Big J

With your BBC accent, you should have got it - I got the joke from Jack Dee on Sorry I Haven't a Clue 😎

Just keep repeating "For Cunard" until it clicks. 😁

No replacement for displacement, as they say. The small amount of towing I do now I do with a V10 TDI Touareg. I generally get 19mpg if towing the trailer empty, or 17mpg if it's loaded to 3.5t gross. Never have to use full throttle on any hill either. Go for the 3 litre. 7000kg MAM with 150ps sounds painful.

Well I'm back to training again. I stopped about two years ago with tendon issues in my elbows. I'd be lifting for about 8 months at that point, after a 10 year hiatus. In June 2018, I was about 118kg (at 6ft 8") with squat at 150, bench at about 115kg and deadlift 200kg. Overhead was just under 100 I think. Anyway, since doing more machine work, I've really been struggling with my back. I had a lot of time over winter where I was genuinely struggling to walk at times. Couldn't lift anything off the ground and my lower spine with a really funny shape. Through the first month of lockdown, I flirted with the weights a bit (have a full gym at home) but nothing consistent. About 6-7 weeks ago I started to take it seriously, training most days and working around my lower back issues to get lifting more consistently. It's hard working around a serious back issue, but in that time it's hugely improved and I'm 80% of the way back to full lower back health. My routine now is mainly based on 20 rep squats. Just starting light (up to 57.5kg for 2 sets of 20 now), adding 5kg every 8 days and squatting every other day. It's lots and lots of repetition and my back is happy enough with it. Legs are adjusting to the volume. Supplementing with normal bench, football bar bench, overhead press and loads of upper and middle back work. No deadlifts at the moment. It's actually not the back holding me back there but my knees, which don't appreciate it, even on a trap bar. Bodyweight has shot up. 105kg 7 weeks ago. 114kg now. Minimal fat gain. I find gaining weight really easy. Probably bulk to 125kg then cut back to a lean 115kg and try to hold that. Either way, it's good to be lifting again. Trying to be disciplined and stay away from 1 rep maxes so I don't injure myself.

Who is this Shirly person of whom you speak?

I was chatting with a colleague this afternoon about the economic fallout of the covid crisis, and with the UK heading towards suffering the worst in the developed world, he quite astutely pointed out that it might be because the UK is more dependent on the service sector than just about any other developed nation. Perhaps it'll come full circle and we'll develop our manufacturing base again. I certainly hope so.

Very true. Bolsanaro, being the Latino version of Trump, has a lot to answer for. Absolute clown.

They take vast amounts from here, or so I'm lead to believe. Lorries drying past dozens of potential (and willing) customers to take the wood into Kent. Speaking to a haulier a few months back, he said he spent a full week just cross loading processor grade hardwood in the New Forest, all to go to KRE. 1500t just from that site.

I can't claim credit for that clearup - it was another member of the group. I have done many clearups before, but not on that scale.

UK predicted to have the largest economic contraction of any developed nation. Top UK scientist says that if lockdown had been implemented 1 week earlier, the death toll would have been halved. Boris Johnson's governement has the lowest approval rating of any western government for it's handling of covid 19. UKs death toll, when judged by excess deaths rather than those attributed to covid 19, is the highest in the developed world UKs official death toll is second only to the US, though Brazil will take that dubious honour from us in short time. The issues are complex and multifaceted. Our lockdown came late, after an abrupt government U-turn. It was far too strict in some areas, far too lax in others. It's been relaxed inconsistently, and illogically. It's been ignored by top government officials. We're still largely unable to send our kids to school, but it's OK for them to go to the zoo. We've failed to properly shield our elderly and vulnerable, but imposed brutal economic sanctions on millions of working age people for whom covid-19 represents a minimal risk. The words 'piss-up in a brewery' and 'couldn't organise one' spring to mind. Also, what the hell is wrong with people in the UK when it comes to trashing beauty spots post lockdown relaxation? It's f*cking disgusting. This following is pulled from the Scottish Wild Swimming page I'm a member of: So I have spent the last 2 days clearing litter from an undisclosed beautiful wild swimming spot in Northumberland. I got there 7am yesterday morning for a swim and the entire place was covered in glass, plastic, balloons, discarded raw food and human waste. . I had my swim and spent the morning, along with a few others, clearing 25 bin bags of rubbish. Whilst we were there 100s more people were heading down with bags of food and drink to party all over again. So we headed back last night and cleared another 20 bin bags full of rubbish and what must have been over 500 cigarette butts, 200 laughing gas canisters and countless empty bags of drugs.

I can't remember who it was who talked about the euc chip into KRE, but I had no reason to disbelieve them. They are renowned in the South West for sucking up timber from as far as the end of Cornwall and West Wales. A 350 mile haul. As you said, it's all down to avoiding penalties. I don't think much of their fuel comes from the South East, not as a percentage anyway.

I think it's out of fashion now. Energy density isn't great and poor quality chip.

The nitens we planted during April has handled the drought really well which is more than can be said for the conifers we've planted. It is indeed a climate change crop. I did quite extensive measurements on a stand of 9.5yr old nitens last year and it had an average dbh of 24cm, height of 22-23m and yield class of 54. It was on good soil, but was fairly exposed and moisture availability could have been better. On one of our sites in particular, we're expecting much more rapid growth. The vertical growth was pretty stunted on this site due to wind exposure.

I'm entirely in favour of unnecessarily obscure and esoteric language, so let me be the first to say welcome!! The way I look at forestry is to compartmentalise. No one woodland will fulfill all criteria. You can't grow biomass effectively in an oak woodland, but it's hard to get high grade framing timber from eucalyptus. Biodiversity is important obviously, but the fields that we're planting are presently either arable or grassland, neither of which are adding much to biodiversity in the area, and I'd argue that even a eucalyptus plantation is an improvement. Fundamentally, we just need more woodland. I'm still in favour of the expansion of ecologically diverse broadleaf woodlands, but that needs to be coupled with fast growing stands that supply our growing timber needs.