When younger my brother complained about being deaf in one ear so went to the doctor. Doc pulled out a cherry stone and enough wax for a birthday candle….

Elephant – then you could have white elephants, pink elephants and all sorts of other elephants….

All sounds good, thanks!

you could spend another £500 saving a couple of pounds… or have a sh@t before you go for a ride.

Or do both? I tend to rid myself of waste whenever I feel the need – don’t you?

I have told them I’m agnostic, and secure in my own beliefs

Does that make sense?!

That’s the medium – the longer one includes Pitch Hill. I’ve worked out a 70k / 1850m ascent route that also takes in Boxhill – plan to ride it on a warm dry day sometimes….

49.99:

http://www.lexs.co.uk/acatalog/Shimano_2009_Deore_Chainset_Hollow_Tech_II__M532_.html

This house flipping business seems to be within the rules but hard to defend really.

Who the hell are YOU to tell me my taste is CRAP???!!!!
Stick your opinion where the sun don’t shine, halfwit.

Did I say your taste is crap? I’m saying that just because something sells well doesn’t make it great – the biggest selling papers are crap compared to some of the others.

I had basa fillets the other day which I liked – white and no bones.

I had the same problem with the Oyster card so just claimed bike mileage – often did ride but not always. BTW, it worked out financially slightly worse for me doing that!

Stephen Fry thinks it’s OK for them to fiddle their expenses and says that we all do it but I’d struggle as I need receipts for everything and can only claim for things like hotels,food and travel. Are people, other than MPs able to fiddle expenses beyond a few quid?

they only buy records that they enjoy listening to

Really? So many kids buy stuff because their friends do and the bands are deemed the ones to like. My sister years ago was a fan of the Spice Girls as were all her friends, but then they all decided they were rubbish at pretty much the same time.

A lot of people have crap taste – doesn’t make her great just because she sells records. Anyone still listen to Five Star of Bros? Indeed there are many great albums from the past that don’t get heard by the majority of younger people because they’re not pushed but they would sell – or maybe not as they’re not cool? I dunno!

Exclusive cards:
http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/20/amex-visa-mastercard-biz-wallst-cx_lm_0720ukcards_slide_2.html?partner=msnuk

Amex black? What’s the point in that? Anyway, have to spend over £100k or more each year I think.

Is this chap the 1st to lose his job because of all this?

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/MPs-Expenses-Senior-Tory-Andrew-McKay-Resigns-Over-Expenses-Claims/Article/200905215281384?lpos=Politics_First_Poilitics_Article_Teaser_Regi_0&lid=ARTICLE_15281384_MPs_Expenses%3A_Senior_Tory_Andrew_McKay_Resigns_Over_Expenses_Claims

Keep the 34! As for the chain – well you’ll have to remove some links whatever – always do this by putting the chain around the biggest chainring and cassette sprocket outside of the rear mech and then overlapping by 1 link. This works for long cage mechs but with a short one probably won’t be able to do the overlap as the mech won’t be able to take up the slack all the time.

There’s a site somewhere with videos of people busting every lock you can imagine – use massive bolt cutters though.

Well I don’t know – less than 50ft I’m sure – maybe 35 to 40ft? Some of the trunks are massive. The one I did myself was a good ft in diameter and maybe about 30ft tall but nothing compared to the big boys – you can barely see it in this photo from when we had that mad snow! Its a straggly one in the background between the big trees.

Edit – just gone outside for a look and the big one on the left fits the 50ft high/3ft trunc diameter description well. How high can these things get?

I’m busy cutting down various Leylandii trees that the previous owner let grow too tall for some reason – mostly in the hedge; also lowered the hedge by 2 feet to give my neighbour more light…I’m a nice neighbour! Unfortunately someone thought it would be fun to let 5 leylandii in the middle of the back garden get too big for anyone other than a pro to handle and I ain’t paying £300 to £400 per tree to get rid of those!

When I bought my 1st house in ’96 I went to DFS to get a 3 piece suite and the only things on sale weren’t for me, however I did get a nice discount on a suite that someone had ordered but couldn’t fit through their front door. Fortunately fitted in through mine but not the house I moved into 2 years later…. Went back 2 years ago when moved into my current house and various discounts given for each chair but can’t believe they were ever on at the full price – I think they make many themselves and just make up the prices.

Her voice is so weak – it must get turned right up for recording.

The interesting thing is that for the BBC to employ stars it has to pay more than the commercial stations think worthwhile. Also for sports coverage – I’d rather ITV pay for the big sports events and let them earn money from the resulting increased advertising revenue – than pay for them through through the TV license and get advert free watching. Actually, I from a selfish perspective I don’t mind if it’s something I like but I’m thinking of people who could do with saving a bit of cash.

He seemed to think that she’s paid nearly twice an MP – his maths is appalling so maybe that’s why they get so confused with their expenses? As for journalists harrassing MPs – well that’s what we need isn’t it for a democracy to work in the real world? I don’t think he helped his case at all.

Also watched Stephen Fry’s bit – I tend to think most of what he says is great but not this – MPs have taken expense claiming to a whole new level.

From my experiences of doing an extension I think you haven’t got any hope beyond your neighbour being nice to you. You’ve been there for 25 years? Maybe you’d like a bigger garden? Could be a good time to get something more to your taste soon if you fancy a move?!

I had a few of the smaller spaceships and a smaller technical lego car but it all seemed so expensive! My rich mates had the bigger kits so got to play with them and get jealous.

This reminds me of a friend from school who rode a borrowed 2 stroke scooter to go on a trip which resulted in an accident and serious permanent injuries…

As written by someone else:

It was a Saturday in July, the weather was very hot and dry and Steve had been invited to join several of his friends on a run down to Brighton. I think most of his friends were on Scooters and, one friend had recently brought a second hand Vespa px200 and, this was the Scooter that had been lent to Steve for the ride to Brighton.

During the ride, the Scooter’s engine seized causing the rear wheel to lock up and swing violently from side to side until control was lost and throwing Steve into the road. The vehicle, which was following Steve, a car, braked immediately pulling up quickly, but from behind the car emerged a motorcycle. The motor cycle, a Suzuki GSX 600R, it is assumed to avoid the braking car, veered to the right and overtook the car, rode towards Steve who was positioned in the path of the motorcycle. The motorcycle made contact with Steve’s head and, the rider was thrown into the road also.

What caused the engine to seize?

I think most Vespa scooter engines are of Two-stroke configuration, which mean they rely on an oil/fuel mix ratio for lubrication of moving engine parts and don’t have an independent oil sump to draw oil from for lubrication. If the ratio is incorrect, for example insufficient oil to fuel, then those moving Engine parts will be deficient in lubricating oil deposits. Together with an incorrect oil/fuel mixture and a hot day, the potential for an engine seizure is possible!

I’d like everything I touch to turn to gold…nothing could go wrong there.

Nesquick?

We’ve still got Thatcher’s rebate I think? If we lost that I’d want the figures looked at more closely as would wonder if it’s really worth it. Seems to me that it mostly helps the poorer nations who’ve joined at a cost to us but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Some people run a 26/36 up front and find a 34t cassette sprocket helpful others use a 34t cassette on heavier full-susses with a 22 chainring. Not that I’d think any less of you if you went for a 34t on your set-up…!

So the 100k is in one day? I suppose that’s a round number distance for what’s possible in 24 hours? Loonacy!

But seems we don’t all agree on the dross?

BTW, Yellow Shark was performed at the Proms one year.

I was Deadly for 2 years & gave up.

Was that on the Speccy? I never got to Elite on that. I was Archangel on Elite Plus though!

So what are the coolest ship additions? Cloaking device? Anti-ECM?

why does it hurt when i pee?

That song always reminds me of when I had cystitis as a kid – lava pee….

DrBike seems to like albums that I find less appealing!

This is a good comparison of ratings of his albums:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kbfoxqe5ldde~T2

Hmmm…well I’ve got 60 or so of his albums and think Joe’s Garage is OK but far better ones about! I’d probably just start in release order but there are some less appealing ones in the 80s. But then maybe best to start with the more accessible ones – Hot Rats is a good one for that and his best known I suppose. The Best Band series are good for a bit of a cross section – the 4th is maybe the most accessible of those; also Make a Jazz Noise Here and Best Band you never heard in your life. The 60s stuff is perhaps his most interesting though so go for Freak Out and We’re only in it for the money.

As for Beefheart? Yep, I’m a big fan – Trout Mask Replica, which FZ produced, isn’t for the faint hearted though….

Do the Mud Shark baby!

I think you’re basically in the right but you should have asked beforehand if it’s OK to arrange a courier – the implication is that it’s fine as you say. However, it’s only been 2 days so something might be up though do understand your frustration.

As for price – local collection auctions usually go for less than they might as limited market; he should have worked out cost and stated postage as an option as would have upped his price no doubt.

It’s just that you say the stantions are worn – maybe they aren’t too bad and don’t need replacing?