1) Sadly sometimes a chain cafe is the only cafe in an area.

2) I dont know if the legislation for mobile broadband signals is the same as for normal phone signals never having read it, I have no idea if there is any legal difference between the 2. Besides, people do think they can get away with doing dodgy stuff on the quiet – hence my orig question.

3) My foil hat tended to set off the security systems by the shop doors, even when I took it off and put it in my bag.

4) I will skip moving to Kettering then, as it sounds even tougher to get connected.

It does seem odd though, that the only place I get ‘your modem is broken’ type messages is in chain cafes. Its the only time I ever see that message on my pc.

I think the yellow tube might be something to do with repairing ‘Woods valves’ that were common before Presta and Schrader.

Why are you looking down at kids who have the misfortune to be associated with mad parents? Not nice of you is it.

Zero degrees is awful at weekends as it is so loud (building design) that you have to literally scream any conversation and its full of drunks. I had the misfortune to use it a couple of weekends ago and the service was so bad we did not even leave a tip. The people next to us set the table on fire! It was impossible to get a waiter to pay attention to order the dessert. Never again.

Browns food is fine if you just want nice straightforward traditional UK food. A bit noisy at times, but very nice surroundings and the waiting staff are always very nice. Lots of lovely real palm plants.

Cafe Rouge is ok.

I wont use the Mud Dock as its connected to the not very helpful bike shop.

I dont think they will ever do anything to allow removal of peerages, but will stall the public forever with empty talk.

After all, they have been ‘looking into this’ since Mr Archer embarrassed the house, when the view was ‘things will have to change, he cant keep his peerage’. Never happened did it.

I think the problem is that many politicians and their best friends (who get peerages too) have done lots of immoral things that might come to light later on. It is not at all in their own interest to arrange for peerages to be at risk. Why risk loosing their own status when stuff gets discovered about them at a later date? As things stand, there is a bit of bad publicity, the public get bored and move on, and Lord Whoever still gets a good table at the restaurant and several more nicely paying directorships form the old boys club.

It is only a matter of time before we get Lord Blair of Morality.

I would like to see parental leave shared between both parents.

I would also like to see more support given to people who care for sick relatives. People choose to have kids or not, but lots of people have no choice over partners having strokes, long term illnesses or ending up with infirm elderly parents. They deserve as much if not more support than people with choices that are often ‘happy choices’ rather than harrowing care exercises.

Don’t write off getting involved in ‘male’ orientated hobbies. If you increase your circle of male friends as they will have sisters / female friends you can bump into.

Treat all women nicely/well when in any group. There is nothing more off putting than a bloke who shows interest in one woman and is rude or off hand with all the other women with her (ie they are an inconvenience in his way). Most women are flattered by a little marked attention, but not rude excluding behaviour towards people she cares about. It is surprising how many men are rude in this way – it points a great deal to the less pleasant side of their personality.

Never mind, they will have kept some details with great care, like where you went on your hols and who you sat next to. How jolly to announce a report saying we should worry about becoming a surveillance society and the same week say ‘lets record all your travel details for at least 10 years’ What a laugh eh! Oh the public think that’s not fair? Well lets give bankers freedom to have as many pay awards as they like, to prove we are not a restrictive society in any way. Multiple other nasty countries have unfairly restricted this sort of thing with urgent laws. Thank god the UK supports freedom in all the right ways these days and does not bring in stuff without public consultation. UK – land of honesty, fairness and freedom for the special club members.

I have the Rab jacket. Whats nice about it is you can just wear a tee shirt underneath even in very cold weather – the freedom of movement and lightness is so much better than a less warm coat and a load of jumpers or fleeces.

I am considering getting the gillet as I can see good uses for that too.

Try ‘the backpackers handbook’ by Chris Townsend – full of useful info from a guy who has hiked the UK and done major trails all around the world. He covers everything – socks, rucksacks, sleeping bags (and bear proof containers if you travel to the USA).

Also be aware that ultralite camping is now the rage. If you go down that route it is unlikely you will need huge rucksacks. Do a web search – there are several UK companies that specialise in light weight camping equipment.

A friend of mine fairly young waited over 18 months for a serious op, then went private (treated on a loan out of desperation) as she was throwing up each day and in pain – only to find it was the same surgeon doing the same job in both locations. Service much faster in the private sector as op was done in a fortnight. I guess he had a lot of time going spare and nothing much that needed doing…

I don’t see why you should pay for postage. Do something else for them instead, or put it in the post with no stamps. The first might be the nicer!

Consider a consultation with a decent physiotherapist. Ones associated with sports/gym facilities seem more aware of what active people require.

If you are paying for it yourselves, its your choice. Don’t get guilt tripped by others selfishness or thier ‘show off’ egos. See them for what they are.

About a decade ago I lost my whole parental family, an event happened led by one of them and as a consequence none of us are really in contact with any of the others – which was all totally unexpected and a huge shock. A while after I moved in with boyfriend/partner, after a couple of years I found out he was more committed to his ex than to me. He told me I would never matter as much as her. I found someone else (the love of my life), he ran into harrowing personal problems and our lives were hell for 2 years as I helped see him through it. As soon as things got better for him, he too left me but only after having told me he had never loved me at all, ever. I stopped dating after that and have no one now. All pretty bad, and I came near to a breakdown and other bad stuff to the point of the doc offering to sign me off work. Point is, that I look back on all this awful awful stuff and now feel glad a lot of it happened. My family relationships were very undermining and if I am honest I feel better now I am no longer trashed by them. I still bump into the love of my life as he lives near by and realise that if we had stayed togeather he would have made my life hell long term. I cant describe how bad I felt in the last decade, or how low my self esteem got or how rubbish I felt other people saw me as. But the point is, I am still glad most of it happened now as if it had not, things would have been way worse for me long term and I feel better about who I am now than when I was surrounded by people who only pretended to care. You will do ok, however low you feel now. It will get better. After a while you will be able to look back and maybe see positive stuff that you cannot see right now, or cannot yet believe is acutally there. You too might be able to feel glad (I never thought I would!)things changed even if it feels utterly awful at the time of change. And dont give up on women, some of us are faithful and loyal and feel just as let down by people as you do. All darkeness has light in the distance, its just managing to stick it out till you arrive there. Have faith in yourself, you will do OK.

Also check with the citizens advice (CAB) as they might suggest benefits the Benefits Office ‘forgets’ to mention…

Well the saddles are good and cheap and I got mine by chance before all the good reviews came out.

I think Charge have done well. It must be a major marketing problem to elbow up to the bar to compete with the big boys like Kona/Trek/Cannondale whose marketing budgets must be massive and who are familiar to all bike people. I dont blame Charge for being skilled or vigourous in thier marketing or exploting whatever is reasonable. What I respect them for is that they have stayed within a reasonable price braket for thier stuff and its decent quality as far as I am aware.

I have much less patience for Howies and other rip off price brands who are not only greedy in thier pricing, but do everything they can to promote pure snobbery as a desireable quality in a person.

It might be worth you asking this question on some of the roadie or triathlon forums. A lot of the roadie people are older, but very active in sports, so may have more long term info.

Its a shame if she is not able in the end to continue snowboarding, but it could be a chance to take up other sports that might prove to be lots of fun.

I know lots of people like to give/recieve these cards, but personally I hate them and have made it clear to friends that I dont want any if I experience a loss. I think its because I associate greetings cards with happy events, so I find death ones a bit harrowing. Its very personal, but I can’t imagine anything worse than day after day of depressing cards arriving, each one reminding one of death and loss, both my own grief and that of other peoples – its not really a help. But as I said, I think I am in a minority. You have my sympathy about knowing what to say, its hard enough if you meet a bereved person to find caring words for the misery they are going through.

Initial costs:
Check over with the vet to make sure its healthy, buying bedding, food and water dishes, some people install a dog flap, or an outside run with a warm kennel. Making sure your garden is escape proof. Replaceing chewed items (furniture, carpet, shoes, wallpaper!) if you have a dog or puppy that is anxious and chews stuff, or that is teething. Lots of dog toys.

Longer costs:
Daily food. Vets bills or insurance. Annual vacinations. Kennel fees or ‘presents for a friend’ for looking after it if you have to go away and leave it behind. Dog training classes. Replacement dog toys as the old ones wear out. Extra charges if you rent a holiday cottage.

Effort:
Walk and ‘throwing things for it’ exercise, possibly multiple times per day, making sure if you go out you are home in time to feed it and let it go out to the loo – this means earlyish in the morning, middle of day, late at night. Time to teach your kids not to use the dog like its a toy or a doll instead of another living thing like us. Trying to avoid leaving the dog at home all day alone, so best if at least one person in the house works part time or works at home. Excepting your dog will want to be with your family a lot and not just shut in a room at the back of the house all day/evening cos you have got bored of it. Lots of additional cleaning as they bring in mud and shed hair.

Dogs are great and give so much back to people, but you have to see them really as another child joining the family – not as toy that can be just put away when everyone is bored or tired.

Hope it goes well.

Could she be doing this?

Having read this, I looked up the handmedown section to find jackets and bags that are supposed to last 10 years. I can see the bags might be OK in 10 years time, both in functionality and appearence but the coats already look like the sort of thing my grandad used to wear. I can’t see them anywhere but an allotment in even 5 years as they look so depressing. And at £400 I think it was or somesuch nuts figure.

We got a condensing boiler in the house when the last one broke. Importantly we retained the hot water tank and immersion heater. Having heard of lots of poor hot water supplies from boilers that heat water as you need it.

Get quotes from several companies. British Gas are vile hardsellers who sent 2 people round to bully us (crossed them off the list!) and check what they say against the internet. We found a lot of companies lie in order to sell certain things. We were told by BT and another company we could not keep the hot water tank at all, but we still have it and its been great. Lots of water reserve and also hot water access if the central heating fails. Having been left for 3 weeks by Brit Gas with no heating and no hot water when elsewhere, believe me a reserve tank with immersion is worshipped! And we can still wash up when someone is using the bathroom taps!

Great stuff, ta. Will put my order in.

I have used both and both are ok. Mag trainers are quieter IMO as less fluid slop. Anything with a variable resistance setting is best as non adjustables are rubbish at ‘low speed high power’, cos they are intended for road bikes so aim for ‘high speed and low power’ output. Its nice to be able to choose to go either way.

Although limited, closely trimmed beards can look visually nice (as opposed to the tumbleweed type) I would not date anyone with one, as romantically they are a turn off. Modern beards are much better than more traditonal ones. I hate not being able to see peoples expressions, or large areas of thier face. I find it odd that I feel like this though, as by nature they should be there or they would not grow in the first place!

Thanks guys, I will go out an have a decent look. Thanks for hints and tips where to start.

(I have not noticed anything on the floor, but then it must be loosing stuff quite slowly so may not be making a notiable puddle, it sits on a driveway so the surface is damp often anyway.)

To be honest, I dont really know when it started, I was doing a bits and pieces check on it around a month ago and noticed the coolant reserve tank had emptied, so I topped it up. Checked it again last night and most of it had gone again. I realise from this I am going to have to keep much more of an eye on it.

I broke down in an overheated car once (not mine) and fortunatly it just seized up and ground to a halt. Amazingly there seemed to be no long term damage to his car. Twas due to oil loss I think (long time back to remember).

Its a very old high milage japanese car. It is leeking oil from somewhere too very slowly and has less acceleration, which oculd be the high milage. I am wondering if it is a head gasket problem myself, but I have not really got out and had a good look round. I dont think my garage will be keen to repair it if so, as they will probabally suggest scrapping it instead, due to costs. Hence hoping the 2 leaks are not connected and that the water is going out in another area. Wishful thinking I expect, but not really in position to replace the car. If by good fortune it is the radiator (not with my luck), I am still wondering if the repair fluids are worth a shot if the leak is small. I think it is loosing about a pint a month, with plenty of milage.

Saw a bunch of interview candidates at the fairly laid back place where I work. All 4 had turned up in suits of a totally identical light grey. All the shirts and accessories were nearly identical too. I was not involved in the interviewing, but I have to say thier lack of individuality and personality put me right off the bunch of them. They were scary to look at, bit like a male version of the Stepford Wives.

Ask about daily life – household chores, having a bath, daily transport, the coming in of new inventions and what they thought about them. My family can remember the installation of both gas and electricity (they were very poor) and shopping on Sat nights to get reduced price food. Seeing a car was a big deal as it was still mainly horsedrawn. Ask about weddings and funerals. My lot can remember corpses laid out in the living room for days! Yuk!

Might be worth you looking through a few history books – stuff like ‘the victorian house’ or the Edwardian period as they mention everyday life and it might trigger ideas of your own. Ask about stories his parents told him. Get the family photo albmum labled up, nothing worse than a load of people who might be Aunty Joan, or might not be…

Have fun!

Greed is all in our society. Everyone wants more profit each year, instead of being happy with a duplicate of the nice wad of money they got the previous year. So prices go up and up and people want more and more money so pay for things, so prices go up. Legacy of Thather and Son of Thatcher (Blair) – think of yourself rather than of consequences.

I just like cycling or as someone said, rambling about on a bike. I am not an adrenalin junkie or at all competitive. I just like bikes and the fun of being out ambling around on them.

Just found a photo site of them – very appealing

Wild boar photos

Better than ‘Ruby’, ‘Maud’ and ‘Ranger’ – all names I have come across lately for small children. A bunch of future scullery maids and someone looking for Tonto..

No, sorry. Dunno if it helps but did MBUK do something similar there in the last couple of years – could it be a video related to them?

Oh and sorry for poor spelling folks.

Any company such as those advertised by Carol Vorderman, who appear to say if you are in debt, the best thing to do is go out and buy a brand new car so your neighbours admire you.

All the companies who advertise in the afternoon making old people feel guilty for not having pre-paid for thier funeral, as it makes them a burden on thier family. Always nice to be reminded you are old, worthless and will die soon. I dont understand why these sick adverts are ever permitted anyway.

Black Diamond Spot is good plus waterproof, though not sure how it matches up to the recent fast developments. The newer Tikka I bought was rubbish in comparison, as it had lots of rings in the light and a vile colour cast that the older one did not used to have so noticably, hense the move to ‘Spot’. The tikkas are not waterproof either.

I admire Chris Hoy and the many other British riders, but bottom line is that he does not save lives, he cycles round a track. Respect to him, but the honours system is shallow, full of the in crowd patting each other on the back and should be (if it exists at all) done by public vote.

Arise Lord Mandleson, national hero. Says it all…