Forgot I posted that a while ago, thanks for replies! In the end I opted for a Wahl from Argos, approx. £60. Its very quiet and effortless, highly recommended

Passport……realised without doubt at midnight my password had gone in the then collected bin, flight to Florida at 10am following morning with wife and two very excitable young daughters aged 4 and 7. Couldn’t even drive to airport to wave them off as it was during petrol strike and we had a nearly empty tank (they used taxi). Respect to Liverpool passport office as i had a new passport by 9.30am that morning…….but couldn’t get replacement flight until the tuesday. Knew the staff at airline office by first name as i was phoning them so much to check flight availability (needed to transfer ticket as opposed to buy new ticket as couldn’t afford new one) that when i finally got a flight they upgraded me to business class, sweet of them!

The cold feeling of grim realisation i felt that midnight will never be repeated, ever!! Worst feeling was thinking about wife and two kids alone in florida villa unable to drive and just waiting to see if / when i would be arriving, not the feeling that i wasn’t there (airline co advised wife and kids to still get plane as finding 4 seats a lot harder than finding one for me). Oh how we laugh about it now!!

Makes great kindling especially with some of the fabric and ply still attached to make it more flamable, bone dry. Yes, full of staples but these just get emptied with the ash so not a problem.

Count stairs in my head as I’m ascending, not descending though

Sit down on the loo for a wee………I’m male btw! But that’s not pointless/stupid, its so much more relaxing.

I enjoyed Verona, I think you would too!

Grandprents have got a right to spoil their grandchildren if they can with presents, love, affection and time, fact! None of these have got to be given in excess to amount to spoiling.

Would giving the unwanted tatt/gifts to charity not make g5604 happy and recipients happy too? Win win all round, spread the love (gifts)

Kids – happy
Grandparents – happy
You – not happy about others happiness.

So you’re not going to spoil your grandchildren…..they’ll be calling you Grumpy Grampy before you know it!

Unwanted gifts can easily be donated to charity where they can reach children who dont get presents thus making other kids happy too. You’re the only person in the equation not feeling the happiness, why you trying to make others unhappy too?

If grandparents can afford to buy the gifts why spoil their pleasure of giving? Yes, mentioning savings account a good idea for value of some gifts but kids dont stay young for long, why take away their pleasure of opening presents.

That’s such a shame, beautiful birds. Well done for doing all you could do, it’ll be watching you closely from owl heaven.

Quite a few owls in the local woods that I enjoy watching on night time walk with the dogs, the joystick exposure on max power doesn’t seem to affect/scare them in the slightest

ps…….plus an extra 10% off Torgoen watches with your first order if you sign up to their newsletter.

70% off certain Torgoen watches today, I bought one of the T05 models last year when they had 50% off and I thought that was a bargain, tempted to get another at sub £100 for a £250 watch. 12 months on and it hasn’t missed a beat (well it still tells the correct time!), and I think you’ll find one that ticks all your boxes above –

All Watches

Diana – sitting/slouching/chatting sh*t in friends house after a night of popping pills and dancing at Crème (early days when it was a good place!), like most things that night it was all a bit surreal.

9/11 .. at work watching it on TV

Thanks for replies, the usual suspects apart from the bmw racer which just looks too scary!!

Benp1 and tootallpaul….thanks for convincing me to let my heart rule my head, loved the look of the triple since i set eyes on it, i now know i would yearn for one if i went for any of the above which im sure would do the job just fine!

Thanks again, triumph it is!

Thanks for recommendations, gives me something to work off

Have done a few diy pointing jobs over the years and purchased a mortar gun for the last job…..how i wished I bought on years ago (and I like pointing with a trowel!)

Fiesta and Escort. Publications, not cars.
I blame it on the internet

Thanks for all the replies, I told my mum that there’s knowledge about anything on here! Will be able to have a “well it should’t have done that after your last service and preservative in fuel over winter” discussion now, will take it from there. In future will be draining tank and using until it stops then using fresh fuel in the spring with the preservative added – IIRC it was called fuel life.

I forget to mention before that its a cylinder mower, described as a specialist mower on a few sites – totally unnecessary but he liked his lawn, and have noticed that a lot of the replies relate to what I assume are the more throw-about-able robust 4 wheel honda type mowers………am I right in assuming a mower engine is similar on all styles of petrol mower and the above replies still apply?

It’s definitely a 4 stroke?

……the manual says just use unleaded and mums late partner only ever used forecourt unleaded so I’m assuming so..? As I said earlier I don’t know much about engines, the shame!!

New service co needed, thanks again

Disappointed not to see a 8 x 6 log burning stove capable of fitting a shed in.

I tend to throw old sheds, treated timber on the firepit and invite friends round to breathe in the fumes, they have never complained.

Disappointed not to see a 8 x 6 log burning stove capable of fitting a shed in.

I tend to throw old sheds, treated timber on the firepit and invite friends round to breathe in the fumes, they have never complained.

digital channel 42 Travel Channel 10pm weekdays

Susan at Kavik – “what would Susie do?” ……..a phrase i find myself using a lot these days, nobody knows what im talking about!

Was expecting more along the lines of size 9 and 10 heels on the bottom shelf, dress size 18 and 20 on top. Disappointed.

tazzymtb…….those metabo look nice and have a very nice price too, thanks for advice but I’ll swerve those!

will try a flap wheel and see how I get on before getting back the industrial jet wash and standing at a good distance from bench.

yes, my belt sander would be ideal if I could take it apart but its a curved ornate bench and the fact its not mine (things you do for your mothers!)will stop me dismantling it.

Its just a bit green and most of the original varnish has flaked off, needs a good clean down and recoating a few times.

Thanks for all your pointers, much appreciated

stumpy…..thanks, that should do the job, could take a while though as it s a big bench!

Pictonroad……..I’m thinking the same! I’m assuming electric/manual sander best, just hoping there was a disk for ‘light dusting duties’!

Bruneep…….borrowed friends industrial jetwash to do tarmaced drive, I think it would have snapped the hardwood bench! Maybe give it a go standing 10meters away from it and jet washing!

anyone know the one with the punch line “oh sorry, I forgot I had lent it to your brother”??

Thanks cougar, liking the look of the SV650 too, one for the list although at first glance appears to be a tad more expensive than the MT?

Up to £5k but will gladly spend less if good example, say £3k

Thanks for all the pointers, does seem pointless taking the A2 test so will be taking the full bike licence. As for thinking about a naked (ish) bike to avoid potential costly scrapes on full faired bikes….I’m sold on that idea too, i guess I’m easily persuaded!

Loving the look, reviews and price of the MT-07, XSR700 is too retro looking for my liking and the KTM RC390(?) is too naked and ‘industrial’ looking. Only just decided to go from A2 restricted bikes to the choice of any bike so MT 07 size is more than fine for my needs….couple of days commuting, with fun thrown in, a to b when car not available at weekends and its not going to be a lifestyle for me so understated fine, the stealthier the better actually as I want to be unnoticed (but obviously seen!)

So are there any similar bikes out there I can have a look at, any recommendations greatly appreciated as there are so many to look at, its a minefield!

….and i thought choosing a mountain bike was tough!

Thanks in advance

Thanks DD, it just seems the most ‘sensible’ option re price, insurance, thrills!!

Thanks again mmannerr, in that case I think its going to be a case of see how much we’re enjoying the snowy wilderness and make a decision sunday morning. Café and a few beers sound good though……..if I wasn’t driving when we get back to Manchester airport!

Thanks PeteC, I hope I can say the same by this time next week, some useful info there!!

mmannerr…..I haven’t got anywhere in mind as haven’t researched yet as all a bit last minute. We are actually staying in Savonlinna in the heart of the Saimaa lake area Friday evening to sunday morning (only one full day) then travelling to Helsinki sunday morning (300KM I believe)to get plane back to England Monday afternoon. What we’re now wondering is do we stay and enjoy the wilderness a bit longer in Savonlinna and leave for Helsinki on Monday on day of flight or get to Helsinki on sunday and have a rushed 6 hours in Helsinki sight seeing Monday morning before flight….??

Using 2.2 RRs no problem tubeless on old ZTR Olympics, don’t know how you got the Geax TnT on though Amedias, I gave up in the end!

I’m assuming I had white coat syndrome too although felt v relaxed. When I give blood they take my bp then tell me to lay down quietly for a while and they’ll take it again….always fine the 2nd time. Went to Dr’s as was a bit concerned and he advised a 24 hour bp monitor….results over 24 hour were ‘absolutely fine’.

So just go to GP and get a BP monitor

Both in crates for first 6 months at night time in back kitchen/diner/lounge, plenty of room. Got the dogs at different times so for the springers first 6 months he was in crate whilst older dog was on a dog bed next to crate, no problems of jealousy either way! Now both on big dog bed in large backroom, not allowed on sofas or upstairs

Two daughters, many fails, two that spring to mind…..

First daughter, 3 years old on holiday in Menorca, stopped for lunch at a restaurant that had a water slide, a long water slide. After lunch I took her to top of slide, sat her between my legs and set off down the chute. As it was an unexpected water slide I did not have the correct slide as fast as possible shorts on, in fact quite the opposite. Daughter was asking to go faster but even pulling us down the chute with my hands on the edge our velocity was poor, disappointing for us both. So I eased the grip I had on her with my legs and gave her a good push, off she went at great speed much to her enjoyment. When she was about 5 meters ahead of me it suddenly dawned on me that she didnt have her armbands on and no matter how much effort I made to catch up with her it was a pointless exercise, she was now out of sight but at least I could hear her shouts of joy and excitement, stark consolation. I could see my wife sitting at our table about 10 meters from the bottom of the slide but as I have already said it was a long water chute and from where she was sitting she could not hear what I was shouting or have any idea why I was frantically waving my arms and pointing to the deep pool at end of the slide, al I got in return was a wave from her. To cut an already long enough story short my wife realised what had happened when our daughter didnt surface from the pool so while she was taking her strap snadals off before jumping in the pool to rescue floundering daughter the only other person in the restaurant realised what had happened and dived in to rescue her after what was probably on 5 – 7 seconds, very long seconds mind!! When I finally reached the end of the chute my sobbing daughter was on the poolside getting comforted by my wife who was giving me one of those looks , hindsight has since told me that it probably wasnt a good idea to deflect some blame by asking her why the bloody hell was she untying her sandals before jumping in….!!

Daughter no2……. she was about 15 years old (5years ago), I was downstairs one afternoon when she came down and said she thought she had a sewing needle stuck in her foot, just thought. No puncture mark in her foot, no blood, only a slight discomfort when she walked……but no sign of the said sewing needle she was using in her bedroom. Surely if there was a needle in her foot she would know about it, at 15 years old you should know these things, shouldn’t you? Forward about 20 hours hours after much telling her that A&E would be very busy I decided to shut her up do as she asked and take a trip to A&E……..2 hours later we were holding up an x-ray showing a 5cm length of sewing needle deep in the heel of her foot. Later that night I was taking her home after a full anaesthetic operation to remove the snapped sewing needle. And as it happens my wife came home from a break away with her mum late that night, she said she thought she could trust me by now to look after our daughters………..maybe `i still cant???

Went to Reykjavik last feb, amazing place but didn’t see anyone cycling due to snow, would recommend it

Verona last November……amazing place with lots of cycling (bikes to hire on the streets) and a fab wine trail that takes you all over the city whilst sipping wine on the go, everyone had wine glass holder draped around their necks!

Seville hey,I believe you have made a good choice, will be going there later in year.

Happy trip!!

thanks again

I’m glad I asked, so much for my assumption!

Thanks oliverracing

but he has never had that much confidence

The MDMA will be giving him more confidence helping him make new ‘friends’ at Uni who will undoubtedly need drugs, dealing to them will build his confidence further which in turn makes more ‘friends’……….

You really do need to speak to the correct people about this as my advice would be to just keep an eye on him and hope nothing bad happens. It all sounds vey familiar from my uni days which I have absolutely no regret about and am pleased to be part of that culture where every pound was spent on mdma and weed, gathering and distributing. Still good friends with same mates I had at uni and we all had the same fun back then as your stepson is having now and we’re all doing well in life – families, jobs, houses, health etc and some of us still relive the days but just for the night at this age, not days on end!

I have two daughters aged 21 and 23 who enjoyed their early clubbing days and told me lots of stories from their nights out (admitted they had dabbled but didnt enjoy so luckily I had no worries…….and they werent pulling the wool over my eyes as i knew what to look for and they both lived at home and came home every night!), but there tales made it obvious that coke and violence spoil the dance scene as it did in 2000. If, and its a big if, your ss is dealing a bit of mdma and weed to friends then theres a good chance it will just phase out…………assuming he’s not caught first. If its coke then its a much different story as lots of unsavouries involved (imho).

Either way you need to seek help, just remember you might be blowing it out of proportion, big worry though.

Goof luck either way, hopefully just a silly phase he’s going through, a phase i have seen every person I know doing it coming out of it the other side with nothing but good memories.

Fire alarm as in smoke detector or a fully wired up alarm?

Haven’t got a clue about about the latter but if its a battery operated attach to the ceiling smoke detector a couple of dabs of no more nails hasn’t let me down in the last 15 years

Had the same dilemma for 6 months, decided at beginning of this week to go with a liner and already I feel a lot more relaxed! Read the (made up?)story about fumes getting in to next door neighbours house whilst they were asleep…they never woke up again just because a flue liner wasn’t fitted. Apparently.

If you decide not to have one and don’t feel 100% relaxed about then just get a liner (assuming your clay lined flue sound (as it may have a crack in it that allows fumes to seep in to your neighbours property. This assumes you are attached to another property!).

I feel better for getting one, you may not feel 100% if you don’t have one. Coupl eof hundred pounds for peace of mind is a small price to pay IMO

I thought ‘celebrities’ would be getting out of there in this thread