Can they do one in the made out of recycled Orange 5 swing arms, in the shape of an Audi that leaves a stamp in the coffee saying “I work in IT”. Then charge me £300 instead. Then we have achieved peak stw.

I know Nyetimber wins all sorts of awards, but I’ve found the shelf stuff from M&S is a bit too full on “gooseberry/cooking apple” mouth suckingly sour (rather than pleasantly dry/brut), Chapel Down preferred here. Don’t get me wrong it has flavour in bags, but actually I prefer somehting a little more subtle.

At least the baboons are a little safer today.

Has your Mrs got a “Shoes” or “Handbags” problem? Ie more than 1?

Two pages without a single suggestion of Bombers or Weeing in her shoes?

This place has changed!

Had an early MkI Eunos V spec import roadster. Manual, with leather and aircon, and some stickyish Yokohama tyres.

Lovely thing. Fast, usable power,a super handling little thing really. Not driven anyhting like as much fun (I’ve driven higher powered, faster, and far less fun cars)with the exception of a mk IV MG Midget, which was also a total hoot, albeit far far slower.

Speed might be exciting, but actually, often, the slower the car, the more “engaging” the basic driving experience. I could seriously have more fun with a Morris Minor (axle tram anyone?) or even an Allegro, with its hydrofantastic suspension and A series engine, (it’s only a rebodied Austin 1300 when all is said and done, which is largely only a longer mini) that any number of bland, fast Auto-bahnstormers with no ability to explore the edges of their performance envelopes. Going fast is a thrill which wears off quickly in a car, but an engaging and communicative chassis, and a car which will respond to demands, rather than “lead the driver” are far more fun.

My life was changed when someone suggested using a steamer.

Before, depending on temp, hob and the potato itself, sometimes they got waterlogged on the boil, or didn’t cook evenly.

Now I use a steamer, and my spuds are always perfect before the mash.

It’s a horrible bend – even taken at the usual speed, you hear and feel the tram groaning and grinding on the radius.

If I hadn’t got up late for leaving for work on monday, thereby not buying a weekly season ticket but having to use the motorbike despite the cold, and had I chosen to get into work an hour early for the overtime thats available, I could have been on this.

Not saying that to be dramatic, but it just brings it home, no one expects to leave their house in the morning, not expecting to come home in the evening.

I’ve just bought some cheap steak from Lidl, but I want my local restaurant to cook it and serve it properly for a cheeky little part fee, as I don’t have the right grill or knowledge to do so myself. They just don’t seem interested somehow, the lazy buggers. Are all chefs driving round in Rolls Royces?

Microsoft “Flight” (Not Flight Simulator) X” is free, and quite accessible as a starter. The inital download gives you Hawaii to fly aroumd, and there are certain tasks/things to do.

I think it was supposed to be the replacement for FSx but got canned shortly after release, and so free to download. Well, it was, I’ve not played it for a couple of years…

That seems a little “misleading”.

For one, a screwtop gives a far larger airspace above the wine, unless you believe it’s a perfect vaccum. So potentially more air space, more air, and if nothign else, a small extra area for the wine to slosh around in the bottle through the packaging, distribution and storage phase of it’s shelf life, before it even gets to the boot of the consumers vehicle and thrown about a few hours before opening.

Secondly, this talk of “air”, surely only a really realy poor, not fit for purpose cork is going to allow any measurable air past, expecially once you consider that same air also has that thin sheet of tightly sealed lead (or whatever metal is used these days) in the bottle top to get through as well. If a cork is going to allow air in to oxidise a product, its not worthy of being used. Fantastic vintages from 30-40-50 years ago are not “better” because “air got to the wine”.

So much of the wine world is ritual, hearsay, and legend. And in the old world, terifically fearful of change. Which is why we had so much shit French wine, till the Aussies gave them what for.

Just open it – sniff it, swill it, and decide if you like it. Best not look at the price tag first, you’ll only embarass yourself. Any wine you’re even thinking of drinking “now” will be fine whatever seal is used. Actually, given the remote possibility of “corking” ie infection of the cork, I’d wager once the French get over themselves, there won’t be a cork used on 20 years.

Sounds like it’s “Rilettes” they have bought you.

It’s pretty usual for them to come in a tin. It could have come in a jar I suppose, but so could craft beer and fruit. Is it the can or the contents that you’re finding upsetting?

If it’s not your fault, go through the other guys insurance, but not via Albany (now renamed Auxillis). Just ring the other insurer up directly.

They’ll probably supply you a genuinely free to you hire car at a reasonable rate to them, rather than the “credit” rates that Auxillis charge, and your car will probably be fixed quicker, as Auxillis earn more the longer your hire goes on. Ususal story with acredit hire/repair is that cars get booked in on a thursday, as a credit repairer must inspect the vehicle inside 48 WORKING hours, and so this gives them an extra weekend hire. You car will probably be ready late on a friday, ensuring you can’t readilly collect and thus another weekend hire charges accrue.

If the insurer organises, there’s far less scope for bickering.

These amc’s really can be scum, you’re just a pawn to earn cash.

scaredypants – Member

You can insist on like for like but I don’t quite understand what you mean by it – it’s not practical to suggest an insurer “buys” you a 4 year old bike.
Correct – Why should the OP do that work for them ?

If they CBA sourcing an identical replacement, they’ll have to stump up for a new one. I guess it’s cheaper for them in the long run

Minsunderstanding here – they have no legal duty to source a replacement – their liability stops at a cash value of your loss. – Mind you, if you really want insurers to spend hours sourcing 4 year old bikes, can you imagine the cost of emplying staff to do that? It would double or triple premiums, when we already have the most expensive insurance in Europe (ourside of Ireland) due to the propoensity of people to claim for “whiplash” and demanding like for like hire cars!” Theres even a couple of firms who have tried to supply hire “bicycles” on a credit basis – ie ending up with invoices for £100’s of pounds, for often relatively low value bikes that could have been purchased for a fration of the cost of the short term hire.

You want AMC’s to inflate your claims – provide hire bikes, tutor you into claiming for injuries you didn’t have, providing unwanted credit treatments and expensive medical repoerts? well, someone down the line pays – and its not the insurers!

Still, keeps me in a job!

It would consider the cost of the customer ordering a new bike and then makig an offer based of the anticipated value 4 years down the line. Dont forget that the owner would get the benefit of a 4 year newer bike than the one they lost. Besides, a custom bike might actually lose more in depreciation given its unique sizing arrangement, partly ofsetting its higher inital cost from which depreciation is then calculated.

And on another note – the op says “most of the bike was bent”. Have the isnurers disposed of the bits that weren’t bent or has he/she retained the benefits of those parts? And have they included things attached like lights/pumps bottle cages ect in the valuation?

money claims online?

The driver’s insurer has offered a sum that does not cover the cost of a new for old replacement.

You’re being offered a sum for a 4 year old bike, you know, like the one you were knocked off – why do you think you are entitled to a new for old? Thats a concept that only applies as a”policy benefit” in insurance you take out. The law simlpy obliges you to be put into the position you were prior to the accident. Prior to the accident, you had a 4 year old bike

My bike was 4 years old. A new bike of equivalent spec would be circa £1100.

This is not relevant – you were knocked off a 4 year old bike.

I had suggested a reasonable replacement at £850. They have offered £600. Do I dig my heels in and insist on like for like or do I accept their offer and get on with life?

You can insist on like for like but I don’t quite understand what you mean by it – it’s not practical to suggest an insurer “buys” you a 4 year old bike. You lost an asset of a certain value and you get the value of that asset back – otherwise people with “irreplacable items” would never get a penny. It’s offering you the money you should be able to buy a 4 year old bike for. If you think a four year old bike is £850 – find some examples and show them to the insurer. If however, you can replace it for £650, then do so and take their offer.

You give no indication why you disagree with their offer, other than irrelvant facts over the cost of a new bike. I would suggest, looking at the classifieds here, a 4 year old bike loses iro 30% of value in the first year alone if you allow a further 10% a year say, thats 60% – or say £440.

To be honest if you’re having a compensation claim from an RTA go through, I would *not* resign, or do anything, especially before speaking to a solicitor.

Your employer will probably have a right to recover your sick pay from the insurer, provided they have something in your contract to allow them to do so. So your employer isn’t any worse off, apart from having to cover your work, and the reimbursment they get provides for that anyway. IE they get your wages back, and so simply use them to pay someone else. They might even be able to pay your trainnig costs/advancement. Seriously, its no skin off their nose in the future if your solicitor is even halfway competant.

Secodnly, if you can’t ultimately return, you will have a considerable loss of earnings claim potentially for some time into the future, claims for the costs of finding suitable work and or adaptations snd possibly a lump sum due for your inability/restriction to do certain types of future amenible work.(Smith V Manchester award).

If you walk you’ll potentially lose all of that. If the record shows you just “left the job” without reference to the injury and or reason why, you’ll be denied most benefits and you’ll struggle to show why your should have any claim for any future loss of earnings. If you’re dismissed because of your injuries, and the emplyement record shows this, then it’s good evidence for your claim and your loss of earnings claim for future loss.

Even if you don’t like the job, I’d hang in there. and fwiw, I can’t believe an emplyer could even “suggest” this. don’t lose the phone message – record it. you might also have a future HR battle on your hands if they cut up rouhg about your ongoing status.

Seriously, speak to your solicitor first before doing anything.

Bit of a pc over reaction?

Or don’t you remember being 7 and saying stupid stuff you didn’t even understand? Ask your own parents, they’ll soon remind you? (what, you didn’t take advice or think it through before flying off the handle?)

Sounds a bit like the op is more horrified what people might think of *them* by proxy, rather than putting the child at the heart of things.

A simple, non patronising and honest open explanation might have not gone amiss. Now your child is going to be too terrified to discuss it, or anything similar in the future due to your extreme over reaction.

Dumb honky!

Ha ha ha – Cycling UK appears a thinly disguised front for Slater Gordon Solicitors – Good luck, your accident might not be the worst thing that happens to you today!

So, you bought a policy.

You used the policy, presumably accepting 100% of the value of the car and not a % of the value based on the time on cover.

Then you cancelled the policy, having derived the full benefit of the policy, but not presumably having paid in full? So you took all the money from them, but wont pay all the money to them?

Insurance policies are a bit like condoms. They’re “protection”. Once you used them, the shop ain’t going to take them back!

It doesn’t work that you buy a policy for your £100k Rolls Royce on Jan 1st, write it off on Jan 2nd, and bank the cheque for the full value on the 3rd, cancelling the rest of the policy and premiums to be paid on the 4th.

Sorry for the silly example, but it’s to show you the principle.

Not the same, but I got bitten by a tick or something a couple of years go. Arm went red, and hot.

I attended GP – they wanted to do a blood test for Lymes. I gave them a hancock (that’s nearly an armful). They called after 10d to say that they couldn’t be clear either way and could I come back for another test.

I haven’t been back, nor am I dead yet either.

If they *had* found something. I guess you’d know. Its more likely they’re not sure that they *didn’t* find something.

Secret to leek and potato soup, is to actually swap out at least 1 leek (dependent on portion size, obviously) for an onion, to get a greater intensity of flavour.

But frankly, the stock cubes you add to make the bulk of the soup, once you sweated down the leeks and onion, should contain most of the salt you need.

You might like to think about salt reduction generally, right across the diet. Do you have a smoking or drinking habit which might impair reception of flavour in the mouth?

Wait til she want’s a handbag/holiday/new car/new shoes.

Then learn to negotiate and find your balls.

Smaller lighter bikes have their own handling joys. Don’t overlook them for headline “speed”.

You’ll be surprised at the performance of a 500cc commuter bike when you do the CBT – until you get prepared for it, the throttle especially if it’s a bike with any appreciable “power band” will send the horizon hurling towards you in a way you didn’t expect. And thats the cooking models.

A well sorted SV650 is a good start. Cheap to buy, easy to to push round,cheap to drop and just a hint of more handling/performance than the 500 learner models.

Howabout a gsx750w (or inazauma) –

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/suzuki-gsx-750-w-motorbike-/272297722618?hash=item3f663582fa:g:rYoAAOSwEjFXeqlm

I think I’d rather a Zephyr than a GT.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1991-KAWASAKI-ZEPHYR-ZR750-C1-BLUE-/282079869958?hash=item41ad453c06:g:3GcAAOSwzJ5XfmMB

Don’t overwork it in mixing, and keep your hands cool so the butter doesn’t melt.

And a pie without sides or base is just a casserole in a hat.

nullhttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-XBR500G-1986-/282088475941?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368[/url] This the sort of retro style thing?

The big issue, is that most survivor bikes from the 60’s 70’s had some worth -Commando’s Bonnevilles ect. But they’re all £8k for a reason.

The 80’s are really when cheap jap bikes kicked in without any sort of quality euro counterparts. I can’t even look at most of whats been posted without thinking I’d rather walk than ride.

Crap frames. Crap engines. Crap brakes. why bother – the rosy glow of retro isn’t going to keep you warm when you’re on the side of the A31 with an AA man taking the piss.

If you want retro style, try lookng slightly newer – A Honda XBR or its retro styled GB500 Or its XBR less retro styled equivilent. Frankly, if I wanted something for sub £1500, retro, I’d buy an ageing Ducati Monster – 600-750 or even 900 cc air cooled – you choose – or even a naked SV and then stick clip ons and a TT style seat/tail piece to it. Far more sensible and fun.

Can I ask how much the house is?

Ask the agent to take a % out of his commision – it’s their “buyers”, and if he wants the deal to go through he’ll have to take a % of the hit too. So say house worth £200k, agents % is 2%, tell him to swallow half a percent at least. Then ask the buyers to split the difference – drop 2%, they increase by 2%,and the deals back on with little effect and your mum still gets the sale.

Or tell them to do one. They could afford it last week, and if they want to find somewhere else, their investments will continue to drop,possibly faster than house prices, and they’ll be worse off…..

Don’t be put off by the police.

From memory and an out of date knowledge of the Court process:-

You always remain free to pursue a civil action against the offender, even if the police appear unwilling – and if you have reason to believe either the store, the bank, or the police have the offenders details stored somewhere, can compel them ultimately to provide them for the purposes of Court Proceedings. IE you are going to issue small claims court proceedings and require an address of the defendant for service. – It doesn’t need to be your problem how “problematic” it is to get them, only that if they refuse, you may make an application to the Court, which they are duty bound to obey unless they have a suitable reason for not doing so and persuade a judge to that effect.

If they don’t defend it, or provide the details, you can then enforce the judgement of the application against them.

I may be wrong on all this though –

How about a new wheel size?

After 7 years, it’s a symptom of a previous problem, just brought to an unexpected head.

andyl – Member

If my insurer didn’t support me in a case like that I’d be getting it fixed and taking them to the small claims court.

They’d love it if you did. What were you going to sue them for? Breech of the contract you entered into specifically omitting damage to your vehicle from your cover by taking on a cheaper premium?

Even judges deserve a good laugh now and again.

In all seriousness, if you got the Reg, then write to the MIB (or ring them) as whilst they won’t deal with your claim as such, (ie they only deal with uninsured/untraced claims) the MIB in the UK also acts as a central point of reference, where they can and will trace via the reverse Romanian version of the MIB, the insurers of the lorry, and more importantly, the UK handling agent of the lorry insurers.

https://www.mib.org.uk/ and don’t use anyone else or any other similar looking link, there are claims management companies who pretend they are the MIB to get your business.

You can therefore bring a claim, in the UK, against the lorry drivers insurers, and deal in English, with a UK Insurer or Claims Handling office.

Chances are it will be a department within Aviva, Zurich, Allianz or an agency like Van Ameyde.

Sorry,got that whole thing Drac got about it wanting me to log in via FB and harvest all my details. There are already too many sites inc FB playing hard and loose with valuable personal info.

Not prepared do that, but good luck anyway. That “dodgy” website needing my personal info is losing you a fistful of votes.

I have a linn LP12 – replaced an Axis. Bought s/h in 1989 with a terms student grant money. Other than the odd change of belt every few years, and a set of hinges for the lid (common weak spot) it’s still fine.

Wilkinsons when you’re passing?

Nakamichi was a high end brand for cassette, but the usual winners of more budget orientated tests were Denon, it’s really where they made their name, before their amps got good. And more likely to be mainstream repairable.

http://www.gallowaywildfoods.com/seasonal-notes/april-mussels/

Looks like other people do –

Just ensure they don’t have parasites, can be certain they don’t live near any sort of contamination and avoid months without an R. Seeing as it’s May, er, well… if you’re a 17 inch frame, can I have first dibs on your bike?

No, if it’s just urban, low speed commuting, get a scooter.

For mixed traffic, a CG would be a great shout it’s tough as old boots, but the gear changing will drive you nuts. At least on a big bike, you only have 2-3 gears and a wide spread of torque to help (Some sports bikes will almost getto 60 in first!)

But with sub 30mph, just get a scooter of some description. And Jap stuff keeps it’s value in the way Chinese doesn’t.

Unless you want to throw a wild card into the pack, pay a lot more then check out Herald Motorcycles……