When I was at uni 2 years ago (took a placement year, going back in a couple of weeks), my gf's housemate used to have regular panic attacks, compounded by asthma (which I suffer from). She called me several times in the middle of the night in the middle of a panick attack, I went over and just calmed her down, provided company and a safe surrounding, I think thats one of the main things to subdue an attack, calm the person down and reassurance. This was just my approach though, others may differ. (I'm a little pished so apologise for any speoling mistooks) :)

Sorry to hear that, there was another 5 spot, stolen from Swinley around 2 weeks back. Posters up around Swinley Forest, and they have a suspect who the police are looking for.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=2589417804&v=wall&ref=ts

It belonged to one of the main guys who runs the fb group – Dan Hodge, (i've only just joined), might be worth trying to contact him?

Edit – Dan Hoffman sorry, not Dan Hodge, go on the fb group and you can see a post halfway down about it.

I spy with my little eye something beginning with s.

Sand? – bag missing in lowered photo, when present in raised photo behind back of van

Coolio, cheers for that, will probably head up there tomorrow as its so close. Any extortionate car park charges I should be aware of like moors valley?

How often do you change a blade on a DE razor? Every shave or can you use them several times? I'm looking for a cheap razor on ebay now, anything in particular to look out for?

Where exactly is the pump track and northshore etc located in Moors Valley, tried looking on google maps and on the web for directions but can't see it anywhere. Thinking of going for a look in the next couple of days.

I'm not quite sure what the point of it was, (go back to your youth and enjoy life?) but I loved it, really good use of Chrome, and the artsy side of it was great. More please!

I decided to tinker with 'proper' shaving.

13p for 5 sainsburys basics single blades (BIC type), plus a brush and a bowl of wilkinsons soap to start me.

That was 5 months ago, half of soap still left. Razors do me fine, but want a merkur for xmas. Getting a good brush is something I would recommend. Changed from a very basic wilkinsons one (could even be man made) to a nice badger hair one, felt so much nicer!

At the moment I've got the most economic way of shaving, 3p blade per shave, (although double edged safety razor blades can be as cheap) and cheap soap and moderate brush (£20?)). Suits me fine at the moment, although going to treat myself to nicer soap next time, and as said before hopefully merkur for xmas, and then after that a bigger brush perhaps.

Ok then, thanks again for all the ideas.

As no cracked pipes as far as I can tell, the one cracked pipe (vacuum for something, cant remember what now) has been replaced.

Fuel is getting to the bores – wet plugs after turning over after airing the cylinders, and the throttle valve gets wet so injector is working.

I swapped the components over after it stopped completely, only thing I did before it died completely was put some injector cleaner in with a full tank of fuel.

New ECU is going to be around £150 to do myself, might have to be my next step, but trying to find cheaper options first.

As for the location of the missfire, don't know which cylinders it was, whether it was the same ones or not. Sometimes it was one cylinder, and sometimes it sounded like it was 2 cyls.

With the coolant temp sensor and mass air flow sensor, i understand they will change the amount of fuel going in, but would these really stop the engine from starting completely?

Thanks again for all these suggestions. Really appreciate the help, as it's starting to do my nut in. I hate being beaten, especially by a machine!

Thanks for the suggestion!

I make a habit of disconnecting the battery when working around the engine bay, just incase I short/spook something, so the battery has been disconnected several times for over 20 mins (time required for ecu to reset), which results in the idle stepper motor resetting and positioning itself, and the ecu relearning a load of positions of bits. Unfortunately this has made no difference to it! But thanks for the idea.

I'm glad that others have had the 'experience' that is owning a Fiat…

I've changed the crank sensor now, found it at GSF for only £23 so worth a shot, still no change though. Got a jump from another vehicle to boost the starter, still nothing.

Currently I'm going to give up and cave in to getting a recovery truck to come and have a look, and tow me back if unfixable.

I'm off to uni in sept, was planning on SORNing it and leaving it at home until I need it for work next summer, but at this rate, will likely get rid.

Although it's had its problems, its a brill car for me. Only small hatchback of that age/price that will fit my family (4x 6 footers), and it will easily swallow multiple bikes in the back, and is frugal the way I drive it, 50mpg achievable regularly. And I like that its mostly mechanical and easy to work on, even if it does cause me issues like this!

Bolox, I've got an emotional attachment to a car!

No dizzy I'm afraid, coils and ecu control the spark timing :(

I havn't had the codes read, its not a obd connector, some other type so can't do it with current kit I have. I guess that's probably the next step, where's good to get the cables from? Ebay or motorfactors?

I did the headgasket in Oct myself, got the head skimmed, had to get the thermostat mount helicoiled because it stripped when I put it back in. changed thermostat, belts, tensioner, gaskets, water pump, all the usual type stuff you do at the same time. Think it cost me £250 with the extras (helicoil because I was a pleb)

Yeah £45 for the crank sensor (on the pulley, you're right), but forked out £20 quid recently for oil+filter, £25 on plugs and leads and injector cleaner fluid, replaced vacuum tube to the injector, £45 on new coils, I've already spent a quarter of the total value of the car, and no change! Just a bit hesitant spending more with it being possible scrap.

Its a 1998 – R reg. mk 1.

I'm loving some of the insinuations for getting a 2 cup maker. I'll be living with my gf in a studio flat on campus, so if I do bring any teenager back with me, she'll get met with a big slap! :evil:

I'm leaning towards a stove top I think. Nice proper strong coffee is what I'm after, and it seems to fit the bill. Thanks STW!

Wow, quite a widespread set of opinions. I think I'm just going to take the plunge and go for a grinder, try different beans to see what I like. As for the medium of enfusing the hot water with coffee essence, I'm still undecided about filter/stovepot/cafetiere route. More opinions/suggestions welcome!

I agree about the freezing aspect, that its unlikely to do noticeable damage. Sealed in an airtight ish box/bag I can't imagine much moisture/air getting to the beans and contaminating them.

I'm at Brunel in Uxbridge, moving into our (gf and I) own studio flat in halls on campus (double room with ensuite, and then a kitchen/lounge/desk in a similar sized room nextdoor), hence why size is an issue. Its self catered, so have an oven, eleccy hob, fridge, freezer, sink etc etc.

Ok, all useful info so far there! I think I would prefer to grind the beans myself, as I've found I prefer a stronger fresher taste.

Just spent a little while looking at the stove top coffee vids on youtube to understand how they work. Assuming the steam pressure when heated pushes the water up the filter spout? Also would it work alright on an electric hob? So they produce the 'creme' on the top of espressos like a proper coffee shop machine does?

With a cafetiere do you have paper filters or a built in filter? And how to you ensure the beans are coarse enough to use in it, just by timing the grinding, or by buying prepared ground beans designed for it?

Where's a good place to get good value beans from? Any old supermarket will do, or any brands in particular to look out for?

Bought a Genesis IO on Friday, and I'm already a convert, its great! Echoing all of the points above really, simple, efficient, easy to maintain, light, durable, cheap, looks nice (subjective), reliable.

Bournemouth, used to live in leamington, but live in Dorset for the summer before returning to uni in sept in london.

I'm afraid it's a bit steep for me, £50 entry, and would be another £50 on petrol before factoring in food, equipments etc, so a bit dear for me, hope you find someone! BTW the amp you sold me is working great, cheers!

how much does it cost to enter? its a way away from me so seeing if I can afford it plus travel.

how much?
do you have camping space?
do you care if I'm a beginner?

Did a 50 miler around purbecks the other day, great stuff. Can't say nowt about IOW, not ridden over there.

For the purbecks – generic route, across the chain ferry, down ferry road, break off to the right at the left hand bend, head towards agglestone (cheeky footpath is good, challenging steps down to the east from the stone), then up to old harry rocks, up to the ridge (get to the trig point without stopping!), then either go to swanage for fish n chips, durlston head to see the globe and possible dolphins, then to corfe, or alternatively along to corfe straight along the ridge.

I've set myself the challenge of getting from old harry all the way to lulworth and back along the ridge, in a day at some point this summer. plus the 10 miles each side from my house to the chain ferry.

yep, I do drag the rear brake. say there's a really long steep downhill straight rocky path, should you pulse the brakes on flat bits, drag the front or goon down it and pre book the ambulance?

apart from a skills day and this forum, are there any good resources for learning about technique?

ok thanks for the feedback. I'm a 15.5 stone heffer, and found the brake power of the front lacking, so after exploring other options (pads, bedding in, bleeding, disc treatment) etc, I decided to go for the larger rotor option, although it sounds like I may have overdone it. Was worried when I looked down and saw the forks flexing so much, so it makes sense they are fairly lightweight units. Don't want this to continue really, as it's my first nice bike, and I don't want to wreck the forks by putting too much force on them.

Disc is new so not expecting there to be any oil on them, straight out of the packet and straight onto the wheel. Will give the IPA/acetone route a try. Will also have a check over the system for any flexing. Do you think a 180 disc would be overkill? If not then there may be a 203mm disc and adapter on the classifieds shortly!

I'm the same bottling it before I've started. As iDave said it should be done properly, so I wan't to commit to it when I have a chance, and I'm away a lot in the next week, and a couple of peoples parties/pub trips which would make the not drinking calories hard! Unfortunately they're all in the next 2 weeks which means I can't have just 1 day a week off boozing. Actually, can I take a years worth of days off in one go? :wink:

Personal opinion on desire cases, I got a leather 'pull out case'. Theory being when its in my hands I want to use it easily, and I'm unlikely to drop it whilst texting etc, and its protected when in my pocked by padded leather and thick edges for drops.

Friend got a silicone case with a screen protector. Yes its protected whilst you're holding it, but it looks shit, feels shit, can't get it out of your pocket easily and the screen protector is all scratched and rubbish in the sun. The phone is slightly scratched underneath too, which tells me something. Whereas mine is in mint condition and I've had it longer.

If your a clumsy fool then get the silicone stuff, and at the same time wrap it in bubblewrap, but if you can trust yourself then get a proper case which is protected when you carry it, and free and easy to use when you use it.

(if the above sounds harsh, its meant to be in jest!)

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Went on Friday, really enjoyed it. Especially the 15 minute acoustic solo of woke up dreaming, awesome stuff. Didn't enjoy support so much though, last 2 songs good, rest mediocre. And Ian Anderson's appearance, cracking!

Anybody know what the spacer width should be with/without pads? I'm a n00b trying to bleed my Juicy 5's for the first time and worried about contaminating my pads, so would prefer to take them out.Cheers!

I'm going to see him this weekend. I was thoroughly confused though, bought tickets ages ago, couldn't remember which gig though, looked it up, hs playing birmingham (near my home atm), hammersmith (near gf's home and uni) and bournemouth (hometown and parents home) so I didn't know where! Turns out Hammersmith, can't wait!

I had 3 snakebite punctures at Llandegla today, does that count? I didn't actually see the snake :lol:

Bought it as a full build unfortunately, not quite got the confidence to know what bits to buy and to make sure everything is compatable. Although I've already started to sort out little niggles, fine tuning gears, brakes, bar positions, looking to do a brake bleed and fork service at some point in the future.

Carrot cake – Delia's recipe with a bit of modificatino – Cointreau!

Tender – Blur

Was there today too. First few times took 3 hours to do full loops at a leisurely pace. Managed to do a full loop plus lower cliff and section before twice in 3 hours this time, so speed improving. It has broken up in places, but you can still pick the right line around most corners. Helped my confidence no end on berms though, really well built trail! Just wish the edges wern't braking away so much in some places.

Glenlivet – possibly the finest malt. Nuff said.
Also suggest Talisker (was £19 in tesco a while back, absolute steal!)

This pisses me off.
New record for… a new previously undefined category which had no record set.

Its for a 'production derived track car' or something like that. So not a track car. And not a road car. So basically ferrari have made up their own record and put in any time, and called it a record.

Its a respectable time, but other track cars go faster, and road cars are hindered by road regulations.

Rocketdog – was that you I saw on the singular swift around the leamington 4x track yesterday? I was the guy puffing going up and down that hill, by the entrance of the track at the time.

I would be tempted by this, where when how much etc?