I’m going on a chainsaw training course aswell as a pole pruner course and a stump grinding course. It’s going to be an expensive exercise, I’m aware of that, much more than hiring a team to do it but I’m thinking of carrying out ground-based chainsaw work commercially. Getting the other two certs will enable me to be more autonomous without the necessity of bringing in another set of hands. The tree’s ours, is dead and will make a very good training exercise since it’s not beyond the height of my pole pruner.

I’m not at this stage ruling out electric and I don’t intend to be felling trees on a weekly basis, perhaps no more than three times a year unless I find a team that’ll take me on over the winter and help provide me some experience.

Oh and thanks for the offers to cut it down but I really want to take this opportunity whilst it’s here. It’s not often that trees in the back garden die! Of course I won’t be touching it until I’ve had training.

This works well in vacuum mode

https://www.radmoretucker.co.uk/shop/garden-machinery/leaf-blowers-and-vacuums/petrol-blowers-vacuums/stihl-sh-86-c-e-petrol-blowervac/

Hmm, think I saw some in unusual places too when out riding the other day. Did strike me as a little odd but not enough to warrant a change to my pace. Gonna need to retrace my route and grab some piccies.

Does beg the question though. Why did OP use two accounts in this thread?

Go to your local council website and there might be a section under ‘your council’ and then ‘voting and elections’ or just google your council name and the words ‘local elections’.
You should then find a link to nominees for Parish and District.

See if you can get their email addresses. It might require a bit of googling but you have their name and you have the name of your parish/district and then copy an email to them all with bullet points for them to address. It’s a bit of leg work but well worth it once you receive the responses.

I’ve been emailing the leader of my local residents group who are trying to get more councillors in to direct policy. I’m concerned about local planning issues amongst other things.

I’m sure they’d be keen to correspond with you.

Thoughts go out to the French. Must be very upsetting to see one of their iconic buildings burning like this. Hopefully no one was injured.

I made a full transition to Manjaro from Windows 8.1 over Christmas within a week. I know it sounds long but you know how you customise your OS to how you like it, well after many years of using Windows I was able to customise Manjaro more by using the KDE desktop environment. There’s a range of available environments and KDE is probably the most resource intensive of the lot but it’s highly customisable. Xfce might be the one to go for if you have a older machine. These different desktop environments exist for Debian OSs too like Ubuntu uses Gnome and there’s Xubuntu (Xfce on Ubuntu) for example.

I can still dual boot into Windows but I do it very rarely now. My main issue was syncing up Firefox (web browser) and Thunderbird (email) across Windows and Manjaro. I have two SSDs in my laptop and only use portable apps (located on the second SSD) in Windows. So installing Firefox and Thunderbird in Manjaro I can share the profile of these two apps between the two OSs. This had helped the transition as any changes I make in one OS immediately happened in the other without being logged in.

Manjaro is one of the easier Arch based distros to install and set up. There is a widely used spanish one which I can’t remember the name of off my head. I tried it but had some issues with it so settled on Manjaro.

Ubuntu’s good too with a nice app repository, similar to Google Play but with free apps.

Wine almost seamlessly allows you to use Windows apps in Linux but, and it’s the only reason I log into Windows now, I can’t use Adobe Acrobat. So, there will be the odd application, probably Adobe apps, that you can’t run.

Try a live distro first. Image your drive prior to any install. Try and dual boot if you can.

https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=manjaro

Does anyone here use Gnucash?

I’ve been using Aquamail for a few years now. It’s not free but is very cheap. It’s a clean app so there are no strange IP addresses that it connects to other than those of your email accounts. Manages multiple accounts using POP or IMAP, and has loads of features. You’d need to explore the settings, of which there are many, to get the most out of it.

Ah just noticed it doesn’t display an amount icon in the task bar, but will show multiple icons when more than one account has an email. I usually just drag the task bar down to view that kind of info.

So it’s Windows Error reporting Service which is something that personally I would disable, and the Windows Logon application which you should keep running.

Although this won’t solve the problem this cports app is really handy for seeing all the IP addresses that your machine is connecting to. You don’t need to install. Just extract the folder to your desktop and run from within the extracted folder.

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/cports.html

If your winlogon.exe and wermgr.exe are connecting to nefarious IP addresses the cports app will show this. Google the IP address and it’s likely it’ll be connecting to a Microsoft address. I see no reason why Winlogon.exe should be connecting to any external IP address.

It’s initially alarming as Windows connects to a lot of IP addresses since, by default, there’s a lot of background services running. They’re usually running within the svchost.exe file so cannot be pinpointed so easily.

I disabled most of my services within the Task scheduler so now when looking at cports the only connections I see are from the apps I’d expect to see such as my browser and email clients.

A lot of bearings to replace

Libreoffice portable here

Within Libreoffice you’ll want to use Calc which is the Excel like app

Wow.

A. That puts everything into perspective.

B. what incredible footage

I’m sure those guys asking him to clear their house had set him up.

That GrahamS is like the wise old man (could be in his 20s for all I know) of this thread.

They did mention, whilst on it’s approach that we might be treated to a shot of Mars. Whether they’re going to show that I don’t know.

Silva 4x

https://silva.se/product/headlamps/trail-runner-4x/

This is great on dark wooded trails and is fine on low power. Micro USB chargeable, well sealed and nicely balanced. Above all it’s reliable with only two settings. It’d be a right faff otherwise.

Nas4Free plus a load of disks

I had mine repaired at carphonewarehouse for about 60 quid. They did a brilliant job, although they re-flashed my rom back to factory so I had to get my custom rom back on there again. The screen they use is very high quality so I think it’s genuine Sony. I bought a cheap Z3C imported from Hong Kong as a back up and there is a slight difference in screen quality so I think that one was non genuine.

I quit my job. Not suggesting you do that but it worked for me. The enforced poverty, the change of routine (trigger points), the reduced work stress, the realisation that without an income stream I had to give up all the non-essential things I was spending my money on.  It’s absolutely the best thing you can do with your life. Better than getting a new job, better than further education, better than having kids or a new girlfriend. It’s the best investment in your life that you can make. But there’s no magic potion. YOU have to WANT to give it up. After the first two weeks of being smoke free you’ll find it easier and then eventually you may wonder what all the fuss was about and, it’s a start that you deplore it when you’re ill.

Probably a bit late now but I’d have advised you to use some of this..

https://www.bikester.co.uk/capgo-ol-noise-protection-for-circuit-id-45mm-ad-9mm-2m-grey-652808.html

https://www.bikester.co.uk/capgo-ol-noise-protection-for-brake-id-55mm-ad-11mm-2m-grey-652811.html

prior to installation.

Ooh happy birthday Vazaha. There’s a thread here for you young man… https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/youngest-person-posting-on-here/

Haha love it. Made in Taiwan. Sprayed in Cwmbran. Nice touch! Looks great too.

And I’ve always thought every helmet should have a fly net covering every vent. Seems a no brainer. My old Rudy Project helmet had one.

Guess it’s easy enough just to line the helmet yourself.

Anyway heal up. It’ll itch a lot soon so don’t scratch at it.

Last month Halfords were doing a 30% sale on all cycle clothing and accessories. I’d been eyeing up some MXZ303s for a while now. So, using that discount plus BC10% plus Quidco that’s less than £125 which seems fair as they are really good quality. Maybe wait to see if there’s another sale on, perhaps even at CycleRepublic?

My only concern is that they are heavy (relative to my Lake MX237s) and you know what they say about rotational weight. However, for bimbling rides in the woods when it’s really cold, wet and miserable or when there’s snow on the ground these look like they’re perfect for that. If this winter is like last winter then they’ll be seeing a lot of use. I’ll be waxing them first before I take them out. Amazing looking boots but expensive.

Toro zero turn 137cm Timecutter. Go big.

Someone’s already mentioned Chalkpit Lane, well adjacent to that to the East and off road, there’s a bloody steep path up the escarpment. Perfect for a bit of hike ‘n bike training. Someone’s even created a Strava segment specifically for that purpose. Don’t ride down it though as it’s SSSI, instead return to the bottom via the road.

I think it’s great for selling. Probably the largest used market in the country so great exposure for my old tat. Equally when they have what can be up to 20% off everything (very rare) then the prices can be unbeatable.

It has it’s place but so does Gumtree. In fact I sold a car on eBay for less than a guy had offered when he came round to look at it after seeing it on Gumtree. Unfortunately a bid had only just been placed on eBay by that point. I apologised but told him he could still place a bid on eBay if he wanted to. I have quite strict bidder rules to avoid having to deal with tw*ts. He didn’t win the bid so maybe he had poor feedback or had a few non payments.

I was still happy the old banger had sold, to somebody that drove 300 miles to collect it!

I would suggest installing Ubuntu (for example, there’s many others) over Windows. That’s what I did with an old Asus laptop before flogging it on eBay. Ubuntu’s a free operating system that works with loads of well known programs, just like Windows, and is easy to use too.

The new owner won’t have to worry about MS licensing issues or updates as it will no longer be installed. Also it’s a pretty good way (although not 100% proof) of ensuring that old data is less accessible.

I could provide instructions here for a technophobe if you want to explore that avenue. I think it’s fairly easy.

I’ve just ordered a sheet of stainless steel. They do look simple to make don’t they, and at £3 for a small sheet that should be enough for a couple of pairs of shoes, maybe more.

True, with free p&p.

It would have no effect on your neighbours council tax. If you challenge then the council may find a reason to actually change your council tax band for the worse, as in you have to pay more, so double check you have good reason to challenge.

I went to uni 22 years ago to do an HND in software engineering. I just didn’t apply myself, had huge amounts of fun but fell into crap jobs after dropping out. I completely lost all my self discipline. I don’t think the gap year working in a fast food chain helped. I’ve regretted not having the confidence to go back and finish my studies.

Anyhow my personal opinion is that degrees help massively and in fact are essential within certain fields. To achieve a certain level within some engineering companies you need to be a chartered engineer. You cannot be a chartered engineer without a degree.

So despite the costs I’m now studying a technology type degree with the OU. I’m trying to future proof myself. At the same time I’m starting up my own garden maintenance business. I’ve just completed a pesticide course and shall be doing an RHS Horticultural course too. Whilst continuing the OU degree. It’s costing me a lot but I’m loving the freedom of working and learning when I want without rushing to go to the office and do work in a role I wasn’t passionate about. If my business succeeds I’ll still continue my degree. It may not be applicable to running a garden business but if my dream goes tits up then I have a back up.

Degrees do help to check that box when applying for jobs. Nearly all the civil service jobs I’d been looking at required a degree. Some jobs don’t need degrees, i.e. Air Traffic Controller, Train Driver, bus driver and many others but, with a degree you’ll be able to apply for those jobs and many, many others. Whether you’ll get them or not is another matter but you’ll be in the running more than those without. So long as it’s STEM oriented.

Used to have a Hilleberg Nallo GT 2 which cost £440 new about six years ago. Used it for one LEJOG and a tour around North Europe then figured it was way too big for one person, even though I could stash my bike in the vestibule. I sold that last year for £420! Amazing that a tent could fall in value by so little. Hilleberg are well made with a great reputation.

Before I sold the Hilleberg I bought a £180 Lunar Solo LE tarptent which weighs about 500 grams with carbon poles. That’s perfect for me. I also got two bivvi bags. One Rab Sierra Event waterproof one for £160 and one ridiculously lightweight bivvi which just protects the sleeping bag from dirt. That was some US brand that I can’t remember. Quite pricey for what it is.

Holy sh!t!!!

And this is why annual driving competency tests must be introduced.

You’re right but this church is slow to adopt sensible ideas and reluctant to spend what little money it has.

drop me off at Tapotupotu Bay

That’s where I slept the night before the event. The ride to Cape Reinga’s fine. Don’t worry about the hill. It’s no worse than a headwind all the way down the beach!

If you do decide to sleep on the beach you might get bitten by those pesky sand flies. I was still a bit jet lagged and slept in a very lightweight bivvi bag. My back was covered in bites when I woke up.

If you’re short on time you can fly between Auckland and Kaitaia and then cycle or hitch a lift the rest of the way. It’s what I did as I had to be at the start of the Tour Aotearoa the day after landing in NZ. Barrier Air provides the service. There were only two other passengers in the plane so enough room for my bike.

There is a bus service but the times wouldn’t work out for me but that’s another option of course. Think that may have gone a little further than Kaitaia perhaps.

So this will fit my 2007 9 speed Hope Pro 2 hub presumably. It’s a 26 incher but other than the geometry being dated this would make a great upgrade. That’s if it will fit?

Awesome! Great to hear about other people reporting flytipping. I’m reporting incidents all the time but never catch the urchins doing it though.

I agree with the horses issue, but I have tried having a conversation with my wife and daughter (both ride) and there argument is “which came first, the horse of the bike”. Councils should be able to close bridleways to horse riders if they are becoming too trashed. A bit like they do with Byways

Even as a cyclist living in an area where the bridleways have been churned up to the point of having to walk instead of cycle I wouldn’t want horses to be banned from bridleways for any period. Horse riders and cyclists need to collaborate in order to gain access to more footpaths so that there is better continuity in the bridleway network. Here in the South East where there is a higher population density we have more cars. It’s dangerous to expect horse riders to go on the roads at any time of the year. It’s not like horses can wait out the poor weather like humans can. They need the exercise so must be taken out. The ground being churned up is just an inevitability of the type of weather we have in this country and not something we can control so I persuade myself to accept it. Horses have just as hard a time on the bridleways that they churned up as cyclists do.

I do agree that responsible landowners must ensure access to bridleways is maintained and passable. So, clearing undergrowth, blocking access to motor vehicles whilst still allowing horses and bicycles through. Many landowners are capable of doing this so I think all of them should. You can see how many landowners would be reluctant to upgrade paths to bridleways given the choice. They do cost more to maintain and they are more vulnerable to motor vehicles gaining access.

The pressure to upgrade footpaths to bridleways needs informed, passionate people who are able to research historical records and retrieve as much historical evidence as to RoWs’ previous use. It’s not easy, so pressurising horse riders is certainly not the way to go. Around here there’s a lot of pressure from one horse riding group to upgrade a particular footpath which would have benefited cyclists. Unfortunately they lost the case as they couldn’t persuade the council that historically the footpath had previously been public bridleway.

So, I personally would be willing to strim along my frequently used overgrown bridleways but as to the legalities of this I don’t know. You’d need permission from the landowner I’d expect, whether that’s a private individual, local council or a Trust. You’d need to know who the landowner is and ask them if you can clear the RoW. Probably best get their response in writing too. This could also raise the awareness that their RoW actually need tending too, in which case they might do it them selves. I can’t see how you could earn money for it though. The council employs contractors, Trusts employ volunteers and not all private individuals will be willing to pay.