Developed shin splints so had to stop road & fell running, doc said cycling was ok. Bought an MTB in 89 and been riding them ever since.

It does just what it’s supposed to do, show the artwork.
Just been through the site end to end on an Android tablet and it worked perfectly.
Was so taken with the paintings I really didn’t see any obvious flaws other than you are a talented bloke and I hate you with every fibre of my being. Hope you sell loads. 😀

A Penguin worshipper paying tribute.

Heretic!!!

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven penguin, or any likeness of any penguin that is on the moon above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth (possible fracking thread crossover!). Thou shalt not bow down thyself to other flightless birds, nor serve them: for I the Penguin thy God am a jealous Penguin, visiting chocolate biscuits of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

— Penguidus 20:4-6 (KJV)

Just from a geological perspective if the fracking is designed to create fissures that will allow the injected liquids to force the gas to the surface, doesn’t it have an effect on the water table, porosity of the ground at the level the fracking is taking place, and the possibility it may lower the water table beyond current extraction?

Done, good luck Lizzie – very worthwhile cause.

I will be starting this in support of MrsCat who has been ordered to lose 4st and get fit or cark it (I believe that’s the correct term) her BP has been recorded a number of times at around 140/120 which scared the poop out of me, and in small way, her too!

There does seem a lot more logic and success with this method than many of the others so I will report back on how it effects me once we start on Sept 01 2013.

One good thing is that the days of fasting can be flexible which means I can eat to suit work/sport and still wobble less at the beach – Hzah! 😀

East coast (Lincs) seemed very warm 2 weeks go, lots of sun, shallow sea over a lot of sand – lush, even if a bit brown!

zippykona – Member

All we ever get is “sign here” then a box thrown on the floor.

Have you never tried: “Thank you, and what is your system of faith based upon, please stay whilst I ridicule it, and you. It will change your life.”

Here’s my tuppence worth after starting a few:
1. Get a good accountant from the outset, speak to lots and go with someone who you get on with and has an account base of businesses of a similar size to you. They can save you time and money.
2. Speak to as many different people as you can – there are government business advisers, bank business advisors, the Federation of Small Businesses has info and the internet is packed with advice.
3. Make sure you have all of the requisite insurances and that includes 3rd party liability, vehicle insured for business use, if you are subbing you may need additional insurance, if you are working on private property you may need some form of indemnity – we are becoming increasingly litigious.
4. Separate bank accounts from the outset, it prevents things getting tangled up.
5. Make sure you know the implications of passing work to your son, there are regs in place re how much he can do for you before he is treated as an employee and that bring a whole raft of other things to think about but your accountant should be able to advise you on that.
6. get it all in place before you start and it will be easier in the long run.

It may look and sound daunting but its brilliant fun, the best decision I ever made was to leave corporate life and go alone – now have 3 businesses bubbling along nicely. There’s ups and downs but they are my ups and downs, not caused by some numpty in HO with no idea. Whatever you choose to do, good luck.

@Jonah Tonto – cracking point.
Agree with Ernie’s point too (interesting link). If you retrace the development of nuclear it was not without its problems in the early days (and Japan is having some problems currently).

The most disturbing part of Ernie’s link:

A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, making a direct link between death and illness is not possible due to incomplete testing, proprietary secrecy from gas drilling companies regarding the chemicals used in hydrofracking, and non-disclosure agreements that seal testimony and evidence when lawsuits are settled.

“We have a number of case studies — they don’t tell us about the prevalence of problems associated with hydraulic fracturing, but they do tell us how things can happen,” said Oswald.

There will be an optimum percentage of gas we can recover, as there is with oil. Perhaps that would be the better target to aim for rather than scrambling for 10%.

@Jonah Tonto – got any links to more info on that?

Playpen, 5 x 3 min rounds, no biting or eye poking, 3 falls, a knockout or a submission wins. Ice cream for the winner, 50press ups for the loser. Tough love.

It’s difficult because the instinctive reaction is to come down on the eldest because ‘they should know better’. But the youngest knew the buttons to push to wind him up so they got collective punishment.

Seems to have worked, now teenagers and still get on ok.

Yet we take pride in an armaments industry in the UK that willingly sells proper munitions to iffy regimes the world over.

Which is why we need proper kit to remove them once they have finished playing with them.

Drugs! I had enough difficulty hanging onto reality at 17 with just beer.
But Animal House after quite a few pints was definitely the funniest thing I’d seen.

Should have made him use his detectors to help HALO detect abandoned mines.

@TooTall – ok get the issues re location etc, but would it be at all viable for those buildings/homes suitable for wind/solar/ground energy to be hooked into it, as part of an overall reduction plan?

Often wondered who determines the number and brightness of the street lighting we have, travelling home yesterday and some towns have almost daylight lighting levels on empty streets.

I understand that we will still need some form of large scale energy production if we are to continue to retain some semblance of today’s lifestyle.

Interesting school reunion 2 years ago, first time most of us had met/seen each other in over 30 years.

The nice folks (and recipients of numerous bullies attention) seemed to be still nice folks and the bullies (a few turned up) still seemed to be complete arses.

It was surprising how one or two of the nastier individuals wanted to be very friendly with some of their most frequent victims, you could see some people visibly flinch when they went up speak to them.

As we chatted about the events at school it became apparent that quite a few people carried scars and it wasn’t the bullies.

aracer – Member

I agree that “more coal please” is a better solution than the Severn Barrage – thanks for that. The Severn Barrage is FAR from worthy on a national scale, or indeed a global scale.

As you were so keen to dismiss my thoughts as being from a “very trivial perspective”, let’s hear your great solution Mr Environmental Saviour, and let’s not have any trivial nonsense, back it up with some hard thinking (showing your working our will earn extra marks :wink:)

We may be moving towards a more Scandinavian model of monarchy.

@Molgrips – I was thinking of this as a stopgap rather than an answer.

Whatever the answer/s I suspect we will be one of the last generations to enjoy cheap air travel and energy on demand. Which may not be a bad thing.

Does the need for better distribution present opportunities for new developments in technology and infrastructure that have a more demonstrable need that HS2?

Would a stop gap solution for hydrogen be the large gas cylinders used on many remote farms?

@IGM – thanks for the answer, seems logical.

What about looking at houses deriving as much energy in situ – VAWT on chimneys, ground heat pumps, solar panels and then energy saving/reduction – obviously there is a cost but can that be balanced off against the £xBn required for a new Nuclear Powerstation?

And, I do appreciate that there is an embedded energy cost in the kit, with all the reprocessing costs/energy but that may be easier to deal with than several tonnes of radioactive waste every year?

Here’s another trivial thought!

It’s not going to be a silver bullet, it may have to be lots of localised solutions, if transport and storage are such big issues.

If you look at it from a very trivial perspective rather than performing a proper analysis of the scales and costs involved maybe it does.

Well that will teach me to keep my trivial thoughts to myself!!! 😯

The landscape is covered with pilons, they already have to be accessed and maintained and they already have cable routing options to and from power sources/switching stations. So why not add an array of VAWT turbines on each one. That would seem logical.

Add to that, a small HAWT turbine on each streetlight, it could even generate and use its own power if converted to LED, if they can do it for ‘slow down’ smiley signs it must be doable for streetlights.

MrsCat has a Panda, never missed a beat in the snow in the Peaks. Only drawback is seating options and small boot. Otherwise a great little car.

@Stumpy01- I have a nice yellow one on my bike. Works a treat, still makes them jump though but they do have a laugh about it more than they did with the bell. You just have to judge the distance correctly as to when to honk, I find if I can get within 5′ and honk, walkers will easily clear a boundary wall. 😆

Also catering for posh parties too:

Yes, I am bored and stuck on a train.

Is it a local B and B for local people?

Seems they own one but some cyclists keep nicking casserole lids and gravy boats.

They just replied to he waiters enquiry with “The meal was lovelly thanks”. Bloody cowards.

The penne went back because it wasn’t linguini now it’s the wrong kind of linguini FFS! Awesome entertainment.

Sitting at the Gourmet Pizza Co on the South Bank, just along from the national in fab sunshine eating nice food with a view to die for and the two old bats next to me have moaned about everything!

I could ask them if they have stayed in a sub standard holiday cottage recently?

“Real Gone Kid” – soundtrack to first few dates with MrsCat – now I feel really old.

(cue Dambusters theme)

The Corratec Team Bow (made in Germany and itself involved in a daring moonlit raid) about to descend to the Derwent Reservoirs where The Dambusters practised for a raid that would ensure we would not all be forced to ride Corratecs, but could still ride our Raleighs.

Not an expert by any means, but had similar symptoms to you, only the lump popped out when I coughed which was how the Doc diagnosed a hernia.

That was in the Sept, operation in Nov, back riding and playing hockey in mid-Jan, all NHS.

They used a mesh which seems to have lasted about 3 years, but now getting symptoms back so off for a check up.

Blimey!

Has the woman never heard of benzodiazpam, some peopple have no consideration for their neighbours.

Always good to lock kids in their room, just in case there’s a fire, think of the holiday you could have on the insurance.

Enjoy being able to do fun things with them in the mornings.

Neither of mine (14 & 16) rise before midday if they can get away with it; family stuff at the weekends happens between 12.30pm and 10pm.

Unfortunately, my body clock was well and truly set by them at the age yours are now, so I do have long peaceful mornings alone.

Been up since 6am, the house is tidy and all the washing is done!!

Going to wash the bike now.

binners – Member
In all honestly I’ve lost count, but I think there are about 23 of them buried in the back garden.

Hope you planted them well apart or they’ll never germinate, otherwise you should get a decent congregation in Spring.

Have had a few goes as a beginner, heed the words of wisdom above.

You’ll easily be able to spot Kiterists, they have no ears!! 😀

Had the oldest for nearly 3 years now and it’s been flawless. Added 3 more to get extra power packs and my lads have one each. They are great for the money. If they last 2 years for £30 that’s 10 years before you get into mag prices and if you have a bad off they can all break. Did The Beast at dusk with one light yesterday and it was plenty bright enough. They are amazing value.