My GT86 now has 4000 miles on the clock, and after every drive I’m still smiling just as much now as I was when I first got the car. It’s great FUN to drive – and with the traction/stability stuff turned on its as easy to drive as any other boring car. Turn the electronic aids down though and it is sublimely engaging at sensible (legal) road speeds. Agree that the rear seats are of limited value (I’m 6′ 2″ and a baby seat is all that would fit behind me when I’m sitting comfortably behind the wheel) but having said that I reckon that four 5′ 6″ people could fit in reasonably comfortably. Practicality ? – fold the seat back down, take the bike wheels off and a full suspension bike (XL size Stumpjumper 120) fits in through the boot opening quite easily, with lots of room left for other luggage. Surprisingly reasonable to insure, and getting 40 mpg on a run (but this dips to 35 or so if you’re driving enthusiastically). Experience of local Toyota dealership has been good so far. Looking forward to driving many more miles . . . . . .

Got a cheapo own-brand one from Asda a while ago – mono, but instead of mixing L + R from a stereo signal it just plays the R channel . . . so not ideal for listening to music, or chat shows where the presenter is on the L and the guest is on the R.

If you’re after a bombproof transport case then a Peli 1065CC is definitely worth looking at – I spent a couple of weeks travelling around Lao and Vietnam last summer on local buses and my iPad 2 survived it all thanks to this case; thorough testing showed that it is crush-resistant and waterproof and it floats too.

deadlydarcy – you need to clean the so-called shower head and shower holder – look where the filter holder attaches and you’ll see a perforated plate held by a cross-head screw.

If you can wait a few weeks I’d expect this sort of thing to feature highly in the post-christmas sales lists of B+Q and Screwfix – last year I picked up a cracking deal on an AEG Li-Ion drill/driver package from B+Q by waiting until they had their sale.

Nothing to go wrong with beam type, so very reliable, but no use if you can’t get to see the torque scale easily.

Where’s the shop ?

Rear wheel drive car, so gearbox is quite separate (isolated) from engine, so will take time for gearbox to warm up (compared to a front wheel drive, where gearbox is more integrated with the engine itself). Have a similar issue with a RWD Toyota – doesn’t like going from first to second until it’s well warmed through.

Tip: if you put the cleaner (Fairy Liquid or whatever) directly on top of the stain you risk the cleaner spreading the stain OUT into a ring (as the cleaner itself gets absorbed into the fabric) – instead encircle the stain with the cleaner and work the cleaner IN towards the stain . . . much less likely to leave a residue after washing.

Could also cast your own paving slabs – reusable slab moulds can be had for about £10 each, then buy bags of premixed concrete from a DIY store.

£1000 per square m for glass . . . bonkers.

New desktop iMac might look nice, but can’t see any mention of an optical drive anywhere in the specification . . . easy to make stuff really thin if you forget to build stuff in.

Toyota GT86 / Subaru BRZ are potential classics in the making . . . .

Been with HSBC (previously in its Midland guise) for over 30 years and in all that time I don’t think I’ve paid them a penny in fees or charges, and I can’t remember having a single problem with them either. Now it must be said that I’ve been in the lucky position not to have ever needed an overdraft, I’ve been with the same employer for many years and I haven’t moved house in a while either, so my banking needs and account management have been pretty straightforward, but even so they’ve been good as gold.

Very happy to eat it in the country where it’s reared – there’s one restaurant in Hanoi which serves up nothing but – but would much rather eat fish sourced locally; lucky enough to live in the SW where there’s plenty of less popular fish species (mackerel, John Dory to name but two) landed.

One of these ?

Depending on what subject you’re looking to study you might find they’ll offer you a place on a “Foundation” year (or Stage 0 as some courses call it) – designed to enable people such as yourself without formal qualifications to get over the entrance hurdle. Be warned than if this is what is offered then you might find that a significant proportion of just-left-school Stage 0 students are there not because they want to learn, but simply because they want to delay unemployment (or work) for another 12 months; you could be the only person on the course who actually wants to learn, which can make it hard to retain motivation.

However, as others have said – go for it if you can. Some of the best students that I’ve tutored have come in via a similar route as you, and have ended up with a First Class MEng degree.

By the time you add in other “taxes” – such as National Insurance, VAT, duty on fuel and alcohol, council tax – I’d guess that almost everyone pays much more than 40% of what they earn straight back to the Government (or its appointed representatives).

Will do when I get a minute. Plymouth.

I have an “as new” (in its box, with all of the paperwork and accessories) Pentax K100D DSLR body, with a Sigma 55-200 lens (very lightly used, with some filters), a brand new Tamrac bag and some SD memory cards which you’d be welcome to for £75 (or make me an offer); the body will work with virtually any pentax lens of whatever vintage, so there’s loads of bargains to be had in camera shops.

Local oilks with a pocketful of stones will have a field day . . . .

Second dropoff’s suggestion – from the volume of data you’ve mentioned a few solid state flash drives would be my choice – either USB sticks or some other style of memory card (SDHC or Compact Flash) – you should be able to get this for about 50p per Gb for good branded devices – Sandisk, Lexar, Samsung or Kingston.

Another very happy Weber Go Anywhere user here; mine has seen regular service over the last 5 years or so, is easy to get lit and will cook a huge quantity of food using just a single 1kg bag of charcoal. Packs away very neatly too.

Another client with more money than sense . . .

If you know what the bag is supposed to weigh you could always check that it does actually weigh what it’s supposed to . . . if they’re made by the hundred there’s always a chance that an under-filled one has slipped through the quality checks.

If you haven’t done it before do some travelling while you’re fit enough / healthy enough to do it – don’t leave until later in life because (1) you might not be able to, and (2) many of the really interesting parts of the world are changing so quickly that they might not be so interesting in a few years time. You only get one go at life – take every opportunity you can to enjoy it.

Eden project is worth a look if you haven’t been before.

This one or maybe this one from Ground Effect might be suitable ?

I’ve ordered stuff from them before – delivery has always been prompt and efficient.

This website is pretty good at finding the best price on any particular camera, once you’ve decided what you want.

Amazon have a good price on the basic kit – camera + 10-30 lens for £300 but then with £50 cashback from Nikon . . . tempted myself.

I used to have a red Corsa which faded quite badly over the 7 years I had it from new; a session with some T-Cut colour magic got it back to its original colour with great success.

I wasn’t saying that its the MOST cost effective way . . . only that there’s a good case for significant infrastructure investment such as the project shown because it only has to contribute to the avoidance of a single serious or fatal accident in order to be a net financial benefit to society. A less aesthetically striking design might have been cheaper to build, but it sounds like the local authority were trying to make a political statement with this structure.

Most expansion bolts and “screw in” style masonry anchors don’t work well near to corners – you’ll risk the wall material (brick or concrete) cracking and failing. Try to spread the load into the wall as evenly and as far away from the corner as possible – several chemfix/resin type anchors would be my choice. Gates look really good – what wood did you end up using ?

Economic cost of each road death in the UK is estimated at something like £1.7 million – if infrastructure like this helps to avoid just a single cyclist fatality then it must be worth it; add in the social and emotional costs associated with a fatal accident and it should be a no-brainer for a developed society.

If you’ve got a local branch of Hein Gericke (motorcycle clothing and stuff) nearby then you might be able to pick up a bargain – they went into administration a couple of weeks ago and my local branch (Plymouth) had good discounts on lots of stock – heavy duty chains, padlocks, D locks, ground anchors and suchlike.

I was on the first running of Redspoke’s Bolivia/Peru trip in 2010. I think that Dermot (@ Redspokes) has tweaked the route a little since then, but it was certainly quite an experience when I did it. Accomodation away from the big cities can be pretty basic (but was always OK); I was lucky to have a fantastic mix of people in the group who were all “up for it”. Trip was adapted as we went along – example: we gatecrashed a bullfight in one town; we had to alter our route near Machu Pichu to get around some locals who had blocked the only road in as a protest at fuel price rises . . . the guides are very knowledgeable and were happy to suggest alternative routes and tracks to anyone who was feeling a bit more adventurous. Most of the route was on road (perhaps 70%).

Flights – I used Expedia to get flights on American Airlines (via Miami) – no problems (except having to get bags through Miami – allow a good three hours transfer time); bike went as part of the standard baggage allowance. Seem to remember paying about £800 in 2010 . . . just had a look and Expedia are not listing flights for dates in July/August 2013 yet, but May/June 2013 flights on the appropriate days of the week are about £850.

Nantes to Brest canal route should be really picturesque at that time of year.

Fresh pineapple that’s been seared on the griddle – yes; cold tinned pineapple ring that’s been swimming in syrup – no.

Consider the diving skill as simply a way of getting to a worksite that happens to be underwater; you’ll need other skills (welding, inspection etc) to make a real go of it. I have a small role in a University-run HSE diver training team; our graduates get their jobs primarily because they have a degree in a subject such as Marine Biology or Civil Engineering but having an HSE SCUBA ticket (together with things like HSE First Aid, boat handling, VHF/GMDSS radio and oxy admin tickets) all helps them to get themselves into a job. Then its a case of getting plenty of on-the-job experience and further dive training (HSE surface supply is needed for any inshore engineering work) and the world’s your oyster.

Another vote here for Troutie’s work . . . a Darkness Dominator gives all the light you’ll ever need.