retro83
Thanks for your help. I was being dim – I was expecting the .exe file I downloaded from Canon to install the UI as well as the W8.1 driver. I’ve download the scanner app from Microsoft, and that seems to work OK.

SORTED – THANKS.

My daughter drove with Young Driver:
Young driver website[/url]
when she was 13. She seemed to enjoy it and I was surprised how much she was able to do – either she was good, or the instruction was. Cost was £35 for 30 minutes, which was probably long enough as she was working hard. If it grows into a regular thing, you can buy a voucher for 6 lessons for the price of 5.

Lessons in full-size cars are for age 10 to 17 years, but the main requirement is being tall enough to reach the pedals.
Venues advertised near Leeds are:
BRADFORD, THE BROADWAY SHOPPING CENTRE
LEEDS, CHURCH FENTON EAST AIRPORT
PENISTONE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, BARNSLEY, YORKSHIRE

Looks like they have got sponsership from Admiral Insurance since we did it.

I think I have read that using a dishwasher is recommended – not tried it myself.
Might be best to avoid normal dishwasher detergents; I think they are quite strongly alkali.
Dartington Crystal suggest using a low temperature program and Finish detergent:
Dartington Crystal caring for glassware link
I don’t know how alkali Finish detergent is, but warm alkalis will corrode aluminium, zinc alloys, and increase chances of corrosion if you have two different metals in contact.
Perhaps like it says on many clothes washing instructions, it would be best to test on a small inconspicuous part first.

Might be worth bearing in mind:
I think the Goodyear 4 seasons and the Nokia Allweathers are both directional, whereas the Vredstein Quatrac 5 are asymmetric, so more suitable if you use a full-size spare.

As above – Doro seem well designed by people who know what works.

We got my mum a Doro a couple of years ago from Tesco; it came with a charging cradle. Her memory isn’t the best, but she has got used to leaving the cradle plugged in and switched on (won’t use much power), always putting the phone on the cradle when she gets home, taking it with her when she goes out and not just switching it on if she wants to make a call. The earpiece volume will go loud enough for someone with poor hearing, and the characters on the screen seem larger than most. It is a clamshell, so is protected from the many rough, sharp and pointy things she seems to carry in her handbag.

Drac – very good, finally got it, took me a while. Think the brain is a bit fluffy this morning.

I have had success finding quite small leaks by putting the wheel in the bath and looking for bubbles.

However:
I now know it is quite easy to scratch the bath.
Having seen a car fall off a jack, I would advise not taking the wheel off unless you have the right gear (axle stand or similar, torque wrench for tightening the nuts/bolts properly), and know what you are doing (things like don’t work where you might get run over, chock the other wheels, use the jacking points, don’t put any part of you under the car…) – I expect there is good advice on places like the AA website, and good demos on youtube.

sadexpunk,

Sorry – just read the Lincolnshire Pass Plus page again – unfortunately, they say their course is available to recently qualified drivers aged between 17 and 24, so she wouldn’t be eligible.

I still think she might find some more training such as Pass Plus useful, but like squirrelking said, maybe after a bit more experience and opportunity to start developing bad habits.

EDIT – posted at same time as you. Agreed, still worth asking them (and yes, I’m a beginner at posting links, or indeed posting anything).

Jingle

sadexpunk,

If you are in Lincolnshire, the council website for pass plus is worth a look:
Lincolnshire Rad Safety Partnership Pass Plus

From their blurb:
They offer a half day theory session, then a minimum of 6 hours practical driving, for £150 reduced to £50 if the client submits an annual driving history questionnaire for a minimum of three years. Various venues are available for the theory (I know Lincolnshire is a large county), and the practical can be one or more sessions depending on the client’s personal needs and availability.

That seems very good value to me.

Jingle

You are right: e-bay is a good place to look. There are all sorts of conditions and prices, but you can usually find a good deal – maybe ask a couple of questions before travelling to view. Be aware of the hassle of returning something supplied by post from a private seller if it isn’t quite what you hoped.

Morrisons supermarket sometimes have train sets which are compatible and seem a very reasonable price. I think Mothercare sell compatible parts and sets (may be their own brand) – after last Christmas some were reduced to reasonable prices.

Leftyboy asked about a making gluten-free bread.

I have found Doves gluten free white bread flour blend in Morrisons and Sainsbury’s. There is a recipe on the packet that makes a reasonable gluten-free loaf in a Panasonic SD0206 or a Delta Kitchen 40924 (Lidl or Aldi I think). It uses a couple of eggs to help bind instead of the gluten, texture is somewhere between bread and cake, and doesn’t keep very well, but has that lovely fresh baked smell for a while.

As for gluten-free bread in general, the most bread-like I have found is the Newburn Bakehouse gluten free white farmhouse loaf sold in Sainsbury’s: seems a lot more bready than the Genius gluten free white sandwich loaf that Morrisons sell, and better value too. The ds gluen free white ciabatta rolls that Morrisons sell seem ok, and are fairly long life (about a couple of months), but two quid for four seems expensive, so they only get bought as a stand-by, and eaten as a treat when they are getting close to the use-by date.

If you are the sociable sort, there is a lot of good local knowledge in the Teign Valley Pedal Bashers:

There are about 100 members, so when I rode with them a few years ago, the group was large enough to find people of a like mind.
By the looks of it, they had a few rides recently from Torbay:
Thur 20 Nov was from the Crown and Sceptre, Torquay
Sun 16 Nov was from Oxen Cove, Brixham
Sun 2 Nov was from Noah’s Ark, Paignton
recent rides from Kingskerswell and Newton Abbot were close enough to cycle to and from.

They are a friendly bunch – if you are visiting Torquay to scout for your move, I’m sure they would welcome you getting in touch and joining a ride, or just turning up at the end and socialising.

Jingle

I’m in the same boat with my Mum and her Windows 7 laptop.

On my last visit, I created an account with administrator rights, then changed her account from administrator to user. If that hasn’t fixed it for my next visit, I will probably try something like the helpdeskgeek guide to Windows 7 local group policy editor:

null

But I’m sure there are people around here who may know a better way.

Jingle

sharkbait

You could spend ages on this, but I would recommend reading independent reviews, and thinking about what compromise between dry braking, wet braking, dry cornering, wet cornering, aquaplaning straight, aquaplaning on bends, noise, comfort and wear you want. If you can find reviews of the size, speed and load rating you need plus the make and tread pattern you are considering, even better.

As well as Which? magazine and Autoexpress website recommended above, another good review site is the German magazine ADAC
http://www.adac.de/
Babelfish makes a fair job of translating if you use a bit of common sense (some German words aren't translated, and lower numbers are better). The Nexen you mentioned are not reviewed, but there do seem to be some surprises. For example; in the test of 155/70 R13T summer tyres, the Mayloya Crono (never heard of 'em, seem cheap on Google shopping) scored "Recommendable", whilst the BFGoodrich Touring (I would have expected BFGoodrich to know what they are doing) scored "Not recommendable".

Depends how long you want to spend researching against how much money you will save or performance you will gain.

Summary
There is a huge difference in the price from different retailers: when you finally decide which make and model to go for, check the internet and ring round local depots: one that is convenient for you might be expensive but offer to price-match other depots in the area. Don't forget main dealers: some can be competitive on tyres.
To decide between makes and models of tyre: generally you get what you pay for, with diminishing returns towards the top of the price range. The difficult bit is finding a mid-price brand that gives mid-price performance, not budget: that is why I would look at some reviews.

Reviews
Might be worth reading some reviews by qualified indepedent testers.
If you wander into a library, you should be able to check out Which? magazines, which frequently have tyre tests. You can view their results online:
http://www.which.co.uk/
but only if you sign up with them (it is a one-month free trial, but the faff of signing up and cancelling may be more trouble than going to the library.
Some car magazines do reviews which should be independent:
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/
might be worth a look.

Other options
To be controversial, if you are not in a tearing hurry, have you considered part-worn tyres? There are depots selling them, and loads on ebay. I was wary of them until the bloke in a part-worn tyre shop asked me if I always put new tyres on every second-hand car I bought. There is no way of knowing the history of a second-hand tyre (whether it has been run under-inflated or been in a crash), but plenty of people happily buy second-hand tyres on second-hand cars without knowing much more, and seem to survive. I figure that any severe damage will show. If you are thinking of this option, it might be worth checking a local tyre depot will fit and balance them, and the cost. You should check the tyres, or if you are not confident, get somone you trust.

My experience
I bought a set of wheels and tyres for my car on ebay: two tyres were Michelin with around 7mm tread (new is 8mm, legal limit is 1.6mm, recommendation is replace at 2mm, or 3mm to maintain wet weather performance). Cost was £62 plus a 50 mile round drive to collect. New price for the two would have been £218.

I bought a pair of Michelin from a scrap yard on ebay: they claimed 7mm tread, I was slightly miffed to find 6mm. Cost was £105 posted. Took to a local tyre depot with a pair of wheels with worn-out tyres, left with them for fit and balance when they could fit it in, no hurry. Collected two days later for £10 in the coffee fund. New price for the two would now have been £240.

Just in case you get the impression that cost is my only consideration, during the research I read that winter tyres give safer performance below 7C, and much better than normal UK tyres (which many countries call Summer tyres) on snow and ice. With the cold snap this winter, I bought a set: most local depots couldn't get, but my local Toyota dealer matched the best price on the internet: £582.