Pleased it ended well for you.

Please update the thread if / when the police do do anything.

Alternatively, go up tomorrow with a nice bike to lean against the back of your car and just happen to be holding a spare pair of Bombers whilst you keep a look out…

Yes.

Bikes have been

Suzey (Specialized)
Avril (GT Avalanche)
Connie (Canondale)
Ingrid (Inbred)
Rosie (Rocky Mountain)

Cars:

Bruce (17 year old Mazda who should have died but kept going and going)

F&%^!@# pile of complete &%!@#&& (Kia Sedona which ate through expensive parts

The Truckster (Isuzu twin-cab pick up)

Thanks all.

The computer was shipped from the Philippines. Although the wall socket was 3 pinned (Asia style, not British), I used the same 2-pin multi-plug I’m using now and the case was never live. I guess, this suggests eksys’ guess might not be right (?)

Thanks,

is it likely to be a cheap and easy job? As every plug in the house is 2-pinned, I guess none of the house is earthed.

The earth fault thingy…

I assume that switch mid-right sould be pointing to the red rather than the green. Honestly, I have no idea about the ‘leccy!

I lived in Manila for 6 years (left and now in Phuket) so have been in touch with lots of old friends. It seems to have not been too bad. Of course, it’s the ‘rich’ who are mildly inconvenienced (“Starbucks took an absolute age to deliver this morning”) and the poorer people who lose everything!

Good to hear. f$%^ the thieving scrotes :)

It’s really not that bad…

At least it’s not a Marin. They actually hurt my eyes.

I copied oldboy’s method method as I’d been told that steel headtubes as easy to egg and didn’t want to bust my new Inbred.

Does the 20 (no pound sign on my laptop) include facing? If not, are you going to get it done and then use the press yourself? How much do they charge for the facing? 20 just to press in a headset sounds like an awful lot!

Junkyard – lazarus
Poached in fat AWESOME

Confit?

My ‘odd-combos’ are a bit simpler than these.

flapjack & marmite… mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Got it on my wife’s and like the visual improvements and a few small touches elsewhere. No trouble whatsoever with batt life or bugs.

Waiting to see if a jailbreak appears before upgrading mine.

Either,

my son’s orthapedic cardiologist / surgeon. He can (does) work 20 hours a day and is still as happy, friendly and caring with a child (and their parents) at 9pm as he is in the morning. An impressive man.

My wife who had a terrible few years in the early 2000’s but always kept going / exceeding!

This wee girl (and her parents). She was diagnosed with cancer at 3. I don’t think she ever stopped smiling.

If you literally only need texts and calls, this lasts me a week between charges.

Nokia 1661. And it’s got a torch on top too.

and also, think about the years added to your life by keeping fit (lets ignore pollution).

I miss a longer commute. Mine’s 10 minutes (always by bike). 6 if I’m running late. It takes longer to open the gates and then park a car at the other end.

haha. Just tell her to make sure her tablet / iPhone / laptop’s charged and she’ll be fine.

Hear hear!

Illegal? Yes.

Would I do it without a second’s hesitation? Yes.

Actually, ripping music from CDs you own is a grey area – technically illegal, IIRC.

Well, the missus decided on the truck. Got a good deal on it in the end and, as she said, “when else will we have a pick up?”

We went to the beach yesterday and was brilliant. Our boy loved being a bit higher. With the window down, his car seat gives him a great view out. Being able to change him on the tail gate was brilliant as was (literally) sweeping the sand out of the back.

The car feels big (of course) but not crazy. There aren’t many roads around here where you can do any more than 100kmph so ‘pressing on’ isn’t a common scenario. On the way home, it rained like it only can in Asia (‘Naam war film style) and then, the truck’s a great place to be.

As an added plus, surely I get a couple of bonus man cards driving a truck not an I’ve-given-up-on-my-life-and-here’s-my-practical-Toyota :)

Wee in their shoes?

I don;t want to be immature, but isn’t it the obvious solution to all of your problems? ;)

Alternatively, I see it that you have two options? Shut up and put up. Talk about it with your wife but other than that, see it as empty and useless put downs and remember that it’s not worth thinking about.

The other is to tell them that it’s getting to you. Do this on your terms, in your choice of location and with your wife sat next to you.

I’d say that spending less time with them could make them wonder why. Esp.if you and your wife have children. A few, occasional “we’re busy” or “sorry, can’t”might make them wonder why (or are they too ignorant for that).

Looks brilliant and shows (again) the Athertons remember what makes mtb’ing great.

Having seen my mother-in-law’s first fire of the year, can’t stress enough how you should have the chimney swept. Luckily, my brother-in-law is a fireman… he was pretty embarrassed turning up at her house though!

Blocking it off in the summer can make a difference. Buying a chainsaw, learing how to use it and chopping down trees for free wood / helping in the neighbourhood is a good idea.

sticky mud with grass in… sure that’s not doo poo?

thanks. ordered some mud-x.

Mike

Is it a mouse / pad / keyboard?

First guess is yes, a hardware fault. Have you rebooted the machine (off and on, not a restart) with the device unplugged and then plugged it back in? Have you tried the device in another USB port either on the same machine or on another machine?

What device is it? Is there anyway to see if it’s functioning ie. an infrared mouse would have the red light at the bottom.

Tried either F2 or DEL (depends on the exact laptop) to see if it’ll boot into BIOS?

The good news is, if the disk sounds like it’s spinning, you can get the data back. The bad news is lappys are rarely (economically) worth repairing.

What;’s the exact model of it?

What others have said.

For the tripod, if it really isn’t for anthing other than the photo of picture task you’ve mentioned, go to your local carboot sdale and get one for a fiver!

are stiffer leaf springs possible to buy and fit? Expensive? Surely it’s only metal slats.

just thinkin…….

Yes. I love all riding. Two wheels good.

A few years ago, I was bikeless for a few months. It drove me insane and a friend lent me thier roadbike and it was great. Mountain bikes will always be my passion but honestly, anything with two wheels and pedals is wonderful. I frequently enjoy my commute as much as a mediocre off road jaunt.

I’m also ridiculously competitive, be it an unofficial race with another commuter, out-accelerating cars before the next lights or with mates on singletrack. I’d ride without racing, but life is about competition :)

We had a 3D scan and still watch the videos occasionally (our son’s 18 months old). It was incredible to see him moving around. We knew the sex from ~17 weeks. We’re as impatient as each other. Surprises are for losers! ;) Although they did some measurements like femur, spine etc, it wasn’t a ‘proper’ medical scan. It was a private one emotional / sentimental reasons. I’m glad we did. I think it was at about 30 weeks and he looks like him; if you know what I mean. The good or bad news, depending on how you look it, is the cost of the scan is nothing compared to buggies, nappies, clothes, food, school fees etc! I say ‘YES!’

I don’t know if you’re talking about the scan for medical or personal reasons but we didn’t have a 20 week scan for birth defects. We’d decided that we would have our baby whatever was wrong (for want of a better word) with them so it didn’t matter. Patrick was born with a severe heart defect . Touch wood, it’s all repaired now, but pregnancy is tough enough without the extra stress of thinking about the future.

It’s a Nissan Navara – selectable 4×4

A 2wd (presumably rear) will be horrible in slippy conditions if not loaded

By slippery, you mean on wet roads (eg 50mph on a dual carriage way) or ‘properly’ slippery eg, mud, sand etc?

Have looked at Navara’s. Get more for your money but the canopy simiar to yours is an expensive option!

Thanks.

Off for a 2nd viewing this afternoon but it would only be the wife feeling sick from the leaf springs that would put us off.

The puddle I hit at 20-30 was in the outside lane of a dual carriageway and wasn’t deep enough to slow the car or have an effect on steering etc. ‘Water’ would have been a better description than ‘puddle’. I’ll look to see where the edges of the arches vs tires are later.

Thanks

What is that theartist…? It looks similarish to the car we like.

Today I test drove a Toyota Hilux Vigo (more out of interest than anything else – was too expensive for us). I went through a puddle at 20-30mph and the water, instead of going sideways, went forwards, then back onto the windscreen. A little frightening! Is this normal? Was the puddle deeper than I thought? Is it a ‘feature’ of pick ups you have to get used to?

Also, we’re looking at a 2 wheel drive. Should I expect anything more than extra ride height or will it have some off road ability? We regularly encounter 6-8″ puddles and holes in the road. It’s obviously going to be better at that, but much else? I don’t need it…

Thanks

Thanks Mike.

It’s not 4×4 so not twice the driven parts.

Tires – these are brand new (less than 20km on them) but I know when they do need replacing, they won’t be cheap.

Rear seats – 18 month old son will be in his car seat. If we have a second baby, they will too. Rear passengers won’t be particularly frequent. Having said that, it’s not a bad place to be. More leg room than the Fiesta. Seats are ‘sculpted’ not bench style too.

Rear load space security – would need to break the glass but at the same time, I wouldn’t leave valuables (incl. bike) there for too long. Having said that, it must be more secure than bikes on the back of a car!

Read load space – can it get more practical than a large, hoseable, covered square area?

Road noise, refinement etc. certainly not as good as the newer Fiesta but, at the same time, much better than I was expecting!

A med 26″ mtb only needed the seat removing yesterday to fit it in the back!

The extra cost (ie £200) is the purchase price. The fuel consumption is £6.6 per 100km in petrol for the Fiesta vs truck ~£4.6 per 100km. Fairly significant and confirmed. I haven’t worked out any other running costs. Will look at the log book with the 2nd viewing tomorrow.

Thanks for the replies. My wife threw a curveball yesterday when she looked at the truck. Our last car cost £1,500 as that was all we had at the time. Now we have enough money to buy almost any car. It’s deciding what we want to spend and on what ie. be adults! :?

For the cost aspect – the 3 year old Fiesta hatchback costs £200 less than the truck. It would be approx. £6.6 per km in petrol. It’s done 93k km so highish milage for the year. The truck would cost ~£4.6 per 100km. It’s 2005, 140k km on the clock but, of course, it’s a diesel work horse so I’m less concerned about that. Cars are expensive over here and hold their value. A 2nd hand estate (like a Volvo) would be great but well out of our price range. The two cars we’re looking at are £9,000!

I’m sure, parts cost more for a big truck, but they’re less likely to break due to wear and tear.

Financially, I’d say the truck wins.

Grize: how did you carry small (domestic) loads without them sliding and moving around? Got an ingenious solution?

zilog – but it’s the smoker’s choice. Same for Cadburys, beer, Burger King et al.

All I’ll say is that as

a) an ex smoker (5 years), I HATE the smell of smoke either in the air, on my clothes or in my vicinity.

b) with a Friday beer in my hand, I’d love a couple of Marlborough Menthols; all due to this thread!

wwaswas…. hahahahahahahahahaha! Been a long day. It hadn’t even crossed my mind I could do that. All’s well that ends well.

I’ve got a few power links but was keeping them for mid-ride repairs.

Got a chain tool, but no holes anywhere.

Just broken a fork (table, not Bomber!)

wwaswas – I’d already had a half-hearted attempt at that method!

There’s a power link already in the chain so I’ve got it off the bike. Wandering around the house looking for small holes and wondering if a door hinge would work!

EDIT: Kitchen scissors! They won’t do much cutting again, but at least the chain pin’s off!

Thanks for the replies. I think we’ll give it a little longer. Maybe another 5 weeks – making it a two month ‘trial’.

It doesn’t really make a difference but the new nanny’s Filipino. It costs a little more as you have to pay for their visa but the two Thai ladies we interviewed couldn’t speak a word of English.

Hi nanny is about 50 and not particularly pretty. Definitely a nanny (not manny) though!

Thanks everyone.

He’s our first so everything’s new.

Hopefully it is just a new routine, new people, new surroundings etc. I’ve listened in on them (okay spied) and she does put the effort in. Like I said, she doesn’t seem to be as natural but she has big boots to fill and a big bond. Nanny #1 met him when he was 3 days old and maternity leave ended after 45 days. Unfortunately, he spent more time with her some weeks than with us.

Crossed fingers for everything settling down.

How long would you give it though? Up to 3 months (another 9 weeks?)

Thanks for the replies

It’s got to be the N. Coast (I’m from near Exmouth), but to fit your requirements (the sandy beach bit) head north!