If you’re a fan of the Apollo 11 stuff, I can absolutely recommend “13 Minutes to the Moon”, a BBC series on BBC Sounds:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xttx2

Series 1 is about Apollo 11 and its conception and development, explaining bit by bit the recording of the radio transmissions between the Eagle lander, the orbiter and Mission Control. It’s spine-tingling, amazing listening.

Series 2 is about Apollo 13 and the exceptional problem, and problem-solving, involved in the mission and how incredible it was to get the astronauts safely back to earth.

Assuming any of it is real, of course… ;)

Thanks all!

@zerocool (nice username btw ;) that’s probably what I’ll do. I hadn’t even heard of those socks, will look into them…

Thanks – I guess if we’re going to be taking lifts up and riding down hills it probably does count as downhilling! Although in my head I think I probably still see it more as just doing the pointing down bit of cross-country, because I’m unlikely to be doing Massive Jumps.

We’re staying in Essert Romand from 8-17 July, but mainly walking, riding road bikes and swimming (Morzine’s pool and Lac Montriond), but I’m taking my old Cotic out and my 11-year-old son wants to rent a full susser and spends a couple of days on the lifts. :)

My wife’s run it a couple of times. She also recommends having a chat to your son and finding out when he tends to have low points in his training runs. That’s when a friendly face by the side of the road can be a real boost. She said between about mile 15 and about mile 22 was when she appreciated the encouragement the most.
I was lucky in that we lived in London and I could just head in on a Brompton and find places to support.
Pounding the south loop around Milwall was apparently a bit miserable, and that’s when my stupid face cheered her up, and the slog back from Wapping to the City was pretty tough too.
If you’re cheering near the start (or at least in the section south of the river), use the Greenwich Foot Tunnel by the Cutty Sark to walk (don’t ride a bike through it) over to the Isle of Dogs.
I wish him luck! And if it’s his first marathon – don’t go off too hard! It should feel almost too easy for the first quarter to a half, it will get harder later…!

We’re in a similar position. House is around a hundred years old, the wiring is a crumbling mixture of whatever seemed like a good idea at the time (including some _terrible_ ideas). Three bed house, quoted £6-7K… so your quote doesn’t sound unreasonable. Just make sure you go with an electrician people you know have recommended or can vouch for, not just the cheapest quote. It’s a massive job to get re-done if the cheap person cocks it up!

Fair point, @BruceWee – full disclosure, I run a bike workshop with a good reputation and we often work on high-end bikes, there are definitely some mechanics I’ve worked with in the past at other shops, and some that have applied to work with me, who I wouldn’t let anywhere near an Amazon BSO, let alone a four-figure bike.

I definitely agree about mistakes being how we learn, and how being honest about your mistakes and putting them right to the customer’s satisfaction is a good way to keep and even gain customers.

I think it’s possible someone didn’t slow down when using the BB tool, that’s a common way to damage threads. But, as we both know, those tools are pretty hard to get wrong if you’ve used them more than a couple of times, and I’ve definitely had bikes where I’ve started chasing a thread and thought “this doesn’t feel right”, backed off and found that the tool was cutting right but the BB was tapped wrong from the factory.

I guess I’m saying to the OP – if you’ve established a good relationship with the shop and you trust them, keep trusting them. Keep talking to them. Find out what happened and how knackered the threads are. Point out that if the damaged side is damaged all the way through the threads, then that implies that the shop’s mechanic persisted using the thread tap after they should have realised it wasn’t working right. If that’s the case, the shop should probably go some way to contribute to putting it right.

My experience leads me to think it’s probably about 90-95% likely the frame was duff from the factory, 5-10% likely the LBS mechanic messed it up. Of course there’ll be some people on here who are very vocal about the one time an LBS mechanic got something wrong on their bike, and why they’ll extrapolate this to assume that almost all professional mechanics are inferior to them, but you’re unlikely to hear from the majority of others who have LBSs they’ve trusted for years to fix their bikes reliably.

What is not fine is to then pass the costs of this on to the customer.

I agree here – if the shop messed up, it’s the shop’s responsibility to put it right. BUT if the shop has started the job in good faith, the frame turns out to be bad, and they’ve called the customer to let them know this… then it’s a bit of a grey area. The shop’s completely within their rights to say “your frame’s rubbish, we can’t work on it, come and pick up your duff frame and pay us for our mechanic’s wasted time” – but that’s a good way to lose a customer and leave a sour taste.

I think if the frame _was_ faulty from the factory, a good way for the shop to handle it – and the way I’d advise my workshop to deal with it – is to think about that customer’s loyalty, and find a way to make the frame usable, safe and reliable at the least expense to the customer while covering the shop’s costs (a trade-price purchase of a screw-together BB, perhaps).

I think I agree with Edukator. Any bike shop worth its salt, and certainly one that’s built a good reputation for dealing with higher-end bikes, will have a decent BB thread reamer & facer. They’re relatively easy to train people on, straightforward to use and most qualified mechanics will have no problem preparing most frames.

I don’t know which shop we’re talking about, but you don’t build a good reputation with cack-handed mechanics and crap tools, and if the OP has had a good relationship with them for the last 7 years I’d be inclined to believe they have decent tools, and decent mechanics who know how to use them.

I think that a frame desperately sold by a dying company as “new” is much more likely to be damaged, a warranty return or a QC reject, as they know that they can take the money and don’t have to answer for the fault. Look at all the London Road frames Planet X sold that had actually been returned to them as warranty claims as an example.

I think the shop has done the right thing in spotting the frame is damaged and offering to put it right in the best way they can. If it was my shop I’d offer to prep the frame and fit a screw-together BB free of charge as a goodwill gesture, but possibly charge for the BB itself.

I think the opinions of the keyboard warriors spouting the usual guff like “I never trust an LBS” or “SuE tHeM!” or “they should claim on their insurance, that’s what it’s for” can be ignored, as usual. Most independent bike shops know they stand or fall based on their reputation – and that reputation is hard-won by consistently doing good work and good customer service, and easily damaged by bad reviews, which is why they do so much stuff for goodwill and absorb the cost and inconvenience of a lot of warranty work. And why they don’t tolerate “spanner monkeys”. Like claiming on your house insurance or car insurance, claiming on your shop’s insurance is a guaranteed way to make sure your future renewals are dramatically more expensive – you save that stuff for when you really need it, like a break-in or a fire. Shops absorb all the other costs.

Like most things, keeping things civil and keeping dialogue open is the best way to ensure both sides are heard and the negotiation goes as smoothly as possible. OP, I hope you get an outcome you’re happy with.

Lovely – thanks! First post I saw when I logged back in.

What printer with scanner / photocopier that’s actually built to last and isn’t a rip-off for refills…? I’ll have to use the search function. ;)

@Ewan crikey, you may have a point, technically speaking. Although given that the “knife” part of it is about 3cm long, I’m not sure it could be considered particularly offensive as a weapon. Someone determined to cause harm could use _any_ key if they wanted. Or a pen. Or a rolled-up magazine, or all sorts of other items someone might normally carry on their person.

Just my 2p worth – I _always_ used to carry a Swiss Army knife on me when I was younger. It was super useful! Screwdrivers, small blade, pokey thing to make holes bigger, tiny screwdriver to tighten my glasses, even the corkscrew… I wouldn’t have even dreamed of using it in a confrontation – I don’t understand how anyone can argue they “protect” themselves with an offensive weapon. Knives – and guns – are for attacking, not defending.

But these days I always have this on my keyring. Same size as a key, has a tiny blade for opening packages / stripping wires / whatever, a tiny serrated section for cutting threads, a bottle opener, can opener (if desperate), mini flat head screwdriver and a cross head screwdriver. And has never been taken off me at an airport! (not that I’ve deliberately tried to take it through, I’ve just forgotten to remove it from my pocket enough times, and had no problems, that I don’t worry if I’ve left it in there).

Completely not what you asked for, but I’ve enjoyed playing Little Nightmares on my son’s Switch.

Also there’s a Metroid Prime reboot available for the Switch, which is pretty much my favourite Nintendo game ever.

Edit: also Hollow Knight, brilliant Metroidvania-style game. He also downloaded Feather, and Sky: Children Of the Light, which are both beautiful peaceful mellow games, and were free at the time to download.

For those who have done it, do you still drink decaffeinated coffee?

I ask, because I like coffee but I’m thinking of giving up caffeine. I write this in the middle of a big afternoon slump where I think I need coffee or a sleep, but don’t want to make myself a coffee because I’d like to sleep well tonight…!

Isn’t a corporation’s legal duty to maximise their profit for share holders? They can get sued if they don’t do that…

No. That’s not a legal principle, although I think there might be something somewhere that allows shareholders to sue companies’ boards if they feel that the company is deliberately depriving them of dividends.

But “it’s just business”, and the idea that making the most profit is the only thing that should drive any decision, is the most common excuse for being an arsehole. Nobody, including the shareholders, forces a business to screw everyone from customers to suppliers to employees into the ground just to maximise profit. The company’s owners or board may choose to do that, and they may use the excuse of “business” to justify it, but there are plenty of companies looking after their staff, their customers, the environment – AND their bottom line without being knobs. Look up the High Performance Podcast interview with James Timpson for an inspiring example.

That thing about the crash detection system in cars has reminded me. Our Skoda has some sort of system that integrates the parking sensors and longer-range adaptive cruise control, and can alert us if it thinks we’re going to hit something while we’re driving.

Every now and then, when driving at around 20mph, this will trigger at the front of the car – and then, a moment later at the back of the car. When there’s clearly nothing there.

The first couple of times it did it, it properly shook me. It’s now happened enough times that my son will remark “have we just driven through another ghost?”

I’ve got XM4s, which I was lucky to find at the price of XM3s when I bought them. I think they’re brilliant.

I’ve used the laptop mic when on Zoom / Teams calls.

I cycled to Amsterdam with my son a couple of years ago, when he was 9 years old. He absolutely loved visiting The Upside Down, an “interactive social media museum”, which is basically lots of rooms designed around taking selfies. It’s a lot more fun than it sounds – have a look at their website https://the-upsidedown.com/ and its various pages. There are all sorts of rooms with optical illusions, fun scenes and stuff to play with (like massive teddy bears, or ball pools, or trampolines).

It’s not high culture, but it’s a fun thing to do for a couple of hours if your child likes taking photos of things, including themself.

Wow. It looks like it would go well with driving one of these…

…nice, if you like that sort of thing!

Thanks all.

Go a longer way and you’ll still be faster and probably calmer and safer on a scooter.

This was what I was thinking. A longer route with more wider roads and shared bus lanes will be a much more pleasant ride, and potentially quicker than occasional dodgy filtering on narrow clogged roads among aggro / distracted queuing drivers.

@kilo E Croydon to Holborn, more or less. Relatively straightforward on public transport, just a ballache and it can take ages if there’s any disruption.

Brilliant timing, my 10-year-old has asked for a skateboard for Christmas and I know nothing about them.

And thanks @ikebay for such an informative post!

We watched Gremlins the other day, I had fond memories of it and thought my 10 year old would enjoy it.

It’s rubbish! It hasn’t aged well. The part in the bar is too long and just stupid, not funny stupid, but puppeteers going “let’s dick about with some more costumes” stupid. The end bit in the department store is pants. The whole film was pretty disappointing, which is a big shame as I really wanted a good Christmas film as an alternative to all the Richard Curtis crap.

Interesting – they’re “atmospheric testing” planes, so either a training run, or someone suspects something fishy has happened nearby….! Windy.com shows the winds are gently blowing from the East, so something Latvia / Lithuania based?

My concern is for the strength of the rims. I don’t think they’ll be strong enough.

I’m a wheelbuilder, not an auto engineer, but I do know how rims respond to loading and spoke tension and bending / twisting forces. They’re stiff but they rely heavily on the spoke tensions to hold the structure strong. The rigging clamps may be rated to 100Kg, there’s no way I’d hang that off an un-built rim. (of course, you can do way more impressive things to them when they’re part of a fully-built wheel).

Being hard on yourself after failure was another of mine too, it’s heartening to know people have worked through similar things, I’ve been in a rut for a few weeks but have taken some energy from this thread to pick things up a bit, I’ll do some more research tonight

I haven’t listened to it for a long time, so I don’t know what it’s like now, but the early episodes of “the High Performance Podcast” (not as **** as it sounds: https://www.thehighperformancepodcast.com/ ) were superb for this – and free. One of the things they and their interviewees keep coming back to is: failure is how we learn. We shouldn’t fear it, we should accept it as a natural part of trying and growing. Our society, and the vacuous media and social media that surround us, fears failure and mocks it. But nobody succeeds without failing, nobody learns without failing, nobody grows without making mistakes. If you’ve had some failures, good on you, it means you’ve been trying – and you’ve learned enough to know what went wrong and what you wouldn’t do next time! Don’t beat yourself up, just dust yourself off and keep looking for what you want to change. :)

“The things you say to yourself, about yourself, when you are by yourself, determine your actions.”

I’m not an expert, but I’ve read a few things about this and you’re definitely off to a good start trying to change your internal monologue. If you can just find a couple of positive things to say, you can start changing the way you approach life.

I’ve heard them called “affirmations”. Not hand-wavey vague mantras like “things are getting better all the time”, but statements you tell yourself, that you can believe. Even just something simple like “I’m worth looking after” can remind you that a takeaway every now and then is a worthwhile indulgence if it’s something that makes you feel better.

There are all kinds of guides online on how to find and write your own affirmations. Take all of it with a pinch of salt, of course – there’s a lot of think-yourself-rich claptrap – but just finding something positive about yourself that you can repeat every now and then to remind yourself, can start to change your thoughts, which in turn change your actions and your habits.

@Kramer tbf Tiff Needell owned one of mine and loved it. I suspect he’s a lot better at driving it than me…

I bought a 2001 MR2 a couple of months ago, after wanting a convertible car for absolutely years. It wasn’t expensive – I was in the lucky position of being able to sell a bike I no longer used to pay for it.

Like others have said, I’m not bothered about how cool other people think it is. I like it, it’s a lot of fun to drive, it makes me smile and I love the experience of driving around with the roof down (top down unless it’s raining is basically my rule). I’m also aware it’s a bit of a mid-life crisis cliché, it’s quite a tongue in cheek one and I have no illusions anyone will find me more attractive or interesting because of it.

But it’s fun. And that’s cool for me.

I’d second this. I’ve had a succession of iPhones – I usually opt for the smallest rather than the most bling – and they have all lived in Otterbox Defender cases. These are fairly indestructable, they’ve protected each phone from drops, scuffs, splashes, dust, all sorts of crap. And when they get too knackered, you can replace them. Each time I’ve upgraded to a new phone I’ve removed the slightly worn case and had the pleasant surprise of a practically mint phone inside, which has meant a better price for the inevitable selling-on on eBay.

They’re likely to have been gifts given to him as stage wins or sponsorship bonuses.

However, he writes about liking nice watches in one of his books, so maybe they’re part of a legit personal collection. I don’t like the look of them, but eye of the beholder and all that…

Oh fab! Thanks for the heads up. After The Shadow Over Innsmouth I thought that was it and there wouldn’t be any more episodes. Heawood disappeared, Kennedy alone and disenchanted with the whole escapade, I expected that to be the last of it!

I really like the sound design and storytelling in this programme, it’s very immersive. I thought the Charles Dexter Ward series was excellent; the Innsmouth series not quite so much, but still very good.

Will give this one a try, thanks!

Sadly not – this volume of it would be worth more than the house, if so!

The sea of (Halloween) tat,soon to be heading for landfill.

On top of that, the colossal volume of viable food (pumpkins) grown on huge areas of land and shipped across continents using millions of tonnes of fossil fuel, for no purpose other than to slowly rot on a doorstep, then be binned and rot down in landfill.

Excellent, thank you! (and llama for the classic STW answer)

And @goldfish24, yes I did mix up units, sorry. It’s currently about 100mm deep, and I think I’m going to have to remove it and replace it if I want a total of 270mm.

It’s definitely just laid / blown / scattered on top of the boards of the ceiling below. While clearing it up I’m picking up lots of lumps of plaster that have been squidged through between the slats. I’d rather not get into replacing all the ceilings of the upstairs of the house with fresh plasterboard, but I’m aware this is going to be a potential hassle if I do need to. Is this the sort of situation you’d put some sort of retaining layer in before fresh insulation?

Yes, I’ve got a Thinkware that’s about 5 years old now with a front and rear camera. I did most of the installation, pulling the roof lining carefully apart and running the cables *behind* the airbags, and then paid a local car audio installer about £40 to wire it into the fusebox to make sure it was properly set up, powered when the ignition was off but also knew when it was on.

I haven’t had to give it any attention; it’s been useful to pull the card out of it and review it when incidents have happened near the car but so far I haven’t needed to use any recordings as “evidence”. The recordings have been nice and clear, even at night. I’d definitely recommend having one just in case.

(just looked it up, it’s an F800 Pro, a little out-dated now but still good quality)

Thanks for the photos @pisco! That place looks amazing, I too love an escapement. Would like to visit – I remember watching a video (VHS on the school’s massive Ferguson TV, of course) when I was young about that Greenwich Mean Time clock.

And another vote for Timpson’s, they’re a really sound company. They train and employ ex-offenders as they recognise that this is the best way to prevent re-offending and help people sort their lives out. They offer all sorts of bonuses and perks (the company owns holiday apartments somewhere that employees can rent free of charge, IIRC), has mental health support written into employee contracts and is a Living Wage employer IIRC. Their customer service is usually exceptional because they’re such a good company to work for so they recognise that their people might make mistakes but they want to put them right – I found the High Performance Podcast interview with James Timpson very moving: https://www.thehighperformancepodcast.com/podcast/james-timpson

It depends on the size of screen you’re used to. I use a little 13″ screen laptop as my main work computer, so I bought this cheap’n’cheerful 14″ screen as a second display and it’s made things a LOT easier. And it’s light and portable, runs off the HDMI output and a USB-C power input and is basically the size of an A4 notepad when folded up.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09TVVWFR9

@DT78 it’s a stainless steel sink, set into the counter. I don’t actually know what purpose the oddly sagging wooden sheet is serving.

In the longer term, we’re going to get the whole kitchen replaced. And I think it would probably be a good idea to take all the plumbing out and start again while we’re at it!

Excellent, thank you @bensales – I think the first option probably makes sense. It’s probably what was there before, I’m not sure why it was removed.

As @singletrackmind has spotted, there’s been a lot of butchery and modifications done on this place. It was built in the 1930s, owned by the previous inhabitant since the 1960s and it needs a _lot_ of work, which is how we were able to afford it. Basic things like insulating the loft I can do myself, but the first job is to get an electrician in. My son went to turn a light switch on and said “daddy, this feels buzzy like your old MacBook!”…!

I am very much looking forward to this week’s Popbitch anyway

I think they’ve had Dan Wootton’s number for a long time…

The SKX007 has day and date. It’s not technically got hacking, as such, but it ticks back a second at a time if you hold the crown back gently while adjusting.
It doesn’t have hand winding. I’ve never found mine needed it, but I do wear it most of the time.