Best to go, just to show a bit of support.

Be ready to call the police, if it does look like getting nasty.

This sounds like a bad one. it’s the kids that have to be thought of first, and what’s in their best interests. Is it possible to move them to a neutral venue, and let the adults try to sort things out? The sight of parents rowing/fighting is very traumatic for children, and can have long-lasting consequences. Best to keep any upheaval to a minimum, for them.

If his parents are likely to cause extra trouble, then make them stay outside/tell them to **** off. It’s not really their business anyway; it’s between the two parents. They are likely to make things worse.

Go with your missus, and be prepared to explain you are there to support the woman, and ensure no harm comes to her. Be a man; no-one wants to be in this position, but you’re well out of it, as far as the impact goes. It’s not you that’s affected. Go and help a fellow human being.

If it kicks off, I can guarantee you police and Social Services will be involved. maybe they should be.

Good luck. Hope it ends as peacefully as possible.

I like that, Foxy Chick, but right-angles aren’t really any physical object. But there must be quite a few, you’re right!

And, sorry to piss on your chips, but salt crystals are cubic…

That looks like a rabbit, riding a dragon.

Soma: I don’t think so! I’m new here. 🙂

Apparently, there are 9 million bicycles in Beijing, and that’s a fact. So, a lot of spokes.

Hmm, the transistor thing has clouded the issue somewhat. But maybe transistors, in all their forms, are perhaps the most abundant man-made thing on Earth. Mind-boggling.

As for babies, well, apparently, there have been more people born in the last 200 years or so, than have ever been alive prior to that. So, Not as plentiful as bricks, or transistors, then.

Yolu’re an awkward fecker, aren’t you? 😆

The particles of dust are the result of erosion or other destruction. Plus, the particles themselves are just whatever the brick is made from, so they were there in the first place, smarty-pants!

I suppose transitors, in various forms, are plentiful, but they take many different types and forms. I meant a specific object that does a specific job, and whose form does not change radically, from one application to another.

Come on, people. any more ideas?

Nettles, back of the class, please.

There’s always one, isn’t there? 🙄

Ah, but the Wheel is a concept, not an necessarily object. IE, a wheel can be made of wood, stone, metal etc and have myriad purposes. A brick is just a brick.

Like your thinking, though.

Alston is in Cumbria. The Lakes are in Cumbria. Alston is a little bit nearer to the Lakes than London.

I am assuming some sort of transportation to the Lakes, then riding from there.

Maybe Soma Rich and I could come up together! Bit of a Southern Invasion of the North!

Then we’d go out at night around Hampstead Heath looking for UFO’s

Ah, so that’s what you told the police constables, is it? 😉

“Doing all 3 of the old CyB routes in a day, twice. 98 miles, 16000ft of climbing at 11 hours. For obvious reasons.”

Jeeeezus!

That’s just silly…

I don’t know about any particular ride, but ones where I’ve been cold, wet and miles from home aren’t favourites.

Actually, one where I cracked a rib, about 20 miles from home, was probably the most painful (front wheel jacknifed, end of bar straight into chest). Had to ride all the way home, in quite a bit of pain, and fell off another 3 times, because I couldn’t control the bike properly. That didn’t help.

Had to take 2 weeks off work, and couldn’t ride for nearly a month.

Wow, that looks stunning! Nice pics, sfb!

After watching the ‘Wainwright’s Walks’ programs with the lovely Julia Bradbury, I’m determined to get up to the Lakes this year, for some riding. I have somewhere to stay, hopefully, in Alston. i’d be well up for meeting people that know the area well. Simon, would you be up for leading a ride? I’d also be curious to see these fabled Ladies’ Bottoms of which you speak so highly…

Heh! LOL@ Whatsit!

Hmm, my PC needs upgrading: More RAM, ok, that’s cheap and easy enough. Oh, these new softwares need a faster processor to run, hmm, fiddly. And now, the graphics card can’t handle it…

Etc.

So, you spend, say, £500 on a desktop. How many people will actually be constantly swapping bits over? 90% just want it to work, and be reliable. The vast majority of PCs, like Macs, get little more than extra RAM added, and maybe a bigger HD. And as for ‘oh, they’re easy to upgrade’, and “There’s nothing as entertaining as swapping out hardware when you need some more power”, the number of dead PCs I’ve seen in people’s houses…

‘What happened to your PC?’
‘Oh, I tried to upgrade something, but it just went dead’.

Not everyone is a geek.

And the thing is, Macs don’t need ‘upgrading’ as often. I have two old CRT iMacs, one 8 years old, the other, possibly 10. Both run OSX 10.4 without fuss. Granted, 10.5 is beyond them, but show me a PC older than about 3 years, that can run Vista without some serious tinkering.

My Mac Pro can take all sorts of ‘upgrades’; HDs, graphics cards, PCI cards, SATA devices, Blu-Ray drives, processors, etc. Oh, and it can take up to 32GB of RAM. I think I’m sorted for a couple of years, yet!

Getting back to the OP; I suggested the Mac Mini, as it is such an easy solution. Quiet, very efficient, tiny, and packed with loads of good stuff for a little home media centre. Probably suits the needs of the OP, perfectly. And won’t cost too much, either.

superlurch; you’re not in London, are you? I’d have that G4 off you!

Mac Mini.

THREAD CLOSED

Bruneep, I don’t want to see you, or hear you, all night, got it? Or I’ll get Big Dave on the door, to throw you out.

Colnagokid; you are scum, just proper scum… 😯

I’m sure there’s a virtual late-nite anything, round here!

Sigue Sigue Sputnik!

Oh, I see! Bugger. 😐

Not at all. My Mac Pro came in at almost a grand less than a similarly-specced Dell piece of shit, at the time. Actually, Dell didn’t yet have the same processors in, so it would have been a 2-month wait. Apple sorted out a custom spec job in 1 week.

And value wise, Macs tend to last longer, ime.

Anyway, I’m sure there are other brands! For my purpose, a Mac is perfect. money well spent.

That sounds disgusting!

Did you get home ok, the other night? I bet you still have memories of that kebab, if nothing else!

Oi! You’re barred! Cheeky git! I want to keep my licence, and your recent antics have got me in a load of trouble with the police and local council.

Not to mention the threat of charges being pressed by that young lady. After your shenanigans, she’s probably mentally scarred, poor thing.

I like the new ones, but need a Firewire port for a DV camera. And the 13″ ones don’t have FW. The 15″ is too big for me. The Air is lovely; really nice and light, but I’m not paying that. Overpriced fashion-symbol.

Well, it is the New Year!

Bar’s over there, Sandwich. Got some good beers on tap, none of yer Fosters rubbish here.

If anyone sees Bruneep, tell him he’s barred. I can’t afford any more fines.

Zulu; might you be looking to flog your current one?

Just need something small and portable, to replace the lump of a PC lappy I currently have.

Might bung a Friday night pizza in the oven, as I’m feeling lazy.
Going to nip to the offie downstairs in a minute.
Watching some stuff on iPlayer; there’s a Palin thing on that looks interesting. All his stuff is great.

Think it might be time for a bit of niteclub, mind…

Thanks. I tried to stop a BSM bloke round here earlier, but the poor bloke shit himself and sped off! I only wanted to ask him a couple of questions!

I have driven a car before, just not legally, and only in a car park or on deserted roads near an industrial estate. I actually taught myself the basics of how to get a car moving, whilst sitting bored waiting for a mate, in a deserted car park. So I’m sure I can pick things up pretty quickly. But obviously, learning good habits and roadcraft from a professional, is the best way to go about it.

I shall ponder this matter…

Why would anyone want to ‘steal’ someone else’s moniker? For troublemaking? Envy? Jealousy? Lack of imagination?

If someone has built up a persona, then it’s their creation, and others should respect that. Certain individuals (TandemJeremy, Grizzlygus, Flashfart, Hora, French Foxy Juan, SimonFBarnes, etc) add to the folklore of a place like this. Have something to give (hmm…), that helps STW to have a real character, and stand out as a forum. You might not agree with them all the time (or any of the time!), but they’re the ‘celebrities’ that stand out for their individuality, creativeness, sheer-bloody-mindedness, and sense of fun. Most of the regular forum users are probably pretty decent people; it’s only the odd idiot that is really nasty or malicious. Even Glupton wasn’t too bad, he just wound people up. Caused a fair amount of entertainment, though. It’s yer AdamG types, who seem to be really sad, and just use the forum as a place to insult and abuse others.

Any bike will do around Swinley. It’s not very demanding. I will be coming on a cheap bike.

I dare say there will be people on 6″ travel ‘all mountain’ machines, but it’s all fun.

If it rains, bring spare brake pads. All that sharp sand destroys pads, in the wet.

Bearing in mind, that any insurance quotes that many of you may get, will be multiplied, as this bit of London is not the place where you can leave anything and expect it to be there when you come back! So, it’s an old banger or nothing, really. Something like an old estate, or smallish van. Not bothered about performance etc; as long as it gets me there in one piece. But as I’ve said, hiring when I actually need something, will probably work out cheaper over a year, than owning any vehicle, plus it’s a lot less stressful.

Well, I suppose so, but they won’t know whether I drive 50,000 miles a year, or none, will they?

The advice to go for BSM seems sound. I’ll see if I can find a reputable local independent first, though.

And, because I’m over 30, apparently insurance, even for a first-time driver, is a fair bit lower.

Stupid fools, that means I can get a proper stupid GTi, and rag it around like a lunatic!

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Well, if I need a year’s experience under my belt to hire, then I’ll just have to wait! It’s more the being able to drive legally, that matters. And the UK test isn’t as tough as some; in Norway, you have to be able to drive on ice! I remember being over there, in a little Mazda sports thing, with a young lady, who was throwing it from lock to lock, proper rally style. Apparently, their test is in several stages, and takes ages to pass, and cost a fortune!

The idea of being able to hire a van, chuck some bikes in it, and **** off to wherever, really appeals to me. As for driving around town, sod that. That’s what a bike is for. No need for motor, for any journey under 30 miles or so. Public transport is good enough for me, and pretty reasonable with an Oyster card, so I see no reason to own a car.

Brrm brrmm!

Racist Nonce!

Thanks, folks, some good advice there.

I think some of the local independents have dropped their prices, because it’s a slack time of year, no-one’s got any money anyway, and they just need to keep business running. There are a few little firms that have been going for years, so I’m sure they’re reputable.

The theory, I’m not worried about. I did one of those DVD ones a while ago – piece of piss. I have pretty good reactions, and a good sense of spatial awareness, and I’ve cycled around London enough to learn about potential hazards! And I probably know more about road signage than a lot of drivers out there, judging by what I’ve seen.

I’m looking to pass first time. I know this isn’t possible for many people, but it’s operating a machine in a potentially hazardous environment. I don’t want to be messing around taking my test several times; I’d just not bother, tbh. Can’t see myself struggling with it anyway, really. And judging by the number of idiots on the road, the test surely can’t be that difficult.

So, the idea is to start taking lessons, and increase the frequency the further I go. And to borrow friend’s motors to practice in. I’m sure they won’t mind..

So, about £600-1000 all in, then? Plus the test, how much is that?

6 months or so should be a good time frame, or should I be aiming to do it in less time? I’d rather take the time, build up experience, confidence and skill, and then have more chance of passing first time.

And then, I won’t be looking to buy a car, more like rent, when I need one, or borrow a mate’s. Will I be able to rent a vehicle straight away, or will I have to have so many years driving under my belt? I’m late 30s, btw.

Insurance? That’s the main reason I wouldn’t buy a car. Not worth it. Not living in London. Just a waste of money.

BSM are charging about £27 an hour, locally, although they do discounts for 2 hours at a time. Some local firms are charging £15 or even less, I understand.

I was thinking, maybe do a certain amount with a cheap firm, learn the basics, then go onto BSM or someone, when it gets more involved.

So, about 30 hours should be ok?

Pah! Blasphemers…

Floyd did stuff with sound, in the sixties, before almost anyone else. They really pushed the boundaries of what could be achieved. Everyone else just followed. Even the Beatles nicked some of Floyds ideas, for arguably their best stuff on albums like Sgt. Pepper’s and MMT.

Granted, they did get up their own arses, and what happened to Syd Barret was very sad. But they were still the best.

I’m talking of course, up to Final Cut. After that, they were just another stadium band churning out formulaic pap.

Genesis? No band with Phil Collins in can ever be considered in the same league as the Floyd.

Collins, V Nick Mason? Don’t be silly…

I know a bloke who stabbed someone 15 YEARS later, for doing something like that to him. He bottled up all that hurt and humiliation, and then one day, just exploded. The feller bragged about it, for years, and wound him up about it. Understandable, in a way. Bit extreme, mind. A good kicking would have sufficed.

Mephistopheles
Ozymandius
Ecclesiastes
Kenny Dalglish
Michaelangelo
Barbarossa

(Congrats, btw! 🙂 )

bruneep, hate to tell you, mate, but your wife’s over there<<<<<.

I don’t like the way she’s holding that bottle, either…

For CG:
Jimi!

Legend? Bell-end, more like..

Bruneep, please try and behave yourself. There’s a young lady already complaining you’ve been sick down her cleavage. Leave it out, mate.

The name rings a distant bell. Wasn’t he a right little troublemaker, always winding people up, arguing and that? Bit of an attention seeker, probably quite insecure?

And you’re engaged to this person? 😯

Anyway, surely this is my idea? You mean it’s been done before? Bum. 😥

Wash your mouth out. Those bands were barely fit to lick the boots of the Floyd. Yes? Weren’t they recently voted shittest band ever? Rick Wakeman V Roger Waters? No contest.

Pink Floyd were true audio pioneers, and paved the way for others to follow.

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
A Saucerful of Secrets

Now now, live and let live.

Ask them if they can play some WetWetWet or Big Country or something, make you feel better.

Come on, Pink Floyd were the greatest Prog Rock band ever. The others would have been nothing, without the mighty Floyd.

Echoes Pt 1
Echoes Pt 2