1542… but it was in America.

My dog is well behaved thanks.

Not attempting to pick on you in particular… maybe your dog is well behaved, but that is exactly what a lot of people say about their dogs when it just isn’t true.
A lot of dog owners are completely deluded about their dogs behavior.

‘Oh, he usually just barks.’ is the response I got from the owner of the last dog to bite me. Willing to bet that’s not the first time that owner has used that line, and it’s because he really believes it!

Yep, definitely an awful plan. Creepy etc.

Do something open and honest and that she knows about in advance… at least until you’ve met her once or twice!

I’m at just over 20% of my income (after tax) for my mortgage. That % would go down if I include overtime payments, but since these aren’t guaranteed I don’t include these in my general budget.

Don’t forget to include cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, washing up liquid, dishwasher tabs, soap, shower gel, shampoo, toothpaste etc in your calculations. It all adds up. I spend about £200 a month on ‘supermarket’ stuff… I don’t tend to eat takeaway so that is all my food.

That is a bit odd IMHO… a visit pretty soon after the birth would be normal I think, but not there for it (not even in the hospital unless you were super close to your sister!), so after you’re back from holiday should be totally fine. Of course your sister is in for a shock if she’s expecting babies to do ANYTHING to a predictable schedule, and you’ll probably be either not gone away yet, or be back already when baby makes an appearance.

Its dead easy… follow the whw, just a bit before Dryden you’ll be going downhill on a road and there’s a path that splits off on the left. Its signposted ‘ncn 7’. Follow the signs along to balloch 🙂
At balloch, not sure how you get over onto the canal path… but it should be posted as ncn7 too and it goes all the way into Glasgow. Just keep following the signs through Dumbarton, you can’t go wrong!

The bit between Dryden and balloch is a bit lumpy if my memory is correct, with quite a lot on quiet road rather than paths\tracks.

Tinribz, he already speaks French… not sure how fluent, but there are videos floating around of him being interviewed in French.

I like him, seems just like a fairly quiet and polite guy who likes to race his bike to win. I quite like the ‘octopus falling out of a tree’ style too… makes me think there might still be hope for me as a cyclist!

I was considering the hudl but was put off by the charging issues that seem to plague them… ended up with an ASUS memo 8 for roughly the same price and its been perfect so far.

Mine is a fantastic yellow coloured one from summit gear. It’s REALLY nice sitting inside and having a peek out the clear plastic window at the horrible weather outside. I dont remember if the Terra Nova ones have a window though.
Many a picnic has been had inside that little shelter of happiness, they are perfect for having a break and lifting the mood of a group… especially since I keep little packets of haribo inside the stuffsack too!

My take on things is that if you’re usually in to take the parcels… no bother. Happy postie.

If you’re one of those people who gets loads of parcels, are never in and have no ‘safeplace’ for things to be left then I hope you burn in hell.

🙂

Ice axe and crampons are good fun! If you do end up hiring/borrowing some and get the chance, get your mates to pick a good spot (not too steep, nice clear run-off at the bottom of the slope etc) to practice ice-axe arrests. Far more fun than going to the top of a hill IMHO. Just remember to keep your toes away from the snow surface… comedy gold watching new people getting that one wrong as long as it’s on a nice safe slope they really cant injure themselves on!

Take lots of gloves/spare hat.

They don’t take on full time staff… so if you’re ok with part time, something like 4 or 5 days per week 25-28 hours plus whatever overtime you do it can be not too bad. Start times aren’t early anymore.
I reckon it averages about 10 miles per day.

Entirely dependent on line management how tolerable it is, some are good, some are ok… all will lie to your face. Not the job for someone who wont stand their ground against bullies.

The weather thing is a bit of a non-issue really, you get used to dealing with it, and if you’re already out and about on bikes in all sorts of weather then you’re a step ahead of most.

Lots of Glenmore recommendations I see… if you do end up there, and staying in the centre, beware the ‘lodge-podge’. The food is good, and there is lots of it, many people go home a bit heavier than they arrived!

On the bill splitting issue… with my friends we each work out what we owe roughly. Everyone rounds up their rough total to the nearest fiver and you’ve got the bill covered, enough left over for a tip and everyone is happy.
It takes about 30 seconds and we all get to feel good about our (occasionally dodgy thanks to the wine) mental arithmetic skillz.

I have checkout choice problems similar to someone earlier in the thread, I have a little silent celebration in my head when I pick the one that moves the fastest.

They didn’t ask before borrowing? I’d be annoyed, but mostly by the lack of manners.

The pandas are worth seeing, but apparently they do sleep a lot…

Don’t forget to go to the penguin parade, they let the penguins out to go for a walk around… and the animal encounter at 1pm is worth a look too, we got to hold a giant stick insect and the really little kids seem to love getting so close to an animal that isn’t going to bite their face off.

Just do it! It a nice distance in between the faster ‘flog yourself silly’ 5/10k and the more tactical ‘start slow and then slow down’ marathon stuff.

I used to work on a checkout… the thing to remember is that the people on mobile phones who ignore the checkout staff because they’re on the phone are the same ones who would be a t**t even without the phone.
They’re the ones who the next day will be in for a loaf of bread with an MP3 player blasting music into their ears.

Some people are just rude, it’s the way the world is… but it’s easy to forget that they are outnumbered by the nice, polite, friendly people so really we shouldn’t worry too much about it. 🙂

From my experience…

Oh GOD, OH GOD!! Run away while you still can!!

That specialist you’re getting in my give you a more useful answer.

I quite enjoyed it actually… but going into the cinema with low expectations definitely helps!

The only part I really didn’t like was the big fight at the end, it just dragged on for a bit too long. Iron Man 3 suffered from the same thing.

I’m surprised there are teachers out there who don’t have bombproof privacy settings. Friends who are teachers are all pretty much impossible to find on there, no photos are public etc.

I’d keep it… spend it on the kind of unexpected expenses that crop up while looking after them/ nice things to cheer up life for them when it’s all seeming a bit rubbish post-surgery.

If your parents are anything like mine, giving it back wont work and you’ll just feel guilty and ungrateful in the inevitable argument.

IMO, it’s great that he is being honest with you. Send him off with instructions to call if he needs help… then sit by your phone worrying all night.

Spend most of this afternoon vomiting through my nose. I think I prefer this type of being unwell.
It’s woeful while it’s going on but hopefully wont last long!

Chin up folks, it’s summer! :p

Whoooooosh!

You can’t put a sfn into a carbon steerer? Just thought I’d offer since I have one sitting in the box next to me. 🙂

You need a SFN? Would having one posted to you help?
Royal Mail collect/deliver in Scotland tomorrow and Saturday and I have one I could send. email in profile if that’s any use.

Awesome thanks, I didnt see that one. 🙂

Anyone know if it can be watched online anywhere? IPlayer doesn’t show BBC2 Scotland.

I will tell you the exact problem, watching the rugby forum on the red button, and they are talking about all the 6 nations side and how they have done n the championship, guess what, they only mention 5 of the sides, and totally miss out Scotland.

This pretty much sums it up. I’ll be surprised if they manage to mention the Scotish team in the pre match chatter before we play the French… they’ll still be prattling on about England (with some honorable mentions for Wales, who were very deserving winners… what a match!!).

If you’re packing it for him, you’re both doing it all wrong… give him a fiver and tell him to buy what he thinks he’ll need for the time he’s away.

Take it to the very manly men in your LBS of choice and let it be their problem!

Some good points there guys, I like the one about considering it as being like a 9-5 job… when I was younger there’s no way I would have the self-discipline to actually sit down and do the work outside of timetabled classes, but I think I could manage that now without too much difficulty!

It would obviously be quite a big commitment (I’ll be honest, quitting my secure job to live on student money is worrying me!), but it’s reassuring to see so many people have gone for it as an adult and found it a positive experience!

Not a singer (although he could sing if he wants to, I wouldn’t complain!)… Richard Armitage.

I have the seatpost. It does what it’s supposed to. No complaints from me. 🙂

Put a tie around the big warm sleeping bag to make it shorter for her… it really does make a difference. I’m not quite as short as a 3 year old, but I still do that to my ‘mansize’ sleeping bag if it’s going to be cold as I’m quite short.

You can also make hot water bottles if you’re taking a little stove for heating the water.

I like it. I’ll play!

Try bouldering Northwind… climbing but without going too high!

New hobbies for me, I’m going to learn to play the guitar this year. I say it every year but I mean it this time!

Roasted anything with a sprinkling of rosemary. Mmmmm. 🙂

Madeline McCann

So one then. 🙄

Other people also exist. Maybe bad things have happened to people you don’t happen to know?

Right… but how many? My point is that something happening is highly unlikely. The risk is so small.