I like their 1 litre tubs of yoghurt and the smoked slices of ham. Some of the cereals are fine and I use the cereal bars on rides.

I just don’t understand how Sugar is so rich.

Made most of us money in property.

Surely if there are more people wanting to park than there are spaces then charging for parking is desired? Increase the price to the point that demand meets supply and all is well. A downside is that some of those that can’t afford to pay might die but you can’t have everything can you?

I struggle to understand why some celebs are so keen to twitter so much – esp Jonathan Ross and Stephen Fry – what do they get out of it? Searching for keywords and then trying to chat with someone who’s been twittering about it might be interesting….or it might that be considered stalking? Some people have started following me and I have no idea who they are or what they want from me – I don’t even twitter much as not really into it.

Must be sensible to talk to the building regs people as could be a problem if try to sell th house without doing it properly – indeed this happened to a neighbour and they lost their buyer. I was miffed as I wanted to move my staircase to a wall to open up downstairs, as others in the road have done, but I couldn’t due to the regs.

I can’t work out why I left home years ago but still have to give her stuff for being my Mum…it’s like taking out a mortgage that’ll never be paid off….

Europe’s most expensive garage in Marlborough where its still over a quid!

Why do people go there? Snob value?

Bonty Race Lite from Evans has got to be a good deal at £170:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bontrager/race-light-disc-mtb-wheelset-ec001954

Someone’s just offered their asbestos roof on the Mole Valley Freecycle – is that sensible?!

A dock? in nottingham?

Well it might involve some travel; or maybe there’s somewhere else in Nottingham where you could meet the right sort of guys?

I hear there’s good money to be made at the docks for a young lad….

As an IT Consultant (Oracle Apps) I’ve worked in a variety of places and it does wind me up the way the councils I have worked for appear to care far less about getting value for money than private companies. I worked on EDS’s JPA implementation which must have cost a bit – EDS were throwing resources at it so as not to incur penalties; system didn’t work so well initially…you can google it. I wonder how much SAP and Oracle invest in their ERP systems; far more compex than any system I can think of.

I’d have a long slope from one end to the other instead of stairs

You’d have the mother of all understairs cupboards!

Picking myself up after failing to make a tight turn at the bottom of a descent – fortunately also failed to hit the posts.

Broken collarbone here after hitting a stump and flying through the air – stump is between the trees behind and that’s where I landed.

I thought the staircase was the best thing about it but getting furniture up it would be a pain…and there’ll probably be a few casualties on it too – kids, drunks, the clumsy….

Having a gap between the top and bottom portakabins can’t be great for keeping warm in the winter can it?

More here:

http://www.muddymoles.org.uk/2009/03/oil_and_gas.html

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/riders-angered-by-plans-for-oil-well-on-surrey-hillside-20681

A column called date?! I’m an Oracle developer and had to develop using SQL Server once; was an upsetting experience for me….

People are starving in Africa.

I find it easier to pull fat birds than push them.

As for pulling up on pedals – I definitely do at times such as to give my quads a bit of a rest on a long climb. Sometimes when sprinting I feel as though I’m pulling quite hard. But mostly I imagine I’m more unweighting the pedal on the upstroke more than anything else which must have some sort of benefit.

I suggest reading this article, it’s about auctioning off savings to banks:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/saving-and-banking/article.html?in_article_id=473949&in_page_id=7&position=moretopstories

I just got my 1st light wheelset – Bonty Race X Lite from Evans for £300:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bontrager/race-lite-disc-wheelset-6-bolt-ec018012

A bank makes a profit for 2 months so bank shares around the world go up…we’re gonna be alright…! And I see Woolwich will lend 5x multiples….

Do you look under things? I swear something’s disappeared when all that’s needed is to lift a magazine.

I’ve had to apply for replacement passports on 2 occassions, the 1st lost one turned up the day the replacement arrived and then I lost the replacement and the 1st one again so got another then the 1st one turned up again…been told that if I have to apply again they’ll do some investigation so given it to the wife to look after….

I’ve had no problems with my 2005 Minute 3, which I prefer to my Fox Talas, and they’re supposed to be more reliable now anyway.

Thanks for all the advice. What I’m really doing is just riding down to a place on the cost called Jard-sur-Mer south of Nantes, staying there a week, then riding back. I think I only need 1 stop overnight after the ferry so like the idea of just pitching a tent when I’m ready rather than either booking a B+B beforehand, and having to get there, or possibly struggling to find a B+B for the night wherever I find myself. If I forget about camping would it be risky not to book somewhere to stay , staying thin advance?

IMO the Orange ST4 is a better bike to compare with the others than the Five – I’d shortlist it…

http://www.orangebikes.co.uk/2009bikes/bike.php?model_id=98

What sort of questions do they ask? Is it like a job interview?

I’d change the EA50 stem ‘cos it’s a bit average really…!

Well I work in IT but so do many others, most the ones I know don’t ride which perhaps means their lives are less interesting than mine…hard to think of many jobs that are more interesting that employ a significant number of people anyway. Whatever, riding is what I do, work is what pays for me to do what I do.

We’re all the same in this world, it’s just some of us ride.

How does this happen? If that happened in front of me I’d jump straight in and let people know it was my work but different type of work environment I’m sure – indeed it would never happen to me.

I’m looking at getting one; my current favourite is the Tortec Expedition.

TJ – is that rack stiff enough?

They want too much information to seem genuine. I couldn’t believe that my credit card company rang me up and asked for my personal info to verify who I am – DOB, Postcode, etc. I said I’d call them back and it was them that called me which I think just makes it easier for people to scam as they just have to do what the credit card companies are doing anyway.

Bidet.

2 road bikes, 5 mtbs, 3 road wheelsets, 8.5 mtb wheelsets. Don’t really need as many wheelsets as bikes….

A little bit of upward pressure on house prices would help stabilise house prices more quickly.

In a similar vein some people with a bit of spare cash might think about getting a 2nd home; I’ve always been a bit anti that as reduces available housing stock but is it worth worrying about? In some small desirable areas I think it’s an issue.

On the news last night it was reported that reduced demand has resulted in workers in southern China struggling to get jobs paying as little as £4 a day. For most life is hard in China at the best of times.

Or am I missing something

Well no all mortgages are flexible enough for that and there can be fees involved. However, those of us with offset mortgages do this all the time without thinking about it.

dig a little deeper you realise that it is simply meaningless nonsense

I’m sure I read that as a definition of art somewhere….

would the house have been better recieved if it was half the cost or less

Well there’s a point at which people would be impressed as to what was achieved with the money. I suppose realistically the house isn’t going to be for sale on its own at any point as it’s the farm house so finding a market value ain’t easy but they wanted an ‘arty’ farm house rather than a functional one and so paid a premium for the build. Their choice but I’d have built something more functional and either built something larger or done something else with it. But then I wouldn’t be on the programme….