Volvo numbering system, 1970s: First number is series, second is number of cylinders, third is number of doors.

OP – feel for you. I’d’ve done the same. We went camping last weekend – the weekend full of thunderstorms – and I had reservations about going but it was booked and paid for. We put up a shelter to cook under, because cooking in a tent is stupid, and got a talking to from the site owner for having a ‘party tent’… soured the whole weekend more than the weather did. If the owners are Dicks it’s best just to leave.

Used to be one of my favourite films, but when I tried to watch it again recently I gave up about halfway through. It felt painfully dated, despite its being deliberately painfully dated when it came out. I’m almost scared to try rewatching Kill Bill now!

Depends on what work I’m doing. Thinking requires no (or few) lyrics, so 26 mixes for cash by Aphex Twin is about two hours long and the right sort of tempo.
Getting stuff done that doesn’t need thinking about? DJ Yoda’s how to cut and paste, the ’80s edition. Or All Day by Girl Talk. Or Froot by Marina and the Diamonds.

It was overfilled, then. Do the cable reset, fill it with the oil you have unless it’s wildly out of spec, then fill it with the right stuff next weekend.

There should be a reset button somewhere around the edge that you can stick a paperclip into. You’ll feel the button depress, then hold it for five or ten seconds. Should restart fine after that. Good luck!

There is no way court and caught are homophones. Caught and cot are, though.

I haven’t been to Edinburgh for probably five years now, but used to be there regularly. Favourites for good food and lack of pretensions were always Petit Paris, Holyrood 9a, and The Hanging Bat. In that order.

One thing I refuse to say or write is ‘aren’t I?’

I am, am I, yeah, that tracks. I are, are I? Nope.

I’m going to get pelters for this, amn’t I?

You can still buy them! I got some off eBay for the kids’ bikes when they were younger.

Agreed. You’ll most likely have compulsory excess and voluntary excess, although it’s not voluntary when it comes to paying it. It’s only really worth claiming for vandalism when the bill is into the thousands.

Surprised nobody’s mentioned Shadow and Bone yet? Proper fantasy but still believable. Has magic, but they treat it like science. Has a big scary rift across the land, full of monsters. Has a proper 19th century Russian vibe. Is a Netflix original. Should probably be terrible but is actually brilliant.

Yeah, I know! The rubber pads do at least have a ‘proper’ part number on them, but of course it appears to be on EVERY rubber pad I can find. Tried Thule as well, but they either didn’t understand or were being deliberately obtuse…

Agreed with Tap 7 and Rothaus. König Ludwig also do an utterly fantastic weissbier. Allgäuer Edelweiss is worth searching out but it has to be drunk cold. I quite like Grolsch Weizen as well, if I can’t find any of the others there.

Working at a startup was one of the best experiences of my entire working life and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I was absolutely rigid about my hours because I knew if I wasn’t then all or nothing would be the expectation forever. But I knew that those hours would be mad and varied when I was there. I’m in engineering so slightly different, but one day I might have been wiring up our units and building test rigs in the morning, grabbing a pile of food from the chipper and then sitting in on interviews that afternoon. And picking up some random stuff on my drive home that was needed the next day.
I lasted five years there, and saw us being bought out by a larger company. We got a purpose built office and workshop out of them, but we lost the fun.

Does it have to be beer? Because 2% is Radler territory, and as said above Schoffenhoffer and Rothaus are great at those. Løwlander do a lot of low alcohol stuff if you like their style, and Browerij ‘t ij do a low alcohol IPA that’s worth buying for the label design alone.

Yep, bleach after cleaning with vinegar is pretty bad as well…

While I want to agree with that, yer man Chauvin is gonna end up suffocated to death in prison by some big black dude’s knee. And then the cops will step up the targetting of black guys several notches.

Deal with the other party’s insurer and get them to give you a hire car until you’re sorted. They’re less likely to dick you around with lowball offers when you’re costing them £75 per day or whatever to keep you mobile.

Lilyhammer.

2002 S3. Brilliant on paper, ridiculously quick, and once got me from Aberdeenshire to Bedfordshire in five hours without breaking a sweat. Utterly soulless, though, and plagued with twatty little problems the whole time I had it. Had rust breaking through the paint a few months into my ownership when it was barely four years old. Got a full respray under warranty after a MASSIVE fight with Aberdeen Audi – twice, because they made a mess of the first one – and six months down the road it was blistering with rust pretty much everywhere. Absolutely fought with Audi for them to sort it or just refund me and they wouldn’t do a thing. And because I’m stubborn I stuck with it. For 40k. Eventually sold it for two grand with sills that were peeling open. I’ll never have another modern Audi again after that.

So my inlaws bought me a lovely hoodie for my birthday last month, from a company in London. It’s taken nearly a month to get to the parcel holding facility a kilometer away from me. Yesterday I got a card through the door saying I can pick it up whenever I like within the next seven days before they send it back. And it can stay there, because although it’s a gift, it was shipped direct and the value is over 45€. So if I want it I need to pay the tax due on the value of it and the shipping cost, and a 13€ admin fee. I’m buggered if I’m paying 25€ on top of something I never bought in the first place that would have cost me 50€ tops.
And unless any potential saving is HUGE, I won’t be buying from the uK in the future.
I guess that’s a Brexit bonus? Except the bonus is Europe’s.

Watching with interest. The quality of Merrell has absolutely nosedived in the past few years. Currently wearing some of Decathlon’s finest 50€ walking trainers and already they’re wearing better than the last two pairs of Merrells I’ve had.

I miss my cracked 2010 Foxy. After months of fighting with Silverfish I ended up with a 2017 one but I’ve never gelled with it. It feels a right weird shape and I just can’t throw it around the same.

I’ve softened on the Bentagaya, and don’t mind the Velar. All even-numbered BMW Xs are gross, though. As is the Aston DBX, the Rolls Tulliallan, and the Lamborghini Urine. The biggest Mercedes thing is horrible as well.

Glad I’m not the only one who won’t have a Merc because of that stupid single column stalk. Hateful.

Yes, many a time. Original one, quattro so with the shallower boot. I think with careful packing you could get two bikes in a 2wd one, and any other gear stuffed into the rear footwells. Might need the passenger seat uncomfortably far forward, mind.

I think the worst ‘crime’ from that couple is not the smaller front numberplate, but the fact that they didn’t shorten it to get rid of the acres of white either side of the digits. Horrible.

FWIW I agree with pretty much everything about integrating, and keeping reasonably clear of ‘ex-pats’.

Und einem gelb kennzeichnen vorne? Wie denken sie über dass?

Het spijt mij, mijn duits werdt heel slecht na vier jaar in Nederland…

I served my time offshore and I’ll be honest, it’s probably ruined me for every subsequent job. Agree that it ends up more like 15-13, worse if you’re on nights, but 15-13 is a much better balance than 5-2. I value time off incredibly highly, and also value a proper demarcation between work and home. I don’t think anyone would be surprised if I ever went back to that sort of work.
So yes, absolutely do it.

Has this been posted yet? Horny MAGA idiots getting on Tinder in DC, and DC’s women stepping up:

https://mobile.twitter.com/DrLisaCorrigan/status/1349542291636150281

Nope. January is a depressing hell month. What I am going to try to do though, is savour the drinking I do do – rather than just having a beer or two with my tea without thinking about it.

I’m in the Netherlands, but haven’t seen them on any Ireland or UK sites either!

Thank you for looking for me, appreciate it!

I know I can buy all three bits for 7€, but that’s a lot of cash for the one bit I need!

Awww PJay, I thought it was gonna be the episode of Trailer Park Boys when the boys got backstage, except for Bubbles, who got onstage as well…

Tracey Emin was absolutely my first thought.

Then when I realised it was about music my immediate thought was Muse.

We’ve got a Vitamix, a Kenwood Chef, and a Kitchen Aid mini mixer. All of them perform ever so slightly different functions which annoys the hell out of me because of the space they take up. And they’re all of them indestructible, which means that they will be taking up that space until (and indeed after) we die. Buy the Kitchen Aid with all the attachments.

That’s genuinely lovely, though I thought 250 GTO SWBs usually went for much more than that!?!

I’d do what your mate is proposing. If his current employer is being that much of a dick about it, a doctor’s note for stress isn’t going to be difficult to get.

First gen Cayennes are ridiculously cheap at the moment. Like 2k cheap. Not pretty, obviously, and everyone here will hate you, but lovely to do long distances in. And with them being jointly developed with the VAG group they’re essentially a posh Touareg/Q7 underneath. So maintenance is nowhere near as expensive as you’d think, either.

*awaits pelters*