Paul

I used to have a progrm on my computer in the 8 bit era which was pretty good. I guess I got on with it because it played at my level and the dice roll seemed to be quite fair. Sadlly it died the death somewere around Windows 98. Often with these games the roll seems to be fixed, double sixes pop up just when you don't need them, or the computer seems to move it's couters randomly, without any proper strategy. If you don't mind paying a couple of quid have a look at this. You can try free for an hour to see if it suits. https://www.bigfishgames.com/games/1097/worldsmostfamousbo/

I first came across Roy when I joined the NBF in 2005. When a forum meet was arranged for that summer he and Gill invited me to stay with them and looked after me really well that weekend. We became firm freinds and shared a week together on Lady of Freedom when Roy won the competition to name her as well as many day boat trips. We often met up, either at forum meets or whilst on holiday and took the caravan to Kings Lynn a number of times. We had many a good evening around Broadland as well as in his beloved club at Babingley. Plans to repeat that expedition on Lady were curtailed due to Roy's failing health but we never visited Norfolk without stopping in to say hello. A great character, often with strong opinions that he was not afraid to share which did not endear him to everyone, but a good bloke and another great character gone from us. We're heading back to Norfolk in a couple of weeks. I'll find somewhere appropriate and raise a glass of Stella to him.

Should you happen to be navigating the River Waveney during the long glorious days of summer ahead, then take time to moor at Cove Staithe, midway between WRC and Beccles on the south bank of the river. From here you are a very pleasant thirty minute walk from two of Broadland's finest public houses which you might not have heard of, let alone visited. A green road, known as Cove Dam leads from the staithe across the marshes to Marsh lane and in to North Cove. Take care crossing the railway line, a hundred yards or so after which the lane bears left ignoring the farm track to alder carr to the right. At the end of the lane turn right still Marsh Lane and follow this road past Covehall Farm until you reach the entrance to North Cove Hall on your right next to which there is a footpath which leads on to a closed section of the Old Lowestoft Road where you will find the Three Horseshoes. A delightful pub which caters to all tastes and a real example to anyone modernising a pub on how to do it properly. The interior is very smart without being "sterilised" as other pubs in the area have been. Always several real ales available on hand pump, good range of bottled beers and ciders and a decent wine list. Food is excellent with Thai cuisine on selected nights, but you can still get a fishfinger sandwich or cheesy chips if you prefer and prices are very reasonable. Occasionally have live music especially on Sunday Afternoons and if you are lucky enough to be in the vicinity on August 18th then the wonderful Tosh Ewins will be along to entertain you, between 4 and 7. Leaving the Horseshoes retrace your steps along the footpath to Marsh Lane which you cross and proceed along The Street opposite which will take you into Barnby. As the road turns right to join the bypass take a left turn into Swan Lane, past the garden centre and the farm and you will find the Swan on your left hand side as you come to The Green. This is more of a diner's establishment with occasional Thai Nights (must be a poplar cuisine in these parts) but the highlight here is afternoon tea, available in three forms. Cream, Savoury or High Tea but must be booked 24 hours ahead, and the excellent seafood restaurant. There is a full menu for those who prefer something a little less fishy and whilst prices are higher than the Horseshoes they are still good value. From the Swan, turn left along the Green and onto Sidings Lane which becomes Wadehall Lane, past Fairfield Farm (two lovely holiday cottages here btw) then turn right down a track marked Public Footpath, Wadehall Old Dam. Again, take care crossing the railway line then a footpath takes you back across the marshes to Six Mile Corner on the river 400 yards or so down stream of the staithe. Turn left along the river bank back to your boat. Distances? From the river to the Three Horseshoes about a mile and a half along well laid green roads, lanes and footpath. From the Horshoes to the Swan about a mile and a quarter along footpath and village lanes. From the Swan to the staithe around a mile and a half along country lanes, farm track and river bank. The walking is generally flat and quite easy, just the section along the riverbank can be a bit squishy in place during wet weather. Allow thirty minutes for each section. http://www.thethreehorseshoesnorthcove.co.uk/index.html https://thebarnbyswan.co.uk/ ma1_pmw.pdf

It's not as cash strapped as they like to make you think, they just spend too much money in the wrong places, most major hospitals spend about as much on management and administration as they do on making people better. It's not unique to the NHS.You'll find exactly the same in every local council office, Police force, Armed service etc. Remove the wastage and corruption and we'd have enough GP's, Police Officers, Hospital Beds et al. Remember Yes Minister? Jim Hacker's economy drive, supported by Sir Humphrey with a whole new section, 500 extra civil servants to work out how to save money ...... It's not all the hospital or trusts fault. They are mired in so much legislation and regulation with such massive liability risks these days that they have to not only spend huge amounts of money on compliance control and such things but be seen to be doing so that if and when something does go wrong they can justifiably claim "reasonable precautions".

Same here, I adapted it. I keep telling my mate who cycles everywhere to work harder and he'll be able to afford a car. He's a deputy assistant director of administration or some such for an NHS trust and earns about 200k a year.

Can you guaruntee that? It's not a big deal folks, just motor on by slowly, with a smile and a wave, and perhaps a little friendly encouragement, like "work harder and next year you'll be able to afford a boat"

do you have her number?

BSS does not prohibit gas powered fridges on boats. Section 8 however does lay down certain criteria for LPG fuelled refrigerators on petrol powered boats and whilst non room sealed applainces installed before 2001 (IIRC) may continue to be used, if they are replaced then it should be with a room sealed type.

I'm not sure how much India actually wanted towin that match, MS Dhoni certainly seemed to have no interest in chasing the total at the end, when it was still very much "on". I wonder if the fact that beating England would have helped Pakistan qualify had anything to do with it.

Not sure about solo hiring/single parent hires, but they don't allow persons under the age of 14 to drive the boat.

Nice to see they have installed a couple of bicycle racks ....

Oh dear, another dismal performance by England chasing a modest total. They can only play one way, bash, bash, bash, and when the wicket isn't suitable and they need to start playing proper cricket they are totally incapable. With New Zealand and India to come I can see England not winning another game in this tournament.

If you want a Friday or Saturday start I would look no further than Pacific Cruisers at Loddon. They are a family owned business with a small fleet of varying styles and sizes of boat, you are sure to find something suitable. They range from older more traditional boats to the newest most modern designs but whichever you choose you can be sure it will be immaculately presented, well maintained and offered at the best price available. If you want a different start day, or duration other than whole weeks I would look at Freedom Boats. They are also a small family run business and offer a range of different styles and sizes of boats but allow you to choose and start day and duration.

And that's being very polite. I've never stayed in these new ones, though have stayed in the Sail Loft, several times since they were brand new, and the Boathouse. Whilst they are all very nice the last time we stayed in the Sail Loft the fixtures and fittings were starting to get a little tired, hence we tried the Boathouse which is newer.

Weren't they called Riverview 1,2,3 etc at one time. I don't think they are anything to do with Barnes, whose self catering accommodation is all on the Hoveton bank.

The problem with average speed cameras is that they do nothing to make junctions safer. You can go around the roundabout on two wheels (in a car that is, for all our biker friends) and still not exceed the average speed. The only way to force traffic to slow, and remove so much interaction between vehicles is traffic lights with camera enforcement. If accidents keep happening then that will happen. Sadly,policy usually dictates that the powers that be wait until there have been so many fatalities.

Now there lies a sorry tale. After working on the continent for nine and a half months, doing everything back to front I, to my eternal embarrassment on returning home gave a loud blast of my horn at a van driver who cut me up .... from the right. At least I had the good grace when a few yards later I pulled alongside at traffic lights to wind down the window and apologise, with a brief explanation. Thankfully no harm was done and the driver found it quite funny.

Any of the emergency services will tell you the same thing. They would rather be called to an incident and not needed, than needed and not called.

I understand the England & Wales Cricket Board have issued a statement about England's performance against Sri Lanka today. "Sh*t"

Simple answer: No. Tide tables tell you when to expect low tide, but even so extraneous circumstances can mean they are inaccurate. If you find an app that tells you it can don't believe it, it can't. There is simply too much data needed which cannot be accurately predicted.

I don't tackle the type of jobs nowdays that I once would have, but still happy to change brake pads and discs, suspension bushes, service the cylinder head on the Honda which needs it's valve timing adjusted every 30k, now it has passed 150,000. I normally tend to look at cars 12 or 24 months old, so somebody else has taken the initial hit on depreciation, though the Merc was a little older due to costs, and the very low initial depreciation the convertibles suffer. I've done the maths on leasing,but they have never added up for me.

Just so it doesn't look like I'm "dissing" (got that word from my lad) Peugeot, year by year as new reliability stats are realeased more and more cars are classed as unreliable. As they become more and more complicated the old adage seems quite true, the more complicated a car becomes the more there is to go wrong. The reality is you could list those makes of car which are consistantly considered the least reliable, such as Range Rover, Renault, Alfa Romeo etc and a dozen people will respond "by eck lad, ar'n had an 'undred and fifty three Range Rovers, thar'n all bin round t'clock at least three times, 'n I drove two on 'em t'moon and never 'ad so much as a single misfire". Perhaps at the end of the day the only option is buy what makes you happy and hell with the big ends, or the fluid torque converter.

Another example of reputation becoming ingrained. Once upon a time, when diesel engines were more agricultural Peugeot made excellent deisels, reliable although relatively thirsty compared to it's main rivals, but this wasn't so critical then. Since then Peugeot in the form of PSA have collaborated on a lot of engine design with Ford, driven by the need to reduce development costs, but Ford always built their own, rather than taking customer units from Peugeot. More recently many Peugeot cars including the 407 have used Ford made Duratorq units rebadged HDi. Over it's lifetime the 407 was listed as "unreliable" by the reliablity index, with more than 1 in 5 faults being engine related. The trail of diesel engines, especially over the last twenty years or so is extremely convoluted. My 2003 Espace for example used an Engine designed by GM in the USA for use by Vauxhall/Opel in the Signum, built under license by Isuzu and sold to Renault and Saab (then a GM subsiduary) who made the engine management. Technically it was superb, in practice it was rubbish. In order to fit the Signums small engine bay it was ultra compact with things like the fuel pump buried in the V. The Nikasil cylinder liners were prone to crack or slip, the fuel injection pump was not big enough so was deliberately overrun to provide the required pressure leading to premature failure. The shape of the exhaust manifold was such that exhaust gas stalled in the EGR causing carbon build up until the valve stuck open. It was so beset by problems that Vauxhall never fitted it to the Signum, the very car it had been designed for. I think this is typical of the compromise in modern engine design when multiple manufacturers are involved, not just with the PSA / Ford arrangement, and a major contributing factor of the all too common problems they suffer. Look at the two cars on my drive, A Merc and a Honda. Both engines designed and built by the manufacturer. The Honda has 196k, the Merc a mere baby yet at 45k. Neother have given any problems ...... so far. If they do, I'll know exactly who to blame, though at 196k with nothingmore than regular servicing, which I do myself I don't think the Honda owes me anything.

Sadly, people rubbish them because too many of them were rubbish. Not all, but too many and a reputation once earned is very difficult to erase. Ironically at the time of Rover's demise they were producing some pretty good cars, and had been for some time. The 75 we have already talked about, but the 600 it superceded was a very good car, in fact anybody looking for a large, comfortable family car on the tightest budget could do far worse, even today. I had a number of Rovers. A Mk1 213, a Mk2 220 Coupe "Tomcat", a Mk2 216 Cabriolet and a 620ti, a 620 SLDi (which was mum's before mine). The only one I had any trouble with was the first, which blew it's engine at 120k. That was the only one with a Honda engine, all others were Rover units. The L series in the 620 diesel was superb, the T series in the ti was insanely quick. It was not the quality of the product that killed Rover, but mismanagement and public perception. German cars are almost the exact opposite. They built a reputation for build quality and reliability in the 1970's which is no longer deserved, but is engrained into peoples opinion. BMW have gone steadily downhill since the introduction of the E36 3 series in 1990. For engine reliability they rank only just above the like of Land Rover, Renault and Peugeot-Citroen. Volkswagen have suffered a similar decline as did Mercedes though they have been much better over the last decade or so.

There are a number of tallow based greases used in electrical switchgear but it's crazy expensive. Whatabout Lanoguard or similar marine grease?