Get an aerosol can of grass marking paint in a colour of your choice then physically draw the outline of patio you want over the area you want to have it.

My BIL once bought me a ‘growler’ of beer, I put it away meaning to drink it and promptly forgot about its existence for more than a year. Upon rediscovering it, I decided best to tip it away; popping off the swing-top lid resulted in an F1 podium-style scene of rank beer covering me and most of the kitchen.

Thanks, all. Some great suggestion for my research!

On a <£10K car, I would have a said that £1K above WBAC price is a sensible value to list at and anything above WBAC price is acceptable (depending on perceived desirability and actual interest received). I’d bite their hand off.

You are also given a copy of the finance agreement terms to keep for your records…

Any regulated finance agreement can be ended early by repaying the balance. You would not be liable for the interest on the full-term, just what you’d paid to-date plus a nominal amount (30 days perhaps?) from the date a settlement quote was requested.

This is all clearly explained in the agreement that you read before you sign. People do read the terms of finance agreements before signing them, don’t they?

A statutory credit report will tell you all the current and recently completed lines of credit (loans, credit cards, finance, mobile contracts etc), it will also show you the payment history and any defaults. These are free; Experian are easy to use.

If it were my car, I’d just get the oil and filter changed and tell a prospective buyer when the belt was last changed (if they asked).

I’m guessing with that engine and mileage we’re basically talking about a shed (£2K car?). Leave it for the buyer to decide if this a cheap car to run in to the ground or one worthy of ‘preventative’ maintenance.

Just phone a SEAT dealership and ask their service department?

What is the age and mileage of the car? I wouldn’t be going beyond 10yrs/100K in any vehicle, significantly less for those whose history show the need (but I’m thinking back to the old VAG 1.8T whose plastic water pumps seized and took out the belt…)

I always buy my Nike stuff direct from them via their app. I’ve had issues with a couple of items, one pair of trainers that split and a duffle bag where the stitching failed. Depending on how long I’d owned the item (and if it’s still a current product), I’ve been offered either a complete replacement, full refund or partial refund. All done via the chat function on the app and very simple.

In regards the AF1 in question, I doubt it’s a fit for purpose thing; sounds more like they don’t fit properly or aren’t being worn with the laces fastened correctly but I doubt Nike would quibble. I don’t wear AF1’s but my Nephews do and theirs seem to wear just fine (they seem to live in them and are 12 months+ old)

My old TomTom Cardio GPS watch was great for this. Easy to set up intervals and nice big display. I don’t think they make them anymore but I expect are peanuts on eBay (assuming the batteries are serviceable).

The Aygo is a good shout as servicing with Toyota every year keeps the warranty alive. Even if it’s lapsed it renews the next time it’s serviced and can do so out to 10 years/100K miles.

https://www.toyota.co.uk/owners/toyota-warranty?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2KitBhCIARIsAPPMEhKyXYlib_IlUsa1XYISwqjxaMh-RYNC46DZzjmE-QC3rSpMoRENUBEaAoJcEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

My record player has a built-in pre-amp and phono output

Yeah, I guess I was wondering if you need a Wiim in each room. What about if the speaker was AirPlay 2?

Help a luddite, please… I have record player in our lounge which is connected to some speakers in the good old fashioned way. I would like to stream music from it to our Kitchen.

If I bought a Wiim Pro/Pro Plus and connected my turntable to that, do I just need a WiFi enabled speaker in the Kitchen?? Something like a Denon Home 150.

Annoyingly, I used to have a Bose Soundlink Air and sold as it was getting no use, I now wonder if that would have connected (not sure if it was AirPlay 2 or if that mattered).

I have £15 of LEGO.com vouchers expiring next week. Purchased in the 75%-off black Friday deal and enough points for £25 more. Sadly, I’m not feeling inspired to spend them at all – my go-to are Star Wars with the Executor and Ghost Phantom in my wish-list. Anyone got either of those and can comment on them?

My best-case assumption is a mortgage rate of 3% on 5 year fixed with a decent LTV by end-2025.

But current Red Sea sabre rattling could easily f*ck inflation again so i’m also ensuring that a 4% mortgage rate is manageable for us.

If I was looking a remortgaging now and could get a 2 year fixed at <4.5% I’d take it and be cautiously optimistic of doing slightly better next time round.

Thanks for the replies. No evidence of damage to the UFH nor reason to suspect it. No other electrical gremlins in the house. Yes 2.5mm T&E. Didn’t reuse the fuse but the new FCU was whatever brand my local DIY store sells, not MK…

Fitting a 20A DP is where i’m leaning after more reading around. Warm/melty FCU certainly seem pretty common! For peace of mind I have called an electrician, but it’s in the lap of the gods if he responds (IME electricians are the toughest trade to actually hire!).

I’m hopeful that a fiery death is not imminent.

Can someone have completed a V62 and paid the admin fee? That would get them a V5C in their name and trigger VED refund to you as the previous registered keeper. You’d only need the vehicle reg to do this.

It’ll go knock for knock. Bus driver should have been driving at a sufficiently safe distance/speed to stop without needing to swerve. You shouldn’t have pulled out in to traffic, irrespective of the wally who stopped and encouraged you to do so.

The kitchen was heated  to 19 deg this morning at 8am it switched off. Currently the temp is 13deg, when its been proper cold and windy that drops off much quicker. No draughts coming through as I stopped them. There is a loft void above it with insulation.

Bloody hell! I don’t think our conservatory loses heat that fast!

Quick check of various thermometers around the house suggest biggest temp drop is 3°C since heating went off at 08:00 (~6 hours ago). Coincidentally this is the kitchen but I’m not suprised it’s cooled fastest as it’s on the NW corner of the house. Rooms with the sun on all morning have only lost 1°C.

If you like an old fashioned ghost story try Michelle Paver’s ‘Dark matter’

Proper book that! Read it cover to cover in one evening! See also ‘Thin Air’ and, to a lesser extent, ‘Wakenhyrst’.Would be interested to know if any of her other books measure up to those?

80’s 4 bed detached house, gas central heating, cavity walls, double glazed (all recently adjusted to ensure good draught seals on openings!) and loads of loft insulation.

Thermostat set to 16°C at lowest and 20°C for 2 hours in the morning and 4-5 hours from when the family get home in weekdays; Constant 20°C all day at weekends.

2,177kWh of gas used in January (£233). House very very rarely drops below 16°C, even when we were hitting -10°C here at night in December.

I think a constant 18°C might actually be cheaper but my family wouldn’t tolerate that!

I like MR James’ ghost stories. There are some decent (and some so so) screen adaptations which typically get shown by BBC around Christmas.

I’ve got the book of his collected works but I like an old fashioned ghost story. Modern gory horror does nothing for me.

Your thermostat is stuck open.

It looks a bit like a daft quote ‘cos they don’t really need the work. But, as I found with good carpenters last year, sometimes you need to pay a premium if you want something done reasonably quickly and to a good standard

‘Airbag obviously inoperative’ (i.e. warning light on) is a major and will result in a fail.

Youtube kids set to the appropriate age range (not perfect but we’ve not encountered much of concern) then apps for any subscription streaming services.

For games we got a Nintendo switch.

Neither devices are used unsupervised (i.e. they don’t disappear to their rooms with them and we set time-limits)

I’ve seen places advertise for ~£160 but I guess it depends where you live. You certainly won’t get certified for free. Check if you need the certification to have particular wording/format too. It’s a standard thing for French races and lots of info on runners forums etc. Just google it.

Refurb Sage Duo Temp Pro from eBay seller ‘idoodirect’. There are frequent eBay discount codes valid for them although the base price appears to have increased 50% since I bought one last year!

Still, if you can stretch the budget I’ve found it be a fab little no-frills machine.

Is there a software answer for this? My BT wifi allows me to control individual devices internet connection via an app on my phone…

Unless you are within an existing fixed-tariff deal then you will simply be getting the price cap rate for both day and night.

Cornwall Insight, who are oft quoted by the Media when showing forecasts for future energy prices are currently predicting the following OFGEM dual-fuel price cap figures for 2023 (note these are the ‘average’ households annual estimate):

Q1 = £4,279 (actual OFGEM cap, but reduced to £2,500 by Governments ‘Energy Price Guarantee’)
Q2 = £3,702 (but capped at £3,000 by Governments ‘Energy Price Guarantee’)
Q3 = £3,157 (but capped at £3,000 by Governments ‘Energy Price Guarantee’)
Q4 = £3,182 (but capped at £3,000 by Governments ‘Energy Price Guarantee’)

Energy prices are falling, but not below the EPG and due and its increase there will still be a further rise on 1 April 2023. So, no. We won’t see our domestic energy bills fall at all in 2023, they will go up another 20%!

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/getting-the-energy-bills-support-scheme-discount

It’s sitting still that’s the biggest problem, IMO. With the door shut the combined effect of me, my laptop, dock and monitor heat the room quite well; you really notice the difference when walking out on to the landing.

However, sitting for a while I start to feel cold. Combo of alternating sitting/standing to work (with appropriate desk) and just walking out of the room to get a coffee usually helps.

I have a small oil filled rad but even set low I find the room gets a bit too warm and stuffy. Don’t think I’ve used it at all in the last 12 months.

I’ve nothing constructive to add to this other than to say that my room in Uni halls did not have a chain on the inside.

There were multiple occasions when people let themselves in. Usually the cleaner on a Monday morning but occasionally other staff for reasons lost to the mists of time.

A fun game some (typically male) students played was to lay naked on their bed on a Monday morning clutching their bin and pretending to be asleep for the (typically female) cleaner to deal with.

I have one of these over carpet: https://amzn.eu/d/cyRHXE6

I tend to either stand in barefoot or my ‘slippers’ which are actually a pair of loafers with proper soles and inserts that I only wear indoors.

I just run winter wheels/tyres in winter and summer/wheels/tyres in summer. A second hand (barely used) set of OEM BMW winter wheels/tyres was basically the same price as 4x new winter tyres.

It’s not true.

Only in place in current guise until April’23. Bugger