Yep I’ve used the free one for years. Just ensure you select the right things to clean up and you should be fine.

I bought a job lot of Culture books many moons ago. Tried reading PoG and UoW but had no idea what was happening. Despite that, I’ve always said that one day I would persevere and all would click. Not sure when that day is, but I think I need to find myself a beginners guide to the Culture first.

Ours was in a horrid mess when we bought it a few years ago. Went through pricing options (space for 5 cars) and it was insanely expensive and unjustifiable. So I ripped up half of it and replaced with proper MOT etc then added 20mm shingle on top. A complete transformation for ‘only’ the cost of aggregate and a lot* of digging/shovelling.

*I dug up the entire front lawn at the same time and re-turfed it. In all (lawn and driveway), I got rid of 18 tonnes of rubble/earth by hand. It took a lot of work over several weekends during winter. Not something I’d take on again, but we’re happy with the end result.

Our Hermes woman has been serving this locale for years and is very reliable (and a bit bonkers). IME it’s the machinations happening around the hubs/depots that cause most of the problems.

Watched The Courier last week. An excellent portrayal of the true story of an everyday chap who became involved in some Cold War espionage back in the 60s. Cumberbatch on good form again. Avoid looking up the details of what happened until after you’ve watched it – one can’t begin to imagine how he must have felt throughout.

After laying a new patio here last summer, I decided to put off sealing and pointing until this spring… hence this is on my radar.

As above, Sika gets a thumbs down from a lot of pros and customers. A mate used it on his 2 years ago and chunks of it blew out over that winter. EASYJoint is top of my list, as is another I can’t remember the name of. Not cheap, and even when applying wet etc, it’s going to take longer than expected.

Spark was faultless for me for 2-3 years. I only stopped using it on my iPad when I realised I only used my phone or MacBook to do email stuff.

I’m trying to put off buying ER by returning to Horizon Zero Dawn (bloody excellent BTW when you get properly into it) and picking up a copy of the gothic horror classic Bloodborne.

This wasn’t a cafe – it was a trailer in a car park

Allez Nutrition at the top of Staple Lane per chance?

Best VFM in the area has to be Peaslake Stores. Unfortunately supply chain issues during Covid impacted their range, but they’re still my go to chomp stop.

Spacemonkey ps5.

NP, Xbox would be my preference.

@duckman Which version? PC, Xbox or PS?

Well, both your experiences sound similar to what I’m looking for, so that’s a positive.

BTW, I’ve just found this (apparently, little known) tip for sorting one’s inventory.

How much inventory/spell management/crafting do you HAVE to do continue progressing? From some of the walkthroughs I’ve seen, it appears some people are willing to spend ages on this.

I CBA with it these days – much prefer a hack n slash with a bit of thinking here and there.

Old inner tubes here, with zip ties either end. Never had one wear or detach in several years yet.

That Igor Shushko chap wrote this on his 2000 word FSB tweet:

“Our conditional deadline is June. Conditional because in June there will be no economy left in Russia – there will be nothing left.”

Is that possible?

For an army that it supposedly badly prepared and supplied the Russians are causing an awful lot of damage and misery.

I imagine the artillery etc doing the shelling are in locations the Ukrainians have been unable to hit (regularly and reliably?). And the Russians seems happy to flatten whatever they want and be indiscriminate about it.

Granted, there’s only two of us living here, but I use plenty of electricity and the washing machine (and in winter, tumble dryer) is constantly on

Only 2 adults in the house… what can you possibly be doing to have the washing machine on permanently?

IME it’s only kids that make that possible.

My missus is a Bose fan girl and recently bought a Bose 500 for £290. Plenty of critics eulogise its sound quality, but we’ve yet to push it and don’t have any other similar speakers to compare it with.

I still prefer old school amps and multi-speaker setups but also want to be minimalist.

I think YT isn’t supported via BT but does work via Airplay on Apple devices.

I’d be somewhat surprised if “the Oligarchs” haven’t put a very large price on Putin’s head by now. Collectively, he’s cost them untold billions of dollars and ruined (or certainly heavily restricted) their lifestyle.

This is where I think I see Putin’s reign coming to an end. If a group of like-minded individuals, eg oligarchs, members of his security forces, or those in his political inner circle, can get each other’s trust enough to arrange a hit or coup then maybe it’ll happen.

Was just about to post this.

Absolute legend, character and one of a kind.

Watched his docu on Prime a few weeks ago and it did a great job showing his upbringing and how he nearly took a very different path in life. He looked so well too.

Gone way too early.

RIP Shane.

our club Redhill cc has a route near Horne

Horne and surrounding area is a good shout. Quiet roads for much of the day and some very flat sections too (east to west more than north to south).

I’m not a fan of the A217 myself, especially the stretch from Woodhatch to Hookwood (and beyond, as mentioned above) due to close passes.

How old is your lad and how proficient/confident on a bike? I used to TT from age 15 (often up and down stretches of the A24, eg N Holmwood to Capel and back as it happens) in something like 24-25 mins.

I’m not suggesting use a road bike on the A24 given the number of idiots about, more a case of figuring out age and fitness etc.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich says he is planning to sell the Premier League club.

And donating all net proceeds to “victims of the war in Ukraine.” Not exactly being explicit is he, so one wonders how much of that will end up with families in Russia vs families in Ukraine…

Man on Wire, a 2008 documentary about Philipe Petit who wired walked between the World Trade Centre towers.

+1. Watched it a few years ago after a recommendation here. Quite a character and very much worth watching.

Having now finished S1 of Ted Lasso last night, I’m going to revise my rating to ‘good’. The first 5 episodes are brilliant, and I gave it some slack even though the players were sooo stereotypically cheesy and many of their lines (and Ted’s) poorly scripted. But the second half of the series indulges in more and more of the latter, tries too hard and becomes quite a strain at times IMO.

If you do it in peak summer then be prepared for the heat. It can easily reach 30deg+ and there is pretty much no cover, so you’re exposed the whole way. And if you’re a sweat beast like me then take loads of electrolytes to fuel up those tap stops.

It’s an epic ride, but bloody hard.

@Kryton57 – his circle of scummy ministers are only there to get wealthy and perpetuate that wealth for their descendants. Multi-billionaires gain nothing from nuclear war as everyone will be dead (mutually assured destruction).

It’s not going to happen. If US/NATO invaded Russia and were about to win that would be a very different retaliatory scenario.

He’s just a shitbag winding up the west hoping to cause panic and stock market tumbles. They’ve built up a huge domestic currency reserve beforehand to ride out months of economic isolation.

Yup, I’m inclined to agree. Putin wants to make out he holds all the cards prior to ‘meeting’ Zelenskyy. However, once the latter calls his bluff, Putin will have a ‘Hitler downfall’ moment… and that’s when he’ll realise that not everyone in his gang is a ‘yes’ man.

According to Zelenskiy’s insta feed an hour ago, he thought Turkey had indeed blocked off the Black Sea. Maybe Erdogan committed a bit early and then had second thoughts re repercussions? Let’s hope he sees it through.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CacTW7sAtta/

I am grateful to my friend @rterdogan and the people of Turkey for their strong support. The ban on Russia’s passage of warships into the Black Sea and significant military and humanitarian support for Ukraine today are very important. We will never forget that!

Just had the Bulb email too…

From 1 April, our prices will be increasing

We’re increasing our electricity unit rate from 21.547p to 29.484p per kWh and electricity standing charge from 24.027p to 41.660p per day.

We’re increasing our gas unit rate from 4.052p to 7.319p per kWh and standing charge from 26.112p to 27.219p per day…

…It’s now around four times higher than it was a year ago.

To say I’m mightily pi55ed off paying a 300% hike over prices 12 months ago is an understatement.

I feel very sorry for those who can’t afford it and have to choose between eating, heating etc. Sad times.

Just wanted to mention that we received our Sofology sofas 3 weeks ago. Very happy TBH.

The initial delivery was scheduled for a Friday but we never received email confirmation or the text updates so that particular delivery never happened. I was annoyed but mistakes happen and I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Phoned them Sat 9am, a chirpy chap apologised and promised they’d arrived on the Monday. Cue Sun afternoon I received email confirmation, then Mon morning I got the text updates and then a call when the driver was 30 mins away. 3 very nice chaps did the unloading and put them in situ.

Excellent quality and service o far.

I spotted that Boeing docu last night but fancied something rather more lighthearted, so we watched the first 2 episodes of Ted Lasso. Absolutely brilliant. Sure, some of the players have some pretty wooden lines, but the manager and his coach are endearing enough to get you on their side.

Also tried E1 of Severance on Apple over the weekend. There might be a cool premise in there somewhere but both of us were probably too tired to handle its mindbending nature. Might go back to it when we’re more switched on.

Yes, CF is a genius, and a very entertaining one at that.

As for pointless videos, too many influential YTers are knocking out BS content because they know it gets clicks. Yes, I’m looking at you Mr Beast, the Morgz family and many more. Unfortunately, there is so much money to be made* and popularity to be gained, that it becomes IMO a cycle of addiction. What’s especially sad is that a lot of kids lap it up and aspire to be the same.

* they also have the ability to re-invest that money (in a bid to outdo their YT competitors), hence throwing around houses, cars and huge sums of cash as “prizes”

For anything of significant value, eg the Macbook I sold 15 months ago, I use RM tracked/signed/insured.

IMO it’s not worth the hassle of saving a fiver here and there on the off chance something goes wrong.

Anyone picked up any cool kits (discounted or otherwise) this half-term? I just ordered the ECTO-1 for £135 (RRP £180) because I loved the film as a kid and fancy a fun, nostalgic build.

+1 Narcos.

We watched a few episodes last year and it doesn’t pull any punches, so much so the my missus found it too intense to keep watching. Very well produced and something I’ll pick back up one day.

Watched Power of the Dog on and off over the last week. Bit of a slow burn for sure, and despite a strong performance from BC, I can’t see why it justifies all the Oscar-winning furore. Maybe it’s because one of the underlying threads is a trendy topic right now, and it ticks the panoramic scenery box with the Montana mountains? An okay watch and not your normal Western (albeit set in the 20s) for sure.

Yep, I also watched E1 last week because I’m a fan of Tom, but found it awkward, disjointed and not particularly funny. Will watch E2 at some point, but am not in any rush.

Not a patch on King Gary which is brilliant.

I switched from Vodafone (20+ years trouble free customer) to Voxi a few months ago because I decided to buy my latest phone outright and experiment with the market.

It’s basically Vodafone’s network without the telephone-based customer service. Dirt cheap and they often do deals like double data, free social media streaming etc.

The only negative I’ve experienced is signal drops in remote areas probably more than with pure Vodafone.

Not an issue 99% of the time for me.

The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell (of Sharpe fame). First of a trilogy placing the Arthurian legend at the period of Saxon invasions following Rome’s withdrawal.

I read the trilogy 20 years ago and it’s great. I don’t care how much of it is ‘unhistorical’. I also very much enjoyed Helen Hollick’s Harold the King around the same time.

Fast forward to now and currently I’m working through these on Audible:
– The Korean War (Max Hastings)
– The Blade Itself (Joe Abercrombie)
– Dark Matter (Michelle Paver)