Salt’n’vinegar crisps on white bread (with butter).

For pud, mashed banana on wholemeal, maybe with a pinch of brown sugar for a bit of texture.

I use PrivateInternetAccess to watch iplayer and channel 4 from NZ. Originally got it so I could sign up to US Netflix before such civilisation reached this part of the world, works for all sorts though. Not sure it’s breaking any laws (i.e. I’m not sure NZ has a law about breaking the terms of service of a UK company), definitely breaking the terms of use though.

Also, Vikings. Gangs of big beardy fellas get into numerous squabbles over territory, women and money. Basically SOA set in 9th century.

The Killing is very good. I’ve seen the US one, people also rave about the original Scandi version.

pistonbroke – Member
Shame it’s not a peanut as the solution is to pour chocolate up the nose and it comes out a treat.
I’m here all week. Hope you sort it out.

My little sister stuck a peanut up her nose when she was about two, but didn’t tell anyone. It had gone up into her sinuses and eventually started to rot. At some point the rancid smell that followed her was traced to her nostrils, and so off to A&E we went. I was too young to remember, but my folks reckon everyone in the room was practically sick on the spot at the stench when the doc pulled the slimy brown remains from her nose 8O

^

I started with the Yepp Mini, progressed to the Maxi, can’t say enough good things about them. Used the Maxi on an XtraCycle Free Radical, worked a treat.

My eldest moved on to a DoLittle top-tube-mounted seat by age 3.5, but he’s big for his age and had more bikes than me by then! No.2 Child is still 6-7 months away from the Yepp Mini, can’t wait!

Could be in a different region, I tend to flick around using a VPN. You can get access to a VPN cheaply for short periods (my dad is currently visiting us in NZ, he set up a VPN so he can keep up with the football on iplayer and sky sports online – three quid for three months or something, and apparently very straight forward)

It’s on Netflix, first month is free IIRC and there are only half a dozen episodes in series 1 so plenty of time to watch them all. Just remember to cancel the Netflix sub before you get charged.

Does anyone know if this thread is still going? :?:

Four-year-olds love sticks. Go for a walk in some woods, find some cool sticks. Sword fights (pirates), gunfights, have a bit of string in your pocket to make a bow and arrow.

:-) Sorry, I’m quite enjoying this thread and didn’t want it to descend into an anti-homophobia argument (apologies to essel for ruining his excellent trolling :lol: )

nickc – Member
I suspect that this

Gay people.
may require a bit of expansion?[/quote]
I suspect that he means that while he has no problem with gay people, the concept of gayness ‘messes with his mind’, as per the thread title. Which is fair enough. Those people who have said they get weirded out watching left-handed golfers, no-one jumped to any conclusions about them being bigoted towards left-handed golfers. This is much the same, I suspect. It’s perfectly possible to not get your head around being attracted to your own gender, but also to have no problem accepting that being gay exists and is nothing to be concerned about.

[edit – the confusion probably arose because some folk have gone OT and started posting about “things they don’t like, that other people do” rather than concepts that they struggle to grasp.

ahwiles – Member
…and a hot water bottle.

I often used to fill a water bottle and nuke it for 90 seconds, for the boy to hold under the poncho :D

Is there a kind of one piece poncho to save all the clothes faff?

I used one of these for my eldest:

We ride to daycare year round. Works a treat, great for keeping windchill to a minimum too on cold days.

Everlast, early 2000’s at some basement venue in London. I hate hip-hop (or whatever you call his ‘typical’ style), but really like a handful of his more ‘normal’ songs. Anyway, me and two mates got there for some reason fairly early and fairly sober, to find the bar only sold tins of Red Stripe for about four quid each. There was no readmission if we left, so we had to suck it up and shell out. Then the warm-up act came on, some young lad on a mixing desk, spinning some hippity-hoppity-dancey stuff and adding a bit of his own rapping. On paper, pretty much the worst thing I can think of to listen to, music-wise. Except it was bloody awesome. No idea who he was, but he could really work a crowd. And Everlast continued in the same vein, the whole crowd rapt for the entire gig. And he did Jump Around at the end which rolled into the encore, one of the finest tunes to ever witness live.

Not a great gig as such, put a great part of a gig – Robbie Williams at Milton Keynes Bowl. Got dragged along by the mrs. It was probably an ok gig if you’re a fan, but I’m not, so it wasn’t. Except at one point there was some banter about him being the best entertainer, there’s a big explosion, and Ant & Dec appear on stage once the smoke has cleared. Then they had a bit of a dance/sing-off (We will rock the mic – psych!) which was very entertaining, mostly through their input. Then it was back to Fat Bob, who continued his former mediocrity.

Red Hot Chillies. V Festival circa 2000/2001, they were bloody awful. No crowd interaction, no stage presence/charisma. Just came on, played some songs pretty much as they sound on the albums, then left. Very disappointing.

I asked this a while back. Conclusion was:

Massive Brewery (although they were unavailable at the time, hence me asking for alternatives)

Peterfile of this here parish put together this kit list.

Or there’s a similar kit here from Geterbrewed[/url].

Don’t be tempted by the ‘simpler’ kits which use liquid extract in a can. While you can achieve good results with them, you have way more control and options with the brew-in-a-bag (BIAB) method. It’s dead easy too. Looks a bit intimidating/complicated, but it really isn’t. There are loads of BIAB brew-day walkthroughs on youtube which will answer pretty much any question you have (plus the brewers of STW :-) )

howsyourdad1 – Member
This is a new low

I know. I did think twice before posting, but you lot have a sometimes worrying amount of knowledge on the most obscure subjects :-)

Cheers makecoldplayhistory, will investigate the cloths, but tempted by the silicone ones too.

banks – Member
Love them & found them to be reliable, look at chilli lights too!

+1 for chilli lights, worth a look. I have a chilli helmet light and ones that go on the wrist/ankle. I find they struggle to be seen in conditions such as dull/overcast, where a traditional light could still be useful, but in darkness they offer a big and ‘different’ shape of light which can be seen a good distance away.

We’ve had a few poo/sick/wee-related events, pretty similar to many of the previous posts.

One non-bodily-fluid-related incident happened when our eldest was about two or three, I had taken him to the supermarket to do the weekly shop. In the aisle with vegetable oils and so on, I failed to park the trolley, with him in the seat, right in the middle of the aisle. So as I browsed the shelves, he managed to reach out and grab at a bottle. One litre of extra virgin olive oil, in a glass bottle, promptly exploded at my feet. Huge puddle of oil and broken glass surrounding me, oil all up the left leg of my jeans to the knee. And my left shoe (Merrel, goretex) filled to the brim with oil and tiny shards.

One of the shelf-stacking lads ran off to get a giant roll of paper to absorb it all, I had to abandon my sock and squelched round the rest of the shop.

Joat: “I found open-cell too cold”
Open-cell neoprene? What, like a sponge?

Sounds daft, but yes. I’ve bought a few pairs over the last few years for my commute. One pair I had were just ‘neoprene’, closed cell or open cell was not specified. They were basically 5mm wetsuit neoprene, so absorbed water like a wetsuit. For a 10 minute commute the water wouldn’t have time to soak through to the shoes, but longer than that then I’d get wet feet. Every pair I’ve seen since then in shops have been the same. Essentially you are going to get wet feet, but I guess they may keep you warm in the same way that a wetsuit does in the water.

In the climate I live in, cold isn’t an issue (never drops below zero), I just want dry feet.

You can get some that are neoprene with a rubber coating, so properly waterproof. Generally not cheap though, and for MTB use I suspect they would be unlikely to last long.

On the other hand… once when in the car with my wife and son in the car, we were heading to the post depot to collect a parcel. On the minor approach to a T-intersection, the main road has a solid median. It allows a two-stage right turn: cross the nearside lane into a central merge lane, and then then merge left into the far lane over about 80m. You can’t turn right into the minor road, so nothing to give way to from the left (for the first part of the manoeuvre).

I slowed, saw a platoon of cars approaching from the right, but with a bit of a gap before them. From the left was a car followed by a motorbike. So I pulled out into the central lane, rather than wait ages for the platoon of vehicles from the right. Very safe, loads of time. I then cruised along the central lane at about 20km/h (limit being 50km/h), expecting the car and motorbike to my left to continue on at their steady 50km/h, and I’d pull in behind, since there was nothing behind them. Easy peasy.

Except the biker slowed. His front wheel was not far off level with my rear bumper (but we’re still in separate lanes at this point, with a small kerb median between us, and he’s slowed right into my blind spot). I’m trying to see what he’s up to, whether he’s letting me in or trying to pass or what. He’s too close for me to merge, he’s not backing off but he’s not passing me either. We’re rapidly running out of roadspace at the merge. I slowed slightly to let him through, but he did the same thing, then we sped up a bit, slowed again. Bloody shambles. In the end I’d slowed to a walking pace and he refused to pass me so I sped up to 50 and claimed the gap. He was furious, came alongside me waving a fist and shouting. But we were coming up to a zebra crossing with a central refuge so he had to drop back, then there was oncoming traffic so he couldn’t do it again but he was gesticulating and shouting still. I was taking the next left to the post place, so I wound down the window and pointed over the roof to him to turn left. He followed me through the car park (right to the far end, going appropriately slowly through the car park :-) ).

He started giving me the “what the eff was that all about? Pulling out on me, why weren’t you looking ranty ranty shout shout” spiel. I told him that I knew he was there; I didn’t pull into his lane, I pulled into the middle lane, and was going loads slower than him; and if he’d just carried on at a steady speed he’d have passed me in about 2 seconds. The confusion arose because he braked hard and shadowed me on my bumper, too close for me to safely pull in.

At that point his body language changed slightly and I could see he knew I was right, but he didn’t want to lose face, so he kept ranting but said how he’d almost been knocked off in similar circumstances the day before, how could he have known that I’d seen him etc. etc.

I explained that I cycle through that intersection every day on the way to work, I know what it’s like. I’m very aware of how vulnerable me and you are on the roads, I wasn’t going to hit you under any circumstances, it was just a miscommunication, and so on, and that seemed to calm him down. We ended up shaking hands and going on our separate ways.

Goes to show how a simple misunderstanding can escalate.

[edit: jeez, that was a long post, stream-of-consciousness – sorry!)

zippykona – Member
Those of you that resort to violence does it only happen on a bike or are you up for fisticuffs in non cycling situations?

Never been in a fight in my life. Generally known for being so laid back as to be practically horizontal. But have had the red mist several times while cycle-commuting. I think it’s the fact that as my normally cruisey life offers minimal risks, so when faced with a very real brush with – at best – nasty injuries, there’s a panicky fight-or-flight thing and occasionally something snaps.

On my commute there’s one place where morons try to overtake on a single lane (kerb on both sides) left-hand bend, 90 degrees with an inside radius of about 3 metres, round a massive tree. There’s no way in hell you can pass a cyclist there, but it doesn’t stop dickheads from trying, even when I’m in the primary position. On one such occasion the driver in question tailgated me (or whatever the equivalent is to someone on a bike) round the corner while leaning on the horn, aggressively overtook me way too close as soon as we were round the corner, then pulled into a company car park about 50m further on, so I followed. I stopped about 10 metres away, and took off the helmet and sunnies, so as not to appear aggressive. I asked politely her what that was all about, she ranted about me being in the way, making her late, thinking I own the road etc. I had the phone out, took a picture of her, then her number plate, told her to expect a call from the police, and rode off.

The car park she had pulled into was a lawyers’ chambers. They had a great website, with profiles of all their staff, including photos. So I found out her name, emailed all the partners of her law firm, copying in every single staff member (after working out the format of their email addresses), telling them about her quality driving, her response, how well it reflected on them as a company etc. etc. It gives me a warm feeling inside when I think of her next performance review…

The size of the fire extinguisher!! Imagine the size of the fireball if that lot ignited!

Many years ago a girlfriend and I lived in the middle flat in a converted Edwardian townhouse. Lovely exposed wooden floorboards throughout. I went out on the lash with some mates one evening, rolled in at some ungodly hour, managed to find my way into bed.

Next morning I woke up and even before I opened my eyes I knew someone had been sick. Took a few more seconds to work out that it must have been me… It was on the pillows, the duvet, the sheets. I had dried sick on my face and in my hair. Oozing class.

Turns out that I had yacked in my sleep, partly in the bed but mostly I had managed to get my head over the side and hit the floor. The lovely floorboards. With the gaps between the boards.

So I spent a miserable morning pulling up floorboards to clean it all up. Luckily there was a decent amount of insulation which was remarkably absorbent, so I was spared the humiliation of having it leak into the downstairs flat :oops:

Not my finest hour, but luckily my girlfriend had low standards and wasn’t put off (we have now been married ten years) 8)

Pook – Member
I was going to go up it and take it down branch by branch

Using a chainsaw up a tree is not pleasant. I took down a huge avocado tree a few months ago, it was perhaps 12 metres high, about the same or slightly more across. I have felled (from the ground), limbed and bucked a dozen or more decent-sized trees and am happy using a chainsaw, but once you get up a tree, swaying slightly in the wind, you realise that there’s no escape route like there is on the ground. It quickly becomes apparent that a chainsaw should be the very last option. I had a secured ladder, and safety harness, fall arrester etc, but still splashed out for one of these

Long reach and insanely sharp. It made short work of branches up to about 8-10″ diameter, and was significantly less stressful. It’s come in handy quite often since then too, but it would have been well worth it even for just the one job.

I do like a good sci-fi film, this one somehow slipped through the cracks. Sounds like it’s still worth keeping an eye out for then, cheers for your thoughts.

I’ve still not got round to watching that film. Is it worth it, i.e. will it live up to the immense hype/nostalgia, or will it just look dated? (I read the book many years ago so know the story).

Buy a splitting maul head, and mount it in a block of wood (cut a square hole through, or just use two solid bits clamped on each side) with the blade uppermost. Place your soon-to-be-kindling wood on it and hit the top with a lump hammer.

Much more control than using an axe, and once you get to the skinny bits it feels much nicer than swinging an axe towards your fingers…

A DIY version of this:

I tried a Weeride but didn’t get on with it, I found there was too much knee interference. Probably just a combination of rider and bike geometry, as plenty of folk get on fine with them, but worth bearing in mind. Might be worth seeing if anyone local on here can loan you one, or just let you fit it to your bike for a test ride up and down the street.

I ended up with a Yepp Mini, which was superb. JnrH mkII is due any day now so I’m hopeful it’ll be back in use in late 2016. The mount for the Yepp is hugely less intrusive than the Weeride mount, and you can buy a second mount for your other bike, then you can just clip the seat to whichever bike you are using.

For really young kids I’d be nervous about putting them in a trailer or rear seat. When they’re up front you can keep an eye on them, and monitor how much their heads are being wobbled about. I don’t want to re-open the can of worms regarding the safest age to start them in a child seat, but personally, IMHO etc, etc, 10 months seems too young to be out of your direct sight, unless they have a freakishly strong neck. For reference, I rode 5km to daycare with my son from 7½ months, so I’ve no problems with young kids on bikes!

Plus, when they are in a front seat they are right under your head so you can talk to them, point out interesting things etc, which I really liked.

I’m guessing optional footpegs for resting feet on when coasting downhill, and/or learning to stand whilst coasting? I thought about modding my son’s wooden bike like that but he moved onto a pedal bike before I got round to it.

Pffft, amateurs… you’ve clearly never had to read a My Little Pony ‘story’. Story being in inverted commas as while they are a collection of words, I would argue that they do not constitute much of a story.

What speed are those rotors spinning at? They would cut you to pieces.

I’ve got a wee 250 size one, I worked out the tips of the rotors are doing about 300mph at full noise, and they’re like razor blades.

Just got the frying pan one, random guess, never heard of the movie though.

Cougar – Moderator
Oh yeah, the seagull? on the signpost.

It’s not a seagull, it’s a…

Right, down to the frying pan and the gold clock.

61… Stuck on the ghost in the window, the pink flowers in the window, the origami unicorn, and one more that I haven’t even spotted the clue for…