Big J

Certainly not for the better either. I worry about the willingness people seem to have to accept disingenuous, lying egotists if they feel that it serves their agenda. Trump in the US, Boris in the UK. I'm also extremely concerned with the disinclination of leading candidates to subject themselves to substantive scrutiny, both in terms of their proposed policy and track record. Whilst Corbyn was not a good choice, but he's positively delightful compared to Boris and his cronies.

Very nasty. Sorry to hear that. Rest up and try to enjoy Christmas and the New Year

Miss. I strongly dislike stoves where you load them side to side, rather than front to back. The logs just fall out.

Exactly. In my early years, I was very left, but have moved much more to the centre ground in the past 10 years. Negotiating with some investors the other day, I am reminded that I am a very long way from being a Tory. I have no personal issue with generating wealth for myself (which I should add, I haven't yet) but I won't do it at someone else's expense. Politics is what you make of it. Once you define yourself by your party, swallowing their rhetoric verbatim, you disengage your brain and your credibility. All the parties have at least a few good policies. Some just have more than others. With the Tory party now having to account to noone, we're in for a grim 5 years. I only wish that labour could have ditched Corbyn et al years ago so as to offer a robust and meaningful opposition.

Good grief, I'm an individual! ?

It would take a period of adjustment for a country used to FPTP, but many other countries manage it, so why shouldn't we? With FPTP, we have a system where the minority can elect a massive majority in parliament, and the concerns and desires of everyone else are disregarded. That isn't democratic.

I disagree. A working majority would be obtained by parties working together in coalition. The party with the most votes would have the best chance of obtaining that majority, but it wouldn't be a given. Politics, and society more broadly should be governed by consensus. The oppositional, combative politics which we're used to in the UK don't work for the majority of the population.

As you've alluded to in your next post, the Lib Dems (who I voted for) would have had 60 seats. The issue is that if you measure the democratic mandate in a country by whether a tiny majority vote is implemented, but then allow a party to take a huge majority of the MPs on a minority vote, you're left with a very confused and antidemocratic situation. For a party to with a huge majority, elected by a minority, to be able to steamroller through any legislation makes a very strong case for PR.

Another example of how first past the post is failing the UK. It's has allowed the extremes of the SNP in Scotland and the Tories in England Wales take control of their respective countries politically, despite getting the minority of the votes. Bring on PR.

This year for Christmas, I'll be dressing up as Brad Pitt's ex wives. It is after all the season to be Jolie.

You'd be surprised. I reckon there are more forestry contractors running small vans than pickups.

To add to that, if doing that kind of mileage, definitely go new but also go for a vehicle with the longest and most comprehensive warranty. I think Ssangyong with the Musso takes that accolade with 7 years and 150k.

Japanese vehicles are always very tight on space for me. Driving a Hilux is an exercise in bodily contortion. And having been badly burned by the Navara, I'm not convinced about their quality.

Nissan were terrible with my D40 Navara. Not so much in terms of getting the vehicle in promptly and fixing it, but more that they kept fixing the same things, and the courtesy vehicles offered were wholely inappropriate. Conversely, Citroen have always been brilliant, especially the Exeter dealership. I've got a recall on the Berlingo looming for a dodgy passenger seatbelt mount. After being unable to source a suitable courtesy vehicle (only basic 2wd vans and pickups without a locking load cover), they are paying me to use my Sprinter instead. For quite a long time too.

That's fair enough. I don't have the option of being able to drive a Corsa, as I don't fit in them. Being my height restricts your choice somewhat. The cab on the Berlingo is really spacious, with a lot more room behind the wheel than in any pickup. I suppose the biggest thing for me is the mobile office aspect of it. I can dial people by voice activation, I can read text messages on the main infotainment screen and with 160bhp, I can get to site quite briskly. It's got 'Grip Control' (traction control for gentle offroading) along with underbody guarding and and increased ride height. It has a couple of reversing cameras (mostly for the wife) but also one on the passenger side mirror, so when you come to a junction at 45 degrees, you can see up the lane, without having to square yourself to the junction. That's really handy down here on these daft lanes. You'd never find a 2nd hand vehicle with that combination of options, hence the need to go new. I know that new vehicles aren't for everyone, but they work well for me. Unless they are D40 Navaras, in which case, not so much.

That's a fair point, but vehicles all cost money. You lose on old vehicles on repairs and down time, you lose on new vehicles on depreciation. A digger has a lot less to go wrong, and a new digger is unusable if your old vehicle has let you down and not got you to site.

My 4x4 Sprinter is for sale Eddie. It's 7 years old, but it's had every conceivable mechanical niggle addressed as well a whole host of upgrades. 122k, 313CDI 4x4 but remapped to 160bhp, full Bott racking system in the back. Drives beautifully, but I'm just not using it now. All my sites start with a loading bay, so by their nature, they are 2 wheel drive drivable. I've bought a V10 Touareg for the odd bit of towing I do.

I like the BBC as a public broadcast service provider, but some of their TV is utter shite. However, I can't bear adverts, so a licence fee for Radio would be the way I'd suggest going, with TV on subscription.

It's top spec. Pretty much every option but for the auto box (which I'd have put on in hindsight). Would be more than £5500 when sold. £4k a year isn't a big cost for the convenience and comfort of it. With it being a very modern vehicle, the multimedia and phone system is superb, so it's my mobile office for 1-2hrs a day. It's also tax deductible obviously.

Too much risk with forestry vehicles. Can't risk handing a vehicle with cosmetic damage back at the end of the term and being penalised accordingly

As you say, it's the fixed cost that is attractive. I think my Berlingo is £490/month, but that's on a 3 year term, at which point it'll be mine to sell. Which I will do as it'll have 50-60k on the clock, be out of warranty and be requiring MOTs. In the mean time, I don't have to worry about any of that. Even the services are fixed at £100 each (but rolled into the finance). On the flip side, my older vehicle (the 2012 4x4 Sprinter) has cost me at least as much in repairs/upgrades over the past 18 months as the Berlingo has in finance and I've not built any equity and there has been downtime which has been a PITA. If you can justify or afford two trucks, I'd always recommend a small works van for a primary vehicle as you can carry loads in the back, they have spacious cabs and do 50+mpg. Then an older vehicle for towing as required. That's obviously not going to work for someone needing to tow every day, but those little vans are good fun to drive.

I am happy to admit that I am a big jessie! I love a warm house. I think that there is a big difference in fuel imput requirement between a room temperature of 20c and 23c.

It's been a really miserable and cold autumn here. At the end of August the weather just flipped and the temperature dropped. I wouldn't have used quite as much usually. There is something not right there. You need to get a stove thermometer to ensure that the fire is burning efficiently. Having one door open means it won't be burning well. It's a case of fettling the air flow to get the right balance. But definitely not with doors open.

Been working it out: 11 stacked cube is exactly 3 cord (easiest to find BTU conversion for cord). With dry white ash, that's 71m BTU. Assume 70% efficiency on stove, so output of 49.7m BTU. Oil has 138500BTU per US gallon (3.78l). 90% efficiency on an oil boiler means 124650 BTU per US Gal, or 32976 BTU/litre. 49.7m BTU divided by 32976 brings you to an equivilent of 1507 litres of heating oil. For 16 weeks of continuous heating, that's an oil price (at £0.53/l) equivilent of £7.13/day. I don't think that that is excessive. Another way of looking at it is that it's a continuous heat output of 5.8kw, when averaged out over 16 weeks, or just over 5 pence per kilowatt hour (if you were buying it as oil, rather than logs). Hope that breaking it down like this explains the usage.

The throughput has always been pretty similar for the last 8 years or so. We've topped 40 cube a few times on the colder winters in Scotland. Going 6-7 weeks without the fire actually going out. I'm not exactly sure what the construction of the farmhouse is, but it's terrible for heat retention and heat avoidance. We got the keys last June and it was 27c inside for a couple of weeks. Compared to the last house, having an insulated flue here (as opposed to a clay pipe) doesn't help as there is no heat dispersal upstairs through the wall (as there was at the old house). I'm just glad it's only rented, as the house would be best demolished and rebuilt.