Weekend away at posh hotel (incl meal, pampering etc) – always works with my Mrs.

Can’t believe nobody has said Terry Wright Cycles in Market Deeping – Paul and Ben are simply two of the most helpful and knowledgeable people in the cycle industry.

Coming from the north, Market Deeping, you can link in a few bridleways through Maxey and Helpston through Castor Hanglands and into Southey Woods – then on via the fishermans walk through ferry meadows and the embankment – then you can head down to the whittlesey washes and flag fen and complete the loop via the greenwheel through Eye Green and Newborough. Not hilly but mainly off road and super fast in the dry.

Currently Morrisons have Ruddles County for £1 per bottle – a true bargain which will impress.

I asked a few weeks ago, and got replies that indicated E-bay and Auto Trader.

Put it on e-bay on Sunday Night – Sold by Tuesday Lunchtime £15 flat fee for classified ad, I was very happy.

I also put it on Gumtree, but only because it was free to list.

Could be something as simple as the angle of the brake levers, if they are too flat on the HT that could be putting extra load on the wrist.

Another vote for Endomondo, wife uses it on I-phone and I use on Blackberry and it is very good. They have just updated their android version to fix some bugs and add functionality.

Thanks for the links – the Alicante Centre is very close to where we will be.

Been away on holiday – no internet, just come back and read this and WOW congratulations on both fronts.

Can I have your full name and team details so I can place my bets early on the TDF winner for the next 7 years.

Two more – Me and the Missus

A queue forms outside my local co-op at 6.30 – mainly old grannies. The feeding frenzy around the poor guy with the yellow stickers is frightening, I am not that brave!

I am on it walking to work, I’ve got my old overcoat on so must be winter of 2009/10.

Another vote for endomondo – it is great.

The only drawback is that my Mrs can check where I am in real time and send me encouragement (abuse) via the app which gets read out to me and everyone I am riding with – both times she has used this feature she has found me at a ‘cake stop’ and now thinks we don’t actually ride our bikes, just go to tea shops.

But seriously, you can track and compete with your friends, share routes and keep a log of everything that you do.

Thanks for the advice – today I will be mainly writing an e-bay ad, although I might hold off the pictures til it stops raining – July FFS!!

Hora

It is the BMW 2 litre diesel.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I think that the problem that I have is that there is a real disconnect between my day to day job and the examinations.

Day to day I deal with people, I explain this stuff to them and hopefully help them with their situations. The stuff in the exams is the foundation stones of what I do but in the real world has nothing to do with the day to day – it’s purely academic.

My major problem is that I have been in the ‘real world’ for too long – I finished my formal education over 20 years ago, these are the first proper exams that I have attempted since then.

Age 27 – 6’3″, 18st 10lb, resting pulse 74, blood pressure ‘High’, cholestorol ‘High’ according to doctor.

Need to do something about it so start cycling again – fast forward 20 years

Age 47 – 6’3″, 15st 4lb, resting pulse 48, blood pressure 120/80, cholestorol 3.7

I can safely say I am fitter now and it is mainly due to cycling, on and off road.

My wife has an interesting take on this – a bit like a stately home. We have public rooms, the Hallway, Living Room, Dining Room, Downstairs Loo etc where everything has to be neat and tidy, no outward signs that they might be lived in. This is because people might come round and think badly of us if there was an abandoned pair of shoes in the hall.

In the rooms where visitors are unlikely she is like a normal person.

It’s completely irrational as the only people who ever call round are friends and family.

You don’t need to worry too much but you will have to go through the probate process within a year of her death.

This doesn’t mean that you have to sell up or throw your brother out – just a formal process by which the ownership of the estate transfers from one generation to the next.

f your father died after 2007 you should be entitled to an inheritance tax exemption of £650K in which case it makes sense to put as high a value on the house as you can as you are not going to be paying inheritance tax.

Almost but not quite. The date of the first death does not matter 2007 was when Transferable Nil Rate Band was introduced. So as long as the 2nd spouse died after this date all estates are able to claim it. What matters is how much of your father’s nil rate band was used at his death. If everything transferred to your mother then the answer is none and you will be entitled to claim for a Transferable Nil Rate Band, but if there were other gifts and disposals from his estate on his death then the entire NRB will no longer be available for transfer.

It all depends on the individual circumstances, it is something you have to claim not something you get as a matter of course.

If the estate is between £325k and £650k it is well worth seeking some advice.

The tax position is fairly clear on this –

The value of the property crystallises on the date of your mum’s death for Inheritance tax purposes – as the estate is likely to be below the inheritance tax threshold tax payable will be nil.

At any subsequent disposal of the property you will be liable for capital gains tax on the difference between the price that you sell for and the value that you inherited at.

So say you inherit at £200K value and Sell for £220K – capital gain is £20K. Your share is a third £6,666 which is your personal capital gain. This is less than your capital gains allowance for the year and the tax payable is again nil.

Capital gains above the yearly allowance are taxed at 18%.

If you need help with probate drop me a line e-mail in profile. It is what I do for a living.

Nick.

This happened to us back in November, sadly the only way for it to dry properly is slowly. We had big industrial dehumidifiers running 24/7 for two weeks and the loss adjuster chap thought that that wasn’t long enough but the decorators were OK with it.

Electricity bill for the drying out period was £600 or thereabouts.

Insurance paid up though.

I got the 3g one for my wife, she reads a lot of Mills and Boon type romances, which tend to be free or a few pennies on Amazon. We travel to Spain quite frequently and I have to say it’s fantastic. Download a book in seconds whilst sitting by the pool/ beach/ bar.

Saves no end of space in the suitcase not having to take ‘real books’.

Where everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came – Cheers.

My Marin Pine Mountain – 1993 model complete with obligatory purple bits. My fist ‘real’ mountain bike – Needed some money quickly to pay my solicitor when I brought my house.

A week after the sale my boss said ‘why did you sell that beautiful bike?’

I told him and he said ‘If you had mentioned it I would have lent you £500 no problem’.

DOH!

Feedback score 11 – no activity since 2008!

They have always purchased tickets before though.

Yes

Coming up from Peterborough – so south/ east of Manchester would be best.

Thanks for the suggestions so far though.

Mottram Hall is nice but fully booked. Anything similar?

Talk to a Solicitor who deals with Contentious Probate you will need a larger firm with a specialist family or private client division.

Only accept a valuation in writing from a fully qualified chartered surveyor and then get a second opinion from another fully qualified chartered surveyor.

If inheritance tax has been paid and the property value has gone down HMRC will even rebate some of the tax paid. After all the property market in most of the UK is shot to hell and prices are falling all over so it would be unsurprising if any property with a sitting tenant has seen a significant fall in its value over the last four or five months.

I once came third in the (insert event of choice).

Makes it believable because you are not claiming to have won.

Just got ‘Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor’ by Caro Emerald, it is excellent and I would recommend it to anyone.

We organise a Raft Race every year http://www.deepingsraftrace.co.uk and use the red cross to provide medical cover. Over the past ten years we have had two heart attacks, a broken leg, a couple of broken wrists numerous cases of sunstroke, wasp stings and people drinking too much.

They take it all in their stride, call a real ambulance if someone needs hospitalising and all for a ‘donation’.

We get about 8000 spectators and competitors over a six hour period and normally donate around £500. They are happy with this arrangement and so are we.

Money Well Spent.

Hoovering and Stacking the dishwasher – mainly due to her lack of spatial awareness causing the dishes to come out dirty.

Member 59 checking in.

If you can rule out indigestion, trapped wind etc then see a doctor, especially with dizzyness.

You have form in the family so why take the chance.

No you shouldn’t need it – you have already paid the machine just reads the card and that in conjunction with the booking reference will get the tickets.

I was the 1975 South Kesteven District Road Safety Champion – won a book token.

My initials are NJA so I guess it is apt

If you are doing it for selfish reasons then don’t – you will become very disillusioned very quickly.

I have considered it, even talked to the local councillors about joining at one time. It would seem to be a very closed world governed by petty rules that are designed to prevent almost everything and ensure that the status quo prevails.

Even my local councillors said don’t bother if you are going to try to change things.

Very depressing attitude, but they succeeded in putting me off joining their cosy club.