This really annoys me as a serial Volvo estate buyer. I won’t have an SUV.

As a local I can confirm that Fort William is already rammed, more than normal. I’d stay at home myself to avoid the humanity. That’s what I’ll be doing……and I can get in for free. Putting up a volunteer, don’t quite get that myself, why don’t folk get paid? Good luck turning up ad-hoc, security and formality seems like World Cup x 3. Hope you all enjoy yourselves.

End of this stage was a total construction. Vingegaard sat up to let Pogacar win. All dreamt up by the director sportifes to make Vingegaard look less dominant (and less likely to be juicing?). I’d prefer real racing.

Mackerel are migratory I doubt they are in one place long enough for local pollution to be an issue / you could catch one that was 30 miles away yesterday.

I have an itiwit 1/2 person kayak. I had a very exciting time once when a squall appeared on a calm day. I wish I’d bought something with less air draft. It also is a pain to dry before putting away. These constraints mean it doesn’t get used as much as I’d hoped.

I’ve had a V90 with the same powertrain for 2 years has been faultless, brisk enough for me, I get 46mpg a V60 should do more.

Wheels last a long time not being used. Highest mileage wheels is the correct way to couch this question. Mavic Ceramic rims with Hope hubs where you just keep wapping new bearings in are my longest lasting wheels. 40k km maybe? Braking performance is very poor now though, polished braking surfaces.

Little Debbie cakes……..as per John Stamstad.

Billy Bilslands then Big Al.

I think it is absolutely reprehensible that some of you are encouraging the OP to commit suicide. This thread is an example of all that is wrong with the internet.

I see someone mentioned renewables, that’s what I came here to type. Your skills would you get you into that industry.

I’ve gone bike mechanic, hydro engineer, forestry engineer, in that order. I wouldn’t recommend commercial forestry as morally rewarding as it’s definitely not a force for good environmentally (its also pretty dull engineering wise). Forestry is probably not good for the mental health of the lower ranks either, but they do need land agents if that fits you. The rule I try to apply is ‘being part of the solution, not part of the problem’, to most directions I take in life, which is roughly the same as what you’re looking for.

Wait until these folk hear about bakers, and even worse than that, Greggs…….

My wife, who is exactly the sort of person who should be in the police, joined Strathclyde Police in the late nineties and was sexually harassed out by the early noughties. I think there is something self selecting for negative personality traits when a job gives you power over big swathes of society. Similar to how the desire to be a politician is a high indicator of you being a lying slimy power hungry odious turd, but that of course is a separate topic.

For balance there are of course good and bad cops (boom tish)……

Stay in Kearvaig bothy and do loops on the beach. Balnakiel is good. Oldshoremore. Lots in the NW mainland. Ormacleit for length on the islands.

@waderider As per the other thread, the solution to too many deer is to eat them?

Agreed, I do! I actively facilitate the humane death of deer by keeping accesses open for stalkers. It helps me sleep at night. The damage they do at their current population density……

So I moved from a V70 to a V90 a while back. The V90 is the better car but it would be improved with buttons. Touch screens are not as good as buttons, I concur with the OP. Also, the voice control isn’t good enough to change my opinion. The car is less safe because of the touch screen! They’re Volvos FFS!

There are no streetlights here, plus my house is about 150m down a gravel track and is black – if I didn’t have lights on the outside, we’d never find it in the dark 🤣

We have some LED floodlights for taking the dog into the garden at night or making sure you don’t step outside into a herd of deer. Maybe we need to fit some hi-viz vests and torches to the deer?

I struggle with this due to my own experience of living miles from anywhere. I find using car or bicycle lights on the approach helps with property location, and a head torch each hanging by the door sorts everything else. I definitely stand in the lighting is pollution camp. Lovely stars and northern lights where I am, plus deer (unfortunately, tree killers due to a population out of control).

Open last time I passed, probably within the last two years. There is a tenant crofter who has no choice but to use it. Go on a diet before crossing. Dilapidated hydro power station at bottom of gorge is worth a visit if you are at all interested in industrial heritage.

Speaking as a civil engineer who has designed, gained consent for, managed the construction of, and commissioned hydro schemes can I just say this is so airy I can’t be bothered commenting.

I went on a cruise once to support my wife looking after her ill mother, around the Baltic Sea. Oslo, Copenhagen, St Petersburg, Tallin, Stockholm etc.

Expensive, constraining (no itinery flexibility as you’re ‘tied’ to a boat), 110000t Royal Carribean cruise liner felt like a cross between Butlins and a shopping mall, who gives a toss about the planet anyway…..

Summary – for grave dodgers who don’t mind an elevated risk of catching the flu and don’t care about the environmental cost of their holiday.

If you don’t clear the snow it compacts to ice under traffic or turns to ice if there is freeze thaw cycles.

Laughing at the southern softies struggling with what to do……

I don’t understand why you need to cut a hole anywhere. It/they may be nesting between your ceiling and floor but there is no way that is it’s entire living environment unless you’re pouring porridge oats through the cracks between the floor boards. They’ll be going somewhere for food and water, work out where and deal with them there / en route. You need to know the access point or they’ll be back.

I know this is the internet, but it would be nice if people stopped posting sweeping generalisations that they may have heard down the pub or read on another inexpert forum. This is not aimed at one commentard in particular.

Always serviced my own cars on the driveway including more involved jobs like shockers, timing belts, diagnostics etc.

Home servicing is only worth it if a) you can’t afford a professional mechanic or b) you derive pleasure or satisfaction from doing it. In the case of the former you still need to buy tools to do the job safely. So to really save money you’ll need to commit to using those tools multiple times.

I use Smith and Allan for oil, modern specs available at bargain prices, Autodoc for general parts, a bit of brand specific research normally turns up a source of genuine OEM parts.

Led Zep Physical Graffiti (easily trumps IV)

I see your Laughingstock, acknowledge it, and raise it with Mark Hollis by Mark Hollis.

Talk Talk Spirit of Eden.

Cheezybeanz that’s the very one, you’re a star. I’ll PM you.

Thanks folks. I’m going to dry up now and just order the best non lumicycle charger I can identify. I can test it on an older battery first.

irc – tried my pals house near Stirling the other night cheapest was also £40.04 for UPS access point.

scotroutes – yep pleasingly/annoyingly UPS access charge has now dropped from £40.04 to £8.99 (Edit – no, still £40.04 when I put my correct postcode in, even though it makes no difference as it is being delivered to a collection point!).

Insane, the failed charger is a few hundred grams and would fit in a half pint glass. I think on principle I need to move away from lumicycle.

Anyone fancy letting me know what costs they see using postcode PH34 4EQ? Going mad!

Stumpy01 – Type 2241 4 cells li-ion charger, 5.5mm female jack, 0.9A 16.8v output. Been googling lots. About to check mtbbatteries, thanks for the tip.

the00 – bought many systems over the years, have three batterys and two LED head units here, so kind of wedded to the brand. Old halogens kicking about too. That’s what makes procuring a charger from them costing me I reckon minimum £130 all in including collection costs so disappointing. I’ve even bought replacement chargers before without this issue.

Thanks Cheesybeenz.

Firewood costs money? Other shocks in this thread include the disclosure you can buy wood sheds…….

I’ve got a degree in civil engineering. I started gaining experience in renewables but the hours were longer than I wanted to work and you need to be away from home more than I was ever willing to be…..if only I worked that out when selecting what to study! So I had to move into a side branch of civil engineering – Forestry engineering – to get the lifestyle I wanted, predictable hours <45 per week and home nearly every night. Which means I never achieved my original objective of having a job building exciting things. It’s just quarrying, waterbound roads, modest bridges over and over again. But I suppose the degree got me the lifestyle I wanted so shouldn’t grumble.

Summary – be wary much of the construction industry is long hours away from home.

No smart meter. My smugness is intact. I wouldn’t worry about going without electricity for a few hours, might make me read a book instead of surf the net……

I’m unaffected by all this stuff – heat and hot water from free firewood, and I live in an ex SSE house on an 11kv spur attached to a 3MW hydro electric plant that will only be shutting down if we get a winter drought on the West Coast of Scotland. The power plant can’t operate on island mode but I cant see the spur shutting down as they’ll need all the generation they can get.

Smug, me?

This has been done by manually placed charges. One on the railway triggered by a passing train, designed to ignite the fuel train. This was set up to trigger similar charges on the adjacent road bridge, with two timed charges there. First to lift the road section up of its bearers, second to displace the road section horizontally while it is off its bearers, so within milliseconds of the first charge.

The other option for the road bridge would be a shaped charge but the photographs clearly show the road bridge deck as being displaced outwards.

If this was a truck bomb or missile strike there would be debris visible and the mass of explosive required to collapse a RC bridge deck would be unfeasibly large.

Lovely starlings, don’t see the problem, their population has reduced markedly since the seventies. I suggest appreciating them.

I went up Ben Nevis last night and enjoyed the cool air. Am I in trouble for exercising?

That’s a top tip for you all.

Can I recommend “The Deficit Myth” by Stephanie Kelton as a relevant read to some of the comments?

Topics not being discussed adequately – anthropomorphic climate change, housing, disparity between rich and poor.

I’m also finding some of the topics being discussed toe-curling as driven by gammons, such as trans issues. What is wrong with being woke? It’s laudable?!

Democracy is on its death bed.

I’d rather shit in my hands and clap