for four years, doing up to two or three weeks training three times in that period.

If he did three years some must have been as a volunteer I would imagine.

If it’s only heated for an evening at a time I wouldn’t bother with insulation, it’ll have lost all its heat between uses so it makes negligible difference

I would insulate. I did with kingspan seconds- damaged panels from a local supplier with 6 mm mdf over the top. Did the roof the same so wasn’t expensive. The reason I did it even though I don’t work in it every day is that it dramatically cuts down on condensation which damages any tools. I used 2x18mm at 600mm wide glued mdf supported on 50×50 timber along one long side to which I attached two vices as a work surface.

no one under the age of 85 in the UK has completed national service……

My father who is 92 did National service, and got sent to the Korean War. As I have said before on this topic, he absolutely hated his entire time, whilst in Korea he was patronised and belittled by the regular army and it instilled in him a active dislike of any authority and a passionate dislike of the Monarchy., both of which he passed on to me and my brother. So if his experience is anything to go by I am not sure any compulsory service of any kind will actually do what he intended.

As a balance , his best friend spent his NS as an officer driving tanks around Salisbury Plain and quite enjoyed the experience, so I am guessing it would depend on the context and influence as is always the case here.

just looked @ uk population by age group, the Army could have to find facilities to house 1 million new recruits

The devil is in the detail. If I have read it correctly there would only be 30000 in the forces for a whole year selected competitively ( “ the brightest and best” ), everyone else would have mandatory “voluntary” work ( yes, I know but apparently that is what it says) for 12 weekends in the year. Still going to cost many, many millions per year

Anyone else relishing ‘chatting’ with any Tory canvassers with the brass neck to knock on their door?

In the 25 years that have lived in this house, we have never had a Tory canvasser,( nor labour or lib dem to be fair) and only rarely any Tory literature. That’s because it was a very safe blue seat  ( 24500 majority) and we live a little out of the main village and I suppose it wasn’t worth their while.
Since the local elections last year where our ward overwhelmingly voted for a green councillor we have had five or six visits from the local green candidate’s canvassers and if their polling is anywhere near correct then it could be close in the general election. I am expecting visits this year from the tories.

windows have been AM tinted as they are far darker than the skoda tinted glass

I think you could spec at additional cost a 65% tint on rear glass on Octavia estates- you still can on Golf estates, but no mention in advert?

Interesting that it was MOT tested in August 2022 when it’s registered in February 2020- I didn’t know that that could be done . It did 16000 miles in 2 1/2 years and then 16000 each year afterward, also no advisories on either MOT. Presumably changed hands at about  2 1/2 years and been used much more on the motorway since? How many owners?

about how pointless manual gearboxes are on most cars.

On some cars though DSG gearboxes are not great, I bought my current car precisely because it was one of the last of that model made without a DSG. This was because on the emissions test cycles in use at the time DSG used less fuel and so helped reduce the corporate average although in the real world they actually use a little more. Oh, and DSG allows launch control to shave that so important half a second off the 0-60 time

I spent four months not driving at all during my round the world trip and then two months and 6000 miles driving an auto LHD in the states and Canada. I had absolutely no trouble in the auto, when I got home and got in my manual car I had no issues starting, reversing out and driving off down the road… until I came to a T junction and forgot to dip the clutch. Only did it once though.

I have used MyTyres in the past, but that was for steel wheels with winters on as a package so didn’t have to find a local fitter. They were the best option at the time. For all other tyres I use our local independent place who always seems to be in the same ballpark as the online ones so more convenient for me

Yes I have, although  as a navigator/ bouncer on the Exeter Trial in a 1952  Morgan so not entirely relevant. What I will say is that it was a fantastic experience and I would love to do it as a driver. The event was so supportive and friendly especially to novices so I would suggest going to another trial and just asking around and I would be astonished if you don’t find it invaluable.

All the motorcyclists looked absolutely exhausted by the end though, more than the drivers or navigators in the cars so not to be undertaken lightly

Tomato ketchup

I love tomatoes- fresh, sun dried, soup, roasted, fried, in other sauces, casseroles etc. etc

can’t stomach ketchup

The worst that I have visited was Boston in 1995. Might have had something to do with being absolutely knackered after two internal flights from the west coast ( it was the cheapest way then) and having a ‘discussion’ with a security guard regarding the sign above the scanners saying you could ask for exposed film canisters to be passed round which I asked for him to do. He was really rather rude and perhaps stupidly I argued… I think that may have been the closest that I ever got to being arrested in my round the world trip. It was cramped, dirty and soullless

The best is St. Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly, but that may be because it isn’t actually an international airport so there are no security checks and they are keen that no one stays there for more than about three quarters of an hour before the flight * and the view from the cafe veranda is amazing

* although bit can be a tad crowded if the flights are delayed by bad weather which is not unusual

Do you have an astigmatism in either eye?

If so you will have been used to the distortion this brings and your brain is coming to terms with the ‘correct’ shapes. Give it a while and more you wear them the easier the transition should be when you are wearing the glasses

I wouldn’t be happy continuing to use those. Having witnessed what happens when carbon bars break- sudden failure and immediate loss of control- It would make me very nervous having my son riding with that damage.

shouting about warranties when it all goes breasts skyward.

I didn’t start using unbranded ink until till well after any warranty ran out. Having said that I have not had any more  issues with the inks requiring head cleaning with them compared to the branded products- both require cleaning if left a long while between uses ( like months) . I have a cheap monochrome laser for day to day use but if I need a colour document it is often 20 odd pages full colour so expensive if using branded ones.

I have the same Logitek device and it works well with my 45 year old A&R Cambridge A60 (which uses DIN plugs!)

Do you have a link to the epson you are using?

Epson XP55, I think it is discontinued now, I bought six or seven years ago when I was printing high resolution images regularly, I think cheaper ones can be bought and still get generic ink off eBay etc.

edit: I think the XP65 is the current equivalent

I have an epson printer and it will use generic ink although they are not necessarily as good ( colour match and stability) as the original ones. But instead of being £17 each they are £2 or less bought in bulk. So as I don’t print high dpi photos on premium gloss paper any more on it it’s a no brainier to use the cheap ones.

He was also wonderfully vicious in Wolf Hall as the Duke of Norfolk

I have the Worx one linked to above. It came with two batteries and I have yet to use up both in strimming  the parts of the garden that we have which is quite a large area but not really tough going as we never let it get too overgrown. No it isn’t as good as the professional stuff but it has been entirely reliable in the two years that I have had it.

I am 6’2” and it is just about long enough at full extension for me to use comfortably, any taller and it would involve too much bending over for my liking.

Being able to shorten it and rotate the guard means it stores really easily in the shed hanging from a hook under a shelf

I never understood the appeal of Oasis. I genuinely think I can only name one song of theirs off the top of my head. I am aware that I might be in a minority on this one

What is the most realistic non boat way of getting there?

you can catch a helicopter from Penzance to Tresco, or fly Skybus Twin Otter from Lands End every day but Sunday or Twin Otter from Exeter or Newquay some days in the week. None of those options are cheap….

The campsite on St. Agnes has an amazing view, but I would suggest staying on St. Mary’s for your first visit- more to do in the evenings and easy access to the off islands