I’ve got 3: large Makita belt sander; Bosch random orbital & Bosch palm sander – all good for different jobs.
I’d recommend a random orbital as a good general purpose one – BUT try to get one with Spring clips that uses 1/3 sheets of normal abrasive paper rather than the Velcro type of sanding pads as they work out much cheaper….

Daughter joined the Met (London) several years ago after what was a 2 year process. As part of it she had to write several essays (of several pages each) of things like: examples of when she had to show leadership; when she challenged racism; etc All required the sttuation, what she did, and the outcome…..

Hope this helps….

Off-road is almost impossible now with all the rain here in Hertfordshire. Deep gloopy mud that makes the wheels spin out going up the smallest incline & a quagmire on all of the tracks. Even mud tyres ore of little benefit – apart from being narrower. What would have been a 20+ mi outing is now 10ish in the same time. Av speed 8MPH ish!!!!!

Still getting out but increasingly using minor roads to connect up the very few gravelly or well compacted bridalways.

Sounds like poor battery to me too – not holding a charge. DO check that it’s a 12v one though as some of the older scooters & motorbikes had 6v batteries. And yes they must have an alternator to charge up the battery.

I also converted from a twin seat to a set of single captains seats. As has been said it’s easier to convert down as the single seat only uses 4 of the 6 fixings – which are captive nuts set into the floor pan. To go the other way you will need to add 2 fixings (which probably won’t be there) with reinforcing plates etc under the floor.

You will also need to check out the passenger airbag situation as going from a single passenger to a double may require a different set up. Mines a 2004 so doesn’t even have a passenger airbag anyway. But for insurance purposes you need to get it right.

I sold my double seat for £50 on eBay – which is what they seem to go for. Also DO make sure you get one with a folding back (rather than a fixed one) as these are much more useful & sought after.

The doubles are pretty uncomfortable for passengers though – particularly on long journeys – so I would make sure you try one out first….

I’ve gone through a few pairs of black industrial rubber gloves over the past few years….. Got the long arms / gauntlet ones & cut the hand off to make gaiters. I wear these over a pair of Shimano goretex boots to bridge the gap to my ankle to keep the water out. They work pretty well.

I would second to check other things first……

I had an annoying clicking from my bottom bracket on my road bike. Bought the Bb90 hope tool & a new set of bearings in readiness to replace them. I just thought I’d try to replace the pedals first – just to rule them out.

Guess what? The clicking has gone….. I am however tooled up for the replacement when the time comes…..

Found it on Virgin today CH 552 – it’s not on the online Virgin TV guide but its on. I’ve had no notification of it as a new channel (promo email etc) & tried googling it for an announcement – but nothing found…… but it’s there on a L package.

On here mainly – CTC & Bikeradar occasionally; VW T5 forum & a couple of local bike club forums…….. And of course the Bike Bargains Website…… Which I checkout daily before all of you nab the bargains!

Woolworths used to be the 6d shop (6 pence old money). It’s gone now & the £1 /99p shops have sprung up – was it ahead of its time?

I had a trailer tent when the children were young & it was pretty good. It was a French make ‘Andre Jamet’ a French make but the really good ones – Rolls-Royce like – were Conway Trailer Tents which I always aspired to…

The good thing is having beds off the ground and some space inside when it’s all folded down to store & carry all your camping kit. Bikes on the top may be an option but I preferred a tow bracket rack which leaves the tow ball free & can be used all year round. In fact I have transplanted to every successive car & its presently on my camper van (sorry VW T5 STW folk).

There is normally a few Conway T tents around – in the classifieds & possibly on EBay – and the winter is the best time to buy one before the sun comes back out and everyone thinks about camping again.

Yes – this is a real pain now. Progress??
I just used to connect my Edge 705 to the Garmin Connect website – choose UPLOAD – select the right file from my Garmin & it uploaded it in a few steps which took seconds.

Now I have to go through the Garmin Express program – select my device & wait ages for it to ‘sync’. It does upload my most recent file but also gives a long list of files it cant upload/ WTF? they are all files garmin put on there – not me…

And as for the MODERN view – what pants…. it makes little sense to me. I will be sorry to lose the CLASSIC (sensible) view I am familiar with. Rant over….

Great post! My days reflection……
I saw the televised black power salute but didn’t realise the added dimension. What a brave, selfless man.

Son recently went through it oblivious of the charge! Numpty….

He got a penalty letter yesterday which has given him the chance to pay the original charge (£2.50) – as it was his first offence with the Dart crossing – with the threat of the penalty fine if he doesn’t pay within a certain time.

I thought this was pretty reasonable……..

Lots of discussion on the T5 Forum about T5s coming from Southers Ireland. There are concerns about the accuracy of mileage & whether they have been clocked & how well they have been serviced & looked after.

Do some googling on the subject……

As a retired DT teacher a practical lesson on simple levers works really well with a simple beam & fulcrum. Get a stout piece of timber 2″x2″ sq+ and about a metre+ long. Organise the children around a table and arrange a test with the strongest (they always volunteer a champion) and another – possibly the smallest. Adjust the fulcrum to give the underdog + + mechanical advantage serupticiously.

This is a real eureka moment (no pun intended) when the underdog is proved to be stronger than the strongest. Various others will want to try it & you can furtively re-position the fulcrum each time. They are slow to get it – but eventually someone susses it out. Some smaller sets of simple equipment could be supplied so they could try it in small groups.

This can be followed up by llooking at a range of level types in real objects (pliers / scissors / nail clippers / garden shears / bolt croppers / tweezers / wheel barrow? etc) to identify the the position of the fulcrum / pivot & the likely MA.

I have used worksheets to reinforce learning with this principle – but they could be asked to draw pictures to record what they have learned.

Good luck with this – it generally works very successfully.

Well done – there are some honest & decent sellers on EBay. I’ve met plenty…..

The trick is to view the car – with the money to buy. Make them an offer – to sell it privately as eBay takes 10% & PayPal another 4% so they might be amenable to split the difference……..

I’m a recently retired teacher & a parent & can see both sides to this. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to take a holiday in school time with my family for the past 32 years – until now as I have recently retired. Unti now & they have all grown up! In fact I had to go into school in the summer for exam download days then spend the best part of the following week analysing the outcome by every conceivable way…..

The problem is not just the one pupil taking time off its the impact on the progress of the rest of the class. One pupil makes little difference, particularly if they are able, but when it comes to 2-3 etc taking time off in advance or arrears of holidays then it’s hard for the rest of the class to progress without a lot of going over the same work again. This is particularly so of the core subjects which tend to be linear in their teaching. Ie miss one bit & you don’t understand the next.

The pressure on progress & achievement is considerable in schools with performance tables & teacher accountability with many of the broader ‘educational experiences’ sidelined in favour or a very narrow academic curriculum. School are now obliged to focus on the subjects that feature in the performance tables & drop the ones – even though some pupils can excel at them AND keep them coming to school in some instances – that don’t.

Wife is a Respiratory Nurse Specialist & her advice is to reduce all fabrics in the house -carpets & soft furnishing to reduce the dust. Advantages of ionisers & dehumidifiers are not conclusive – apparently…

I’ve bought bikes outside of eBay to the advantage to both – buyer & seller. eBay takes 10% & PayPal another 4% so I have negotiated a discount of half of this against what the seller really wanted – give or take.

Most people I’ve met on eBay have been pretty decent & sometimes tend to buy ‘good’ bikes as toys & soon tire of them.

I know that Google is the carrier for Virgin Emails – but I was getting a similar problem. My bookmarks etc kept taking me to a Gmail login – which I didn’t want. Tabs if not in use would also revert to the Gmail login too – err!

I had to make other links to get to Virgin email (NTL World).

I got a notification from Virgin yesterday that they will be moving away from the Google platform. Good I hope.

On logging back in to my emails on my PC this morning it initially failed & a caption came up saying that the system thought I was a robot & to check a box…. I did and it eventually let me in.

So this may be a Virgin Media (NTL World) issue…. Or maybe that’s just a coincidence too……

Returned a couple of weeks ago from 3 weeks working my way along the SW coast of France with the camper & bikes. We were blown away by the difference in attitude to cyclists. Every campsite we stopped at were able to give us cycling maps of the area & most of the roads had designated cycle lanes – even the small ones – or a shared cycle / pedestrian path adjacent to the roads.

Drivers were also much more curtious – giving was readily & eating patiently behind & passing with plenty of room – what a difference!

We actually stopped at a Dutch RCN campsite, in France, & the Dutch even used their bikes to go to the on-site shop & the amenities block…… It just looked strange – but good.

Susan Stranks – off Magpie. Well it was in the 60’s!

very creative!

Son of 24 was sorting the new stereo (& AMP!!) out in his MK 1 Golf Cabriolet the other day with Led Zeppelin blasting out down the street! I’ve never heard him play it before…… I’m sure the neighbours wouldn’t have known what hit them!

Just to add – although I only had the 4 standard holes I retro-fitted the VW T5 roof prep rails that have a slotted profile their length. VW do sell the fixings for the additional captive nuts (which access below roof is required) but I used Riv-nuts instead which are inserted from the outside. With rails in the gulleys (with 7 M6 screws & the rearmost self -tapper) this makes an extremely solid base for any roof rails – or VW roof bars might even it into the slotted profile.

I have my pop-top & a wind out awning fitted to mine.

I second a decent flat metal scraper – a good one is well worth looking after. I also remove the sockets & light switches (yes – turn the power off first!) and replace them with the plastic terminal blocks. It’s them much easier to strip & re-paper / paint over them. Then carefully use the shape of the metal box to cut out the shape again. Lights can be ‘turned off’ by removing bulbs & extension lead brought in for power. I also use the scraper to hold down the new wallpaper & cut along it at the bottoms / ceiling with a sharp bladed knife – a snap-off bladed one….

If your T5 does not have roof prep rails already fitted there are only 4 fixing captive nuts in the roof gullies – M6 I think. If it did or does have roof prep rails then 7 captive nuts are fitted & the rearmost is a self tapper. The roof prep rails have a slotted profile that allows cross bars to be fitted anywhere along them

4 fixings might be ok for roof bars – depending on how they are to be fitted & the desired load – of course the roof could be drilled for new fittings – if you can access it from the inside. It’s worth checking your roof channels to see what blanking plugs you have.

A T5 owner……….

Wow! What a demographic we must be – and I thought I was pretty unique……..

I’ve just worn out my Merrel Chameleon gortex shoes – and yes I was also surprised on how slippery the Vibram sole was in the wet when new – but I think I must have got used to them.

I’ve just ebayed myself 2 ‘new’ (ebayed) pairs – one Chameleon waterproof & one Moab at 1/2 the price of new. I reckon I should be ok now for the next few years…..

Looks like you have to unlock them your self (steal?). They only have 1 feedback as a buyer & none as a a seller – which is normally suggestive of a scam. Is he selling ‘liberated’ bikes?

Hi Pacer – I feel for you as I did something similar last week.

I’ve had a bit of an ache at the back of my knee for some months which I thought might be a bike-fit issue – or the fact I throw myself around the squash court 4-5 times a week playing people 1/2 my own age.

Well last week in a hard squash game the wheels fell off! Extreme pain in my knee & unable to move off on that leg or twist the leg. I hobbled off & limped home.

Saw the doc the following day & after some rudimentary teats she diagnosed cruciate damage / meniscus tear. Luckily she has referred me to a knee clinic for MRI scan but the earliest appointment is in 5 weeks time. After a week the pain has died down & I can walk on it again – but still can’t twist my knee. Strangely enough I cycled to the docs as it was less painful than walking.

I’m desperate to get back & do some exercise again (squash / cycling) but can’t really risk further injury until it’s all healed up.

Used UPad to list a flat to rent. They do a range of services – the cheapest being £99 to place your property in the main website places like Right Moove & Zoopla. Within 2 days we had 8 viewings & 8 people interested in renting.

They were really helpful – in phoning up to ensure everything was OK & offering useful advice.

We were originally going to use a high street estate agent – but when he got his phone out to take the pictures – that was enough for me. We did take our own photos & wrote our own description – but then can arrange this too along with getting professional floor plans done & energy certificates.

Although it was a rental I would recommend them without hesitation for a house sale etc….

There might be a much better way – I wait to be enlightened – but I have marked out the position of the metal box & drilled a series of holes with a hammer drill & masonry bit to the right depth ( use a depth stop / tape on drill etc); & then knocked out the ‘honeycomb’ bit left with a bolster. I have tried to vacuum up the mess as it falls down . It does however fill the room with dust!

I’ve use a masonry cutting disc on an angle grinder to cut a channel in the wall for wiring too & this is very, very dusty – mask & goggles stuff!!

Or it could be German Swiss French – but they are badged up ‘GSF’ on their shops………

Read this earlier – but couldn’t respond as I was on the waaay owt…. I would look around the car for evidence of hitting debris OR could be the engine under pan coming off or coming undone & buckling under the car. A big backfire is possible on an older car – but I don’t think modern cars do this anymore. The exhaust coming off should be obvious.

I would also check for any warning lights on the dash & if running Rev it up carefully to see if it revs through the range.

But ultimately the RAC / AA etc generally give v good advice on whether a car is well enough to proceed. They have even followed the wife’s car a few junctions on the M’way to ensure things are OK when she had an intermittent fault.

Good luck anyway – & do let us know…..

Dubfeccta’s here too…..

Did my democratic duty this morning BUT frustratingly my vote is worth very little – Hertfordshire North East is an ultra safe Conservative seat & my vote is only worth 0.064 of a vote!!

Checkout – http://www.voterpower.org.uk/

In 2010 the Conservatives got 54% of the vote; Lib/Dems 23%; & Lab 16% – so tactical voting doesn’t really work either…… But I tried anyway!

Good luck to the rest of you as your vote is worth 4.8% more than mine – on average. UNLESS – your in one of the 7% very marginals OR 12% of the marginals….

I thought so too – so I googled it and could only find a question about carrying your dog in the caravan – but yes in the same thread confirmation that carrying a passenger IS illegal. BBC shocker!

On re-reading – use a G clamp to push the Pistons back to enable new PADS to be fitted…….