djbobbins

Not quite the same, but when I was working in an office, we were talking to our manager's PA about something to do with the electronic calendar system and what types of meetings different people had visibility of. Whilst standing there in the middle of the office, she came out with the cracker of "Oh yes, I can see Keith's privates!"

I can't help but think it's a slightly skewed statistic. I don't particularly doubt the numbers, and can easily understand that one of the reasons for the large number still in the road is the straightforward design and ease of replacing parts. However, that makes me think the statistic is a bit like saying Trigger is still using his first broom. It's the same Landy but with a new chassis, engine axles and body panels etc etc...? Having driven both and owned one, give me £1500 to spend or a journey of more than five minutes and I'll pick the Isuzu Trooper that I had - but maybe owing to being 6'2" and Series Landies being designed for someone about 5'7". It is still a sad end to a British icon though, I hope the replacement is good.

Seems to be a few people posting to say that they've got arisings going free, but not local to me unfortunately. I'm based just west of Warwick and looking to stock up on timber for next winter. Hardwood preferred obviously but in reality I'll have a go at burning pretty much anything other than elder. Happy to collect with a trailer from anywhere within a sensible distance (say 15 miles) or will gladly put a beer tokens in someone's direction if you could drop a tonne or two of arisings at my place (5 minutes or so off the Warwick junction of the A46). Thanks all!

I did the horseshoe route about 10 years ago, in summer with no prep other than a few pints in the pub the night before and a night "sleeping" on a sofa about two foot too short for me. Me and a mate made it up and down, which I am proud of, but with better knowledge I'd have chosen a more sensible route. Seeing a Sea King chopper from above, then being on a plateau about 30 foot underneath the same helicopter as they winched someone off was an experience... Enjoy!

My boss sent someone an email today describing me as his number two. Was he being shitty or am I just being facetious?

URL: http://www.eddisons.com/online-auctions#!/auction-catalogues/eddisons/catalogue-id-eddiso10019?page=1&pageSize=60#7dabff9a-d569-4abc-8d0c-a5920115b4f9

Not good to see anyone cease trading but if there's folk out there in the business of installing or supplying stoves, or just anyone in the market for a stove, you might want to take a look at this: Eddisons | Chartered Surveyors | Integrated Solutions Jot up and Clearview stoves with starting bids of £300, whole racks of vitreous flue etc with a starting bid of £5...

Changed the fronts on my Yeti earlier this year when it had 42k in the clock, although the I'd used some winter tyres in between I think the Continental low rolling resistance original tyres must have done at least 33k. Now at 57k and the rears still have about 4.5mm tread left.

Sheet black ice across the whole road when I was driving to work this morning, owing to water run-off. What's worse is that it was round a blind bend, heading up a hill. Luckily the unfortunate lady who'd stuffed her car into another vehicle was kind enough to be flagging to warn cars to slow down, still hair-raising when I rounded the corner and found a car facing forwards on my side of the road, but sliding backwards down the hill in my direction. Pleased to say the other side of the road was clear so I was able to navigate through it (there was another car up my chuff so I couldn't have stopped on the ice anyway). Stay safe folks...

I liked the detail on sharpening with files and stones for traditional axes; I'll be giving that a go on my old felling axe for practice. I've bought the xsharp for the X27 though!

I read it that the OP's other half got the watch online, they couldn't it to work and so went to H Samuel for advice. Instead of helping them, H Samuel stung them for £20 to adjust the strap and gave a phone number for Casio. I think the OP has got two separate claims, one of which is more valid than the other... 1) Return the watch to the online retailer you got it from, in the basis that it is not fit for purpose if it won't pair with your phone. Not sure re: consumer law as to whether you will have to pay the return postage but morally your position should be strengthened by the fact that it wasn't made clear that the watch wasn't suitable for the particular requirements. 2) H Samuel maybe oughtn't to have taken money for adjusting the strap on a watch which the OP ultimately is going to return (and £20 seems excessive to me when the full toolkit to remove and replace links in a watch strap can be bought for less than six quid off eBay ) but the fact remains that they charged for a service to adjust the strap, and they did indeed adjust the strap. As such, I think you should get your money back on the watch from the watch seller, but your only claim against H Samuel is that their staff should have known better than to adjust the strap on a watch that's not suitable for your needs. I think that's a bit less plausible so you might be able to embarrass them into giving the money back but IMO it's hard to argue.

So... Having been given a new x27 for Christmas (woo hoo!) I need to keep it in tip top condition. The Fiskars Xsharp seems to get mixed reviews on Amazon, some people saying it's good but others saying it's flimsy; okay for knives but no good for an axe? If anyone's got one, or has bought one and got rid in favour of something different, your opinions would be very welcome.

Fiskars X27 and a new sawing horse! 😊

I certainly wasn't watching the way Jamelia filled that frock in the interview bit near the end... honest!

I drove a Thomas skid steer donkeys years back when I worked on a sheep farm for a bit. Great fun, although going from one end of the yard to the other in it just to make the brews was probably not the best use of cherry!

Man talks a lot of sense!

And apparently you need a chainsaw licence? Oh the irony, since (a) there's no such thing - Cs30 is not a licence, and (b) what you will really need after a few days of lopping and stacking inch thick willow at ground level is back surgery. +1 for doing it with a harvester, or failing that, going DIY by rigging up a saw just above ground level and a trailer behind.

I think block heaters are more common in places where the weather gets really cold (a guy I worked with win't over to Canada and had one). Also, don't the fire brigade have them in the engines at stations, so they don't get flogged from cold? Or am I dreaming that bit?...

BBC weather says sleet for about an hour very early Saturday morning for Warwick. I doubt we'll see any snow to be honest; hope not anyway as I've not got my finger out and put the winter tyres on the cars yet!

Good point. But I think jackdaw might be a better representation than magpie...

Thought it was just me - can't stand Citizen Khan, Miranda or Mrs Brown's Boys - all feel like they are trying too hard. I end up watching stand-up instead, although some of the acts on that are unfunny too - that Shappy Koorsandi woman (which I am certain I'll have spelt wrong) is about as funny as a dose of the squitters in a spacesuit.

I think I must be getting to be a boring sod in my old age; people (family) have been asking for ideas of things I'd like for Christmas and I'm struggling to think of anything. Trouble is, most of the time if I decide I need something, it's to do a task 'there and then' so I'll buy it rather than wait around. I don't want to ask for anything silly expensive, so maybe £20-40 range. I drink a few beers at home but don't go in for whisky etc and I'm not a clothes horse - I've got clothes and boots still that I bought the best part of 20 year ago! So can anyone help me out with ideas?!

And don't get me started on those completely non-standard and incomparable measures of "a load" or "a pickup". I don't think there should be anything to stop people selling logs and delivering them in a trailer or pickup, but it's got to be clear to the customer what weight or volume they are buying. I've said it on here before, I think logs should ideally be sold on by weight, with price adjusted on a net calorific value. That way, what is being paid for it what is actually useful, wet logs are worth less etc etc. This is exactly how industrial coal is sold on a bulk basis (the quoted API price references are adjusted for the actual NCV of the fuel when sampled and tested in a calorimeter, relative to the reference NCV of 25.121GJ/te), so coal with NCV of 26.5GJ per tonne would be priced at 26/25.121 of the quoted price.

About time someone sorted this out IMO. I'm sick of seeing tonne bags of logs advertised when it's blatantly obvious it's a dumpy bag holding about 0.6m3, so probably 400kg of logs at the most, less if they are thrown.

Yes, easier to keep lit overnight with smokeless fuel. The manual will tell you but if it's anything like our multifuel stove, you need to keep the airflow from underneath when running on smokeless, to avoid overheating the grate.