a 100 kg Antarctic fur seal pinned down a 15 kg king penguin

Poor thing

So does that mean to many an MX5 is more desirable than a Z4?

I had a mate who told women he was gay – figured they'd see it as a challenge.

My wife wasn't happy when a squirrel trap arrived in the post; but it's in the garden now and I'm hoping it provides a small meal soon.

Some people are really odd – how long does he think the fence will last like that? It is likely to be your fence as you're supposed to put them up that way around so that the posts are on your land – often people don't though as they want to have the nice side of the fence facing them.

As an aside I find it curious when people put up a fence then only creosote their side; I suppose the assume the neighbour will do there's but why should they when it's not their fence?

Like this chap?

The impression I got when the scheme was being run is that when buying through the scheme buyers couldn't get the best deals as the dealers had to contribute. Thus in reality it was maybe only best for those scrapping cars worth less than £1k that benefited from the scheme; is that fair?

IMO it's a shame for the sorts of reasons above but also that young people – or anyone looking for a cheap car not to be used much – would have loved to buy one of these cars.

Must admit that stump caught me out last time I was there – would never think of altering what is part of the natural trail – there are plenty of tame ones if that's your thing.

Reminds of a stump that was removed from the path on the side of Wolvens Lane a few years ago – was a bit tricky to ride through so someone removed it.

To start with you owe, say £100k with a rate of say 4%. So in the 1st month you pay interest on £100k and a little capital. The next month you owe slightly less than £100k so you pay interest on that and a little more capital. In the final month you owe a few hundred quid so you pay a little interest on that only.

It was the 'arrogant' bit I thought odd!

This is also partly why banks heavily load the interest onto the front of a mortgage. You only seriously start paying off the equity on a house towards the end of the mortgage term.

No the only reason for paying off mostly interest at the start is economics!

The fact that the banks now want big deposits is a sure sign that the banks think that there's a high risk that prices are going to come down

Well yes but it's a lot to do with the likelyhood of loan defaults – job losses and the like.

I do feel for him, but then he was arrogant and naive in buying at the top of the market.

What an odd thing to say! Haven't prices in most places recovered most of their losses now? Anyway, it all depends on how the economy goes and we all know tough times are coming. I wouldn't stretch myself now if I was looking to buy.

If you are going to buy, you want to get to your ideal house in the minimum number of moves, as it's the moving which throws away cash.

Well only once you get into the higher stamp duty brackets.

They're not so blinkered as to insist that all their friends are Christians so were perfectly happy to take a pragmatic/realistic view of it all and involve the people that matter to them.

As Godparents promising to support the Christian upbringing of the child? I do find that odd – very unlike Christians I know.

sorry junkyard, tiger et al, maybe my friends are of the more modern idea?

Not sure that Wikipedia are representing the Church's opinion there. I would be interested to hear a conversation between a vicar and an atheist would be Godparent.

BTW, I don't fit any of Donk's slots – I think that people should be true to what they believe and see this as strength of character. Hard to to be strong though.

Am I right in thinking Beloki's crash was due to melting glue on a tub?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtZhG2kWVLY

There are non-religious alternatives right? Like marrying in a stately home or registry office? Not so common I guess but still.

BTW, the God(less) parent thing is a bit odd to me in terms of taking care of the kid if the parents die – you can have just the same sort of thing without all that ceremony malarkey and indeed I'm not aware of any legal status associated with it.

If you buy a house and house prices drop, then you have lost a bit of money. If you rent, you've lost ALL your money and always will.

It's not really as simple as that but I do think it's less risky to own than not to own. BTW, rent is the same as mortgage interest – it's all lost in that sense. The capital that could be tied up in a property could be invested – possibly safer in Unit Trusts than property at the moment.

Maybe I'm assuming someone who states that they are an atheist wants to be perceived as such and not just an agnostic. BTW, I am agnostic and don't want people to think I am something I am not – that's integrity to me.

No. You're wrong. Atheists can do what they want

They can do what they want but they aren't being true to themselves which in turn could/should lead others to doubt their integrity IMO.

I've been waiting for this.

BTW – some online info about climbs:
http://www.climbbybike.com/

If you're asked by a non-Christian to be a God parent then I suppose it doesn't matter as it's all a sham anyway. I suppose the thing is atheists would want to stick to what they believe and refuse to go along with this sort of thing whilst agnostics – are most of us agnostic to some degree? – might be happy to join in.

As a non-Christian I could not say what I am supposed to say at a baptism as a parent or God father. Other people aren't so conscientious and that's there problem but doesn't mean I get why.

I used to be able to get my leg behind my head but stopped when I attracted the wrong sort of man.

I have a spreadsheet I could mail you with various info on that I created when I could find nothing online that suited.

I've done the wheel nuts thing – heard some rather nasty vibrations whilst travelling on the M62 and sorted out at a service station – very lucky the wheel didn't come off.

The only time I've laughed because of a T-shirt was one that said:

'Warwick University Photocopying Society'

I had a chat with him about it and he told me he loved the comments from people saying how sad he must be.

Is marriage relevant here? I mean would she want to marry before having kids? She must realise he isn't so keen and maybe she is struggling to work out whether if she tries to find someone else that might cause more delay anyway. So maybe she'll trick him into give her his seed sometime?

Spinal Tap annoys me – I get why the amp goes up to 11 but I wouldn't be able to use it.

The volume control on BBC website vids is the same – I like that….

I don't understand why those that don't go to church have their children baptised and I don't understand why anyone would ask a non-Christian to be a God-parent and I don't understand why a non-Christian would want to be one.

I say this as a non-Christian who has had a lot to do with Christians and church over the years. Maybe I find it more significant an event than non-Christians who see it as one of those things that you do like getting married and having birthdays? Also, maybe a lot of non-Church goers kinda think they believe in God?

I have a thing about heights to such a degree that if I see someone on top of a tall building on TV I get a bit of an adrenaline rush similar to when I walked on top of one of the WTC buildings.

I would have thought that perverting the course of justice in this way would have attracted a bigger punishment really. Seems to be worth the risk if I ever get so many points – shame my Mum's not dead yet though….

Computers are fickle.

Take the job but if they know you're taking a lot less than you were on before, and is fair for your experience, they should imagine you're likely to leave when things get better. Maybe worth discussing what prospects there are but whatever – I'd take the job! More experience and less time unemployed will only look good in the future. When you change jobs in the future it won't matter that you're paid less now – you'll be able to negotiate whatever's fair.

There is a good reason to get leylandii as that they're a quick way to get a decent hedge but maintenance is a PITA. The previous owner to me hadn't looked after the hedge so I went along cutting the top 3 feet off which too ages. Some had been left to become trees up to 30 feet high so just chopped those down with a bow saw – really doesn't take long. Once down I chopped up piled up the greenery and put into the garden refuse bin that I pay to have so didn't cost much. Letting the wood dry out to use on the fire in the winter though I believe the wood will spit quite a bit. I did also chope a tree down to the ground and just dug around the stump and then attacked with an axe until what was left was below ground level.

It's all good boy fun!

I found 1/2 a deer's leg in my garden the other day – I like to think the rest of the deer is happily hopping about somewhere.

Should have gone for a ride….

Surely you just need to clarify that you were expecting work from another source which didn't come? Ideally this would have been on your 1st mail but as you didn't just need to explain that? You made your manager look bad and if he gets told off then he will take it out on you so try and sort it out.

Toy Story 3 – 10th Best film of all time? Not sure I'll bother to ready any further

There are some odd entries – well it is open to the general public ;) – but a good place to check if a film might be of interest. A few from the list I've liked recently:

Once Upon a Time in the West
Pan's Labyrinth
Once Upon a Time in America
Sin City
Unforgiven
Oldboy
Letters from Iwo Jima
Crash
Little Miss Sunshine

Where is this carriageway?