Do people really lust after bog-standard diesels even if they’re quick? That said, most mainstream cars manufactured nowadays lack any form of desirability. They’ve engineered it out of them.

I can’t think of a single modern car I want, other than the BMW i8, but then only if pushed. I feel sorry for these people who have to have one as part of their “package”. The money alternative could be far better spent.

. Plus lightweight naturally just works better.

Light weight falls apart quickly on wuff woads. It’s why Lotus never went rallying.

Aah, a rescue cat…
My sister had a cat from the mad cat ladies of the cat’s rescue league, or some such.
After 6 months of catluxe it scarpered. It was found two years later in Bolton, and thanks to the chip fitted by the Cat ladies was found to have travelled from my sis in Surrey. This attracted national media attention, and the cat was found to have actually travelled from Torquay, where the owners had moved to, and was probably en route to Scotland, where they had moved from.
Always butter their paws!

What are the advantages of the 11+ exam versus assessing a pupils needs and setting accordingly on an annual or shorter basis?

None whatsoever!
Other than a week’s worth of parental crowing.

More to education than grades, fortunately

{AA – excuse the banter!!}

Indeed! Not least the old school contacts.

Glad you think so, she may well have got better grades elsewhere though.

POSTED 1 MINUTE AGO # REPORT-POST

I’m not too fussed about the B in Religous nonsense, and nor is she.

No surprise of the viewpoint of the privately educated on here and who are also sending their children to private school….

Perspective and context is important regards these discussions…

I went to a private school.The main house had a Haha and overlooked hop fields, falling to the Ox-bow lake bejewelled flood plain below.
My daughter went to a non selective secondary , sited in a big council estate,struggling for space twixt the milk depot and the railway sidings.
No complaints here at all! I really don’t think she could have had a better education anywhere!

which one ?

I took a Guilietta sprint speciale out the other day for a test drive – looked good with all the body kit and went OK if pushed (small petrol engine) but no real steering feel which was dissappointing – apparently because it is electronic steering now.

Got back in my GT and appeciated the turn-in on the steering and the way it rails round a corner (although not as good as my previous 156) and realised that I need a newer GT instead – the extra ‘feedback’ just makes driving at normal speeds much more involving.

A ’76 GT Junior 1600. I really wanted a 1750 GTV just like me dear old mum’s but a few months’ search convinced me that my budget wasn’t up to to it, even if I could find one that hadn’t had a 2000 implant, or wasn’t a South African import re-trimmed in buffalo hide. I must have seen about two dozen Bertones in all, dating from ’66 to ’77, and I was just losing enthusiasm when I found “the one” down in Dorset. 40k miles from new (2000 in the last five years), only “a little” rust but not in expensive places. It started first time and pulled like train, the little 1600 (original) engine feeling more pokey than some of the 2000s I’d driven.
Most importantly, it was first registered on my 13th birthday in 1976 – the year that girls were invented! It’s currently being fettled- re-bushed and serviced, but I didn’t take any pics first, but I can tell you it’s an absolute blast to drive- perfect steering and handling, the best gearbox ever, and a beautiful exhaust growl.
I’m in love!

BMW i8 for me I think. Beyond that hard just to look past function.

I won’t argue with that! Absolutely stunning cars.

That said, we get excellent results (well into the top 100 this year for GCSE) yet we are the 2nd lowest funded school in the country. There’s no way in hell we’d be able to achieve that as a typical secondary, we wouldn’t have the man power.

You wouldn’t be expected to attain top 100 status with an open admission policy, though I’d imagine some schools do. Hats off to them!

Cars have become commodities – white goods and as such have had their souls sucked out of them. Even your super hot hatches and exotic super and hyper cars are sterile – fast and efficient, but so what, and only serve to make their drivers look like complete and utter pricks – absolutely nobody looks good in them. As such I’ve completely lost interest in cars. If money were no object I’d be going for a more classic/older car with a few modern tweaks to make it more reliable and update the brakes and suspension etc. Not as ‘good’ as a modern car but at least it would be interesting and exciting to drive and a bit more unique. Something you’d look forward to getting in and want to take the long route to wherever it is you’re going.

I think you’re confusing ‘interest’ with nostalgia there wobbliscott. Or possibly road noise.

No, he ain’t.
I’ve recently bought a 40 year old Alfa Romeo as an everyday runabout and I’m very impressed at how quiet it is when not “pressing on”. There is no road noise from the 185/70 tyres and no wind noise at all even at 90 with the windows fully down. You can have a quiet chat and not mess up your hair. Try that in a modern car…

But yes, I do pop down the shops for the paper and come back a couple of hours later, having been to Brighton, just because…

and a grammar school education for all?
That’s defeats the whole point of grammar schools!

Indeed.

Out of interest, do you give the stradivarius to the kid who can play the violin well or to anyone chosen at random?

The kid who plays the violin well has probably been having lessons.
The kid who’s talent is revealed late should also get a chance.

Check with Openreach to see if fibre is in your area…

Take Openreach’s findings with a pinch of salt though.

If you do have Fibre in the road/trees outside, £150 connection is about on the money, other than any special deals going.

I have been wondering if putting down £1000 for a Tesla Model 3 might be worthwhile, bound to be people who will pay a premium to jump the queue when it finally arrives.

Or invest in Lithium mines. Tesla’s proposed production would gobble up the current world output and still be hungry for more…
(Not advice, just floating the idea)

Vintage watches? I have doubled up on a certain brand in the last 2 years.

They’re not great investments. Entry and exit costs are high if bought at auction (15% premium both ends?) and a dealers spread is vast.
I suspect you have to get lucky with a buy.
Talking of “luck”…

To remove varnish from timber I would use a cabinet scraper followed by increasingly fine grades of wire wool.
AS above, with that area it might be worth softening the varnish.
Whatever you do, it ain’t going to be quick…

I wouldn’t go overboard though. The oil will penetrate the floor where it can, and where it can’t is protected anyway. I doubt you’ll notice the difference in finish and it might add some much needed interest to the wood.

went in February for 2 weeks. No cycling. It’s beautiful though, enjoy!

Bet there is.
Not Trail parks, but proper mountains…

How old is Henry supposed to be? He’s sounded like he’s three for the last five years.

Insert CD in computer,

Computers have CD slots? What is the world coming to?

Knowing them, the only thing they’d feel indignant at would be accused of not having enough money…

Ask if they can’t afford a pub back room; they might want to prove you wrong…

The other option is to drive it back to the UK and to see if we could pick up a LHD small car there…

What side do they drive on in Gibraltar? Could save a lot of faffing about!

Perhaps a mortgage adviser is the way..

It is! A good independent advisor with whole of market exposure. They’re probably twiddling their thumbs right now wondering where their next deal’s coming from.

Then choose your tenant carefully. Meet their kids. They’re often a good guide to their parents outlook on life. Get someone wanting a steady, stable home for a few years and you’re laughing.
Don’t let one wrong’un put you off. They’re part of the learning curve.

Dont!

They’re dreadful little cars and the dealer network is even worse!
We spent more on fixing the missus’s Punto in 2 years than 5 Subarus in 20 years.
The engine will be great but the rest of the car lets it down.
We didn’t learn, and got a Panda to replace it. Spent nearly £400 last week and will be spending another £300 this week. Then selling the bastard!
Anyone want a 2006 Panda 4×4 ?

Check everything on the dashboard works properly. Check the rear lights for short circuits. Brake lights and indicators at the same time turn it into a disco as the connectors don’t insulate sufficiently.
Rear shock, top bushes go quickly,
Does the engine smoke? They are just asking to be ragged!
Gearbox crunches, esp into reverse,
just off the top of my head…

What’s the spare like? If it does have a spare and it’s in good condition, couldn’t you swap it over?

Yes, but whether they are reasonable in acceding to your wish is a different matter…

Oh, and I have to wear a hi-viz as well;

In the car?

I’ve had “Term assurance” with Legal and General, via Cavendish for a few years. It was taken out to cover the mortgage if I peg out. A £300k bonanza for the missus costs about £35 a month, but as with Johndoh, if I live beyond 2029 she’ll get nowt. That’ll teach her to feed me healthy food…

OP is that bits (b) or bytes (B)? The B version would not be too shonky as rural broadband.

It’s bits- little b.
I’m not really rural though. I’m 10 mins walk from the station of a 10,000 people town in Surrey, admittedly up a residential road that leads to a vast heathland common (Hindhead Common/Devils Punchbowl).
Unfortunatley, instead of coming up the hill from town my telephone cable comes from a fibre enabled cabinet three miles up and across the common, with only a bit of old cast iron drainpipe for protection, often on the surface.
During the day the signal is just about adequate but during the evening it is very , very slow with half a dozen fall outs at least.
There is also a 500 pupil boarding school up the hill between us and the cabinet, so christ knows what will happen when they go back.
I had thought of signing up with another supplier in addition to BT to get more than my fair share of bandwidth. Would that help? WE do have another line into the house, with double sockets, but that is “disconnected” and no other supplier I have spoken to will connect it. It has to be done by BT…

Their club, their rules…

danny baker

Oil! Install your own tank and buy the oil from the cheapest supplier.
LPG, unless you buy bu the bottle, requires your supplier to fit their own tank and rent it to you. They won’t supply the gas unless you lock youreslf into a 2-3 year one sided contract allowing them to charge whatever they like for the gas.

Maybe he doesn’t want the job

Then he should just say he can’t fit it in, especially with someone who is providing £80k’s worth of regular work.
With some random bod who’s phoned up out of the blue it might be different, but for a good customer like this, you try and fit it in. If you really can’t, then recommend someone else.

Highly illegal but when your paying EE and three a combined bill of 70 quid a month for no signal ill do what I can.

Is it? Why? Does it deprive all other users of their signal, suck all data into your vortex?
This country’s daft sometimes, never more so than with broadband and BT’s monopoly. The govt should be auctioning the right to provide fibre, or something.

lucky escape!

Hamlet of 1 house here, 2km from a hamlet of 12houses. Bridleways everywhere. 1000mbps via b4rn.org.uk. You just need to get organised!!!

C

You poor sod ! 1Mbps is even less than me…

In Bristle my 4G connection blows the broadband out the water. Just use my iPhone as a wi-fi hotspot

I’m hoping that we may get a mobile signal once the leaves fall from the trees…

Ever thought of an aerial on top of your chimbley?
Perfect for telly but not much else…

puh!

I’m 10 minutes walk from a railway station where I can pick up a train, should I so desire, that will get me to London Waterloo in 45 minutes.
I’m 45 minutes from Heathrow, Gatwick or Southampton (a gem!) airports or half an hour from a ferry to France. Communications are superb!

But, my broadband service is absolute garbage- 2.5 Mb/s this evening and a Ping of 5500 (is that good?). There are about 100 houses in my road, in a town of about 10,000 people, but BT steadfastly refuse to supply 21st century technology and I can’t go anywhere else to get it. It’s a **** disgrace that BT should have a monopoly on this.It doesn’t matter what I spend, I’ll never get quicker internet than this here.