And as awh says, Highways England says the full closure is at 20:45. So no worries.

Yeah it’s a really horrible job putting the cones out, drivers are so obsessed by getting through they drive like idiots.

I’ve been driving around the M4/M5 closures a lot recently on weekday evenings (and others). I’ve never found them to close the road early, but they will have the signs warning of workforce in road (and if a managed motorway, have speed limits), to put the cones down from lanes 3-2-1 on time if they need to get on. However, NEx drivers will know about closures on their route and will know the best way round. A 6:15 pm coach departure time from Bristol or Bath isn’t going to be affected by a 7 pm closure unless it’s running really late anyway.

Probably nothing to do with ‘stress’. The watch is measuring heart rate variability, and then Garmin chooses to tell you that is a stress indicator, but it will be massively variable by individual and hrv will be affected by so many things. How has the device determined your ‘normal’ readings? I would ignore the ‘alarms’ and if you are a worrier, actually monitor the numbers it’s giving you and note down when you feel ok or when you feel poor the next day. If you are having periods of high/low heart rate, there are so many other possible factors (as well as caffeine, alcohol, there are all the hormonal things, sleep cycles and moving around, propensity for nightmares, and breathing related things, snoring, sleep apnea).

If your UK provider doesn’t have a reasonable add-on, as said, does your phone take dual esim? The esim from e.g. Airalo are data only (i.e. Whatsapp calling) and with dual the uk sim will take phone calls and SMS so need to turn roaming off if its expensive.

If you aren’t tied to a contract and don’t need to keep your number, Lebara do cheap payg with reasonable add-ons … 15 days, 5 GB data and 100 minutes of calls is £10.

“We are heading to Atlanta and Tennessee, assuming the damage from the recent hurricane has not affected the trip too much”

Yeah very genuinely you need to check that carefully. Anywhere in the Appalachian mountains north of Atlanta are still in major disaster recovery mode, major roads closed, minor roads destroyed, airlifting supplies. If it’s a city trip, that’s fine, but I would rearrange anything that looks like it might have been affected.

I’m not convinced it’s a security issue, but it is at the scanners someone will have seen it. Either way, claim compensation for new bag and new item with KLM using the reference number you were given. The airport staff were correct it’s KLM who will pay (Montreal Convention because you were on an international flight). It’s all online and you must make the complaint to KLM within seven days.  https://www.klm.co.uk/information/refund-compensation/baggage-compensation

To be honest I might be tempted to report to the police and the airports you flew through to make them aware of numbers, and in case you need to use your travel insurance (need police case no for theft but probably would be refused as KLM are responsible, because of the Montreal Convention).

What davidr said  https://www.monashfodmap.com/

Everyone is different. And it may not be something you need to banish forever, it may be you need to allow your gut flora to manage, so it is worth a good read. Good luck.

When you say it feels like you are sitting on something, does it feel like something wants to pop into a different place? I’ve had snapping hip syndrome, where the Iliotibial (IT) band pops or clicks as you walk or move the joint, in my case caused by different leg lengths but also tight piriformis and psoas. Either way, worth going to a good sports physio and describing it, may very well be because of the boot and you need to build muscle back up or do some specific stretches.

andy4d, get him back to campus and go and talk to the department his degree is with. They should have a porter or security on entry to ask where to go in the building, and an undergraduate admin office he can physically meet, to ensure he has IT setup (uni email address, login etc) and the course details, whereabouts, course handbook, etc. Just go in office hours and not during lunch.

I’ve not done Namibia yet, but other bits of southern Africa. Like the recent US / California thread, don’t underestimate distances, think about time of year and suitability for activities assuming you are an active family, and consider Namibia is a lot about scenery. So think about what to do to keep the kids interested.

There must be great walking in the scenery, but note the summer is hot. Our summer, their winter (i.e. school hols July time) is probably better for outdoorsy people, dry, cooler in the day for hiking etc, but it’ll be zero at night in some places.

If you head north towards Damaraland and Etosha, consider also heaving into Caprivi Strip / Zambezi region and stay in a lodge who’ll do guided game drives (if you don’t want to try sand driving). Malaria meds aren’t expensive online.

And then for activities there are more around the coast Swakopmund / Walvis Bay.

Overall it’s a safe intro to southern Africa, European feel infrastructure, and very few people.

An alternative with equally good infrastructure but more variety in smaller areas, would be a bit of South Africa, e.g. Cape Town and Garden Route, or KwaZulu Natal.

Agree that bits of Botswana would also be a very different, safe, and me nd blowing experience. Though I wouldn’t take kids that young through Moremi-Khwai-Savuti (unfenced and very wild area, and also some tough sand driving, and you would struggle for space with 5 in the car taking everything you need with you). But a loop on the tarmac roads would be amazing.

If you park in one of the Derbyshire Dales long stays https://www.derbyshiredales.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/parking/car-park-locations

then you buy a Rover Pass on the PayByPhone app. They start on payment for 72 hours (3 day). The 3 day is code 806602.

Yes the 10% increase in the cap is already announced for 1 October, so to some extent priced in, but typically you will find fixes that will be better than staying on the variable rate. See MSE https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/are-there-any-cheap-fixed-energy-deals-currently-worth-it/

If you want a couple of days out of the city, you can kayak the archipelago, or inland there are lots of fishing lakes, kayaking, or rail bikes / dressin which is fun, or hiking.

It’s correct you won’t get compensation because the delay was weather driven. But you need to decide if you want to fight for reimbursement of ‘a reasonable’ alternative or are happy to accept the refund of your untaken flight and move on.

Ideally you should have contacted Ryanair to request the re-route and had it ok’d by them. One difficulty is your flight wasn’t cancelled, only delayed. What you are arguing is, at the time you re-booked yourself, the airline knew the delay would be long and did not offer “a reasonable reroute under comparable travel conditions … at the earliest opportunity”. I think you might have to take this to small claims for reimbursement, and you might well lose, so flyertalk is a good place to start.

So many years ago I did a Maths ‘with’ course and then was very lucky to be of an era where some Masters courses were paid for, for about 10 students. Now that’s gone, the ability to try specialisms is harder. The key question is what type of maths did she enjoy and choose in her final years.

People I know went in to bank local manager (now senior risk manager at the same bank), banking / finance, from actuary or accountancy to modelling markets to insurance/reinsurance, lots of climate, weather, flood scientists and engineers as that’s what I went in to, statistical analysts for carbon/climate/energy start ups to big consultancy, software developers – particularly specialist programming equations – data scientists and consultants, including nuclear, and in Government / policy via data analysis jobs. And yes some teachers. And several PhDs working at Unis.

General high-level consultancy that will call themselves ‘analytics’ should give a range of fields, applications, and experience. Worth reviewing lots of grad programmes, including engineering firm, but understand the most ‘driven’ people she’ll be up against will be a year below and applying for next year’s intake. So she would need a plan of what to do with this year if she goes for a graduate scheme.

Don’t underestimate driving distances. And have a look at weather conditions from previous years. Places like Yosemite NP have a ‘mean’ date for road reopening.

I did a family holiday as a ~15 yr old on roughly the same itinerary in two weeks. I have since been back several times to various places as an adult, far more slowly, and with activities booked in to see places better (multiday walks, canoe or rafting etc).

Know the USA will be crazy expensive, motels aren’t cheap anymore, the bottom end has inflated massively since covid. You will need very deep pockets.

Assuming 2 weeks at Easter I would either:

– do California well, or

– Utah-Arizona landscapes / NP / native american culture loop.

California will be milder. UT/AZ deserts at elevation (e.g. Grand Canyon rim, Flagstaff, Zion) will be around freezing at night but mid 20s in the day.

California… Pacific highway at Big Sur still closed. San Fran needs several days, bike in the red woods, Visit Monterey and sea kayak with sea otters (or at Moss Landing), do a whale watching boat trip, Yosemite deserves a few days, then Sequoia / Kings Canyon, consider visiting Channel Islands NP, then beaches and nicer bits of LA area (museums, astronomy, nicer suburbs).

AZ/UT fly in and out of LV or Phoenix, but I would spend zero time in LV.  Sedona and Flagstaff have lots of hiking, biking, and native american sites, and Route 66 Americana, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, slot canyon tour (Page) or find ones outside Navajo Nation land you can walk yourselves, a day kayak on the Colorado from Lees Ferry, toadstools and abandoned mine workings, Zion, Bryce Canyon, visit a natural hot spring under Hoover Dam. Everything from forest to desert, cactus to pine, lots of wildlife in the woods, stargazing, extinct volcanoes, and the deepest canyon.

Have you done watersport recently? Both leptospirosis (carried by rats/mice) and guardia have similar symptoms of gas and illness. Plenty of other things it could be, and all need professional attention to confirm. With that amount of sudden weight loss I would def call 111 or get a docs appointment.

Is your concern that our computational systems can’t determine the exact solution, because of floating point precision? Maths generally finds exact, analytical equations to describe problems. Sometimes these are approximated, but they remain analytical, and can sometimes have exact solutions (e.g. by rearranging an equation). Some equations when you try to find a solution, you have to try numerical solutions, which usually means re-writing the equation, typically in a differential form, which adds another layer of approximation. And yes then the initial conditions or boundary conditions or the computer precision can affect the answer you get if the equation is sensitive to them (e.g. mathematically chaotic). That’s why ensembles are run for things we know are sensitive to this (weather / climate / flood forecasting models).

But the governing, analytical equations remain exact, in the terms/case that the equation was derived for. And I would argue most equations even with approximations work well enough to understand the reality in which we live, within what they were designed / developed for.

We have other ways of viewing problems, than just space-time. In fluid dynamics, the detail of flow through a channel can be extremely complex, but in most situations you can take the mean flow, and variability from that mean, and have a good estimate and predictor of flow, without having to solve the full equations. Most engineering simplifies equations to a set of parameters that can be fit to a situation. Many applications use phase-space rather than time (think of a predator-prey relationship and plot population of foxes and rabbits against each other, rather than in time). Or as quantum physics is mentioned, stochastics. The point is the model/equation is an exact explanation of something, but only within the realms of what is was derived for (scale, accuracy and knowns).

Like bubs I came to recommend Trastevere, or Arenula district if you can find something with sleeping arrangements to suit. Walkable to Coliseum and centre (Pantheon etc) and Trastevere is a nice place to walk on an evening with lots of restaurant choice. I am assuming a budget similar to London (expect around £150 per room per night, so £600 for all of you for 2 nights)?

Ha was about to post the Loch Ness tides – note it’s not the direct gravitational force from the moon, but the secondary effect of the ocean tides around the coast.

Love stw thread basically about reference frames. I think it’s why some people find physics ‘hard’ because … what is ‘level’ and what are you counting a ‘slope’ from? You have to place the question in terms of gravity, pressure difference, and friction. So you are starting in the reference frame of a gravitational equipotential – a surface of equal gravity. This is affected by the mass of the solid Earth, or of the water body or adjacent water / ice. And then extra flow in affects the mass in the lake (or river or sea or ocean) with the laws of physics redistributes, with all the other forces from air/wind, surface friction, bottom friction, temperature and salinity affecting density, gives you a new ‘level’. If more mass enters ‘upstream’ than can get through the lake and exit ‘downstream’ the slope will increase for a while and at the same time the whole lake level will rise, but usually by tiny amounts because the lakes are so big. I don’t know for the Lake District but some reservoirs can delay the peak river level downstream after a big rainfall event by 2 days.

Ouch. At least they are getting people where they want to be.

It is indicative of just how run down the railway is. Not sure the Government can really afford to buy it out, but equally not sure it can afford not to. I too get delay repay all the time ( long distance trains ) and it’s a mix of infrastructure, companies without staff / drivers, and then trespassers, fires, suicides / attempts. There aren’t easy solutions.

enjoy the camaraderie, tomhoward. lol.

The companies do have a duty of care to get you to your final destination. It might be coaches are put on, or taxis. Hopefully sounds like it won’t come to that. But if doing long distance and needed, quote the National Rail Conditions of Travel, Condition 28.2

28.2 Where disruption prevents you from completing the journey for which your Ticket is valid and is being used, any Train Company will, where it reasonably can, provide you with alternative means of travel to your destination, or if necessary, provide overnight accommodation for you.

Unfortunate to have been exposed to the legal system in a RTC case, the CPS were excellent at explaining to family why certain decisions are made.

It’s extremely difficult to get a conviction of dangerous driving. The ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ and ‘persistent’ driving below the required standard meaning there needs to be evidence or witnesses would make statements and are reliably going to turn up to court, of poor driving well before the incident happened. Also they will consider charges that can go before a magistrate judge as well as Crown court in front of jury. (juries are quite poor when deciding on things like mobile phone use).

Once you’ve got a conviction, sentencing is pretty separate. As above, there are clear guidelines with aggravating and mitigating circumstances clearly stated. This is when victim statements are taken into account, as well as previous convictions can be disclosed and considered, and the demeanor of the convicted (their plea, did they help police or just ‘no comment’ their way through interviews, did they appear remorseful in court, etc). So the sentence is pretty tightly controlled.

lol. I’m also immensely annoyed at Brexit. It is devastating. But a load of retirees taking the piss isn’t going to do any favours to anyone. I’ll stand by my notion, it’s privilege that enables anyone to even contemplate overstaying their visa-free entry. We are still, even after Brexit, immensely lucky to be able to travel as freely as we can. Don’t do something stupid and affect the upcoming generations’ opportunities to do the same.

As said, the penalty depends where you are when you get found out. e.g. The Netherlands https://ind.nl/en/entry-ban

With the introduction of the ETIAS, I think a few days’ over would be a hand-slap, but an egregious and intentional overstay could be a black card for ETIAS going forward. As many have said, you become an illegal immigrant. You need to consider the cost if you were found and deported at your cost. You also need to read the T&C of your travel insurance very carefully and understand GHIC won’t count once you overstay.

When you travel from RoI into Schengen, your passport will be checked, and the passenger manifest will log when you’ve entered Schengen.

Honestly, I realise unpopular opinion, but the arrogance thinking it’s somehow justifiable boils my wee.

I want to travel around southern and East Africa for several months. I cannot re-enter South Africa after 90 days without returning to Europe. It means we’ll have to pick a route and timings based on visas and we’ll spend £ thousands more shipping a car in and out of different countries. But they are the rules and we’ll work around it. Spare a thought for most other human beings on the planet. We chose to have our freedoms removed. My Indian colleagues have to visit an Embassy in person for virtually every country, and Schengen might give them just 2 weeks even if they’ve asked for a month. Tough shit.

Yes BA will charge more for an economy seat with luggage, and will charge again, separately and each way, for a second bag and for an overweight bag. Lots of solutions suggested, including business class. BA hand luggage is very generous, so could you not just have the bike bag in the hold (with any big liquids) and take your clothes in a cabin bag, and your essentials and valuables in a ‘hand bag’ as per BA description? Then you only pay if the bike bag is overweight £65 each way. https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/baggage-essentials

Under Settings > Change memorable word… “We always show this when we ask you for your passcode to confirm that you are using the genuine app. A fake app or website won’t display this information”. If you’ve made it a sensitive word obviously just change it to something meaningless.

On the Barclaycard app you sign in with either a PIN or biometrics. The ‘phrase’ is for you to know that it is Barclaycard. i.e. it is meant to show you the phrase so you know it’s secure and the genuine app. The ‘phrase’ is not a password.

I think it’s for those websites that link directly to a bank transfer or payment and open the app / web page for you, so you know you are authorising Barclaycard.

komoot. ‘Plan a route’, or routes > plan new on a mobile. Think you have to signed in.

The Corn Mill in Llangollen and Pant yr Ochain (both Brunner ng and Price) have 5 veggie options on their menus. The Navigation at Maesbury Marsh has 5 choices. The White Kion in Whittington has 8 options… though yes there is lasagne on there, lol. The area around Wrexham is ex-industrial, and not that well off, so most pubs aren’t going to have enough through traffic to justify having a big menu, so you do have to detour off the A483 a few miles generally. But I am sure you’ll find somewhere appropriate.

Was going to suggest same as binman, the Brunning and Price places usually have 3-5 veggie mains including salads, they are reliable for good food and Pant yr Ochain has a nice setting and not far off the dual carriageway. You need to book.

In Chirk, Castle Bistro is reliable, pizza pasta salad burger type food for veggies. Again, you need to book.

Northumberland coast. Derelict castles, stunning beaches and walks. Boat trips. Holy Island.

Inland there is Alnwick Castle – Harry Potter stuff, falconry, gardens – though paid for. Kielder similarly does falconry, dark skies stargazing stuff. Hadrian’s Wall, you just walk bits or go to the museum bits.

Agree you might get more responses on the womens forum as well. I’ve only got one pair of bibs, happen to be DHB, and the cross at the back and the front is angled so the straps/braces come over the shoulder at an angle and sit comfortably more around the outside of the boobs. A position something like this The size is a little loose to allow that. And I only really use them on a road bike where the geometry forces you to be more horizontal which affects where your boobs are! It’s interesting the bike radar review examples all wear them over the front, that just wouldn’t be comfy. I guess there are lots of designs and every one of us is a different shape.

Cambridgeshire village £2.50 standard, £3 large and the standard is enough for two people.

Bristol suburb £3.30 – £5, though the standard size is a big portion.

Somerset village £3.20 standard size which is a big portion, and really good chips.

Bridlington £3 for a medium portion.

It may only be potatoes but don’t forget how expensive electricity is / has been for commercial premises.

Yeah I should have said about traffic, if tou come or go on a weekend and it happens to be sunny then there’ll be a queue of cars from York or from Goole / Howden off the M62 of people from the cities trying to get to the coast in the morning, and visa versa in the evening. So if you are looking at school holidays places like Whitby will be busy and parking does get full.

Have family in Bridlington, the town itself is a bit depressed, very much arcades and bucket and spade type coast. Already mentioned Filey has a really nice coast / beach. Bempton cliffs and Flamborough Head are nice. The old town High St in Brid is nice – best fish and chips are Gabby’s (do vegan) and Jacksons.

Also said, but it’s 30 mins – 1 hour to the North York Moors sights, beach / fishing villages like Staithes are lovely, waterfalls, steam train, Dalby forest if you want Go Ape and waymarked trails, badger hide watching. You can also get to Hull for their aquarium or Spurn Head with WWII interest. Depends what you like doing but you’ll easily fill a week as long as you have a car or enjoy British beaches.

From conversations years ago, I believe pilots should report clear air turbulence at different severity – based on measurements like how far dropped / sideways movement or airspeed change) and that is mapped and warnings sent to/via ATC for particularly active regions of convection. Obviously if there is big convective thunderstorms you can see by radar or see the anvil forming, pilots will actively change course, manually flying if needed, to avoid. For this flight it looks like it lost lift although it might have hit a downdraft.

Scotland is easier to camp without issues, but weather and distance is a factor. I fancied starting with Blair Atholl to Aviemore / Grantown on Spey via Glen Tilt. I guess return trains could work from London. And a nice hotel at the end.

Not as ‘wild’ but it’s easier to get to Wales borders where the Offa’s Dyke path goes through some remote areas. Or Dartmoor enables wild camping without issues too, and there are long distance routes or you could make up a circular. Have a look at some blogs for ideas.

I would recommend filtering water (we have a Katadyn) as rats / mice / cows carry leptospirosis and there are lots of other bacteria, viruses or parasites carried by mammals including us.

Definitely need more context there. He says he’s accommodating if she wants ‘her time’ but if he’s away in the military a lot then she’s a single mother to a 2 year old for all that time. We have no idea if she’s just unhappy that he’ll disappear for a full day at a time when they only get limited time to be a family, and we don’t know anything else about how supportive he is at home. No answer except to talk to each other.

We recently moved in to a new house with 4.5 year old Vaillant boiler. Part went, warranty repair was very efficient. But looking online it’s clearly a part that goes repeatedly (so either a design flaw or manufacturing issue) and the warranty only holds while you get an annual service from a Vaillant registered person. The previous owner paid for the extended 8 year warranty, thankfully. Even the brands most renowned for quality, you’ll pay extra over the years. It’s a reality of the throw-away economics we live in unfortunately.

Not done it myself but had ex-colleagues do to central London, so an extra 15 mins on a bike / tube past KX. It’s only just over an hour, so door to door probably not much worse than many people’s commutes. Depends how long you are expected to be in the office (office culture) I wouldn’t expect to do anything those evenings. Obviously currently strikes are a pain. Biggest thing is the cost if you must be in 3 days every week and have to be in by 9 am, that’s £600 per month extra take home you need to cover the cost.