I too drive an Audi but there the similarity ends because a conceited little willy-waving “my dad’s car is better than yours” knobber I am not.

Hi Bream

I do exactly that – build interactive online training/elearning. Too complex to explain in a post, but PM an email (in profile) and I’ll get back to you.

EDIT: tis complex because variables include; budget, level of interactivity and assessing, SCORM and LMS requirements (if any) etc.

mind you its safer than gardening, mate of mine split his face open when he tripped putting the lawnmower away

That’s quality.

On a similar note, I remember visiting B&Q with my ex about 10 years ago because she’s just moved and was looking for gardening kit – specifically a lawnmower. Whilst browsing, she gets a call from her brother who said, “Guess where I am? In A&E after severing my toes with the lawnmower.” T’was worthy of a chuckle or two.

Having spent 7 weeks off due to family/work/blahblah commitments, I was looking forward to getting back out today. This was emphasised even more after spending yesterday evening sorting out my drivetrain issue followed by servicing hubs/BB etc. But then today I went and fell against a tree and punctured my forearm in two places on a couple of very sharp bits.

A truly odd moment of clumsiness. Messy swelling, bloody painful, plus tingles down wrist and into fingers. Missus is demanding I go to A&E for checkup and tetanus in the morning. Most unexpected.

Was most weird watching the swelling ‘inflate’ while I removed the two offending bits of spiny twig. Looked like it was being pumped up.

Cheers guys (well, mainly Steve).

I remember what to do now. No idea why I was thinking of a puller – harking back to pre-HT II days.

I was being a knobber and thinking about the need for a crank puller. Doh. I’ll go away now.

Very articulate interview from Klitschtko.

Not sure about the busted toe excuse from Haye. This morning his team did everything they could to dismiss rumours of an injury and said he’s in perfect shape.

Laughable of Haye to raise a fist as the scores were read out.

Full credit to Klitschko – did everything he needed to and kept the ego that is Haye at bay.

IMO Haye didn’t win more than one round.

Terribly lacklustre performance from the self-proclaimed HayeMaker. If he goes on to lose on points (which looks the likely outcome) then I just hope he admits to being outclassed.

Maybe he’s saving his guns for R12, but I doubt it. He looks shot to me.

I remember this like it was yesterday:

Mainly loose. 100 grade rings a bell so I’ll grab some of them.

Cheers

Just bought an iPad2 and have to say we’re a bit disappointed, perhaps our expectations were too high. Bought direct from Apple.

Disappointed as in …?

We’re also facing a large bill from EON and it appears both parties are at fault. Long story cut short is they now reckon we’re using 55kwh/day which equates to £200/month (3 people in 3 bed house)! I’ve even given them readings (25-35kwh/day) to disprove this but they won’t listen. So I’m looking to pay the final outstanding and shift providers.

They even reckon 10 people came round to read the meter in an 18 month period, all of whom logged ‘Unable to read meter’, i.e. nobody was in etc. Which is bollocks because I work from home most of the time, and having checked the dates I was at home on every occasion. My take is that they couldn’t find the house – which is par for the course given where we live – and just carried on their way. Hence estimates got well out of hand and subsequently loads under what we were really using.

The whole utility price spiral is getting so out of hand now. We’re over a barrel so what can you do …

Pay up and find a better deal elsewhere.

@spacemonkey – I simply refuse to believe that any postmen are hard working or honest. The evidence is right in front of me. I demand you retract that balanced argument and polarise yourself immediately!

Okay, maybe ‘hard working’ is pushing it a bit where posties are concerned 🙂

Still, if the missus or I are expecting a particular letter or parcel then we can text/Facebook him and he’ll look out for it. He’s even met us in town to drop stuff off.

Our postie’s a top bloke. He pops in most days for a chat and has the odd cuppa etc. He and the missus recently came round for dinner – which has since been reciprocated.

Just like any role in life; some people are decent, honest and hard-working; others are the opposite.

Hmm, more arse biscuits. Jockey wheels fine. Cables fine.

Tried another wheel (with new and old chain/cassette combos) and no skipping at all. But that wheel is properly buckled so not going to be using that as a short-term measure. And the Hope freehub is yonks old, but not causing a problem. And there’s a fair amount of play too.

Put original wheel back on and the skipping reappears. Freehub seems okay and there’s no play.

Doing my head in. LBS jobby methinks.

2002, but I did go walkabout 2004-08.

I remember the exodus of loads of Surrey Hills/ND riders to Chocolate Foot. Can’t say that was the most civilised of places to hang out though.

Yep, MyP2P is your friend if you don’t subscribe to the Bank of Sky.

Originally wanted Haye to win – being British an’ all – but he’s such a cocky disrespectful **** that he’s asking for his comeuppance. Klitschko on the hand has been very articulate and down-to-earth. So now quite happy if the latter wins.

Can see Haye taking him out in the latter rounds but can also see him struggling to get near because of reach disadvantage etc.

De Gale – another cocky git.

I think Haye also has Groves in his team – at least I think I heard him interviewed on TS a couple of days ago. One of the first things he said was something like, “… yeah, when David decapitates him …”. I mean, WTF? No wonder the Russian’s manager is pissed off because he feels Haye is demeaning all that is great about the British attitude to decency and fair play in sport etc.

Pantomime ego and bullshit. Haye to lose in round 9.

Cogs 2 and 4 are now fine, but FFS no amount of rear mech adjustment is doing anything for 3. Chain just refuses to sit properly and skips up. Arse.

Nope – mech and hangar totally fine.

Skipping happens even when not under loads. Chain doesn’t seem to always want to sit properly on the cog.

Time for rear mech adjustment mayhem?

Yep, we have one specific part of the kitchen where weird stuff happens, normally around 10:30pm every few months or so. Plus stuff goes missing and reappears in totally out of the way places. And lights come on upstairs.

We do live in a 400yr old house though.

potato on the exhaust pipe. if he’s pissed he’ll never work it out

I remember me and a mate crammed our post-clubbing kebab ‘wrappers’ up someone’s exhaust on the walk home a few years ago. Drove past a few hours later and there he was under the bonnet with his pipe still pugged up.

Oh how we laughed.

Thanks guys. A few bits of realism there to add food for thought – which is what I was looking for.

My profession is pretty niche but can be broadened, although I’ve ‘created’ my role from previous experiences because this is what I want to focus on for now. So that may hinder me. I respect their approach for being what appears to be more hardline to people ‘moving in’, so it might be a case of contacting Canadian companies to see if they have any work. Might be able to get some contract stuff to begin with. Who knows?

Outdoor life certainly is one of the pluses. But if average house prices and the cost of living are as high as they sound then it may not be such a realistic option.

Maybe I’m going through a phase of being pissed off at the Gov for taking such a big chunk of my earnings while doing seemingly little to make this rock a more socially adept place to live and work. Either way, I can’t help but feel this place is going down the shitter for another generation or so.

Damn, just wrote a lengthy reply and then the storm cut everything off.

thebunk, no we haven’t been there yet, but it’s on our holiday shortlist. Friends who’ve spent time there (inc one who lived there for years) all seemed to dig it; people, cost and standard of living, environment/outdoors, property, and general vibe etc. Naturally that doesn’t mean we’d feel the same, so yes we’d have to spend some time there first. We’re just speculating at the mo.

CH, I’d prefer to get a job offer in place – I guess that’s the tricky part.

LOL at Ned.

Not the most logical or intuitive site that’s for sure.

Is that all you’ve got against him TJ?

Pretty much everything funkynick says. Whilst it IS a salary top-up, you need to check if you’re restricted to certain cars. Maybe not as strict a policy as a company car – but some businesses do expect employees to own certain cars and maintain them to a certain standard for XYZ reasons.

I decided to keep my A4 and just accepted the allowance as an extra few grand. Mileage allowance can be pants – so get that checked too.

Check out the VX220 forum[/url].

I bought one for my VXT about 6-7 years ago, but can’t remember which one or how much it cost. Was bloody good though.

Also look into common faults (if you haven’t already), because there are some simple fixes for a few of the everyday ‘things’ that affect the car in some way. E.g. water ingress (turbos only), heater knob problems, windows dropping down, best places for tyres (Bracknell Tyres if you’re in that neck of the woods), geo setups, etc.

Oh, and get the car on a track if that’s your bag … and maybe spend a day with Walshy. He had Schumacher’s drive all those years ago and really knows how to throw a car around.

Given that the identifying number on the wheel nut key on my Mondeo is actually a colour, I’d be surprised if the number of possible variants got particularly far into double figures.

Our’s is apparently an 8 digit code though …

What a bunch of arse. Buyer just emailed to pull out – didn’t even call!

Original main dealer doesn’t record such codes even on cars as new as 07. But they say every dealer has a master so I’m going to push on that front.

£200 was generally what local dealers wanted for chiseling plus replacement set etc.

Cheers guys

Yep, locking wheel nut removal key.

While I myself say there nowt nor ought there be nothing so exalted on the face of God’s grey earth as that prince of foods . . . The Full English!

This.

My fav pre-ride (morning) meal is defo eggs/bacon/toast/beans and tea. Nothing comes close.

Fav pre-ride (pm) meal is tuna/pasta/pesto.

Cereals/porridge just don’t give me the slow-release that I expect – don’t know why.

Men-U’s range of products, including their shaving gel, are excellent. Checkout Mankind.

I’m with BU and the other so-called killjoys here because this is exactly the kind of shit that’s going to do nothing but harm regarding the public’s perception of MTBing in the area.

Where are the notices and the marshals, etc?

What’s going to happen if a walker gets hit? Or their dog? Or little child?

It’s all very well a bunch of riders tearing around BWs and ‘proper’ trails in the way that most of us do on group rides, but having respect for other ‘users’ must remain paramount. Organising an unofficial race along BWs (FFS!) devoid of notices/marshals is just wrong. Even more so when the adrenaline of ‘the race’ kicks in, with people jostling for positions/placing/lines etc.

The bloke and his dog in the vid are damn lucky. If I was taking my family along part of that ‘route’ and a rider hit my dog, then I’d likely remove his forks and beat the shit out of him with them.

Smacks of a total disregard for other people.

If people want to race with numbers like that, then do it properly. Or FRO.

My ex emigrated there 5 years ago. After spending a few months researching jobs and homes etc, she booked a flight/accomm and then basically toured around for a few weeks. Managed to fit in pretty much everything she wanted before coming home buzzing. Within 9 months she had a new life; moved to Aukland, bought a house, started a new job, shipped over all her stuff + our dog and that was it.

She never discussed the details of how she ‘qualified’, but put it this way, she had pots of cash, skills and experience in her field (sales) and was very diligent in her pre-qual.

Taking the dog wasn’t an issue. Nor was shipping the car (by container ship!). I think she spent £20k on costs overall.

Was very happy in the beginning, but the job turned to shit and the ‘romance’ was over. But she met s new bloke and everything picked up again.

HTH

There’s nothing so steep that you’re going slip back down, so just go SPD. It’s not like you can’t walk in them.

Idris was immense in The Wire. And he’s good in Luther, but IMO he has to keep bigging up his maverick attitude and ends up doing stuff that’s either OTT or just unlikely.

Just another cop show where the threads and ending are hammed together.

EDIT: And I remember seeing him interviewed a year or two ago and IMO he came across as an arrogant prick. I don’t think that’s the real ‘him’ though.

Should I finish the remaining half-bottle* of wine is my quandry.

* Likely to become one-quarter by the time I hit Send Post.