ahammond

Check the proposed dates for the race given in the article and also today's date.

Not sure if there is a bomb proof pair of glasses but I have the same problem myself of the screws working loose. I have tried loctite, super glue etc. without much success and now just settle for tightening them up once a month or so. You can get a set of very small screw drivers to do the job from any model shop for a couple of pounds.

Strange how at the beginning of December all the old wives and country folk lore were saying that we were in for a hard winter and were rubbished by the meteorological experts. We had about three inches of the white stuff dumped on us last night. The paperboy was about ten minutes later than normal and the post about half an hour. Other than that no problems. My local aquatic shop even got his regular weekly supply of live fish food delivered so I will be off down to get some after lunch.

It may have been just because it was being run down but for the last few months Teletext was a pain to use. It took ages sometimes for the pages to load and even then often as not the wrong page would come up. I generally prefer a text service to a live news broadcast as you can skip all the stories that do not interest you and it is/was available 24hrs whenever you wanted it.

Your car alarm problem could be caused by a neighbours, or your own, doorbell if it is one of the radio operated type. I had a similar problem a while back when the bell push on my neighbours house got stuck on and as a result its transmissions were overriding the remote on my cars central locking. I spoke to Offcom about it as it had me puzzled when it first happened and apparently it is quite a common thing with bell pushes. They actually have a range of about seventy or so yards in the open. Luckily I can speak to my neighbour who was surprised as me when we tested it and found that it was his doorbell at fault. A new bell push sorted the problem.

I think that there is a lot more to this than has been reported in the media. As far as I can gather it was not a matter of a burglar having the tables turned on him and suffering rough justice as a result as in the case of Tony Martin. It was in fact a dispute of some kind between two groups of people who knew each other well. In continuance of that dispute one group attended the others home and threatened them. The tables were somehow turned and the group that had been threatened then became the aggressors. Instead of calling the Police once the threat had been removed as they should have done they instead chased after the others with the sole intention causing them as much injury as possible. As far as I am concerned the attackers in this case got off very lightly. Their use of violence was way over the top by any standard, was totally illegal and in no way could be conceived as self defence.

When I was into cameras a few years back I could have probably interpreted that lot for you. Nowadays it probably means very little anyway as most digital cameras will have similar specifications albeit advertised in a different jargon depending on the make. It is only when you get the camera in your hands and play with it for a couple of minutes that you can find out if you like it. Take a trip to Comet or somewhere similar and try a few different makes for size. You do not have to buy from them but it will give you a better idea of what you are after. Personally though I would go for a quality lens every time even with a camera just for snapshots.

Try www.trustedreviews.com or the Which site. Both of them will give you honest reviews on a range of items including digital cameras. In my own experience what you pay for is not the electronics which are all much of a muchness but the lens. A cheap camera is going to have a cheap lens and no matter what electronics go into it you will never get as good a picture as a more expensive camera with a decent set of optics. I have just bought a Panasonic Lumix with a Leica lens and the difference between in the quality of picture it takes compared to the more expensive Canon that it is replacing is quite substantial. The basic Lumix I think starts around the £180 mark but will be well worth the extra even if it is only used for snapshots.

Good old fashioned November day in Newcastle. Grey, damp, and cold.

I am no killjoy but I think that it is much better this way. Bonfire night is an actual event again and the fireworks can be enjoyed without getting on everybody's wick with months of explosions at all times of the day and night.

Very quiet around here up until last night when there were quite a few local displays. But even those finished before nine o clock. Compared to past years when the firework season started about the beginning of September and went on until New Year with hardly a break it has been a pleasant relief. In fact for once I actually enjoyed watching them from my conservatory and the dog who is normally a shivering wreck hardly seemed bothered either.

I have always found that confused.com and other such sites a waste of time. I have been able to beat the prices that they quote every time by checking around the individual companies myself. The only comparison site that I have ever found in the least bit useful is www.themoneyspermarket.com. and even then their car insurance quotes are generally on the high side but they are good for checking out interest rates for loans or savings..

At least once a month somebody has a race with the tide trying to get off Lindisfarne island along the causeway. They nearly always loose and end up getting rescued by helicopter or the inshore lifeboat. Plenty of signs up warning people and tide tables displayed both end of the causeway. But for some reason they just get ignored.

I was stroking the dog when the wife said "You think more of that dog than you do of me" I said "I think more of next doors cat than I do of you" That was when the fight started. The vicar said "Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" I said "Yes" That was when the fight started.

What you may be thinking about is the same thing that I have used to put a phone in my garage/workshop/hideaway. The main phone is plugged into a device that that is in turn plugged into a mains socket. You then plug another box into any socket in the house and plug a phone into that. So essentially you can just plug a phone in wherever there is an electrical socket. The only slight snag is that the second phone must be a corded not a cordless phone. I bought mine from Maplins for about forty pounds

Early in the morning at this time of year I often walk around a local golf course that has a wood on one side. It is not unusual to find golf balls fifty yards or more into the wood, quite often semi hidden under bracken etc. but equally often out in the plain open where anybody can see them. Now I am no golfer but I cannot see how most of these balls get to where I find them just by being hit by a golfer nor how they cannot be seen by anybody looking for a lost ball. I know that there are foxes, and red squirrels in the wood as well as stoats etc and have come to the conclusion that the local wildlife are mistaking the golf balls for eggs and carrying them into the wood to eat at a later date. When they try to gnaw into them and discover their mistake they are discarded. Just a theory but who knows?

Many years ago I was taught how to do fortune telling by a fairground gypsy. Basically you do not read the cards or anything else, you read the person who's fortune that you are predicting. I last tried it out about forty years ago when I was in the army and scared the hell out of a W.R.A.C corporal by what I was able to tell her about about herself. But all I was doing was repeating stuff that she was inadvertently telling me coupled with a few educated guesses and and a load of dressing up. The Tarot cards by the way are nothing more than a Victorian parlour game and have no history at all despite all the rubbish written about them. The other thing that I have noticed about those who predict the future such as Nostradamus and co. is that they all seem to predict doom and gloom but none have ever predicted the good things such as advances in medicines and the general improvement in the quality of life for a lot of us. Also none of them are ever specific they always use very vague language that can be interpreted in many ways just like fortune tellers in fact.

Petgear trifold ramp.20 inches wide, 70inches long extended, folds to 2foot long by eight inches deep will support 200 pounds. Same model can be seen at www.bronteglen.co.uk.

I have an almost brand new plastic folding car dog ramp that I no longer need. This one sells for over £70 so at £30 it is a bargain. Collect only due to its size and weight, about 6lbs, from Newcastle upon |Tyne.

It is now over twenty years since I packed in. That was two weeks after swearing that I would never have the willpower to do it. If I have achieved nothing else in my life to boast about then at least I can be proud that I beat the weed. So keep it up mate it really is worth it.

There is no law against them as such but they are committing a civil trespass on your property and must leave as soon as you tell them to. They also have no come back on you if they get injured whilst trespassing on your property including being bitten by your dog if you have one. It is immaterial whether or not you have signs or notices displayed asking not to be disturbed. The ones who really get up my nose are those doing surveys for MORI and other polls they get most indignant when you point out that they are trespassing and annoying the hell out of you by pressing your door bell. They have no more right to trespass than anybody else including the Police, unless in the lawful execution of their duty, and leaflet distributors.

Have you tried North East Angling? Provided that you do not mention that you are a member of WACAC you should be alright. Failing that Leazes lines the web site of Leazes park angling club is fairly active and may have the answer.

There is another side to pet insurance as well as vet fees and that is third party liability. In these days of people suing at the slightest excuse it is reassuring to know that if your dog scares a trespasser by barking at them then the insurance will cover the cost when you get sued for causing them emotional stress.

Check around with the major insurers nearly all do pet insurance. Most are pretty much the same but check with your vet as to which insurers they accept. Some vets will ask for payment up front for some companies and you then have to claim the costs back from the insurance company yourself. But with other insurers they just make the claim themselves. I am with MoreThan. No problems or hassle with the claims but I have to pay up font first which puts a bit of a strain on the plastic until the money comes through. Also bear in mind that after a dog gets to a certain age or if you make a few claims it is all but impossible to change firms.

I am signed up to TPS and ex directory as well. What I find is that while I do no not get many junk calls they tend to come in batches especially the automatic diallers which are the most annoying when I do get them.