Pedroski

And...

Applying tilt/shift effects is cheating and is nowhere near as good as using a tilt of shift lens. I prefer to do it proper. Like.....

Just need to pump em up to 80psi - that sorts it ok

^^ exactly. It's just cost me £18.00 to set up Ltd company. All you need is a few brain cells so you can follow and understand instructions to work out how to do it on the Companies House web site. Within 24 hours I received company certificate from Companies House. I also received details from a firm called The Company Warehouse with a log in so that I can download and use free accounting software, and access various offers including website design for £149. The biggest expense for me is likely to be the accountant for tax returns. I currently do my own self-assessment but this might change. Thinking it could be worth getting the Mrs properly trained up.

That's perfectly reasonable though, surely? If I'm after quotes for certain work and I call a company but get an answer phone, then I'll leave a message. Instead of just hoping that person actually gets round to calling me back (because a lot don't) then I'll call another firm. First one with a reasonable quote gets the job.

Nice motor, but they've ruined it with those crappy blue lights outside and in the dash - proper chav

And what really annoys me is when they show deals for "new customers only"! What about their loyal long-standing customers???

You could try using some Veet male hair gel on your knackers to soothe them a bit....... If you want to sell it though I would be interested.

Oi, wind yer neck in - I do loads of mower pushing and can't even do that for £10/hour There's a father and (grown up) son outfit down here who do garden maintenance and mowing. They charge £12/hour each. One of their mowers died properly at end of last season and they couldn't afford to replace it. When we're landscaping/mowing/doing maintenance, we charge out at £360 +vat per day for the pair of us, which is £30/hour per person (although I only see a small part of that). It's tough competing against the £10 or £12/hour idiots, but we justify it by getting at least twice as much done per person in a given time, and being 100% reliable as we don't come unstuck with breakdowns.

This is more like it.....

You need some blue in it

^^^ However, work is quiet on fencing round my way at the moment due to the fact we do such a good job with big posts, a metre in the ground, and strong closeboard fencing that it doesn't fall down. And the problem is that the people who want cheap are getting builder in to do it, and they're whacking up pre-made crappy panels. Kinojango, in a lot of ways you have an advantage in that you're at an age where you have a bit more life experience than a youngster, and you know more about the true cost of living, etc, and how much you really need to earn to get by. I'd definitely forget the chipper for now - just get someone in with a chipper to help clear up on bigger jobs and include the cost in the quote. Put the money instead into stuff for garden maintenance and fencing. As for climbing....well you know what your fitness levels are, and how much you can do, so it's up to you. If you find it too much then bring in a climber when needed, and again include that in the quote.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with loctite. Just remove the screw, put a dab on the end of the screw thread and puti t back in again. Provided you don't go overboard on the loctite then it won't ooze out around the screw head. And you can still undo the screw if you decide to. It's a proper solution to a problem, not some sort of bodge.

And front: I want one.....

UKMinch is spot on there. Here's a rear view 3/4 of a Tam 150 T11:

He's probably got no proper money in his pockets. Just a load of conifer, a few petrol and MaccieD receipts, and a few pennies.

Shame the glow in the dark mushrooms are poisonous. I was just thinking it would be a good idea to include them in dog food to make it easier to avoid turds on the pavement at night. They'd be sitting there like Crap o lanterns. Oh well.

When I've had a subby/freelancer to do a job, I've always just paid them outright for the day at the end of each day, usually cash. At the end of the day, I couldn't have done the job without them and I wouldn't have earned the money without them, so I want to see them right so they're happy to work for me in future. Makes them happy, makes me happy, makes customer happy. And you, as a freelancer, shouldn't feel bad/shy about making it clear before the job that you want paying at end of each day.

I appreciate the warning, and it's all stuff I have considered. Work mate owns a limited company and I've had a lot of experience of the pitfalls and the benefits. I've also had a lot of dealing with HMRC so know what can happen there, but I do have a reliable accountant who was recommended to me so feeling ok about it all.

Congrats on the impending birth, and sorry to hear of your problems. Hopefully new child will help you along nicely Thinking of you (was going to say praying for you, but we all know what sort of agro that might lead to )

There're a few benefits: > credibility/image which is pretty important - a lot of larger companies will ONLY deal with a proper limited company and won't deal with sole traders/partnerships > company name is protected by law so nobody can use the same or anything too similar > I can draw a small wage, and pay other directors a small wage, so we don't pay much in personal tax/NIC and we can then pay out a nice dividend which is taxed at a lower rate (assuming of course I manage to make any profit) > company will have to pay corporation tax and deal with PAYE etc, but I'll have all that done the accountant. At the moment as a self-employed sole trader I do this all myself on-line so that'll be one less thing to worry about > massive advantage is that if it all goes boobies up at some point then I won't lose my house over it as the company is dealt with as an entity in its own right. I won't be personally liable for any losses the company makes. > pension contributions can be put down as legitimate business expenses, thereby reducing taxable profit and hence reducing corporation tax payment > I can issue shares in the company It was a no-brainer for me really. The total cost to incorporate the company with Companies House was...... wait for it............ £18! I've just blown double that on domain name registration for rootsenvironmental.co.uk and rootsenvironmental.com. Interesting reading here Limited company advantages – an overview. Well, it's all I've written above

Agreed. I don't know what gets into some people's heads. I called a firm up this morning to see if that MEWP I told you about would be available this morning. Bloke confirmed it would be, but asked me to call him back before lunch if I wanted it for certain. So I called him at 10.30, and he told me Friday would now be more convenient as he's bricklaying Still a good price, and no skin off my nose so I've booked it for Friday, which meant I got on with other pressing matters today. Just seems a bit odd though!

Cheers Simon -Roots supercharger was one of my favourite shiny things too, when I were a lad Used to drool over Hot Rod mag! Like the idea of a breakfast club..... 4 rashers of smokey bacon and sausages straight from the local butcher, fried bread, toms, beans, eggs...... I'm hungry already.... Waz, the plan is to make use of contacts with various consultancies, waste firms, landscaping firms etc, to provide a service for both small and large contaminated land projects. I want to provide a service going from ground assessment right through to the final planting and landscaping schemes. Also looking at feasibility for geo and air source heat pumps. I'm in contact with people in these sectors all the time, and also with various university research departments, and with suitability qualified professionals, and think I've been wasting opportunities for a long time! My plan is evolving, and I'm working on someone I know who owns a venture capitalist firm......

BTW, what do you think of the name? It was chosen by my 15yo daughter. I just specified that I wanted something kind of "earthy" that was easy to remember and kind of fitted in with me getting back to my roots as a scientist type!

No longer satisfied with a life of hardship, loads of kids, no holidays etc sob sob.... I have just incorporated a limited company with Companies House and am going to make something out of the years of study and research I have done, and utilise my wonderful network of contacts. I'm hopeful that getting something going now, while times are pretty tough, will lead to something good when times improve. We shall see. Keep an eye out for Roots Environmental Limited in the future Web site will be up over the coming days - domains already registered, and company certificate from Companies House is sitting on my desk. Wish me luck