Nine times he almost mowed down DI Melvin, aiming for him on the pavement, striking his handle-bars, forcing him off his bike into trees, threatening to kill him and hurling stones and coins at him.

I'm trying to work out if he got out of the car to do that or if he just happened to have a handy supply of stones in the passenger seat !
Why did he allow himself to be attacked 9 times? I think if I had been knocked off my bike into trees I would have stayed there in relative safety while looking for something large to…… errr…. 'protect myself' with when/if he came back. I certainly would not have attempted to cycle and be an easy target on an open road.

She needs professional advice before commiting to anything and I would have thought that if she can prove she is/was constructively dismissed ie. no wrongdoing on her part and effectively sacked to make way for someone returning from mat leave, she may well get a considerably more than they are offering at the moment.

My wife's experience with the NUT when she had problems coming back from maternity leave was that they were utter sh*te

Exactly my experience too although different union and circumstances. What I (and the VERY senior union executive) thought was an airtight case against 'her boss' became 'not so strong' as time went on. The fact that during the case, the S.U.E. went on 'fact finding' trips to Thailand and Norway at the expense of my partners employer obviously had no bearing on this!!!!
I pay £228 a year in union subs very grudgingly and from the stories I hear about antics in the flash hotels etc. which are essential to union rep meetings/training I think they may be misinterpreting the rally call 'up the workers' !

is it / was it selfish for him to go leaving a girlfriend behind? Not according to her, it's what he does and she accepts it without question.

That is fine, it's his girlfriend and she presumably new the deal at the outset. Things change with responsibilty, especially when children are involved. They have no say in the matter but have to suffer the consequences of 'Daddy' or indeed 'Mummy' not being around. It's all very well saying that people are 'driven' or climbing 'defines' who they are, but ultimately they climb because they want to, disappearing for months at a time, with a reasonable chance they won't come back. It takes a certain type of highly self motivated or even narcissistic personality to even consider doing that.

Having said that, I am full of admiration for those who do it and maybe a touch envious that I have neither the talent, drive or ambition to do something to the exclusion of everything else.

That doesn't look like a house built by an 'ordinary' farmer, more like someone with too much money, no taste and delusions of grandeur.

It's quite simple – he knew he was breaking the law and wasn't lucky or clever enough to get away with it so it has to be taken down and will serve as a very expensive lesson and hopefully put off others trying the same trick. Apart from the legal aspect, it's bl@@dy hideous anyway 8O

I had to laugh at the other one

Planning officers for Mole Valley District Council were tipped off by ramblers who were concerned about the activity on the Surrey farm.

Imagine all the 'red socks' sipping their 1/2 shandys in the pub and letting their imaginations run riot about 'secret government buildings' etc.

dickydutch wrote

Including where Rob Hall is dying

Which film/documentary was that ?

Although not a climber (my limit has been a few scrambles in Scotland and a couple of easy alpine ascents)I find the whole thing fascinating. The thing that strikes me most is the acceptance of risk and the inevitability that when attempting big mountains or new routes you are going to lose most of your mates eventually and possibly your own life. Having read several Chris Bonnington books, I often wonder how he had anyone left to climb with when he was over 60 !

There is something deeply selfish about that when you consider those who are left behind.

ps. just finished re-reading Stephen Venables, Everest Kangshung Face, now published as Everest Alone at the Suimmit and would thoroughly recommend it.

As richcc said + as it's only been a few days I think it's a bit premature to contact local police. Could be an email problem or simply that he misread a 3 for an 8 or something like that. Any phone number available ?

IHN – of course you should. Why ask ?

Joolsburger – That's an interesting watch and having had a quick look at the web site seems good spec. at a reasonable price. Which model is it ? Looks like a smoothed out classier version of my 'Black Monster' :D

I am a fair bit older than you and have owned several houses but for various reasons I'm currently renting. The pro's and cons for me are as follows :-

Pro's – No liability for repairs etc. able to move location easily if required, sometimes cheaper than a mortgage but not at the moment.

Cons – No long term security ie. fixed term contract, no investment value, rental still has to be paid after retirement, lack of desire to 'improve' a property for the benefit of owner & only short term benefit for tenant so you end up 'making do' with existing decor/carpets etc. Rentals tend to be in clusters so neighbour changes frequent and can be good or bad.

I will be buying my own house again as soon as I am in a position to. My advice would be to hold onto your current property if you can as you will find it very difficult to buy again in a few years time. Slumps in the market do not happen very often and you will be selling low and buying high in the future.

"but I can't do discounts just because it needed 2 batteries. If you want we'll just take them out again".

It's amazing how some businesses survive. I'm sure the owner would be less than happy with the managers attitude.

Batteries cost pennies and the additional labour cost for the 2nd battery is pennies.

Cost of lost customer – potentially ££££££££

Troll or tool? YOU decide!

No decision required, he's both :wink:

Also near Sunderland and thinking tomorrow's ride at Hamsterley might be snowed off.

Would have thought that made it even better :)

Roads around Stanley/Durham/Consett are patchy – some have 1-2" others nothing at all !

Oooh memories….can't help you with the value now but I used to own that frame and forks and IIRC got about £220 10 years ago for it – scared the living crap out of me watching the forks flex like a bow under braking but it weighed nothing :lol:

Try these guys http://www.rytetimewatchrepairs.co.uk/

It's Jack but where did the surname Shit come from and why does everyone tell me I know him ?

Never heard of that before but just googled some suppliers and it looks great and starting at £16.95 m2 it looks like a very attractive option.

although i suppose kids learn how to clean their arse after a given time meaning you needn't pick it up and trow it into the bushes.

Your class had a communal trail crapping session ? Jeez what did you take them down 8O

They also charge £5 for some knuckledragger to come down and put the net up.

That's a highly derogatory statement which is insulting to anyone, probably Scottish in this case, who happens to be in that line of work. The fact that you have never seen anyone play tennis confirms that you must walk about with your head firmly up your @rse.

The weather is the biggest factor preventing tennis being more popular in Scotland. It can't be the cost as golf is probably more expensive and there are no shortage of courses and players.

BTW IMO he's Scottish and British

That is where the last occupent, a blind old man was using a circular saw and chopped his leg off…

RAOFLMAO…………….did he manage to drive himself to A&E afterwards ?

PML @ jon1973

A wrist tag sounds like luxury to me. When I was that age my Mother used to have me on 'reins' ie. a harness with about 10 ft of slack, as I had a habit of running the moment I saw anything of interest

Seved me being hit by cars several times apparently 8O

and cheaper

Do you think this has anything to do with the Japanese having to re-label condoms sizes as giant, colossol and super colossal instead of small medium and large ?

I like confused.com…………..simples innit errrrrrrrr :roll:

I'm in Durham and thanks for the info.

I'll have a word with optician when I'm at Specsavers but my prescription is only -2.5 and -2.75 and the frustrating thing is that I can still read the tiniest print without my lenses in ! Might have to bite the bullet and get some reading specs for work.

Woody – those labs look fantastic

Thanks Jimmy, they are brother and sister – I'll try and get a pic of them on their first trail outing tommorow and post it up. I'm looking forward to it as it'll be my first outing of the year too :D

AndyP
Have you tried the 3 levels and is there really a noticeable difference in quality? I would be happy to pay a few £ extra per month if there is.

I'm also with Specsavers and was led to believe that the options were very limited with my current varifocal lenses and monthly wear was the only option I was offered. I'm due an appt in the next couple of weeks so will ask.

No job is worth putting your health at risk but would you be more stressed if you resigned and had no income ?

Short term solution is definitely to go sick and look for another job. Good luck

Got them originally to save hassle with working shifts/length of wear/comfort issues and have used them for about 3 years with no problems. It might be defeating the purpose but I find it much more comfortable to take them out in the evening and sterilise them. This is mainly due to finding it easier to read without them although mine are varifocals which do help. My last pair lasted over a year which my optician said wasn't ideal but not dangerous as they were cleaned regularly.

This is Roo, a collie cross, rescued with an unkown history and so named because of her ability to jump over anything to escape. Most loyal, intelligent dog I've ever had. This is her a few months before she died of cancer and right up to the very end she wouldn't leave my side even though she must have been in pain :cry: The hairy thing in front keeping her warm is Trudie the mad cat (also a rescue).

These are the current mutts aged (4 or 5 months old in this pic) – not rescues but from proper working stock who are going to get their first outing with the bike very shortly

That's the one, with a very fetching pic of Mr Cundell :lol:
I can't remember the name of the mechanic in the background but IIRC he went to build wheels in SE1 or docklands !

Vince used to post occassionally on here many years ago but no idea what he's up to now……Nixon watches or motorsport seems to ring a bell.

Alex, who worked at Recycle moved to Vancouver and got a job at DeKerf but that was late '90's, wonder if he's still there?

Wonderful frames, I had a Generation, and like the others above it is one of only 2 frames I regret selling (the other was a Turner which I traded the DeKerf in for :cry: ) Seemed to do everything well, especially nice twisty stuff and it even coped with regular visits to Penshurst to the old DH course.

The build quality was superb and I used to drool over the welds every time I packaged one up (my company used to ship them back to Canada for Vince at Recycle).

Cheeky Monkey – I'm sure Chewkw will be along shortly to tell you how good his Implant is and he's in Newcastle IIRC

Christalmighty Gasman Jim, after that rant I almost feel like sending you a fiver in the post…………………I said almost :wink:

ps. your fellow gasmen were most enjoyable part of my training – wonderful warped senses of humour :lol:

s.p.adshead wrote

Although you could argue charging £85 is not very charitable, you could say a GP's charity has been done. Financially they owe you, and the charity nothing.

In response to a question, Liam Byrne (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Health replied:-
The latest year for which figures are available show that in 2004–05 ………..In the period between entry to medical school and full registration, it is estimated that training a doctor costs between £200,000 and £250,000. Doctors generally continue training after full registration. As the duration and nature of post-registration training varies greatly and as service and training costs are closely related it is not possible to provide a meaningful estimate of the total cost of training.

So you have to pay a few grand to sit exams :roll: and forgive me for questioning someone sitting on such a high pedestal, but I would suggest that it wouldn't go amiss for a doctor/GP to show a little discretion in how much they choose to charge a patient (tax payer) who is giving up their time to raise money for a medical research charity.

Depeneds what you are looking to spend and what you look for in a watch.

The whole PRECISTA range is superbly made. I have a PRS3 LE which is stunning value for the spec.

Cheque's in the post Drac but I seem to remember we negotiated a 1/2 of lager instead :wink:

mt

Poor and rather obvious trolling effort :roll:

surfer – that form filling took up two appointment slots.

Is an appointment slot really only 5 minutes ? Good God! My GP spent double that enquiring about how good the skiing/hotel/nightlife was before eventually getting round to having a look at my injured leg.

Have you tried browsing STW on our fabulous IT system? No chance.

Really ! No problem at my place, I can even surf fleabay now……….errrr if I had any time of course, which I don't since none of these overpaid GP's turn out after dark :lol: :wink:

LOL @ GrahamS – how many of you are reading this at work ? Thieving embezzlers the lot of you :lol: