TGB

nipski - that shouldn't have made me chuckle too but it did. Thanks for link.

Backwards or forwards, it's still a fun advert.

Jasper Fforde, Terry Pratchett, Stephen Donaldson and Bill Birkett. Though Bill's books are more guides, they give a real sense of being.

Aye, I wonder about that too. My brother had two diesel 'Golfs' in ten years. Both were reliable but no more than a reliable car should be. But when they needed repair, the cost was significant. He now drives an diesel Astra. But back to the original question. The Outlander will be expensive to shoe, big wheels... If they roll as much as the 'Shogan' does, they'll have a bouncy ride. Freelanders are comfy and not bad for towing. Not good on mpg. The one thing you don't want to do in one, as my neighbour once did; is hit the a Jag at 90mph. Tends to knacker the Jag and shifted the Freelander's engine & front wheels into the footwell. She survived, her 'Crufts' winner did not. Before the smash, I think the dog was worth more than the vehicles.

Early this year, a small woodland group and registered charity, had two years cuttings of seasoned timber, (30% of which was processed) stolen from one of its private coppiced woods. And the miscreant was a local narrowboat holiday hire company. Everybody in that area knows he, (the company owner) stole the timber. He even bragged about having so much, his 'friends' had four full boats. Ah, but proving the stacked wood in his boatyard is stolen. None of it has 'property of' stamped on it. Two years of volunteer labour, two years of bringing back overgrown woodland to productive coppice. The only payment for the volunteers, was the promise of a share of the wood fuel. But now out of that woodland, there's no payment for the volunteers. And the thieving narrowboat company sells the wood at inflated prices to its clientele. I feel I can't name and shame the thieving company, as I couldn't prove in a court of law, that his stash of booty was actually stolen. Though it actually is!

I like AYAs, particularly side-by-sides. Light, nice feel, good range of models.

Dumb and Dumber The fool with a chainsaw and another fool with a boat.

Darwin Award mention maybe. I doubt he'd qualify for an actual D.A. The world isn't lucky enough to for him not to have passed on his weak genes. On the bright side, I suspect the male side of his family have short life expectancies. Unfortunately, so do his neighbours.

And now YouTube is helping the scum and wannabe scum. Just take a look through their vids on how to pick, brake and bypass various locks. Heck, their's even vids on how to make picks & tools for individual models and duplicating keys from sample locks. (One night to case the yard. An hour to make the picks for particular lock/s; and the next night your victim loses their equipment.) Some people can pick 5 and 6 tumbler locks in less than 30secs. Fit a simple 3 or 4 tumbler lock and you might as well give your gear away.

Example of how quick some scum are: Many years ago, someone I knew parked their car outside their friend's house. He'd locked the doors and was gone no more than ten minutes. When they came out, the scum had been - they'd not broken a window. No, they'd removed the door lock and taken not only the radio-cassette but the four speakers too.

Excellent for marquetry!

For those who've not seen the former trilogy, now the latter trilogy, here's a recap. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJiWm28LYLQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player Mind if you've not seen the original, you won't understand this version either. But could still enjoy it... well, maybe.

Plenty if small, (mainly older stoves) have a max. of 8" clearance. Then again, your customer may be fuelling a narrowboat stove, where 8" is the upper limit.

In no particular order: •Echo CS325ES •Husqvarna 135 •Stihl MS181 •Little more oomph but maybe overkill MS211

Talking to a friend yesterday evening. He had someone push their broken-down car into the lane near where he lives a while back. Blocking the exit for him and two neighbours. Being the middle of summer and a bee keeper, he needed to be out moving hives and checking others. Got in contact with police who traced owner, who'd left car and caught the bus to work. It was now around 10:00 and the guy didn't finish work till 18:00 and would be back before 20:00. My friend asked the owner to make his excuses and get his car moved, so he & neighbours could get to work or have his car moved out of the way. Thirty minutes later, my friend gets a call from county police, informing him of the law and promising to prosecute if he or his neighbours so much as touched the vehicle. The offending car was eventually moved early evening the next day. The guy didn't even say sorry.

Will the oil holes be in the right place. There seems to be a dearth of bars for the 550.

I'll remember that one Python. As to shunting it - could not do that, as it was hard up against two walls. As to towing it - had thought of that but had its own problems. Without being able to enter vehicle to steer and the wheels set at full-lock, it was not going to work. Trolley jacks might have worked. But I don't have any this end of the country. And the main road is slightly uphill and 200m away round a tight 90° bend at one end. This does have a happy ending though. Late in the afternoon, I noticed a man near the car. Go out and it turns out it's his car. Sure he'll move it. Very sorry it got in the way. And so he moves it a little way down the lane but this time tucks it out of the way, so everyone can get by. Apparently he'd bought it last night for spares. £200 with no tax or MOT but low mileage. What I can't figure, is the police managed to eventually trace the new owner and suggest he move it. He lives 19km away; so why the heck did he choose this lane to deposit his car. Something all to fishy going on there. I'm just happy it's out of the way. I got to the wood and managed to get in 90mins. of work but the main body of work had been completed by others. Glad the owners had managed to get their job done, just a pity it wasn't by me.

Don't know anything about these cranks but as I understood it, the 171 and 181 are the same saw. The only difference being, the 181's carb, which ups the power a little.

I was erecting a sign on a roadside and a car pulled up on the other side. A rear window was wound down and I thought, they're lost in the country and want directions. So I put down my tools and started toward the car to ask if I could help. Some young lad leans out of the window, points a pistol at me and starts firing. Fortunately he was a bad shot and I was moving full pelt, as I jump over the wall into the field beyond. I waited a short while and heard the car move away. Needed another sign and I was amazed by what had just happened. I rang the police, who said they'd send someone round. That was on a Tues morning. Police arrived early evening on the Thurs and I was off that day. So although my colleagues new of the incident and could give a copy of the report I'd made out. They could not actually speak to me. I waited a couple of days more but no follow-up was made by the police. So I phoned them and was told, that since I wasn't hit and the cost of a replacement sign was less than fifty quid, they had closed the case.

I'm visiting and my car is in their garage. Today I was supposed to be cutting in a wood 19km away and next week in a wood 24km distant. Bright and early I get loaded up, have breakfast then open the garage doors. And find some scroat has dumped a car outside in the lane. In such a position, as to block both our vehicles in the garage and prevent neighbour parking there car outside their house. It's a deadens lane and we're at the far end. The car was last taxed up to 31-07-13. So whoever drove it here, did so illegally. Rang police who said they'd send the community officer round but that officer was/is in a PACT meeting. But also said, they'd checked on the reg., vehicle description and tax disc no. I 'd given them and between them, (the police) & DVLA the vehicle could not be traced. It was last sold in Jan. this year but they weren't given the new owner's details. The tax disc, it was issued in a PO in the nearest town, a couple of miles away. Between 1st and 2nd comms with police, someone had visited the vehicle and tidied the inside. First time I saw it, it had carrier bags/litter on the seats and the glove box was open but empty. 30mins. later the bags were gone and t he glove box was closed. The council are interested, as it's not parked outside any councillor's property. And although the vehicle has no known owner, is parked on & blocking a public highway and has no valid VED disc; the police won't brake into it or attempt to move it and the council won't tow it. The only way apparently of legally removing it. Is for my 78yr. old mother, (the householder) to pay for removal and storage or scrapping. So we both now have taxed cars which neither of us can use. I'm not cutting and have let down people on the other end. There is no fixed date when the offending vehicle is going to be moved, nor apparently any enforcement to have it removed. Why do we pay taxes..?

sloth, I agree with most if not all. But the one I a like and agree with most, has to be 1.

I like that colour, goes well with the fallen leaves.

Would bring traffic to a halt, so good for traffic management.

Or perhaps it's a bit of both: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass-ceramic

Distinct lack of PPE. Tut,tut.