Ferdinand

Thanks. Never mind. I had published in error some time ago, and then removed the incomplete stuff for re-editing properly. Unfortunate timing. F

Did my entire detailed comment that I edited over the empty one just vanish? What did I do?

£3000 for one day to do one tree. Team of about 6, cherry picker, traffic lights ... the works.

People commute on motor bikes ? .

I read that as 79 dwellings, and thought that the 'group of dwellings' idea had finally succeeded with para 79 ? . Could you drop in a link to the Officer's Report, and quote the Planning App number at Ryedale Council, which may be useful? Cheers. F

I was thinking you must have the calves of one of Cinderella's footmen.

Welcome to the madhouse. All that experience / expertise is great to have on board. If you wish, you can add your approx location to your location by the drop down on your name (top right) then Edit Profile. Ferdinand

Given that buses are one of the things Boris has tied his balls to wrt the Red Wall seats, we may find out in the next few years. Our new Tory MP has been reminding him - albeit foolishly positioning rural buses in opposition to HS2. I had 6 landlords in London over about 8 years, and I think only 2 had cars. This was 1-2 decades ago. One was unable to drive due to eye problems, and it had not affected his career at all - he was a programmer for Teletext. One Saturday the Wimbledon scores went nuts, and he had to rush in to work to mend it ? .

Yes a number of us have. Main resource thread here: You will do more prep, but should overall save between several days and several weeks depending on the house. For a normal size 3 bed trad house I would reckon on half-one day prep and one to 2 days spraying depending on the no. of coats. Best balance is probably to do everything except the final coat, but perhaps also do the final on eg ceilings etc. Good advice in that thread, eg backrolling to add texture so touch ups do not show, and to learn on eg a garage if you can.

I think that will not be a problem, having looked into it a bit. It will just wither on the vine as an issue. For these reasons: 1 - Conventional drivers in terraces do not demand a personal filling station at their house, for reasons of a - The car outside has 300 miles range. b - They have reserve range in a can in the shed if they want it. c - The RAC and similar are an efficient rescue service. d - "Recharging" takes about 5 minutes at a filling station. 2 - For electricals, except for (d) all of these will be available within a few years, or are here now. I think refilling 60-80% in 15 minutes with a complimentary coffee would lick that. 3 - The grid can be built in the time - consider how quickly it was done in the 50s-60s. The Planning System and green NIMBY yahoos are a bigger problem, and political cowardice in dealing with them both appropriately. 4 - If it isn't built, we could replicate the existing fuel tanker model - a Freight Container can already transport electricity in batteries to charge perhaps 300-400 cars. That is ANAD the same as a 5000 gallon petrol or diesel tanker. 5 - Flats often have a dedicated parking space. But 65% of UK dwellings have off street parking. I suspect that this is mainly London based politicians shouting out of their igorance silos. The *potential* problem is much smaller than claimed. 6 - In cities (where terraces and flats are in the main located) car usage / ownership can be encouraged to fall with proper public transport and bike provision, car clubs, hire, policy initiatives such as congestion charge etc. 7 - There is *some* data (though not a lot). Car ownership per household fell modestly in nearly all London boroughs in the noughties when congestion charge was bedding in. That was by about 3-5% relative to growth in other places. And of course London is a place with decent public transport. A straw in the wind. 8 - It will need some infrastructure for the alternatives (eg cycling for 10% of journeys - increase of about 5x - should be childsplay once we are serious about it), but demonstrations exist. 9 - We already have urban tram system carrying about 120m passengers a year outside London, in only about 7-8 cities. 10 - Nottingham would be an interesting study, as they have a - A tramway, carrying 20m a year, run by City. b - Serious amount of part and ride (9500 spaces), integrated with trams. c - A heavy rail "Metropolitan Area line" (Robin Hood line - say 30 miles long) carrying 1.25m a year, run by County. I know several people who cycle 15-20 miles one way, then train the other way - one in his 50s. d - Serious effort put in to encouraging cycling. Targeting 10% of journeys by 2025. e - Workplace parking tax of about £400 per space you provide for commuting employees, with exceptions for disabled etc. Ferdinand

I did not realise just how big a Tesla Model 3 is until I stood next to it. It is the same size as a Mercedes C Class Estate.

I think you would be reckoning £120-160 per day for a ground person, and £180-240 for a climber. Plus kit, plus etc... Ferdinand

I suppose one can have a voice controlled device on the socket to switch it off :-=) . "Electra: Anti-Earwig"

What is the height and girth of the trees? And the difficulty of the access? Old ones are more dangerous, of course. Ferdinand

Alexa is talking to me. Correct evaluation on the woofer. Abba generally OK. Black Dyke Mills Brass Band a little bit missing the Eb Bass, or it is resonating the Alexa-pod. I think I need more bandwidth ? . OK next task. Hoover out the coffee grinder. (I wonder what I can plug into the 3.5 audio jack. Will it take the "behind the desk" woofer I still have from my 1997 Apricot Multimedia PC?) (And can I ask it to call itself Alex and give me a man's voice? No. Sexists.) F

Can it snoop WiFi traffic too? Will it know I am reading your blog ?. ? She might be having a fit because I am refusing the Location Services request - though if they are joined up they know where it was delivered.

In that recording they sound as if they need coffee ... of which I have just learnt from my neighbour how to make Middle Eastern.

If I get it to talk to my internet....

Well it's arrived, and is the same size as a tin of filter coffee. And it seems Jeff Bezos thinks that a 3" speaker is a woofer. Presumably the chap is an enthusiast for Yorkshire Terriers. Will report back. As it happens I have to hoover out the coffee grinder this evening so I'll do it to the Java Jive played by Alexa. A slice of onion?

I would use one colour - probably some sort of lightish grey that you can get more of later. My bathroom man said that they normally use Jasmine. Better than white imo. If you use something really light you apparently need to use a Tile Grout Protector. Houzz says you need to get a "Grout Swatch" to help you work it out. https://www.houzz.com/magazine/what-grout-color-should-you-choose-for-your-tile-stsetivw-vs~89929909 (But if you were OCD *before* you read that article...)

Not totally sure about that, as it may cut both ways. eg we have on of the highest minimum wages in Europe which is about to go up in April by another 6.2%. Though that varies depending on currencies. I'm not convinced that these will be loosened. F

Looking good.

Listening to the radio this morning, a prominent Construction Policymaker was talking about the cost of making houses flood-proof or resilient. It seems to involve things like heating gubbins in the roof etc, and the cost seemed to be adding a putative 10%. Does anyone have any ideas as to what is needed, or thoughts on the cost? (Remembering the scary numbers sometimes quoted about the cost over par of passive.) Ferdiinand

You need to check how far it needs to project wrt the angle of the sun in your location at the time of year of interest. I have one with I think an approx 1m projection at a height of maybe 2.6-2.7m, and it is not quite enough for all occasions, but it was done in 1970 so I forgive them not doing it online in the sun simulator. This photo shows the sun angle at one point. The overhang faces due south. Check what you need, or at least what you will get for x mm cantilever at y height. 0.5m is unlikely to be enough, and I would be guestimating 1-1.5m may be necessary.

Splitting the title is not that expensive. Though I am not sure of the PP implications. F