any other use of a knife for outdoor pursuits in the UK is just based on some Ray Mears/Rambo fantasy.

This. Absolutely.

There is far too much emphasis on work, surely if someone does not wish to work then they ought not to be expected. Life is far too short to be a wageslave all of your best years.

Why can`t we just tax big business and rich people, they can afford it.

Troll much?

Indeed, OCD is a genuine mental health condition and can be very unpleasant for sufferers. I’m no expert but the compulsive behaviour is driven by a need to avoid an obsessive thought – eg I must lock the front door 3 times or something very bad will happen.

It’s one of my pet hates when people say “oh I’m so OCD about that”. No, what you have there is a habit/preference.

Heaven forbid that the Evening News comments section meets STW – that place makes here look like a hippy love-in!

Nice bunch of people on here, eh?

Quite.

Like any service provider, there are good ones and bad ones. If you can, approach one that’s recommended to you – a good one will have far more contacts in the right places than you could achieve on your own. Failing that look at job adverts in your area and speak to the business that has the most that look interesting to you. Just make sure you tell them you want to know where your cv is being sent in advance. If you get a bad feeling from one just back out and speak to another.

I speak as someone who has been an agency recruiter, and in-house, and a candidate- a good recruiter will add a lot of value to your job search.

But Israel are usually such sticklers for abiding by international law, no?

Bugger, was looking at this again at lunchtime and planning to sign up tonight.

On the other hand I once went to buy a car, had the cash with me and offered the asking price. Seller then said there was another guy on his way and he’ll have come further than me (by about 5 miles) so it was only fair to give him first refusal. I declined the seller’s offer to wait and see if the other guy bought it.

Also, I knew a girl once who strongly believed that leather was made only from monkeys hands and faces. She’s a teacher now.

When I used to work in sales my boss would tell us the definition of insanity was doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results.

I took great delight in the irony of her telling us this, using precisely the same phrase, 2 or 3 times a week.

Hmm I do sometimes have issues keeping my knee straight, sorted but working on the strengthening muscles around it, so that would make sense.

Should add that other activities like running, shorter rides, hillwalking etc don’t cause any problems.

The boxes for bikes at lights, they have a often have a little extended bit on the far left. Looks like it’s there so you can filter up the left, where you enter the box, then position yourself where you need to be within the box.

And yeah, people deliberately block off the filtering space all the same. If there’s no one on the pavement I just bunny hop up the kerb and pass them that way. But I know that won’t make me popular with anyone…

Never mind that – is there free stuff for spectators a la Tour de France?

I love how the camera car slowly backs away.

Conflicted on this, not least because my brother is a firefighter. I’m almost always anti strikes based on pay and conditions- if you think you’re worth more then find someone who will pay you more. However, the pension/retirement age thing here does seem to be closely linked to a genuine safety concern. If nothing else I’m glad an important issue will get some close scrutiny.

Toys I do work in HR so my answer was from my experience. Without a written contact he’ll struggle to get any money back.

Normal practice is that relocation allowance is reclaimed by the employer if the employee decides to leave, if they are made redundant or dismissed then it’s usually not pursued.

I sympathise ton, but it’s a hell of a lot worse going to a friend’s funeral in your 20s.

My car was once broken into and they stole the cable from the CD changer in the boot. Not the changer itself mind, just the cable.

Gaffer tape and zip ties will sort that.

I once got caught in a vicious loop when I needed to replace the paper part of my licence and change my address. To do either of those things requires the other to be already done and no one could tell me how to do both at once. I forget how it was eventually resolved but I think someone at a post office dug out the right form for me.

I think the wider issue is the erosion of the old skills. We’ll soon have a generation that’s grown up with GPS and will see paper maps as old fashioned and something they can’t be bothered with. That’s fine as long as GPS works but it only takes it to be broken or dropped in a river once and, if the conditions are wrong, you’re stuffed.

I’m moving to a stage where maps will be my backup to GPS, rather than the other way around it’s been for me up to now. I take GPS and maps no matter how simple the walk, I make it a rule so there’s no question in my mind. I also always take a first aid kit but to date I’ve never needed it, same principle.

There’s quite a lot of Edinburgh Uni, if you can be more specific I’m sure someone can help.

Yesterday I took in a couple of munros in Glen Lyon, and it was the first time I’d ever taken just a GPS alone (although I did have the relevant section of OS map saved to my phone just in case). Both hills were easy to navigate and the conditions were perfect, in either case if I did manage to get lost I just have to head down to a loch and trudge along the shore. I didn’t like being without a paper map though, in future I’ll go back to taking both.

VW Pasaats tailgate. All of them.

District 13 is on Netflix now. Not much plot to speak of but far and away the best action film I’ve ever seen. First time I saw it I went straight back to the beginning and watched it again!

Looks interesting, I’ll probably give that a go. I’d like to see the route before signing up, but probably will anyway.

I’ve got 4 or 5 retro bikes and I love them all for different reasons – mostly because they aren’t as good as modern bikes. Poorer brakes and suspension makes “basic” trails challenging again!

The one that gets most miles is the 1989 Raleigh Montage which I commute on. It’s single speed just now and the whole bike cost me less than a round of drinks. The geometry and reynolds tubing keep making me think about getting disc tabs welded on and making it into a tourer.

Hence. Particularly when used in the phrase “hence why”.

I’m the same age as you, left uni 2 years earlier in 2005, bought first flat in 2007, got married last year and will be moving to a house at the end of the year. You still live with your mum. Do you think you should move out?

Sorry if that sounds harsh and no doubt the financial aspects of the above have been tough but (admittedly based on the one post above) it seems like life is passing you by. As for renting, some of the best years of my life were living with mates in rented places, about 22/23 when we’d started earning but still knew how to enjoy ourselves!

Cookeaa I think he means try for a 5th title, at the next games.

What was your normal place of work as stated in your contract? There can be significant tax implications for paying expenses/accommodation for a normal place of work. Not to mention your colleagues wondering why their travel to work isn’t refunded. I’ve only ever seen it allowed for a secondment or a transitional arrangement, certainly never as a permanent set up.

Edit – fwiw I don’t believe this constitutes constructive dismissal, but I’m not an expert in employee relations.

Yeah Swiss I don’t get the whole family thing either, quite infrequently talk to mine. If they cause more hassle than they’re worth cut em loose I say.

Jeans not washed for 15 months have same bacterial content as jeans 2 weeks after washing…

http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=12722442%5B/URL%5D

Simple footflaps, my shirts tend to be on the verge of smelly after a day, t shirts made from other materials seem to last longer, and jeans don’t get smelly unless you spill something on them.

AI like the clear boundary between work and home that the dress code contributes to. I don’t wear a suit at home and I don’t wear t shirts in the office.

My suits get dry cleaned once or maybe twice a year, but I do have 2 pairs of trousers to each jacket. New shirt every day, I’m actually a bit shocked that some people don’t do that. My jeans will be washed probably 3or 4 times in their lifetime. Casual t-shirts may get anywhere from 1-3 days, sniff-test dependant.