I bought an Orange Zest from Pauls Cycles for my son when he turned 8 in July.  So far so good.

I’ve just this evening put my son’s 20″ wheel Cannondale Cujo up for sale.

https://www.facebook.com/share/YF2p73B5K5W2KXnf/

PM me if interested.

Polyroof Protec.   For Hampshire I’d recommend Williams Roofing in Eastleigh.

Watching with interest…

My business account is with Mettle (Natwest)  but they’re kindly going to change my account number and sort code later this year which will play havoc with invoicing, so I’m taking the opportunity to change to a new account altogether.

Interesting scenario.  Based on the current staffing structure I don’t think you  should be contemplating an equal share basis if you chose to take the plunge. The ratio of support staff to qualified engineers seems out of kilter and would explain the relatively low turnover for a firm of 7 staff.  Could you bring in another work-winning engineer to increase turnover?

I work in a very similar market and after 18yrs working in consultancy roles I jacked it in 2 yrs ago and set up my own business with no other ambition than to avoid being an employee ever again.

I would strongly recommend taking the owner up on the offer, but as you’d be a joint shareholder it’s got to be crystal clear where the company’s heading and how you’re taking it there.

I live in Wimborne.  There’s plenty of tracks that can be used to link up a  2-4hr ride from Wimborne but not much in terms of altitude or tech, though as per Jimmy748’s heat map, if you travel slightly further afield over into the Purbecks or north Dorset there’s a reasonable amount of good riding to explore.

There aren’t many routes I can think of that you couldn’t cover on a gravel bike over an MTB.

Hi OP,

My wife runs a small HR consultancy that specialises in supporting SME’s & charities.  They can get you set up with everything you need to be an employer, then provide any ad-hoc help you may need along the way.

PM me if you want their details.

Thats shocking. Especially as its clearly a local authority led project.

By comparison, here’s one under my control – a listed building almost completely destroyed by fire, but just enough left standing to be worth saving:

Fire damaged farmhouse

I run a small surveying practice & I’m working on several RAAC replacement schemes for one client.

They had the foresight to commission surveys of all their buildings (hundreds) to identify which had RAAC roofs, and then risk assess their condition and prioritise their replacement programme.  The highest risk roofs had internal scaffolds and propping installed and were obviously at the top of the list for replacement.

It’s a tough call for schools and hospitals as whilst most collapsed RAAC roofs are those that have suffered water ingress through poorly maintained flat roof coverings, some collapses have happened on roofs that had been inspected and showed no visible signs of failure (cracking, deflection, spalling, rust staining from corroded rebar etc).

Of course, for those that don’t even know if they have RAAC roofs, or don’t employ the right people to assess & advise them, then that’s how they end up in the situation the schools are in now.

I also work in a property consultancy environment and have certainly found that the constant requirement to be ‘all things to all people’  can be absolutely brutal.

I spent 11yrs working for a large multinational followed by 8 yrs at an LLP, so I was either working my backside off for the benefit of shareholders or equity partners.  In that time I’d lost count of the number of people I’d seen suffer breakdowns, strokes etc or simply having the life sucked out of them.   I’d always felt like I was coping with the demands of the jobs ok, but there were definitely times when I could feel the walls closing in.

Covid was the final straw when the business furloughed the other members of my team but left me in post to deal with all of the work (there had been zero reduction in my teams workload) so I decided to save up every penny I could  whilst not commuting every day, built up a slush fund then left and set out on my own running my own small business.

Ironically I probably work more hours now than when I was an employee, but its on my terms now, so I get to take my son to school, or go to the gym or go for a ride during the day, then catch up when convenient.  Stress levels have gone through the floor and I’m really enjoying my career again.

If you feel like getting off the hamster wheel, how about moving to a less demanding sector such as clientside roles, or something like the National Trust where you can stay in the industry and retain your skills and experience but not face such a demanding day to day workload?

If it helps, I once transported 650kg of concrete blocks inside my company Passat, so am up for a challenge. And I’m long overdue a trip up north. 🙂

From your description, it sounds like they are installing a cavity membrane system (Delta), whereby any water penetrating the wall falls down behind the membrane and collects in perimeter channels. These are laid to falls to a sump chamber.

The perimeter channels usually need a chase forming in the floor slab (120mm wide x 75mm deep was the dims of the last one I oversaw a few weeks ago).

If this is the case, they may not actually be digging down & excavating through the slab & beneath the footings (probably corbelled brickwork).

I’m the same height as you and went for a medium Tempest. I nearly ordered a large based on the size-guide, but glad I stuck with the medium as its a perfect fit for me.

WCA – I’m a surveyor and set up my own company last year – based not a million miles away from you. Amongst other things, the majority of my work is insurance reinstatement projects.

If you don’t get a good vibe from the builders tomorrow, let me know as I can put you in touch with a few local contractors who will be able to help.

Getting my sons passport renewed in October last year took about 3 weeks for it to be posted out by HMPO. Actually getting our hands on the passport after Fedex put it through the wrong door, trying & failing to retrieve it, waiting to be allowed to cancel it as lost, then going through the whole replacement process took many, many weeks!!

Definitely one for your insurers.

The leak detection team will find it pretty quickly using gas detection & thermal imaging as mentioned above.

Apart from your excess and the cost of getting your plumber to repair the failed pipe, the rest should be covered.

Its worth thinking about renewing the remaining pipes (at your cost) if they’re of an age where they are going to start failing frequently in the slab. Alternatively Dyno-Rod have a service where they drain the system down and fire sand through the pipes to abrade the inside face, then blow a powdery resin through that sets hard and lines the old copper pipes. Similar to traditional drain lining but works even on 15mm pipes.

I deal with EOW’s all the time and I’d seriously consider renewing all of the pipes as even though your insurers will cover future losses, its the faff factor and disruption to your lives that I’d want to avoid.

£800 doesn’t sound too bad by modern standards.
I tried to hire a 4×4 for 9 days over Christmas (Volvo XC60 was the only available option at the time) and the prices were all over £2.2k.

**Waves to jonm81 as a Wimborne resident who now also gets to use the new cycle paths around here.

Whilst the paths have some features that aren’t ideal, BCP council should at least be recognised for doing something to try and reduce reliance on cars.

This post has remined me that I promised myself I’d join the Dorset Rough Riders in 2022, so its given me the nudge I needed to get it done. I did ride with them a few times when I moved back to Dorset in 2014 but family life & work got in the way, so its time to put that right and start getting some more miles under my belt.

We paid extra for the Secure TNT / Fedex delivery service in October when renewing our childrens passports ready for a trip over Christmas. They delivered both passports to the wrong address (right number, wrong street). Trying to navigate their automated system was nigh on impossible. As far as they were concerned, the packages had been delivered.

I managed to track down the house from the photo of the front door, only to be told by the old lady who lived there that she’d put them back in the royal mail postbox. One found its way here, the other didn’t. Four weeks later, one cancelled passport, a new £142 fastrack application, one trip to Newport yesterday and another on Saturday to collect the passport, this little fiasco should be over.

I deal with this every day (surveyor appointed by insurers & loss adjusters).

Taking the cash can work well for some people but you will need to establish the project value first. From your description of the damage it’s likely that the loss adjuster will arrange for a network or panel contractor to attend & price the work. Alternatively they may appoint a surveyor who will prepare a schedule & obtain tenders.

Either approach will get you a project value which would form the basis of a settlement, but the insurers will remove any contingencies as the risk would now sit with you.

For a minor loss, the pitfalls & risks are minimal – but IMO you should look out for escalating electrical / re-wire costs if it is subsequently discovered that you need a new board / partial re-wire etc to comply with current regs (plus all the associated chasing / filling /decorating costs).

Don’t be too wary of the loss adjusters – yes they are employed by the insurance company but their role is to implement the terms of your policy, nothing more nothing less. If you have a belt & braces high net worth policy for example, you will have no arguments with inappropriate contractors or squabbling over how many coats of paint your walls should be painted with. If you opted for the cheapest option on compare the meerkat, things may not be quite so easy, eg you may find that your policy doesn’t have a matching items clause, so you wouldn’t necessarily get a full new kitchen if a couple of units were damaged – the contractor would obtain the closest possible match.

I would advise against appointing a loss assessor. Apart from one job I’m running at the moment where the loss assessor has had a positive input, in all other scenarios they have done nothing but delay matters, add additional costs to the claim (but not in the policyholders benefit) and turn an amicable process into a battle.

Feel free to PM me if you need any advice or need a surveyor 😉

I’m sure that many of the members of the Bogtrotters who I used to ride with will probably look back through tears of laughter over the incident involving one of the members – Ben the vet, who had been holding a surgical staple in one hand whilst performing an operation on a horse when he slipped over and stapled his other hand to the horses penis.

Where do I start…

1) French motorway, 4 bikes on the roof, Peage, restricted height lane. You know the rest.

2) Drove from Manchester to Hawes early for a ride. Put the front wheel in, pushed the bike forward and squeezed the front brake just as I remembered that I’d forgotten to put the new brake pads in. Instantly I heard the locating pin (old school Hayes Nine’s) snap off the piston as it hit the disk. Turn around & drive home.

3) Persuading a seized bearing out with a hammer & chisel. Bearing exploded and a fragment of metal embedded itself in my eye. Cue a trip to the eye hospital to have debris cleaned out with a needle.

4) Helping my dad lash some sheet timber to the roof bars of the car, only to discover that we’d roped the car doors shut.

5) Not me this time, but in the 80’s my uncle used to be a director of a shipping brokers in London that had recently taken on a new bulk carrier. The original crew had just been replaced by a new Greek team, and after an apparent breakdown in communications, the team in London received a rather embarrassing message to say that 2 days after setting off from Portsmouth en-route to St Petersburg in Russia, it became clear that they had actually set a course to St Petersburg in Florida.

I bought one of the earliest versions of an E91 330d M Sport manual (55 plate) nearly 10 years ago.

We paid £10k for it, with the first owner only having covered 19k miles in its first 5yrs. I’ve driven it to Italy, France, all over the UK & its been a great car.

I wouldn’t have a clue what its worth now, although its picked up plenty wear & tear from being used as a family wagon, and at 102k miles now it still cleans up ok and is always more fun to drive compared to dreary company cars I’ve had over the same timeframe.

Even if its only worth £2k now, overall cost of ownership over the ten year period feels reasonable for what’s been a reliable, solid and moderately fast car.

Yes, back in the days of the South Manchester Massive, along with NBT, Binners, Hora, XherbivoreX etc

*I never actually saw Hora with a bike

As mentioned above – self adhesive film on the outside of the low-level panes.

+1 for the Cujo.

I managed to get hold of a 20″ wheel Cujo for our 4yr old at Christmas after moving up from his 14″ wheel Frog, and he seems to love it.

It could be possible to use (bodge) a delta membrane system across the inside face of the walls & floor if you could lay it over the slab then screed over the top. You’d have to deal with the raised floor height, and would probably need to incorporate a sump chamber & pump to discharge the water.

An old concrete garage that wasn’t designed to be watertight will always be difficult to keep dry, but this may help. Its a lot of effort though, so I’d be seriously questioning whether its worth it.

I had the pleasure of joining Simon on the majority of the Saturday social rides between (iirc) 2001 – 2012.

His eccentric & affable character won friendship & respect from everybody that met him.

The last few years must have been unimaginably difficult for somebody who previously spent all their free time in the great outdoors enjoying life to the full.

Rest in peace SFB.

JC

Richpenny,

It seems I’m relatively local to you, and as a building surveyor I could probably either help with some drawings, or at least guide you through the planning portal (1000 questions asking about what you’re not planning to do, and a couple of sections relevant to what you do need to do)…

In my day job I’m usually dealing with the aftermath of people in thatched cottages using failed & inadequate chimneys 😉

Send me a PM & I’ll try and help.

A mate has had his Giant Reign Advanced plus three other bikes pinched 4 days ago after thieves broke in through his garage roof & cut through a gold standard chain. I’m not sure exactly where he lives, but it’s somewhere in the Bristol area.

Our daughter had quite bad reflux from birth until about 6 months.

She was prescribed Infant Gaviscon which was a powder mixed in with her milk which seemed to keep it under control.

Apparently its quite common, but babies grow out of it fairly quickly.

I feel your pain. I’ve been trying to find a Cannondale Cujo 20 for my son. All local Cannondale dealers have sold all 2020 / 2021 stock, but seem reasonably confident of getting deliveries in February 2022!

You need to know your SHLAA for that area.

Good advice above, but one other point is that you must not use a cementitious adhesive over an anhydrite screed. There are plenty of anhydrite-specific adhesives available.

Toughened glass can sometimes shatter due to nickel-sulphide inclusion. (Small impurity from the manufacturing process).

If the shattered glass happens to stay in place within the frame, look for straight line cracks spreading out from a central point. That’s your culprit.

Not sure if this would be the cause in the car glass incidents, but its quite common in buildings.

Go direct to an insurance broker and explain the scenario. They will find you a suitable insurer.

If anybody is looking to move on a decent 20″ wheel bike between now and Christmas, let me know as my lad is ready to move up.

As others have said, trying to find anything new that’s in stock or available on-line is proving impossible.

I was particularly looking for a Cannondale Cujo or similar for the low stand over height.

Its comforting to know that if I need to stop working as a chartered surveyor & project manager I could always try horse grooming, carpet fitting & aromatherapy to pay the bills.