AVB

You can, I am lead to believe, do your theory in the UK and the practical on holiday (where hopefully the water is clearer/warmer). I did both in Mauritius with PADI. I did a lot of revision up front but to be honest I could have passed the test without doing so as they we quite willing to coach you through passing. Good for getting a pass but bad from a safety perspective! Whilst I like Scuba Diving is it worth the hastle compared with snorkling? With Scuba you might get a buzz of 100% for effort/hastle of 80% yet Snorkling you get a buzz of 60% for effort of 20%. If you know what I mean. There again I've only done Maldives and Mauritius where both Snorkling and scuba are excellent. Andrew

Hot! It's bl*ddy hot here. Major EDF power failure has knocked out Bishopsgate in the City (of London) since midday yesterday. Generators are powering critical services (such computers etc.) but aircon and lights in our offices are deemed a luxury. Very hot and very smelly! Andrew

I got closure on this last week. I sent a letter to Mercedes saying that as I hadn't heard anything from them for a while I assume that the matter was closed. Got a phone call soon after saying that they would settle for the small ding on the rear bumper (which I was aware of). So £197 instead of £900 they originally claimed. Thanks for everyones advice. Andrew :blink:

I think the reason for that is that you have been buying a new car every time. In this case the dealer takes on the 'old' car and overlooks any minor damage as they don't want to put you off of going ahead with the deal. The problem comes if you hand the car back. They (the manufacturer themselves not the dealer) then look for every reason to charge you money (I am in dispute with Mercedes for £900) as they want to make more money on the transaction. Andrew

yep that's how it works. Quite simple other than the potential bill you get at the end (if you hand the car back) for damage in excess of fair wear and tear at which point they will try to rip you off (see previous posts on subject). Andrew

I don't know about you but I just feel a bit more comfortable with the "I'm a Tory MP and I need some money from you to clear my moat" statement compared with "I'm a labour MP and I need you to buy me a new 52 inch Plasma TV". The first one is just what Tory MP's do and the second one is a toe rag taking the ****. Am I the odd one out thinking this way? Andrew

tried various recipies with a machine but with all of them the bread came out far to cake like. Tried different flour, yeast (dry, wet etc) but still the same. Clearly doing something wrong but don't know what. Machine sits in cupboard now alongside other unused kithen gadgets (blender, juicer etc.) Andrew

Gave this speech at the start of a meeting this morning Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead. In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger; Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage; Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; Let pry through the portage of the head Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it As fearfully as doth a galled rock O'erhang and jutty his confounded base, Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean. Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide, Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit To his full height. On, on, you noblest English. Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof! Fathers that, like so many Alexanders, Have in these parts from morn till even fought And sheathed their swords for lack of argument: Dishonour not your mothers; now attest That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you. Be copy now to men of grosser blood, And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman, Whose limbs were made in England, show us here The mettle of your pasture; let us swear That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not; For there is none of you so mean and base, That hath not noble lustre in your eyes. I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start. The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George! Went down well.

Thanks. I looked on the Intenet for some info about BVRLA and found some interesting info. I wish I had taken photos as you suggested but I didn't. I haven't heard back from Mercedes yet, I assume I will, and I will still offer to pay for what I believe to be fair. If they don't like it they can come after me for the money. I haven't got any after yesterdays budget so they won't get much! What I don't get is why, when I buy a car from my local Mercedes garage, I can't return it to the same garage where it could be inspected (which was what I expected when I purchased the car)? No, I either have to drive it myself 150 miles to Birmingham or somebody collects it and we have a debate over what damage they caused vs what I caused. It seems open to conflict to me. Andrew

Utter tosh. There are two sorts of people who earn that sort of money - People on PAYE who have no obtion but to pay the tax and those that run their own businesses that can squirel the money away through offsetting expenses (and other fiddles). An don't forget that the £6,500 allowance starts to dissapear from £100,000 and completely goes by £113,000 As usual it's the employee on PAYE who suffers

It's a bit like the CLA Game Fair. Some people will queue for hours whilst other will say that they arrived at the same time and flew in! The queues also vary from year to year, as does the CLA fair, but Goodwood is in the same place every year (otherwise it wouldn't be the Goodwood festival of speed!) so I don't know why Andrew

Mercedes do give you a booklet (after you have signed the deal though) explaining their wear and tear policy, including measurement of scratches, number and location of dents etc. It seems comprehensive at the time but of course when you have to work to it there are a number of grey areas. The other unfair thing is that the overall condition of the car isn't taken into account. So the car could be faultless apart from one scratch bigger than their threshold and you would have to pay whilst another car could have tens of scratches and dents all within the threshold and you wouldn't have to pay. It would be fairer if each item of wear and tear had a points value and you were allowed say 50 points. which could be one bigish thing or 10 smaller things. Andrew

Thanks I gave them call this morning. They are obviously used to people objecting as the bloke on the phone immediately went into negotiation mode offering to knock the list of damage down. I paid the excess mileage and offered to pay for the one (smallish) chip which was recorded on the form and I was aware of but we couldn't agree on the remainder so he said he would escalate it to his manager and get back to me. I'm feeling confident enough to just tell them to sue me if they want to go through the hassle and I'll raise a complaint with the FSA. This whole thing has put me off of these sort of balloon payment deals and Mercedes in particular. Andrew

I recently returned my B-Class merc at the end of the finance agreement. It was one of those balloon payment type and with the fall in value of used cars decided to hand mine back rather than p/x or pay the residual. What I wasn't expecting was an invoice for £900 for damage in excess of their definition of fair wear and tear. To be honest the car was in excellent condition (it had only done 16K in three years), the guy picking it up said so and there was nothing marked as damaged on the form I signed although the small print says that a final, more detailed, examination will be undertaken a the returns centre. They do have a definition of fair wear and tear and I believe that some of the smaller items (chip on windscreen, scuffs on wheels) are within his but there is some damage (very small dent on tailgate) that I don't believe was there when I handed it over. Considering that the car did 150 miles on the return journey what proof do I, of indeed they, have that that the so-called damage was not caused by the reurning driver? I am tempted just to tell them to stuff it and to sue me. I'll pay for the excess mileage but not for the ficticious damage (which is all itemised). Thoughts? Anybody faced this problem. Andrew

I am with A&L. They are most certainly bad news. Am in dispute with them for them refusing a recent claim. Will be moving as soon as I can. Andrew

I bought a new X-trail in March and I must say I am impressed with it. I get 35-37 mpg around town and 40+ mpg on a journey

Love it but occasionally go over the top and have to leave it alone for a while A

Bedford Autodrome/Palmer is unrestricted (or it was when I did it) for the simple reason that there is nothing to hit. No barriers just lots and lots of run off space. In fact the instructers normally tell you to go faster and faster. Your nerves normally gives out before the car does. Yes the mileage restrictions on supercars are very punitive. You nromally get 100 miles per day (which doesn't get you far - 100 miles to be precise!) with extra miles charged. I was charged £1.50 per mile for a F430.

I agree but it depends on what you want to get out of the experience. If you want to experience a range of cars at high speed then yes the Palmer day or half day is good. Ive done it and it was a good day. However if you want to experience 'owning' a supercar for day, and that includes driving it fast (legally), driving it slowly, going to the shops, taking the kids out for a ride etc. then hiring one is the only option. the only downside is giving it back at the end. If I had to choose only one I'd go for hiring a supercar. But it wouldn't take much to persuade me otherwise! Andrew

I agree that the Bedford Autodrome gives the most variety and most time in the car. Also no speed limits. Alternatively hire a supercar for the day. In the range £500-1,500 per day. You can do with it what you like (within reason) and be Billy Big B***ocks for the day. However I got really depressed when I got to 40 and it took me a couple of years to start to enjoy things again! Andrew

What about this comment and the response to it towards the bottom Shooting, does not give a clean kill unless the shooter is a marksmen and the range is short. This leaves the fox to die a terrible, slow painful death from gangrene or infection or bleeding to death or even starving to death. Well then shoot them with a bullet that would kill them outright. You know, something like the army uses. They tend to not take prisoners. Fantastic eh!

I suffered with two bouts of Epistaxis (apparently it's the medical term) last year. Both requiring a trip in an ambulance to get my nose packed. My nose would bleed non-stop until they could pack enough gauze up my nose. I even had the blood coming out of my tear ducts! They didn't get to the bottom of the cause but thought it was a viral infection causing a weakening of the blood vessels in my sinuses. Apparently this isn't an infrequent event and most bouts go as quickly as they come without any after effects. I am sure you will be fine.

I was paying £80/month for house and contents with Lloyds TSB. Did a search on the internet and found that I could get cover for £35/month. Rang up to cancel. They asked why and said they could also do it for £35! Sharks. They are worse than Banks. Oh I forget they are a Bank

I often bring game into the office during the season and hang them on a coat stand for people to help themselves to. They soon get taken. When I started doing it there were a few screams from some of the more squeemish but that soon stopped. Interestingly they have just removed all of the coat stands for 'elf & Safety' reasons! Andrew

The fact is that there were relatively few people who created the products that perpetuated the crisis, namely Securitised Products with debt underlyers. When I say few people lets say at most 200 out of an employee base of 170,000. Then there were say another 200 people above them and executives who have to take the blame. That means that 169,600 people can, with hand on heart, say it was nothing to do with me. Are all of those 169,600 people paying the price for it - yes in some shape or form. Did Reddan (who I don't know but assuming that he works in RBS retail, Nat West or One Account) sell these products - no - yet like a lot of RBS people his job is under threat by the chaos it has caused. If you really want to see the divisons and departments that made money for RBS vs those that lost (a lot) look through the annual results. It's all in there. The other thing to remember is that the whole ressesion is based upon fear. People not spending their money because of fear of losing their job. Banks not lending to companies for fear of them folding, banks not lending to each other for fear of them folding. Companies not paying bills for fear of another company not paying them. When RBS nearly went under in October it was for the simple reason that other banks stopped paying money to settle their obligations as they were afraid that RBS wouldn't settle their obligations. There was no evidence just pur feer. The same thing happened to Lehmans but they were not bailed out. I tell people I am a gay exotic dancer. Far less embarrising than working for RBS Now I am rambling (yawn). Andrew