I agree with the idea – why wouldn’t you want as much experience of the type of driving you’ll almost certainly have to do?  I got lost on the day I passed my test (I’d had a car sitting on the driveway for a month or so) and accidentally ended up on the M62.  I only stayed on for 1 junction but It properly scared me at 17.

Massive tea cup. Biscuits. You won’t need a belt.

Seriously though, I (now) always drill a pilot hole before the plasterboard wall plugs go in. The messes Ive made not doing so when I was starting out were horrendous.

I’m not sure they can’t keep it if it’s legitimate or may be for legitimate use. I.e. if there’s an attendance policy an employee may be subject to action if any specified triggers are hit.  I’d assume the detail of the absence(s) would be important when considering if action ought to be taken so I’d think it’s a legitimate reason to retain whilst the absence(s) is live (in that it may fall under the periods/instances quoted in the attendance policy)

Nice. YT took me to another Cwmcarn one which also looked like you.  Very smooth and pretty quick I reckon.  You’re certainly better than me!

You’re staying a a “hotel” in Merthyr?  Brave.

Please see a specialist asap. I didn’t and ended up with 3 operations and now, sadly, mono hearing and constant, though bearable, tinnitus.  Admittedly mine became infected as a result of inaction but don’t mess about man, get it seen to.

Presumably you’ll either come down the m50 or M5/M4. Of course I’ve no idea where you’re staying!  Either will you within spitting distance of Cwmcarn tbh.

There’s nowhere in the boot to connect to?  I’m certainly no autoelectrician but I watched one do mine when the towbar was installed and there was certainly no attempt to feed wires through the car to get to the battery.

Yes I had the anti compete clause in one of my old contracts.  It was so broad that pretty much any job in the financial sector would have been out of bounds.  They threatened legal action twice.  My solicitor said that whilst the clauses can and have been enforced, they cannot generally be so wide ranging that they unfairly restrict the right of the individual to work in their feild.  Plus, mine sad “for 12 months” which even if the restrictions had been acceptably narrow, would have been deemed an unreasonable period anyway.

I’d echo the above re Cwmcarn.  First place I mtb’ in earnest.  If you fancy a road trip instead, just head out into the Vale of Glamorgan.  Any direction works.

If top gear/tgt are, in anyway, a yardstick, it seems the one “benefit” is that it’s ok to use one  whilst driving.  No, I don’t understand it either……

PP – you know your Izzard.  Don’t be sad.  In my book that makes you more enlightened than most.  Keep the wise cracks going.

i should probably change my name to wordclasslurker but I’m still here. Even post occasionally.

Turkey network thing happened to a customer when I used to work at a Telco.  Poor chap streamed (audio) of his football team’s game and he got billed several hundred pounds.  He hasn’t noticed that he’s jumped to a Turkish network.  His team lost as well…..

I hadn’t a very silly MK11 escort. Yellow, rs2000 front end, pinto engine, a huge k&n filter,relatively massive rear wheels and zero mechanical simpathy (or knowledge for that matter).  My Nan gave me £800 just before my 17th and I bought it off a mate.

Positives:

it taught me what to do when you’ve been “a bit silly” with the throttle.

it looked cool

negatives:

Mate hanging out the window on washway road coming home from Manchester manually operating the wipers as the connector had broken. Again.

i bump stared it for the last six months I owned it and put one side of the drivers seat through the rusted floor.  Shoved a jack under one side so it was level so fixed that.

the rear tyres were so big and the suspension so shot that if you opened the boot you could see the wheels.

i ignored all the essential mechanical issues and spent all the cash is had getting it resprayed an even brighter yellow and tinting the windows.  It died shortly afterwards.

God, I was a dick.

Next episode will be up on the 18th at 8pm ish for those who have, like me, wondering when/if things would be moving along.  Calendar reminder set.

Now, I appreciate that being Danny and “knowing” you CAN make that front flip does help but jeez, to actually commit to it (on to cobbles too)…….

That’s exceptional.  I reckon that’s my perfect bike.  Off to Google.  Enjoy it!

I wish!  Mate had one, bit of a bus in the Twisties but that engine!  Put me in mind of the Enterprise – the power just keeps coming.  Comfy as f also.  You probably know all this. Sorry, zero help……

Echo above, looks like he wanted for nothing, had all the outdoors he could want and loved/was loved.  Focus in that.  Feel for you.

Indeed. Bravo.

Fair enough then I guess.  I’d be calling them to get the best broadband deal I could (having checked the competition of course) and see if I could get the Freeview function chucked in.  Good luck!

not to be a d1ck about it but why the TiVo box?  I’d have thought that any hd freeview box with a HDD would provide the same functionality for (over the term of any monthly agreement) a fraction of the cost.  That leaves you free to negotiate the BB only element independently of some inflated cost TV package.  You’ve got now TV anyway so the TiVo is adding what?  Only potential cost it seems tbh?

To be clear, are you saying you want broadband and freeview hd?

Legionnaire’s desease nearly did for me in France about 10 years ago.  All I can remember about the 2-3 weeks or so was the bits that didn’t actually happen.  The going to alternative realities and trying to save mankind. You know, that kind of stuff.  I also rang my then boss and accepted the position of worldwide sales manager which didn’t exist and told her to f off when she told me apparently.

My wife thought i was  suffering from a touch of heat stroke and allowed me to drive to Cherbourg from Bordeaux.  I reversed into the same  lampost twice and almost pulled into the motorway the wrong way.  I remember none of this.

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>.Possibly not unexplained but still bloody weird.</span>

No, no, no. South/West Wales is a complete waste of time. There’s zero worth seeing, the views are nonexistent, everyone’s rude, the trails are massively crowded and there are never any decent waves. There’s nothing, NOTHING, to do and everywhere is a massive rip-off.  That NORTH Wales on the other hand……I’ve heard amazing things.  You should all go there. Definitely.

Still think Le Monde is hard to beat.  Mill lane end of St Mary’s street.  Not cheap but not mental.  Just don’t let the waiter choose the wine if you respect your wallet.

Agree with comments so far.  We prefer the tunnel type with bedrooms at the back, living area in the middle that you can walk around in, kitchen/storage/changing area at the front.  All enclosed so no porch as we found everything just gets wet.  Front can be opened right up when weather allows.  Brand wise I’d say outwell, vango, Coleman in that order of preference and, probably, expense.

If you get stuck let me know.  I’ve a Humax in the cupboard upstairs if you need. Probably have to check to see if it’s HD but I think it is.

Not bad but I’m sure I’d have been quicker in my rs2000 😏 (First car) I feel sorry for today’s yoof with black boxes, fwd, traffic volume and horrendous insurance costs.  How is one to practice one’s slide control from an early age when they can have their policies revoked for cornering  (within speed limits) too hard.  Off to the go kart track with the boy I suppose.

Indeed. If my 45 yr old friend can spoof Netflix into thinking he’s in the States then 16 year old him (who’s been raised in an IT literate world) is hardly going to find this sort of thing an issue is he?  Apparently his ISP blocked access to some dodgy Bay site a while ago and his access was impeded for about 30 seconds.  Someone out there has already started working on an easy work around for those with limited tech knowledge.  I understand the motivation but it’s a massive waste of time and, I’m sure, money.

Few years ago but Tony hart. Finance company I was with nicked the theme tune from his tv programme for their ads. I may have drunkenly told him he was a fookin legend just before I slid off the leather sofa at the Celtic Manor and got wedged in a large plant pot.  Not my finest hour……

I’ll  always watch it. I like cars and it’s a “rock” in my viewing that even the mrs won’t try to poo poo.  It’s the rediculousness of a lot of it that spoils the whole.  I want to see the new mclaren/Porsche/Ferrari but why on earth would I want to see how it compares to a hovercraft/harrier/tank/ken block or whatever utterly contrived bollox they’ll come up with next?  Chris Harris “on cars” is where they should be pitching it and I think that Blanc is actually the major hurdle to that happening.  I don’t mind the bloke at all but he’s “the star” and that seems to be the reason that Harris’ actual talent for presenting a quality piece on cars isn’t being shown.

Peregrine Falcon.  390 kmh apparently.  200 and change?

Acknowledged Graham but at least the options are available and I get to choose. I’m sure there are some (probably extremely) dodgy sites out there but, again, for those of us that enjoy and value the flexibility to be able to do as we wish with our tech, there are the options along with the risks we accept and, hopefully, make informed decisions upon. Horses for courses.

mrmo – if you really think that they do the same things (or CAN do the same things) fire up Showbox on your iPhone for me…….

Like i said, depends what you want to be able to do but the capability of the 2 OS’ (in stock access form at least) is poles apart.

Finding settings is exactly as simple across either platform. there are simply more options in Android. That will be critical to some and confusing to others.

I think the comment above about mostly using it to make calls and send texts and it definitely not being a desktop replacement is key here. It depends, almost entirely, on what you want to do. My wife calls, texts, facebooks and whatsapps. That’s it. Occasionally she may fire up an internet search. For her, the simplicity, uniformity and familiarity of iOS is perfect. I, on the other hand, find it infuriatingly restrictive and intentionally difficult and wil never buy their overpriced, overhyped nonsense. That said, I’m writing this on my iPad which I use for pretty much the same interactions as my wife and it’s quite easily the best device I’ve had for those functions.

If you go Andriod, get a good one. Nexus 6p here – the best, most versatile, most “tweakable” phone I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning. Half the price (monthly) of the equivalent iPhone and I can make it do pretty much anything I like.

Cheers all. I don’t fancy pcp as don’t see that I’d have the cash to ourchase at the end and I can’t abide the thought of hiring. I may try my bank first but some of the dealer finance seems to stack up ok.

It’s a tricky one OP. We’ve been been camping as a family for years and have accumulated way too much stuff. Wasn’t so bad when we had a van but now we’ve downsized it’s made me realise how much shite we have. If you can genuinely just go when the weather looks great then outside of being comfy and warm at night you can get away with relatively little stuff. You’ll be out most of the day anyway right? Personally, I always get electric hookup. Better lights, better heating, ability to charge things, easy to pump beds up, Mrs can dry her hair in comfort etc etc.

We go for longer trips where the weather can’t be relied upon so a “living room” in the tent was deemed essential. Somewhere to stand and cook under cover if it turns nasty is also a life saver and twin ring gas cookers can be had for peanuts these days.

We tend to venture to the coast more often than not. A wind break would be on my top ten of must have items.

Anyway, we all love it. France is the best place for it though. As someone said up there, it needs a longer break to make it worthwhile but it really is once you get there!

IME nutters but them. I sold my oohh say 2005 GT XCR for the BIN price on the bay. I was emailing them saying “look the Avids are ok but if I was hurling it down a mountain these days I’d consider upgrading them”. He replies to say “don’t worry I’m only riding it to work down the canal”.

Who buys a 5 inch travel full Susser to ride to work down a canal.

Nutters. That’s who.