AndyRKett said:

Yep all these anecdotal stories are pointless. However the data does show those with degrees earn more over the long term than those without. Obviously in that there is going to be the ones who never went to school but are now multimillionaires and those who have a degree masters PhD etc and are now sleeping rough.

I’m going to guess your friend who takes photos and travels all over was not helped in those pursuits but having a degree in history.

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Of course he wasn't, also the other one did a PGCE after Uni.

I also can't talk either.. as I did an environmental management degree. I've spent the last 10 years doing anything but that.

However having got past "foot in the door" level it is very handy to have been to university as with it being a science degree a lot of time was spent collecting data, analysing the results and then writing it up which I have to do as job quite regularly. Also I've had to design and deliver large scale training across a national company in a month. At that point I was very glad to have experience slapping power points together and delivering them to a large audience.

So while sitting studying environmental law, spending hours in twin span poring over dendograms etc in my case was a waste of time the process of working has been the useful bit. It's also worth noting if I want to move up a degree is required as well as the requisite experience so if I had not done a degree I'd not advance past where I am now, also where I am now required a minimum of A levels.

So I'm sure there are thousands of people in the same situation as me where they aren't doing what they thought they would be but the degree is still serving them well hence the increased earnings potential.

I'd imagine that doesn’t apply if you did an aromatherapy degree though.

Been out cycling quite a lot recently, and the other day I headed well into the woods so to speak. A place called the fairy glen and beyond, stunning scenery and of course wild life to match. Well didn’t I get bitten on the leg, you couldn’t see anything initially but over time it’s come up as a large red sore, itchy and doesn’t look good at all. I did not wear my compression leg thingy that day as I thought I will try to give my dodgy leg freedom.

I’m right into this cycling lark now and have bought myself a pair of those padded footless compression tights. I’m a bit surprised how comfortable and how good they feel

jimboy said:

Been out cycling quite a lot recently, and the other day I headed well into the woods so to speak. A place called the fairy glen and beyond, stunning scenery and of course wild life to match. Well didn’t I get bitten on the leg, you couldn’t see anything initially but over time it’s come up as a large red sore, itchy and doesn’t look good at all. I did not wear my compression leg thingy that day as I thought I will try to give my dodgy leg freedom.

I’m right into this cycling lark now and have bought myself a pair of those padded footless compression tights. I’m a bit surprised how comfortable and how good they feel

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Lyme disease is transmitted by tick bites.
Get that bite checked out ASAP (GP medical emergency) and treated if necessary.

https://www.webmd.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/arthritis-lyme-disease

DaveMcT said:

Lyme disease is transmitted by tick bites.
Get that bite checked out ASAP (GP medical emergency) and treated if necessary.

https://www.webmd.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/arthritis-lyme-disease

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It’s not Lyme decease, no tick in sight, not even an wee mark to start with. It’s some sort of wee beastie off the mosquito family, lots of that kind of flying things up here. For some reason when I get bitten, my body goes into overdrive attacking the area. Haven’t been bitten for years, it’s more of annoyance than anything else, although if you saw it, it does look like I’ve been bitten by a fox..

I came across a very angry cyclist this evening.

He seemed to find the fact that I was approaching a T-junction in his general area extremely offensive.

Some people....

DaveMcT said:

https://www.webmd.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/arthritis-lyme-disease

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Wrong 'NorthWest'..

If Jim got on a plane for treatment would he be allowed back in ?

Unsure of the relevance to Rheumatoid either.. both nasty conditions though

jimboy said:

It’s not Lyme decease, no tick in sight, not even an wee mark to start with. It’s some sort of wee beastie off the mosquito family, lots of that kind of flying things up here. For some reason when I get bitten, my body goes into overdrive attacking the area. Haven’t been bitten for years, it’s more of annoyance than anything else, although if you saw it, it does look like I’ve been bitten by a fox..

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There is a target sign with Lyme, but ticks don't always stay locked on so caution does make sense. Signs and symptoms don't always add up but a blood test will prove if there's anything to worry about.

Saying that, I still carry scars from the Scottish midge bites from 25 years ago.

varesecrazy said:

Wrong 'NorthWest'..

If Jim got on a plane for treatment would he be allowed back in ?

Unsure of the relevance to Rheumatoid either.. both nasty conditions though

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Lyme was first recorded in USA but has been in UK for years.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Lyme-disease/

The infection hyper-stimulates the immune system which can trigger all sorts of immune problems. Rheumatoid is just one, but post infection syndrome is another as is chronic fatigue syndrome and even thyroid damage.

DaveMcT said:

Lyme was first recorded in USA but has been in UK for years.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Lyme-disease/

The infection hyper-stimulates the immune system which can trigger all sorts of immune problems. Rheumatoid is just one, but post infection syndrome is another as is chronic fatigue syndrome and even thyroid damage.

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I’m well aware of Lyme disease and what can occur, at no time was I concerned. When I was in hospital earlier this year, I got talking to visitor who was the wife of a chap I knew from way back, turned out he had Lyme disease from a few years ago and was still feeling the effects now. He doesn’t go out much and is knackered most of the time. Probably accounted that I hadn’t seen him for ages.

how do shepherds check they still have all their sheep without falling asleep

dave said:

how do shepherds check they still have all their sheep without falling asleep

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I think the stink of the farm alone would keep you awake!!! If farmers near me ate anything to go by!!

This has appeared at the local vehicle dismantling place.


He normally does 10-15 year old cars...so an odd one as it's on a prefix E plate.

It looks like it was cared for at one point given it's original wheel trims and you'd also expect it was garaged for a long time with it being on an e-plate.

Last Mot it had done 32000 miles.

However looks like someone nicked it and did a bunch of damage not worth fixing to the panels and locks so here it finds itself.

Not classic but did well to survive this long.

I thought I posted this here, in this thread, a few days ago. However it would seem not. Perhaps, due to my abysmal computer skills, you might find it in some other thread and if so I can only apologize

Anyway, the point of it was that last Thursday - think it was Thursday? - Mrs J and I spent most of the day at my younger boy's house out in Midlothian helping to start the big cleanup as the builders have almost completed their extension - the garden still looks like the trenches from WW1! On our way back into town we ran into some serious traffic congestion due to the tram works going on at the foot of Leith Walk and around the dock area.

We were stationary in this jam with traffic going the other way also stationary. I was tuning in the radio, using that pathetic touch screen which requires total concentration - twiddling a knob was so much simpler, when Mrs J said "look at that car, d'you think something's wrong"? The car in question was a latish model Zafira facing us in the queue on the other side of the road so we could see the front of it clearly. It had a small but vigorous wee jet of steam curling out round the bottom of it's front bumper. My window was about half way down and you could hear a kind of squealy hissing noise too - bit like one of those old kettles which had a whistle.

At that moment their queue started to move and as the driver increased revs to move off there was a distinct "Pop" and a great deal more steam coming out through the radiator grill too. Obviously either a hose had split or come off at a radiator connection. By now the car was past us but luckily, on our side of the road and about half a dozen cars behind us, there is a Fast Fit type tyre store and as we started to move I saw the Zafira pulling across our side of the road and into the store. Hopefully they caught it before any engine damage was caused.

As 'Arkwright' would summise:

'Its been a funny old day'..

I discovered a broken road spring on my newest..lowest miles grande

But the more I looked ..the better it got

Front Dampers both had paper labels intact.. bolts werent super crusty..

So they appear pretty recent..it was a city car


All looking good..


Although I had bought the full kit.. might just fit the spring now..( I have three other 199's.. so they might be in need of attention sooner)

I popped back indoors.. scanned through Andys guide.. 'wiper arm pullers'... doh.. Id not really contemplated the Vauxhall design team had hidden the top turrets in the scuttle

Anyhow wriggled off the arms.. removed plastic trim

No issues..

Got the Rattle.gun on the strut top

Dugga dugga.. grr grr grr.. not budging


Mine is only a dinky dewalt 14v job.. pandas and 188 puntos were easy.. but I was pushing my luck with a fair bit of noise.. it will get done with the 'big.guns' at work

So rebuilt everything except scuttle trim

Should be able to just pop the bonnet and rattle the offending nut off..
Then whizz it back down with my dewalt

Anyway.. while having my 1st view of the innards of a grandes scuttle.. I found a duckbill absolutely chokka with packed mud.. luckily it came off ok.. so just tapped it out.. like a Sandcastle..

Need to price up tyres ready for winter..
These are 2011's.. so I have endeavoured ..and worn them out post lockdown

And I need to discover how the sliding plug lock works on the door wiring loom..

Always something isnt there..

TBH I have enjoyed tinkering.. not done much car work in ages other than my sons grandes EGR saga.

Saw this on a truck cab the other day :

'Flat Out - like a Badger on a Bypass'

Seems like a mission statement

Just sitting here reading this thread, and I'm interrupted by a short sharp squeak.
"What the * was that."
Then before the second one, thought, 'smoke alarm'.

Does anyone remember to replace the battery annually?
We now have two next to each other anyway, as one is linked to the 'help' alarm for my partner, in case she needs help when I'm out.

Stood on a chair, without falling down the stairs, twisted it off the ceiling bracket. PP3 battery proudly showing my marking of 15-11-15. Nearly 5 years. How wasteful of money and how damaging to the environment to replace every year.
Of course, it is now 4:30 on a Saturday, not intending to go shopping until Monday morning, and can't leave the battery in as the noise every few minutes is unbearable. So should I, a) rush out now to buy a battery, b) disable it until Monday, or c) just ignore it and rely on the one for the alarm?
Option b).

I used to take the battery out and then forget about it for 6 months!

Since we had our extension we had to have 3 wired in detectors fitted. That's a pain when my wife is cooking......

Yeah the wired ones are definitely a good enforcement as we have all sometimes not replaced batteries.
I keep spare PP3 batteries for ours all the time and will replace all 3 if one pips, if not before - smoke alarms are by far the cheapest and most lifesaving piece of electrical home equipment ever designed.

We have one on the shelf in the kitchen dated 1997 by a previous owner. It goes off when we use the grill (only a little clear fat smoke!) so it briefly gets put outside. For the occasional cost of the battery like having it on a hair trigger in the house.

Absolutely agree that they are a necessity. We have one on the upstairs landing and one in the hall just outside the kitchen door. It used to be in the kitchen but I got fed up with it going off when the kids burnt some toast - often at two in the morning when returning from a night out! They've all moved out years ago, just Mrs J and self now, so maybe I should move it back into the kitchen?

Interesting to hear how long that one of yours lasted PB I have no real idea how long ours last because I get confused between the two of them as to which one I renewed last! Strange how they always seem to run flat in the early hours of the morning! At first I changed them every Christmas, just because that was an easy time to remember, now I just wait 'till they beep. I always keep a couple of spare PP3 batteries which fit other things like my multimeters etc so it's not a problem if one goes off in the night.

The new extension in my boy's house has permanently wired in ones all over the place - I've spotted 3 so far - He won't be able to just take the battery out on one of those, or do they have some sort of "cancel" function? If not, could be a bit of a nightmare with a youngster and baby in the house.

andydiver said:

I keep spare PP3 batteries for ours all the time

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The battery I've just removed, has a 'best before' date of 12-2020. If I'd kept it as a spare, its life once fitted might be quite short.

Pugglt Auld Jock said:

Interesting to hear how long that one of yours lasted PB ...
... or do they have some sort of "cancel" function?

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I've not looked at new ones for a long time. The stand alone one that's just demanded a new battery is dated 1991. At that time there were units available that could be cancelled, and others with a 'silence' button that desensitised them for a period while cooking. No idea what's available now.

Two years ago we had two more fitted as part of an alarm & care package in case my partner needs help when I'm out. They're battery units, but connect to the master alarm via their own wi-fi. For the rent we pay, I'd have expected the company to visit and replace the batteries annually, but thinking about it, they've not been back, except to test them after some cooking set them off. When they go off, we cannot cancel them, we have to wait for the alarm people to speak to us via the alarm unit, and then they cancel them remotely. Quite a palaver when the cooking set them off.

Pugglt Auld Jock said:

Absolutely agree that they are a necessity.

Strange how they always seem to run flat in the early hours of the morning! At first I changed them every Christmas, just because that was an easy time to remember, now I just wait 'till they beep

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We have only lived in older properties.. so its PP3 all the way for us..

The reason they chirp in the night?

The temperatures drop.. so battery output falls

If you manage to ignore it until the morning.. the heating has cut in and it stops chirping

Had a few experiences now in the old house 1896.. walls are 12" thick ..

So if its not in the next room you barely hear it.. and come daylight you cannot tell which one it is

I just change all 3 every other year now.. do remember to test prod periodically too