*Disclaimer, been over 8 years since I lived there but I think this is accurate!

Second lark lane. Keith’s wine bar (took my now wife there at end of first date!) for some nice non pricey grub and, unsurprisingly, wine – though its been a while since I’ve been there. Loads of other restaurants there also.

If she’s missing Finland then you can call the Scandinavian seamans church and book a nice sauna! They might also have bunks if you’re struggling for hotels.

Hope street has some nice restaurants (60 hope st, London carriage works) and I’ve enjoyed a stay at the hope street hotel – well I proposed there! Liverpool is slightly unique in that it has two cathedrals – a catholic one known locally as Paddy’s Wigwam and the gothic Anglican one linked by Hope street.

The Tate gallery at the docks is good to go round.

Lastly, if she is interested in the Beatles or just wants to make her parents jealous then you could take her to penny lane. Again, there are some good restaurants and places to eat – penny lane wine bar and the Tavern Company (has some best breakfast award).

Blimey, I should get a job at the Liverpool tourist board!

Thanks to the original poster for the PSA – ordered a new lens for my camera and got £50 off. I had also recently converted some nectar points into a £25 ebay voucher so used that as well!

Hope the wife doesn’t find out…..

Sid

Tankard ready for action! by Simon Darney[/url], on Flickr

A few I have taken recently!

Mundon Oak Series – 1 by Simon Darney[/url], on Flickr
Mundon Oak Series – 4 by Simon Darney[/url], on Flickr
Wistmans Wood – 2 by Simon Darney[/url], on Flickr

Kudos to you!

Keep the updates coming (I only really posted so it was easily available in forum activity!)

Three pictures taken at the weekend for a competition with the theme past, present and future:

The Past Is Set In Stone by simondarney[/url], on Flickr

No Time Like The Present by simondarney[/url], on Flickr

The Future Is A Blank Canvas, Simon Darney, 2015 by simondarney[/url], on Flickr

I quite fancy going back to New York for the celebrations when Japan surrendered. I reckon it would have been some party and atmosphere!

Congratulations!

Our second is 4 months old. For me kids have been the source of some of my greatest joy and deepest pain I’ve experienced.

The unconditional love, watching someone develop and grow is amazing. Seeing the strength of the woman I love on exhibition bought me new found respect for her.

Trying to be parent, doing the right thing but not always being on the same page as the missus has at times distanced us from each other. Lack of sleep doesn’t help in those situations as I think it can make existing relationship traits become exacerbated.

It’s been a true test, feels like we’re coming out the other side of it stronger now that the little one is sleeping a little better, last night excepted.

You will get a shed load of unsolicited advice from anyone and everyone. Feel free to ignore it and trust your instinct. You will be the only people in the world to have your baby.

I was recommended to get a good camera – its awoken a deep held interest in photography I continue to explore as well as the odd baby photo!

Time to stop rambling! Good luck!

I got a $50 diesel watch in US 10 years ago. I had to replace the leather strap quite a few times as it kept falling apart at £25 a pop. For my wedding I treated myself to a new watch strap, handmade by a bloke at Toshi straps. They’re works of art, lifetime guarantee and feel really solidly made. Might be an option if you find a watch you like without a leather strap!
linky[/url]

We’ve booked in again to Otter falls near Honiton, South Devon. Really nice location, quiet, swimming pool. linky[/url]

In Finnish “Sissi” is special army unit well trained to work behind enemy lines in small groups and practice sabotage, reconnaissance etc. Doesn’t sound very scary!

Agreed -I thought it was just me!

I’d go with split in turbo intercooler hose duct. I had similar in my focus and found pipe at rear of engine with large split in it. The engine also struggled to rev above 4000. £30 of ebay for new one and 20 minutes to replace.

I did a days course – introduction to dslr -after a year of owning a camera that was far more capable than I and was constantly let down by my photography skills.

The aim of the course was to enable you to shoot in full manual mode and it delivered. I felt liberated! My recommendation would be to consider a similar course.

For composition I highly recommend the classroom at morguefiles[/url].

Really clear and easy to follow lessons. Homework there if you enjoy that sort of thing.

Really good tutorial including Settings here[/url]

TT sync times aren’t quick enough to trigger the camera so it is done from flash. You need a flash trigger rather than the standard camera trigger.

My first play with TriggerTrap and balloon popping – really enjoyed it!

[/url]Balloon Pop I by simondarney[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[/url]Balloon Pop II by simondarney[/url], on Flickr[/img]
Balloon Pop III by simondarney[/url], on Flickr

Moss Side Tree
P1010336.jpg by simondarney[/url], on Flickr

Shapes and Shadows
Shapes and Shadows by simondarney[/url], on Flickr

Unintended self portrait – it’s definitely the curved lens of the glasses that distort my riding physique…..P8240381.jpg by simondarney[/url], on Flickr

I’ve got a Lumia 930 in stealth orange. Looks really classy, especially the brushed alminium band around the edge. The only minor complaint is it is not as convenient for 1 handed operation as my last phone (a lumia 920). Other than that it’s a classy phone, works well and has a good range of apps. I use the app of WPcentral to keep track of new apps and developents!

We’ve used our Phillips advent without fault for a couple of years. Good range, faultless connection, simple set up.

Sid

Not trying to decieve anyone, lest myself. Just my preference not to bring attention to it. Thanks for the recommendations everyone!

Thanks for the tip but I’m not sure about FLATB stuff, as with normal stuff, I’ll be highlighting my girth with skintight stuff, with FLATB i’ll just have a big sign on my back. Pondering.

Not tried wales – is that related to the other thread?

Thats a good start – though the red will make my face look washed out so no go!

Impressive work!

We’ve got an aerobed with a mains powered pump. Inflates quickly to a good firmness. Ours has punctured but that should be no problems for anyone that is on an MTB forum! (It comes with a kit I think)

We got this kit from amazon. Works well with only a small amount of light seepage at edges. We could probably got better performance but we cut quite tight to size because we wanted to do 2 windows with one kit.

Linky

Should be 100 degrees….

I’d question that. In my experience depends a lot on the sauna construction, the heat source and personal preference. The sauna at the summerhouse I spent my summers was wood fired and perfect at 65!

I currently have a 156 2.0JTS Sportwagon on an ’03 plate. I love it but thee are niggles.

I bought 16 months ago without history of cam belt so drove it home and straight to a garage praying it wouldn’t go. Luckily for me it didn’t but it’s not a cheap job. I also did the thermostat myself staright after.

Minor niggles I’ve contended with include the common suspension troubles, radio cutting out intermittently, airbag light coming on intermittently despite replacing the faulty component, aircon controls going a bit haywire and a regular helpful message warning that either my brake fluid is low or my handbrake is on (normally when I’ve applied the handbrake)! I also replaced the faded bonnet badge which is a tad pain.

MPG isn’t great (32.2 according to trip computer) but it is an engine that loves to be revved. It’s never failed to start. The interior is interesting and def go for leather.

There are some good write ups on the various Alfa’s at alfaworkshop. You can also get ideas of maintenance and parts costs there.

I looked at quite a few online and a couple in the flesh before I found the one I wanted. The sportwagon didn’t have as many available for sale so I had to bide my time. I would recommend Lusso trim over Veloce, hitting pot holes is bad enough without lowering the suspension….

There’s some good advice on here and you seem level headed when you write.

I haven’t been in your situation but my three brothers left school with not many GCSE’s and didn’t complete college. They are all doing alright for themselves now. One used a YTS to work his way up in insurance, one started at the bottom in law and the other was doing minimum wage manual work until he joined the army and trained up as a technician where he has been getting jobs left right and centre since he left! Also, he’s not a bellend but don’t tell him I said that.

Another observation is that in the engineering industry a lot of my colleagues have used apprenticeships as a springboard to more senior roles from engineer to supervisor and even director. If you like practical things then aiming to get on an apprenticeship could be worthwhile.

Lastly, there were a few areas/modules on my engineering degree course where I seemed to totally get, others that were a right pain. I seemed to want to work in an area I found the pain where I might have been better of expanding my skills in the areas I was good at. As it is, I’m doing neither of those and feel like an excel monkey.

So in summary:
– You aren’t on the scrap heap at 16 – plenty of time ahead
– find things you like and pursue them – qualifications help

Best of luck

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/9A4UGtM4hDQ” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

What is she moving from? Compact/mobile phone?

I moved from a compact to an Olympus OM-D E-M5 last January. From then until September I had mixed results (not always getting the shot or even a half decent shot from it) until I did a course on the basics of DSLR and learnt how to shoot in manual mode. If she has never used something other than other than a compact I highly recommend a course for the basics.

My camera is perhaps a little out of budget but I have been happy with the olympus. Dpreview is a good source of reviews and information.

Sid

one foot in front of the other, keep going!

And I thought it was only threads about the snip that made me cringe….

2756, 256 biggest tile

If it’s platinmum then probably worth a bit, weight dependent.

Perhaps the best thing I got for my camera was a course!

I had been using it for 10 months and didn’t seem to be getting the most out of it. I could use the pre-sets but couldn’t shoot in full manual mode. I would regularly take pictures and not know why they didn’t come out correctly or I was trying to stretch the limits of the pre-sets and didn’t know how to work around them. I did a one-day “introduction to DSLR” course for £60 that I found on Groupon and whilst it didn’t make me an expert it allowed me to have more control over my photography. I really enjoyed it as well. I then did a follow up on landscapes.

A simple website that helped as well is the classroom section of http://www.morguefile.com/

We were fortunate to go to Santorini on honeymoon last August. We did book quite late (i.e. week before) and flights were £900 on easyjet! We stayed in a nice hotel as well. We both loved it there but they have tried to set themselves up at the higher end of peoples budgets. We came away with a new appreciation of Santorinian wine (wine tour) and were spoilt with incredible sunsets every night. Food was nice and fairly reasonable. So whilst I would thoroughly recommend it I don’t know if you could do it on your budget by booking flights more in advance and not in school holidays etc…

Best of luck if you do go!

Sid

Actually what we need in any situation is supergranny!

To my shame I witnessed something similar at bus stop 10 years ago (I was ~24) and I didn’t intervene.

Two teenage girls were sitting waiting for a bus in Liverpool (nice area but close to toxteth) whilst all of a sudden a large mob (~20-30 kids probably 11-16 in age) came to the bus stop following an older teenage girl. This girl stood about two steps in front of these girls looking down at them. She started saying what the f are you looking at and then hit them a couple of times. They walked off crying and I did nothing. I often think back guiltily to that day to what I could have done differently. I like to think if it was more serious harm would I have acted differently but I honestly don’t know. I also like to think I would act differently now.

Another incident I recall is being woken in the middle of the night when visiting friends in Stoke. The guy (friend of a friend) waking me had been beaten up and he told me my mate was getting beaten up in an alley by three guys. they got jumped on the way back from the union which I had left earlier. I went out there alone as no one else in the house wanted to so I could look for my mate. Was shit scared but did it. Luckily my mate had got away.

So I feel like I have the ability go out against my fear and try and do the right thing but didn’t choose correctly on that night in Liverpool.