Yea, never been a fan of Orange bikes. I think they are one of the most overpriced brands out there, not far of the likes of Santa Cruz. Just under £5k for the base spec Stage 6 EVO with SLX and WTB rims? Aye, dead on. But, it’s not hatred.

They’ve lost a few good pilots.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66631182

Arteta has lost the plot. I know we have lost Timbers and Yoshi, but he’s trying to fit Havertz into the side by playing quite a few out of position. We have a great pairing in Saliba and Gabriel but he left Gabs on the bench yesterday. I feel like he’s trying to be smart. He best sort it out soon.

Still, my pre season prediction of 5th still stands.

But he went in hard on those shoulders!

Murphy is now 2 1/2. I love this photo of him from when he was a few months old. Training recall was a good chance to get some head on shots of him looking like a derp

A happy Murphy by Colin[/url], on Flickr

Another EV rental for the girlfriend, this time a new Leaf. What in all that’s holy, is the idea behind a pedal parking brake? Just leave it be ffs! And that drive mode knob on the console, what a terrible terrible thing it is to use. I wish car makers would be clever in the right areas. To sit in it felt a bit dated and a bit cheap. She much preferred the Corsa in the way it drove. She did mention as default, the regen braking was much stronger than in the Corsa. I assume that could be changed. Left for Warrington again this morning, lets see what the range damage is on her return.

I’m 40. No signs of making any proper mates since my late teens. I also struggle with the difference in people from England and back home in NI. Nobody seems to appreciate my humour around here ;)

Making friends is really really difficult the older you get. For me, anyway. And I’m not talking about biking ‘mates’, people who you can go riding with and have the odd beer post ride. Beyond that, proper friendship where you support each other, talk about lots of things and have a genuine fondness of are few and far between. Probably still why my closest mate(s) is a mate of almost 30 years now.

Well, yea, since turning 40 (and only because the perceived significance of the number) I feel less and less connected with living, if that makes sense. It’s not a regret, it’s just how it is.

My other regret, which is the biggest one, one that I never mentioned in my first post, is not being there for my mum who has suffered with dementia since I moved away 9 years ago. She is now in the final stages of that horrible disease and I haven’t been there for her or for my dad, other than going home through the years for short periods. I have no idea how to deal with it, basically grieving for her for the last 5 years as she became a shadow of herself.

I have a rather long list.

Didn’t see my RAF application through when I was young – what could have been, eh
Not dealing with my anxiety/depression sooner – will regret that for the rest of my life
Getting into over £25k of debt in my 20’s. Ruined any chance of financial stability and independence for most of my 20’s and 30’s
Not being better in school and college, so I ended up in my current career almost by default.

Probably a few more on top of those.

My girlfriend had a Corsa-E as a hire car yesterday. She was really impressed with it. She had a work trip to Warrington, so mostly motorway miles. It was about a 60 mile round trip, she consumed about 90 miles of range.

She loved how easy it was to drive and the immediate shove. She normally drives a 1.0L Ecoboost Focus, 125hp. She has already said that EV would be her next choice car, given her type of driving.

After 34 pages, I can officially add this thread to my doom scrolling list.

Work colleague has a new CX60 PHEV and is finding is less ‘frugal’ than his old Skoda Karoq. He might need to adjust some settings to improve it, but I’m hearing more stories of PHEV’s not really being any more efficient than their old ICE cars in mixed driving. My PHEV Octavia still doesn’t have a build date, now coming up on a year on order.

There’s a climate crisis, don’t get a dog

Second page in, poor effort.

Not much more to add here, other than a photo of Murphy.

Murphy posing for a quick shot by Colin[/url], on Flickr

He has turned out to be a good boy. He is 2 1/2 now. Was hard work for 18 months or so, but he is settled into our lives really well. Loves a good sniff about, chasing birds and rabbits, and a fierce belly rub

They’re f##king great. Wish I’d got my full licence much sooner. Big regret that I stopped riding in my early twenties (on 125’s before the DAS changes) and went to cars.

Sounds like the school jumped the gun. I’m sure they will sort it.

Good luck with the MOD2! Great feeling when you can take off the ear piece and ride back without the instructor nattering in your ear.

Aye, the Barnes lot are great. Bumped into him and James Shirley way back when the Irish Enduro started. They gave me some water as I’d ran out as they were parked beside me, really nice guys and where happy to chat about the racing. Picked Fergs brain at Graythwaite this year on one of the awkward techy bits and he was happy to give some advice. It worked! (although it may have been a fluke).

But call me cynical, but Karas shouting every 2 seconds on stage 1 did have me wonder. She actually rides it fairly well, stays on line mostly, no sudden changes. But hey, fair f*~ks to them. Her jumping is great though, wish I could hit the stuff she can. But he can gum my plums, comes across as a right tool especially towards her.

Is it really the “UK’s toughest enduro” as this lad and Guy Kes both say on their video titles?

Nope. It’s a big day out, of course, but from a technical point of view, it’s fairly straight forward. I’m comparing it to the tougher PMBA rounds here and many other enduros I’ve done.

This the guy who rides 3mm from the back wheel of his partner in a lot of videos?

Can’t see Max staying behind for long. Once the DRS is on, he’ll be away. Hoping for a nice race behind him.

<p style=”text-align: right;”>I think this thread is more depressing and scary than the covid thread when it kicked off. Stupidly it has been getting me down quite a bit and playing on my mind alot. Probably just my brain going after the next doom scenario, but this one will most certainly play out. Need to try and avoid this thread for now. I kinda wish I was older, less life to live and witness it all.</p>

@daffy I’m big into aviation, so find your comments very interesting. These ‘new’ high bypass engines, are there more developments to be made here? Airlines often quote 15-20% fuel saving, is that an assumed 90%+ LF or more? What about improving taxiing and time on the ground? I know it is common to taxi on one engine, but that’s been common place for a while. It only takes a few hours at somewhere like LHR to see how much time is spent on the ground engines running.

I used to take the ferry back home to NI. It’s now too expensive. As in, more than twice the cost of flying and renting a car for a few days. It also takes up a lot more time (that doesn’t bother me that much).

I’ve looked at travelling as a foot passenger. Train to either Holyhead or Liverpool, ferry across, and then bus to home (multiple buses). A brief look says that is slightly cheaper than flying an getting a car. The reality is that it hinders my short trips home by taking up an entire day of travelling and relying on everything being on time.

Just the occasional foray into that pastime?

I try to avoid it when I can, but it happens from time to time.

Genuine answer: are you being obtuse, or do you not understand context?

Not being obtuse. I understand context. Have another think about it.

I suppose a particularly unpleasant person with no knowledge of what they’re talking about would call it virtue signalling

It is virtue signaling. And I’m not that unpleasant. I’ll give you the no knowledge bit.

on my four year old phone (don’t have a TV

Genuine question, why did you feel the need to state that?

Is cargo okay?

Where would all these people work if we stop flying? The tourist industry would be a fraction of what it is.

Just put everyone on a UBI and watch the world burn I guess.

Sure, it was nice while it lasted. Almost reached peak everything, cars, bikes, TV’s etc. It all has to end somehow.

You all know this thing is fixable right?

It isn’t.

I watched threads last week. This is much scarier, as in, it’s actually certain it’s going to happen. If it gets to the point of civil unrest with an economic collapse, I’ll just see myself off somewhere quiet.

Grain deal stopped, will we see an immediate effect on prices in the west? Or have stocks been built up?

Thanks all. I know it may sound a bit trivial, but I was really annoyed and frustrated last night over it. Feel like my body isn’t going to work for me any longer.

I’ll get in touch with the physio. I had been doing glute bridges, but I can barely get my arse off the floor. My hips are that stiff!

Summer is over.

When I got pushed into the sales department when I was 18, little did I know that 22 years later I’d still be doing that role. With no qualifications outside of GSCE’s and 22 years experience, I often feel I am quiet quitting. This current downturn is really not good, and my motivation and drive are at an all time low. A manager who does not have any empathy, and only talks about targets. We don’t have an overtime option, but would be required to work outside the normal 9-5. Doesn’t happen often though.

Relying on the manufacturing industries right now, the outlook is not good.

So, locked into a dead end job in an industry that is struggling with no way out to earn similar money in a different industry. I earn just above national average for a technical sales job with over 20 years experience. Maybe I’m being taken for a ride.

Yea, it really is. I tried watching it and gave up on it as usual. The RB is a piss take, I’m sure Max is bored in that car. The odd mid field battler that peters out after a lap or so.

Thanks. I work for a sales organisation. They have services for counselling which I have used before, but it’s been a few years. I also have BUPA.

Sorry for this slight highjacking, but I’m going through a similar thing with work. I’m the empoyee in this case.

My mum is in her final stages of dementia. Now in hospital and bed bound. Over the last 5-6 years I’ve tried hard to just carry on, but now it seems to be nearing a conclusion, I don’t think I’m functioning much despite trying to behave like it is fine. My functioning at work is dropping, also amidst a bit of a downturn, but I worry that if I take time off or whatever, it won’t be viewed favourably. Add into this that I live here in England and she is at home in NI.

I think generally, I have bottled it up for these past few years and haven’t known how to deal with it. Anyone who has dealt with dementia will know how hard it is.

2009 for me, but not much of an active member/poster.

Ah those first few nights with a puppy. Not sure I’d go through it again, but it will absolutely get easier/better. Ours is now just over 2 and takes himself to bed most nights, no questions asked, straight into his crate. All about routine. Rinse and repeat.

We did 2 toilet breaks in the night, one around 1am then a second around 4am. Then down to 1 toilet break. Now he goes into the garden for a slash before bed.

Good luck!

Recently bought a Ragley mmmbop. Love it, no regrets not getting the Big Al. Was bought for fun and that’s exactly what it is.