between 15 of you the shared cost of hiring a mini bus would be buttons

Does it not occur to any of the people suffering mechanicals in races / endurance events that the incessant barrage of offers of help might be coming from people who are searching for any opportunity to have a stop and rest, but to make doing so appear altruistic.

The joey is more of a travellers bike than a commuters bike – in that pic above the bike is partially dismantled to get to that size, rather than folded. The idea is you travel to your destination with them packed in a bag or case, then assemble and ride (all day) when you get there.

Barr (Irn Brew) still do it north of the border, but not as common a sight as they used to be. "Glass Cheques" are worth 20p.

I've always though wine bottles should be standardised.

Its something the supermarkets should / could drive, their buying power is so great now (and such a large proportion of what they stock is own-label anyway) that they could make standard, returnable packaging a condition of stocking a product.

Better that than all the distracting bluster about carrier bags.

I was touring in france once with a trailer, it was a pre-production model and I had a glitch with the hitch that meant every hour or so I had to stop and take it apart and put it back together again. A german couple rolled up to see if we were ok and I said we were fine, we had all the tools and bits we needed. But their concern was that we were riding in the opposite direction to the route in their guide book and must therefore be catastrophically confused.

Gave a guy my chain the other day, was going to just give him the powerlink, but decided to give him the whole lot for peace of mind. Hope he enjoyed the rest of his trip.

If you are getting the tube at the end of the journey then the quality of the fold, in terms of speed and ease, and the portability of the bike when its folded counts for more than the ride. 8 miles isn't a hellish long ride on any bike, you'll be fine on a brompton or a birdy, but wrestling to fold your bike as the train pulls off into the distance isn't too pleasant a prospect.

Its the speed of the fold that really should be the deal maker, some, like the Brompton or the Birdy fold in under 10 seconds, some take a minute or two (and in rail commuting terms thats an eternity as other passengers are tripping over you in rush hour, 4 times a day), some can take half an hour to get them down to a small pack size.

Is it just me who doesn't quite believe the defence?

from the article "You have never sought to blame any external factors in this case."

She hasn't made a defense- hasn't blamed anyone but herself, just described the circumstances of the accident.

The humane thing to do would be to shoot one of them, maybe the ball boy should toss in a hand grenade.

In a pie – perfectly legal

39/40" inside leg and a 7ft armspan kind of puts me outside the usual definition of 'normal' (and more into the circus freak category)

I prefer the term "Adult Sized" and consider the other 95% of the population to be no yet fully grown.

what about Tweetypie?

what about mud pies?

what would be the national anthem?

my vote would be theme tune from last of the summer wine

I'd go with the them tune form the Flumps

Yep I agree- your kids really get on my wick. Can't you lock them up somewhere, give us all some peace. 🙂

When in King, fuel stations will sell FUEL, nothing else, Petrol, Diesel, and LPG. NOTHING ELSE!

When you're king you'll need a kings ransom to buy your fuel! As expensive as fuel is these days the margin that the fuel station makes in just a few pennies a tank, if they didn't sell patio sets, triples size bounty bars and Nuts magazine your local (non supermarket) fuel station would close tomorrow. You'll notice its only the supermarket fuel stations (who've been driving the margins down) are the only ones who give you the option to pay at the pump.

The thing that gets on my wick is whenever I leave the work early to watch the football the next morning all the pencils in the office smell a bit 'urethral'

Get your kids an xbox, some 17 rated games, a bebo account and some ritalin. Should put paid to any crazy notions of running about the garden enjoying themselves!

Geyser

Nowt wrong with small wheels on a well designed bike, BMXs seem to manage ok afterall. A Birdy can be ridden like a hooligan. My sister in law has taken one around Mabie.

Its a image issue with small wheels, not a functionality one. Us brits have a hang-up about only riding bikes that are competition derived (road bikes, then mountain bikes, then fixies, now cross bikes) for the purpose of just 'sort of riding about'. We can't really grasp transportational cycling and the bikes that are designed for that purpose. If someone devised a category of cycle sport based on 17" wheels we'd all be commuting on them rather than cross bikes and track bikes.

I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.

Eleanor Roosevelt

That's because they have less genetic issues

Mongrels or Australians?

Pessimists say that glasses are half empty
Optimists say that glasses are half full
Optometrists say that the second pair are half price

Absolutely recommend these people though they are in Masnchester http://www.holier-than-thou.co.uk/

Thats got the be the best name I've ever heard for a peircing parlour 😀

That makes sense. I never understood why the other one would be in the Albert Hall anyway.

Really? I was reliably informed that the other is in the Leeds Town Hall.

So he started out with three testicles?

The importance in considering Hitler's strengths is that without them he couldn't have done what he did. Without compelling leadership qualities, political craft and charisma he couldn't have achieved a position where he could instigate war, genocide and the rest. Instead he'd just be some nutter in an alleyway kicking cats, or in this day and age – spamming the comments sections of the Daily Mail online.

Stiff upper lip old chap

…… and he had a nice side parting. Tidy gent, presentable, not like the riff raff you get these days who don't even own a comb. Say what you like about the extermination of the Jews, at least you could take him home to meet your mother!

Bin bags.

Seriously.

I hate cheap flimsy bin bags so I always buy the most expensive heavy duty ones.

I'm weird.

I'm with you there – 'banquet bags' from Costco are my current fave

Perhaps thats why Jahwomble gets shot of his socks – he prefers them 'honeymoon fresh' 🙂

What if the parents are siamese twins?

A pair of brand new,straight out of the packet socks every day, I never wear a pair twice, always loved the feel of brand new socks.

Thats a trait you share with George Michael 🙂 God knows why I've got that bit of trivia lodged down the back of the sofa of my mind.

…goes off to wonder what a years worth of socks looks like in a bin!

My workday luxury is buying my lunch and taking it to a weir on the river ayr to eat and watch herons. No phone reception and the white noise of the river defeats any attempt to think about work.

big blue Ikea carrier bags, I buy them by the hundred, have used them to move a river bed and to transport an exploded airliner.

Chill out. Two weeks after you graduate relatives will stop asking you what degree you got, and from that point on nobody will ever ask you again! (IME)

I was in my van once in birmingham when I heard this 'woomph' noise, seconds latter someone is rattling on my passenger side window yelling "why don't you look where you are f*@cking going". I had to calm him down and explain that I still had the keys in my pocket. He'd somehow managed to run head long into a bright yellow van parked in a line of other parked cars.

It was a lady driver, fat and smoking

She might be smoking hot, but in circumstances like this you should keep your tiny nudge to yourself. Still at least you've got her number now! 🙂

Thats not how its transported, thats where it comes from.

There are two tins of Carlsberg in my fridge. I'm unlikely to drink them now. So thanks for that.

sorry, to avoid any confusion, what I meant was – I think that picture was taken in Copenhagen.

Probably. 🙂

So this is how they transport Carlsberg nowadays…

Thats not how its transported, thats where it comes from.

…. probably.

If she can't avoid a stationary car I don't hold out much hope for any little children scampering about

Theres a municipal campsite at Stromness I can recommend, can't remember the price, but it didn't upset me at the time. Not too long a stay through. Its as close to Brodgar as Kirkwall is though.

Not too convienent, but very lovely is http://www.wheemsorganic.co.uk/ which has a bit of camping and a slightly zaney, ramshackle but cheap bunkhouse that you can also book for yourself as a self catering flat (sort of). I'd imagine Mike at Wheems would do a deal for a longer stay in the field, but its a bit of a trek to get to Brodgar from there.

Both very nice places to wake up in the morning

I had a dictionary of gangland slang on the desk when I first logged in – a "Skid Artist" is a getaway driver.