Na Jamie – he means Chipps :wink:

How about scrapping the NLP and try “approach a similar but slightly less intimidating obstacle with good intent and ride straight over it, repeat until confidence builds and it’s a non issue to ride the smaller obstacle, then return to original obstacle. Watch others ride over original obstacle without incident and with apparent ease. Decide for themselves to have a go in a confident mindset and then find out it wasn’t so bad after all.”

Yeah, temperatures will be kept above average by the heat coming from all the feverish people with swine flu…

they are if the brief is to create the most aesthetic (garden) possible.

That’s why I said ‘not necessarily’. If a client wants a creative, artistic statement and doesn’t care about where the kids will play, where they’ll hang the washing, where they can sit in the sun/shade, how many hours a week they’ll spend maintaining it etc etc then the gloves are off!

There was a big discussion about this in landscaping circles – is ‘good design’ restricted to mega budget, high impact schemes in fantastic sites or is it just as applicable to someone who met the brief perfectly with a well thought out solution, but where the brief/budget/site meant it was never going to be a star of their portfolio.

The other extreme is the high impact scheme that has got so many small flaws that mean that it would be a nightmare to live with but which look great on camera and in the glossy mags. Joe public would probably love the look of these but wouldn’t spot the pitfalls until the thing was actually built, and of course after shelling out loads of cash they’re never going to admit to them…

So no, good aesthetics and good design are not necessarily the same thing.

Interesting stat is that ‘normal’ flu in the UK kills around 12,000 a year and infects millions – all without a murmur from the press. Last year there were fears that an Australian flu strain was going to cause chaos in the UK over winter, but I don’t recall people going into isolation wards when they sneezed after coming back from Oz.

So WTF is there such a media hoo-haa this time?

Help – I only half listen to the news but I think I might have swine flu since the last petrol station I filled up at was Texaco…

(stolen from SniffPetrol on Twitter)

Was it a baby robin?

Wors – just call round all the garden designers in your yellow pages. You might struggle if you haven’t got a portfolio of work, but if you get lucky you might pick up a decent project. If you work for a professional designer they’ll provide detailed setting out & construction drawings so you can quote accurately, the contract will be directly between the client and yourself (rather than subbing through the designer) and there won’t be any backhanders to the designer. Sadly not all designers are professional so you might end up with a ‘pretty picture’ to build from, which is when it’ll get challenging…

Lezyne – small, light, shiny and it even pumps tyres up. What’s not to like?

I know quite a few as I’m a source of work for them – I design, they build – most are already booking into late summer. Surrey/Hants borders here.

Might be able to help you out there Sharki!

Thanks folks – Hood Arms & Cedar House both look like they may well fit the bill.

Ahhh – so it’s an alien virus sent from space by the lizard people! We’re all doomed (unless you’ve got scales and a forked tongue)

Uplink – judging by the P2 times that’s just lipstick on a pig at the mo. Given that HK was quicker than LH in P2 I wonder if they’ll persist with it tomorrow.

Ah – 1.5-2m depending on how much sun & water they get.

Mr MW – how about some sweetcorn? Something like Minor/Minipop for baby corn.

I’ve only done the commute the opposite way, but I think the A404 is OK(except the stupid roundabout at Bisham) & the worst part would be the bit through Bracknell & down to Bagshot – especially if anything goes belly up with the M3/M4. Not a journey I’d choose to do on a regular basis, that’s for sure.

[heretic]
American Classic hubs are a bit clicky too ya know. Not as clicky as Hopes, more of a purr than a roar.
[/heretic]

Can anyone think of anything else I should do?

Try calling round some solicitors to see who’s got real experience in employment law issues, talk to them, find out costs etc. and work out who you’d want to represent you if/when it comes to it.

I’ve given pads the oven treatment before – they come back, but they’re never as they were. I’d suggest you cook em, make sure they’re OK then keep them in your pack as an emergency set.

Hope you wee’d in their shoes on the way out!

I reckon you’re on good ground for an appeal – make sure you leave time in your jobhunting to sort out what shiny new bike(s) you’ll be spending the payout on!

There has been some research into the link between migraine and a (fairly common) heart condition called Patent Foramen Ovale (aka PFO). If you read up on PFOs you’ll find a lot of stuff relating to scuba divers as it can cause decompression illness from non provocative dives. PFOs can be treated relatively easily once they’ve been diagnosed – as an ex diver I know at least half a dozen people who’ve had this done – and one side effect was that migraine sufferers seemed to report a reduction in migraines after closure – certainly the case with a friend of mine. Suggest you do some Googling on the link between migraine & PFO, find some decent papers to refer your quack to and take it from there.

Link from the BBC – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4180455.stm – just so’s you know I’m not spouting BS. Dr Peter Wilmshurst that they refer to here is the ‘main man’ in the UK for diving related PFOs – a few of my friends were seen by him – in some cases he managed to detect a PFO that had originally been missed.

FIA announce further punishment for Hamilton

Stewards Decision from the FIA

Shame the stewards didn’t have access to the team radio recordings when they made the first decision.

I just stuck some Fibrax sintered pads into mine – loads more ‘bite’ on first contact than the originals but not grabby… hard to describe but feels better to me!

Mr Ben – turn up in a suit & bowler, then get changed into whatever you like!

Hora – is this the same FIA that was accused of being FIArrari last year? And now you say they want Ferrari out of the limelight? My, how times change….

TINAS –

Hammilton’s behaviour should have been held up as an example of how to behave in F1

Autosport reports :

“A statement issued by the stewards said: “The Stewards having considered the new elements presented to them from the 2009 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, consider that driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the Stewards at the hearing on Sunday 29th March 2009, a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.

“Under Article 158 of the International Sporting Code the driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are excluded from the race classification for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix and the classification is amended accordingly.”

Further to the Hamilton decision, the race stewards have scrapped the penalty against Trulli and he has now been awarded third place for the Australian Grand Prix.”

It’s not about what happened on track – it’s about what happened at the stewards hearing. Hamilton lied to gain an advantage and has now been found out. What bit of that should be “held up as an example of how to behave”? If it’s such great behaviour, maybe I should enter the Tdf then tell the timekeepers that the rest of the field took a shortcut so I should be the winner???

its pretty much the only sport where the results constantly change after the event

So nothing like the other minor sports that are athletics, horse racing or (shock) cycling then? It’s not that uncommon for people to be DQ’d after the event in those, and especially with (alleged) drugs cheats it can drag on with appeals galore. Of course F1 differs in that their are both technical (car) and sporting (driver) infringements, so there’s more scope for issues to arise.

Stu – why a farce? Rules appeared to have been broken so a driver was penalised. It then turns out that the decision to penalise that driver was based on a lie, so the liar is penalised and the innocent party reinstated. Seems like pretty spot on reaction to me and one that can happen in any sport – is football a farce because yellow cards are overturned? Is rugby a farce because players are cited after the match based on video evidence that the ref missed? Or is it just fashionable to bash F1 at the mo?

Seems like the golden boy’s shine is starting to fade this year.

I’ve banned bands wearing bandanas from my bannisters.

Shortcut – this email from Gorrick should cover it:

Dear riders,

Just a reminder that your Annual Permit to cycle at Swinley Forest expires on 31 March, so now is the time to renew it to get another whole year’s riding in the forest. We thank you for your support which has enabled us to continue with our programme of improvements and maintenance on a range of trails in the forest which will be ongoing throughout the year. Buying or renewing a permit is simple, you can either do it ONLINE at http://www.mbsawebsite.com , at the hire bike centre at The Look Out or at one of the listed retailers.

You may be interested to know that we are introducing a range of mountain bike skills training courses in Swinley Forest this year, to suit every type of rider, and so help you to get the most out of your riding and the forest. Full detail are at our website http://www.gorrick.com

GORRICK MBC

All good advice above, but try http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/ as well. Yep, 2 or more evergreens consitutes a hedge and so falls within the “high hedges” law. Deciduous trees are not covered and these may have individual TPOs or be covered by other legislation if you’re in a conservation area. Also if the trees were there when you bought the house and it was reasonable to expect them to grow to the size they are now, then you’re on thin ice.

Be warned that Leylandii do not have dormant buds in the old wood, so if you prune them hard back to the boundary (within your rights) you will probably be left with a brown, scarred mess to look at & the other side of the tree will probably still block the light.

I’ve just renewed our permits – it’s a 2 minute ride from the door & I’ve always assumed that a chunk of the cash goes toward trail maintenance so paying 35p a week to have that lot at my disposal seems like a no brainer. BTW, anyone know what’s what with getting more involved in the trail pixie-ing? Might have a bit more time on my hands this year…

No it does not in any way. Those are merely 2 titles in VM’s PPV collection.

RudeBoy – I agree, that’s why I said ‘seems to suggest..’ – my guess is that the Telgraph journo scanned the schedules to try to find some suitably salacious titles that they could pin on him but had to make do with those two. I bet the Torygraph’s internet filters wouldn’t let them do any more advanced research into those titles so they had to publish & be damned.

Anyhow, for the benefit of STW I’ve googled and found the video of Raw Meat 3* – if he gets off on this then good luck to the guy.

* mods – check it before you ban me!

Kimbers

This seems to suggest that the 2 ‘other’ titles were “Raw Meat 3” and “By Special Request”. Google at your peril!

Yep, we went in the continuing attempts to find a new FS bike for MrsP. It was a Giant and Spesh day, but it looked like they had a fair range of their bikes. Hardly muddy at all, only one splattery section but there was loads of fire road on the demo route.

P’raps he’ll fix that for you!