KMCZ510. Hardwearing and cheap.

I spent a few years doing homemade wine. Long ago, never again.

All students should try making it : Tastes horrible, get pissed.

If that's not you then I'd definitely not advise it.

Scandalous. Ugly power station spoils countryside and blocks RF.

Clearly – they need a much biggger transmitter mast.

Mrs Mc had a huge one, and even after the doc froze it with nitrogen, it still grew back. We tried everything, Bazooka was also not up to the task. Then found about the banana trick. It seemed to work a treat for her, and now she says go banana every time.

She was quite convincing, so I have a bit of banana peel strapped to my own favorite verruka right now. Watch this space.

1/4 of a lemon (organic, chopped whole including the peel)
1 grated apple
1 chopped banana
oats
millet flakes
raisins
dried apricots
walnuts
almonds
linseed (ground in coffee grinder)
sesame (ground in coffee grinder)
sunflower seeds
Oatbran
Water to mix, till wet.

Eat, groan, ride, last all day if necessary

Hi Foxyrider.
I bought a secondhand Thorn Raven Enduro 853 frame two years ago and have not regretted it. Lovely to ride.

I don't believe the handling is much affected by the weight. The Thorn is so much more nimble and responsive anyway than my previous old-school GT alloy hardtail, I'm not really comparing eggs with eggs. Certinly I don't notice the weight at the rear.

The Rohloff does everything they say it does. I'm really pleased and wouldn't go back. Drag in some low gears is slight, but compared to running muddy cheezy jockey wheels and d'ers, it wins every time for me.

I am using a similar number of chains as I did on the D'er bike (in circulation). My front ring (RaceFace alloy) and Rohloff sprocket have lasted about 8000KM of dirty off-road. I hope to get another~2000KM out of them both. Over that time I'll have used up about 6 chains.

Everyone doesn't do it, but the ones that do make our work shower stink like a stale urinal. Really horrible. Do it at home if you must.

Should I be looking out to nail some Brazilians?

Yep, I measured a few (with a bucket and a watch!) before fitting the pump on my shower.
I thought at the time that about 8…9 litres/minute was adequate. Any more is pretty wasteful, as are many folk's over-pumped showers out there which often dump 15 litres/minute or even more.

Marigolds?

Hm, ODI might have been what I had. They are so worn and goey not to be recognizable. They went horrible and sticky from the UV after the fist year, and are now disintegrating. My hands go black. I was hoping for something better but don't fancy Ergon.

I'm happy with an Onguard 8mm 85cm hardened chain. It's just long enough to include the rear wheel, frame and a slimish lamp-post. More versatile than D locks, 1.5Kg so not too bad, and it easily fits in a bum bag.

Don't EVER cross a white line in the centre of the road.

Not even if it's on a flowing downhill with 100% open visibility for the next 5 KM. The French police love those spots, and hide in waiting.

Instant fine. Don't ask me how I know.

Hi MisterGnar “Bear wrestling?”, no, I concertina’d my neck crashing my hang glider. It’s amazing how loud it is when it happens. Crushed bone noises very close up. I wouldn’t recommend it. 3 years to get 95% better.

And Simnon
“couldn’t you believe in something cheaper ?? Doesn’t tapwater contain massive homeopathic doses of everything ?”

Ha, yes it does. – but also sadly more than homeopathic doses of many other things besides. Still, placebo is the effective basis behind much of medicine. Millions of pounds are spent by us as taxpayers on drugs which work only because people think they will.

I’d say it works. I had a specific joint injury due to a stupid accident in a rather more dangerous sport, and it certainly seemed to help me get over it. I also used some MSM with it. Naturally, without any sort of scientific control, you just need to believe that. I do.

For mor general battering, rather then a injury, that’s up to you. I’d be sceptical. A very good diet is your best defence.

Look out for shellfish free glucosamine if you want to A) be nice to shellfish, and B) Potentially reduce your intake of unwanted heavy metals and stuff which might have accumulated in the latter. Healthspan do one.

Stuartie:

http://meteonet.nl/aktueel/brackall.htm

I’ve still got a wetsuit I bought in 1977. Still wear the jacket sometimes for kayaking.
My excuse for cutting off the skinny arms is that I was only 13 when I bought it!

BBC weather presentations went pretty crap some years ago when they removed pressure and wind information, and invented something previously unheard of called a “weather front”. Personally I take little notice of BBC forecasts, there is much more useful data about these days.

For some good links take a look at Sailplane (Gliding) websites. There is plenty of stuff here for example which will lead you on to bigger and better stuff:
http://glidemet.co.uk/

Hell if i know. The afficionados go an all about the chlorophyll (plenty of juicy loonies on the web). It is indeed the most beautiful looking green stuff you could ever put into a glass. It knocks your head off and I have no idea why..

I’d be surprised if it helps to loose weight if that’s your problem. That’s not to say it isn’t a good idea. it’s one way of quickly overloading yourself with vitamins, that’s for sure. I’ve had periods of doing some serious juicing, I have a Greenstar. – But not used it for quite a while now. (Buy your carrots in 25Kg bags – organic for certain).

Some veg juice is pretty whacky stuff when fresh, and gives you a real buzz. Certainly an unpleasant experience if you overdoo it. Watch out for wheatgrass, that’s like drinking espresso. I juiced real grass -(yes,from the field) once and it nearly took my head off for a couple of hours. Definitely a certifiable drug, I’m amazed how cows manage to eat it.

My daughter (6) rides a 25 year old Raleigh donated by a neighbour. It’s got a skinny steel frame, and is completely free of stupid heavy chunks of useless suspension forks and fat tubing. It’s nice and light, much better than most modern kids bikes.

It all depends how many people can be bothered to tell a doctor, (If indeed they have one!)

I’m fairly sure my family will stay off any registers. Roll on swine flu eh? Where are the parties?

£3.95 is excessive. You need to scale it. Postage cost does nothing for your business, only upset customers, and ensure thay come only to you when they can’t get stuff elsewhere. Most people wouldn’t object to paying the real cost of the deal, but £3.95 isn’t what it costs you for many items on the royal mail, and the rest is seen by your customers (if you get many that way) as unscrupulous profiteering.

Mrs Mc does a lot of ebay business, and unlike many Ebayers, charges only what it actually costs her in stamps with royal mail. This gives a lot of good kudos and nice feedback.

People don’t mind stuff wrapped in a bin bag with some parcel tape. Costs almost nothing, happy customers.

Hi meikle_partans,

Well we are not so different. I have a lot of time for Ben Goldacre (Bad Science). I believe he occasionally jumps on the big industry bandwaggon without always researching as thoroughly as he should.

Hi meikle_partans

“you have absolutely no scientific background ” . Wild guess indeed.

In fact an MEng in engineering. I don’t accept claptrap. The answers are never all in one place as I pointed out. My job is all about seeing what works, understanding what’s behind it, improving what does, reading lots and throwing out the crap. This website indeed contains much of the latter, but I was asked to enlighten. One thing I don’t do is accept marketing at face value, especially if there is a lot of money behind it.

Hi Theotherjonv

“do enlighten us further”.
This is a tricky forum to summarize what is really a whole life outlook eh? This guy (see link) is over zealous, and I wish to say he doesn’t sum up my entire view on the matter (I ain’t no vegan), but he does have some very enlightening pointers.

I also have made a personal observation over my childrearing years that the “snottiest” kids we see about us are invariably also the largest dairy consumers. (Snot is just one way of getting rid of toxins, just as happens when you get a cold. – In this case the toxins are ingested, frequently in the form of excessive dairy which the little child’s body is reacting against but continues to be fed it)

http://www.notmilk.com/a.html

Hi AB, Bit of a hyjack of the thread, but please review what you are feeding your little girl. She has no idea that crisps and chocolate are not normal food, and will harm her.

Do your best for her and cut out the junk immediately. Also look seriously at the amount of dairy. I hope she was breast fed previously, but after that, dairy products are setting your child up for alergies and health problems. Dairy is not necessary, it’s for baby cows, forget the nonsense you might hear about calcium and stuff. It’s a (hugely effective) dairy industry marketing campaign.

The most important thing isn’t how much she eats (that will sort itself out without you needing to worry), it’s WHAT she eats.

Chocolate might be a hugely useful tool in your future armoury if kept only for VERY special occasions.

I could go on for hours, but will stay off the really big soapbox. Best of luck with the little one.

Rgds

No, but have TDcI engine in 2003 Focus and it’s amazingly economical when driven carefully. That’s worth a lot and was my main reason to get it.

Insulate the loft better and shade the windows in the daytime. (Ideally shade them on the outside of the glass). Much greener and completely quiet:)
Our place baked in the upstairs bedrooms until I shoved in an extra 18″ of glass quilt in the loft. Now it’s just fine.

Hmm, thanks.

Well I just bought the poison.

As you say Brassneck, it’ll be hard to do it, what with their little snuffly noses and all that..

My little girl was overwhelmed when I did catch one (in a live trap), she wanted to cuddle it and keep it for a pet! Oh dear. I hope I can find a good excuse.

We bake most of our own bread, (at least Mrs Mc does the majority).

Experimented with sour a few months ago, but after a couple of weeks, it all got a bit ghastly and we ceased to believe the “pet” (we kept feeding it in the proper way – or so we thought) was safe to apply to our flour. In the end our little creature got abandoned on the compost bin. Shame really, perhaps we need a better sort.

I’d like to find a baker who could donate some good sourdough starter and then we could “grow it on” so to speak.

(On Sourdough, if anyone has Riverford orders, do try their 100% rye. It’s utterly brilliant).

Your child won’t be 1 for long. Two or three years time you’ll be wishing you had a pond. There is nothing they like better than poking about with a pond..

Even better if you have clay and can keep the pond without even a liner!

Do be sure you are not making a mistake.

It’s internal air pollution. If it were an industrial product, much of the stuff in it would be more tightly controlled. As it is, it gets through the net. It also makes you a chav who doesn’t care about other people’s environment. A bad case is about as bad as cigarette smoke.

This equally applies to women’s perfume!

Just don’t so it. WTF is it for?

Mine is a Thorn one with two pointed bolts in the bottom. Fairly standard stuff, never had a problem.

They can’t take over-zealous adjustment, or the holes in the alloy EBB shell will run together. I wait till my chain starts to fall off going down hills, then I adjust it. This gives about three positions required over the lifetime of any chain: New, tighten, tighten, throw chain away.

Look out for secondhand Lidl ones branded as “Bsquare”. They are brilliant, and hugely hardwearing. I needed to relieve the narrow steering limits with a wood rasp, and I also fitted a rear brake easily to my daughters one. (There are lots odf steep hills here). By the age of 4 she had superb braking control, even down our local 1 in 4 hills.
(It’s pretty worrying watching your kit on a brakeless bike when it’s hilly!)

The wooden bikes are brilliant because you can also attack them with woodworking tools and attach brakes, trailers, lights..

This is the Lidl one originally moodified for a very small child unable to normally reach the ground. I have not got the rear brake fitted in these photos, but I mad a steel caliper mount which screwed easily to the rear plywood hull.

And later:

Veggie for 30 years +.

Quorn is revolting, I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole. If your veggie guest is a long-termer they will probably think likewise and not thank you for it. Also the great majority of commercial veggie burgers on the market are almost equally as revolting. Generally fatty, tasteless, bland, squishy, yukky. Certainly anything from mainstream supermarket chains generally falls into this. I have no idea why they make them.

For anything pre-made, Cauldron foods are amongst the slightly better ones (if you can find them). Otherwise I’d recommend “Clear Spot” Sea cakes. eg: http://sumawholesale.com/index.php/chilled/tofu-chilled/clear-spot-tofu-sea-cakes-organic-6-x-190g-cv214.html .

Haloumi is pretty nasty rubber, but some like it. Very over rated IMO

Biggest disappointment for veggies is not getting any protein though at these doos. Not difficult but you need to change your approach. May be too much to ask for a non-vegie to pull this one off really well.

Better still to do your own. Marinate veggies (and don’t forget the aubergine) in good qualilty cold pressed olive oil, tamari and a sweetener (eg some wizzed mango or peaches).

Boil some kidney beans (never from tins, please), use to make up your own burgers (need egg if they will eat it to help to set). Use fresh herbs, tamari, chilli, fruit, onion, etc. Add lots of ground nuts, seeds and any sort of flaked grains (eg Millet, oats, quinoa..). Need careful handling as can be delicate without added rubber which supermarkets would put into them.

Make fresh yeasted bread dough (Wholemeal/spelt etc). Make up small flatbreads, coat them in good olive oil and cook thm on BBQ. Can’t beat it and even the meaties will want to scoff them.

Are you sure you want one at all? We never owned a pram or a pushchair for our little girl, and now she’s six.
Keep then close to their parents, there are loads of good carrying options these days..

This is what you want then:

2 adults, 1 child. Every 6 weeks/two months would suit us just fine.

Shame those who chose not to generate rubbish have to subsidize those who do.

Spread your risk and start a new one. I had this choice back in ’92 when I began a new job, and elected to continue to pay into my existing scheme. Did so for a few years. Alas it was Equitable Life. Needless to say some years later having lost about £30k I wished I’d gone with a second company.
These days I spread things thinly. Pain in the arse to administer but only so many businesses can go to the wall. (We hope).

It’s a car, it still goes along the same, that’s what a car does.

What’s the problem? I just don’t get it.