Hmm..I’ve been to tech college, polytechnic and university (under and post-grad)
20+ years ago it tended to be universities for (more academic) degrees, tech colleges/polys tended to be more vocational (but polys also did degrees – in fact one of the former polys – I forget which – used to be the one of the best places for 3d computer graphics)
Polys then converted to universities.
There’s now a wider range of degree courses – many of them more vocational.
So it wouldn’t surprise me if many of the former polys now handle the more vocational and less ‘academic’ degrees…in which case the only thing that’s really changed is what’s called a degree.

Perhaps it’s not worth getting one’s knickers in a knot about whether a ‘degree’ is devalued – the context is – as it always used to be – the grade, the subject, and where you studied.

Plus if anyone’s any good it’ll be pretty obvious when you interview then (and certainly during their probation period) – tho’ I take the point about differentiation from other people. There would have been people on my course that at least got an Ordinary, but I certainly wouldn’t wanted to have employed them.

I don’t agree with ‘the value of education dropping’ – there’s most to it that it’s pure monetary value. Financially I’d probably have been better going into engineering management, or a s/w engineer in the City, or being a plasterer or builder. But I didn’t – I’m still a techy spod. But I had probably the best time of my life – both educationally and as an experience – at uni.

>It’ll kill off the arts and humanities

Shouldn’t do. Some of the best paid people I know came from that kind of background and are in marketing or management…I can assure you that I wouldn’t necessarily wish managers of an engineering background on anyone !

That’s exactly it – the limiting factor is your slower usb1 (actually usb1.1) drive/interface. Yes, the larger slot-style plugs are the same for both (there’s a mini connector for things like phones/cameras etc)

You’ll always get something distinctly less than the raw usb speed.
Eg the 480 Mbps figure (60 Mbytes/s) is the base signalling rate, *not* the effective data rate, and doesn’t include a whole lot of overhead in the usb protocol (ie how the signalling works). The maximum rate you’d get in practice would be about 52 Mbytes/sec, in reality with a recent PC it might achieve 32-45. If the disk drives keep up of course 🙂

Should you care 😉 – a usb2.0 host (generally a pc) has to support High speed (480MBps), Full Speed (12MBps), and Low Speed (a whacking 1.5Mbps) ‘cos any of that lot may be connected to it – your usb1.1 device will run at 12Mbps peak. A keyboard or mouse would probably be Low speed.

I suspect you’ve got a usb2.0 hub, but if you were using an old one that was usb1.1 a similar thing would apply – except now a usb2 drive connected to the pc via that hub would just work at 12Mbps, since the hub would be the limiting factor.

My OH’s had more recent dealings with ’em that I have – but I think things have changed a bit with email. Used to be the case you’d talk to someone first, send a cv, ring them to see they’d got it, etc. Now every man and his dog (ok, someone might have to type it in for the dog) can take the scattergun approach via email. Agencies (all? some? – surfmat) – may just search CVs for the correct buzzwords. I’d still go for the call/send/call approach…

There’s one section of my walk between the station and the office that’s only got a footpath one side (hedgerow on t’other) and several sections that get big puddles. *Most* days I remember to walk another route if it’s been chucking it down, but I’ve been caught by inconsiderate tossers occasionally – it’s quite a long section of and visibility each way isn’t quite good enough to guarantee to get past the whole lot (even legging it).

ISTR there’s a bylaw which covers getting splashed – from the days of horsedrawn carriages/carts etc.

>is the marketing value of ‘real ale’ important to Timothy Taylor nowadays, or are they happy to pitch it out any which way?

That’s not necessarily the issue.
The one advantage of nitrokeg beer (it’s mostly nitrogen, not CO2 AFAIA) is that the beer keeps. Eg our hall bar at uni was all nitrokeg beer – Sam Smiths, Bass, Courage – because it wouldn’t go off before it was sold (ie low volume sales). Whereas most Sams pubs I know use the cask-conditioned stuff.
Oh, and the nitrokeg stuff tends (or used to) pass through a cooler – they’re usually too cold for real ale…why on earth anyone would was to drink ‘extra’ cold Guiness beats me (or Guiness for that matter, the beer of last resort before lager AFAIC..)

For ‘real ale’ read cask-conditioned – doesn’t mean you won’t find the eqivalent in a nitrokeg tho’, for the reason mentioned.

>You could even argue that it’s no longer required and CAMRA can disband, mission accomplished

Wrong on numerous counts – CAMRA does campaigning on various isses, currently has a Locale scheme ongoing to promote locally brewed beers in pubs (and not particularly from the big brewers), there’s it’s share ownership scheme to have some say in pub companies, it’s assorted publications both as books or membership magazine/paper (where else to advertise beers festivals to your target market?). Plus (mostly at the local level) orgaising beer festivals – that’s all done by voluteers from the membership.

>Lot of poncery and snobbishess surrounding beer
Rubbish. You just have to look after then stuff properly, if you don’t it’ll taste like shite. You don’t see any poncery or snobbishness at a beer festival, unless you think not lobbing it down yer neck without tasting it falls into one or other description. You *have* been to a beer festival…?

Edit – I’m not much of a fan of nitrokeg beer – all a bit bland and not much like the real thing. Like lager, but different…

@HoratioHufnagel

– there’s a couple of VAG independents nearish me – Wheelbase in Hersham (nr Walton-On-Thames), and there’s WVC close to Byfleet/Brooklands (or at least the service centre is). Last time I used WVC and they were fine, but it’s a bit of a toss-up which I use next – the prices last time were pretty close. WVC are advertising ‘cambelt from 265+ vat’ at the mo’, tho’ what that’s on I dunno. Hmm…I’ve just realised ours might need doing this time round 🙁

A bit further from you – there’s a guy myself and some colleagues have used for various stuff nr Thorpe Park who does a good job at decent prices – I’ve had him to do suspension/brake work that the dealers/independents have picked up on/mentioned but still seemed a bit expensive for. The only service I’ve had done so far (it’s the OH’s ex company car) was by an independent to make sure anything got picked up since they see just VAG stuff.

http://www.js-mechanical-repairs.co.uk/

http://wvcservicecentre.compucars.net/index.asp
http://www.wheelbase.uk.com/

When we took ours out ~5 yrs ago (repayment, variable, offset) it was something like 37% my net and 27% for my OH – tho’ the backup was that we had sufficient room that if interest rates did increase we could let out a room (or two if we got really stuck). Managed to rationalise some savings too initially to offset it a bit. OH was off work for a year a few years ago, fortunately had a decent redundancy payout which covered her repayments plus she was pretty frugal, and held onto a decent lump of it. Although the repayments are dropping a lot more of late we’ve overpaid throughout and have something like 6-7 years left to pay at the notional rate, or a lot less at the rate we’re going. Just as well ‘cos at 47 my pension’s rubbish (not helped by Equitable Life and a few other issues) and the cash not going into the mortgage needs investing elsewhere…

(FWIW my car croaked 5 yrs ago and I’ve not replaced it, my OH’s car is her old company car, now 160k+ and 7 yrs old, and we’ve cut our cloth accordingly with holidays with 3 away from home in 5 yrs – tho’ we’re not feeling hard done by, I should add..)

Please excuse the following tome 😉 – apart from the light sensitivity, sounds not unlike a problem I had some years ago (which returns from time to time with varying degrees of shittiness – typically like having a dull hangover).
On one road bike commute, too tense in shoulders/neck (and head up) – a real throbbing headache came on in seconds. Dulled down a little afterwards, but then had it for 3-4 weeks before physio – manipulating the topmost vertebrae that could be reached, and applying some traction to the neck – seemed to start to relieve it. Appeared to be that the neck muscles had gone into spasm, resulting in the tension headache, and kinda stayed that way.
Since then (10 yrs ago?) normally happens for no more than a day until last summer – great timing, had it on holiday too 🙁 Had a month of it before I found out it was lower down the neck, nearer the shoulders, that needed some manipulating (done lying down with no tension in the neck – trying to massage it when the muscles are supporting the neck does nothing for it.)

Some things that help in my case when I feel it starting – letting the head drop forward (chin on chest) stretches out the back of the neck – even helping the pull with the arms.
Very hot flannel on the back of the neck helps to relax the muscles. Lying in bed facing the ceiling, pull the shoulderblades together (while keeping them flat to your back – kinda like pushing your shoulders into the mattress). Same position – can do it at the same time as the shoulders thing – facing ceiling, push back head into mattress using the neck muscles (chin approaches chest a little, but your head is still parallel to the ceiling IYSWIM) – again, stretches out the back of the neck (can also push your tongue against the roof of your mouth – supposed to help engage the neck muscles). Lying on mattress so its edge is slightly higher then the bottom of the skull – ie high enough to support head/head so head is still facing the ceiling, not dropping over the edge. Hands under chin with slight pressure (eg effect of gravity on arms) – shouldn't compress the neck, but should give a stretch felt in upper back between shoulderblades.

Things I avoid doing – riding a road bike or anything too low (in fact the only cycling I've done in the last year or two has been on a recumbent); leaning forward looking ahead – eg leaning on a pub table 😉 – or anything that might tense the back of the neck for more than a short amount of time.

YMMV of course – some of the above is from physios, some from searching the web, some by trial and error.

Or even
"Life is just to short to fanny about debating the ins and outs of scraping the hair of yer face."

😉

I've got a pretty sensitive skin – shaving every day in my teens/20s would leave my face like a piece of raw meat after a week, but *probably* because I was shaving against the grain.

Only shave once or twice a week but don't get any of the irritation I used to with, guess what?
Razor (40-60s era no idea what)
Blades (whatever's in the supermarket, which typically isn't as fancy as Gillette of Wilksinson Sword)
Bog standard washing soap (or whatever's available)

No faffing around agonising over brushes, foam etc.

If you lot are this bad over shaving, gawd knows what you're like about bikes 🙂

Check what the warranty is from PCworld – you may find that it's only a year warranty, whereas the equivalent model bought from A N Other Asus reseller is the (standard) *2* yrs for what was effectively the same model. At least, that's what I found when I bought an N61 some months back.

You *can* buy an Asus warranty extension – again, from a reseller, rather than getting a possibly overpriced PCworld warranty. I could be cynical and say that PCworld do it to lower the initial ticket price, only to claw it back with a (more expensive?) warranty extension.

If you want owners reviews/feedback on the Asus – or any other – try:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-reviews-owners-lounges/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/notebook-manufacturers/

I've got a mars 4.0 too – pretty damn bright, but I thought I might have got a little longer out of the first set of batteries considering it's used flash-only. Perhaps I'm expecting a bit too much for something that bright. Mine sits on a bag loop, and it's only got really drenched once or twice, so I can't really comment on the mount/sealing – tho' the mount looks like it ought to work well (a bit like that on an old Spesh Las Vegas I've used most of the time).
Certainly does what I want, which is a bloomin' bright backup for the more weedy reflector/led unit bolted to the rack of my commuter.

>why not just ride in a tshirt and shorts?

ISTR from a few years back, it wasn't even that much sometimes 😉

Can't stand my bits wandering around in normal shorts, plus lycra dries out/moves moisture better – not to mention t-shirts suck in the rain imo…

>I can't see the harm or a bit of grease or copa slip
>No way will grease ovalise the head tube.

Well, IIRC the (mechanic/support) guy at Spesh reckoned it allowed a bit more movement which is why they'd seen some problems. I'm just relating his advice – I think I'll go with that in the absence of any well-supported argument otherwise. Plus there shouldn't be any need to use grease if everything's reamed/toleranced correctly. As I said, argue amongst yerselves, makes no difference to me. Cheerio !

>BoJo takes credit for an awful lot of stuff that was implemented/conceived during Red Ken's reign

Yeah, I'm aware he's done that in a few (?) cases (and AFAIC the blue paint thing's mainly window dressing – I haven't had reason to cycle into London for quite a while so can't really comment) – but AFAIA the one I mentioned hadn't come up before. I could, of course be wrong…

>I believe if the rules aren't fit for purpose or stupid they wouldn't be there, or certainly wouldn't last long

Really ?
There's been a couple of cases over the last handful of years where it's been intended (by the DSA?) to make using cyclepaths if not compulsory then advisory, and they've eventually backed down after the CTC/LCC etc have argued against it.

I'm not aware of anything that's been repealed (tho' that could, of course, be a what-have-the-romans-done-for-us statement 😉 )- I suspect to get anything that isn't fit for purpose or stupid *removed*, or the law/highway code altered once it's there is a lot harder.
Although I can't work out whether I think Boris Johnson is an idiot or not, credit to him for trialling, and implementing, the one-way street/two-way cyclepath stuff.

General.

Like timbur, mine used to lock up – but running for the bus. Sorted by kneeling on the ground carefully to put it back in place. Arthroscopy about 17 or 18 years ago (removed about 2/3 of the cartiliage on the inside of the knee. Generally been ok but the combination of snowboard lessons in hard boots – and a board set up daffy 🙁 – and unicycling, about 7 or 8 years ago definitely made both knees worse for a while, not been quite the same since.

I think there may be other options than removal nowadays (but may be ££) – have a search for 'carticell' (IIRC). Cartiliage cells are removed, cultured and replaced in the damaged area to repair it.

Oh, and apart for running for the bus/train, I don't ! – I'm a little worried about causing any more damage than there is already, not to mention it's a little uncomfortable at times…

>don't parade about the house

Not too sure what the nieghbours at the bottom of the garden make of me if I go out watering the garden – bib shorts with half height welly boots probably look a little bizarre…

It's worth keeping an eye on probikekit.co.uk – they often have offers on Nalini bib shorts – in fact:
http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=C8185
– they're not bad at all (and certainly fine for <20 quid) – I've only really been using them this summer (3 pairs over 3 or 4 days commuting a week) so I dunno how well they last yet. Haven't yet resorted to wearing any non-bibs this year, yet.

BTW – the Nalinis seem to be a bit oversized – I normally wear 30-32ish waist stuff, had to order size 3 (26-28) to get the right fit – generally a big, plus the leg grippers were too loose (and I'm not skinny).

I haven't bought Lusso bib shorts, but judging by their Roubaix (thermal) and Coolmax (thick lycra) longs, they ought to be well worth a try.

>use grease.

Not according to Spesh UK – IIRC they've previously reckoned they've seen ovalised headtubes as a result (I specifically asked after a Pig DH wouldn't go in quite flush). But argue amongst yerselves if you like..

>At least the vehicles keep us in check a bit. No cars will equal a no-holds-barred cycle free for all. I reckon we'll see more 'cycling' related accidents

Yeah, absolutely *terrible* fist-fights all over China before car ownership became more common, I dunno how they all survived…

My (similarly discounted) Troy Lee XCs have just arrived from CRC – white tho', which may not sound like a great idea but at least drivers might spot 'em (and me) a little easier. Seem pretty decent – wouldn't minda double layer on the palm, but it's mostly for use on a recumbent so it's not like they'll get much grief anyway.
FWIW I've used my old Sidewinders all-year round, not so thick that they're too hot in the summer, not so thin that they're too cold for much of the winter.

>Anyone got the times of the money shots ?

Isn't that going to be rather individual-dependant?
😉

Ours – '02 A4 Avant 1.9, the OH's company car from new (we bought it at about 140k), currently 160k+, first clutch replaced at around 120k.

I went on a conservation workcamp about 20-odd years ago – met the OH there, in fact 🙂 – clearing gorse from slopes off the back of cheddar gorge. First day spent avoiding getting spiked (despite gloves), after that, kinda give up trying to avoid it and get used to it. Probably took a couple of weeks for all the little fragments of thorn to work their way out of my hands, accompanied by a little bit of pus !

>It's not weight that's the issue with synthetic bags, it's pack size (bulk)

Well, if he's got lots of hills and the room for a larger pack, mebbe it's not the issue 😉 – he *did* say it's likely to get wet (whcih was exactly the reason I was looking at 'em recently – eventually stuck with my old – large – synthetic bag, but I wasn't trying to lob it onto a bike..)

Apart from taking some legal advice (not necessarily paid for), the 'raise a grievance' is a good place to start – it sounds like like you've tried that already – was it done formally/in writing ? – they have to deal with that in some way (company procedures?) – if they don't then that's in your favour legally. Keep a careful record of what has/is going on and what's been said, if it comes to a tribunal it'll help.

AFAIA, constructive dismissal isn't easy to prove, despite how many people mention it, and you have to be very sure of the circumstances that allow you to use that argument – tho' it sounds like richmtb ought to have some insight. Bear in mind that's it's another form of unfair dismissal – unless there's discrimination involved (race/sex/disability – I think that covers it), all you may be awarded is for loss of earnings between the current job and the next, which may not be a fat lot. In some ways the best you can expect would to be for them to offer a compromise agreement (here's some money because we're terminating your contract unfairly) but how you'd persuade them to do that (working set hours, pursuing grievance, mebbe) I dunno.

My OH wound up with a compromise agreement some years ago after her manager taking her through an unwarranted capability procedure, and trying to overload her with work so she'd crack (not an uncommon approach it seems). She didn't, and eventually the little prick got hr to sort a compromise – fortunately worked out ok (I suspect 'cos their HR were a decent bunch. A **lot** of grief over 6 months tho'…

BTW – taking legal action shouldn't make any difference ot future employers, if they're that concerned about it maybe you don't need to work for them 😉 And if you are signed off for stress – again, be clean with the next employer – a mate's wife wasn't and got marched out when they found it – simply for not being truthful. Regarding references – I think it's difficult for an emplyer not to give you reference, but all it may be (or need to be) is 'yes they worked here for n years…'

Just ignore the gauze and redress it – you'll just mess it up trying to get the bits out.
However – it's not to late to use a film dressing, as TJ suggested (iirc tagaderm – you can buy them as single sheets from a pharmacy, tho' Boots do their own version but you might be more limited in sizes).
They work an absolute treat – the scab underneath softens and you'll get some liquid build up (might need to apply a new one after 3/4/5 days if it starts to leak), but because everything softens there's no solid scab to get knocked off or crack up and weep – and it keeps your clothes/bed sheets clean (ok, it doesn't change them, stick 'em in the washing machine, etc…). After a week or so there'll probably be nice new skin underneath. Might take a little faffing to cover somewhere bendy like your knee, but probably worth a try..

>Chemicals do not work at all on stumps

Had some bloke quote for some tree (cypress/leylandii) removal a few years ago, and when I heard the 'they'll soon rot' rubbish I thought I'd go for someone that knew the right answers – eventually got sorted 'cos next door had a few removed, and their guy had a stump grinder. I think it was about 3 or 4 years ago, and about 600 quid for 4 including stump grinding – they were all pretty bloomin big both height and diameter. (That's N Surrey, in case anyone wants the guy's name).

Possibly (yeah, I know that's a bit vague) – I've got a few knock-offs that fit fine, but I'm not sure if they've got the 'licensed' word anywhere on the packaging, or anything similar…

>if you pee sitting down you dont empty your bladder completely

*That* explains why my OH has to go for a piddle so many times before we can get out of the house !

FWIW – I often sit down to pee if at home (where the loo seat's nice n clean) – just a bit more relaxing, and I'm guaranted not have to do the occasional oo-bugger-I've-missed-a-bit wipe-up 🙂

We've had an Abbey offset for the last 5 years (dunno how the current Sandander equivalent compares) – we had assorted savings to rationalise and endowments ending at various points, plus we're generally pretty good at saving. Currently we've got about 6 years remaining having paid off/offset about 70% of it, but we're still paying in at the same level as we started, so should finish even earlier. The first few/several years of a repayment policy don't pay off much capital, but it's quite noticable how much it's coming down now. Ironically, we'll probably get it paid off before the old endowments mature.

I think we picked exactly the right thing for us, YMMV. One downside of a repayment (IMO) is it would require you to be quite disciplined in paying off the capital – whereas a repayment mortgage doesn't need much thinking about (apart from lobbing in spare cash if you have it).

As mentioned, check there's no limits/penalties on overpayments or paying off lump sums.

Another minor point to remember about re offset mortgages – if you're exceeding the bank deposit guarantee limit (ie guarantees you get your saving back if the bank goes bust http://www.savingsaccounts.co.uk/bank-deposits-guarantee-protection/bank-deposits-guarantee-protection-1.html ) you may want to shuffle the excess cash out of your savings pot to explicitly pay off the capital, and keep with the protection limit.

There's some info on this link of where the 220-age thing came from – it was never intended to be anything more than a vague indicator. But it's at least a start point without a stress test (which I guess for a gym would probably mean asking the customer to get their heart checked over first)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate#Formula_for_HRmax

*Resting* heart rate decreases as you get fitter, I'm not aware max HR changes other than with some degree with age, and it will vary between activities.
I found that after finding my max HR (from a stress test like that of DGOAB), and getting an idea of what the aerobic/anaerobic threshold felt like vs how hard I was working, I didn't use my HR monitor much afterwards. (I originally bought one 'cos I seemed to be blowing up about about 30-45 mins cycling, after a layoff of a few years, couldn't work out why. It turned out I was working mostly anaerobically, so I guess no real surprise..)
BTW – the aerobic/anaerobic point is another approximation – I found the simple %age of maxHR way too low, nearer was taking the percentage from resting to max but that still seemed a fair way off. To find the real point you need to get a VO2 max test done.

Endura and Impsport ( http://www.impsport.com/ ) might be worth a try – I think the latter *might* be better for handling smaller quantities.

A word of warning – I built up an Enduro some years back, fitted a Pig DH – bottom cup was *really* tight – couldn't get it quite flat against the headtube, or even remove it with the proper rocket tool.
LBS monkey couldn't shift it (monkey on account of taking lots of little nicks out of the inside of the headtube with whatever screwdriver the idiot had been using).
Spesh UK kindly whipped it out (half handlebar as a drift works rather better it seems) and refaced it just in case. It looked like the powerdercoat on the cup had kinda galled on the inside of the headtube – pretty sure they come in a little oversize compared to some headsets as a result of the powdercoat.

So before you start lobbing a hammer at it, bear in mind whether there's any reason it's stuck…

If the pothole's been reported to the council then they're liable – you might be able to find it on
http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/

and if it's not – you can log it yourself
http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/faq/why-use-fillthathole

Another possibility ?

http://www.velowear.com/

BTW – might even be worth looking at womens shirts. Certainly primal have a few (less macho) designs that it's a bit of a pity they don't do in blokes size/cut – some manufacturers tend to make 'em a little short on the body compared to blokes shirts, but I've couple that are either a bit more flowery/organic or a better material than much blokes stuff. And if anyone calls you a pansy, slug 'em with yer handbag 😉

(or to put it another way, you may have to feel secure in your own sexuality, whatever that may be – being a beardie, long-haired recumbent rider I get shouted at by the knobbish portion of the population, regardless !)

Primalwear do some good designs (including some band shirts, if that takes yer fancy) – not just the more OTT ones that you tend to see over here (and is often older stock).
The US site has had some deals/discount of late (including a shorts for $1 offer), but you have to pay more for shipping (and possibly vat/import duty) – might be worth registering with 'em at any rate. Euro site has cheaper p+p, no vat/duty but generally a bit more expensive, smaller range (no l/s for a start). There's a few euro online dealers too that might be worth a try, generally a more limited range. Unless you're getting it discounted/end-of-line probably about 50 quid a shirt.

http://www.primalwear.com/
http://www.primaleurope.com/
http://www.primaleurope.com/onlineDealers.aspx
(eg primalshop.nl)

I've a Descente jersey I particularly like, but I think probikekit.co.uk is the only uk reseller – and I think there's very little left in stock (tho' it was bought last year, anyway).

Lob it in the bath with washing up liquid ? – seems to work for me…

Stayin' Alive – Dweezil Zappa, with Donny Osmond on vocals:

The inlaws moved there a few years ago – pleasant enough, and some nice villages, but I wish they'd stuck to looking in Sussex, 'cos we're in Surrey 😮
Varies between flattish and slightly rolling, not much to write home about mtb-wise (locals might say different) but probably pretty good for fast road rides.

I suspect Bury St Edmunds (close to where they live) might be the more expensive end of things re living expenses, but is a pretty useful town centre, and a little busier than most round there in the evenings – tho' for a bit more evening activity Ipswich would be a better bet – I spent a summer there when doing a summer project at Martlesham (BT) and would certainly have considered living there.

One downside of that neck of the woods is that it's not always easy to find a pint of real ale other than Greede King..