The STW Christmas Dinner thread…
FTFY…

It’s fricking mid November!
:D

Drac – Moderator
What do people do for starters these days?
Alcohol.

^^ I am compelled to agree.

THAT’S IT! Xmas on STW appears to have begun. Don’t fight it.

I too have experienced the involuntary selection as target/amusement by motorists and peds, numerous times, involving numerous remarks and/or missiles. None of which have been “earned”.

Here in the UK, I believe people have generally, become more impatient, sooner to lose their temper, selfish and confrontational. While also appearing to me as being ever so slightly cowardly for targeting someone as part of a group in a car.

I couldn’t guess as for why this is or is not the case and I have no “data” to support my opinion, it’s just my perspective on how the UK appears to me these days. Whether it’s queuing driving, cycling, whatever.

Yes, there are still kind, considerate types out there too. But the rise of the impatient, “me first and definitely before YOU” types, seems to have taken place and their number appears to be growing.

There seems to be a lot of anger out there. I guess it’s the price society pays for making “progress”……

nealglover – Member

My cats breath smells like cat food.

Not sure if you kissing your pussy cat is going to make much difference.
TBH.

binners – Member

I won’t listen to any new music since hearing Shakin’ Stevens Drum and Bass/Jazz fusion experiment.

And that kids, is why drugs are bad for you.

No, of course. You are correct, I was just making it all up. In truth:

a) I didn’t ruin a Michelin Pro 4 service course on my rollers, the tread didn’t come away from the tyre wall. It was all just a figment of my imagination……

b) There is not structural difference between tubs and clinchers, so that’s why it’s ok to compare tubs with clinchers.

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

In the meanwhile, 1 roller tyre, £15, sorted!
Thank you, byeeee.
:wink:

cinnamon_girl – Member

Hmmm, it won’t be easy.

That’s why we have Christmas Vodka!
:-D

one doesn’t use indoor trainers out of choice, one does it when one only has 45 mins to get in a quality workout.

This gives me other options that may fit in with work when WFH.

Bingo! It’s the convenience when weather is bad and time is short. I think some folk miss that point. During the winter, I use my rollers, it’s dry, I can be rolling in a matter minutes. Then it’s straight into the shower. Bike is dry, no cleaning or lubing required and it’s all ready to go next time.

Yes, it can be boring on longer sessions, but one can say that about lots of stuff………

4) There is now a noticeable flat on my rear tyre so I suppose I do need a trainer tyre after all
I learnt this the hard way, ruined two road tyres before accepting that on the grounds that using a road tyre was, for me, a false economy and after using a road tyre on the rollers, the damage made the tyre unsafe for further use. I now have a specific tyre for the job.

I’m not convinced they’re not a gimmick TBH, I’d just fit something cheap and hard
I think I paid about £15 for my trainer tyre and considering the road tyres I used couldn’t be used for road after being on the rollers, I’d say the roller tyre easily pays for itself by sparing my nice Italian road tyres.

I have Cyclops rollers, and the bearings have become increasingly noisey as the miles have amassed. Doesn’t seem to be much of an issue, TBH.

molgrips – Member
Have you been drinking, Solo, out of interest?

Ah, interesting question, from someone who has claimed they don’t “drink” for an intolerance to the taste.

No. I’m just amused and bemused by those who think London is so cool/wonderful. >20 years ago I had friends going off to live and work in London. They’d come back months or even years later and bore the rest of us to death with their stories of living there. Honestly, Knowledge of London via working “on the road” or just living there. Really doesn’t impress as many people as you might believe. Sorry.
:-)

CaptainFlashheart – Member
Neither of us live in London, but don’t let that worry you.

And you think I didn’t already know that?

My point was people who think they know London. IME are all too keen to show off and enter into conversation with other Londonites which usually results in anyone else present keeping silent with a slightly bemused look on their faces.

It’s not because Londonites have such a superior knowledge of the city. But just bewilderment at folk thinking it’s so cool/impressive.
Frankly, it’s not.

I was born there and lived there. So what?
:-)

I’m near Gloucester Rd tube – where what should I eat tonight?

molgrips – Member
*googles Partridges*
Is this a wind-up? How posh do you think I am?

CaptainFlashheart – Member
It’s a nice deli, close to where you are, that sells very, very good sarnies for about the same price as your shitty Nandos cost you last night. What’s not to like?

:lol:
Londonites, trying to out London each other. It’s an amusement that never ends, Brilliant.

Please continue.
:-)

convert – Member
.Blimey. You got it bad.

Wow, how nice of you to say that about me.

Think I’ll log out for a bit now.

@Drac.

Good morning.

Samsung phone, android OS is about all the technical info I can provide.

My original post was just a comment/polite request/food for thought.

Cheers.
:-)

Klunk – Member
hotel singletrack
Very sharp! excellent.
:-)

convert – Member
Just wait 5 minutes and it’ll log you out automatically. Its a feature.
Thanks, didn’t know that.

logging out? Logging back in with an alias?
While I wasn’t canvassing a response from the gods of IT and while I have no idea if you are one of them. I find that logging out, helps keep me out of arguments and trouble, here, generally.
You may now holster your pitchfork. Thank you.

perthmtb – Member 
I think that’s the crux of it. The technology to reduce NOx is well understood and widely available, but it has cost and performance ramifications. VW couldn’t meet the stringent US NOx standards and still sell a small diesel engine that had good performance and fuel economy, while keeping the cost down

This was the point I was making (poorly) on the previous page, with comments about R and D.
Even though the urea system may be well documented, even deployed in vehicles produced by other OEMs.
Each OEM will still need to develop their system for those engines which require such a solution/emissions controls.

Or you just develop some code, a map for test compliance and away you go.
It almost certainly has to be cost driven, any way you cut it. To save costs to increase margins, to save on projected costs improving current engines or to avoid the costs to develop new engines.

New IC engine development has massive costs and long lead times.

JJ.

Theres a very real chance that one reason the defeat device was deployed was so that VAG didn’t have to invest in the R and D required to remain competitive.
Instead enabling them to use older tech/design/materials, etc in their engines.

In this scenario, the software enables compliance for an engine which intrinsically shouldn’t comply with regs, any way.

This would amount to deliberate deception, when their defeat device generated figures, disguised what could be an older gen unit, entirely.

Perhaps it is splitting hares, however that leaves us with an entire industry “circumventing” tests to gain compliance, but just using less objectionable means.

munrobiker – Member
Solo- the cars aren’t being rebanded.

Which is what I suggested in scenario a) in my post above.
Solo – Member
a) VAG remove DF software, UK Gov doesn’t re-band those cars effected
:-)

jimjam – Member

molgrips – Member
I can’t imagine they’ve had time to develop a new map to make it any more emissions compliant.
.
They already have that, it’s the cheat map
Yeap, which was what I was alluding to with this comment:
Solo – Member
b) VAG not only remove DF software, but re-map ecu after which real world consumption and driving characteristics are significantly altered.

I agree, it appears to me also, that removing the defeat software (WTF did I get the abbreviation “DF”? I’m such a muppet) now is a PR process for VAG’s “come back”.

I’m still very unhappy with VAG, selling me a car which would seem to be dirtier than it’s competitors and not as “clean” as I was lead to believe.

It’s a bit of a leap though, imo, to charge VAG with Corp Manslaughter.

Firstly, a small VAG TDi with defeat device still isn’t going to emit the same quantities of particulates as a 4 ltr diesel BMW, (add any OEM you choose to) assuming shear quantities of particulates are a significant contributory factor.
Then also consider taxis, buses, lorries, etc from other OEMs.

Secondly, you’d have to address the juxtaposition of diesel cars/vehicles from all OEMs being homologated and type approved for sale and use in any given market where such action may be launched.

And that’s just the issues with charging the defendant. Then what about the actions and behaviours of the plantiff, etc, etc.

It wouldn’t get off the ground in my view, but I would be interested to learn why I’d be wrong in that assumption.

I have a VAG car, which may be equipped with a DF.

Afaik, if the DF (software – engine map) is removed, then I do not expect real world emissions and performance to be effected.

However it further seems those emissions are not inline with the vehicle’s current VED banding.
Therefore I believe a few points arise.

a) VAG remove DF software, UK Gov doesn’t re-band those cars effected, UK Gov fine VAG. UK customers have some form of recourse, where VAG buy back their cars or compensate.

b) VAG not only remove DF software, but re-map ecu after which real world consumption and driving characteristics are significantly altered.

If that happens, VAG can buy my car from me, as it would not then be the car I thought I was buying.

In the end, Joe public purchased, trusting both UK Gov and VAG to test and to comply. Therefore owners should not lose out because of this particular issue.
imo.

CrankBoy.

I think you may have missed my point, which would be my fault, as some posts I make aren’t always read as I would intend.

I was merely pointing out that imo, the BBC should stick to the facts, including the exact words used in, say, a speech and not re-write that speech by using different, emotive, language when reporting on or reviewing such speeches

Just my opinion and sadly, that’s my play time here over for tonight.
have fun.

oh dear!

Well, as has been proven so often in the past. There’s no chance of a sensible debate on this issue on this forum. It would seem……..

So I’ll try to be brief. For those who didn’t see it, although it’s there in plain site, the key word was “high”.

The way I heard it, I believe the point trying to be made was it is likely that if immigration levels reach too high a level, such activity negatively influences social cohesion and economic stability and growth. Who’s to say that there might not be a point of fact in that conjecture?

Worse perhaps to bury heads in the sand and flood a region of the world only to find you have a different type of mess on your hands.

For what it’s worth, I’m on the fence. Obviously (and it hardly needs saying but for the benefit of the obtuse) I do agree that people in genuine need should be given sanctuary here and assistance wherever they may be, it would be inhuman to do otherwise.

However, for us as a country/society to grant unlimited and unending entrance to our Island, as much as we might like to, seems a but strange if not irresponsible.
“Yes, you can live here, we’re already stretched to breaking point (whatever that may be) and as a consequence life here isn’t as nice as it might otherwise be, but come in anyway[/i]“

It would seem a lot of things have a limit, in one form or another, so why would immigration be any different.

And finally, a bit disappointed to hear Eddy Mare on R4 this evening using the phrase “stealing jobs“.
Perhaps somewhat naively I had come to expect the BBC to be above using such emotive language, if for no other reason than to at least appear to be impartial, but failing that then at least for the reason it would otherwise make the BBC appear to think listeners are too stupid to notice their deliberate use of specific words/language.

Carry, on.
:|

deadlydarcy – Member

Mrs dd uses this one

With picture skillz such as those, it’s, it’s, almost as if Jamie heself is here.

He’d be proud of you!
;-)

I’ve a couple of those fold-flat bags they use to have at the check outs a few hundred years ago. Cost 50p at the time, IIRC. Somehow they’ve survived all these years and so are now back in active service.

Similar to this:

Thanks for the reply.

In the time elapsed between my post and yours, I have managed to find all the “spyware” stuff about W10, out there.

If I’ve understood you correctly, you’ve kind of “reserved” your W10 license, but you haven’t installed it?

I think for me, the Jury is still out. A long time ago, I purchased a computer which came with Vista (shudders) it was so awful I installed my genuine copy of XP and that machine has served me very well.
However, I remember still, the mare of finding and installing drivers for the computer and all the stuff built into it.
That isn’t something I’d want to go through again, in this lifetime.

Perhaps I’m a relatively basic computer user, but I’m doing ok with W8.1, a few short cuts and I can go straight to what I want, etc.

Yes, think I’ll sit this out for now.

Thank you.
:-)

A question if I may.

Windows 10; Yes or No?

Reason I ask (to avoid any misunderstanding) I’ve switched the damn laptop on this evening and immediately got a window appear asking me if I wanted W10.

I’m running a Lenovo (yeah, flame me I don’t care) which has W8.1.
I appear to getting along OK with W8.1, I’ve recently been migrating data from my previous laptop to this one, I’ve installed a few things, etc.

After reading the previous posts here. In Dumb-ass so that I can understand. Am I going to have to reinstall the 20-30 programs I’ve just managed to convince to work for me on my latest laptop. If I accept W10.

If I stay with W8.1 is that really going to bite me in the ass, later on?

Ta.

The right of US citizens to own and use guns as their laws currently seem to allow.
Is written in the blood and tears of the victims.

Just when will the US have had enough of this and stop it!

Distorted vision after exercise

Get dressed and go ride your bike instead.
;-)

bikebouy – Member

Erm.. Sushi to you lot would be “dirty”

So you haven’t seen what binners does with fish then, have you.

Ain’t you the lucky one.
8O

cinnamon_girl – Member

For Solo

As ever, thank you CG :-D

Though I’m sure I’ll be excused if I say I’ll pass on both, cheers.
:-)

cinnamon_girl – Member
A man bun

I’m afraid to ask…..
8O

deadlydarcy – Member
To give somebody, anybody, the benefit of the doubt,

Where on list is that? Before or just after the placing for “forgive and forget”?

To those having a snipe at OP’s sis, yeah, lay off having a dig at OP’s sister whom most don’t know and isn’t here to participate.

OP.
As we know, in the eyes of Men, Women can appear to be inconsistent, even incomprehensible.

Perhaps your sister “just needs” her brother, perhaps this is her first child, etc.
As well as if for no other reason, perhaps be a better brother to her now, than she may have been sister to you in the past.

Good luck to all.
:-)

Beards – the future?

Future? Seems like they’ve been around…. Forever.

Much like the debris from your last meal, which didn’t make past the enamel.

Beards are ghastly things.

Junkyard – lazarus
TBH interviewers [ and i really only listen to the BBC] do seem to have got much more interrogative and I heard him the other day laugh and ask to be allowed to answer the question radio 4 – he was right as well.

I heard that interview and he was far from correct but instead contradicted himself saying £120 bn of uncollected tax could be used to great effect. Only later, when pressed, did he then offer a figure of £20 bn was likely to be practicably collected.

To which the interviewer then, correctly pointed out he wasn’t paying for all the thing you can with £120 bn when in reality you’ve only £20 bn.

The Conservatives are treated equally as combatively, ime.

However, if someone was looking for bias at the BBC, check how the BBC always refer to the Conservatives as “Tories” yet the BBC refer to Labour as “Labour”

bikebouy Member
looks like Audi are included in the whole sheeebang which will of course now bring twitching curtains and denial.

Not a surprise. It’s VAG, encompassing Audi, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen.

One of the key advantages VAG have historically “enjoyed” is cross product deployments of items such as engines. Therefore, an engine installed in a VW will likely be found in vehicles under the other three brands.

piemonster – Member
Anyway, when does the VW diesel sale kick off?

Some are beginning wonder when the VW sale will kick off…….

slimjim78 – Member
Guns don’t kill people

Wrappers do?

OP going into work, tomorrow.

It’s very sad news.

A good friend travelled to mecca for hajj for the first time in their life. Taking his wife and two sisters. Very sad and worrying. I’ve no idea or way of knowing if they’re ok.

I know when they’re due to be back in the UK so can only hope I see them again.

Kryton57 – Member

So you understand you can’t force that member to post the words and links you want them to, so perhaps you could stop asking now?

I have, but when said member states a fact so clearly to argue against some of my posts that I believe to be untrue, I have the right to ask to view the evidence so I can learn from said evidence myself. I don’t see the issue in requesting that.

Yah, so ask once darling and if you don’t get your answer, then please chill and possibly resist the urge to turn this into an argue-athon.

Please.
:-)

Kryton57 – Member
apologies if my writing style comes across that way. I’m just asking you to prove your point which you were failing to do
So you understand you can’t force that member to post the words and links you want them to, so perhaps you could stop asking now?

wobbliscott – Member

The issue is that VW cheated not necessarily the means by which they cheated. VW have used a defeat device to falsify their figures, other manufacturers are undoubtedly upto similar shinannigans but via different means. I remember something about BMW and where in the system they chose to measure emissions, so selectively choosing where they placed the sensor to get the best possible results.
In your example referring to BMW, that’s just refining their system performance :|

All the manufactureres are competing with eachother on these figures, and none have ‘magic’ technology that others don’t have so it is highly likely they are all upto some form of fiddling.
Most OEMs aspire to attain certification at the lowest cost/investment Vs performance in any given test/measure of that vehicle.
History of the motor car demonstrates that those who over Engineer, seldom remain in business. So it then comes down to how each OEM approaches the challenge of meeting regs, in all areas of certification for sale in that market. Be that compliance with safety regs, emissions, lighting, etc, etc.

In anycase, despite the worse than advertised figures, the technologies incorporated into Diesel engines have been effective and have plateau’d the emissions amids a huge increase in the numbers of diesel cars, rather than reduced them as everyone was promised and expected. The biggest scandal here is how diesel was ever sold as a clean fuel in the first place. It was a perfect storm of oil companies looking to get rid of their stock piles of diesel fuel, car companies wanting to sell more cars, and governments despirately scrabbling around looking for ways to reduce CO2 emissions.
Not very convinced on the conspiracy front, but don’t take that to heart. However you touch on a good point. How dirty would petrol or diesel be these days had developed countries not introduced regs for emissions.

Poeple owning diesel cars will have to pay more for tax as cars are re-banded, the motor industry will have to compensate owners for that somehow, and we’ll all carry on and the next big push will be on petrol engined hybrid cars to replace all our filthy diesels and slighly less filthy petrol engine’d cars. Then the scandal will be about the significant environmental damage the mining of precious metals, manufacture and disposeal of batteries causes.
I feel we will be stuck with the current crop of diesel cars for some considerable time yet.
Also, I would have a problem with UK Gov if they attempted to turn to me and stiff me for re-banding. Firstly, they failed to devise a test to catch the type of system VW used. Secondly, Gov raised duty on diesel quite some years ago and has been riding that wave of increased duty ever since. Is that tacit approval?
“We won’t band diesel, we’ll just charge you more for it”….

I don’t feel Gov should punish me for their failure to devise a suitably robust test regime while they were also charging me more at the pump.

Edit:
While discussing this topic at work today, someone wondered if Petrol cars might have been subject to a similar strategy for regulatory compliance.

Just a couple of points, then I’ll leave you kids to carry on
:wink:

Parking restrictions impact business.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-33550763

IMO, there appears to be a consistently present elephant in the room, during debates about car use and pollution, etc. That being the anti car types who never seem to get round to addressing some significant issues:

i, Do they actually own/use/rely on the use of a car?

ii, If diesel is now to become overly villified, leading to signigicant financial losses for diesel car owners. What could and/or should be done about that?

iii, Are car emissions the sole cause of breathing related health issues?

I’ll state that I do own and use cars and they’re both diesel powered.

IHN – Member
Don’t worry about tyres

I didn’t, until one Sunday after a 60 kph decent, I noticed the rear tyre I’d been using on the rollers, was seperating the tread from the carcass.
8O
Now I use roller tyres.

2nd attempt!!

Yes, set up in a door way.

I destroyed road tyres on the rollers, so have now fitted Schwable insiders to a spare set of wheels I can throw into the frame for roller duties.

Enjoy!
8O

prawny – Member
Front hub slightly behind the front roller

I have the axis/spindle of the front wheel slightly forward of the axis of the front roller. Otherwise the front just drops to the floor.