What makes you grin? Antidote to grumpy thread

[Pillock]

I've got a full suspension bike, a Diamond Back, and regretted it instantly. It's the type of suspension with a spring parallel to the seat tube, just forward of it, and the rear "forks" hinge just behind the crank. (as you can tell, I'm not a technical sort of biker!)

 

To make the best of a bad job, I just wound the adjusting ring right up on the rear shock - it compresses the spring more and makes it stiffer so it hardly moves now. I'm still dealing with the added weight of the suspension but it's not too bad.

[Pete-M]

I've got a few mountain bikes, and rear suspension isn't a feature on any of 'em.

 

The bike that gets the most use is a Carrera XC Kraken, it's a Halfords special, but not a bad bike as it's pretty modern with hydraulic disc brakes and half decent forks with lock out. I paid £100 for it secondhand. Think it was about £500 new. Bought new by a mate who worked at a place with a 'bike to work' scheme. He used it a couple of times, got a puncture, left it in the kitchen for a while then flogged it to me.

 

Another one is an old Razorback. Front shock, no discs. Weighs far too much for messing about off road but it's a half decent road bike.

 

The third is a British Eagle Boss large tube job that I bought new about '96. No suspension or discs. It weighs bugger all for a big mountain bike. I got it half price new and paid something obscene like £600 for it. Didn't use it much and sold it to a friend after six months for £500. He swapped it with someone for another bike and the Boss ended up in a garden for a few years being eaten by Staffordshire Bull Terriers. It was about to be chucked on a skip when I heard about it and rescued it. As it's all alloy all it needed were new brake and gear levers, a saddle, grips and new inner tubes. It's good on road (as long as you avoid pot holes) but I prefer the Carrera for playing in Delamere.

 

Disc brakes on a pushbike seems excessive until you try 'em. Then there's no going back.

[Cavcraft]

Indeed, hence my urge to get some (disc brakes) fitted, stopping is a doddle with them. I might well tighten the shock on my lad's bike, to be fair it's not as bouncy as others I've tried but still find them a 'mare to ride. Will possibly even look at fitting the shocks to the front of my trusty Trek, although the bike is fairly heavy it's a lovely old thing and very well made. Can't believe the difference between road and mountain biking, managed a smidge over 31 miles in effectively one hit the other day and didn't struggle at all, yet tried riding a mile or two (or whatever it was) uphill on a mountain and was completely knackered.

[willswitchengage]

Being from the North around summer-solstice time, it never quite gets completely dark at night. Both of these were taken at 1am on two of the few clear(ish) nights we've had:

 

P1030839 by willswitchengage, on Flickr

 

P1030846 by willswitchengage, on Flickr

 

The intermittent light you can see on the right in #2 is a helicopter taking off, and the orange light pollution on the horizon is Teesside behind the NY Moors.

[dollywobbler]

Even here in mid-Wales, it doesn't get completely dark at night, especially if it's clear. I love that. We're so far from civilisation that there's absolutely no light pollution at all. It's fantastic. Sometimes we can walk home from the pub by nothing more than starlight! I've been meaning to do more night-time photography (my last attempt was when it was winter and therefore bloody cold!) but the weather's not been in my favour.

[Vin]

Nice night pictures At some time during my life, I hope to see the Northern Lights. My only experience so far is the ace film 'Local Hero'...

 

What's making me grin at the minute is the footage in this Japanese youtube film about the Lancia Stratos on the rally circuit in 1975/76...

 

 

It also seems that the Al-Hasawi family are the likely new owners of my beloved Forest. After 15 years of shite, this could be a very good thing.

[Pete-M]

The temptation to drive right up Norway to Nordkapp has been building lately. Either that or a trip to Iceland.

 

An Icelandic friend of mine told me that there are a couple of weeks a year where as the sun doesn't rise properly driving is very strange, as the sun always seems to be through the side window of the car, never through the windscreen. I don't know how that could work, but I'd like to see if it's true.

 

Also....

 

[wuvvum]

Further to the recent iRant in the GOM thread about Apple products, for some bizarre reason this has just come up in my eBay related searches:

 

[cort16]

This looks more car like. I just need to bolt on the front spoiler (then old bolts burst when taking it off) and finish and attach the arches.

The one problem I'm having is the door cards are totally manky and no amount of cleaning seems to make much difference. I think filler dust/crud/bits of potato have got stuck in the grain of vinyl and is proving very hard to get back out. Any ideas?

 

together by cort16, on Flickr

[KruJoe]

Get Volksangyl on the case.

[Cavcraft]

Soft toothbrush, warm-hot water with a splash of the third one down from here http://www.brownbrothers.com/products/v ... r-cleaning and Billy's your uncle.

[Negative Creep]

Watching the Red Arrows from one of the highest buildings in town and safe from the rain. Although the grump is I missed the Spitfire and Dakota

[Guest]

 

[Des]

I'll see your 100, and raise you 30.

 

[Cavcraft]

We got a new neighbour a couple of weeks ago and the cheeky f****r keeps coming into our garden. Not that we actually mind I hasten to add, in fact we love it, how often can you say that about a neighbour?

Meet Geoffrey...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think they said he's a cross between a Pug or Pekinese and a small terrier. Apart from our eldest cat we all think he's ace!

[DSdriver]

This bloke moved in with us about three weeks ago

Beakfull by DSdriver, on Flickr

Mad as a bag of spanners and he's now ruling our lives.

[AeroNautiCal]

I was meeting my friend for an early lunch near where he works (security detail) in the city.

 

Getting on the bus at 09:35, I find a wallet on the first vacant seat, opened it to check for ID and hopefully an address, no address, but two European ID documents, a travel pass, library membership card and £40 cash.

 

I tell the bus driver that I found a guy's wallet, that it has ID and cash inside and that I'll hand it in at Bishopsgate Police Station (on the bus route) as that's where I'm getting off.

 

I meet my friend, we have lunch then I hand in the wallet at 11:05, the officer running the front counter asks me to leave my name and number in case the owner wants to thank me.

 

At 11:55 my phone rings, it's the owner, and he's just picked up his wallet and called to thank me, as he's so happy to get his stuff back! He'd called the bus company to report the lost wallet, (the bus driver had immediately reported the find to his controller, and that I'd be handing the wallet in at the City of London Police station at Bishopsgate. The controller put this info onto their system and a few minutes later, the owner called!).

 

I was delighted that the owner was reunited with his stuff, and impressed at just how fast it all came together, especially as it was found in a different part of town to where I handed it in.

 

The owner wanted to reward me, I declined that, and we're going to meet in the week for a cup of tea.

[dollywobbler]

Good on you! When we dug a (new) Rangie out of a landslide that the stupid bugger had driven into, he offered us a cash reward. We declined. Somehow feels wrong, even with a numpty, taking cash in a 'help' situation. The karma-kick is enough. The chap even offered to pay for our clothes to be dry cleaned - which made me feel a bit bad as I wasn't sure they were dirty enough even for a wash...

[Pillock]

When we were car-booting a few weeks ago I found an iPhone next to our car, alongside the car parked in the next row. I picked it up and asked the guy working their stall if he'd lost a phone... "No might, mine's right.... OH!" as he patted his now empty pocket. His reaction was good enough to tell me it was his phone and he thanked me for my honesty

[willswitchengage]

Shearer (I think), on Spain:

 

"This team have had a great amount of sex... I mean success"

[Guest]

Taken by the Pod photographer at the Pod:

 

[dollywobbler]

OMG GASSA STANCE YO!

[Cavcraft]

[Guest]

LOL

[Station]

PMSL @ ^^^^^^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cavcraft]

[scaryoldcortina]

When I got home (about 9 ish this evening after a long day out) the phone was ringing.... it was Autofive, stranded at the garage with a broken car and starting to look for somewhere to sleep. Of course, I nipped straight round and gave him a lift home. On my way out of his street I spotted a skip with a large potted plant on the top of the rubbish, I stopped and grabbed it because I thought Mrs S would like the pot even if the plant was useless...

 

She says it's a Madagascar Dragon Tree, and at about 5" tall quite a nice one and in "needs feeding but saveable" condition. She's well happy, so so am I

[autofive]

When I got home (about 9 ish this evening after a long day out) the phone was ringing.... it was Autofive, stranded at the garage with a broken car and starting to look for somewhere to sleep. Of course, I nipped straight round and gave him a lift home. On my way out of his street I spotted a skip with a large potted plant on the top of the rubbish, I stopped and grabbed it because I thought Mrs S would like the pot even if the plant was useless...

 

She says it's a Madagascar Dragon Tree, and at about 5" tall quite a nice one and in "needs feeding but saveable" condition. She's well happy, so so am I

 

you dipped taylors skip

 

you dipped taylors skip

 

you dipped taylors skip

 

Thanks for the lift home, i was beginning to feel like Scott of the Antartic, no fags, no milk, and only a Granada to sleep in

[barrett]

 

 

 

 

 

Did anyone save the original?

[vulgalour]

^ I very nearly fell off my chair laughing at that little lot.