Fear of the “unknown” and someone to blame for aspects of their life that haven’t gone how they planned.

Often stoked up for political reasons by unscrupulous politicians. Now seems a common part of the would be autocrats playbook.

Always slightly freaked me out when I meet people who are thoroughly supportive of the lovely people born elsewhere in the world that look after their relatives, serve them in restaurants, build their houses, run the companies they work for or operate on their gall bladders whilst still clinging on to the idea that the world would be a better place if immigrants in general were prevented from entering the UK.

Which begs the question, if the anti immigration parties were successful in preventing immigration, leaving aside the imminent collapse of higher education, the health service, food production, tourism etc. etc., who would they then seek to blame? Early evidence seems to suggest young people.

loads of people have called for the TT to be banned. However they have done all they can realistically do with safety

All of this may be true but people still die every year, everyone taking part knows the risks involved and are prepared to take those risks,

Not just the riders at the TT making these decisions. I have spent a lot of time pulling people out of badly parked rally cars over the last forty years and went as part of the safety cover for the Manx Rally on several occasions. Regularly got invited to come back for the TT and said no thanks. Fatalities on rallies do happen of course but they are few and far between. It tends to be metal that hits the scenery first rather than flesh and bone. Although I have had to deal with some bad accidents I have been lucky not to have attended any life changing injuries or worse.

Going on a “holiday” where I could expect several of the medical crew to deal with a fatality really does not appeal. I was aware that some of the medics based on the island were somewhat torn as they didn’t want to have to deal with a serious injury or fatality either but found it difficult to opt out of what was happening on their doorstep. One, no longer with us, told me he dreaded it, but felt morally obliged to try and make sure the safety cover was as good as possible.

I don’t know whether they had any form of first aid/medical cover for that Hardline practice session or for the event itself but if I had turned up to find that jump I would have said thanks but no thanks and walked away, but then I am old and grumpy.

And for kids of all ages, Flamingoland Zoo and theme park and Eden Camp WW2 museum both between Pickering and Malton. Malton has some interesting cafe’s and an excellent small cinema – if wet. There is also North Yorkshire Water Park at Wykeham just outside Scarborough.

Agree Whitby is well worth a look. Interesting harbour, Captain Cook, excellent fish and chips, Bram Stoker links and Whitby Jet.

SQLab 30X comes in 12 and 16 degree back sweep and 3 heights.

Never seen the aurora until last night. Looked on lots of occasions over the last few years but previously when there were alerts and even photos and local sightings reported in North Yorkshire, I was firmly under cloud. Frankly I thought it was evens that I would never see it. Last night I could see feint colours and shapes with the naked eye and photos revealed vivid colours all around me. Spectacular, although the spaniel was struggling with why I was in the garden with a camera on a tripod at 1 o’clock in the morning.

Another vote for POC Air. I found they came fairly true to size, stay in place and I can forget about them when wearing them. Also used G-form in their early days, still have them and they are comfy enough but I find the length of them slightly irritating. Before the POCs I went through quite a selection of which the RaceFace Digs lasted longest but they were a lot more bulky than the POCs and somewhat overkill for what I was doing. Like others say, there will be an element of trial and error.

First swifts of the year arrived overhead at about 8pm this evening  about 10 miles inland from Scarborough in North Yorkshire. Saw the first swallow about a week ago but no regulars since. The swifts nest locally, some in our roof, so normally once they arrive they are a constant presence until the autumn.

Nice to know I am not the only one. Just repurposed my ?14 year old Scandal, it is one of the original version one 29er frames, by refitting a surly rigid fork and some fairly narrow, by todays standards, mavic wheels with 2 inch tyres after the suspension fork finally gave out and I treated myself to a new cotic for hardtail/MTBO duties. Scandal is fairly lightweight, somewhere around 11-12 kg. Got a Surly corner bar to try out for the full faux gravel experience but not fitted yet.

Sometimes think there are no new ideas, just new ways of repackaging old ones.

Anyone got one? Care to share your experience so far?

I went for the green and so far the consensus of family, friends and passing dog walkers is that it looks good. As it is my first bike since everything went boost/axles/tapered I went with the rolling chassis and opted for Hunt wheels and the Revelation fork with damper upgrade to which I added SLX drivetrain and finishing kit plucked from what I had. It hasn’t been any drier round here than it has in the rest of the UK so so far been doing some short rides, mainly gravel, while still in faff mode. Running a suspension seatpost rather than a dropper and still sorting out a handlebar I feel comfortable with. I tend to run backswept handlebars for comfort and with the short stem I think I can do with something a bit wider than I currently have.

Build was relatively straight forward. Some of the multiple bolt holes on the down tube had overpaint in the first couple of turns and needed clearing with a tap but other than that no issues.

Can’t compare with the Soul as this is my first Cotic but initial thoughts are that it is comfortable, climbs really well, feels manouevrable although the long frame/short stem and relaxed head angle make for a long wheelbase compared to other 29ers I have had and ridden. I have bought it to use as my MTBO bike and I think it will be good for the role but first impressions are that it is an all rounder which will be equally happy doing long days out as doing short blasts on something a bit steeper.  No regrets about the purchase.

Also in North Yorkshire, other side of the moors from Guisborough, and there is riding out the door all the way from Thirsk to Scarbados. Trail centre in Dalby if that floats your boat, plenty of bridleways across the moors, everything from forest roads right the way up to technical stuff far beyond my ability, and from local blasts to big days out.

Issue is what will you do to pay the rent/mortgage? Plenty of opportunity if you work for the NHS or in tourism, small amount of high tech engineering, although farming is a bit of a struggle at the moment. In fairness, we did see a certain amount of movement in when working remotely came into fashion as you could sell your flat in London and buy a pretty nice house round here and still hop a train in York and be in London in a couple of hours if you really couldn’t resist the urge.

Must sting a bit to see that kind of price rise on a pre-order, though.

In fairness, although the price has gone up for existing pre-orders, the rise is less than the quoted price for new orders. Over the lifetime of the frame it isn’t a huge amount and if I am going to be a customer then I have a vested interest in seeing Cotic survive and prosper.

Sadly, what happens if a company’s cash flow or balance sheet  goes haywire is currently being demonstrated by CRC/Wiggle and Cy has very clearly described the stress that that risk brings. I don’t have an issue with the price rise if that is what is needed to keep them in business and feel desperately sorry for all those whose livelihoods are threatened by CRC/Wiggle going into administration. Whether my new bike costs me a bit extra is a whole load less important than people being able to pay their mortgage, food and heating bills.

Interesting thread. To get back to the nub of the matter, I have a pre-order for a new Solaris and have no intention of dropping out. My pre-existing bikes are now all retro, I last bought one in 2016, none of them are compatible with boost, tapered head tubes etc. and I am starting to have a few potential issues with compatible parts ( not helped by the fact that new straight steerer 26inch forks still seem to be sold in the EU but not this side of the channel).

I did look around at various options but I have never had a Cotic and always admired the company and the bikes. I am local to Pace and they are good people as well but the 529 has a good bit more travel than I need for what I do and the cost of a rolling chassis is very similar to the Solaris, post price rise.

I did read with interest the comments earlier in the thread about the Holt, but as far as I could establish that is built by the same, well established, factory that Cotic are using in Czechia.

Currently got an Atera but it does date from some time ago. It is fairly light and has worked on long journeys and short.

Although I am sure that other vendors are available, the roof box company at https://www.roofbox.co.uk/bike-carriers/ has numerous options and good advice. Last two times I bought bike racks I agonised over the options and prices and then went with their recommended option at a price I was prepared to pay and I haven’t been disappointed.

Cue lots of people who haven’t had the same experience.

I might trade out a front mech for a fork, but good idea 😉

I have a spare fork, but accept that it may be essential for those building from scratch or seeking to market this new niche product.

One thing to be wary of, is she on a permanent contract or contracted on a yearly basis? I did a period as a school governor and one of the things that wound me up was that the other governors all thought that employing the TAs on 10 month contracts that finished at the end of the school year and restarted in September was a brilliant wheeze and allowed much needed flexibility, while I thought it was a diabolical way to treat excellent staff who were made to feel perpetually under threat. If she is on a permanent contract and has been so for many years then don’t sign anything and get union/legal advice. Also need to check if this reduction in salary will affect any pension arrangements particularly if in some form of public service final salary scheme.

For many years the definitive single volume history of WW1 was widely regarded to be that written by  Basil Liddell Hart and called not unsurprisingly “History of the First World War”. I haven’t read it for some years but it is the sort of single volume, overall history you describe written in the decade or so after the war. It’s still in print, which says a lot, and second hand copies can be picked up for pence.

Liddell Hart was a soldier, historian and journalist who was widely regarded as one of the pre-eminent military thinkers of his day. He was invalided out of the army after the Somme and his experiences in WW1 helped form his views on the benefits of air power and armoured forces and the need to base strategy and tactics on finding the enemies weakest point.

In recent years there has been some questioning of whether his post WW2 writings were biased by his belief that the german army’s armoured warfare tactics had been heavily influenced by his own writings and that of other British military thinkers in the 30s such as Fuller. There is an alternate theory that the german’s developed their tactics on the fly and then kept doing what worked and that it was only after the war when Liddell Hart interviewed them that they realised how much they owed to him. His Wikipedia page gives more details.

None of this has any bearing on the excellence of his WW1 history.

Thanks for posting. Spent a lot of time in the Lakes as a teenager and as a student gleefully took my first car,  a 2CV6, over Kirkstone, The Struggle and the Hardknott. fascinating to see what they were like only thirty years before I first saw them.

The driver was obviously carefully chosen and if I have him right was a well known racing and rally driver with class wins in the 1950s at Le Mans and the Mille Miglia.

See Wikipedia.

Without consent, definitely No.
With consent, only those people that need to know.

Thoroughly agree. In my workplace it would be a complete no and a major disciplinary offence, but that’s because a chunk of the workforce would probably be involved in the patient’s care.

In a none healthcare workplace, whether the information was circulated on a work email system or a work based social media group, to my mind it is still a concern. If it was being circulated on the patient’s behalf then that should have been made clear and if the detail involved was in any way excessive the person passing the information around could/should have been querying the level of detail even if that was what the patient had asked then to circulate.

I suspect if it has circulated to as many people as you suggest then you won’t be the only person expressing concerns and somebody needs to establish whether this was with consent, well meaning but by the sound of it inappropriately detailed or rather more serious than that. Either way, there needs to be clarity in the future as to what is acceptable and also appropriate support for the person whose information was circulated.

Another vote for Zen.

Very very reliable with excellent UK based support and FritzBox router as standard.

She is going to contact one of the other office staff in the morning to see if she can shed any light.

From my perspective,  very crappy employer. They do weddings, events etc. but also provide accommodation for other businesses so have a front office/reception that needs manning. The business broadly works in her area of study so looks good on CV and involves a lot less travel than the gig she turned down (and now bitterly regrets having done so).

I am wondering whether they are treating her as if she was on some form of zero hours contract and think that they can therefore offer and withdraw at will but not sure if that gives them any more right to offer hours and then turn her away when she arrives to do them. Looks like the bank of mum and dad is going to fund her a laptop to do her graphic design.

Thanks, kind of guessed that was the answer. Suspect that she won’t be available next time they need her.

No written contract. An email stating Monday and Friday, 10 till 4. She has never had a written contact. They have simply contacted her and asked if she is available to cover events or days. This was the first offer of regular hours.

There’s loads of crap comes out of our chickens – that’s why they are in their own run, not crapping all over the garden.

*reads thread properly*

I’m with you. We have just restocked the hen house after a fallow period lasting a couple of years and the level of crap seems mighty similar to what I remember from a few years back.

Haven’t done mail order from Vertigrow but they hold good stock. RV Rogers in Pickering North Yorkshire http://www.rvroger.co.uk/index.php are a specialist nursery with a huge variety of fruit and ornamental trees who will supply mail order, although unless you can visit they are supplying bare root stock so you will have to get what you want sorted and delivered in the next month to six weeks and get it in the ground ASAP when it arrives.

Was a long term Demon user until they were bought out by Vodaphone and made it clear they were not interested in the likes of me. After some research switched to Zen initially on ADSL but now on fibre to cabinet. Not the cheapest but the support/customer service is excellent and we have had very little in the way of issues. They regularly top customer satisfaction surveys.

As above, pipe offcut around a foot long with two cuts at 90 degrees extending about 2 inches up pipe and then segments flared. 22mm copper pipe tended to deform a bit but worked. Old seatpost with head removed will I am sure work and I have one in scrap box waiting its turn but I currently use a piece of old curtain rail which works fine.

When I first had need of one I tried to buy a purpose built one and the store owner emailed me back and said he could order one in for me but they were very expensive and I would be far better off making my own. I took his advice and he canceled the order.

Rata the labrador, still manages most of my social media presence from beyond the grave bless her.

Been running in stealth mode before remembering that there might be an STW league. Now joined and ready for a slow slide down the table.

Just gone through this for my daughter. Marmalade and other similar policies seem best bet if available. Neither of our cars were insurable for a learner for any reasonable price.

Daughter had car fund saved over years from various sources so bought her own small engined, low powered Fabia. Insurance on that vehicle for her was better with us as additional drivers even though she was the main driver, In your case it sounds like your learner is definitely an additional driver but lots of my daughter’s friends have had their parents buy old cars for them but insure them under the parents names and list the learner/recently qualified driver as an occasional driver even though the cars are in the college car park every day. This used to be heavily frowned upon but is now simply viewed as fraud and a couple of them have had accidents and come unstuck.

There are some really attractive policies for learner drivers in their own cars but check what happens when they pass their test, We got several quotes around 300-400ukp per year but many of them went up to thousands after the learner passed. Admiral were around 700ukp for the year but only an extra 80ukp when she qualified so we went with them.

Just to throw another name in the mix, I hunted around a couple of years ago for someone to host family email etc after changing ISPs and going through the hassle of changing email addresses. Went with Vidahost and they seem sensible, helpful and fine for what I need which seems pretty similar to what you want.

I am sorry that you find your self in this position and sorry for your loss.

I am neither a police officer nor a coroner but I do have regular dealings with the coroner’s officers locally. The coroner is required to look into any deaths which are violent or unnatural, or where the cause of death is unknown or that occur in prison etc. and essentially have to establish who died, where and when they died and what the cause of death was.

It is the coroner and his staff that request a post mortem, organise an inquest if needed and deal with relatives and witnesses. The police won’t be able to tell you much without the coroner’s permission. The inquest process is a lot quicker than it used to be but can still take several months and so in order to allow burial the coroner often issues a preliminary certificate which is what seems to have happened in this case.

I would suggest that you contact the coroner’s office, ask to speak to one of the coroner’s officers and politely explain your concerns about the lack of information. In my experience, although they are incredibly busy, coroners and their staff are very sympathetic to the bereaved relatives and go out of their way to make sure that you get the information you need and are supported at any inquest although to avoid confusion they may prefer to update the next of kin or a small number of close relatives rather than the whole of an extended family.

There is a FAQ from the coroners court support service here. .

Currently driving a 2015 diesel Scout and find it an excellent car for my needs. Roomy inside, well equipped, decent sized boot even before you put the seats down. Deals with mud and snow in North Yorkshire with minimal hassle. Happy to recommend it.

It replaced a 2009 Octavia 4×4 estate 1.8tsi which also had much to recommend it but I had one of the duff engines which Audi were producing at the time. Not sure about it having duff pistons, that wasn’t a story I heard at the time, but it steadily drank oil from 6 months onwards, probably half a litre a month. It also left me stationary at the side of the road when the fuel injectors went at 2 years and were replaced under warranty.

At just over 5 years and 50k the timing chain, which wasn’t supposed to ever need replacing, jumped a sprocket. It allegedly had a tensioning system in which a cog was somehow kept tensioned by the oil pressure and possibly the regular loss of oil had allowed it some free play and thus unanticipated wear. Skoda did meet some of the cost of the repair but it was still a 4 figure bill. After that its oil consumption increased dramatically, 3 litres in a good month, although it still passed its emissions check to both my and the main agent’s surprise. At their suggestion I traded it in as the next repair would have been an even more major engine rebuild.

I understand Audi did make some changes to the engine design and service schedule and a bit of research on Briskoda or elsewhere may tell you if your 2011 model is likely to be affected but if it drinks oil and hasn’t had it’s timing chain seen to I would be slightly wary.

The 2015 Scout only came as a diesel so I had no hesitation in buying one. Irrationally I would be very wary about buying an Audi although I did take a little heart from knowing that a colleague who had similar engine problems with his Audi had paid three times as much for the privilege.

Today’s choice would be

Greig’s piano concerto – Andsnes/Berlin Philharmonic
Thomas Waller – Memorial
The Beatles – 1
Bob Marley – Legend
Pulp – Hits

Happy to follow the precedent set and use compilations although in Waller’s case he predated the rise of the Album so most original recordings would have been 2 tracks at best.

Morgan Computers – had a couple of cracking deals on nearly new refurbished laptops from them.

My similar Win 10 fault was solved by switching fast boot of and then putting it back on again. Similar symptoms to yours initially but if left for 30 minutes everything did eventually light up. It was a glacial boot problem.

Competitive instinct and lack of research. It is heady cocktail.

Tricky, as I remember several and they all blur together a bit. My dad was a GP and tended to change cars quite frequently in the early days so :-

Probably a pale ?green Ford Anglia – got a vague memory of peering out the bedroom window and seeing it in the drive.

But about that time a ?Grey Singer Gazelle came and stayed for a very short period. It apparently understeered so badly that every time my Dad turned the wheel he had enough time to wonder if the steering had in fact broken before it changed direction. I think it was with us for less than 3 months.

There was also a series of Ford Cortinas. Possibly a Mark1 before the Singer and a Mark2 after but the one I can picture on the drive was a light metallic green Mk3 Estate.

The first family car I can remember riding in was a bright Yellow Mk1 Ford Escort Mexico.

After that my dad went through a Renault phase, a Saab phase and then a Citroen phase which coincided with the start of my own car ownership which began with a 2CV6, NTB906W.

As above, coal burns slower so only use it if we are going to be out for awhile and want the room heated by the burner to still be warm when we get back. Otherwise burn wood, A couple of bags of coal have therefore lasted us most of last winter and all of this so far.

Yes, I agree, the only tools I bought were the dishing tool from Park and a spoke key. Musson does give a plan for a dishing tool but after a brief attempt to make one I decided I was happier with something with a bit more precision. You definitely do need one.

Otherwise I bought Musson’s book and made the jig from 18mm mdf, the jaws from steel plate and the spoke driver from an old screwdriver. I did have the advantage of a shed with a band saw for the mdf and a friendly neighbour who worked for an engineering firm and saved me the hassle of cutting/drilling the slots in the plate dropouts but at the time a commercial jig was several hundred pounds. Musson jig has been fine for 20 plus wheel builds and can be flat packed for storage.

Agree with everything above. Cancer research UK blog linked to by DRAC is particularly clear. Alkaline diet, leaving aside the difficulty of establishing what that should consist of, is clearly worthless as anything taken by mouth is rendered immediately acidic by the acid in the stomach.

That leaves infusions of alkaline, usually sodium bicarbonate. This doesn’t work as the body has an internal environment and goes to great lengths to maintain/restore its normal pH as illustrated in the diagram above. Even in Diabetic Keto Acidosis, where the pH can drop to less than 7, that is fairly acidic, we have given up giving large amounts of sodium bicarbonate to “correct” this after it became clear that this was counterproductive with the body struggling to clear the bicarbonate, that from its point of view has appeared from nowhere, while already struggling to clear the ketones causing the acidosis.