I tried and failed this 2 or 3 years ago. Wife won, we got the stove. I do like it now but our house is 100+ years old and cold as **** in the winter. Value wise it’s a total joke though, that kiln-dried wood isn’t cheap.

we’ve got off-white Corian on our island. It’s sort of translucent. had it since 2009 and it still looks great, haven’t managed to destroy it or stain it yet. it’s had a few scratches though. The only real problem was during installation, the guy that made it cracked one of the joins when he was putting it in. He was never able to fix it because the colour made the joins particularly visible. you can’t really see the line unless you look for it and he knocked 25% off so I wasn’t too bothered in the end.

Oh, and under mounted steel sink!

The new ESCs aren’t as much fun as the old mechanical jobs though.

with the old mechanical ones you could go from full throttle to full reverse instantly. it made (my hotshot at least) corner way better because it would flick the back end out. Then back to full gas forward again. the escs I have now have a bit of a delay built into the reverse however I set it up. I read somewhere it is to stop you shredding the gearbox. Maybe I need a better (more expensive!) one.

I bought a lunchbox a while back to get my kids into it. I built that and it was fun but not too difficult. I had more fun restoring my 80s vintage HotShot (with the aftermarket supershot conversion) in the process adding all the bling I could never afford when I was a kid. That thing was a rocketship when I was done with it. Kids not bothered by the cars really, even after we got a grasshopper to avoid fights and have fun driving together.

The LB is fun to drive, better than the grasshopper which is hard to drive with a hot motor in it. I recently bought an RC10 worlds which was a really engaging build and really flies. The new ESCs aren’t as much fun as the old mechanical jobs though.

typing this on my 3 month old macbook. LOVE IT. 3rd mac laptop in 10 years, last one I had from 2008. this thing is so small and light it makes my wife’s macbook air look clunky. buy buy buy!

it’s a hoot to drive. I thought about getting mine chipped but on balance 250bhp through the front wheels only is enough. real world combined mileage is 30-35; gets 39 on long motorway trips with sensible driving but I prefer to drive it on windy A roads. the boot is a really good shape and the flat sill is nice. the build quality is excellent and the engine makes a wicked noise. very pleased with it after 2 years even if it is viewed in some quarters as a bit chavtastic!

I’ve got one. got a couple of tattoos too (not tribal) and normal hair. ask away!

40, feel better than ever and enjoying this stage of my life. I became a dad at 30 and struggled with the responsibility but now my kids are full-on boys and some of my friends are having babies, I’m pretty glad I had my kids ‘young.’

The only thing I really notice is cultural reference points. We had an intern here last year, we got talking about music and she asked me what my best ever gig was. I said Rage Against the Machine at Brixton in September 1993. She said yeah, that’s when I was born.

I ride one brake on mine, my new(ish) technique these days is just not to go that fast down hills. As others have said, braking with your legs doesn’t really work when you are bombing it but you can apply a bit of backward resistance as you head down in order to moderate your acceleration. Bit like dragging the brake I guess, and I like to think it helps the fitness angle. Lever swap is a good idea or you could use a bmx lever near the stem for the proper fixeh look. Love riding fixed!

I just got a bike off them 25% off a few weeks ago.

heh, glad I wasn’t the only one who thought TVG was suffering from a dodgy bag.

Really looked like he gave up!

10mm works, nice one gonzy, thanks.

yes! not even making it till lunchtime, nice one!

ooh, threadbump! so, update, I rode the Arkose and it was, on reflection a bit too upright for what I was looking for, too different from my current roadie. However they had those CAAD10 discs on 25% off so I’ve got one of those coming in to try tomorrow. £50 will not be wasted!

thanks all, this is great advice, much to think about. Bruno is a bit far but I hope he gets a home soon!

I do like spaniels actually. We had a look at the local rescue place online and most of the dogs listed are staffies unfortunately.

I’m just under 5’10” and I just rode the medium, felt very upright compared to my regular road bike but the right length.

I had a longsleeve (natch) Senseless Things tshirt with an original Jamie Hewlett drawing on the back that he did at a signing, wore it till it fell apart and then chucked it. such regret!

Reading 92 was wicked though.

ok – it’s not actually bought – yet! But I’m imagining myself riding it already and we all know what that means.

£50 deposit down for my size bike. They may have one in a box in the back of the shop, they are going to call me. If I was an inch taller I’d have bought the one on the shop floor.

50k – no way. Saudi is a sh*thole.

is that it for the framesets? Only giant sizes listed on the evans website now.

loved this review:

http://popbitch.com/home/2014/08/18/lucy-aka-the-time-travelling-computer-eating-usb-stick-dwelling-dinosaur-hunter-with-magic-wigs/

where can one buy this synapse frame you speak of?

I’ve got an ST estate and I’m aware of the slight chavness of it but I don’t care! total hoot to drive. Of the hatch versions I think the VRS looks nicer though.

good fun eh? I have my third coming up in a few weeks. there are a few of these things about now, if you like TM on facebook it pops up with ads for a load of them, spartan race etc. there’s a mens health series too. I keep wondering if I should enter the Tough Guy event, not sure I am really hard enough though!

they were pretty disinterested in mine too, despite the x ray suggesting it would never heal on its own. I got a second opinion privately then went back to the NHS with that as ammo and basically demanded an operation.

as above, how much space between the bones? I’d look at getting it fixed. I busted mine snowboarding, i was probably on a bike 8 weeks or so after the op to tie it all back together (the gap on mine was massive) but I was taking it pretty easy for a good while.

Going through Edinburgh security is the time I’m most thankful for my BA silver card.

Get the train though – much nicer overall

haven’t read the whole thread so apologies if going over old ground, but yes I felt similar, not exactly the same, but similar. You are made to feel guilty if you don’t feel the love bombs going off immediately, but don’t sweat it, it will come in time.

I did this when I was at university. I was ENTJ. same as Margaret Thatcher apparently.

won’t the tank bit fill up with gunge eventually (immediately?) after floods? won’t the basement be totally baltic in the winter being surrounded by cold water all the time?

another + 1 for Luisa but I thought Roisin from this series was also quite tidy on wednesday’s show.

well I’ve been living in it for 5 years but now my family is outgrowing it so I was thinking of punting it for a profit and using the proceedings to buy somewhere bigger.

or a tax on working your arse off turning a sizeable but grotty flat that had been neglected for 25 years into a nice family home, depending on how you look at it.

Les Gets is really good for a first trip, we did year 1 & 2 with our kids there. you can get to some good stuff and back for lunch to pick them up after ski school or if you go the whole nanny thing you can get to Avoriaz and do all that during the day.

if you get powder go straight to Mont Chery though. SO FUN.

EDIT year 3 we went to Briancon / Serre Che which was also great and I actually prefer the mountain – tonnes of trees – although we had 6 powder days so that worked out pretty well while the kids were in ski school.

Jim Sillars just now on the Today programme. Oh my lord.

I hate Tony Blair with a passion, principally for the Iraq war. I reserve a lesser degree of hate for the supine Labour MPs who backed it – Jack Straw being the worst of these.

I can’t stand Salmond either and it’s for all the reasons oldbloke listed above.

there is nothing but opinion to base it on. One is not a valid sample size, even if the example given was a facsimile of what is being proposed for Scotland. Maybe I’m a cynic but I can’t see separation being anything but painful over the short to medium term.