It will crunch stuff up if I’m not careful but will also take a beating

Not if you point load it ie put something on it and repeatedly hit it with a hammer (something I have done a lot on every workbench I’ve had).

Spend a bit of cash and get Office. The available alternatives are light years behind.

Most users would have no idea what Office can now do that is so much better. This is largely because most people don’t want, need nor use most of the functionality. It’s beyond what they need, so they could buy it and never ever use it.
For most users, Libre or Open has what they need and then some.

If you are actually going to use the worktop for manstuff, get the cheapest one so you don’t mind replacing it in a few years when it gets knackered.

Given the standard sizes of kitchen cabinets, you could use 2nd hand carcasses and put on whatever doors you wanted. It would fit exactly the same.

I live in the US now, so a double garage is more normal. I am also as cheap as a cheap thing, hence doing the job myself. That’s my mancave I’m investing in!

I put an epoxy floor down in my (new to us) 1988 garage. The floor was manky so prep was everything. I rented a concrete scourer (floor buffer with a specialist disc on it) and scoured it before acid etching it. I then filled any cracks or major pits in the floor before laying the epoxy. The scouring was probably OTT but I wanted it to work. We then needed a squeegy on a pole and a normal paint roller on a pole to lay the epoxy (make sure you REALLY mix it properly before applying).
I’d recommend sucking it up and doing the whole floor at once. If not, you’ll end up with 2 halves and it won’t look so good.

Before

After

Navmii GPS USA is the free app you need.

You download the mapset for the area you are in and it runs totally without data.

I live in the USA and I replaced a Tomtom with this on my phone and use it daily.

A particular favourite of note in the last couple of weeks has been the minimalist approach of a simple ‘look out for trains’ sign when a busy A-road crosses railway lines

There honestly doesn’t seem to be a huge influx of injured folk at the minor injuries department (other half works at the hospital).. I really can’t understand it

If you’re hit by a train, you’ve probably bypassed ‘minor injuries’ and gone straight to ‘morgue’.

I can understand it.

The US also has your minimalist approach to many rail crossings. 14 people a week are killed by trains. Don’t know what that proves, other than trains kill people.

I think you should stop buying excessive gifts for your kids, or adopt me and I’ll be more grateful for the love you buy me!

A proper sawmill will tell you where to go, or at least have you buy new blades for ones you trash putting crap wood and possible nails through.

maccruiskeen – are you aware of http://www.sheltercentre.org/%5B/url%5D – the work they have done on post disaster housing is very interesting. There’s also Design Like You Give a Damn
http://www.amazon.com/Design-Like-Give-Damn-Architectural/dp/1933045256
A really good book on the same subject but far more orientated toward design.

OP – STEMNET has things like the Bloodhound SSC Ambassador programme
http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/education/ambassador-programme

I’m currently spending some time helping out a local startup business. He is manufacturing products from wood using a CNC router that he built himself and the whole workshop is solar powered with a self-built off-grid system. I think it’s a fantastic business model for the future (accepting that energy is a limiting resource and not endless) so I’m giving him a hand to improve what he does. You just need to look around and find where you can make a small difference.

CyberGhost is another free one. It’s OK for nowt.

ANYTHING by Big Audio Dynamite. A very underrated band all round. Listen to them and you hear where so many other bands got their sound from.

Nothing wrong with less travel on a 29er. I’ve thrashed a Turner Sultan for years in this role.
Look at what the dealers have in the 23″ / XXL frame. I do think the current batch of Trek look very good VFM. The rest of the big brands also have a few bigger bikes that will do the job.

29ers have been bigger in the US for longer, so you’ll have more trouble tracking 26″ down now. I’ve seen more buying and selling action in our local community Facebook bike sales page than I have on Craigslist and eBay is just a waiting game for what you want to surface.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank all involved in this post. It reassures me that stw can still offer harbour to those in need of a good internet argument and those who believe they can influence those beyond reason.

Good job all! Carry on!

Apart from what looks like upside down bars and more seatpost than I have, it looks fine.

140mm isn’t oodles is it ?

It is if most of the ride is on roads and inside the barriers. It isn’t if you are hooning down hills for most of the ride.

I want to know what jhj does when he’s not pontificating on the great issues of the day. Does he have a job? Do his colleagues suspect that he and only he alone can see the reality of this world?

My problem now is that I need a bike predominantly to commute on and then also able to through around the woods.

That’s a HT at best, not a bike that’s too short for you and with oodles of suspension.

Chubby lineys always use that excuse.

I’d not call that a layback post – just not an inline clamp on it.

The bike is way too short for you and I’d guess you are right on the limit of being too tall for it.

Blimey. You’ve not done much formal PT for a while have you?

It’s too small. Get a bigger bike.

It’s got 15mm more reach and no layback seatpost, so that’s going to be shorter. If you put a layback on that you’ll have so much weight so far up and back you’ll wheelie everywhere.

There are few people I would advise to actually wear a tin foil helmet. However, JHJ is on that short list.

Eventually there will be a resource-based world. We’re consuming far more than 1 planets-worth of resources every year, so we’ll eventually eat ourselves whole. We are currently on a path to a very interesting and dangerous place.

Many portable Bluetooth speakers also have a mic built in, so you can use them as a hands free device when paired with a mobile.

I have this:
http://www.ultimateears.com/en-us/mini-boom
I use it with a British radio app to listen to 6music and it works really well as a speakerphone, even interrupting and silencing anything I’m listening to. Very clear speaker and mic.

I have the opposite. My dad has always been truly awful at anything DIY. I just got on with learning and had a go, applying the few skills I learned in school, reading books then using the internet. I renovated 2 houses (1st one complete rewire, new bathroom, new kitchen, fully redecorated) with minimal assistance and learned along the way.
I’m renovating a house here in the USA now and that has necessitated I learn all about American construction/wiring/standards and re-learning my bloody 12 times table!

Pick a small job, watch a YouTube video or two about it, have a crack at it. Comfort zone gets bigger, jobs attempted get bigger, learn from mistakes.

Put that together 4 times, make a circle and get it turned / milled then cut it into 4 quarters to give you what you have there. It would be far easier to make round then cut.

Does it have to be metal? 3D printing could also be your friend if strength isn’t an issue.

You need to find out whether the local tree surgeons do their own stump grinding or use one bloke who just does grinding. Find him if they do.

I don’t know if the mate who did the favour is insured etc. That difference in price gets highlighted if a cheap mate drops a tree on a car or building and isn’t insured. Just so you know for future work.

I like the way project quotes an American organization on the topic. However, let’s be proportional here. As it says

in certain situations, it has the potential to cause physical harm

Yes it has. Same as anything else. However, let’s look at the proportional risk and give some sane sensible advice to the OP. It’s like someone asking if a glass of wine a night is OK and you rolling out the health risks of alcoholism. If he keeps doing what he is doing with some PPE he’ll be fine.

Drinking out of Mason jars is something quite normal in ‘merica.
I would not be surprised that someone who oozes the British Empire as much as CFH would be unaware of foreign norms. I expect he travels with a bone china cup and saucer in case of emergencies.

Wow. Project. Straight in with unfounded PANIC right there.

Wear gloves for handling it, wear a dust mask if handling a lot & in a confined space. You moved a tiny quantity and unless it was ANCIENT it’s made from fibreglass.

It’s fine to work with if you keep skin covered and use a dust mask if using a lot of it. A shopping bag is not a lot. Insulating an attic is a lot.

Calm down, dear. You won’t die from this (probably).

It depends what it is and where the pain is manifesting itself. Mine is exacerbated by tight hamstrings (a cyclist thing) and if I neglect my lower back. Get the pro advice before going beyond simple stretching.
(mine used to hurt from lower back to the back of my left knee. Now mostly focused on the centre of the buttock when it hits).

Quiet news day? Not exactly news. If you want a vehicle, have a look at Witham

http://www.mod-sales.com/%5B/url%5D

Which one is most important – Newcastle or Manchester? Will you actually be going to both on an equal basis?

Barnard Castle? You forgot Deerbolt in the list of attractions of a small town in the middle of nowhere!

Love Lezyne design and have some of their pumps, tools etc. The Topeak Hexus II is the tool you are looking for (if you want a decent tool that lasts with a good splitter attached).

Come to Selkirk. Loads of paths all around/over/through and some fun MTB routes as well.

Selkirk Golf Course is more mountain bike than golf course – it’s just golfers got there first! We used to holiday near there when I was a kid and the ‘ungolfcourseness’ of it always tickled me.

Shop at waitrose me and crankbrat did that all the time though he now insists on sitting in the seat and only stands in the trolly to load the shopping on to the checkout . The day they tell us we can’t is the day that we walk leaving our shopping.

You are so far up your own hoop that I doubt you could carry your own shopping. Congratulations for being that sort of parent / Waitrose shopper.

Please get a Krampus. You’d look proper hilarious on a Krampus.

My car stinks of fart too.

Long Distance Lorry Drivers Seat Syndrome. When your car seat gets chock full of smell and you can’t shift it.

A mate of mine used to delight in farting deep into a sofa and seeing the face of the next person to sit on it and dislodge the bubble of stench from it’s hiding place deep in the cushions.

Nothing smells better than homebrew. If you disgust yourself, you are ill.