Ken L

Is it just me or does that look like David Seamens ?

Thanx for the replies so far. Can one of the mods please move this to NFC? I must have had a brain cramp when I posted.

My grandmother is currently in a nursing home as a result of the mental and physical effects of several small strokes. My grandfather has recently been diagnised with terminal cancer. He's not overly worried about the end of his days because as he puts it, he's 90 and has had a good innings. What is causing him a great deal of stress and upset at the moment is the prospect of his home being sold by the local authority when he dies, to fund my grandmothers ongoing care. He sees people who've never worked a day in their lives getting for free what his eastate will have to pay for and his anger and frustration is reducing the quality of what time he has left - even though he knows that none of his kids really need a share of whatever he has to leave. I supose it would be possible to prevent the local authority from getting their hands on the cash by removing my grandmother from the nursing home and caring for her in a family environment until my grandfather goes and the will is administered as he would want. The problem is that doing this is probably not in my grandmothers best interests and may cause her more confusion. Can anyone suggest any other options ?

Pictures, video, music and/or data. Amazing really. I've just ordered one of these as a gift http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php?la...23c72d66f87b8e2 As I'll be loading it up before I hand it over, I'll get a fair idea about how good it is. If anyone wants a low-down on what looks to be a very sexy bit of kit, let me know.

Jan. You must have a model with updated firmware. I'm stuck with using Creatives software and can't upload music using the Sync function in WMP.

Do you know any good websites where we can find them Phil ?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4768647.stm I expect I'll be seeing lots of pasty white geeky blokes walking arround like fiddler crabs, with one arm bigger than the other from er....exercising

Been using the Creative machine for almost two years now with no real problems. It won the battle over the iPod because although it's a little more bulky, the battery lasted 24 hours instead of the iPod's 7, sound quality is marginally better than the iPod's, it's flexible enough to play WMA files which the iPod isn't and it was a little cheaper than the iPod. My machine has now been out travelling with me three times and is used almost daily in the UK. The only problems I've had are one crash that was resolved by hitting the reset button, The software for loading music is a bit clunky and the battery doesn't manage that magical 24 hours anymore - but it'll still manage 12 - 15. All in all, a quality bit of kit. It'll certanly do me untill the flash players get up to about 10 Gig - and then it'll be time to go solid state.

If a tree fall in a forrest and there's nobody there to hear it does it make a sound ? But the real question is: Did it fall ?

Tis a Barramundi. Not my biggest or my first but if memory serves, it was my first double figure barra.

None in Thailand Budgie. I'd have to go to China for one. They're native to the Yangtze River system so should anyone feel inclined to import some fingerlings to Europe, they would probably do well in Spain. I dread to think about tactics or baiting requirements but really what's the point ? They'd just fight like a builders delivery sack instead of a carrier bag......... If the Thai trip comes off, I'd love to have a crack at several species but high on the list is the thick lipped Barb - now that's a pretty carp.

I came accross a mention of the IGFA record for the Wuchang Bream being 70 Kg's and did a little search. I don't think one of these would leave your average carpie moaning about catching snotties. http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summary/Speci...mary.php?id=285

Davy. Thanks for the Medic8 link. Some useful information on there. I already use Netdoctor quite a bit to look stuff up but another resourse is always handy.

Yep, makes more sence now. I hope his doctors have now managed to sort him out with medication that controls his cindition without too much tremor or rigidity. If not, I'm told that there is now a surgical option but i don't know much about it other than it involves the insertion of some sort of stimulating device a bit like a heart pacemaker.

I agree with everything that's been said above and it now falls to me to state the obvious about always using a wire trace/leader, making sure you have appropriate unhooking tools and preferably starting off by going out with someone who does a fair bit of lure fishing and pike handleing so that neither you nor the fish regrets your first experience of lure fishing.

Err.... IB and DLA are not mutually exclusive. It's perfectly possible to legitimatly be claiming both and it doesn't matter an iota which one someone claims first. The only way that the two interact is that certain awards of DLA automatically lead to IB without medical examinations and the like, and a DLA decision maker is able to request copies of medical reports used to decide IB entitlement should they feel that this is likely to be appropriate.

My problem with lures started when a dealer offered me some at half price. I though "why not ?" and the next thing I knew, I was hooked. I've tried to ween myself off with substitutes but they just don't come close to the hits I get when I'm using lures.

Errr.........no. The lady of the house watched it and I played with the computer.

I fail to see why anyone watched it at all.

Just so long as they're not cartoons.........

OK, back on subject. Can anyone suggest any interesting freshwater alternatives in SE Asia ?

Both their release from prison and yesterdays decision to allow them to reside in Great Britain are completely insane.

I'll pass on the "Bar Girls" I think. Quite apart from the truely alarming statistics about Thai prostitues and HIV, there's the fact that Thailand has the worlds highest incidence of women cutting off penises. Then, there's the fact that I have been in several bars checking out the very attractive staff thinking "Hey, she's pretty. Nice arse. Nice tits. Hands are a bit big ? Cute little Adam's Apple..........NO, NO, NO, I'M NOT CONFUSED. lOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE FOR GODS SAKE. Hey, the other barmaid is pretty. Nice arse. Nice tits. Hands are a bit big.......................TIME TO LEAVE"

Yep. To read all the guff in the press, it's a nice quiet lake with some spectacular fish to be caught but the more I read, the more I'm comming to realise that it's just a muddy hole stocked to the max with (admittedly big) fish and it's actually within the main urban part of Bangkok. Add that to the truely outlandish price tag and you can see why I've asked if anyone can suggest an alternative. I have fished in Thailand before and caught cats on lures and gourami and barbs on trotted bread from the Kwai River. Something a little bigger would definatly be nice though.

No, it's total BS. In theory, information about nearly all local and central government services is available to everybody irrespective of their colour or origin here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/Homepage/fs/en In reality, it will probably depend more on the quality of the person that someone approaches for advice than the origin of the person doing the asking.