keener

I got an HKS SSQV BOV from Nik on here - came with pretty comprehensive fitting instructions and was v easy to do. Don't think I've got a VVTi though!

A Plan have always done me proud too.

I'd go the combi route. Why spend money heating a whole cylinder of hot water when it might not even get used and just cool down again? I had a combi in my old house which was great. No tanks in loft, hot water cylinder etc and it just came on as you need it. I had no problem with running heating, shower and washing m/c at the same time but I did over spec the boiler. We basically figured out how big it need to be then went for the next model up. It was only a matter of £20 or so more and I always believe in oversizing things like that so you have extra capacity should it bee needed in the future and so it doesn't have to work so hard for the system as it stands. If you're worried about the pressure in the pipes is there a way of pressure testing them first?

Mercurial genius!

I bought a 1 tonne bag for about £70 in January. And yes, it really doesn't go far when spread out - I should have got 2!

Heading up the A4260 towards Banbury. Very shiney and sounding great!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]147955[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]147956[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]147957[/ATTACH] A couple of different crops and versions for you. I just got rid of the distracting light corner in the first. Easier and I think it works as an image that way. The second one looks out of focus because the camera has focussed on the wheel which is very close to the camera. Once it's done that it needs a very small aperture to get everything else in focus which it obviously hasn't done. It's not that the picture's out of focus it's just focused in one place and not another due to the depth of field caused by having a large aperture for the shot. IMO sharpening it to make the out of focus bit sharper will mean that the bit that is in focus will look over sharpened so I've just knocked back the out of focus bit by making it more blurred and darker. A bit clumsily granted but it gives you an idea of a different approach. Similarly the last ones just been cropped in a bit tighter to put the attention on the car and remove the background distractions.

Sorry, forgot to put on my post that Hotel West End had some fab deals on when we stayed so it was only £200 per night! Keep an eye out if they do similar soon! We then spent more on eating and drinking too but still got ripped off for wine in the Lido!

I took the Mrs to http://www.hotel-west-end.com/ for our first anniversary. Brilliant hotel, walking distance to everything, just off the Champs Elysees so quiet streets. (There was a hotel round the corner that had all kinds of auto stars to gawp at as well - kept me happy pointing out all the Ferraris, Porsches, Veyron etc to the Mrs )

I've done it twice on a mountain bike with knobbly tyres which was, on hindsight, just silly. I should have just changed to skinny road tyres then I could use the bike I'm used to but have much less rolling resistance. If you have a bike now just make sure you put road tyres on it. If not get one for how you plan to use it after the London/Brighton but make sure you have skinny tyres for the ride itself. My Mrs trained for a triathlon on her mountain bike with knobbly tyres then switched to skinny tyres for the final week of training and the race. She was surprised how much of a difference it made - reckoned it knocked at least 10% off her time.

Just for giggles... Happy holidays everyone!

My TT was my first ever high powered RWD car and I think I took it fairly easy but still lost the back end once (albeit on black ice) and put it in a hedge. Insurance paid up and all fixed but it taught me a big lesson with regards to respecting the car. I drove the same bit of road the other day and found that the second turbo cut in in exactly the place where I lost control. I drive much more carefully now in any kind of potentially slippery conditions be it wet, ice or even leaves/mud on the road. I don't want to be one of the 'crashed the supe' threads on here!!!!

Great story - unfortunately fake. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2067810/Is-Rossie-Brovent-suing-ex-boyfriend-inking-flies-buzzing-excrement-back.html

Vitamin E oil helps minimise scars so could be a pretty cheap try. Just buy a bottle of capsules from Holland & BArrett (or similar), puncture the capsule and squeeze the oil out as necessary. Also good for spots apparently!

Avoiding the obvious relationship issues that have been comprehensively commented on above I'd try A-Plan specialist insurance in Thatcham. :-)

Almost certainly flare caused by your daughter being so close to the camera in the first shot. Could be from reflective costume or just as simple as bouncing off the white make-up. Whichever way as soon as you take her out of the way you can't recreate the effect so it must have been due to her being so close to the flash. I'm a photographer and I often get abberations like that when using flash inside especially when shooting reflective things up close. Sorry to discredit the ghostly halloween theories!

Circular polarising filter might help might can be expensive and the answer might be simpler than that. You will only get flare if the lights shining into the lens or at an acute angle across it. You shouldn't get flare from reflected lights. A lens hood helps by basically putting the front element of the lens in shadow. If the front of the lens isn't in shadow with the hood fitted you will probably still get flare. Try extending the lens hood with your hand or a piece of card (be careful not to get siad item in the photograph!) or move the lights so they don't shine in to the lens. It could also be a white balance issue with interior lights. Fluorescent lights will give a green colour cast and tungsten lights will give a yellow colour cast. If there's a white balance setting on your camera do a comparison shot with everything set how you normally do it then take exactly the same shot but with the white balance set to fluorescent light. Compare the two images and see if that's solved it.

Did the BMW and other specialist say it was a 'wear and tear' fault or that it was a manufacturing fault/component fault or anything that shouldn't break after the milage you've done and therefore covered by the warranty? If they say it's normal wear and tear it's doubtful you can get it done under warranty as the insurance/warranty people will take their expert advice.

Thanks for that Nic. :-)

Did a search and couldn't find this so I hope I don't get burned for a repost but IMO it's worth posting anyway. Crazy conversion!

Does the j-spec use the same sensor? I've got an HKS SSQV (venting to atmosphere) on mine - is that a problem then?

Clumsy chap.

My '97 TT J-spec import is stock and insured for £8.5k. When I had an accident the insurance company confirmed the spec and then authorised £6.4k of repairs. As they normal only authorise up to about 80% of the car's value (I think) before they write it off I reckon that value is about right or they wouldn't have authorised the repair.

I get that oil discharge as well. I'm reassured that it's normal now - I often wondered! Thanks!

"It has left local people who use the park to play football confused." Hmmmm, well I reckon most people who play football are confused. ;-) Controversial! Waits in anticipation for the backlash. :-) Or you could say that it's good that they're all upstanding members of the community who don't know how to move the goalposts so we all know where we stand then!