Blackburn Mars 3.0/4.0 are good and excellent aftersales service IME (if you need it, which I did twice which might then actually put you off) v.bright LED's and look good.

Congrats on the B.day. Pressies/Cards from your kids are always great in my opinion.
I have Blackburn's X6 lights, purchased as a cheapish intro to nightriding 4 years ago they've been fine although the battery life isn't what it used to be. The connections inside the lamp units and the cable gave up the ghost last year but Blackburn fixed it on their lifetime warranty. I also have a Mars 4 and the rubber switch fell out after a about a 18mnths commuting everyday again the Lifetime warranty got me a replacement this time (so hang on to the receipts). Anyway I've no complaints and I do like the look of the flea and its eqivalent rear light.

'porterclough' I think your suggested solution as the standard would be excellent. Although there are legal technicalities surrounding the increasing number babies born outside of wedlock and the nature of the parents relationship prior to the birth that complicate that scenario.

FoxyChick, you're right it does take two, and both parties and their families where applicable have a responsibility to behave reasonably even when their aren't children involved

Flip, I can completely empathise with your situation ( I've had my own problems getting to see my kids regularly). Totally agree with 'mansonsoul'
I'm absolutely sure that all Fathers efforts to support and care for their kids in these situations will and do have lasting positive benefits on the children themselves.

Two more stories as we're on such a cheery note. and these make me put my situation into context.
First, a good friend of mine now works with the mother of a girl who was stabbed over 200 times by her 'boyfriend' and I work with a woman who had a drunken row with her husband, who stormed off in the car saying he was going to kill himself. Well he killed two other people in another car and is now in prison.
I reckon you can only control so much about your own life and there's always loads of people in much worse circumstances than your own.

I got involved with a Woman (enough said at this point really) however I'll go on, Remortgaged my house to pay off her quite considerable personal debt, invited her to live with me even had two children with her. I then ended the relationship with her as i was fed up of constantly fighting and by this time she had acrued another massive debt. She claims half of everything I have worked hard for and pays off said debt then heads off to NZ (her home) with the kids. I follow her to NZ so I can stay in contact with the kids, she refuses me access, claims I'm a paedophile, I'm arrested in a foreign country and bailed no access to the kids. after several months case goes to court. I have to find money for criminal lawyer I'm cleared of all charges and can now proceed with family court proceedings to establish access to my kids, I now have to find money for a family court solicitor. Small amount of contact with kids is established through court, whilst waiting for hearing. 18 months pass we go to court I win shared care. The EX doesn't like this but Judges orders are final (or perhaps not)
Incidently during all this time she's claiming child support from me even though she won't let me see the children.
Ex then(falsely) accuses me of assaulting her (this is her way around the judges final orders) NZ has a huge domestic violence problem and government has campaigned for years on zero tolerance, Important also to note at this point that NZ has no equivalent of the CPS in the UK and cases will be heard in court regardless of the quality/reliability of any evidence.
Anyway so the case regarding child access is re-opened, I have to find criminal lawyer again we go to court, I'm cleared of any criminal wrong doing although same case has to be brought in Family Court. Another anomaly of the NZ system. this hearing has been postponed once and is currently awaiting re:appointment.I'm 40 next year I no longer have any assets, have a huge legal bill and I rent a house which is sparsely furnished with 2nd hand stuff and drive car worth nothing. So in terms of buggering up my life (although strictly speaking it has been done to me) it's not a bad job. what say you?

On the bright side I currently see my kids 6 days out of every fourteen, more in the holidays and I love them and that time like nothing else!

I like hilldodgers idea/attitude. You got your package in the end in the end (how much of a real inconvenience was the delay?)

re: your daughter,Congratulations! and here's hoping it's the end of the matter for you. It can unfortunately just be a continuation of the same with appeals and a series of serious allegations continuing for ages. Hope you don't have an ex like mine. Hurrah! for Dads'looking after their kids

Just found this on cricinfo player profile

An aggressive right-hander, Trott was born and raised in South Africa to a family steeped in cricketing history: he is related to Albert Trott, the former Australia batsman, though he is unsure exactly how. He played in the Under-15 and Under-19 World Cups for South Africa but is a British passport holder and therefore not considered an overseas player,

not that I'm letting this get to me or anything

Re: CFH's link I guess I'm in the minority but I don't get the whole he's not English/British thing, his mother is English (as is Kevin Pietersens' Btw) Historically the English team (and England in general) has always had strong links with SA. In my lifetime England has never been good enough to spurn talented players like the Australians can. It's nothing new, Caddick was/is a Kiwi, the Hollioakes'were Australians and I think Graham Thorpe too). It's the way of sport these days' the New Zealand side (don't laugh) is recruiting expat South Africans who don't want to live there anymore and have come here, and they can because the quality of theNZ team is not the best.

Following this from Auckland via TMS, and I've been listening to the aussie radio this afternoon (Rugby league). They are a brash lot! most of the talk has been about how this is a perfectly possible run chase. even when they've been well and truly thumped they come back at you with some arrogant record breaking nonsense.

When I first saw this thread I thought it was goingto be a discussion on who makes the best/worst chainrings.

Hughes is unlucky, despite not making a score yet, he's young and highly rated. He's out of the side because Watson's bowling can cover Johnson's erratic performance with the ball (difficult to drop him as his batting is pretty good) Watson opens in the one day games so the new ball won't be to much of a problem as already proved. As for Bell i'd love him to do well and he's talking like he's learnt alot since being dropped. I guess we'll find out sometime on Saturday. (his figures against Australia aren't that great (possibly because of Warne and McGrath?). England bowlers couldn't find their length or direction today and Oz have a got a good start. I'm a firm believer in scoreboard pressure so a big first innings score and lots of interuptions for the batsmen could be on the cards for England.

Listening on the net from Auckland, Desperate for England to do well but definitely worried about the Aussies. They came back really well against the South Africans earlier this year, after getting a lesson or two on their own patch before christmas

Out of interest what were your issues with the VDO (as I’ve had one since Jan) and it’s been ok, cadence readings go a bit nuts sometimes which I’ve put down to….. i don’t know actually, electrical interference of some sort?occasionally, anyway it’s been much better than my old ‘Union’ one which went completely crazy when it got cold

It’s been raining here in Auckland, almost solidly now for three weeks and i’m getting very fed up with it. I grant you it’s not our spring/summer time but the winter weather has come early this year. I feel for you

Google “Ras Malai’ for recipe or simply buy ready made from local corner shop. It’s a milk whey desert very delicious.

Blimey, something on this forum I can actually help with. You need to get a cockerell and put him in with the hens for a bit. He will hopefuly(assuming he’s not a gay cockerell) give the hens a good seeing to and your problem of them eating the eggs will be solved. Promise

after months of bleak winter I used to love spring in the UK (don’t live there now) predominantly it was the girls- sun comes out, clothes come off -good times!

A few years back i came in the back gate of my house only to see someone trying to get in the back door (not thinking)i shouted and gave chase. I grabbed him trying to get over the fence to the next door garden but he undid his coat & slipped out of it and got over. I new the neigbouring property (terraced garden) and new he would only have one way out from where he was so went back out my gate and waited for him but he was already over I chased him for a bit and then it suddenly occured to me what am I going to do if i catch him so I went home. I finished a bottle of wine that night and it didn’t touch me with all the adrenaline flowing. at the time I’d just finished reading ‘Birdsong’ and was surprised at how much the guys in the trenches drank on duty so this experience kind of helped me understand the physical effects of adrenaline

Unfortunately England haven’t had a decent bowling attack since the 2005 ashes. injuries, selection politics/policies. how many times have they taken 20 wkts in a match since that series. hopefully a new coach will sort it out (fresh blood)
ok! I grant you we did beat NZ twice but NZ are going through a rebuilding phase after the loss of nearly all of their best/experienced players in a really short space of time. (NZ and WI are the two lowest ranked test nation, i’m not counting Banglasdesh, and we’ve lost to both

ok! thanks guys apppreciate the advice, i had the bike checked by my lbs after i bought it (2nd hand) and had one or two things sorted (i trust these guys and they’ve done stuff for me before) but I’ll talk to them again. Definitely still getting used to the diferent handling characteristics, this is my first ‘road’bike. ‘grip of death’ also probably a factor

my understanding is that they are made by the company or are same company as Vitoria

Try again, still in the hat

I’m the one in the hat

and on my bike

Great thread, very amused. and my contribution – it pisses me off when people refer to arithmetic as maths, and pass off there inability to do a simple calculations by claiming they’re part of something much/a bit more complicated

Don’t laugh but Tel Aviv has a great beach and it’s not a bad city either

Roturua is a must for at least one W/E, getting your arse up to Auckland should be done as well. There’s plenty to do in Auckland and you can combine it with a trip to ‘woodhill’ which is ace (see my e-mail in profile if you’d like info on auckland a guide, advice. 42nd traverse is supposed to be good (I’ve not got around to doing it yet). Also if you like the roadie stuff and in particular climbing Wellington is great! just watch the drivers

‘By heck, No rear mech’ and ‘nothing changes’ can they both win? I also think ‘Thumbs are for clits not shifters’ is great.

I’m a Registered Nurse in NZ (in paediatrics/obstetrics) I earn $60,000 a year plus penals (Five weeks holiday). I work six 12hour shifts a fortnight which is 8 hours short of full time and I look after my kids six days in every 14. nursing gets a bad rep some of the time but I’ve worked and travelled all over the world with it, and fortunately I don’t have to (or haven’t had to thus far) worry about redundancies that many others do

It’s going to be hot here (NZ) again today. ride?, beach?, beer? lifes full of dilemma’s.

I’m in New Zealand (Auckland) been here for almost two and half years now) lived in Reading for a long time before that (so I was gutted to miss the STW Swinley ride). No plans to go back, two young children, great beaches & better climate.

Great rant! i too have been absolutely scared shitless by the ’tiss’ whilst cycling along and i’m convinced they do it deliberately drawing up close behind then driving off pissing themselves as you clearly wobble, bastards. but it got me thinking is there anything we do to our bikes that has eqivilent chav status?

going through red lights is a big issue here in auckland. the trouble is each traffic direction is phased individually including the filter for each direction if there is one and then once it’s green you have to give way to pedestrians if there are any. so people know if it’s going to amber then the wait for when they can go again is a bloody long one. so you always get people speeding up to get through, then you get people not paying attention because it’s taken so long to go green that they’ve fallen asleep, are chatting on phone etc (no law here about using mobiles in the car)

It’s a shame you’ve ended up in such a dump. Particularly as Nelson is such a great place. I can recommend a Hike or Kayak/Hike in thee Abel Tasman NP to help you forget all about it.(statistically it’s the sunniest place in the whole of NZ, enjoy)

the manitou minute (29er) is supposed to be pretty good not sure what travel it is (may only be 100mm) bolt thru or QR option and again comes in white/red only

Yeah! I’m with you there!

Middle of last year I won an application for shared care from the family court. a decision that I thought was going to be the end of an extremely accrimonious separation and what had been very limited access to my kids. I couldn’t have been more wrong. a succession of extremely serious allegations followed (from the X) for which I was arrested and imprisoned briefly So I now face a new year of defending these charges starting next week back in Family Court and then later in February in Criminal Court. Over two years on now since we separated I’m broke both financially & in spirit. Hell truly has no fury like a womans scorn.