Search found 429 matches

by Pastychomper
26 Feb 2024, 8:25am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Guitar Players - Is It Hard?
Replies: 31
Views: 1485

Re: Guitar Players - Is It Hard?

Carlton green wrote: 25 Feb 2024, 9:09pm ...talent helps but even the talented have to practise.
I have a friend who's a really good pianist. From time to time people tell him how lucky he is to have such a talent. His response: "Yeah, the more I practice, the luckier I get."
by Pastychomper
29 Jan 2024, 12:03pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Discouting
Replies: 9
Views: 796

Re: Discounting

mattsccm wrote: 10 Jan 2024, 8:07am A mates motorcycle shop does something similar. 10% cheaper online. Why. Easier. All he does is pick it when convienient and along with other orders and slap it on the counter ready for collection. Phone him or call by and ask for it there and then and you pay full price.
Makes sense. Not only can he grab it when convenient, he doesn't have to interpret each customer's description and go back and forth confirming he has the right part. I still remember one Maplin's employee who was over the moon when I turned up with a catalogue number, just after he'd spent goodness knows how long finding the right component for the previous customer.
by Pastychomper
24 Jan 2024, 10:23am
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Cycling :Sperm level decline Fiction
Replies: 11
Views: 912

Re: Cycling :Sperm level decline Fiction

I was taught in college that the (alleged) reduction in sperm count from cycling was due to the testes being kept too warm for efficient sperm production, not because of any pressure or tissue damage. Thus it would only affect men who spend a large proportion of their time on the saddle and/or wear very tight trousers.

Mind you I did once suffer some very personal tissue damage from a long ride in a nice, soft, grooved saddle. (Not sure what my sperm count's been like since then, but my son says it's greater than zero.)

Come to think of it, wouldn't motorbikes be more likely to get hot on long rides? I'm sure the late Meatloaf made some comment about that...
Jdsk wrote: 23 Jan 2024, 11:12am Usual advice: it's not a good idea to draw conclusions from individual studies, look for (preferably systematic) reviews or explainers from reliable sources, such as New Scientist.
Good advice indeed, though I wouldn't call New Scientist reliable unless it's become a lot less sensational in recent years.
by Pastychomper
28 Nov 2023, 10:51am
Forum: Helmets & helmet discussion
Topic: Random helmet-based abuse
Replies: 250
Views: 28675

Re: Random helmet-based abuse

Cowsham wrote: 22 Nov 2023, 4:12pm I'd wear a full face helmet in a forest ( not any old forest but one with trees -- I don't know which type of forest doesn't have them ??? )
Deer forests have few, if any, trees.
by Pastychomper
21 Nov 2023, 11:21am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Sun in their eyes
Replies: 12
Views: 4719

Re: Sun in their eyes

ANTONISH wrote: 2 Oct 2023, 9:04am Strange that driving with defective eyesight is an offence but driving with defective eyesight due to being dazzled isn't.
Agreed, the Highway Code advises against it
Highway Code wrote: Rule 237: ...If you are dazzled by bright sunlight, slow down and if necessary, stop.
...but doesn't specifically forbid it (although I'd argue it's implied in the requirement to exercise proper control at all times). Even so I think the inquest must have had more information than was in the article.
by Pastychomper
26 Oct 2023, 9:26am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Unknown Protest
Replies: 44
Views: 7320

Re: Unknown Protest

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by Pastychomper
25 Sep 2023, 8:46am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: What Has Made You Laugh Today ?
Replies: 1465
Views: 95933

Re: What Has Made You Laugh Today ?

rjb wrote: 23 Sep 2023, 10:17pm No poles needed :shock:
Sounds like those Poles were exactly what she needed. Good on them!
by Pastychomper
28 Jul 2023, 9:30am
Forum: Helmets & helmet discussion
Topic: Random helmet-based abuse
Replies: 250
Views: 28675

Re: Random helmet-based abuse

Cowsham wrote: 1 Jul 2023, 2:53pm Facebook is where all the nutters go --- if you're looking for them it's the first place to look.
True, though I see more nutters being quoted on Twitter, err I mean X.
I've mostly given up having serious conversations on Facebook because of its poor thread management and tendency to randomly hide or lose comments. Then there are the nutters*, and the old adage about arguing with a fool in public.

One of the times I tried, someone asked for peer-reviewed research on helmets so I posted a link to CUK's page on the subject (the one that links to a long bibliography). He gave a quick response indicating he'd only skimmed part of the page and hadn't bothered with the research he'd asked for, so I replied with a brief quote that he'd missed - and my reply was "hidden" without explanation.

The only other time I had a comment hidden, it was done automatically and the friend whose post I'd commented on had no idea I'd even made the comment - I still don't know how I triggered the censor.


*TBF I suspect most FB users are a lot brighter than they appear from their posts, just like a lot of people don't engage their brains when talking in real life.
by Pastychomper
1 Mar 2023, 10:04am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Reading on a train / Noise Cancellation
Replies: 28
Views: 1590

Re: Reading on a train / Noise Cancellation

simonineaston wrote: 28 Feb 2023, 8:31pm I've got a pair of Apple 'buds that have their noise cancelling feature. It's modestly successful, but the funniest thing is that you can select another mode, which is called "transparency" - aka what the world sounded like before you stuffed them in yer lug 'oles
Mostly off-topic, but that reminds me of the "passthrough" mode on some VR headsets, that gives the wearer a grainy, letterboxed version of what they'd see if they took the thing off. Some of them at least use near-infrared cameras, which can be a bit of fun if you like wondering around in the dark with a torch nobody else can see.

If the Apple buds could do some frequency-shifting in their "transparent" mode, you'd have a handy bat detector.
by Pastychomper
24 Jan 2023, 11:12am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Scotland - do you predict that it will be an independent administrative political entity within 10 years?
Replies: 856
Views: 51725

Re: Scotland - do you predict that it will be an independent administrative political entity within 10 years?

pete75 wrote: 20 Jan 2023, 1:54pm I'd have thought a person's views on their own gender is a matter for them alone, not politicians and governments.
The vast majority of the negative publicity I saw about the GRR bill had nothing to do with the people it was supposed to help, and a lot to do with the loopholes it would create for people trying to game the system by pretending to be a different gender for a while. I gather several amendments were proposed to close such loopholes, and quickly shot down by the SNP - almost as if they knew the bill wouldn't make it into law and didn't want to spend any longer than necessary on it.
by Pastychomper
24 Jan 2023, 10:59am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Scotland - do you predict that it will be an independent administrative political entity within 10 years?
Replies: 856
Views: 51725

Re: Scotland - do you predict that it will be an independent administrative political entity within 10 years?

rualexander wrote: 20 Jan 2023, 7:33pm At the time of the Scottish independence referendum there was plenty of indication that an EU referendum was on the cards and that there was a reasonable likelihood that a majority of voters in England would vote to leave the EU.
This was one of my own reasons, among others, for voting for Scottish independence in that referendum
There was on-and-off talk of an EU referendum ever since John Major helped take us into the newly created EU in the early 90s. In 2014 there were probably a lot of people like me who dismissed any likelihood of it actually happening, through a combination of cynicism, past experience and ignorance of the climate at the time.

As I recall the Catalonian referendum was also in the news that year, and there was a suggestion that (a) an independent Scotland would have to apply to join the EU, effectively from scratch and (b) Spain would be likely to vote against allowing us in because of the precedent it might set.

It would be interesting (but difficult) to know how many votes were swayed in either direction by those speculations.
by Pastychomper
12 Jan 2023, 3:23pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Turning left into a cycle lane
Replies: 18
Views: 1414

Re: Turning left into a cycle lane

I think it comes down to whether the cycle lane counts as, well, a lane. I think it should do, but don't really know the legal situation - and I agree one should be cautious in accordance with the life-paintwork hypothesis.

The normal practise for entering a multi-lane road is to give way to traffic in the lane you're trying to enter (and any other lane you plan to cross) and ignore traffic that's staying in a different lane. On dual carriageways it's common for car drivers to move to the outer lane if there's someone waiting at a junction, so the person waiting is free to join the inner lane, and that's still done (legally, I hope) when the junction has broken white lines. I don't see that a "single" carriageway with a cycle lane is any different, but I'd be interested to hear if the law takes a different view.
by Pastychomper
21 Dec 2022, 1:11pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Your help needed to find the rogue trader that tricked me.
Replies: 30
Views: 2621

Re: Your help needed to find the rogue trader that tricked me.

ANTONISH wrote: 9 Dec 2022, 6:50pm Did he just happen to have a couple of yards left over from a large road repair?
It's a favourite scam.
I temped for a well-known crisp manufacturer some years ago, just after they'd fallen for a version of that trick. They had a nice, shiny car park and a disproportionate bill. Being a large company they already had guards on the gate (and presumably legal advice) so their response was to tighten the security and refuse to pay any more than the original quote.
by Pastychomper
2 Sep 2022, 10:32am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: What Has Made You Laugh Today ?
Replies: 1465
Views: 95933

Re: What Has Made You Laugh Today ?

A normally cheerful six-year-old was storming about the house in high dudgeon, chasing her older brother from room to room and up the stairs, determined to make him listen to her. A parent intervened and she paused and laughed, then dashed off to find the brother and shout at him again.

The message she thought it so important to deliver? "Stop following me!!"
by Pastychomper
25 Jul 2022, 12:07pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: Record attempt scheduled
Replies: 1194
Views: 109726

Re: Record attempt scheduled

She must be who I saw descending to Cromarty Firth with two escort cars at silly o'clock this morning. If I'd known about the record attempt I'd have worn a hat just to take it off to honour her performance up to then. There's no shame at all in calling it off when the weather gets too bad, but it must have hurt to have to stop after doing so well.