Having re-read the OP three times I can see nothing wrong with the spelling… but a little punctuation wouldn’t go amiss.

Just off to read the links (which I think will be scary…): back soon!

Good luck with the second interview!

(By the way, it’s ‘redundant’ and ‘redundancy’: might help…!)

Just don’t offer to make any electrical equipment for them or take your axe to the interview!

Perhaps you could buy your prospective employers some Leffe and give them free tickets to a certain cycling event coming up this year?

Seriously, all the best!

It’s not Morecambe? (Although I haven’t been to Blackpool and intend to keep it that way).

I’ll have sfb’s voucher if he is going to be a terminal ingrate! Not to mention a self-righteous git…

Thanks guys, very kind. I’m off to check out Naked Wines!

Second Ann Mustoe – thanks for the info that she has a new book out, as I thoroughly enjoyed ‘A Bike Ride’: the story of her ride around the world. Second one not quite so good, but still worth reading.

I’ve just read ‘Queen of the Desert: The extraordinary life of Gertrude Bell’ and really enjoyed it. Nothing whatsoever to do with riding (unless you count camels and horses) but an insight into the problems in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East.

Sir, you’re drunk!

Madam, you’re ugly: in the morning, I shall be sober!

Thanks, TJ, but I do know the difference betweem concurrent and consecutive! What I mant was did he actually get 3 years for each person who died, thus making six times three years equals eighteen years running concurrently?

Anne Frank Museum? (but only once: we would never go there again as, sadly, she’s been turned into an industry, and it’s hard to get the feel of the place when its so crowded).

Hortus Botannicus is lovely.

Second CFH re Vondel Park.

Check out which parts of the Rijksmuseum are open: it was closed for refurbishment when we were there (and we didn’t have enough time to go to the bit that was open, otherwise we would have done).

Great city!

Ummm, the lorry driver is Portugese…

And, ‘it was one episode and the prison sentences must be concurrent’ (said the sentencing judge). So: did he in fact get eighteen years?

At least let’s get the facts right and not make it a racist rant: how would it be different if it were a lorry driver of any other nationality?

It’s a terrible thing to have happened and I would be devastated if it were people I knew, but I agree with the above posts that the driver is in plenty of trouble already and that longer sentences will not be a deterrent to screwing up.

Don’t know how to odds it really. It’s a tragedy all round. Awful.

Very pretty indeed, but I’m also disappointed by the Chiles revelation.

True, can see the points there!

In which case wouldn’t it be cheaper and simpler to go and buy a card, write it yourself and put it in the post? Then it would be truly personalised…

TJ – I thought we spent more and more on the Health Service in this country anyway – it doesn’t seem to have helped. What do other countries do differently? – ah, yes, they are smarter and more efficient than the idiots running this dump.

Shouting at people is quite understandable if they are being ****. I might well have punched the woman doctor who was so rude to me and so non-understanding of my wife’s situation if my wife was going to be discharged that day, but I didn’t as she could well have made life even worse for us.

Cow. I wish I could remember who she was so that I could go back and sort her out.

Some nice pics and some interesting choices of subject. I did wonder how many jars you had when you took ‘jars’, but each to their own choice of picture.

Sfb, you are such a rude gob-shite [strike]sometimes[/strike]. Can’t you ever think for a moment before you jump in with your crass comments?

Just for once I feel like calling Drac a **** for his comment above, which is unfortunate as I have every respect for what he does, and he usually talks sense. In my experience, paramedics fix people at the scene and drop them off at the hospital, so wouldn’t necessarily know what goes on after that. I’m sure that someone will correct me if I’m wrong.

Otherwise, I say ‘Welcome to Britain, ladies and gentlemen, it’s shite’. The so called Health Service will probably kill you. And if it doesn’t do it with poor treatment it will probably do so by infecting you with something horrible or refusing to allow you to pay for top-up treatments. Alan Johnson you are a murderer.

Granted, paramedics are (in my thankfully extremely limited experience) bl00dy excellent, but pretty much EVERYTHING else I have seen and heard (from friends and family, not just in the news) about the NHS is just utterly shiite (like the rest of this stupid country).

Apart from the dedication of most of the nurses (not the shiity female doctor in North Hants) whom I have met, that is. They work their bits off in very difficult and underfunded and underpaid circumstances).

From the limited amount I have heard about other Northern European hosptals they are much better places with lower acquired infection rates and better service.

‘convert 3gp to wmv’ as a search string in Google gets quite a few results, but I didn’t download any of them.

I’m probably missing the point here, but do you need to convert them? I know Wendows Media Player won’t play them, but RealPlayer and QuickTime Player both play them OK (I just checked – my phone saves in this format).

Not had that (yet) but we get regular letters from credit companies and debt collectors about previous occupants of our house. Always open the mail and call any debt collectors and tell them what’s going on – they will usually amend their records. Bit late for this one, I know, but it should stop future occurances, hopefully.

Reckon two previous occupants of our house owe about £25k to various people! (And I tell the companies that and wish them luck!)

I can think of one good honeymoon destination – no hang on, that’s every night!

Sorry, back on topic, Madeira’s fantastic!

http://madeira-web.com/

External hard drive in one of these:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0045358791.1233950173@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdeadeggldflefcflgceggdhhmdgml.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=670392&category_oid=

and then get Synctoy from here:

http://www.microsoft.com/DownLoads/details.aspx?familyid=C26EFA36-98E0-4EE9-A7C5-98D0592D8C52&displaylang=en

Set up your backup and run it every time you change or add data you don’t want to lose.

Job done!

Cute pics.

That Dark Roasted Blend website has some fascinating stuff on it… Like the ‘abandoned’ section.

I want a ride in one of those! Good link, too.

Thanks sootyandjim – that was fascinating.

Maths next week…

See you all then!

VC Heroes by Michael Ashcroft

The Strange Death Of David Kelly…

1984

I really hope they catch you and nail you. I think a fine equivalent to the total amount of licence that you have evaded would be lenient.

You put up the cost of the licence for the rest of us. You also talk out of your ar5e when you say that all the programmes are regional sh1te: something like Planet Earth is worth the licence fee alone.

I almost have a little more sympathy with the NAZIs chasing us (because our empty and uninhabitable) house doesn’t have a licence.

You come across as some sort of grungy crusty – not a good look.

Couldn’t agree more, soma_rich!

Good shop – Ann Summers
Bad shop – Morrisons

Good comment, thisisnotaspoon

Tribunal time then, but don’t bank on winning.

Tribunals are shiite and I really woudn’t recommend going there as loose cannons don’t even come into it, from personal experience.

My wife is an HR person and I’ve just read her your original post: her answer follows…

——————————————-

If she turns down the offer of reduced hours, she may be seen to be refusing a ‘reasonable, suitable alternative’ to redundancy and may therefore lose any right to redundancy pay.

——————————————-

Sorry you guys are having such a shiite time. Hope it all gets better for you soon.

Can’t Nezbo to spell? Or perhaps he’s fallen off his bike whilst not WEARING a helmet and damaged his head…

No helmet compulsion, as that will stop people going for a little bimble in the park where it probably isn’t really necessary to WEAR a helmet, but you’re mad if you don’t WEAR one for anything more knarly!

Can’t stand sanctimonious wnakers (deliberate mis-spelling) like Mr_Krabbs.

Exactly the kind of person who supports our totalitarian state and ruins the place for the rest of us.

Tw*t

Take ’em on holiday and have done with – they’ll probably learn more on holiday anyway given the state of education in this country…

http://www.airnimal.eu/News/Home.php

Look at the White and Black Rhinos! I’d love to try them…

How about a round-backed Ovation acoustic – Martin Barre plays one to great effect and they start at around <£500. (And they all have pickups!) I think they will all sound good.

I don’t play guitar (much) and I want one!

My eyes! My eyes! That picture is plain wrong and has no place on this or any other thread!

It’s you, surfer.

She’s beautiful, elegant, classy and seems to be a very nice person as well (although that’s not from personal acquaintance, sadly).

Hmmm, forgot the Daytona. Also Maserati Ghibl, Lancia Beta Monte Carlo.

BMW M3 may have been an excellent car, as was the Quattro, but surely even their own mothers couldn’t call them beautiful! Same goes for ANY Escort!

Vista most certainly isn’t your problem as I can use two different external hard drives (probably at the same time if I tried) with our Vista machine.

Have you checked all the connections inside the caddy? I seem to recall mine stopped working at one point and the hard drive was loose in the caddy…

Second trying the disconnect / reconnect option.

Some cracking (and some cracked) suggestions above, but I think the Lamborghini Miura does it for me. Anyone got a picture of one they can post?