Ferdinand

What were the results like when you obeyed the instructions? *innocent face*

I just write down a white T on a piece of paper. Can't read it. Black T is better. Come on @Nickfromwales, this is going downhill like Konrad Bartekski The Madman.

You flick a drop of water at it and see what happens. @SteamyTea will now explain what happens at different temperatures. If the water makes a fizzing noise or you can fry an egg on it, the pipe is too hot to touch.

You are far too kind. I explained to my niece and nephew that it is far better to know the names of the animals, including hopefully horses, that you are eating. Far more humane and greener. Delighted to see I can now get Dartmoor Pony burgers, but the cost is a bit like having a horse step on your toe. The only thing I have baulked at recently was sea anenomes with the spines still attached, out of not having a clue how to eat it.

I did the previous one @Charles Ebden. Thank- you for coming back with an update. I look forward to the results being posted when you have all your responses . For me that is more interesting that taking up your time with interims sent to me personally.

I would be interested to hear how that goes, and the regulation involved etc.

I thought there were oodles of vans under 1.95m wide .

WElcome.

Not sure how old it is, but iirc the new prices for those simulators were 5 figures a couple of times over, so prove it works, auction it, and it may pay for a lot of heating repairs... and perhaps a holiday.

Or alternatively you can do some more work on your bathroom . .

Will bear that in mind. I use them nearly every week.

Suspect that only holds amongst relatively casual or occasional users, or those with small enough resources not to be able to afford a solid brand, or enough resources to be able to get one when they do not need it. Our closest Waitroses are 16 and 17 miles, and then about 20. We have at least 15, and maybe 20, Aldis closer than that. IT is not as if it is a low-population area ... there are 150k-200k people within 6-7 miles. Amongst people I know of, and there are numbers of serious diyers and tradesmen, it tends to be DeWalt to Makita for their own tools. If you talk to Letting Agents in eg Nottingham, a lot of their maintenance people live this way. But people are very sharp in buying the good ones from the Aldi or Lidl offerings. F

Welcome to @Marie Turner. On the post-feminist thing, I would be happy to post most of the activists I see on the Daily Politics, feminist or otherwise, to Timbuctoo or somewhere similar. WE do seem to be post-feminist though .. the latest numbers I saw from the Fawcett Society had more than 90% of both women and men refusing to self-identify as such. Now off back to the kitchen to cook dinner. Ferdinad

I thought we were getting leery of hi-tech and Les Grands Complications. This is more like it, perhaps, for us non-pros like me. (They seem to be sensitive about actual recordings.)

I think I would be inclined to joist out and put the 1st floor boards in in something weather resilient, rather than pay for temporary boarding then the real stuff. Needs calculating, though.

@newhome Re your hand burning experiences. A remote thermometer is cheap and may be useful. Eg from Amazon 9.99 - cheap as chips. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermometer-Tacklife-58℉-1022℉-Temperature-Adjustable/dp/B01MFGU4P9/ref=lp_6286456031_1_4?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1519364643&sr=1-4 A little cheaper if you look on eBay, but Amazon will probably get it there quicker ... next day with Prime. Your local Maplin or similar may have one or similar if you have a local Maplin. Ferdinand

WHen Intalked to HB about banking for a business they essentially told me they were not interested in brand new startups, and focused on the top 1% in personal banking, and to come back when we were several years old and established/very profitable. I think you get the old fashioned personal service and pay for it. I was talking to a 35-40 year old former Director of one of the big banks who was glad to have got out. Very good people for what looks like a very good bank if it has what you want and vice-versa.

If we are confessing, the boot of my Corsa will never leak because it is liberally coated with Wickes paint on damproofer which fell over once. And dried eventually. Ubfortunately for my purposes, electrics can't tow very well.

THanks for the excellent range of replies. Having spent an hour this morning wandering around Available Car with a tape measure and an 880mm walking cane (to measure the width), I think the following can meet my loadspace criteria ... 2m and a bit long and 900mm wide. AS suggested, width is not a problem. IN a couple of cases it may involve having the front seat slightly more upright. I am 1.8m tall. More than I expected seem sufficient. Seem capable of carry several house doors flat Ford Mondeo Estate. Mercedes E Class. Audi A6. BMW 5 Series. Skoda Superb but I did not get to measure one, Perhaps VW Passat. DId not get inside one, The followIng seem too small Mazda 6 All the several 4x4 Tonkas I looked at. I believe the Jaguar, but again I did not get to measure one. Peugeot 308 Estate. The Skoda Octavia, which has a significant step in the floor. I will post again later with specific answers, and about what seem to be significant discounts at present (eg Merc E Class via Carwow is -20%+ around my area. Ferdinand

@newhome I am not sure if you have posted them but there a couple of relavant posts on your blog from 2010. Boiler with cover off http://bordershousenewbuild.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/march-2010-we-have-front-door.html#comment-form About UFH. Includes piccies of a couple of manifolds. http://bordershousenewbuild.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/february-2010-underfloor-heating-oh-and.html F

Fein MultiMaster is worth its weight in gold ... mine is inherited and about 20 years old. MY chosen alternative would be one of the cordless Makitas (or within your chosen battery system) with tool-free changes of implement. Do brushless motors apply to Multi-Tools? I always have slight psychological doubts about the Makita colour, as it so close to David Icke's turquoise shell suits, which are one of those better-never-invented things that irredeemably poison the memory like Vegemite or Abadoo Doo Doo. Ferdinand

ON topic . I think prompt payment is important, ideally on the day or in the week the invoice arrives. it is also about making commitments and not keeping them (I am quite good at getting that wrong sometimes). That is perhaps the best way of making sure they are willing to come back, combined with being knowledgeable enough not to ask the wrong questions and letting them get on with the job after a thorough briefing. It can be a tricky balance, and if the supplier is not on the ball I am capable of losing things in my own system (*) ... particularly if the invoice comes via an unusual route. I have a couple of occasional suppliers who are not good at issuing or chasing up invoices even when requested. I have said before that means of effective communication seems to vary. I know one tradesman who never seems to reply to phone messages but is currently very responsive to emails because he has a new website and is getting enquiries that way. I tend to be better at responding to text messages if it is a routine request because they are a 'push' method and do not expire like voicemails, so I will find them when I next use the mobile. I am perhaps slightly different to some others here in that most of my stuff offers the potential for repeat business as I renovate houses and have paid maintenance done every year. Eg somebody who does kitchens or double glazing can reasonably expect several thousands of business each year, which while smaller than some of the big £10k to £50k ticket items discussed here is a regular few days work once or twice a year. I struggle sometimes with finding people for emergencies, as Tenants rightly have expectations for speed of response for important Items ... e.g. last November I had a boiler condemned and disconnected on the spot at the annual inspection and all gas was disconnected when the weather was cold (= no heating OR hot water) and ended up resorting to a Tradesmen site to find an engineer. Could have been VERY expensive as quotes were between £1900 and £4800 for a simple boiler swap at short notice. IN a note for @newhome it turned out that the existing system had been incorrectly installed in 2010 or so, and the roomstats were all not controlling anything at all (it is not just you) as the project had been in chaos when dad was caught by cancer. I very very rarely pay "cash" outside the system, even when offered. Even leaving the principle aside, in my case it is mainly business not personal so both parties can be better off anyway ... I get to count the maintenance cost against tax, and the tradesman may have a lower tax rate than me and be better off with the higher rate of payment. This area is quite heavy with people offering to work for cash at low rates, some of whom are quite good, and some of whom are unreliable or not very good. IT is quite possible to find middle aged people at under minimum wage if you are unscrupulous. I occasionally barter, most recently with a new Tenant wanting a rent-free first month because their previous landlord's agent was playing silly buggers with returning an appropriately large amount of the deposit on the previous house they had lived in, in a desire for a new lawn where the dog had scuffed one corner. Ferdinand * If I am not being efficient my desk works like a slow speed auto-Rolodex, with things rotating to the top once every few weeks.

MIssed this. Worst, you say? OK. There was an ex-Prof with a newt Who's need for a home was acute So he flew in from thither And built his house hither Post an aerial survey of newts Or was that supposed to be on topic comment?

For the record Open Office will edit PDFs; not sure whether it can do one that is that complex.

@newhome If it only the electrical cert, then print out, put a square of paper over the address, and photograph :-). Or screen shot and use an image editor to draw a rectangle. There are apps out there that will screenshot a full document bigger that the display window. Ferdinand