Paul

I think it's the best piece of tech we've ever bought. If someone whose number is in the phones contact list calls then the phone rings normally and the name of the contact appears on screen. If a number that is not stored in the phone, or a withheld number calls then before the handset rings it asks the caller to record a short intro of who they are or the reason for their call. The phone rings and displays "announced call" and plays you the message when you answer. If you want to speak to the caller press one, if not press two and they go to answer phone. After the call you also have the option to permanently block the number, or set it as trusted which means the next time the caller doesn't have to announce themselves. It has stopped nuisance calls completely. They don't bother even announcing themselves, they just hang up, and automated calls saying "we are calling about your recent accident, press 1 to blah blah blah" can't get through as the caller has to press hash once they have recorded their message. We have the twin handset version but they come as singles, twins triples and even quads I think and the call screening facility works on each handset. We've also had them quite a few years and they are still working well, unlike the previous panasonic handsets we had which lasted precisely 13 months before expiring within days of each other .....

Sorry Vanessan, I missed that. They are BT branded handsets, but will work on any network or provider as the screening is done by the handset not the network. You just need to have caller display, which we get free from Talk Talk, some networks might make a small charge. https://btplc.com/inclusion/ProductsAndServices/Choosetherightphone/BT8600AdvancedCallBlocker/index.htm#hero-video

On receiving this award I would like to thank my family and my ...... What? Not me? I thought I was a shoe in .......

I think there are a number of categories of hirer that you have missed. There are those who hire because they cannot afford to own or who cannot justify the cost of ownership within their budget. Finance is not an unlimited resource. There are also those who enjoy visiting the broads, who return annually, or perhaps biannually but who also like visiting other parts of the country (be those areas national parks or not) and do not want to feel under pressure to spend every holiday on the Broads because they have a considerable amount of capital and recurring costs tied up in boat ownership. We could afford to own, but could not justify a boat of the size and standard which we like to hire and would miss visiting other places we love. The issue of who visits, why they visit and how often is a very complex issue which to me is one good reason why the Broads Authority with all of it's assigned responsibilities, many of which it struggles to undertake satisfactorily should not be getting involved.

A lot of good posts on this page, or at least posts that I agree with, so they must be good! I've had some great nights at Stokesby, and at The Maltsters in years gone by, but they have always been down to the company rather than the pub itself. Neither are bad pubs but they are both as MauriceMynah says there is something missing. I've never been a massive fan of the moorings at Ranworth Staithe either, it was always take it or leave it for us. Much like Salhouse which many people rave about. I always thought it was my contrary nature, but maybe not. We mostly stay south side now, or south of Acle at least and there isn't much north of Acle Bridge that we miss. There are some lively spots on the River Ant, which for a while was becoming all that we went "up north" for, but as pretty as though places still are every time we moor there are evening are destroyed by engines running late into the night. And Vanessan, shame on you ..... that's evil. Made me smile though. It's the sort of thing I would do.

Our handsets use Call Guardian, which means anyone calling from a number which is not in it's phonebook including a withheld number have to announce themselves before the phone rings. Only once they have done that will our phone ring and when we answer the phone plays back their announcement giving us the option to answer or decline the call. If they decline to say who it is that is calling then the phone cuts them off. It blocks fake calls completely.

Perhaps you misread my post which was not hearsay, not a second or third hand account but something which happened to me. Perhaps you didn't misread the post and it was your intention to question my integrity. Just for clarity some of the order summaries are attached. If you use Amazon I would keep my eyes open

Just checked my Merc kit and it says 500 miles at 70. Holts tyreweld says "as soon as possible" so I was perhaps being conservative, but important to check. Tyre sealants will always be a limited, temporary solution but do also have some advantages. The last time I used one was in the Honda which also carries a full size spare but in pouring rain on the side of the M1 at 6pm on a Friday two minutes spent with a can of sealant was far preferable to getting the jack out.

but then leBoat didn't have a lot of success with A to A hires either, it was a short lived venture as far as the broads is concerned.

Which is all very well if you have shops local which sell the things you want to buy, and offer you a selection from which to choose which is about a common around here as rocking horse ****. The last genuine tool shop closed in Leicester nearly twenty years ago, well before the advent of Amazon, Ebay et al. If I want to buy a wood plane now, or a precision screwdriver I have the choice of going to B&Q, buying the usually one option they have available, if indeed they do have one, and if needed asking advice from a sales assistant with an O level in sociology and wouldn't know the difference between Oak and Balsa, or buying online from a specialist company with specialist knowledge which I can access, if needed, by calling them or dropping them an email. That said, I would never, ever use Amazon. A few months ago my email inbox filled up with order confirmations from Amazon for a range of different electronic goods. Earphones, Phablets, Smart watches, that sort of thing. When I logged into my account it showed three orders totalling over 190 items, 30 - 40 of each, all sold at a cost of 10p and paid for with an amazon gift card, which I never had. I contact them immediately, they said they would cancel the orders and that I should change my password. I did that, and added additional security requiring a pass code to be sent to my phone to access my account each time I try to log on. My phone received dozens of message that week with one time pass codes, I contacted Amazon again and again and all they said is that nobody had logged into my account since I had changed the password, though as the pass code is only generated after the correct password then obviously someone had hacked my account on their system and access the password again. They advised me to change the password again which I did. Then, about a month later I started getting emails. "thank you for reviewing ear buds" or phablet, or smart watch. The whole thing had been a scam to generate false reviews for cheap Chinese goods. I spent an entire evening changing each and every one of them to read something very unbecoming of the item and the company selling them. Thankfully I do not have a stored payment card with amazon. I dread to think what might have happened if I had. The whole approach of Amazon was totally blase, they couldn't give a monkeys. I found it shocking that somebody could access me password so easily. If ever you do shop on Amazon please don't believe the reviews, they are likely to be fake.

And still nobody (unless I missed it) has used the phrase "one way hires". It has to be attractive to take a boat from Wroxham and return to WRC, or vice versa

I think that well known tyre company are up to their well known tricks of inventing unnecessary work for themselves, and expense for their customers. The use of a tyre selant should not have any impact on whether a punctured tyre can be repaired or not. The substance used in tyre sealants is a modified latex rubber, not an adhesive. It can be easily peeled from the inside of the tyre before a puncture is repaired. It may require a new valve if the sealant was inserted through the valve. The latex material has no impact on the structure of the tyre, but they were correct that it is only a temporary repair. The manufacturer of the sealant will mark the product with a safe limit for both both distance and speed. Usually something like twenty miles at 50mph. Beyond this safe limit the tyre may begin to leak causing it to overheat and fail.

Am I the only one here thinking Marina development, waterside living, high cost homes ......

Sorry to revive an old thread, but as the mighty Bob was already mentioned here I though this would be a fitting place to mourn his passing. I was a big fan of his before that now legendary performance at Headingly in 1981. He was one of the superstars of the Sunday League which was avid viewing in our house. Sunday lunch at the dining table, wash up then on with the cricket. I was always excited if Warwickshire were to be shown as it meant another appearance on Willis, giant of a man running in from the boundary rope with that unique action trailing his bowling arm behind his backside. We all copied that as kids on the local park. It was his inspiration that led me into fast bowling, though I cannot claim to have got anywhere near his achievements. A couple of appearances in the Minor Counties Championship before a back injury sustained playing Rugby ended my career, at least on a serious level. Bob himself was no stranger to injury especially with his knees, both of which required several surgeries which would have ended lesser men. His rehabilitation was close to impossible but he would not give up and returned to the highest level of the game against all odds. Thank heavens he did, as along with Ian Botham he gave the world what is, and will always remain the greatest test match ever at Leeds in '81.It was almost a public joke in the England team of the late seventies as to who would get the job of lifting Willis into the bath at the end of the days play, but he was back on the field the next morning, running in and bowling with genuine pace, something England has had little of in test cricket. With the advent of Sky Sports in the early 1990's Willis found a platform from which to vent his opinions, especially on England. For such a placid, equable character he had a razor sharp wit and was not afraid to demonstrate it. It was backed by a phenomenal knowledge of and insight into the game of cricket and he quickly found his niche in summarising rather than commentating and given some of England's more recent test performances his evening "verdict" program was often more interesting than the days play. I missed his input in this recent New Zealand series, and whilst aware that he was ill was totally shocked to hear that his illness had taken the ultimate toll. As both a player and commentator of the game of cricket, which I love so much he stood on the very top step.

A hugely underrated car, just my opinion of course. A drinking friend of mine bought one new in 2002, the 2.5 V6 with the factory approved LPG system. He still has it today. For the first 7 years of it's life it commuted every day to North London running up in excess of 450k miles. He bought it because I was running an LPG Mondeo at the time and constantly bragging about how much money I was saving against buying petrol. He reckons those first 7 years alone the savings on fuel cost paid for the car twice over. I did try claiming a commission but all I got was a pint of Guinness and a Woodbine. He still drives around town in it, still running on LPG. Still a lovely looking car inside and out and as it was, if I dare say so without offending anyone, somewhat retro in it's styling it hasn't aged. I guess the theory that if it's old fashioned to start with it never gets any older.

If anyone reading this decides they don't have a spare but want one then you could i) ring your local main dealer and pay about 150 for a space saver or alternatively ring your local scrap yard and they will usually be able to find you a matching alloy wheel for half the cost, usually with a decent tyre ready fitted (unless of course you have twenty one inch rims, or AMG wheels or something similar)

My Merc doesn't have a spare, nor anywhere to fit one. The space beneath the boot floor which would normally accommodate such is stuffed full of electronics, the DAB tuner is in there, as is the amplifier, rear signal module, a sort of computerised fusebox, the emissions tank is in there, the auxilliary battery, various control modules for things like the distronic radar, parktronic sensors etc. The hydraulics for the roof mechanism fills the space behind the side panels where this kind of stuff normally lives. I have the Merc compressor and bottle of gunk, but during a recent visit to the one local MB main dealer I have found to have any degree of integrity the gent there suggested the Merc gunk is pretty useless, get a bottle of the Holts stuff which is much better and about a fifth of the price. The key is to use it properly. Spray it in, wait exactly two minutes then drive the car for five miles as near as possible maintaining 50mph. It's the rotation of the wheel that seals the gunk into the puncture, not the pressure applied by the can. The wheel will need repressurising afterwards so a pump is essential. Gunk can only seal punctures in the tread of the tyre, side wall damage means a mobile tyre fitter!

better that than a sheet of toilet paper .....

I have been known to organise the odd online treasure hunt during the winter months to fend off the winter blues. Could do another if there is any interest?

Thank you for your update Paladin. Through out the life of this thread I have been reading it with interest, wondering under what legislation the Authority are making this dictate as I can find nothing in the bylaws to back it up. Does the authority have the authority to create rules and regulations of this kind by any power given to it by the Broads Bill?

3 months to dredge Catfield Dyke?

You do realise that this forum has probably spent more time debating SOB than the boat has spent in service?

My favourite. I'm wondering if Grendel can knock me up a little runabout on that scale.

We used to use Asda almost exclusively until one day we went to do the shopping and they were having a massive clearance sale on clothes. Elaine spent an hour going through all the ladies and children's rails, we then did the food shop and as by this time it was getting towards 1:00pm we decided to stop in the cafe for lunch rather than visit the garden center we usually stopped at. You can guess where this is heading. Ten days later a letter arrived with a parking charge notice as we had spent two hours and twelve minutes in their car park, as opposed to the permitted two hours. I returned it to them with the receipt for that day's shopping, over two hundred and ninety pounds plus a list of our weekly shopping over the past year, well over four thousand pounds. Our weekly shop was rarely less than eighty quid, sometimes more than a hundred. The reply was standard paragraphs, contracted out blah blah blah, not our responsibility blah blah blah, clearly signed blah blah blah, get stuffed blah blah blah and signed (up) Yours, "The Asda Customer Care Team" My response was if you can't give a stuff about me then stuff you too. I have never been back. We tried Aldi because of a friends recommendation and haven't looked back. We don't shop there because of price, but because we like the products they sell. The vision of Aldi being a budget supermarket is spin peddled by the Orange, Blue Yellow and Green brigade concerned about their own market share and willingly swallowed by the gullible masses who enjoy being ripped off. Most of the brands sold in Aldi are easily equivalent to the market leading equivalents and some are better. There are one or two we don't like so much, and there is the issue that they don't have as complete a range as larger supermarkets so there are some things we need to get elsewhere, especially things like home baking products so for those things we tend to use Ocado who are daft enough to keep sending me money off vouchers. Every four to six weeks we get an email with x ponds off your next shop, or so much off your next three or four shops. We use one of those every couple of months or so to top up on things we can't get from Aldi. Having changed from using Asda we save between a quarter and a third off our old shopping bill, worth over a thousand pounds a year and found many products in Aldi we much prefer to what we were buying.

this is on my reading list, not quite on topic nut still looks interesting. https://www.localeastanglianbooks.com/new-books-info