Saw the film last night, much better than I expected. Well worth seeing if you enjoyed the books, (Into Thin Air and The Climb. I’ve read and enjoyed most of Joe Simpson’s books, but don’t think he had anything useful to add regarding this Everest tragedy)

Locations were mostly realistic, the bravado of the mountaineers wasn’t, but within acceptable tolerances for a Hollywood movie.

Thanks lightman, I’ll keep an eye out for a used OOF.

Anyone any experience or opinions on Sand Seeker bikes? ebay link

The Verenti is only available up to 17″, suitable for up to 5’10”. I’m 6′

Thanks for the kind comments!

WEJ – amazing house. You clearly live in some nirvana like mcmoonter. Do you have enormous log stores all over the place?!

It’s funny you should say that, we’ve usually got around 10-20 tonnes of logs in store, and currently burn around 7-8 tonnes a year. We’re having a log Biomass system installed this week, so will be using a bit more in future.

No extractor above either cooker?

It’s a Rayburn, we were advised that it wasn’t necessary. There is an extractor fan in the kitchen, although we rarely use it.

[kitchenenvy]Induction hob too. That won’t do at all. You ever tried to use a wok on one of those things? Not a fan.[/kitchenenvy]

Induction hob’s great so far, not tried a wok yet though!

Ours. Pine, built by a local carpenter:

I use iZettle with an iPad, works great. Should work with a cheaper android tablet if you don’t want to use an iPad.

Used one in the past, 30M with a pair of cat6 cables. Worked fine as far as I can remember.

Not much snow below 2000ft i North Wales, it should be fine.

Many thanks for all your replies. I’ll bring it home tomorrow, so can get a bit more information and take some photos. It sounds like N gauge though.

Epic TV player doesn’t show on mobile devices. It’s desktop only. So it shouldn’t be using up anyone’s mobile data plans.

I’m too far from the exchange to have a landline broadband, so I have a three mobile broadband account for home use. Limit is 15gb/month.

Having used winter tyres (well, four season tyre, actually) for the first time last year, I can’t see a need for a 4×4 for most people. There might be occasions where the extra ground clearance of a proper 4×4 would be an advantage, but when the snow gets much above the bumpers, 4×4 will struggle anyway. As has been said, when it comes to braking, winter tyres on 2wd will stop quicker than 4×4 on summer tyres.

Nice! Value very dependent on its condition and the model and condition of the lens. For insurance purposes, I’d go for retail value from a dealer, so approx £300, for the body. Probably around what you paid for it?

Have you a lens for it?

Use this to use serial to find model, then you should be able to get an idea of value online or from a specialist, depending on model.

As Wikipedia says:

“the aesthetic quality of the blur in out-of-focus areas of an image”

There are people (usually Leica enthusiasts) who’ve been saying “I like/don’t like the way this lens handles out of focus areas” for a long time. Even two lenses with similar specification (but of a different design) at the same aperture. I first heard the term bokeh around 10 years ago.

Stovax Huntingdon 40

Many thanks for the replies, I’ve got an appointment at the Fracture Clinic on Monday, so should have a better idea of the proposed treatment then. Kneeguru site is vety useful!

Anyone can climb Everest.

Doesn’t the photos prove otherwise?

In my experience, (2 Himalayan expeditions in the 90’s, one of which was to Everest) your sense of acceptable risk changes as soon as you get off the plane in Kathmandu, and then significantly changes again as you climb above base camp.

A friend, Mike Rheinberger, died on an Everest. An experienced mountaineer, he’d been on Everest many times, but failed to summit. The last time, he took until dusk to reach the top. He would have known that this far too late to descend safely and had to bivi about 30M below the Summit. He died sometime during the following day, having not been able to descend much further.

He would have known the risks involved, and probably realised during the afternoon on the way to the summit that he was unlikely to return safely. I’m sure he knew that rescue was unlikely, and that he would not want anyone to risk their own safety to remove his body.

Removing the bodies from most of the mountain is virtually impossible, and, in my view, not worth the huge risk in trying to do so.

Walking past another climber who is clearly struggling is unforgivable, but I can see how a combination of someone who is focused on the climb, lack of oxygen and severe tiredness can lead them to make the bizarre decisions of not helping another human being in need.

WEJ, seeing as wood takes a very very very long time to dry as cord (I.e unsplit and in long lengths), I can’t see how that wood can be 20% mc unless your measuring it on the outside.

Felled last year, I think. Stored in an open site and a dry summer. Middle of timber was up to 25%, some of the ends were as low as 10-12%, according to my moisture meter. Will double check though. Wasn’t too bothered as I won’t need to burn it until late spring anyway.

23 tonnes, 20-25% moisture 8′ lengths @£38/tonne delivered. spruce, I think.

Brenig and Alwen

A friend of mine is a Geologist working on fracking. To sum up:

“Safe if properly regulated (like UK) where Fracking occurs at depthm, with a layer of solid rock can between fracking and surface.

Unsafe if not properly regulated (eg. US) where fracking can happen at any depth.”

Loop 1 was fine last week, didn’t do loop 2. Wear long sleeves and waterproof shorts and you’ll be fine.

Next step up from a Gaggia would probably be something like the Isomac Zaffiro, gets excellent results for espresso, but as it is a single boiler, not as good for steaming as a dual boiler or HX machine.

Lever machines can be tricky to get consistent results, I have an Elektra MCaL, looks lovely, but I get better results from my Carimali HX.

An exception to this is a new lever machine from Londinium which has excellent temperature stability. Different price range though. Londinium 1

I assume that you already have a good grinder.

home-barista.com has lots of useful information

Are the Stirling engines noisier than the other type (Thermocouple?)

Light your subject with only one type of light source, not a mix.
Have something white in photo, place so that it can be cropped out if you like.
Take photo in RAW
Open image in photoshop, set white balance from white area.
Edit as normal.

Stovax huntingdon 40

Nowhere within 30 miles of Blaenau if you value your valuables….unless you are looking to score crack.

Probably the most incorrect post I’ve seen on ST! I live 15 miles away from Blaenau, they are way down the list of people “most likely to steal your valuables”

Blaenau is in the middle of the Snowdonia National Park, loads of camping, try Llechrwd[/url] or Google Betws y Coed.

Are you all talking about the same thing? Citroen offer “Grip Control” which I thought sends the power to the (front) wheel with most grip? (Cost about £400 when I first heard about it a couple of years ago) So improves traction in slippery conditions. Traction control/ESP detects wheel-spin and reduces/cuts out engine power until all wheels are rotating at the same a similar speed. Supposed to be “almost as good as” 4×4. Seemed to be a good idea to me.

In the best STW tradition, I’m no expert and done no research whatsoever. So might/could/probably am totally wrong.

Edited for some accuracy, also Link[/url]

Gove is Englands Education Minister.

Nope – he’s UK Secy of State for Education.

Responsibility for education is devolved to Scotland and Wales. Gove has no influence outside England.

The Welsh Education Minister is Leighton Andrews, Scottish is Michael Russell.
But do any of them do stadium rock?

Hmmm… Leighton Andrews had a Yes and Genesis album when in the sixth form. So almost there.

Link

Gove is Englands Education Minister.

The Welsh Education Minister is Leighton Andrews, Scottish is Michael Russell.

How many of you are driving? We usually start midday from North Wales (5 hours to Dover) and drive overnight to the Alps. Get there early morning, fairly fresh. With 3 or 4 driving it works well. To Les Gets usually about 20 hours, towing a trailer. Less without.

No, your focusing distance will be no closer than you currently get. Extension tubes are a cheap way to get into close up photography and would still be useful if/when you get a Macro lens.

Waterproof camera review[/url]

Camping or caravaning?

Somerset, near Quantocks which are great for biking with a dog.

Good review here:[/url]

Mypressi Twist review

with a good handgrinder will give excellent espresso for less than £200

Ivan, you don’t need to spend a lot on home roasting. I used a Popcorn roaster quite successfully (before buying a Gene Cafe roaster). DIY heatguns are also pretty good, I believe. Lots of information at:

http://www.sweetmarias.com/index.php

and

http://homeroasters.org/

Colin Prior[/url]