Several other things:

Regular program injections or spot treatments for fleas make a big difference, however flea collars and flea powder don’t work.

Get the cat chipped, unfortunately it doesn’t make them go any faster (however they might give better MPG) but if they go awol there is a good chance they can be identified. You can also get cat flaps that read your cats chip and unlock only for them which prevents other cats coming into your house.

Cats will kill small animals. They’re little carnivore hunters who simply “dont do the whole vegan thing”. A cat that meets a small animal will normally do a passable impression of Michael Madsen in Reservoir dogs only without the can of petrol and steelers wheel soundtrack…Expect to be left or presented with “gifts” of whole bodies or perhaps a kit of parts. If you are very lucky they may keep their prey alive and bring it into the house and release the rodent (or bird, frog etc)…with injuries that vary from mild psychological trauma as they hide under the cooker to the rodent equivalent of the end of the Kill Bill Japanese restaurant scene that greets you as you walk downstairs in the morning. Invest in some patience and a good humane mousetrap for the former and carpet cleaner for the latter.

They will just kill rats, my advice is make a big fuss of them when they do this if they do it right (full on kitty Leon-style uber-cool assassin : all business, high speed and no wasted moves) or get to the vet pronto if it goes wrong (v. rare).

The trails on the SDW are pretty much all hardpack now and as its summer you will most likely only encounter slippery chalk just after rain (or maybe if you are riding at night and there is dew on the ground). Most of the chalk descents are exposed to the sun now so will mostly dry out in a day or two.

As has been mentioned, the ones to be careful on are Harting Down but also the chalk descents off Bignor Hill and the next one into the Arun Valley (Houghton/Amberley).

There are some rain gullies now cut into the chalk in a few places but just take it nice and easy, dont treat each descent like a full-on DH race and you’ll be fine.

So Rich is now going on about they’ve now trademarked the logo, so Whyte is going to lose it.

Well good luck to them with that one. From reading the Court judgement (which is fascinating in a kind of slow-mo car-crash kind of way: BTW, I would love to know how RE think they can appeal that judgement) it would appear that they have knowingly copied the logo. I’m pretty certain that you can’t trademark something that you have copied and therefore don’t hold the copyright on, certainly not in the UK and EU.

Interesting problem that RE will have, even if they can use the logo in other markets, they cant have it transmitted on TV in the UK. AFAIK they cant have it on the cars if they want to show this on TV in the UK as this will breach UK copyright law. As F1 is televised worldwide this could be an issue: cue pixelated Haas F1 cars every other Sunday on tv .

Definitely one to file under “how not to run a brand”

The wondering Earth is bonkers Chinese Hollywood blockbuster fare, utterly mad, huge and crazy..I was a bit annoyed that it was dubbed and not subtitled. It did get me into reading Liu Cixin’s Three Body Problem though

Currently watching Knights of Sidonia…its really rather good Japanese hard sci fi anime.
Its a pity that Cowboy BeeBop is no longer being shown but there is a Netflix live action version rumoured to be coming soon which may, or may not, be a good thing

Black hole sun by Soundgarden covered by Paul Anker (which he really did do by the way:Black hole sun… )

Cobb’s are expensive but they are very good indeed. While the Cobbstones (circular fuel bricks)do work well you don’t need to use them, we tend to use 6 or 7 charcoal briquettes instead and this gives us a good 1-2hrs of cooking time. the really big advantage of them is the fact its effectively a closed oven as apposed to a normal grill-type BBQ means that the food doesn’t dry out (the meat stays juicy) as it cooks.

As for limited cooking space we have done a full roast chicken (with roast potatoes done in the moat) on ours that fed a big group at 24-12 a few years back…Oh and doing a couple of Lamb Shanks in ours once while camping was even better 🙂

We’ve had ours for about 12 years now and it gets used a lot so they do last well, money well spent IMO.

There is a bunkhouse at Houghton village near the River Arun https://www.southdownsbunkhouse.co.uk

There is also the Bothy and Campsite at Gumber: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/holidays/gumber-camping-barn-and-campsite

I can’t speak for the bunkhouse but can reccomend the bothy , only potential issue is that its out in the sticks so no shops or pubs nearby, well the nearest pubs are in Eartham or Slindon, both a couple of miles away so bring your own food and drink.

When helping my students on their final design projects I insist on being paid with either Beer, Pringles (sour cream and onion, natch) or Lego

Seems a bit excessive for glueing yourself to a train.

Part of a pattern of suppression of dissent.

er, going out on a limb here as I’m not a legal expert but this might just possibly have something to do with proudly and openly doing something that is very well known to be illegal (dangerous, stupid etc) in public, being caught red-handed and then pleading not guilty at the first court appearance…Now, as far as I know, regardless of how valid you may feel your reason is (or indeed may well be) , I would guess that in that instance the judiciary would not be too impressed and would respond accordingly.

Unorthordox detective really doesn’t want to join the after-work motorcycle club because he feels it’s beyond him.

Policewoman joins the CIA for the transport perks but realises its really not for her so leaves

Latex masks mean assignment is merely quite difficult but flying helicopters in tunnels is really not recommended.

Two high school students cheat at their history test and get away with it

Oh great, now I’ve got an image in my mind of DezB in his underwear wearing a helmet…

Isn’t “onion browsing” something you do in the fruit and veg aisle of the supermarket?

Ming… 8-0

At Cwm Rhaeadr, you’re looking at 12 minutes (yes, I know, I know…) of downhill if you just ride the core route as its a firewood climb out and the singletrack descent back: whole loop is listed as 45mins on the route guide and TBH most fit riders will be going a lot faster than that (in my case 33mins and not very fit on a single speed with a stop to chat and take photos at the top)…I would reckon that this loop has been added in to try and get people to stay a bit longer and add some variety as otherwise its quite short and the only “facilities” being a carpark…

That’s not saying its bad, quite the opposite, if anyone hasn’t been its an absolute gem and well worth the detour to find.

Fifth Element: Indiana Jones meets Die Hard meets Taxi meets Metropolis meets the Cantina scene from Star Wars meets Opera meets the Smurfs meets Jean Paul Gaultier meets Mila Jovovich (“they really did make her, um, perfect…”)

Ive voted in every election since 1988 including the euro elections.

I can also name at least one of my MEP’s…

It’s some bloke called Nigel Farage (as far as I can see, one of the few upsides of Brexit is that he would no longer be my MEP)

‘sweetshops’ ftfy

Oh well played sir

Spooky, I sympathise and feel your pain 😉

I basically view buying from Wiggle as purchasing a comedy sized pack of extremely expensive Haribo with some free bike gear thrown in for good measure.

Now here’s a thought: has anyone ever sent their order back along with the little pack of Haribo…UNOPENED????

the CAA stopped the police accessing records and interviews

er, right, just something to remember here, with regards Shoreham we are talking about an air-crash investigation (worst airshow disaster in the uk since the 50’s IIRC), not a car crash…

In an air-crash in the UK, the CAA air accident investigators (AAIB) takes full precedence over any criminal or other investigation unless there are exceptional circumstances (eg Lockerbie and even then the AAIB were leading the crash investigation). The investigation is carried out to such a detailed and forensic level that the police have very little (close to zero) expertise on. The AAIB dont do criminal investigations, go looking for scapegoats or just find a single person to blame, instead they look at and consider absolutely everything that’s happened, all the events leading up to, during, and following the crash perform a details analysis if the crash area, plane wreckage, interview all witnesses, analyse all film and video, radar, ATC data etc and then produce an exceptionally detailed report and on this and as such need to be fully independent and separate from any legal or judicial investigation (that may otherwise block or restrict or confuse their access to info and data) which therefore need to follow. Thats why the AAIB will rightly refuse and block any outside interference until they are done.

Dartmouth and Totnes are both worth a visit, the coast between Brixham to Kingswear and probably past Slapton Sands out to Start Point is also pretty impressive. There is a Steam railway (if you like such things) from Kingswear to Paington and also from Totnes to Buckfastleigh. There are a couple of nice houses to visit: Greenway (Agatha Christies house) on the other side of the river near Galmpton and Coleton Fishacre near Kingswear. Lots of nice pubs all around the area. Paington is a “bit” old school touristy…Im a bit biased as I grew up in Torbay and it always feels a bit twee/meh when I (rarely now) go back.
Mountain Biking is a bit limited in the local area (surprisingly there are few bridleways but there are a few hidden gems of trails if you can find them) but Dartmoor is always well worth a visit (both on bike and on foot) as is Haldon but thats more of a hike to get to from Dartmouth area.

Hmm, well the airbags deploying mean the interior is fully trashed so if this goes anywhere near an insurer there is a good chance they would suggest writing it off. Really depends on the assessor/repairer but airbags deploying is a big tick to the “throw away and buy a new one” check box

Any repair would be to strip the panels off the front, strip the interior, check the chassis is straight (easy), and then either repair from the firewall forwards or potentially, if there’s damage that you can’t see on the outside, effectively fit a whole new cab. Strangely enough as its a Hilux its put together like a big meccano kit so probably a lot easier to do than on, say a transit or normal car.

Anyone here complaining about “americanisms” you are now banned from using the word “Hello”

You may use the word “Hulloo”, “hallo”or “hullo” but only as an exclamation of surprise

That’ll learn ya

Well he did get rid of road tax.

And then went on to sell car insurance.

Clio V6 was a really could have been/should have been car. Performance was really throttled by Renault getting cold feet and not wanting to have the Clio RS outperformed (The V6 was engineered and built by TWR so was politically a bit of a target) so it was limited to 160BHP when it could have easily been putting out 220+ and the chassis was more than capable of taking this.

Before TWR hit the buffers we were working on re-engining a V6 Clio with a spare F1 V8 engine…

“How it ends” ends with them just giving up.

The film that is. The audience will have probably given up about an hour earlier and done something more useful/exciting/emotionally satisfying like fill in their tax return, wash the curtains or de-flea the cat.

I’m going to commit total sacrilege now and mention Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s cover of Born to run

The first one is very much centered around dogs.

Lassie meets Deathwish

Plot spoiler: Someone kills John Wick’s hamster. John Wick then kills them, all their friends, their friends friends, and then everyone else for good measure several times over then cuts top them all up into little bits and jumps up and down on the pieces. John Wick then buys a goldfish.

I’m just wondering where Rory McGrath, Tony Robinson and the other two have got to

Car manufacturer makes bikes….hmmm

Well, while not really that visible in the UK Peugeot have been making bikes since before they made cars…they had an eponymous TDF team from 1901 to 1986

A lot of their new stuff is designed by a team led by my old boss (very keen cyclist) and a bit of step on from when we were designing crazy V8 Holden pick-ups (Vauxhall Maloo to everyone here) back at TWR.

If you cover your car in tinfoil the cameras can’t detect you*

* I may have just made this up**

** I may just be saying that I just made this up and my first statement is 100% true as I am actually working for the: Russian trolls/dark web/shadowy government organisation/lizard conspiracy etc. and yes, we are out to get you

Or, I may have shares in Bacofoil.

Hmm, might be the obvious and you overtightened the 8mm bolt?

AFAIK the spacers define the chainline so probably not a good idea to remove them…the only other thing is that the spacer(s) may need to be turned around as some of the online documents show that the the rubber washer in the spacer needs to be closest to the BB shell.

My Aeffect cranks went on ok with an XT BB plus all the driveside spacers that I had used with the Race Face BB. the bike was supplied with. The info says to tighten to 50Nm but to be honest I worked on the principle of “tight but turning smoothly” which seemed to be ok and is still working 8 months later.

Heard him speak a few times in the late ’80’s and met him once, intelligent, down to earth (I remember him rolling up in a slightly scuffed rover and having a sneaky fag after his speech) a thoroughly decent man (and I see someone has already done the cheap shot…very well done you scotroutes)

Regardless of your politics if you want to see the measure of the man, look at the work he did in Bosnia for the UN.

Alexa, open the pod bay doors…

It would be legal only if you use it exclusively on private land and never use it on a public highway.

Otherwise it would need to have an IVA test certificate (as the vehicle has been fundamentally altered from its original state) , insurance (liable to be specialist insurance as it’s a one-off) and new registration documents.

This also is true of car conversions.

If you go down the route of turning it into an E-Bike (250w max power, 15mph max speed) and use it on the road, expect to have some interesting conversations with the Police if stopped, as well as everyone else as to why you are riding a motorbike so slooooowly…

A 55 year old plane that hasn’t flown in decades and probably won’t, ever again. sorry, im out. However, clicking through that link I just saw this Tucano on that link…

Always thought Tucano’s looked the business (years ago I got buzzed by one up near Hawes that was flying near inverted down a valley…nearly silent until it was right overhead)

Now where’s my lottery ticket?

Maybe they thought it said “are you a tourist?”

With a name like that I’m assuming that School register time  is probably like this : https://youtu.be/FiWJWLCoH2M

Currently in the morning Venus is visible low/mid in the east/south-east: its very bright at the moment just before sunrise.

In the evening Mars is visible in the south moving east (sets at about 11:30pm)) and and Saturn is visible low in the west, (t sets at about 6:30pm)