I’ve looked – there is a sticker but it’s not a hologram so I doubt it’s genuine. Bugger. The machine is running 8.1 pro, the expensive version, so I’ll hope to downgrade after backing up data to an external drive.

Can you recommend a cheap yet legal supplier? Ninfan has used SoftwareGeeks, but they look somewhat underpriced.

Ninfan asked:

the National Trust for Scotland et al seem to have discovered that countryside management costs money, and that if you get rid of all the stalking, shooting and sheep farming, there’s nobody left to pay for it!

If you stop the subsidies that we give to grouse, deer & upland sheep farmers (£50/Ha, I believe) then there would be plenty of money to pay for decent countryside management.

Does anyone have experience of the Alpkit Love Mud flared drops?

Dunno where they went, but last night I went to the wedding feast of a couple who met while on separate weekend trips to Budapest. So hope for the best.

It depends upon how much the endowment actually pays out.
If you took out a £40k loan, I guess that the scheming bastids advisors will have told you that the investment would pay you (say) £80k. It might actually be a lot less. Call to ask for a current projection.
The idea was that the endowment would pay off your mortgage and a bit more, so at the end of the term, you still owe £40k but you’ll have a lump sum to pay it off with and have more to play with. BUT the lump sum might be less than £40k so you might need to find some extra cash fro melsewhere.

Tall fat bastards who push to the front so they can block the view of as many people as possible. If you’re tall, stand at the sides so the normal folks can see!
(Except for Big Jeff, obviously)

Dextralog predictive production software running on a PDP11 in 1990 or so.
Telling production staff & managers that a batch would fininsh at such-and-such a time, and they need to have the next tools ready. And statistical quanlity management.

Do you need the space? It depends where you live. In Merthyr or Harlepool, probably not. In central London, you could rent the extra room for £15k a year and get your money back after a couple of years.

Surprised they’re not in the newspaper for the most hated/dumbest council idea of a ‘shared space’ roundabout…..it’s bonkers how they thought it was a good idea…

Escept that it’s cut accidents and made life much easier for pedestrians & cyclists since it was implemented.

Go with a full-legth mirror, Doublin’.

It sounds logical, if they can get 2 people per step on an escalator instead of one on the L and one per 3 or 4 steps climbing.

Sorry, I meant it as a joke. It seems that it wasn’t obviously stupid enough. I blame our poor opinion of the French 🙂

The petrol cap is on the opposite side of the diesel cap. The French have it right, ” essence en gauche, diesel en droit”

Ms Moses used to live in Nottingham (just above Hooters, coincidentally for Kryton) and Mrs M used to visit regularly. She reckons there’s lots to do, a good few days’ worth. I’ll ask. There’s a Lawrence museum I know about, and an excellent workhouse museum – where the poor used to be sent, the best-preserved in the country. Very worthwhile if you enjoy social history

Deadly Darcy to the forum, please !
(He’s an expert floorist)

I use this
Babyliss SuperCrew.
Usually about once a fortnight on shortest setting.
Normally these are on sale at Boots or Argos for about £40-45

7 copies of some genes in their DNA, allowing for greater variability.

Stoner, if the wind looks too unsafe to ride, you can always stay at our place until it becomes calmer. That’s assuming your plane can land…

Regard India as a continent, not a country. The script and language in Pondi / Tamil nadu is different from elsewhere, (10 different scripts on currency notes, I believe) so don’t expect that getting places will be instant. The Himalayas and Agra are long flights away. But you can go hiking /walking easily enough and there are some excelent beaches. Don’t risk cycling on the roads! Pondi is quite Europeanised, so probably a good place to base yourself.

There are a quite a few standard van conversions with 4 berths. If you get one with read door opening as well as the side door, you’ll find them much airier and pleasant in summer: coachbuilt can yurn into ovens.
Vans are also somewhat easier to manoeuvre (Sp), and can be up to 6.3m long for Ducato / Boxer versions.
Towzer’s advice is sptt-on.

My good friend is selling her bus. It’s yellow, that’s all I know.
She’s spent money on it to get it in good nick, but not used it much in anger…
Fast sale appreciated 🙂

How about walking sandals, the type made by Keen ^ Merrell?
If you’re set on boots, then Meindl do a specific hot weather suede boot which is used by the forces – the model’s called Desert Fox ?

It’s a good city to live in, whether you’re single or attached or with children.
As said before, rush hour driving is slow but it’s OK outside those hours. The bus services are noticeably better than even a couple of years ago, and the residents’ parking zone (RPZ) means that residents , shoppers , tradesmen can park easily, but commuters from outside the city are having to think about how to manage.
The main problems in Bristol have been due to a political antagonism between the city proper, and South Glos council which controls the northern suburbs and seems to delight in stuffing Bristol City’s efforts to make the place better.

Bring back CUBA !

A friend’s simple & effective site: Translation services

But I dislike her photo – what do you reckon to it?

According to reports in the press, over the many years of their affair, Cecil repeatedly promised to marry Sarah Keays and leave his wife. Once she was pregnant, he dumped her pronto. Utter sleazeball, in spite of being from Lancashire.

The sax sounds closer to the original organ, as they are both reeded. So here, I prefer it.
But it’s horses for courses, there are lots of pieces where brass is better.

(I also dispute the importance of the Sally Army to brass bands, except in the soft south)

Try Top to Bottom in Staple Hill, who sell both made to measure and off-the peg. Their fabrics can be very cheap as they tend to sell roll ends – last month we paid just over £100 for material that could have cost £400 elsewhere. The staff are knowledgable & helpful.

Alternatively, try the charity shops on the Glos Road. They sometimes have piles of 2nd hand curtains out the back – you’d have to ask.

Because their sonar gets damaged by high-intensity low frequency sound produced by submarines. Then they can’t navigate properly and get washed ashore.

So that when you’re walking your bike by the side of the road, you don’t catch your trousers in the chainring.

is it running skype or similar in the background ?

Surly Big Dummy? BD on this site used one for many years

Sell it? It’s expensive to buy.

I use a combination of a compass, the landscape and the sun.

Hire a jinitera for a week, then relax.

Billingham ice rink, 1970’s.
So cool it’s where the hard lads went to fight, kicking each other with hockey skates.

Yes learn to do it, it’s graceful and fun together, & you can go so fast on open ice.

I’ve never seen a try before you buy offer, perhaps you could borrow a mate’s ?
But Boots & other places seem to have semi-permanent 50% sales on Phillips & other brands. Keep an eye out for offers. Rotary shavers seem to work better than reciprocating. I’ve used a base-model 3 headed Phillips for years , which works fine. It’s not such a smooth finish as a wet blade shave but the stubble isn’t as abrasive the next morning either, which is better for pillow cases and partners. My current one cost about £45, I think, 3-4 years ago. It’s probably not worth buying the top models especially if you can’t find a sale.

As for mess, no. Empty the head after shaving, there’ll be a little pile of dust which can be flushed down a sink.

Have a look here: Razor![/url]

It was amusing but so irritatingly self-referential. (AKA up its own arse)
However it did spur me & Mrs M to visit Tyntesfield the next morning, which was fun. They’re having a Sherlock theme there from this week onwards.

Mulv, NICE will decide whether they are beneficial enough to be prescribed on the NHS and under what circumstances. And if the decision is in the “give it a few years” timescale, they’ll be off patent too, so relatively cheap. (Although because PCSK9 inhibitors are biologicals, bioequivalence will be harder to prove)

Drugs do come off-patent fairly quickly. Viagra, for instance, has much cheaper competitors with the same active ingredient now that Pfizer’s patent has expired.

There is a whole series of them HERE

Look at the chap in the olive shirt before and after meeting the police, a few photos in…

There’s precious little profit in statins now that most are out of patent, they cost pennies to manufacture and cost a few pounds per month at most. So don’t blame big pharma.
Yes, there are side effects for some people, but by no means most. Statins are usually safe and are potentially life-saving.
(Personally, I’m on ACE inhibitors for similar symptoms)