Got to agree with Horatio’s first point, benefits are not a long-term solution to a person’s financial problems, they are a crutch to allow an acceptable level of existence while they get back on their feet.

Too many people see it as a lifestyle or ‘career’ choice – they make an objective decision to take benefits and enjoy a lifestyle with which they are comfortable rather than work to improve that lifestyle.

The problem is that this lifestyle is often comparable to that which people working 60hr weeks have to endure. Alcohol, tobacco, TV subscriptions, holidays, luxury electronics etc should NOT be within the reach of someone supported by benefits.

Worcester Bosch. I have a lot of boilers, the WB Greenstar is the only one that doesn’t cause me problems.

Yep, I just searched that on Pistonheads… Amazing amount of car for the money. I seem to remember hearing that Ferrari V8s required a very expensive engine/gearbox out service at 30,000 so you often see cheaper ones around this mileage…

Awfully tempting though! 🙂

Wowsers, I can’t believe you can get a proper 55plate F430 for less than £50k… I’ve been looking at 911s but I’ve a feeling I should start looking at prancing horses too!

You remember when you were a child, and you drew a picture that you “thought” was absolutely bang on, and your mum and dad smiled reassuringly and told you it was amazing, even though they knew it it was completely shite… I suspect that’s what has happened here.

The car has been wrapped in carbon fibre, which shows a few creases, but nothing majorly noticeable.

What??? If I can see the wrinkles on a tiny thumbnail photo, I think they can probably be described as majorly noticeable!!!

I don’t mind him at all, very relaxed and natural, seems to get the best out of guests who are clearly at ease with him.

He’s genuinely quick-witted and comes out with some pretty funny comments. He’s like a male version of Sara Cox – maybe a bit marmite, but you can’t please everyone.

To compare him to Moyles’ show is unfair – he presents pretty much single-handedly whereas Moyles had his Steve-Wright-style “posse” of Comedy Dave, Aled, Dom, Tina etc.

I’m 38, so certainly not “demographic” but I listen to R1 from dawn to dusk and I still think it’s the benchmark that all radio should be judged against.

The mistake the Beeb are making is trying to change R1 to attract the yoof rather than letting a successful product mature with it’s listeners and offering a new product for young listeners. They have no understanding of how brands work.

The BB being behind the saddle has squashed bollox written all over it! How can that be comfortable??

I made a little spacer out of foamex (that hard plastic bubbly board signmakers use)… When I got the perfect angle on my mountain bike, I trimmed the spacer so it’s exactly the right size to slot in the wedge between the bracket and the camera.

I did the same on my road bike (different angle altogether) and trimmed the other edges. Now I have a little rectangle that I can use as a spacer to get the angle bang on every time…

Was she like China, in your hands? Did she scream “Don’t push too hard…”

I boned a bird in Craig Bellamy’s jacuzzi… And his steam room… and in his bedroom… And on the front lawn too. Does that count?

Excellent, tell us more! 😀

Oh come on, you can’t leave it at that – spill the beans!

Is that a direct quote???

Cheers chaps, I’ll pop down and have a look what they’ve got… 😀

Thanks ADH, wear can I buy those connectors? What are they called?… Cheers!

Would that involve soldering at the lamp end? And the battery? I’m afraid I’m pretty clueless about this sort of thing…

Is there a name for that type of connector so I can google, or at least know what I’m asking for?

Thanks

I always used to introduce myself to the fat girls at the gym – they were always keen to make friends, and within 12 months, some were quite slim!

And if they have photos taken at a make-over, delete. That’s the best they’re ever gonna look.

A sensible tip: Never fall into the trap of searching for new users. A 6/10 told me that she got about 600 messages when she first joined POF so she deleted most of them. Imagine what a 9 or 10 would get! Give it 3 or 4 weeks for the feeding frenzy to subside before sending a message – otherwise it’ll not get noticed. After a few weeks, she’s probably starting to feel a bit jaded with the process, so if you hit her with a seemingly genuine message, it’s going to stand a better chance.

There are stages? How would you characterise the stages?

It’s a bit like chess, a lot view your profile knowing that you can see they’ve viewed and hope you’ll message them. If you don’t, they might add you as a favourite. This is the virtual equivalent of smiling at you across a crowded bar. If you don’t rise to that, they might send a “flirt” or just come straight out with an opener.

Then you can wow her with your acerbic witt – conversations ALWAYS follow pretty much the same format, so my patter has become rather refined – although I resist the temptation to copy/paste and always include plenty of specific references.

Then there will be the number swap – usually initiated by the lady as a ploy to get you away from that bloody website. Possibly a request to view your facebook “to see if you’re genuine”… Code for not married, a nutter, player etc.

I tend to find that once they have my mobile number, they’ll text constantly to build rapport before the first date… You have to bear in mind, whilst it’s not a big issue for a bloke to go into a bar alone and wait for a complete stranger, women have other concerns.

After that, you’re on your own! The usual rules/confusion about follow-up calls etc apply… Tis a minefield.

Buzz, I just tend to keep going as long as is practical. Tend not to make a judgement after a first date (unless they’re utterly inappropriate) so usually have 2 or 3 simmering at any one time. They do seem to expect total monogamy from the messaging stage though, most seem to make a big thing of deleting their profile, I presume expecting me to do the same…

Diabetics kind of have to do this to stay alive and shizzle.

There were plenty of quiet corners she could have gone rather than making a big song and dance about it and putting other diners off their food… Including me. She never shut up about it either, diabetes this, insulin that… It was more of a hobby than an illness for her. Dull.

Yep. Same here. I’ve never ran so fast in my life.

I just double-bagged and then never answered any of her calls.

hora – Member

Shibboleth – sounds better than going home, making tea and watching crap tv until 10pm.

That’s the way I look at it, found myself single after 15 years with someone and it’s true, there aren’t half as many opportunities to meet people when all your friends are married with kids.

It’s only the first contact that is slightly different from any other way of meeting, after that I don’t see it as being any different.

Some people still see it as a bit “sad”, but I have no problem meeting people in social situations – it’s just that the social situations are fewer and further between!

So far, I’ve dated a narcoleptic, a militant diabetic that insisted on injecting herself in a busy restaurant, several bunny boilers, a girl that asked if I’d like to father her children on the first date, an RSPCA inspector that had a dead dog on the back seat of her car for the first date… I should probably write a book.

You’ll find a disproportionate number of sky-divers, bungee jumpers and people who list “banter” as a hobby, and there are a weird number of teachers. And if you’re less than 6′ tall, no chance. They’re all tall and luuuurve to wear heals.

So if you’re a cross between Peter Kay, Brad Pitt and Christian Grey, you might get lucky… It seems to work for me. 😉

3 dates this week with lovely women that I would never have met otherwise.

I’m astounded that anyone thought a kid losing a toy cat is worthy of telling everyone on a cycling forum.

Some people should learn to share less.

Which cheese manages Watford?

Gianfranco Gorgonzola…

Rossi, grab mine while you’re at it.

Yep, thanks for all the suggestions, I’ll try them later… Cheers!

Jambalaya, I’ve tried Handbrake and Mac The Ripper, but I think the problem is that the DVD is copyright protected/encrypted… Any ideas how it can be hacked? Just want to be able to run training DVDs on my iPad…

I’m not very well up on downloading… Like to do things proper 😉

Reading the user guide, it says it won’t work with commercial DVDs that have copyright protection… I suspect that might be the problem…

I’m selecting the DVD, but the “Start” button remains shaded/unclickable… Any ideas?

Just another quick Q, which files should I be ripping? BUP, IFO, VOB etc?

(sorry, clueless muppet!)

Nice one, I’ll give it a whirl… I’ll have no excuse for not doing some intervals now! :o)

Thanks Rocketman, does it maintain the interactivity of the DVD?

I’ve already lost 15 quid posting it, would ebay make me refund his costs posting it back??

I supose I’ve still got the extra tenner he gave me for the bars outside of the ebay deal – I could always hang on to that and tell him he can collect the bars whenever he wants…

He’s now ignored a few text messages and a couple of responses sent via the resolution centre on ebay so I’ve sent another stating that I’m trying to speak to him to find a resolution. At least it looks like I’m trying to be fair to Ebay…

I don’t understand why he’s burying his head in the sand, I have his money!

He’s already raised a dispute, but he sent the frame back without awaiting the outcome!

I’ve sent all correspondence twice – once via the email despite keeping the tone firm but fair, and also via text, where the tone is just firm. 😉

I agree kcal, and he’s properly panicked thinking that sending it back will automatically make me return his money. Instead, he’s created a whole heap of problems – mainly for himself I hope…

I might offer to refund part of the money, minus something to cover time, petrol etc…

Kcal, I’ve pointed out that it was sold as seen, and that you can’t expect a 20 year old frame to be perfect. He does sound like a bit of a numpty…

Good point wwaswas… If he didn’t what will happen to it?

Mainly because it cost me 15 quid to ship it, and I’ve now missed the optimum time of year to sell a road bike!

I’ve contacted him again asking if he wants to come to some sort of arrangement – as it stands, the frame is going to be returned to him again and I have his money…

Even after he’s done some work on it and bolloxed it up??

Here’s the link