Sirloin, chips, peas, salad.

Rioja

BB King

[And skived off this afternoon for a blast round some local trails]

following a big wobbly arsed badger that won't get out of the way on a full moon ride.

RIP old feller

Both my granddads were in the trenches, both survived but one got a dose of gas and was never well, died the 1950s, grandma made it till the 90s, was widowed longer than she was married to him. I knew the other but he never said anything about it, though I still have his billy can and a German bayonet he brought back.

We keep saying never again, but it hasn't stopped.

Different breed in some ways maybe, but we are still producing people capable of great sacrifices, shouldn't forget them either.

We get them visiting us, love sitting out on summer evenings with a glass or two watching them.

We get them visiting us, love sitting out on summer evenings with a glass or two watching them.

That's superficial and will clean off. You could try re coating it with auto lacquer. Halfrauds have it with the touch up sprays or support your local independent car part shop.

Long haired lover from Liverpool – Little Jimmy Osmond [who has strangely morphed into a middle aged Cilla Black]

Its the one I'd take to a desert island as a reminder that, when the rescue ship comes over the horizon, you don't HAVE to go back.

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore.

Looks like a collection of army huts but they are good.

Welcome to the club oldgit – my mk1 is just shy of 206,000

Bluebells

Most of it is the way they are driven – go in slow, keep up a steady speed that creates a bow wave and it will usually keep the water out of the vitals. Too many people charge in and flood everything – modern electrics are more waterproof than they used to be, but water up the air intake will stop even a Toyota Land Crusher, fine motors though they are.

I've taken a mk 1 disco through water breaking over the bonnet with no mods beyond putting in the cam belt and bell housing drain plugs – but then we didn't have to stop, that really would have been bad news. Mk 1 discos and defenders are virtually the same under the skin, most of the drive line and suspension is interchangeable, its the height and tail overhang that make the main difference. Plus discoveries don't let in so much rain and you can hear yourself think.

Liked it a lot too, bit slow to start, but really took off once it got going.

Enjoyed it much more than Bruno, though to be fair it is a completely different type of movie

I like the comment from the French woman:

<<Plus the mansks­ think the isle of man is the center of the world and­ the remain of the Atlantis, so don't expect any­ humility from those people who cut their cats'­ tails to pretend they are special>>

Didn't know you, but RIP fella.

Damn, got something in my eye

Leaving aside the damage issue, I thought that plod have the power to do a lot more than just going round and having a word [and tea and biccies?]. I thought that once a dog has been reported for attacking someone it can be put down if the owner allows it to do it again. Should really put the owners down as well.

The one time it happened to me I let it go although the f****er drew blood. A friend who is in the force later said I really should have reported it. I'm big and ugly enough to deal with it, but you do get youngsters out there on bikes, which is what seemed to set this one off.

Little Bay – I mainly go to the Belsize one but there is one in Farringdon. Good reasonably priced food with an unfussy S European / Mediterranean theme. Menu isn't extensive but what they do is done well.

New **** Lam Moon in Gerrard st does a good soft shell crab, if you're not in the mood for Wong Kei.

Anyone here been in one of those retro looking Angus Steak Houses round Leicester square area? I sometimes get nostalgic and feel I ought to dust off the suit with the flared trousers, match it with a kipper tie and go in for a soggy prawn cocktail, overdone steak and freezer fresh black forest gateaux with lumps of ice in it, all washed down with Watneys Red Barrel and Blue Nun.

Marsellus in Pulp Fiction

I'ma call a coupla hard, pipe-hittin' ****, who'll go to work on the homies here with a pair of pliers and a blow torch. You hear me talkin', hillbilly boy? I ain't through with you by a damn sight. I'ma get medieval on your ass.

Shawshank.

Green Mile lays on the sentiment with a shovel and has Tom Hanks playing Tom Hanks.

There's a Francophile round here who goes round with black tape changing signs for Barnet to Barnét.

I'm guessing its a diesel, not the v8. It its worn that should become apparent almost as soon as it warms up and you will get oil loss and smoke from the exhaust. I wouldn't change to a thicker oil unless it really is worn. The Tdi diesel is a robust unit if its looked after, plenty do 300,000 plus with no trouble, mine has 205,000 on it and doesn't burn a drop.

Blocked fuel filter or tank breather sounds more like it. If you stop and take the filler cap off after a run, is it hard to shift at first, then you get a rush of air into the tank

You could try asking on http://www.difflock.com – helpful bunch on there

Gruntled – which is what you are when you aren’t disgruntled. Thanks to P G Wodehouse for that one.

Most of what you cost the state will be in the last years of your life, whatever you die of. Has anyone actually worked out whether you cost the state more if you 1) die of some smoking related disease in your 50s or 2) live to 95 and spend your last 20 years dribbling down your front, burbling incoherently while you wait for the nurse to change your nappy, or 3) get shovelled up off the road or rugby pitch in your 20s and go straight to 2) for the next 70 years.

I’ve never seen a comparison, I suspect it would be interesting reading, especially if you factor in the taxes.

FWIW I gave up years ago. I don’t like it particularly, but there are a lot of things I don’t like, that’s the way life is, get used to it, it’s too short to get self righteous about other people’s habits.

Been a sole trader most of my working life with a few breaks in paid employement. Its had its ups and downs, but I’d never go back, I’m probably unemployable by now anyway.

Three bits of advice I have picked up over the years, not that I can claim to have kept to them all the time:

Profit is an opinion – cash flow is a fact.

Some days you have to sell your breakfast so you can buy your lunch.

Don’t f*ck with HMRC.

If its an English elm you will almost certainly get new sucker shoots growing from the root system. These seem to get to about telegraph pole size before getting reinfected and the whole cycle starts again. Unfortunately there isn’t a miracle cure although as a species elms are a long way from being extinct. It is very sad what they have been reduced to, there are so many places that are simply unrecognisable from photos taken in the 1960s and before. I started tree work when the epidemic was at its height, we felled some real monsters, magnificent great trees.

The wood is good on the fire once its dry, the bad reputation is because it has a lot of water in it when its fresh, it needs to dry out thoroughly.

BTW I have a Forestry Commission book dated about 1965, which says that Dutch Elm Disease is an interesting little problem but nothing much to worry about. Ooops – shades of Michael Fish and the 1987 Hurricane.

Looks a bit smooth for shaggy ink cap but definitely a coprinus the way the cap is liquefying. If you get them early enough most are edible, but DO NOT drink alcohol with them, the mixture will make you very sick. They use the same compound in drugs to wean alcoholics off the sauce

My dentist is Dr Fang. Local council’s tree officer used to be Roger Shrubb

Just started here in Herts, really hammering down. Glad I skived off for couple of hours earlier and got a nice ride in – got my feet wet in a ford though.

But all I said was “That piece of halibut was good enough for Jehovah”

Quote “Im not even old enough to drive and I still enjoyed Sodbury!! “

Says it all

People who bought that saddle also paid £13.99 for a bag for their shoes – nuff said

Unless you are a farmer or something like that its hard to find a logical, hard headed economic reason for owning a Land Rover. BUT that’s not the point of Land Rovers. You will either hate it and get rid of it at the first possible opportunity or get hooked like one of the previous posters said. Be warned that they can take over your life, many LR owners don’t just have one, they have whole collections. I’ve driven most of them over the years and owned quite a few, I’m down to a fairly sensible two now, one of which is the daily drive. Your social like can become LR centred as well, you know that’s happened when the high point of your year is Old Sodbury’s Sortout.

Most LR people are friendly and supportive of fellow addicts, try looking at http://www.difflock.com for an idea.

Best – Classic Range Rover with full Overfinch 5.7l Chevy V8 treatment, never mind the BHP, the torque curve looks like table mountain. Amazing how something that heavy could be that fast and nimble.

Worst – Classic Range Rover with full Overfinch 5.7l Chevy V8 treatment. Badly bodged under the glitz, took unreliablity to new levels, and nothing was ever cheap or simple – bit like being married to Naomi Campbell.

A large steel ball bearing in the fuel tank will do no harm but will cause a very worrying rattle that is well nigh impossible to trace.

A massive cedar could run into four figures, but it depends mainly on the amount of work involved. Any decent contractor will give you a fixed price quote, make sure you get it in writing and that it specifies exactly what they will do. There can be a huge difference between the cost of a) just getting it on the ground b) cutting it into manageable pieces so you can shift it and c) both the above and carting it all away.

Its worth getting two or three quotes, be wary of any that seem way cheaper than the others. Poole BC should be able to recommend someone, otherwise there is a list of approved contractors on the Arboricultural Association web site at http://www.trees.org.uk

Argos cycles in Bristol build frames to order as well as repairs, resprays etc. I can’t say how good they are at designing them, but the workmanship is pretty good, they put a rear disc mount and brace on my frame and the joins don’t show, it looks like it was made that way.

That is absolutely amazing, just shows what you can do with enough will power. Puts my little bumps and scrapes into perspective.

Theess got’n whirr thee cassn’t back’n assn’t?

Awroit my luurve?

Jew wanna topurp?

So when is CFH going to contribute to this thread? Down Chelsea way sex are things the coal is delivered in and a creche is a traffic accident in Knightsbridge 🙂

I was overtaken the other day by a Prius being driven enthusiastically along a nice curvy bit of road. First reaction was WTF!?!?!?, second reaction was well done sir.

I’m still going to stick with my 11 year old diesel LR – 203,000 miles and sails through emissions tests, cleaner than some later cars. I wouldn’t buy a new car but if I trade it in I still start a chain of events that leads to a new car being built. I like my old car so I won’t bother.

<grumpy old git mode on> Where are all these inner tubes hanging on bushes, I’ll have to get out to more popular places? I’m not poor but I’d never leave one behind, never mind the litter issue, by the time you’ve got it off the wheel it takes no time to slap a self sticky patch on, or put in a spare, take it home and patch it later. Even punctured and ripped to bits they have 101 other uses, I’ve got a stack of them in the garage next to the WD40 and the mole grips. <grumpy old git mode off>