Would reporting an incident like this to the Police make a difference? My experience is that the Police will do nothing.

It doesn’t help when you sit and watch Philip Schofield and Fern Britain berating cyclists on national TV as agressive yobs who disrespect all other road users. They made a comment about how a cyclist abused someone when they stepped off the pavement without looking. Pedestrians who step off a kerb without looking deserve to get knocked down – it’s their responsibility to look first! This happened to my mate riding in Tokyo last month. He’s getting sued by the pedestrian! That’s the law in Japan!?!?

I’m afraid the UK public attiude to cycling is largely stuck in the dark ages. Many people think that cyclists are just wierdo environmentalists or just social misfits who can’t afford a car. Or they ingnorantly and/or selfishly regard cyclists as a bloody nuisance!

On the flip side. Some cyclists do disregard the rules and there is an significant element of clueless idiots on two wheels who are a danger to themselves as well as other road users.

We can’t win! Especially when it’s you and 20-30lbs of bike, versus a tonne or more of highly powered steel driven by incompetent and/or agressive idiots!

LMFAO @ Hora!

I’d put a sign in her front garden. “Get more from your Veg – Free demonstration at …..”

Or the people who pedal on the arches of their feet, toes poking out like Charlie Chaplin. Totally uncool!!

Always wear a helmet! You never know when you are going to get taken out by “numpty” while riding on the road – almost happened to me 48hrs ago! My mate would be dead if he hadn’t bought a helmet the day before he went over the bars and “head planted” on a cricket ball sized rock. The helmet split in two, his head did not!

Wearing a good helmet is also cool. It demontrates that you are an enthusiast, not the sort of person that is too tight to buy proper clothing and safety gear! You know, the type that ride in jeans or baggy chain snagging jogging bottoms, untied laces, no gloves, no SPD shoes etc. It is this sort of person who is uncool, not the properly attired cyclist.

Always wear a helmet! You never know when you are going to get taken out by “numpty” while riding on the road – almost happened to me 48hrs ago! My mate would be dead if he hadn’t bought a helmet the day before he went over the pars and “head planted” on a cricket ball sized rock. The helmet split in two, his head did not!

Wearing a good helmet is also cool. It demontrates that you are an enthusiast, not the sort of person that is too tight to buy proper clothing and safety gear! You know, the type that ride in jeans or baggy chain snagging jogging bottoms, untied laces, no gloves, no SPD shoes etc. It is this sort of person who is uncool, not the properly attired cyclist.

How about a wee drop of four star?

My solution is:

Tax town centre warehouse pubs selling cheap drinks.

Fine people admitted to hospital when drunk. If they can’t pay, 48 hrs drying out in the slammer.

Fine or imprison adults that buy/sell alchohol to minors.

Tackle social attitudes to alchohol consumption and outlaw any promotion of binge drinking culture.

The education of this minority is the key!

How many politicians use a pub on a regular basis? No pub that I have been sell cheap drinks except the warehouse pubs in town centres. I don’t drink a lot these days because it’s an expensive habit. I drink very little at home because, for me, drinking is a social passtime.

I am not convinced setting a minimum price will make any difference to the idiots that feel the need to drink themselves into oblivion. Most of us have tried it once and that should be sufficient warning as to what you are doing to your body.

I don’t see why heavy drinkers shouldn’t pay for the uneccessary burden they present to the Police, the NHS and the rest of society.

I think that some excessive drinkers have mental health issues and should get support, but they should pay for this. Of course many wouldn’t be able to pay.

It’s time we made people aware of the cost they needlessly present to society.

Why should all those who toe the line have to cough up for these idiots?

Sounds like it is not fit for the purpose. Sale of good act can help you in some circumstances up to six years after the date of purchase.

Get together with other owners and start a class action.

Don’t give up, keep giving them pressure.

Specialized are big enough to take the knock and would not like the negative publicity.

This thread makes me want a hardtail with rigid carbon forks!

Good luck.

Saw at least 10 roadies out today (when I took my life in my hands and dusted off the roadbike to ride on a public highway).

Out of those ten riders, two appeared to ignore my friendly knod. I think these are the sort of people that take their cycling (and themselves) far too seriously!

Off road wins hands down in my book. Much safer away from the brain dead maniacs who propel their 1 tonne missiles at vulnerable road users!

Got Fox and Rockshox kit. Ok if you look after them. Reading this makes me want to buy a hardtail and stick some rigid carbon forks on it.

Have you tried cracking it open and cleaning up the keypad?

If that doesn’t work, I recommend anothe Panasonic! I’m on my second set, not because the first ones broke, but because the new set were going cheap. I’m still using the originals.

Great phones!

Gotta get back in the padded cell now

I’ve come on STW tonight because of Comic Relief. To me it’s just largely not funny and just goes on and on – spare me! I will shortly be going to the pub.

Give me Miller and Armstrong, The Fast Show, Harry and Paul or somesuch, but not Lenny “Used to be a bit funny” Henry.

If people enjoy watching it and the organisers raise lots of money, then all’s great.

I hope the money gets distributed to the kids and doesn’t get eaten up on “costs”.

BTW. We do make a donation.

Tree surgeon’s often tackle big and dangerous jobs so have to be highly trained and adequately insured for doing this day in day out. For the ocassional small jobs people do with cheap small chainsaws, the risks are far less.

E.G. Lopping and felling 10-15ft high Leylandii, working at ground level, is not the same as climbing 40ft in the air and severing a 1 tonne branch whilst dangling from a harness.

Learning the safety basics is enough for the little job, but at all times you have to be thinking about the risks and consequences of what you are doing. Like; Don’t work when you are tired, take breaks, work in a tidy environment free of children and pets, run through a checklist in your mind and work out what you plan to do before you start the machinery up. Stop the tool if a rethink is needed, or someone interrupts, take your time and don’t let a deadline compromise safety, concentrate. There’s other things but this is all common sense stuff to someone who stops and thinks before they act. I do a bit of homework before I begin so I can pick up on stuff that isn’t so obvious.

I’d hazard a guess (groan) that, like most accidents with machinery, bad preparation, a momentary lapse in concentration, or sheer carelessness are to blame.

I have used all manner of power tools since the age of 7 and have never been injured. The percieved danger of power tools means that i treat them with respect. The times that i have hurt myself a hammer, a screwdriver or some other hand tool has invariably been in my hands. I once lost my balance and fell off a chair whilst painting a ceiling. I landed on the chair which was duly obliterated and it really hurt! It suprised me how dangerous and painful it can be falling such a short distance. I was not paying enough attention and didn’t perceive the risk.

The only other time I came close to serious injury was when I was at school. I went into the metalwork store to get a length of angle iron off a high shelf, took it and went to leave. Then then 30-40 lengths of angle iron sequentially fell off the shelf missing me by millimeters and making the most almighty racket. It went on for about 30 seconds and the teacher’s face went white – no joke. The shelf had no upright brackets to stop these lengths of metal falling off which was stupidly dangerous, but why had the teacher allowed me, a 14 yr old kid, in there in the first place? I had no perceieved threat of danger and was being a clumsy teenager. Conversely, when operating drills, lathes and saws, we were all on our guard.

I think health and safety people should try working with tools for a living. They are full of good advice, but with little practical experience. Taking precautions against a very low threats my view is daft, whereas it’s the hidden dangers that will bite you on the bum.

Interview went OK but one of the panel spent the whole time telling me how hard the work was, obviously never been unemployed then.

Clearly never!

I would have said I like hard work. A challenge is far better than being bored at work (or at home). I find a good day’s work is very rewarding. The guy on the panel must have been a shirker.

Good luck!

How about Base jumping? Gets the blood coursing through the veins again.

My safety kit comprised of a pair of work glasses, but then I was working at ground level. I should be a bit more safety conscious!

Practice a bit at ground level and think about how a branch will fall before cutting. You have to cut the right side and right angle too.

It’s true what the other chap says; it’s easy to get hurt so be very careful.

ernie – Try going through one in a car next time!

Yep. The one i used was a brand new Ryobi. The chain went blunt in minutes chopping up an 8 inch diameter tree trunk. I didn’t give the saw any stick (groan) so was a bit disappointed. I bought a 3mm round file and re-sharpened it, but it just kept going blunt.

My mate eventually bought a new chain after he re-sharpened it several times. The shop where he got it told him that the chains fitted to a lot of cheap chainsaws are rubbish. They fit them to keep the price down. This seems to accord with our experience.

I believe the new chain has fared much better.

I’d go for a Stihl, they seem to be a reputable brand .

I don’t think you will get far trying to rent one, it’s impossible – health and safety.

Sitting on a London Underground train opposite a man with a back pack on his lap feverishly poring over a copy of the Koran muttering to himself whilst knodding back and forth.

I switched carriages!

That sucks!

So we loose an hour’s kip on the 29th?

Buxxer! I have to get up at 5am to get to the airport, so i’ll in effect be getting up at 4am now.

Can you get jobseeker’s allowance?

Write down all the things you might like to do (no matter how unattainable you think they are).

Would you like to work for yourself? I wish I had started out on my own from the beginning, but it’s not for everyone.

Go online and search for free psychometric tests. Whilst these are a bit vague and quirky, some of these will give you an indication of what you might be suited to and might give you some inspiration as to what role you could aspire to. Why spend you life in the wrong job, unhappy and unsucessful?

Identify and write down your strengths and weaknesses – be honest with yourself. THis is an exercise to help you and only you.

Look at further education and how this might help you get to where you want to be. If no job is available then this will keep you occupied. It will demonstrate that you are keen to learn and aren’t content to sit at home doing nothing. Qualifications are very useful for job hunting too.

Be realisitic – your first job will probably not be what you want, but try and see how that experience could be advantageous down the line.

Get some careers advice.

Seek advice from your parents and friends etc.

Network with everyone you know and others to see if they know of any opportunities.

Oh, sorry I forgot, you just want to earn a few quid for a bike. My advice is to forget about the bike until you have sorted out a rough plan for your future.

You have your whole adult life infront of you – time is on your side. What an enormous opportunity you have to make something of yourself!

Good luck!

Up up and away!

Watch to see if he lived

I thought Cinnamon girl was off up them thar hills!

Great coaster. The USA are the leaders though…

Millenuim Cedar Point

This went wrong. Someone ate too many pies (or was it McDonalds?)
Dragster runs out of ooomph

Dust pan and brush. A quid from the cheap shop.

Spongebob – I’m not a pretty sight on the singlespeed [:oops:]

I don’t believe you!

Yummy!

Wow uplink. That’s so much more interesting!

OMG. Which hill? I want to ride with you!

BT can charge what they like. Switch to another company if you can.

Doesn’t anyone want to talk about breasts then??

Look up the PMR446 forums for info on performance and specification. I’ve owned lots of these radios.

Motorola are pretty good quality.

I currently have Midland G7’s which can be modified by desoldering a link inside to give 1w or 3w output.

Thunderpole Radios

Seeing as nobody can agree, let’s talk about breasts instead then.

A few missing the point about tolerance. People like us write a few rants on chat forums. We generally keep our thoughts to ourselves and we daren’t risk making any more of a protest than blurting things out on here.

Conversely, these protestors in Luton are on the streets in person making a fuss where they know they will offend many many people. Their anger and aggression is misdirected. Yes they have the right to free speech, but it is their abuse of innocent servicemen that is totally wrong. There needs to be a limit and these people overstepped the mark.

The so called tabloid frenzy is not just a gutter press issue, it’s broadsheets and the BBC too. It’s about the feelings of real people. People who understand what is fair and reasonable.

The intolerance perpetuated by these groups is a real threat to our tolerant society. On those grounds it is entirley reasonable that they should not be allowed to remain here. Tolerance has it’s limits.

If your views are so incompatible with a free society why stay here? Go and live where your religion and restrictions on personal freedom are accepted.

The biggest problem we have is that we, the passive majority, will put up with any measure of nonsense thrown at us. There is an element that just want us to shut up and to continue to roll-over and take it. Why should we, don’t we have the right to free speech too??

That programme you refer to is “Monty Hall’s Great Escape”. It’s a lovely idea, but financially it doesn’t stack up. E.G, he’s shelled out £700 for some hens and a chicken coop that produce a few egs a day. The RIB he bought cost £1000’s and he said he did £20 of fuel to catch a couple of Mackarel. I have no idea how much it cost for the rental of the solar wind energy unit, but it seems excessive for a couple of low energy light bulbs and a fridge. I’d have used a simple 12v solar charged car battery system for lighting and run a fridge on LPG, but then I don’t have a BBC programme maker’s budget!

It looks idyllic, but what makes me laugh is that he is eternally positive and so very enthusiastic about everything. I wonder how he really feels when the camera is switched off, it’s wazzing with rain the novelty has worn off. Great entertainment though. I forecast that he will end up presenting some TV show like Ben Fogle did. Good luck to him!

I am sorry you feel down. The stress of unemployment is a tough one and I too had a career in IT. It’s becoming a distant memory now so I am forced to consider other things. I have an aversion to risk and paid off my mortgage and built up some savings. Boring, but safe.

I know what it’s like to be verbally offered a job, only to be let down later. It can be really tough, but the conclusion I drew was that I was better off not working for people who were prone to bullshitting about such a major thing. It was a business development role and I put this faux pas down to the fact I was dealing with a salesman and not an engineer. Who would you trust? Stereotypes always seem to be perpetuatued don’t they!

By the sounds of things, you are better placed than many to get a shot at a decent opportunity. You might have to do some commuting or live away from home for a while, but i’m sure you will find something soon.

Good luck and enjoy the Leffe!

List your technical skills to accord with their requirements, but if you know people at the school, contact them immediately! A computer is still a computer whether it’s in a school, or in an aviation company. They probably want someone who undertsands the public sector culture and how schools function. Or just want an exact experience match to the role they are offering. Can’t blame them for that! Employers can afford to be fussy these days.

Agents will filter you out with word search software and probably won’t have a clue about your key skills. Your carefully re-worded CV will probably never even get read and most agents won’t give you the time of day. They have 1000’s of people spamming them with CV’s every day. My advice is to cut them out wherever possible and go direct. use your network of contacts to get interviews.

The key is getting to speak to a person in the school to secure an interview. The CV then becomes a backup to an application rather than a vital door opener.

Good luck!

Are they powerful enough to go between a couple of floors

I’d be amazed if they did.

I think you will find they will.

We are talking about protests in the UK. China is not a free country and protestors there usually get squashed, however justifiable the protest is. A “Free Tibet” campaign here would never be directed at a British troop parade, it would be directed at those who have influence – politicians.

My answer to the deportation question is simple: They can go to any country where their Muslim radical views are tolerated.

Being born in a free country like Britain is a privilidge. If you don’t stand for freedom and tolerance and want to impose a whole different way of life that restricts this – get out!

On her deeds will be indication of who’s responsibility the boundary is. If there is a “T” on he side of the boundary it’s her responsibility to maintain a fence, wall or hedge – whatever she chooses. There is no legal obligation to have any barrier.

If the people who took the hedge down don’t have responsibility for the boundary it’s their tough luck. If they want a fence put there, they will have to ask you neighbour very nicely if she wants a fence and if she can’t afford it, tough luck. They could offer to pay for it if she hasn’t got the money. Her financial and legal obligation is zero! Things like this should be discussed and agreed amicably upfront so the other people were a bit stupid.

As per all neighbourhood disputes, talking to the neighbours is the first port of call. If these people had spoken to her about cutting down the hedge, this whole predicament could have been avoided. I do wonder why they didn’t trim and lower the hedge – the obvious thing to do when their neighbour is too strapped for cash to have a fence.

If it’s their boundary, they should pay for a new fence and not hassle this woman. In fact they should be apologising for any inconvenience whilst leaving her boundary unprotected.

She should think herself lucky that it isn’t the other way round where people let Leylandii grow unchecked, blocking out light, roots damaging foundations, or destroying expensive shrubs, ruining the enjoyment of a once pleasant private garden. Unfortunately local councils have made it expensive and difficult to apply what was a simple rule introduced in the high hedges bill. You would have thought a fixed maximum height for hedges would mean just that, but councils in their usual woolly vague manner of doing things have blurred a process that should have been quick and simple. People suffer huge stress over this matter and some have even died as a result of these conflicts. Shame on the faceless “couldn’t care less” attitude of councils for perpetuating this suffering!