I also had a little soft toy tiger called ‘Paws for Thought’ that went into every exam with me. He was a little bit of comfort and reminded me to relax and take my time every time I looked at him.

I would definitely recommend taking a cuddly toy or two in with you – shows you’re a warm and approachable candidate.

You’ve got the yips. Getting too ‘meta’ – thinking about thinking.

Dartitis. I had it myself. Couldn’t release the dart. Had to play left handed for a few weeks, switched back to right and was fine again. Happened to Eric Bristow.

Use your left hand for a while, that’s my advice.

Nicely done druidh.

Not currently, I’m at work.

I wish I did.

Apparently he was executing a ‘standard’ return to base manoeuvre. Somehow I think not.

“Return to target”, not base.

Sort of thing I would do. Probably had too many rocks onboard.

“I was showing off Tim… and everybody knew it.”

Bob Dylan
Pink Floyd

Expect unhappiness followed by regret.

I use IG Index for spread betting.

If you’re thinking of investing in equities and want to build a portfolio you could look at something like a Halifax Sharebuilder account. They let you buy at set times of the month for £2 commission instead of buying instantly at £15. It’s a good way of building a portfolio over time and paying less.

I rode from Reigate to Lincoln last year to visit my parents – 176 miles. Was on my Genesis Croix de Fer so not entirely a road bike. Really wasn’t too bad, I did hit a pheasant and ride into the back of a car in Spalding, that was the only bad bit.

I just kept hydrated with Nuun electrolyte tablets in the water, and had some energy bars and dried apricots.

Wish I’d done an extra little loop to make 200 though :-(

Have recently bought an Asus UX31e and love it, very impressive. It’s an ‘Ultrabook’ – SSD, thin, long battery life, powerful (Quad core i7) etc. I use it on my lap and then plug it into a screen for development.

Highly recommended.

http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Superior_Mobility/ASUS_ZENBOOK_UX31E

Spam.

Thanks brakes most appreciated, that gives me a rough idea (can’t call them at the moment).

Sorry – being lazy. I have yet to speak to them too and am torn between collecting or delivery, just thought if you had already spoken to them you could tell me.

brakes – are they delivering to you or are you collecting? If delivering, what was the cost?

No idea! Also I need to drive to Grantham to collect them (I’m in Surrey)

I think they might be like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SILVA-BRITISH-ARMY-MOD-TYPE-4-54-MARCHING-EXPEDITION-COMPASS-Grade-B-/370581817017?_trksid=p4340.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC.NPJS%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUA%26otn%3D5%26pmod%3D220925241757%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6646841172367832625#ht_500wt_1413

Possibly…

Seemed a good idea at the time.

I think I bid £158.

Anyone want to buy a Silva compass LIKE THE ARMY USE!

£1.59 each

Just got a phone call. I was successful in my bid for 100 Silva compasses.

What the F do I want 100 compasses for?!

Are these the winning bids?

http://www.mod-sales.com/information/27/Previous_Tender_Results.htm

Looks like I lost out by not much on that box of 100 Silva compasses!

duckduckgo.

There are reasons you may wish to:

https://duckduckgo.com/privacy.html#s1

It may not bother you.

2 wallets – One dummy one with a few dollars and an expired credit card that is close to hand, one with “real” money that is hidden about my person. If someone demands your wallet guess which one they get.

The dummy one.

Bleak Expectations.

Very funny.

I just bought some Bekina wellies after my Hunter wellies split along the sole (won’t buy Hunter again).

These:

http://www.totallywellies.co.uk/ProductDescription.asp?Product=Bekina%20Steplite%20X%20Wellingtons

They are fantastic. Wore them all through the snow/ice in the last few weeks and they seem to warm my feet up if anything! Really light and warm and very comfortable cushioned sole.

Good value too.

I would recommend these:

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?q=acer+revo

Over that, I have this one:

http://www.ebuyer.com/279899-acer-aspire-revo-r3700-nettop-pt-semec-037

Next to my TV for running XBMC, connecting to a NAS, streaming etc. etc. It’s fine for browsing, watching iPlayer, emailing. It is not up to video processing, software development etc.

We’ve got one of these:

Used it every night for the last week, beautiful.

What sort of forex trading are you doing? More interested in that ;-)

Another recommendation for Phil Price. I bought it for my girlfriend as a surprise (she’d always fancied giving it a go) and she loved it. Paid a trivial amount for him to take me for a hot lap of his circuit in his Impreza. Terrifying…

Max :-)

mastiles_fanylion – do you expect to live to 65?

This information is key.

spando – just link to your website here. That way we can all enjoy your exciting offer.

@SkillWill – Hooters now closed (or at least the one opposite the Marriott Courtyard is) – now a Dennys.

Noooooo! Shame…

I used to stay in The Westin near parliament which is an ace hotel.

This was my crappy attempt at tilt-shift from the room window.

Used to do border security for Canada working for their government so spent a lot of time in Ottawa.

Do a tour of their parliament – http://www.parl.gc.ca/Default.aspx?Language=E (well worth it)

The Canadian Museum of Civilization is very interesting – http://www.civilization.ca/home – it’s just across the bridge. Learn how the country came into being.

As above Byward market is fantastic for restaurants there are loads. I like “The Keg” which is a really nice steak house (amazing steak). I always used to eat there before flying home. (There is also a strip bar and a Hooters in Ottawa as well – I went to the strip bar and the govt agency picked up the tab which technically means Canadian taxpayers paid for me to look at nudey ladies)

Anyone know? (Sorry for the bump)

Anyone tried one of these:

http://clee-cycles.co.uk/esite/P1043/product;jsessionid=4BA9036904047645CDAD4D3CCD549695

? I think the 180mm one should do it?

I enjoyed On The Beach by Nevil Shute recently. A post-apocalyptic story of life following WWIII. Very good, would like to read more stories like that as I also read too few fiction books.

Solpadeine Plus, ibuprofen, coke and music on the headphones. Then I pretty much stare at the screen and zone out for a few hours. Usually feeling better after lunch.

Thanks. Conservatory Blinds and Concept Blinds both look promising.

Albanach thanks – down South but your old man’s does look like it does exactly what I’m after!

Here’s a question for you – what shoe polish are people using for their brogues? I made the mistake of using a dark tan on my Grensons and don’t like the colour it turned them. Might try a clear polish from now on (on new ones).

Out of interest do these ss engines do it when you’re parallel parking or 3 point turning? That would just be stupid. I know a woman who would need an uprated starter as well as battery if that was true.

No – they only do it when you take it out of gear and release the clutch*, so if that’s something you do as part of a parallel park / 3 point turn they will, but I doubt you do!

*and engine is warm, climate control isn’t working too hard etc.