I was looking at Outwell tents recently and they are very high quality. I like the all in one inner with sewn in bathtub groundsheet. I think they are sperior to the current Vango offerings.

On a recent trip I saw a Sunncamp Prism which is a radical design. Very well made with a spaceage look about it. A flexible design that is easy to pitch. Read the review and check out the immages (click on the green text). Lovely tent and I'd go for one of these because ease of pitching is a big plus.

I had viral meningitis when I was 19. It started as a sore throat. It was unlike any sore throat i'd had before or since. It became inflamed and hard making swallowing difficult.

Then came the headache – ouch! I was admitted to hospital where they did a lumbar puncture – essential for diagnosis. A thoroughly unpleasant procedure followed by no movement fo 8 hours – i was bursting for a slash by the end of it. Lying down and going to the loo is not something I could do.

I remember the doctor saying I had 80% lymphocites, whatever that meant, but they told me it was viral.

The first 48 hours are crucial. You either come through unscathed, brain damaged, or you don't make it. I think I came through unscathed (!?!). The only time my late father (who was a doctor) showed signs that he was worried when one of us was unwell.

I was put on very strong pain killers called DF118 (some opiate based drug), but these only made the pain just bearable. I had a few delerious semi-concious nights and like others' experiences, it was just weird.

It was On the 4th day the nurses wanted me to get up and serve everyone tea and I remember how painful getting up was. The pain didn't go away until I layed back down. It was in the days of matronly type wards. If they had understood the condition, they would have let me rest. In the end I asked to go home for some rest.

I was off work for a further two weeks and it took another month after that to get back to normal.

You will be very tired, so take it easy.

When are we getting an English Assembly?

Any time you vote for one.

When do we get a vote on it then donald? I don't remeber any discussion about the matter, let alone a chance to vote on it!

TandemJeremy – Member

Trouble is spongebob all those things are not either Labour or Tory policy so won't happen even if you have an assembly

Exactly! As English people don't have any representation, Labour and Conservative policy rules. This is precisiely why we aren't being offered an opportunity to vote on an English assembly.

Democracy??? What a joke! Two tier Britain where perceived minority groups get pandered to and the rest can just go screw themselves (but whilst funding all these benefits that they are excluded from benfitting from).

All that keeps the status quo is people having enough money in their pockets. As most people in England are doing ok or better than elsewhere in the UK, nothing changes, but as we get drip fed all the nonsense going on in devolved countries, we English feel increasingly discriminated against.

Devolution is all about division i'm sorry to say. A retrograde step. Scotland wants her independance now. We are now getting into arguments about who has the rights to Northsea gas and oil. If we had remained as a union, without devolved governments, this negative feeling would not have been given the time of day.

People who talk about digital cable quality affecting picture performance are talking nonsense! It's like discussing "snake oil" – check out Russ Andrews website for pages and pages of unparalleled twaddle.

Digital data transmission is all ones and noughts and dropped bits get made up by parity checking. Any quality of cable will work. Some may drop bits, but parity always takes care of it.

Make sure you get a cable with good screening, gold plated connectors, but don't pay much more than a tenner.

If you want an analogue interconnect, or speaker cable, then there are significant differences between types. It's not an exact science and experimentation is the only way to find out. I was a big sceptic until my local Audio-T lent me some hugely expensive speaker cables. To my surprise, they made a big difference. The price tag was just silly and I could not justify the expense, but they were awesome.

For DAB to work, it usually requires a decent and static aerial. I can't imagine DAB works well on the move unless technology has improved markedly. I have recently bought another DAB radio that is no different to the older one I have, it was just cheaper.

DAB has been talked about for well over a decade. I had a PURE Evoke radio bought for me 6 years ago. It's not stunningly better than an FM radio. I don't see what all the fuss is about with DAB. Sound quality is actually inferior, it's just that we are so used to cheap receivers with very nasty speakers etc.

DAB technology is eco-unfriendly v traditional radios and this energy hungry digital technology is therefore not suited to portable devices.

I hear that analogue radio is to be switched off in a few years. This is insane seeing as there must literally be millions of FM/AM sets out there. What an uneccessary eco disaster! What an inconvenience, annoyance and penalty for radio owners.

DAB has been/is being sold at a hefty premium, but in many areas you still can only pick up a handful of stations, or none!

I think DAB is dead for all uses except outside the home. Given the big question mark about reception and power consumption whilst mobile, I think it's a dead duck. Internet radio will kill DAB for sure.

I stayed at the Great Langdale NT site last weekend. Not the best run campsite I have stayed on (by a country mile) and is a bit expensive for what was on offer. Not having stayed on an NT campsite site before, but having many years experience of the NT's heritage sites, I was rather disappointed.

TandemJeremy – Member

And its purpose would be?

To name but a few…..

To allow the English:
To get free NHS prescriptions
To abolish univesity student fees
To have free parking at hospitals
To have wheelclamping banned
To have financial assistance for elderly people who have to go into a home and not having their homes forcibly flogged off below market value by incompetent council staff.
To be able to vote for an ENP (English National Party)-and not be branded a racist.

Devolution has worked for Wales, Ireland and Scotland, so why not England too?

How about equality and fair play?????

Thanks guys! I'll be seeking out one of these as soon as funds permit.

Daft for who? Seems like O2 will do rather nicely out of this. They certainly did well with the iPhone exclusivity.

Daft for them and for us! Limiting the network choice limits the customer and in turn the handset manufactuter. How many thousands of potential customers can't get a reliable signal on O2, but a good one on other networks? How many people find a better deal on a different network? It's severely limiting for the user, the customer!

The iPhone has done well regardless of the restrictive choice of network. I'm at a loss to understand why frankly.
Don't you see, Apple have pulled off a great marketing campaign? They are charging a great deal for their contracts (£909 for a the current cheapest contract, 24 months and which includes £87 for the 16gb handset). They even hike the price of a handset by £90 for an additional 16gb of storage – more than double the cost of a micro SD card of the same capacity. Then there are other considerations like what happens after the battery ceases to hold a charge?

The exclusive deal with O2 was about securing and controlling the sale of content to Apple iPhone users. So after your £1000 outlay for your 32gb hanset with airtime etc, they still want more off you! Well they clearly know that there's one born every minute eh! 😆

I love the sound of seagulls. Reminds me of the seaside, my childhood, happy carefree days.

Get some earplugs, double glazing etc.

Give yourself a much wider choice of vehicles, get a roofbox and a bike rack!

Give yourself a much wider choice of vehicles, get a roofbox and a bike rack!

*According to Wikipedia, of course.

Anyone can update Wikipedia. It’s therefore unsafe to rely on it as a source of information.

Police in riot gear trapping peaceful demonstrators and agitating them to the point where they lash out is not a new thing. The term “kettling ” is a new one on me, but describes the tactic well – “fill kettle and bring to the boil”.

I know one guy who belongs to this “force”, the TSG. He told me well over a decade ago that he enjoys a good punch up at these “events”. He also gets very well paid. For him it’s a win win situation. The downside is that he must retire in a couple of years. He’s done brilliantly out of it. He’ll be on a good pension and will carry on his casual building job which he’s been doing due to the loads of days off he gets.

I know people who protested at the introduction of the hunting ban and who witnessed Police brutality. Not that I support hunting, it’s a sad person’s passtime IMHO. The point is that these country pursuits people are mainly affluent peaceful law abiders (unlike some of the “wing nuts” you get at demonstrations like the G20)

Demonstrating is a mugs game IMHO. Democracy? Hahahahahahahahaha Labour have banned democracy.

stfu cynic-al!

Why should he want to convince you ?

..Why shouldn’t he?

Why should he have to justify his beliefs to you ?

…Why shouldn’t he? Does he not have the courage of his convictions?

Who are you ?

… A free thinker! I’m not frightened by the stupidity of the Old Testament. The “believe in me or burn in hell” nonsense. etc etc etc. Utter rubbish!

I’m asking for tyger to explain his irrational beliefs. Oh but we can’t question religion now can we?

Why should he want to convince you ?

Why should he have to justify his beliefs to you ?

Who are you ?

Why shouldn’t he want to convince me?

Why shouldn’t he justify his beliefs? If they are that important to him, wouldn’t he care about spreading the word?

I’m someone not scared to question unfounded dogma.

Pat Condell’s latest video on the Burkha[/url]

Pat Condell’s latest video about the Burkha[/url]

tyger – Member

BTW since you asked, I do play guitar in church but it’s an electric guitar and the style is not far removed from U2 – Happy-Clappy that’s very 80’s matey LOL!

My belief is in a loving God and a Devil who wants your destruction at all costs. I respect the Bible as a historic book and also as “God’s word” but that doesn’t mean that it’s an easy book in many ways. The Old Testament can be attributed as God’s law however the New Testament is very much God’s grace. Nothing to fault with Christ’s teaching as recorded in the Bible but I’m not someone who will force their beliefs on others (hopefully). Being a Christian to me is not just about a ticket to Heaven but rather about knowing that you’re loved and forgiven (faults and all) by a loving God.

Can you convince me with the tiniest thread of evidence about how you justify your belief and that you aren’t just talking a complete load of imagined twaddle?

It is a Toymota!

Maybe Aston Martin will be rebadging Luis Viton handbags next.

Looks like a Toymota! 😆

Internet and mail order regulations mean thet the seller is legally obliged to pay for returns, but only if you ask first.

Send them back and take up jogging until they are fixed.

Good luck!

Cuba £399 return

Me too!!

Rudeboy has infected us! 👿

Send him a mail telling him he has a couple of days to collect as you haven’t heard from him. Tell him if you don’t hear back in two days, you will offer it to someone else.

I spent a few weekends in central Scotland many years ago. Mile upon mile of mini roundabouts and horrible boxy houses. The women were hot though.

Two wires coming in off the street is correct.

At the master socket, (to identify this you will see components on it’s pcb – capacitors/diodes etc) a third wire is connected. This wire connects to the same terminal to all exteensions throughout. This wire enables the extensions to ring.

There is a newer type of master socket with a small cover. This easily allows the user to disconnect all extensions so BT can check the line when you report a fault – saves them wasted call outs – they don’t take responsibility for extension cabling problems in the main.

There is a maximum number of extensions you can have on one line. I think it’s 4, can’t remember, but each handset has a REN value (ring equivalent number). Exceed the REN capability of your line and hansets may not ring.

Check the handset ringer is not switched to silent.
Check there are no broken wires to any of your sockets.
Check you haven’t exceeded the REN limit of your line.
If you have broadband, make sure each socket has an ADSL line filter plugged in.

Skype out lets you call landlines from your PC anywhere in the world for around 2p a minute (most developed countries)

You buy a 10 Euro credit upfront.

Skype in gives you a number people can call from any phone. A local number can be chosen for most counties.

Skype to Skype is of course free.

I remember back in the 90’s. I was doing 80mph in the fast lane on the M25 with nowhere else to move to, but had some big guy in a Volvo 2-3 feet off my bumper flashing me after flying up behind me. I saw him coming and estimated he’d been doing 120mph plus. He kept it up for over a minute before I had a chance to get over. This has happened a few times over the 950,000-1000,000 miles i’ve been driving.

That sort of behaviour makes me feel like I want to become insanely violent – these cxxks treat your life as if it was completely expendable! This is the reason why we have a road rage problem – aggressive drivers threaten lives! When caught, i’d have these idiots’ licenses revoked for at least a year after which they would have to undergo a highly rigourous test to get a new license – a license that permanently indicated they were a risk to the public. I’d hope that insurers raised their premiums to several times the value of their car to put them off behaving like this in the first place. Aggressive driving in my view is a vastly more serious offence than drink driving – not that I condone drink driving in any way.

Every now and then, “Mr Braindead little cxxk big ego” rocks up and intimidates me and others. He always get away with it and reporting such offences is totally futile in my experience.

I am so glad I don’t have to drive much these days. I have become one of these people with zero tolerance if provoked by very aggressive driving. I manage to keep calm and drive sedately, but with purpose and smoothly. This is made very difficult, impossible every now and then.

Why don’t the autorities do something about this problem instead of penalising motorists who fail to spot a very conservative speed limit and get caught by the inevitable speed trap that follows?

People who choose big cars like Audi Q7’s often do so to allow themselves to bully and intimidate other road users. These vehicles are unsafe for all, incompatible with our roads and other vehicles, gross , a greater risk to pedestrians, massge the inflated egos of trully diminutive people. You don’t need a big car to be Mr Big!

As ironic as that advert for Scottish beef a few years ago…The one portraying English men as being obese, whilst all Scotsmen were all sixpacked and lean Kaber tossers.

Nothing could be more misleading, except for,,,,no I shouldn’t 😆

Hasn’t this thread got boring yet?

There’s a canal through Regent’s park. Runs from Islinton to the Thames near Teddington.

Not sure how safe the canal is though.

I heard that in some places, people were getting pushed in the canal so muggers could steal their bikes.

Samsung have 7 hr batteries alegedly, but test show that they outrun other brands.

If you can wait, there are some lower power integrated processor/HD graphics chips. They should be out by Autumn. Can’t remeber the name, but it’s an Intel chip.

igm – Member

Like a catholic work ethic, but doesn’t believe in Paypal authority

I concur with that idea about “Geypal”, but i’m an aetheist.

Sorry to hear your news. I lost my dad 4 years ago. All tha family were there at the time. It was harsh. Then my sister died suddenly in an accident 2 years later. The shock of this loss blew the remaing family members away for a while. It has been a tough couple of years, but thankfully, life is getting back to some semblance of normality now.

You still have time left, time to discuss things, mentally prepare for the inevitable as best you can. The sudden loss of a sibbling was much harder as there was no goodbyes, no preparation, just total shock.

I’d see if you can bring the wedding forward.

I wish you all the best.

Samsung N series are the best at the moment

Tomtom One Europe.

coffeeking – Member

This is about stupid women with too much money and time on their hands and who have never done a day’s graft in their soft mollycoddled lives.

Possibly not, they could be lawyers on maternity leave, enjoying the break. Or any number of things, but I suppose that wouldnt make a fun thread title would it

Erm, no, neither of them work. Never have done. The Q7 driver has recently switched from a Range Rover 4.6HSE.

No pics. That would be very pervy! 😆

What is this “protestant work ethic” thing? I have never heard of this.

Do explain.