Doc Holliday

I believe it also makes a difference if you're aiming up/down as well but it would need one of the more experienced folk on here to put that in to plain English.

Tesco have a list of fictional farms for all their fresh produce regardles whether it is meat, fruit or veg. The thing that really grinds on me is the blatant decepitveness of it. If they want to brandish it with a farm name then why not use the actual place where the birds were raised and slaughtered? I'm sure many of these marketing men either come fro man estate agency background or move in to it for a change of career.

Get yourself some Terms & Conditions written up. Get the client to sign them before they drop the horse off. So long as you aren't too daft then they will stand you in good stead. Something along the lines of 'No horses left without signed T's & C's'. 'No horses released until accounts are settled in full'. 'If the client wishes to remove the horse before the end of the 6 weeks then the full amount is still payable'. 'No horses to be ridden on site unless they are a direct employee of the business', etc. I think you get my drift. If it ever went to court and it was signed then they can't argue. Women do seem to be more 'emotional' than men when it comes to arguing a point. I had a client's daughter call me up some weeks back as I'd been chasing her dad for a cheque for work done over a year back. She really went to town on me and when she'd finally paused to draw breath I told her I can't discuss the matter with her as she's not my client and it was a matter of data protection. If her father wants to do so then he had 30 days from the issue of the invoice. She couldn't argue it. I finally got the cheque but after giving a discount. Some people are a pain. You just tell them next time to find someone else.

I like to think myself an ethical eater of meat. By this I mean I try to opt for the meat that has had as natural a life as possible, whether it be something I have shot in the way of small game or something from a decent butcher or, dare I say it, supermarket. So it is almost with a sense of irony that I am feel compelled to write this. I best explain the irony bit next otherwise it won’t make sense. Last week I called in to a service station to grab something to eat. As I browsed the aisles a reduced chicken caught my eye, £5.00 down to £2.50. ‘Bargain!’ I thought, and who doesn’t love a bargain? I took it home and should have frozen it but didn’t. Most of the time you can get away with a few extra days grace so long as the meat is sufficiently chilled. It was decided that we would have it for dinner on the Sunday. Sunday comes and Mrs H gets the chicken out of the fridge to put in the slow cooker. ‘I’m not using it as it’s turning green in one or two places!’ she calls out to me. ‘You’ll have to nip down Tesco’s and get one from there’. I check the chicken and sure enough there are small patches of green on the skin with the beginnings of a nasty smell. I duly make my way down to the foresaid supermarket (which is not one we frequent with any regularity) and browse the poultry shelf. My eye is drawn to the ‘Willow Farm’ brand at £4 a bird. I subconsciously pick one up and turn way but then stop. I turn back and check the prices of the ‘Free Range’ & ‘Organic’ birds. The latter being a tad too pricy but then I have an idea. ‘Let’s just see what this ‘Willow Farm’ is all about’, I think to myself. I open the browser on my phone at a certain search engine and type in ‘Tesco Willow Farm’. Lo & behold if the results don’t lay claim that ‘Willow Farm’ is an entirely ficticious place to make this range more appealing. And do you know what’s worrying? It works. But how many people actually stop to check this type of thing out? Do we really need bull**** labelling to ease a guilty conscience on our choices within a supermarket? I suppose what really sparked the initial research on my part was the lack of hocks on the Willow Farm bird’s legs. I remembered watching Hugh’s Chicken Run and recalled that this was a tell-tale sign that the birds had been raised in conditions that cause sores from the ammonia in their own faeces that they are forced to dwell in but I thought that after all that pressure they surely wouldn't be still doing that, but they are. All this and more made me think that, in good conscience, there is no way I could possibly buy the Willow Farm bird. Instead, I opted for the ‘Tesco Finest Free Range’ bird. The thing is, it’s not because I want to be poncy or pretencious but I do believe if I’m going to buy meat from the supermarket then I want to be able to make an informed and educated decision and I feel that by having these bullstool labels, this takes away my right to be able to do that. Come on Tesco, and any of you other corporate food chains, stop treating us like idiots. Give us the credit we deserve and allow us to make informed and educated decisions on our purchases. Even if it just boils to down to a financial based decision because that is all we can afford to feed out families then so be it. And by that I don’t mean it has be plastered over the labelling that ‘This bird has been raised in its own faeces!’ but if it doesn’t state ‘free range’ or ‘Organic’ or even ‘Outdoor Reared’ then we can safely assume it has not been allowed to live a normal a life as possible in its short passage to our table, just don’t mislead us into thinking that it has lived its life in some kind of ‘Jolly Farm’ utopia. Be responsible. ​I think there should be a Campaign Against Misleading Labelling (CAMiL?) but I'm sure there must be one, and what happened to all that fuss that HFW was kicking off about a few years back over the conditions these chickens were raised in? Thoughts please.

Has anyone come across this? I have been using 2 kinds of pellets last season and the same this season, Air Arms Diabolo Field .22 (16 grains Domed) and Napier Power Target .22 (15.46 grains Flat). I generally use the flat heads for when it's lovely and still and the domed for when there may be a bit of wind about. I use an Air Arms S410 Carbine. I had this issue last year too and thought maybe I was doing something wrong, although I couldn't for the life me think what. Anyway, in preperation for doing the odd bit of shooting I zeroed the scope in at about 15 yards. I don't tend to go much over that as I've found I don't always get a clean shot which really makes me cross with myself. So, set up the scope with the flat heads. All ok, nice and consistent. Switch casettes over loaded with the domed heads and the first one is a little off mark. To be expected. Without making adjustment I aim at the same mark again, this time it is high and left. Not just a little but by more than a few inches in both planes. The gun didn't move. I load again, aim foir the same spot and this time it is off to the right but not so far, probably about 2 inches right and no more than an inch high. I tried a few more times and each time it seemed to go off to a different mark. I replaced the casette with the flats heads and they were nice and consistent. I was shooting in a very sheltered and secluded spot but even so, there was no wind around. I just find it a little disconcerting that this seems to be happening so I thought I'd ask if you guys have experienced anything like this? Doc.

Mediocre in West Kent. Part of the trouble is the farmer, an Egyptian gentleman whom has been discussed on here previously, has had all the blackthorn bushes cut back hard, and I mean hard. Unless you take a pair of steps your chances of getting any will be nowt, especially after Mrs H & I had gleaned the best of what was in reach. I have 6 litres steeping.

As the title says really. I'm looking to ditch paper diaries as it really is a bit a drag now. I enter the appointments in the diary, go to the job, write in the diary what I did there then, when time allows, go through the diary to put all in an invoice and send to the client. I've been thinking about this over the last few weeks or so and by ditching the old 'Day to page' diary I'd be forced to use the app for appointments and then, when the job is done, add the details directly on to an invoice. Sorted! At least that's the plan. I've done a quick recce and looked at the Biz business calender. This syncs automatically with the google diary, which seems a bit daft unless it offers something the google diary doesn't, which makes me think I may as just use google diary but any recommendations will be gratefully recieved, as always.

I guess it is a case of the few spoiling it for the majority, regardless of whether the dog sees to its ablutions in the woods or in a stately home. I originally posted this topic because it was when Mrs H and I were on ours the other year and went to Battle Abbey. Consequently, I was looking to see where else we could go (as the dog comes with us seeing as she is part of the family) and thought I'd check out Bodiam castle. Their website states "moated Castle with ruined interior". Sounds like the plaster and wall paper won't be up to much but then I didn't make the venue clear in my OP. As for dogs crapping in the woods, personally I've been of the view that if it isn't where someone is going to step in it and isn't on view then I'm more inclined to leave it and let nature dispose of it naturally rather than putting it in a plastic bag so it can be collected and taken somewhere and incinerated. Less of a carbon footprint, if you will.

A few years back Mrs H and I paid a visit to Battle Abbey. Well worth a visit. Even if history isn't your thing, this place is a must if you're ever in the area. Anyway, it's owned and managed by English Heritage and their policy on dogs is 'Anywhere except the restaurant'. Reasonable and accomodating enough, although I do find it puzzling why dogs are barred from 'restaurants' when, in homes, most dogs seem to be confined to the kitchen, but that's a debate for another day. The National Trust, on the other hand, state that there are dog tethering points outside most of their properties. I just don't get the disparity. Why do some places allow dogs and others don't? I understand that not everyone likes dogs but then not everyone likes kids but they're still allowed in and cause far more disruption than dogs do, in general, and in my opinion. Penny for your thoughts on this one.

What an absurd and ignorant thing to say! I had a customers daugjter phone me the other day and was ranting down the phone at me, accusing me of taking advantage of her dad. But when I expalined it to her about what had happened from when he called me and how I stopped the water pouring through his ceiling and having to go back because he was going away for a month the following week, plus I didn't have what I needed to do the job as it wasn't a straightforward off the shelf part, she was quite apologetic. And rightly so as she was also ignorant of the facts. She just looked at the bottom line and flew off the handle so yes, it is about paying for knowledge and professionalism, etc. Remember, tbere are two sidea to every story and things aren't always what they seem at first. And yes, we do mark your cards if you have been and awkward so and so.

That's the trouble when using that silly little keyboard you get on the phone but yes, I should have checked but was also in a hurry. For the record though, I'm usually pretty hot on my own grammar and punctuation so any mistakes are most likely because I am on my phone.

They writer of the ad is definitely English as they give the shoe size in UK and not European size. Grammar and puntuation really are very important as it allows people.to read without any ambiguity what.yiu want to say and it also reflects on you as person as to whether you can actually be bothered to have a basic understanding of your own language. I fi d to fascinating. I did see a peom the other day which was very clever. I'll see if I can dig it out and post it.

I don't think the strength parts are overly trying on the Major Series. Having looked on their website, and from what I have gathered in general, it seems as though it's not meant to be overly taxing. I remember one of my old BMF unstructors would say "Conquer the hills and everything else is easy", and I do put a lot of store in that. Hill work is very important and I have a very nasty 5.5k 3 hill circuit that I do. I have toyed with the idea this weekend that maybe I should do 2 laps at least twice a week. I do appreciate that it is meant to be a bit of fun but I would be disappointed with myself if I felt I hadn't given it my all. A little but of competition is a healthy thing ;-)

Interesting. Thanks guys. And what about training and nutrition on the lead up to the event? Do you train hard and fight easy or just see how feel on the day and hope for the best? I also meant to say that my time was way undwr what it should have been as there was a big back log at one of the obstacles. The stench trench should have had 4 rows of people going through but it had condensed down to one line as people were squeeling over get wet and muddy. I'm not enirely.sure what they were expecting.

Anyone on here participate? I did my first OCR back in April, the Major Series South 5k. To be honest, I didn't find it overly tough but I suppose it is meant to be do-able for all abilities. As I ran round most seemed to be taking the approach that it was just a bit of a muddy walk (with a few water obstacles to negotiate). As a consequence I have decided to do the Major Series South 10k on 1st October. I didn't know if it was worth splashing out on a pair of skins or something similar. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has done a 10k OCR and what they wore and how they found it.

Why is Mrs Dougy fuming? Is she an estate agent? I k ow not all of them are like it and another firm we have booked another viewing with have said, after I asked them.their view on it, that they considwr it sharp practice.

Hi chaps (and chapesses, where appropriate), I bought a tray of local cherries yesterday, seeing as they are pretty much out of season, as Mrs H wants me to make some Cherry Brandy. She actually prefers the drunken cherries. Some even find their way in to the Xmas cake, although they do give me very bad wind for some strange reason. Amyway, enough about my inner workings. I wanted to know what ratios you guys use for your fruit liquers. I think I used about 20% sugar to weight of cherries last year and have to confess it tasted like it could have used a bit more as the brandy still had that kick to it. The thing is I didn't want it being too sweet. To be honest, I can't actually remember how much fruit I used but will have to see if I have it written down somewhere. Does anyone do this seriously or as Jdog said in another post, it's not an exact science. I would, however, like a bit of a pointer as to the ratios.

What is an application fee? Is that applied to buying or letting or both? The OP was for an 'introduction fee', which in this case is 1.65% of the sale price. For the house we were looking at that means he wants a prospective £7k plus VAT just for buying it through him!!! (I think that shows the level of my disbelief nicely by the amount of exclamation marks I just used. That's very nearly a weeks quota!)

That was pretty much my take on it. If he's charging both then who's best interest is/will he be acting in, other than his own?

One of our favourite pastimes, estate agent bashing, is on the agenda again. Mrs H & I went looking at properties over the weekend (seems as thought the motorhome may be on the back burner for now), although only from the road. We found a couple that we liked the look of. However, on one of them there is an 'introduction fee' which is payable by the buyer. Seems they have found a way of shafting buyers as well as vendors. I've done a bit of research and, although it isn't exactly illegal, it is frowned upon. How on earth is this justified when they still charge vendors a selling percentage to boot? It seems to hinge around sealed bids rather than the good old haggling at figure somewhere around the asking price. The thing is, and I know someone who this happened to, sealed bids leave things unfairly in the favour of the estate agent and those unscrupulous enough can go back and try to get more money out of a potential buyer. The person I know said this is what happened to him as the estate agent messed up and sent him an email saying so instead of to the vendor. There is no way of knowing, until after the property has been sold, what the highest bid was. They really are a bunch of schmoozers!

I would be concerned about the lack of support on the underside if it was a plastic tray. Stone resin trays generally don't need support or insulation/soundproofing. If the bathroom or tray was that cold that it would generate condensation on the underside then I'd also be concerned by that too. Other than they just had a load of it left over and didn't have anywhere else to get rid of it then I'd say sound proofing.

Mrs H and I have been looking at motorhomes again. For the past couple of years or so they have really appealed to me and we saw one on Saturday which we both liked. As ever, Mrs H worries over the finances of such things and asked me to see what the cost of running/keeping/storing such a vehicle would be, and so I turn to ever experienced PW collective for their infinite wisdom, mostly. Who do insure with and what do you pay for storage? We would need to store it away from the house as it would be practical to have it there. Also, how much is the road tax? Anything else I should know then please feel free to volunteer it. Thanks.

I made one once out of some 22mm copper pipe, a few fittings and some threaded rod which I encased in some plastic tubing to help agai st the corrosive effect of sea water. I used a suitably sized rubber washer sandwiched between 2 stainless steel washers and fixed them to the rod with a couple o5d stainless nuts. It worked well. Used to pump my own lug. Either 22mm or 28mm will be fine. There is a bit of a knack to using them though. It kind of works back to front so rather than sucking things up you actually need to push the outer tube down whilst pulling the middle bit up. In reality the middle bit stays pretty much where you started as the tube sinks in to the sand. You then pull the pump clear of the sand and eject the contents on to the surface in front. You won't get a worm every time but probably 60 to 70 %. It sounds confusing but you'll soon get the hang of it. Hope that helps.

I'm going to be heading off for night's fishing in the next week or so and have need to sort my gear out and make a few rigs. I've always enjoyed that part of sea fishing but whether it's because I'm just a **** fisherman or the way I present my bait, I just don't seem to have much luck. I have a copy of The Sea Angler's step by step guide to bait & rigs and generally use that for reference when making rigs but it could be that I'm using a set up which doesn't stand a cat in hells chance of catching anything where I generally go, which is usually anywhere fron Dungeness to Newhaven harbour. Last year I even bought some peeler crab for the first time as I'd been told they're pretty much a sure thing. I caught one miserable Whiting and would have thrown it back if it hadn't swallowed the hook. Anyway, I'd like to know what your preferred rigs are when targeting specific species.

I'm going to be heading off for night's fishing in the next week or so and have need to sort my gear out and make a few rigs. I've always enjoyed that part of sea fishing but whether it's because I'm just a **** fisherman or the way I present my bait, I just don't seem to have much luck. I have a copy of The Sea Angler's step by step guide to bait & rigs and generally use that for reference when making rigs but it could be that I'm using a set up which doesn't stand a cat in hells chance of catching anything where I generally go, which is usually anywhere fron Dungeness to Newhaven harbour. Last year I even bought some peeler crab for the first time as I'd been told they're pretty much a sure thing. I caught one miserable Whiting and would have thrown it back if it hadn't swallowed the hook. Anyway, I'd like to know what your preferred rigs are when targeting specific species.