I love it in the south. Easy access to civilisation via the channel tunnel and Gatwick, lovely countryside, very few of those silly accents you get in the north parts (Lancashire especially, plus Birmingham), generally more cosmopolitan outlook on things and not that many chips on shoulders. Decent amount of jobs. Admittedly it’s a bit congested – probably because it’s so good everyone wants to live here.

It’s quicker and cheaper to go to France for a night than it is to go the same distance north from here. (Once we implement my plan to hack Cornwall off at the Tamar and tow it round to the channel to make a land bridge it will be even easier. This will achieve three things – easier travel to civilisation, it will piss off all the ‘Independance for Kernow’ idiots and it will piss of the Daily Hate readers by linking Britain with the continent. Fantastic! After that we will rebuild Hadrian’s wall (just north of the M4) and Offa’s Dyke just in case)

I read somewhere that the Romans found southerners more civilised because of their contact with the continent. Yet another thing they were right about.

As and when we move out of the south I should like it to be even further south – Picardy for preference!

Always, always upload your CV to the job boards. Every Sunday evening to catch the Monday morning downloads.

Yes, you will have to sift through a lot of rubbish and field a lot of calls (if your CV and skill set is any good) but hey, you would rather say no than miss out, wouldn’t you?

If you want another job, that is…

spooky_b329 – Member
Is it difficult to get tickets?

Might be now as it is now on but you might be lucky…

Otherwise, for the future, no. Online is pretty easy.

allthepies – Member
It’s not all about the engine though is it.

Yeah, pretty much.

Exhaust will be available, discs and pads ditto. GSF will be your friend – estimate about £250 fitted for front discs and pads, £500 for tyres all round (rated to 150mph). If they’re even needed – a current MOT is great.

At £1250 or so, who even cares? Great bit of kit and a very nice ride, I’d warrant!

Search Google for Nick Heidfeld’s record time up the hill!

Thanks for the post, op – can’t be there this weekend but have free tickets for Hickstead – looking forward to it!

Muke – Member
Check the indicators, they don’t seem work on most BMW’s

😀

I’d happily buy a car like this with 100,000 plus on the clock – especially for that price. Probably good for at least the same again. In fact the one we’re after has 154,000 on the clock and is just about run in, I hope. Not going to get thrashed, though!

legend – Member
Should be good for the thick end of 140mph
Don’t think it’s quite that swift, 178bhp iirc (we had a V reg saloon) but fast enough. However, who gives a shit about performance when it’s got a sweet tape deck and sat nav like that!?

Autotrader lists the 2.5l at 146… But as you say it’s about the style and the way you arrive, not how fast you arrive!

Big old cars are great – hoping to get one ourselves soon (thanks, CFH – mostly your fault!) – will post pics on here as and when we get it!

VERY nice.

Should be good for the thick end of 140mph (on private roads or the unrestricted autobahn, naturally!)

MPG should be ok – my car is listed on Autotrader at 28 and it will usually do 32 on a run (but 28 is average) – I think Autotrader’s figures are pretty accurate. I have seen 37 – but that was a rather slow but steady trip! I don’t tow anything with mine, though.

I used to live just around the corner from that garage – it was a Hyundai dealer then! Things have clearly changed for the better…

Hope you enjoy your purchase! Would be envious if I didn’t love mine so much 🙂

Snooker, pool, Harbourmaster, iStunt Insane Hills, Temple Run?

Tiger Moth. Lovely!

Cougar – Moderator
Is there any comeback / guarantee on these things?

You buy a car, pay for a check, it passes, get it home, it’s a Friday night special. Is there an insurance you can claim on?

If you’re asking about HPI, Cougar, yes, I think there is. If you give them all the details I think they guarantee the check. AA/RAC I don’t know about.

I did an HPI check on my current car as it was more than I’d ever spent on a car. All came up clear and seemed like good value (the check AND the car, as it turned out).

Not a condition / mechanical check, I know, but might be worth looking at…

Pretty docile things really – just flew around a bit looking for the way out. Glad she found it without intervention on my part!

Good idea to get a photograph with some scale in the picture – mine have no scale, sadly. She must have been the best part of an inch and a half long though.

Another visitor – managed to photograph her this time!

That’s pretty average mileage.

Bought a 54 plate Audi last year with 77000 miles on the clock. It now has 103000 and it’s still lovely – and I expect it to be lovely for quite a few more miles yet. Looking for 150000 plus from this one with regular servicing!

Go for it!

Fate is the Hunter – Ernest Gann
Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert
Anything by Patrick Leigh Fermor
Anything by William Dalrymple (but especially In Xanadu and From the Holy Mountain)
The Colossus Of Maroussi by Henry Miller
Between East and West by Anne Applebaum
Anything about Greece by Dilys Powell
Anything by Colin Thubron
Anything by John Pilkington
Anything by Alexander Frater
The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron (and James Knox’s biography of RB if you want to know more about him)
Travels With A Tangerine and The Hall of a Thousand Columns by Tim Mackintosh-Smith

Just a quick look around our travel bookshelf – should keep you going for a bit!

I would. Best looking Octy and very reliable!

If it were me, I’d say that I didn’t want kids now but things will likely change as I get older. She then needs to decide if that’s enough commitment.

Likely? Maybe? Never?

Hard to say…

RSPB
National Trust
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Naturalist Trust

Would like to join

Historic Houses Association – and probably will sometime soon

@tazzy – I think honesty cost me one relationship – and thank God for that in every way!

I have never been less than honest in that respect and I think my marriage is all the better for it.

Looking back on it all I had a pretty miserable childhood for a variety of reasons into which I shan’t go on this or any other forum.

For this reason I never wanted children as I couldn’t imagine inflicting a similarly miserable experience on anyone else. In later life (late 40s) my reasoning changed slightly as one of the reasons – money – went away. The lack of desire to reproduce never changed, though.

MrsJulianA (whom I met and married a bit later in life than most, perhaps) went through a great deal of unhappiness (partially unknown to me) as a result of my selfishness / arrogance / ignorance – view it as you will but, to my great good fortune, decided that I was a good bet for the future.

We are now looking forward to celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary with another trip away and another couple of investments. We are incredibly blessed with the way our life together is turning out and things are brilliant.

Don’t know how our old age is going to turn out but we’ll sort that out as and when.

As to the original post – not wanting children doesn’t have to be the end of a relationship. If that were the case I probably wouldn’t be here to post this.

If this helps I’m glad but it was cathartic to post…

Why do people go for these deals where you pay £x00 per month for a new car?

Surely much better to buy a car outright and own it – bills for running the car will be less than the leasing costs.

Ok, you don’t have a brand new car to drive, but still… No massive monthly outgoings!

Skoda are ace – 100000 pretty much trouble free miles in our 51plate Octavia. Would have another like a shot – but might keep this one going as long possible as there is nothing seriously wrong with it!

O2 Roaming is only £1.99 per day and that gives plenty of data for using Google Maps abroad.

The i8 is a bloody abomination lovely.

Fixed it for you

Well there’s a surprise – methought he did protest too much that he wasn’t going to do it!

Steak tartare. On the list of things to try!

I think that wherever you go you should observe and respect the local customs and beliefs whether you share them or not. End of.

chewkw – Member
Look at me! Look at me! I am shy!

However when people comment on their bush or their camel toe nope you cannot say that coz you are sexist and a dirty old man.

They should go to Lesbos island … ya … Lesbos …

Sometimes, or in fact often, you can be an utter ****t, chewkw

Diocletian’s Palace is a ‘must see’ in Split. Pretty hard to miss, actually! It’s huge…

Well posted, thanks. Didn’t know today was the anniversary.

Life is what you make of it. We have a great marriage and sufficient money. We are very blessed.

Not going to win the lottery as we don’t buy tickets. £xx millions would be nice but not really necessary.

I heard a really interesting thought recently – don’t think ‘why me?’, but ‘why not me?’ when it comes to being successful.

Easy to say, I know!

Another vote for ‘The Right Stuff’

CFH Have you also read ‘Foreign Devils on the Silk Road’? Yours for the borrowing also [quick before it gets packed to move!]

Other Ernest Gann books are also worth a read.

Anything by Georgette Heyer or Nevil Shute is worth your time, and The Rubiyat Of Omar Khayyam should be by your bedside for dipping into at all times, as should anything by Saki / HH Munro.

No mention of Patrick Leigh Fermor yet?

I must say that Bryn Dinas Bunkhouse looks much nicer than when I stayed there, to be fair.

Not overlooking the lake but the the view from the front door is nice, as I recall. The Watkin Path is very close by.

http://www.reddragonholidays.co.uk/default.aspx

Tried to link properly but my browser crashed every time I tried.

What`s wrong with it ? does the butler not turn down the bed ?

Not in my experience.

It might have been Nant Gwynant – there’s a bunkhouse there too

If you mean that bunkhouse at the bottom of the Watkin Path I’d hardly describe it as ‘good accommodation’ unless it’s improved dramatically!

Any idea what that is, dannyh?

Ichneumon fly? Certainly a lovely creature.

Was Joel Veitch (rathergood.com) involved in the making of that gif, CFH?

Nordikas here and very comfy they are too. I rather like the Draper slippers – they’d go well with a dressing gown whilst smoking a cigarette in a cigarette holder. What brandy for such attire?

(Expects flaming from the Captain!)

Crete is stunning (and huge) – the western end is our favourite.

Chania is fantastic, the Akrotiri Peninsula has a wonderful monastery – Tsagolorou – and a brilliant walk down from Gouvernatou Monastery to another (abandoned) monastery, Polyrhinia is good, Lake Agia has the best birdwatching on Crete, Falassarna is good, Elafonissi is exquisite, Aptera is beautiful, Souda Bay CWGC Cemetery is very moving (and has the graves of John Pendlebury and Dudley Churchill Perkins among others), Armeni Cemetery and Spili are great.

Rethymnon is nice and has a very good museum, ancient Lappa is well worth seeing, Georgiopolis is worth a stop, the Askifou Plateau is exquisite and has an excellent war museum, the Imbros Gorge is amazing, Frangokastello has a Venetian castle, Hora Sfakion is a pleasant place for a coffee / drink/ meal. How long do you have?!

We’ve spent a total of six weeks there so far and would happily go again tomorrow.

October should be warm and the sea should be very pleasant – Frangokastello is a great place for a swim.

Don’t tell anyone how good it is though – we don’t want it getting too crowded!

Oh, and don’t forget to visit Omalos.

Just a few thoughts – hopefully you will like some of the things above!

Ps – the Botannical Gardens of Crete is also an excellent place to go.

We have big doors!

Lovely aircraft, too – Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown (what an amazing man!) apparently thought very well indeed of the Sea Hornet.

[edit] 50,000€ fine for that in Germany, Ian!