17 years ago I was on 31k, in an ok job in an ok town and with a nice house. Now I’m on 24k, working far longer hours, in a ruin of a place, and much happier.

Beyond a certain (usually quite low) threshold, more money really doesn’t make you happier… just more comfortable.

ygm

Jingles, where did you get your spare axle, as I’ve “done a Wilko” too!

First attempt at home-made crisps (needs work)
Weston’s Perry (needs no work at all)
iTunes on shuffle. Currently Mark Mulcahy (solidly middling)

perchypanther – Member
Man walks into Derbyshire vet.
Man “My cat’s making a lot of strange noises at night”
Vet “Is it a tom?”
Man “No it’s outside in the car. Shall I bring it in?”

Monk walks into Derbyshire vet.
Monk “My cat’s fur is falling out”
Vet “Is it a tabby?”
Man “No it’s outside in the car. Shall I bring it in?

Congratulations to xherbivorex.

I’m with you on not making a big thing of it. Having been in the “God forbid” situation previously, we were in no rush to tell people, particularly since we were at an age which the NHS classed as ‘elevated risk’.

Told family at about 16 weeks. My Mrs told her team and HR dept at about 28 weeks. I didn’t get round telling anyone at my work until after the event (apart from the lady who does payroll as I wanted to take a couple of weeks paternity leave) and would do the same if we ever have another.

I can’t be doing with self-centred obsessing that you sometimes see. So you’re having a baby… it’s hardly a global precedent. And spare a thought for any colleagues or friends you may have who have been trying to conceive for years who will be hurting every time someone else gets pregnant.

Ah, brilliant. Thanks both. I actually quite like my extra job so it would have been a shame to chuck it.

Cheers!

My Sabbath September Disc is lovely (but then I would say that). Ideal for rough / bumpy Cornish lanes, but still engaging enough to be fun on the (very) occasional smooth, fast stretch.

Might be worth a look?

Big love for The Cycle Centre in Penzance. Really helpful and friendly, excellent workshop, and – even though they’re a small shop – they cater for all flavours of cyclist. Seem really welcoming to total beginners and non-cyclists too.

The signs around the dual carriageway widening state that it will be finished Summer 2016 but they look like they’ve got a hell of a lot to do.

They say the road will be open as usual through summer 2016 (by which I take it to mean it’ll be gridlock), but the work’s not due to be completed until 2017. I’m guessing it’ll be a temporary restoration of the 2/1 lane arrangement, just for the summer hols. Wonder if they’ll bother to remove the average speed cameras…

Yeah, the traffic will be horrible and the forecast is iffy, but there’s a lot of doom and gloom merchants out today.

I would definitely avoid Land’s End, but as wallop said, Porthcurno is a great alternative: beautiful beach and the Minack Theatre if it’s dry, the Museum (best secret in the whole county) if it’s wet.

Eden will be rammed if it’s wet, and the roads will be busy whatever (though not summer-busy). If you’re just down for the weekend you’ll already be spending a fair bit of time in the car, so I would try to avoid too much driving around whilst you’re down here (but that’s just me).

But if you don’t mind getting wet, just get out and walk. The coast path will be quiet if the forecast is right, and the moors above St Ives will be empty, too. Men an Tol, Watch Croft, the Nine Maidens, Mulfra Quoit makes a nice loop for a walk. Bring a map!

Are you bringing a bike?

binners – Member
Go and drink cider in a park and shout at buses

… thought it’d be nice to do something different for a change.

I’m liking the look of the Quantocks. I think I might go for the Lydeard Hill car park suggestion, but maybe add in a couple of descents if I’m in the mood. Which begs the next question: any ‘must do’ trails or any that look great on the map but are a bit disappointing to ride? And last Question – how do they ride after quite so much rain?

Thanks again!

This is brilliant folks, thanks very much!

I can see a fun (but unproductive) day at work, planning….

LOL – I like what you’re doing!

My only contribution is “Fat” by The Violent Femmes – worth a listen if you’re not familiar with it

mattyfez – Member
….If the sandwich has sufficient fat and/or sauce on it already…

I’m sorry, I’m struggling with that concept…

Anything which uses the phrase “xxx % more”, with out saying more than what.

So; “The all-new Boswollox-syngery-pro, makes your hair 45 % shinier”. Shinier than what? Talcum powder?

Thanks Bigjim, That’s really helpful.

Off to have a play with QGIS. I sense a steep learning curve coming on! Oh, and the Armadillo projection (which is toroidal) does exist…. it’s just the rest of my made-up / misused terminology that makes it sound so wrong!

When the weather is good and sunrise is at the right time, seeing the sun come up behind St Michael’s Mount through the harbour mouth in Penzance never gets boring.

And getting to the top of Paul Hill in Newlyn is a perverse kind of wonderful, as I know that nothing for the whole of the rest of the day will feel as bad as the last few minutes.

globalti – Member
Let me see…. no…. no…. I definitely can’t think of a low spot im my life, it’s all such a disaster.

^ This

Today’s been good though. Was fully intending to cycle to work for the first time this year, but the combination of a very early (5.30) start and a dodgy weather forecast was enough for me to swallow the self-loathing and drive. I did at least remember to check (and top up) the oil for the first time since buying the car.

Oddly, this seemed to make it run worse, not better. Cue the dawning realisation that I couldn’t remember replacing the oil filler cap, moments before the “Check engine” warning light appeared on the dashboard! Think it might be borked. Bugger.

Well I’ve come out with INFP-A, which apparently is a “mediator”. Seems legit.

I once did something similar for a job interview and when I saw the write-up (I got the job) it included the gem: “It is important to ascertain whether Steve’s total lack of achievement to date is due to lack of opportunity, or lack of ability”!!

Nice…. (I hate to think what the unsuccessful candidates were like)

You’ve had your turn, KiwiJohn…. time to share!

Evenings have been drawing out for a while now (12th December was the earliest sunset), though the mornings are going to keep getting darker until the end of the year.

Shortest day tomorrow, though…. Great thread OP! 😀

Roast pork for us, from one of my sister’s pigs. I’m hoping it’ll be a Berkshire, but could be a Tamworth or an Oxford Sandy and Black. With as many trimmings as I can be bothered doing, but definitely pigs in blankets from the same animal.

So that’s basically pork, sausages, bacon and maybe a couple of sprouts.

Surely all this talk of alternative methods for generating power to meet demand is treating the symptoms, not the cause?

If energy usage continues to rise at its current rate, is there any source that can meet demand in the long term (short of the holy grail of fusion)?

Yes I get that we need to sort something out in the short term. What worries me is politicians’ tendency to stick a plaster on something and think they’ve sorted it and can now ignore it (for the rest of their lives / careers, at least). But we have to look at how much we’re using, too. Do we really need that dishwasher, 4th TV on standby, or electric leaf blower?

STW wood-burners For The Win!

How come They always tell you not to stick your fingers in a mains socket?

What are they trying to hide, eh? Makes you think, doesn’t it?

quite.

ETA: Aimed at Ernie… but equally applicable

You want to despair? Just look up Entropy and what it has in store for the universe*.

Ought to cure you of worrying over humanity’s ills. (Basically, it’s the credo of “nothing you can see will be alive in 100 years taken to the ultimate conclusion).

* Actually, don’t.

Ok, so this will probably get me flamed (and maybe rightly so)… but I can’t help winding this back a bit.

Why exactly is there NOW an imperative to take action? When there wasn’t, say 6 months ago?

Is it because ‘They’ have become more evil? (I don’t think they have). Is it because ‘They’ are on the cusp of suddenly acquiring massively greater killing power (the cynic in me can’t help thinking that someone in the “Bomb them” camp might have mentioned it)? Or is it because They have recently butchered a lot of Westerners in what everyone agrees was a most appalling and utterly incomprehensible atrocity?

Clearly it’s not about the killings of humans per se, as otherwise we’d be going after arms dealers and those with appalling human rights records. Anyone care to Google the number of people killed for socio-political reasons in China, Saudi, etc. vs those killed by ISIS?

So ok, lets assume it’s because ‘They’ have killed a lot of ‘Our people’ just lately, and are looking to kill a lot more. So how do we save the most people we possibly can? (Sorry, this is beginning to sound like Philosophy 101). And remember the UK is pretty much broke as a country. So given a set amount of money, do we:

A. Bomb the crap out of those targets we’ve identified, wherever there may be a training camp, or an unimportant but high media profile sicko like Jihadi John;
B. Target the recruitment of disaffected British youth by the power hungry sickos who are grooming a conveyor belt of young, manipulate-able 2nd gen British Muslims to die for their faith;
Or C. Spend the money on recruiting more doctors and nurses for the NHS so fewer people are dying on stretchers in hospital corridors? Or I don’t know, targeting drunk drivers, domestic abusers, or another other group that are killing more of ‘Us’ than ‘They’ are?

For me, A is not the answer. For every legitimate ‘target’ you kill, you’ll probably drive at least one more to take their place. Surely this is basic human nature?

Abhorrent though it sounds, I think maybe people ought to try to put themselves in the shoes of the kind of person who could potentially be manipulated into becoming a future suicide bomber/shooter. Just think about their view of the west, and what might drive them to do this….

Sorry, this is fairly incoherent. It’s late, I’m tired (and the vote has probably happened in the time that it’s taken me to type this anyway).

Just needed to put this out there… If you look back through history, “more bombs” is rarely the answer, whatever the question.

My first trip to the Alps was a last minute entry to the Pasportes du Soleil with my 18yo nephew in 2013. The only start point left was Les Croset, and the cheapest place I could find to stay was here.

We got the apartment for about £120 for 3 nights over PPdS weekend, so it was pretty reasonable (the website isn’t showing next summer’s prices yet, so I don’t know if it’s still as good). There were pros and cons:

-The riding out the door is probably a bit tame for you, but it’s very well connected by lifts
– It only has 1 bedroom, but there are four beds (and a very sleep-on-able sofa in the living room which I can vouch for)
– It’s in Switzerland and a bit of mission to get to – but in fairness it was only 10 hours drive from the channel tunnel so it’s perfectly do-able
– The resort was a bit dead. No real up side to this.

It all seemed a bit suss when I booked it: email correspondence with the (German) owner, you pay up front then they send the key a week or two before your departure (“Yeah, right”, I was thinking), but it all worked out well and did the job perfectly.

Ask me tomorrow. Am planning to commute on the bike after a 2-week lay-off, but I really hate riding in the wind, and the forecast is for a 50mph straight headwind in the morning. Could be a very long 14 miles (or I may just fold and take the car)…

The ride home should be good though!

Another vote for Animed. Were able to supply a range of “niche” products for our multiply disabled cat.

‘b r’ has it.

If you’re not happy paying for it, then do it yourself. If you’re not happy doing it yourself, then pay for it.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound harsh. But really, as long as you don’t work out how long it took / cost per hour, it’s not rocket surgery.

I did my kitchen from scratch (laying floor tiles, new ceiling, 3 new walls and exposing old stonework on 4th wall, all wiring, all worktops, carcasses, doors, etc) and I’m – frankly – crap at DIY. The only thing I bought was the soft-close drawer mechanisms. It looks good, works well and was a fraction of the cost of paying a professional…. AS LONG AS I DON’T LOOK AT THE COST OF MY TIME! The whole room came it at under £2k for materials, but then it took me 6 months of weekends and evenings. Time I’ll never get back (plus the aggro of living without a functioning kitchen).

If you’re happy to try, then why not have a go yourself? If it all turns to **** then you have spent little apart from your time, but if it works out there’s a huge amount of STW Smugness satisfaction in having done it yourself.

Not the forum, but Mrs Steve refers to the mag as “your comic”. As in “I see your comic came in the post today”.

Bit harsh, I feel.

I’m at my Dad’s and cooking for the whole family this year. Still trying to persuade my sister to slaughter a pig for us. Cooked on low for 14 hours, so you do all the work on Christmas eve, then just blast at the end to crisp up the crackling.

Plus it’s more special somehow, when you know the name of the animal that’s “made the ultimate sacrifice” for your festive enjoyment!

+3 for moving your parents. I’d aim for Aberdeenshire, but there’s a whole big country up there…

Not (directly) related to your Q, but I’d query buying floodplain land for sheep. At least, if that’s the only land you have for them and can’t move them anywhere when the river comes over.

Is any of the land you’re looking at above the likely max river level, cos otherwise you might be better looking elsewhere. Also, 3 acres? How good is the grazing and how many sheep? The land will need resting so you’ll need something like three times the area that they’ll actually use at any one time.

Apologies if you’ve already thought of this (and sorry I have nothing helpful in answer to your actual question!)….

Interesting alignment on Boris’ front light. Not very forward-looking, and surprisingly skewed to the left of centre.

Who framed Roger Rabbi – An innocent Jew tries to clear his name
Roundhog Day – Babe makes a misguided attempt to get back to competition fitness
2001 A pace odyssey – One man’s struggle to walk 2 km unaided
Rome and Juliet – A capital city struggles with the phonetic alphabet
The Italian Jo – sequel to Rome and Juliet
For weddings and a funeral – The trails and tribulations of a seller of suits
Carry on CEO – An expose of corruption at the top
Noting Hill – An impressionist struggles to perfect his TV comedian

ETA Hat’s new, pussycat? – A feline dabbles with millinery

Don’t fall into the “it’ll only be left XX days out of 7” way of thinking. Dogs don’t share our way of looking at a week. If it’ll be left on its own even 1 day a week, then avoid any breed with known separation anxiety. Or (and this’ll sound harsh but it isn’t meant to), don’t be so selfish.

Wait until you’re in a position where you can guarantee that it’s not going to get left, and in the meantime, look forward to what you can get when your circumstances are right.

Hi Folks,

Thanks for the replies.

In the end I went for a re-hash of Charles Dickens’ “The signal man”, with extra emphasis on the tunnel. Seemed to go down well… but I appreciate the ideas above. Somethings to use next year….!

Ta.