A nominal fee that will make people think twice about going to the doctors because they have a sore throat. I

The problem with putting off people with a shoe throat is that you also put people off who’ve got rectal bleeding, which, believe it or not, your GP would really like to hear about. The problem with putting off people with a bit of a cough is that every so often the person with a cough has TB, or lung cancer, or something else you don’t really want to see 6 months too late.

Enforced moving of money from one part of the trust budget might be a fine but it doesn’t really seem like a penalty.

Sorry, should have read “Enforced moving of money from one part of the trust budget to another might be a fine but it doesn’t really seem like a penalty.”

You missed out the bit about the BMA still holding out for more of the fine to be paid to the doctor who has been “overworked” – even though it is the patients who theoretically suffer. Nothing to do with money this dispute, not at all, oh look a badger.

I think one of the problems with the Guardian proposal is that the fines are paid into the trusts’ educational budget, and that the fines may well work out cheaper than employing a locum for the same shift. I’m not entirely sure if the current version of the contract still has these problems but perhaps someone could enlighten me.

Enforced moving of money from one part of the trust budget might be a fine but it doesn’t really seem like a penalty.

According to our local radio station the other day all emergency departments will be closed and the ambulance service have been advised to set up treatment centres

Can I ask which radio station that was? That’s potentially dangerous misinformation imo.

According to our local radio station the other day all emergency departments will be closed and the ambulance service have been advised to set up treatment centres

I’m no an expert in emoticons… are you joking?

I thought people would be bleeding to death in the streets?

Well they might, but that’s because the ambulance service is struggling as much as the rest of the NHS at the moment rather than the JD strike.

ED for a kidney infection, really?

Yarp. Untreated pyelonephritis (as opposed to a simple urine infection, which is lower down, i.e. in the bladder) can jigger your kidney(s) and/or kill surprisingly quickly.

It’s actually still open and will be fine for breaks and sprains but dont turn up if you might die if you don’t get treatment.

Fair enough. It’s now minor injuries rather than A&E, is that right?

I thought the same thing, maybe he thought people with a broken bone or any other injury that would usually involve going straight to A&E would think “maybe I’ll leave it a day or two”

There have been numerous stories about people doing just this over the weekend, because they somehow got the idea that there were no doctors in the hospitals at the weekend. Part of that is because, well, they’re misinformed, but sometimes it’s also because it can be difficult to know what’s A&E-worthy, so they think “I’ll leave it.” A broken bone is (usually) obvious, but a bad pneumonia or a kidney infection can be less obvious. Anything that makes people less likely to go to A&E in a genuine emergency is a bad thing.

My little corner of the NHS isn’t just running as normal; we’ve got extra medical staff on tomorrow & Wed.

Show off.

Surely you can’t be planning whether you 0are going to visit A&E?

Not planning, but just in case you (or a loved one, or a person who you’ve just found unconscious on the street) needs it) just be aware that it’s still there, still open, still doing life-savingy things. There have been a few stories recently about people delaying going to hospital at the weekend despite being very ill because of what they’ve heard in the news about staffing during weekends (apparently some people think that doctors don’t work weekends) and it would be bad if anything similar were to happen during the current strikes.

wwaswas » If you’re planning an accident it might make some sense to have it in the next day or two Scotland.

Jesus, don’t do that. Have you any idea how long it takes to get to the nearest neurosurgical centre if you bump your head in the outer hebrides?

If someone offered me a sedative for anything, I’d take it. The stuff they use – often benzodiazepines – have a decent street value because people use them (and pay good money for them) to get high. I suppose it depends whether you like getting high (on real, top quality pure shit in a safe environment) and whether you have to drive / cycle / operate heavy machinery / be a responsible adult afterwards though.

Also, upper GI endoscopy can be horrible so I’d take it anyway. Your shout though.

That happened to me shortly after I bought my first mountain bike. The bike shop were convinced I must have been doing something insane (I wasn’t). I’m pretty sure it was a warranty issue but I never got any money back (bastards).

Was that useful?

@mrhoppy. That looks like an excellent day out. I think Torridon plus that plus maybe slig if we get the chance would be a happy week’s riding.

@ks562

If you fancied a later afternoon/evening spin from Plockton there is some pretty nice singletrack in the woods near Duncraig and down to Balmacara.

I’ve heard rumours of this. Do you happen to know where I could find a bit more information on this? At the moment all I’ve got to go in is the strava heatmap.

Beinn fhadda loop clockwise from morvich. Stunning scenery, proper remote riding and the final descent from Bealach an Sgairne

Do you mean anti-clockwise or am I failing to read a map properly?

Urk. Wish I’d had the stones to try it when I was up there, but also sort of glad that I didn’t.

Yeah, replaceable/bolt on drop out with an integral mech hanger innit guv.

Ah fair enough, not seen one of those before.

Pic, sort of showing the doofer in place-

That’s really useful actually. It’s pretty much exactly how I’d envisaged it working.

It looks like you still have a mech hanger on the back of your bike though… Don’t you know that’s an extra 40 or so grams you’re carrying around for no reason? People pay good money getting lighter components to drop that sort of weight dontchaknow.

Are you 1x or 2x at the moment, if the former then just get a narrow/wide chainring

1×10 with a 32t N/W but I’m still losing the chain occasionally. I think it may be that the chain is too long. I’m about to install a new cassette and chain which I’m hoping improve things. I’m thinking ahead with this chainguide thing.

in the end i just ran it with the bolts just shy of ‘properly’ tight, and just tapped the end of the chainguide up as the chain wore to take up slack.

That is an excellent bodge.

PS – has anyone seen a decent video of how to install them? I checked youtube but all I really found out was that ISCG also stands for the International Society of Cosmetic Gynaecologists.

My modified Bird Zero AM has a 64.3 deg head angle and is fantastic uphill – 75.4 deg seat angle is the reason why! I’m actually thinking of taking the fork out another 10mm to 140mm.

Hmm. It could be my unfitness, or it could be the 72 degree seat angle or it could be the fact that I’ve switched to flats and all the issues (pedal strike, etc.) that go with getting used to them.

It’s only 64 degrees….

I assume you mean “only”.

My ragley has a 66 degree head angle and is, as speculated above, a weapon downhill. It lives up to its name (ie it’s a pig) uphill though.

Pretty… It almost looks like a jump bike it’s so slack.

That ‘English’ style only looks good for knocking your teeth out.

It’s slightly better with spds. Still not very good though.

Which if I understand correctly is the american way you describe?

Aye. I guess I’ll carry on doing that.

Build one of these,

I fashioned a rudimentary one out of some sticks and stones I found next to the landrover track (honestly). It wasn’t as high as that, although I think I probably had the same look on my face when I was trying to jump it.

Yeah +1 for seeing a GP, especially if everything’s still stiff and hurting after a few weeks.

Any problems with your other joints (back or hands in particular) or is it just your feet? How long does the stiffness last in the morning?

Hmm. There’s was still snow on the carneddau yesterday so I guess it’ll be wet up there. Penmachno today and leave Cowlyd til later in the year it is then. Thanks guys.

Good job you didn’t start you post with,

“Save me from mechanically inept road cyclists”

When I pointed the guy out to my girlfriend and told her what he’d said, she said “stop being such a bloody snob.”

“How can I be a snob when he’s got a more expensive bike than me and he doesn’t even know how to fix a puncture?” I replied.

She walked off without saying anything else. I assume that was because my point was irrefutable.

You overheard someone and then posted it on a forum. You bastard!

He absolutely had it coming.

Speaking of eavesdropping on offensive conversations, I was in decathlon the other day (great start, I know) and there was a guy in full Lycra, helmet, clippy road shoes, pushing his fairly expensive looking road bike around the shop looking at bits of kit. I overheard him later asking the guy at the workshop “fix his flat tyre.”

Now that really offended me.

Macc forest would be the obvious suggestion +/- charity lane type area.

Dark peak (eg ladybower loop or edale/chapel gate/rushup edge/roych Clough/Jacob’s ladder) if you’re looking for a slightly bigger day out.

Aluminium, you know it makes sense………..

Steel. Puts a smile on my bum.

Is this a road thing?

More of a road thing, I reckon, although I can be a massive gear bore.

Strava has turned the world into a racetrack. Even when it’s stupid to be racing.

That’s a problem that goes beyond being a value judgement – i.e. it’s not bad just because it doesn’t fit with what I like – because it seems to make (some) people behave like dickheads. That in turn gives the whole (sub)culture of cycling a bad name.

The only thing the badly behaved MAMILs have proved to me is that I don’t want to join a club at the moment – as I don’t want to be associated with these people.

I got “boxed in” by some mamils from the local roadie club recently (I didn’t know what boxing in was until I described what had happened to someone in the know) because I’d had the gall to pass them on an uphill section and was then freewheeling on the descent. Really soured me to the whole roadie thing.

I don’t think the same culture has taken over completely up here…

This is why we need independence.

How does it feel to ride? I’ve got an alfine on my commuter and considered getting a hub geared mtb but people said it makes the back end feel really leaden / planted in the ground.