You will no doubt have Private Parking Companies (PPC's) operating either in your town or where you shop/park. They offer free parking and usually have a very complicated sign with lots of small print. Many people end up with an invoice for £60 if paid within X number of days because they have either unknowingly outstayed the 'free' parking time, put their registration number in wrong or parked with a wheel outside the white line.

First off - These PPC's cannot issue fines. Only the Police and Council can issue Parking FINES. You have to pay those, or else appeal through their official process.
Also, in some cases the Private Parking companies operating do not even have permission to operate on the land. It's often complicated tracing the landowner, so the companies just set up and start to issue tickets/ invoices.

The Private Parking Companies are issuing speculative invoices with threats. they make them look legal but they are not. PPC's also have to abide by an industry code, which allows an appeal process. They ALWAYS reject your first appeal, but if done correctly that is irellevant.

DO NOT ignore the tickets and correspondance.
Many Private Parkng Companies are taking people to County Court and getting default judgements as people blindly ignore their mail. This happens because they are trying to get payment of an invoice which you have not disputed. So, get it sorted straight away and get this invoice cancelled.

There are two ways to get a Private Parking Invoice cancelled:

1) Do it yourself. Before doing anything go and register on Pepipoo forum. They have a section for this which gives advice and templates for your email appeal. Follow their advice and you will get the ticket cancelled. Your specific circumstances are often not worth including in an appeal - as it needs to be in a specific format to guarantee success. It's all about the charge being levied not being a genuine pre-estimate of loss.
This is the forum: http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?s=ed...owforum=60

2) Let a company do it for you. They charge £16 and guarantee to get the ticket cancelled or pay any fine themselves. I know you can do it for nothing, but for anyone who finds dealing with these parking parasites daunting then this is a much better option than paying the +/- £60 they demand which grows with every threatening letter.
This is the company: http://www.parkingticketappeals.org.uk/

The more people that get these ridiculous private parking invoices cancelled, the more chance they might come inline with Council and Police charges and systems. (Mind you, pigs might fly too! ).

Bottom line - DO NOT PAY PRIVATE PARKING TICKETS. It's a scam, pure and simple.

Amongst other bits of tech I like to play about with - I like my phones.

I've had the Nexus 3, Nexus 4 and currently have the Nexus 5. I've changed each year and passed my 'old' phone down to one of the kids. My Nexus 5 is nearly a year old, so would normally be looking at ordering the Nexus 6.
Because the prices are good, the Nexus makes a great sim free phone to add a sim to which gives you a better deal than on contract.

I like the Nexus as they are cheap (towards similar specced phones), get Google o/s updates straight away and are normally well built and the current 'size' you would expect.

Unfortunately Google have done what they warned back in June '14 when they said they intended to lift the price and drop the 'Nexus' ethos.

The Nexus 5 32 gig was £339.

The Nexus 6 32 gig is anticipated to be £460 minimum but may be more (some are suggesting upto £550).

Its also going to be a 'phablet' - bigger than the Iphone 6+. Its massive and far too big for a 'daily use' phone.
Price wise, its up in the realms of not being a clever sim free option and may well work out cheaper on a contract which for me defeats the point.

This is the N5 next to the N6. I think the N5 is plenty big enough and don't want anything larger. I really hope this is not the way phones are going.



So, I'll be keeping my Nexus 5. Its a cracking phone and I'll be looking around at alternatives to change to. I'll probably stick with android as I prefer o/s to Apples, although I may look at the Iphone 6 (the smaller on) just to see what it's like.

I'm really disappointed with Google as I think they have sucked people in with the Nexus range and are now selling out and trying to 'do an Apple'. We will soon find out if they have the fanboys to make this work.

This is the article : http://www.androidauthority.com/nexus-6-...-5-538524/

Our journey continues following a mixed week. After recovering from the wind, rain and cold on Tuesday, our hero prepared to avoid such a journey again. Never again, thought our novice rider who had endured 300 miles of England’s roads. A new car must be obtained.

So with Autotrader and Google as his allies, our rider set about trying to find a new car within his budget to use for his trips to university. But darkness swirled in the back of his mind when, every time he found a car that he liked, he checked the economy and baulked at how much lower it was than the bike. One was better than the previous car, but nothing can beat the bike. There and back again on £20 was surely worth the wind, rain and cold?

By Friday, hope of finding a car, taxing it and insuring it was running thin, there were few cars available and a decision must be made if another form of transport were to be used. Taking up the flame of NationalRail, hours* were wasted trying to find a train that would get to university for 9am on the Tuesday morning. The only one that came close was the 2:37 from Bath Spa, which went to Bristol, then waited for 3 hours before going to London, and up the country from there. It did not take much deliberation** to decide that a train would not suffice.

* It took 15 minutes but felt like hours
**£147? You can feck right off…

Saturday arrived, and with errands to run and chores to complete prior to a game of poker in the evening, car hunting was a hopeless affair. Indeed, by the time our hero returned from poker in the early hours of Sunday morning, even his winnings could not afford him a car by Tuesday and as he parked up the bike for the night, he knew his fate was sealed.

Sunday afternoon was a glorious afternoon, mocking our hero as he performed his weekly bike maintenance and additional checks for the long journey ahead. The rest of the day was spent packing the bags so that when Tuesday arrived, the top box just needed to be packed, without trying to find all the odds and ends. This worked well, and allowed for an early night in preparation for the 3am wake up and 4am departure to university.

Unlike the previous week, which had started dry until approx. 15 minutes into the journey, the rain was coming down hard and fast. I was happy with that however, as it meant things could only get better. After all, if it isn’t raining, then it can start raining, which is sad. But if it’s already raining, it can’t start but it can stop, which is better.

Top box loaded, water proofs donned for a second time and away our hero went into darkness. For those unaware, Tuesday morning was the morning the edges of the hurricane *insert name here* hit most of the UK. This made the journey slightly more trepid but, with the aid of an excellent memory for directions I didn’t get lost until I was 20 miles from university and the rain had been on and off, but light. If anything, it had been an enjoyable journey, presumably because I recognised the roads and was thus slightly more confident going along the B4455. Only when I was nearing uni did the heavens open and the wind start to pick up and only then did I realise that perhaps I should have added more ballast to the bike.
Thankfully however, our hero arrived safe and sound at university at 7:30ish, plenty of time to dry out before the lecture. Luckily, through some foresight of what got damp the previous week, better waterproofs in strategic places were worn and there were only minimal damp patches. Very much an improvement and as such, allowed some time to check emails and get settled prior to the lecture.

The lecture, of which I won’t bore you with details as it was 4 hours long and necessary only to those doing a masters or EngD/PhD course, began with a nice introduction. “some rambling here and finally, don’t forget to submit your coursework outlines by next Monday, signed by your supervisors and myself.”

Panic mode activated. Alarm bells ringing, all defence systems are a go. What coursework? There had been no mention of coursework prior. But of course, the previous lectures had been missed inadvertently, but why had this not been found on the Learn server? As it turns out, it wasn’t on the Learn server; it was on this other server that only the Masters students knew about. But the other EngD students knew from the first lecture to go there.

After the lecture, it became a panicked rush to the library to find out what the coursework was, what needed to be done, and get it done before 5pm, otherwise another trip to university would be required to get it all signed before submission. All while the sun blazed and tempted our hero into riding home during daylight hours.

But this day was a lucky day. When the coursework was discovered, either by coincidence (if you believe in that) or by luck (luck doesn’t exist but you believe what you want to) or by some subconscious thought that may have picked up on some mention of this previously, a variation of what was needed for the coursework had been written for a presentation at work only a few days prior. So a quick phone call to the office and it was emailed over, allowing me to re-write it into the format required and submit, all by 2:30. Not bad going. But now came the journey home. But it was sunny. It was daylight and the trip up had been very good. What could go wrong?

Turns out the wind was strong in that hurricane, which I discovered when leaning through a corner (probably no more than 30degrees of lean) and found myself suddenly bolt upright and unable to lean because of the wind. Then the headwind. Open throttle, downhill in top gear, 50mph. Wonderful. Well at least if I fall off I should get carried into the wind and not hurt myself I thought…

Thankfully the wind died down and I began the trundle home on the B4455. There were many branches down along the route and some trees blocking half the road. Traffic moving slowly but I was whizzing (comparatively) through the holdups in the warm (comparatively) sun. Until suddenly I encountered a line of cars not moving, something up ahead was holding them up so, on the off chance of something coming speeding the other way I slowed down and prepared to pull in behind one of them. As I crested the hill I saw what was causing the delay.

A tree was down blocking the whole road. Nothing was getting through either way. As I began to contemplate what on Earth to do, a biker came the other way and pulled up next to me. He told me there was no way through the blockage, everyone would have to turn back and go round the long way. I thanked him for his warning but something must have given away my uncertainty as to where to go. Perhaps it was the L-Plates, or perhaps there was unease on my face. Whichever one it was, this unknown rider proved why bikers are better than car drivers. “Where are you going?” he asks. “Back to Bath.” I reply. “That’s a long way to go. Do you know the way round?” I shake my head. “Well then. Follow me.”

For the next few miles I followed this biker through a village and up a hill and down a hill and round a hill until eventually, we were back on the B4455. He let me overtake and I thanked him for showing me the way and I carried on. A few miles later he turned off and I gave a thumbs up to show my gratitude one last time before we were parted by different paths, and I continued the journey home alone.

It rained a little more but nothing could dampen what had been a good day. Getting home was when I finally realised I was once again cold but not damp this time. Just a little shaken from the wind. No near misses which was good. But a firm standing that the fellowship of the bikers can accomplish anything was established.

Who knows what will happen to our hero next? Chances are, a kebab and some beer but, until then, ride safe, ride fast and most importantly, ride until JJ tells you the story of his leg which in itself, is a saga worthy of any trilogy. Perhaps the 50 shades trilogy?

Right am off green laning in wales in Nov on the CRF for the first time

What advise could you give me ?

I’ve got the boots Jacket etc helmet goggle etc

What sort of tools ?

How do you deal with punctures ? is there a special outfit?

Any help would be great

Jonny the muddy virgin

There and back again, a learner’s tale of a perilous journey to university and home again on a Yamaha YBR 125.
We being our tale with a little background of our hero, a young male currently undertaking a doctorate of engineering degree with Loughborough University and the industrial sponsor, Buro Happold based in Bath. As part of this 4 year course, our hero must attend lectures every now and then for modules geared towards his research. And as such, some Tuesday’s from last week until Christmas(ish), a trip to Loughborough from Bath must be made to attend one of these modules lectures.
Alas, as with any good tale ours begins with misfortune, when the head gasket went on the car on the first trip to Loughborough last Tuesday, resulting in missed lectures and a lengthy tow back home (though thankfully free due to continued AA membership (they say cars and alcohol don’t mix, yet here I’m sure there’s some mixing going on…)).
So, tasked with finding a new car before Tuesday, missing lectures again or going on the bike, the decision was made to simply travel by A roads (as the journey was mostly that anyway until the M69/M1) on the 125.
Preparations formally began on Saturday, when all hope of finding a replacement car in time had faded and some routine maintenance was conducted on the bike, starting with adjusting the chain to reduce the slack. Thankfully the weather was dry for this outside activity and the chain was duly adjusted, waxed and prepped for the long journey ahead.
Next came the lights check. As the lecture was due to begin at 9am on the Tuesday morning, the journey would begin in darkness, so working headlamps were a must. Having narrowed down the previous issue to an earthing problem with the connector block, I cut the block off and replaced it with terminal strips making the wires talk to each other. As a side note, this seems to have worked, as I haven’t had trouble with the lights since. While inspecting the repair job, the full beam worked brilliantly, but low beam had some issues. Inspection of the bulb revealed a broken filament, so a trip to Halfords was taken to obtain a replacement. While there, our hero stumbled upon a pair of ‘one size fits all’ waterproof trousers, and decided these would make a good addition to the kit for the winter riding.
Finally, after allowing everything to cool down, the oil and tyres were checked, tank filled (circa £6) and the cover put back on for the night.
Monday evening arrives and the plan to wake up at 3 looks daunting now, but preparations are made, the top box is packed with spare clothes and equipment for the day ahead and, just in case, a puncture repair kit for an emergency.
Tuesday morning, our hero awoke to the sound of calm, a strong breeze rustled through the trees and the ground was damp, but success! It was not raining. This lightened the mood as the routine of getting ready was undertaken, thermals put on, top box re-packed when something was noticed to be missing, and a final reading of the print out of directions to avoid the motorways. The top box was loaded onto the bike, and, despite a cloudless sky, our hero chooses wisely to wear the waterproof trousers. After all, there’s no point bolting the stable door once the horse is gone.
Everything loaded, kit all adorned, bike fired up it was time to head off into the night, Meatloafs Bath out of Hell providing a nice starting track. The decision to wear the waterproofs would prove to be the right one when, 15 minutes in, the heavens opened. The road became slippery, giving a reminder when going round a round-a-bout and the back end choosing to make a little slide and the visor became wet. Oh well, only another 3 hours to go/110 miles. Through the darkness I rode, the little 125 revving at 8krpm to stay at 55-60mph on the A roads, dipping headlights and putting them back on full, and, most interestingly, keeping them on full for ignorant car drivers who opted not to bother dipping their headlights coming towards me. Other than the GPS on the phone keep losing me, I only got lost 4 times taking wrong turns (when the GPS was lost, and looking at the directions was futile for they had become mush in the rain).
However, the most interesting element of the ride, other than learning new roads in the darkness and hoping the front wouldn’t wash away round a corner, was when going through a town and seeing to my left a flash of headlights turning to pull out of a junction. I slowed down, I don’t know why, I guess instinct told me they were going too fast to bother looking and sure enough the van came screeching out of the junction, in front of me, saw me, and then stopped. In the middle of the road. Had I not already been slowing down, I suspect I would have hit the van and that would have been bye bye me. A hand gesture and a shout which probably wasn’t heard out of the helmet and I was on my way again.
Eventually, I arrived at Loughborough at ~7:30am, with 90 mins to spare before my lecture. Which was good, as I used 70 of those minutes under a hand dryer drying out my boots, gloves, top and socks, as it hadn’t stopped raining until about 7ish.
Lecture over, it was time to ride to Burton to meet an old friend from Keele for lunch, something we’d arranged the week before but postponed after the car issues. This was of course when I had a car, and forgot completely about doing the A and B road journey over to Burton. Thankfully, it was signposted after a few miles so I followed the signs (a useful invention I’ve found…) so getting there wasn’t too bad. A slow lunch later and now began the 120 mile journey home.
This journey wasn’t as bad as the journey to Loughborough as it started in daylight, much more fun, and was dry, even better. It wasn’t until I got on the A429 that it went downhill with the rain and darkness. About an hour from home a pounding headache set in alongside the stiff legs, sore backside and back pain. Luckily, I knew the way and knew the roads so it was a bit better, though I had to concentrate coming through the A350 to make sure I didn’t mess up so close to home. Some hours later, I walked back through the front door, soaking wet, frozen despite the thermals, but glad that all in all, I’d completed my first big bike ride at 300 miles, going there and back again. Via lunch.
Next time I’m taking the train though, the weather won’t be getting better for a while…

Thread for The Walking Dead Series 5.

If you want to avoid *plot spoilers* then be careful when you read the thread.

Where possible we will use ^^ the white font to hide spoilers if we have watched the series in US time (which is a day ahead of UK). Given the general IQ's and giddiness on here (mine included) that will probably be forgotten - so you have been warned!

We can have other threads for other series, so please add one if you watch a series currently showing.

Thanks to Speedy for bringing this to my attention.

Brilliant Lego video. Must have taken ages, but if you aren't smiling at some point watching this then you need to find your inner child again!

Rummaging through my desk draw at work and found a couple of things, which when put infront of my work mug (courtesy of Roger) left me reminiscing about the brilliant time I/we had at trackdays ....

When Aliya was in her last year at primary school we started to let her have much more freedom in preparation for going to High School. We sorted a mobile phone out as a safety blanket for us more than her.

Bear in mind that Aliya is very mature (compared with the boy) and very sensible (again, compared with the boy).

One day Aliya asked if she could walk to the shops after school with her friends (who were also being given more leeway). Yasmin said she could and agreed a time she needed to be home for.
That time came and went.
After 15 minutes Yasmin started to get concerned, but thought - "No, Aliya is sensible, she will be here any minute".
Roll on 15 minutes later and Yasmin is panicking. She phones Aliya's mobile. It goes to answerphone. She tries again and the call is answered. Before Aliya can speak Yasmin asks: "Where are you, you are late and I'm worried".

Aliya answers:

"I'm in the back of a transit van. I don't know where it's going mummy".

Yasmins heart stopped.

Then Aliya started laughing and said ... "Just kidding - I'm walking onto the (house) drive now".

I got home a couple of hours later and Yasmin still hadn't been able to see the funny side of it!

Am stuck waiting on another flight. Am heading to Oslo via schipol. I've only a 45 minute layover so I've sod all chance of making my connection.
Still flights are every 2 hrs to Oslo so if the expected happens it's not a massive wait.

I think KLM are visiting to many of thier coffee shops if they think this'll work.
Still I live in eternal hope.
Rick