Marko

Let's not loose sight of what happened... the kit was stolen by some scum bag. Whilst it is a mistake to leave the stuff on show it is the theif that has broken the law, is highly likely never to be caught and even if he was a slap on the wrist is the order of the day. Vent your spleen at the perp not the victim (even if he is an idiot.

We got caught (once was enough) with the paypal small print - you have to use a tracked delivery service. It is a very very simple scam and whilst paypal understand fully how you have been ripped off they will do nothing at all and take your money and refund it to the buyer. Shrewd 'buyers' presently have a licence to buy at will (the wrong delivery methods are still options on the ebay listing) and, if the goods are delivered in the 'wrong' manner can claim their money back through Paypal. I would also add that the scammer is fully able to email you to take the p155 as, in the court of Paypal, emails are not accepted as evidence. Only £45 pounds down but extremely frustrating and... you can't claim anything back from the Post Office as they have done what they were paid to do.

Don't know what all the fuss was about today because Eric found one of those at our local builders yard months ago. News Archive 2012 - The local village news from Hesketh Bank and Tarleton as reported during 2012

I had a little skirmish with the council about 1 x 20ft container. I said it was a temporary structure but they said I needed to apply to see if I needed planning permission. I said that until they could point at the rule book which said I definitely did need planning permission I was doing nothing. I complained to my Councillor suggesting the approach by the planning officer was tantamount to extortion and it all went quiet. What did come to light though was that it if there was any services to it (electric and/or water) I would have had to apply.

When diesel would last longer than a few months... diesel. Not so sure now. Unless it was a regular outage and kicking in quickly was a necessity I would probably now opt for a PTO unit. One less engine to service and at least the diesel is getting refreshed regularly.

Last year I talked to the gaffer of the gang cutting of local dual carriageway verges... cone hire deployment/collection, mow and strim for..... 1p a meter! That doesn't leave much for all the running repairs due to all the discarded crap that the mower finds in the grass. I had never seen the same gang two years running and now know why.

My contract mowing is approx 6+ acres per hour which will be £51 an hour if we ever get started. Kubota with flail is about an acre an hour (more on brambles of heavy wet grass). Both work out about the same after the difference in fuel costs are taken into account. I don't charge travel time as it is not really within the customers control where the last/next job was/is.

Contract mowing is generally charged at a per acre rate (This year £8.50 / acre is the going rate around us if it ever gets dry enough to have a go). However, I also go out on a 30hp Kubota with a deck or 5ft flail doing the small stuff, awkward stuff like orchards or funny shaped small fields, fields with limited access etc and that is charged at £40 /hr.

What he said Unless the dump valve can be easily adjusted get a PTO pump.

Chubb Hercules Padlock. Not cheap but as good as it gets.

A good 20ft container is fetching £12.50 a week for cash so it sounds like a bargain to me.

Yes they do. Performance degrades over time so they will not perform uniformly for the 25 year FIT term. This should be factored in on the sales pitch so it shouldn't be a surprise as it drops off. In any case the technology will romp on at a pace so I can see a time when I may swap out the panels for a more efficient solution such that the tariff returns are maximised. As others have said performance and efficiency will improve so I look forward to a much smaller setup delivering the goods in the future. That's why I put them on a frame on the ground rather than on the roof. Yes they are ugly but that will also change in time. Yes I did do it for the money. If anyone else can find a more ethical place to get an index linked 9% return I would be very interested.

SNAP! I suppose the other thing I have noticed is that when we do end up at the vets (operation to remove a thankfully non-malignant growth last year for example) is that you are asked whether or not you have insurance as you walk through the door. I have to say that I feel the charges that we have paid have been very reasonable and possibly quite different to what would be billed to an insurance company. Hardly a thorough investigation - just my spider sense tingling.

None. Hard decision... the premiums I could just about justify it is all the exclusions and levels of excess payments that are still payable that make it not worth the risk for us. Touch wood....

Maybe so but very very red faces all around. The one genuine (opening) bid was for 175k. The price then went to 240k. Lot then withdrawn. Auctioneer asked to talk with the original bidder who then offered and bought for 150k. He had witnessed the shenanigans and took advantage. So the auctioneer and his stooges cost the seller 25k (but don't get too upset it was the bank) but it will be a while before any locals do any business with him again.

Beware the auction. At a local one last week the auctioneer was caught red handed running up the price. There was only one real bid but you wouldn't have thought so with all the stooges hands flying up. Humble pie was eaten by many and it backfired badly with the price it was eventually sold for. Just be warned that these practices really do go one - only ever bid what it is worth to you.

Samsung do a nice little range of "Builders Phones" to suit all pockets and with varying levels of functionality. I am sure I will get one but as yet my Sonim is still going strong 2yrs+ the longest ever surviving phone I have had. Very basic but you can knock nails in with it.

I was catching up on some podcasts yesterday and this one made me smile: BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Material World, 23/02/2012 "hope on the horizon for mimicking one of nature's greatest secrets, photosynthesis, the ability to turn sunshine into fuel" Scientists were pondering 'Solar Fuel' and how to harvest the power of the long summer days for use at night/winter preferably in a fashion that made the fuel portable. Can anyone on this forum possibly suggest how this might be achieved? Scientists, tchh, they can't see the wood for the trees.

An earlier post has been bothering me for the last couple.... it talked of BP preventing emerging technologies by buying up patents and I can remember similar stories going back to when I was at school. So whilst everyone is being polite to each other.... The bit that is puzzling me is that IF it is true that those with an interest in fossil fuels buy up patents for cleaner / alternative energies that would not stop a country who has little or no respect for patents just getting on with it. Surely over the last 40 years someone would have said sod you and made these technologies work for them. A patent infringement is not much of a threat compared to a country achieving energy independence so can we really believe they exist. If so where is the evidence that they really do exist and that they really are being suppressed by those with a vested interest in fossil fuels?. I suspect I may have missed something so don't mind getting flamed if it is obvious!

But not everyone has access to the Crem.

I think they arrived in two loads. The trees were selected before felling rather than a random lot hence the uniformity. A photo of the inside (doesn't really do it justice but will give some ideas):

If it helps I think this little rascal took 74 larch to make.

On site we have mains water but no electric. Over the years we have found the best way to get a brew quick is a combination of two themes... the rocket stove and the Kelly Kettle. This solution beats trying to keep a fire in all day. It is lit on demand and is so quick to boil that it made the gas ring redundant. We just use the never ending supply of splinters of wood from around the splitter. It has become such a normal part of the day that it takes a thread like this to remind me that everyone else might not be doing it this way so today I took a photo. The stove is a variant of the 16 brick rocket stove. The bricks at the front are moved around to match the direction of the wind.

Land owner.... unless it is a designated Environment Agency watercourse (If the later the landowner would know). Getting the EA to do anything may be a challenge as their budgets have been slashed but the H&S angle may help prioritise.

On the eve of India’s independence, Mahatma Gandhi was asked whether he thought the country could follow the British model of industrial development. His response retains a powerful resonance in a world that has to redefine its relation to the earth’s ecology: "It took Britain half the resources of this planet to achieve its prosperity. How many planets will India require for development?"