Just started watching The Bridge (Bron | Broen)

absolutely awesome – hold on tight. I came to it late too.
Many work colleagues in Malmo do mostly smoke – esp shop floor guys.

TM

*waves at sussex locals*

Depends which part of Sussex/Kent you end up in. Lots of gems as listed above.

Personal faves

Arundel Castle (West Sussex) – outstanding got it all castle
Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent- awesome National Trust grounds and house
Port Lympne, Kent – excellent safari style park.

Oh and if you visit the Bluebell railway there’s a good farm nearby at Turners Hill (Tulleys farm) that has a maize maze until 7th Sept. Their Farm shop is really wel stocked too :)

TM

We have had a Strada DL (3 bikes version) for 3 1/2 years now. Its a great bit of kit which we have hammered

Issues for me as follows Note: it does look like the design keeps being updated so may not apply to you. Also note that I’m not kind to mechanical things – oil? what’s that? :)

1. the mechanism that holds the rack up can get into a state where it looks like its up, but isn’t locked fully. there’s a little green button that needs to be all the way up. Worst case is that the rack slides back when in transit and drags itself along the road. I have done this but have never damaged a bike. Its the only failure mode and they’ve designed for it, which is good.
As long as the green button is all the way up, its fine.

2. the plastic handles that lock the upright bike holder part have snapped off. still works fine, just a bit harder to secure. looks like the plastic has aged with UV and become brittle.

3. Its a bit harder to reset into the upright position that when new, take a few goes now. given its not almost no lubrication and has got stuck in roadsalt for its life its pretty good. If I actually looked after it a bit I’m sure this could be improved.

4. lifting the rack off the car is getting harder – getting it to release first time is slightly trickier. Again I think its just wear and salt making the mechanism a bit sticky.

5. the bits that touch the bike are fine – the buckles and straps are good quality. still so easy to fit bikes on.

6. one electrics issue resolved very promptly by roofbox.co.uk. my towhitch has electrics pins that get squashed over time and then make an intermittent connection

Top bit of kit. If you look after it should last many many years. I should get a good few years more out of mine

TM

enjoyed seeing how many names for young animals my four year old daughter now knows (quite a lot, including Kid/Goat)

Even better when she said a baby cow was a carton. :)

TM

Rangemaster professional deluxe user here.

All electric – including induction hob. Induction is all its cracked up to be – very impressive!

And yes please check your electrics before committing – and make an allowance for some recabling works.

TM

Muddyarse club ride

Yep, 44 of us we think :) Separate groups, mind. Glorious, glorious day.

[/url]
IMG_3604[/url] by Rich_F_[/url], on Flickr

No good trails here. no Siree :)

TM

Is it not worth having it inspected and hopefully fixed by a Miele ‘technician’? All brands appear to have decreased markedly in quality this century such that a £200-300 bill may be better than the cheapest model.

We had an awful experience with a Miele engineer. he was desperate within 30 seconds of seeing the failed dishwasher to get us to pay 300 quid for new electronics. No proper examination of the innards or any of that getting your hands dirty nonsense. Ended up paying them but didn;t fix the problem. Independent (ex Miele) got it working after finding one failed (non electronic) part after some mucky rummaging. Respect to Miele though – we complained and showed them the receipt from the independent and how he had fixed it and we got a full refund.

TM

been catching up on Iplayer – really gripping drama

*Opinion* Sarah Lancashire has carried it – very convincing piece of acting.

looking forward to the last, no doubt messy, episode.

TM

Thanks Squidlord (top name btw).

We have some time at the Hotel Karlstejn, right next to the castle (we know it’ll be touristy!) and then over to a B&B in Krivoklat.

Not got the Brno leg sorted yet

TM

Real Castle – Arundel.

Massive history from the Normans onwards
Amazing interiors (still very much in use by Duke of Norfolk – a somewhat expensive place to maintain!)
Beautiful gardens

Utterly made up castle

Mystery Castle in Phantasialand

drop tower, in the dark, with a light show. awesome

TM

Thanks Folks – interesting

Bones church looks awesome :o

any more top tips?
TM

Width (and price) does appear to be a main difference between mary bars and Jones H bars.

I found when riding S/s with wideish normal shaped bars I could put too much force through my puny shoulder joint. may be the angle on straight bars contributing too. mary bars width seems spot on for me…

TM

Japan with Saddle Skedaddle[/url] still remains the most astonishing trip I’ve done.

(mods – not promoting – no commercial link – hopefully on topic!)

TM

Former work colleague who left last year

Shittu Shittu

everyone would attempt to pronounce the name in a soft way, or break it up as Shi ttu. He’d then soundly correct people that it was said as written.

Oh and went skiing with Jo Snowball a few years back. That was fun.

Oh and our maternity nurse said she’d had a newborn named “Tyranny” a while ago. Like a female Tyrone, apparently.

TM

Lakeland (middle class kitchen frippery supplier) always super – especially on things of lower price. New things dispatched straightaway, mildly faulty things can be kept or charity shopped.

Surrey Hills Brewery – super chaps who found the very last few pints of Albury Ruby at Christmas time, despite it being sold out.

TM

It is interesting though isn’t it? That kind of question should be your employer saying “hey let me help you develop your skills” and thus a precious and valued question.

Yet its often than not seen as a bunch of HR nonsense. Not trolling, just curious why that’s happened?

TM

So you

are looking to move towards more stable working hours.
enjoy improving things and making change
want something you can pick up/put down

If you are fresh to Project Management and based on the above I’d start my enquiring internally. Your strength is knowing about the NHS and working there for a long time. Start being a tart and finding who runs projects and see if you can buy them coffee. People always like talking about their job – propose it as a “what sort of projects do you manage in the NHS?”. Tell them you are doing some investigations for a possible career change if asked, but let them do the talking.

I was v impressed by a candidate for a job who had taken a voluntary role in managing a project (i.e. for a charity or similar). Shows your keen – both in the disciplines involved in Project Management and in a potential career.
Oh and start being a geek – learn what it is and isn’t. This doesn’t need a PRINCE2 course just curiosity. Lots of free stuff on the web.

Good luck

TM

What aspects of Project Management appeal?

(Yes, I am a Project Manager, not in the NHS)

TM

http://www.sscentral.org/
And there goes my afternoon :)

Cougar – excellent. a shame the CPS range is discontinued.

TM

Wombat

IBC = Intermediate bulk container

Well there’s a new acronym for me!

I do like the idea, but perhaps slightly more than I had in mind :)

TM

[/url]
chuckle[/url] by Rich_F_[/url], on Flickr

More denmark randomness https://www.flickr.com/photos/13519914@N00/sets/72157606164272729/

It is a great country – and quite big.

Not helpful I know but what sort of trip are you after – beach, culture, countryside, theme parks?

[/url]
heaven[/url] by Rich_F_[/url], on Flickr

and their pastries are awesome – this was the first stop after 30kms of riding with no breakfast!

TM

why take the car? park up, ride to ferry, ride off at the other side. We’ve done it in Belgium not denmark but can be great

We did this – and got Commodore Class on the way back :) 2 X sweaty cyclists turning up lifted an eyebrow or two!

We did Esjberg to Rosklilde (to the festival :)) then up to Aarhus and down the coast.

Recommendations
– the lake district around Silkeborg – mildly hilly and beuatiful
– Aarhus – a cracking town, full of character

We have the cycle route maps still (I think) if you’d like them

TM

Still can’t quite believe this – such a strong voice of UK mountain biking for so many years. shocked and stunned.

TM

Lucky to get some here too. has all 4 agents open and hot gold on Gigsandtours

I do think there has to be a better way than a 15 minute internet bunfight. Some halfway house between a fully blown ticket ballot like the Olympics and the Hit the Refresh button lottery

TM

Metro reporting all 22 shows sold in 10 mins – approx 88,000 tickets and about £6m tickets sales!

How did STWers get on?

TM (got some – pure luck!)
p.s. Saw Goldfrapp as Roskilde a few years back – just awesome!

Kate Bush – only for Old People?!

Its sit and listen on a good hifi system or good headphones sort of music.

That’ll be a yes then.

excellent !

TM

not everyone’s cup of tea, especially when she is screechy (mostly when she was a youngun, I hated her then)

Now she’s grown up I think her last few albums have been sublime. Its sit and listen on a good hifi system or good headphones sort of music.

very very excited at the opportunity to see her live – an outrageously talented musician at the top of her game touring for the first time in 35 years? yes please!

TM

They need to be able to work out for themselves what caused the time out, not just have it dished to them

yes yes yes.

TM

we’re getting good results using two intermediaries. Harry the guinea pig (Mummy’s hand) and nice fish (daddy’s hand). Oddly talking to these creations is ok. i think she does know its us – just breaks the conflict.

stickers still good.

TM

Seconded Britelite. had issues with some custom leadlights, but for standard products v good. you get one price – no faffing. Anglian ok but Salesman was keen to discredit other firms – no need for that.

Zenith Staybrite – awful – pushy sales – avoid.

TM

+1 Burley (solo)

light, high quality. flag falls off after a while, and my wheels are stuck on through zeo maintenance but fab bit of kit.

we’ve tipped ours too – with no ill effects (carried on sleeping once!)

check the kids can tolerate being in a trailer – some hate it..

TM

I do some work with Maggie Philbin – she’s still actively promoting technology and engineering (in schools). She’s a fab presenter – even if the kids have no idea who she is!

Do a search for Teentech if you’re interested.

TM

Crazy legs

I keep thinking I should write a letter to the drivers of the H Crabtree company – I see them regularly on the A6 into Manc and they are without fail patient and courteous.

Do it. put some positive stuff out there. Doesn’t have to be a long letter
TM

And another
Patient driving from two guys in a van from Kent Lincs, stuck behind me and the toddler trailer. Held back, nice friendly toot and wave when I pulled over to let them through. (And yes a genuine toot and wave! )

Found their details from Google and emailed them to say thanks. Took about 5 minutes and got a very appreciative response.
Tm

Another DeLonghi Magnifica user here – first bean to cup machine and very impressed. Proper espresso is just excellent :)

@belugabob

Doing your commute is too far to do a regular basis, which clearly means you do it on an irregular basis, right? like every week or something like that? ;)

TM

Worst thing

Deliberating over which new bike kit to spend the £2000 plus per year I saved by moving jobs and riding to work

getting delayed by having to watch herons, woodpeckers and buzzards

enduring the sunrise through the trees every day (ok not a for a few days)

(I’ve probably not got the hang of this have I?)

TM

Burley Solo trailer user here checking in – Commuting to Nursery since 9 months and now drag around a bulky 3 and a half year old – ooof!

Whatever you decide, I hope you stick with the commute. Buy secondhand, request shiny reflective stuff as gifts, guilt friends and family into helping fund a cycling commute. Just don’t give it up.

We had a parents evening a few weeks back and I learnt that almost all other parents were in awe of how we commute by bike. Being that inspiration that might result in another parent dusting off that bike at the back of the shed (complete with child seat/whatever) is a wonderful thing.

We rode in this morning into a breathtaking milky orange sunrise. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world :)

TM

The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern

Miss it greatly.

TM