@tthew you are right, my heart isn’t in it.

@milko9000 i had my eye on the Farer Foxe Workdtimer for ages, both lovely watches.  I’m pretty sure I don’t want another Seiko.

I need some advice.   I’ve not found a watch I’d be interested in buying recently and so happy with the collection, I don’t have a twitching wallet.   Despite that,  after settling the mortgage I have spousal permission to “buy myself something”.  You may remember I had an interest to add a GMT to the collection.

So, I’ve negotiated 15% off this Seiko Craftmanship series GMT, a new piece launched recently.  My question is, it is worth the price* and the remove of a 5kx and Blue/Ice dial cocktail time – it the “hand made” & Urushi all a bit marketing bollocks or the chance to own something slightly special?

I very much don’t want “just another Seiko” and actually wanted to reduce the number of auto’s in my collection.   On the flip side I have located a birth year Omega Geneve auto day/date for £1k, serviced and vgc.

*edit I don’t mean to diminish the expertise & time shown in the video should that actually be applied to the piece I’d buy, but have this “just a Seiko” phrase in my head which is holding me back.

On the point an above re rum, I have some tasting glasses and didn’t know of the Glencairn until now, but they are a similar shape.  Came as a set with some JL wine glasses, I must try one out instead of the ‘70’s JL Crystal I used to use.

This is a shame, as is the closure of the Cafes which seems to becoming permanent.

Me and jnr got less than a weeks notice before Afan lodge cancelled our booking that I’d made 9 months earlier, with very little hint of customer service within a bland email and no hint of help for alternative accommodation despite me replying accordingly yet politely, just “sorry, you’re out”. We ended up in Port Talbot Premier Inn and very much enjoyed the trails, with only the final section of Y Wal closed (April).

Happy Donkey sell Italian Beans, a good price also – prices at about £7.50 for 2 bags of beans.

So who pays for council street lighting if the are on an un metered connection via a “house”?

You, via Council tax. The electricity supplier has an algorithm to work out the costs per lamps/gear within and charges the Council on a cumulative basis according to the algorithm.

it’s an industry standard, Google BSCP520 for explanation.

Thank you for sharing

You’re welcome, not everything in life is positive and afaik personal opinion is still allowed to be expressed freely.

Nothing like Top Gear

Good to hear, home alone Friday and celebrating 5 weeks of sobriety so I may give it a try, despite not enjoying McGuiness.

Urgh, annoying Paddy  McGuiness and a yet another potential TG script.  Might be a while before I can convince  myself to drink enough to have a look.

And another for the V1 Forecaster…  I’ll likely be racing on them in a months time….

I have the same tyres OP on my 320d – after 2 yrs/20k miles  I think they are superb, cant pick up any addition noise and my average MPG went up 2mpg.

What’s more, I wasn’t towed out of a muddy field like many at Hever Castle Events this weekend* and they were as sure as a sure thing  in the minus temps & snow of December ’22 over the Cotswolds.

* I will admit to scouting out the firmer run out to the road, but even so, the car was sunk 2-3 inches in soft yet not wet mud.

Just popping in to confirm that the hot / freezing water thing over a rubber strap at the bottom of an appropriately sized mug works.  Cue cheap thick strap now is much softer and wears more comfortably with a curve to it.

As above, before Covid and EBV I was 3.8-4wkg, now at about 3.2.   This makes a big difference in XC races but long-ish Z2 is still a thing for me, 4hrs at 180w on Saturday.

I doubt I’m ever getting back now, but taking inspiration from the fact that some people way unfitter than me were enjoying just being part of the Hever Castle Triathlon (downgraded to duathlon) at the weekend.  In recent months I’ve been riding with an old friend and very much enjoyed riding vs training TBH.

Vis a vis, it probably doesn’t matter unless you know you need more w/kg than the next guy

Making the most of Essex….

No, I mean why shouldn’t I end it before its term concludes?  There’s not Payout or refund, and it no longer has security over any debt so what’s the point in continuing to pay for it?

I used to long – and still do a little – for an RS6, and I’m very confident I’d enjoy sitting in a traffic jam listening to it rumble away….….but the fear of theft / raiders with kids in the house, and the value of being debt free let’s me make piece with the fact my bland common, undesirable to thieves 50mpg 320d gets  me where I need to be with all the toys and comfort I really need means I’ll never own one.

Essentially I was trying to say that the people that label all politicians as being the same really, really mean what they say.

A section of society simply don’t like or trust politicians, the party is irrelevant as is policy, good or bad .

I must admit with my lack of political prowess im one of those.   I had high hoped the incoming Government with replace the old lot with a much more honest and focused approach to take us forward again, but with the recent headlines I’m starting to fall into “there’re all the same”.     Extra taxes likely incoming, government funds and pensions being raided ( could effect my line of work) and so forth is starting to feel uncomfortable.

I know we have to fix problems caused by the previous lot and I know that costs money I’ve seen it happen elsewhere, by the prospect of being hit directly in to pocket whilst out politicians get free glasses, clothes and extra curricular funding for thier kids feels bad to me.

This:

If a 31 day break will.help you to cut down your unhealthy level of alcohol consumption then definitely go for it.
Posted 22 hours ago

and this:

I think the thing I want to take from this is it’s not giving up booze, BUT discovering a life away from the  booze

…have been the takeaway from me as I conclude a break during September to October 4th.   By designed I drank on Tuesday at a Black Tie event, and really enjoyed the first beer and a couple of red wines, but then was reminded of the impact with a headache and very jaded awakening Wednesday morning.

Thanks to a virtual gardening leave period during a warm summer my drinking had got a bit too frequent, so this reminds me to drink for pleasure once or twice a week / on a weekend and leave it at that.

A maybe post ride shandy and sharing red wine with my wife on a Sunday is likely all I go back to.

Sanity

Someone please tell me the XR3 is worse than a Barzo for XC cornering grip….

How old are they?

A month away from 16 (M) & 12 (F) respectively.

Surely it’s the opposite?

Id love to know for sure as I’m not a confident leaner and was bitten by a High Roller many years ago and have since defaulted to rounded tyres.  I am a “confidence” rider though so if modern tyres have evolved to take account for low lean angles yet greater edge grip at the same time to provide greater confidence up front I’d be up for a square edge XC race recommendation different to a Barzo.

aw, Daddy says I’m not allowed to swear, I’m LEAVING wah sulk wah ? (streaming eyes emoji)

I’m currently standing next to a Škoda Enyaq Coupe VRS.  What a good looking thing, and a good price too.

That is all.

@crossed yes.   I lubed mine with GT 85 and with the grommet close to the frame but out of it pulled the cables as far forward before pushing the grommet in as far as possible.    The tension on the cable from them wanting to pull themselves back into the frame seems to keep it from working forward again.

An “Epic” 4hr training ride in what I suspect is the last of the dry trails.  Storms and rain inbound

I’d rather admire those pocket watches ^^^ and pieces like the Jacob & Co Astronomia Revolution seen here from 19 mins, let it play until you see the animation of the full watch build, holy crap that’s a thing…

I was looking at that also the other day, but I have a thing against homages; I don’t want the “oh you have a…. Ah no, it isn’t”, and also I know it isn’t “real” despite being a perfectly adequate watch.  I want the real one.

Add to that I’m at a brick wall with my collection, I have everything I need, and anything I’d want to upgrade to is serious money, serious enough to have to cull the collection and need some serious saving to get to.   I keep looking at the £300-£600 range and thinking, “nah, it adds nothing other than just another watch to give me a daily indecision derived headache”.

Two days ago I got offered the grey graduated King Sumo for half price.   A while back I would have just bought it, but now it adds nothing really.  I keep looking at the latest half metal Solar Casioak, but why?  Equally the 63mas at 2/3 price – a significant upgrade theoretically to my King Sam & Slim turtle/Willard, but other than the GMT hand and the case shape I’m not getting anything else for my £1000 (except less watches).

Im in a weird space, sorry for the monologue mind dump.

What Brucewee and Scotroutes said.  I could voluntarily go out for an enjoyable walk later which has various benefits knowing there’s a risk of me being run over to death, but I won’t let that stop me.

Everything we do comes with risk and reward, how you balance or moralise what you do is mostly within your control, but sometimes not.  Opinions are like aresholes…. Etc

I did a duathlon a while back, it was just a training day for an Ironman I was doing later in the year. Anyway, had a slug of single malt before i went to bed. Finished 8th :)

It’s we’ll document that some elite athletes have a small red wine the night before a big event to calm thier nerves / fall asleep quicker.

Re recovery – although the most damage is done in the first two hours approx. of recovery, alchohol inhibits human growth hormone and is prioritised – on the basis of a removal of a poison from the body – over carb and protein absorption and sysnthesis.   Therefore the aforementioned turbo session above will be less effective than it could have been.  If you’re serious about training for performance, abstain so as not to waste / compromise your efforts.

On a similar note, I’d be interested in anyone’s review of True Classic T shirts, asking for a friend.

What if STW were a conduit for anti UK propaganda and there were spies amongst us, especially in all those political threads?

And, who’s recommended a Chinese EV recently, or a smartphone?

Makes you think, we could all be being influenced in ways cleverer than a 90’s teenagers collection of The Daily Sport.

Also note that any currency conversion at weekend incurs a fee, best to keep a stack of Euros converted already just in case.

and crisps

Then we have two things in common, crisps are my downfall yet hell will freeze over before I give up crisps.

This time I’m not using any alcohol substitutes as I think it actually makes it worse

+1

Yeah but….

Eating bacon is dangerous, driving is dangerous, your cat sleeping on the stairs at night is dangerous, heaven forbid even riding a bike is dangerous.  All these things has a J curve; the less you do them the less likely you are to suffer any effects from them.  Yet, a lot of them have an enjoyment / mental health factor for most people as well.

You makes your choice etc…. But as above, moderation is key.

I’ve recently ordered form Charles Twyrrt which is my usual go to and the quality is as good if not better than ever.   You just need to find/wait one of their multi buy offers for best value.  They have a “4 for….” Offer on now.

I think Perez taps Saint rear wheel.

I found it quite odd that someone who did / does drank 4-6 beers a night 5 x a week.  Just wow.

I think moderation is the key

More than 40 years ago and as a child my Cockney Nan told me many things which have turned out to be pure wisdom.  One of these is “A little bit of what you fancy does you no harm”.   It’s funny how we go around the hamster wheel so often, to arrive at the same conclusions.

My son’s Regional Academy Tri coach is an ex elite road cyclist.   He’s made great pains to communicate that choosing the right bike and bike fit –  or necessarily in that order is paramount.   His view is that industry follows the pros and so do we, slamming the next best thing onto our frames and compromising fit, whereas of course the pro peleton equipment is optimised for their events and so are the riders flexibility through very special and focused training without any thought post retirement effects.

I’ve been at the physio for about 4 years to 2023 with stiff neck to the point I can’t turn to the left after 3hrs on a road bike.    He suggested a small adjustment by sight for me in January this year during a ride – I haven’t been to the physio or got a seized neck since.

Trumps plan is to tell Zelensky to give up the Donbas or he withdraws US support.   Let’s pray that Harris wins.

Never wanted to see the farm as I think jc is just an arse.

I have the same opinion of Clarkson as Rustyspanner, yet I watched the first series of the Farm.   Clarkson or his producers have this weird way of very minor moments of brilliance, for me his serious poignant summary and managing to switch the buffoonery off  – at the end of series 1 – of just how hard and non profitable running a Farm really is shedding an educated light on something a lot of us are ignorant to.

In the same way I can’t get to grips with Michael Portillos travel series for the same reason, their past/chosen persona massively compromises anything sensible and leaves them eminently unlikable.