Saw-sick Steve

At Gettysburg some years ago, I remember walking past a large Oak that had a sign by it stating ''Abraham Lincoln walked past this tree''. Made me chuckle and wonder what he got up to by any other trees further on the walk!

What he said!

Most of the advice has already been given, I can thoroughly recommend the use of a neoprene support. A word on cortisone injections. My missus did a physio course, and I've had the same advice from the Doc - only have a maximum of 3 over any one period. Cortisone just masks the pain and enables you to continue in the short term, which is why its use is so popular with sports people to enable them to finish a match. Long term, you are still doing damage to the affected part of your body. You have my sympathies, I had it a few years back and 'tis a bugger. Hope yer well soon, and Happy New Year!

I thought it was for use in paying off those Xmas bills - but not so many places carry cash nowadays.

Well, there is a certain parallel I s'pose. Baghdad ; a cultural jewel, surrounded by desert. Camborne ; a cultural desert surrounded by a jewel - Redruth!

That would be great - he could count up to 20 then.

Thought you gaming addicts didn't use much soap!

If its a statutary Bridleway then surely the local authority is responsible for the upkeep? If it's a permissive one, then approach the British Horse Society who may provide practical and / or financial assistance. I'd be wary of leaving yourself open to possible litigation if you undertake work yourself.

A souvenir I acquired from India as well - lovely experience ! Didn't know about the never getting rid of it though - are you sure thats correct? There are cases throughout the world now, in Canada its known as ''Beaver fever'' (fnarr,fnarr) and there are cases reported in the UK.

No, I don't. But there's a lot that do.

Ha! They still call guns ''thunder-sticks'' in Camborne, the last few flintlocks possessed by the townsfolk are now in Truro museum. No new ones have been bought since 1788, when they ran out of beads. (I have a Theoben, for what its worth)

Cheers Mozza., but I'm assuming that ''true'' HD is only available at the mo. on an HD platform. As I don't watch a huge amount of telly, is it worth getting a 1080, or is HD TV for the masses still some way off - bearing in mind we don't have cable or satellite?

I used to know a girl like that.

Joking aside, when it comes to logs this is very often the competition we face. I was talking to a bloke the other day who does a few logs ''on the side'', along with a bit of gardening etc. His missus works full time on ,19k a yr, he can earn up to 6 grand a year ''declared'' () before it affects their benefits. Free health care, glasses, prescriptions etc... The whole family managed to go on holiday to Turkey at half-term - more than we could manage. Can't blame people for working the system, but it does grind my gears on occasion.

Could do with a new telly, the valves on the old one having given out. The wife wants a LCD flatscreen but I cant work out whether to get an HD ready, or spend a bit more on a 1080 full HD ready. Or indeed what the difference is?

You had a Wellingtonia growing in your living room!?

I'll echo that, Nadelek Lowen, ha bledhen nowyth da. (Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year)

Perhaps it was a badger. A ginger badger. Perhaps its badger mates went to Tescos and got it one of those now banned Christmas cards. And perhaps, fed up of being remorselessly teased by its badger mates, this card was the last straw. So it climbed up the tree. And the rest, like the badger, is history. (or it may be just a fox:thumbup:)

Yeh, had that a lot with the wife arranging everything, then having to check with hubbie to OK the details. Regarding the m3 thing, I don't find it strange at all. I would estimate that up to a third of my customers would struggle to visualise a cubic metre, some older ones would have a problem with a metre! Thats why I resent the sneery attitude of some who decry anyone who doesn't just advertise in a 'standard' volume ( ie a m3), and jeer at the 'how many logs in a transit?' type seller. I can give customers the volume in m3 if they request it, but what about Granny Treleaven up the road? ''Hello dear, I need some logs - how many logs in a load?'' '' Well, just over a cubic metre'' ''Whats that dear?'' '' A cubic metre - its the unit the wise heads have told me I should be selling my logs in'' ''But what does that look like, m'dear?'' ''Err.., remember that Bedford van that your Sydney used to have?'' ''Oh yes, dear'' ''Well, it would fill the back of that.'' '' Lovely, dear, I'll have one of them please.'' And I've had more than one conversation along those lines, I can tell you.

Fixed that for you. :thumbup:

Yeh, poor old you you, must be a bugger eating what you want and never putting weight on. My heart bleeds. I used to have problems with cold fingers and toes when I was younger and less, ahem, corpulent. Not that I'm fat now () but a few xtra pounds certainly helps keeping warm - which is just as well seeing as I'll probably be the size of a small planet after Xmas. I don't get cold toes and never need gloves outside of sawing. Giving up smoking helped as well, though that contributes a bit to the weight gain. Its joint pain I get more nowadays, occasional tennis elbow and an inflamed knee joint - particularly in cold weather. Arthritis? Rheumatism? Rheumatoid Arthritis? Never knew the differences in these three - never needed to! Something that happened to old people, not me.

What happened to the possums? D.O.C used to 'control' them down south due to the damage they inflicted on the indigenous flora and fauna - bleedin' Crim imports!

Cheers for the info guys. Andy, I realise the difference between home-grown and imported charcoal as thats what I use and what got me wondering. Its the same old story of converting Joe Public to the virtures of using it and paying the extra. And theres the rub. If the Government banned the importation of all ''unsustainable'' charcoal, then yer man in the street would switch to home produced and just pay the difference - but thats highly unlikely to happen. Quckthorn, the scenario you describe is the one I'm familiar with, namely failure despite all the conditions being favourable. I can source the wood for free, have all the gear needed 'cept a kiln, and it seems a great way to use coppice oak without having to wait a couple of years for it to season for logs. It would also nicely fill a gap in spring when log orders start drying up. The downsides are that the land is very steep, access is a problem, and I'm not getting any younger! The thought of dragging a large ring kiln up and down a 1in3 slope doesn't exactly fill me with joy, so I like the sound of using several 45 gallon oil drums. Maybe I'll try a couple of trial burns and see what happens. I'd like to think that with a quality, home produced, eco-friendly product people would be prepared to pay a bit extra, like with logs - but we all know how fickle the Great British Public can be.