Paul

That's a (the!) Doncaster Rovers fan on holiday

Put a Barcelona shirt on it, then it won't matter how many it scores, we;ll still beat it.

The moorings are what they are, they are solid, with a good depth of water but are concrete so good fendering is needed. I'm sorry I didn't walk up to the "Fort" moorings to see what was going on with them. Always approach against the tide which runs quite quickly here, especially the ebb.

Sorry, I did say I would report back from our visit at Easter. Can only agree with Howard's assessment. Nipped down on a Wednesday lunchtime, beautiful day. Nice to see a couple of hire boats on the moorings and several groups drinking. The Adnam's Ghost Ship was superb and an even more reasonable 3.30 a pint. Sat out on the patio looking over the marshes, could have stayed all afternoon. Went back the following evening with the familt in tow. Beer was just as good second time around!

But does it have facilities for the crew such as toilet and galley, and more importantly a large after deck on which the CEO can be interviewed by local media?

I wonder if the Acle debAcle will last any longer?

I agree with much of your argument Paladin. If SOB is not performing the task it is required to do then off loading is the best option. Sadly we live in an age of bottom lines and the bottom line here is that a good many individuals stated when the decision to purchase her was announced, "what a waste of money". Now here we are what, six years? down the line and they are being proven right, if indeed the boat is for sale which as yet has not been substantiated, though I doubt the BA would want it pride of place on the riverside at some local brokerage. Far more likely a cut price deal will be done with some other authority to move her to the Thames or such like, and she'll slide quietly out of the back door.

something like this perhaps?

So, update from last night. Our initial plan was, as you know to use a six foot scaff tube, bent into a U shape (or more a like a rounded "v") then each "leg" would in turn be bent to about 45 degrees into each of which we planned to weld bicycle forks to hold rear wheels. This part of the plan has fallen apart as the person we had lined up to bend the tube no longer has access to the bending equipment needed. Plan B. <<< under construction >>>

Actually, what I should have said is gassless mig which uses the flux cored wire, or arc which uses a welding rod. From what I've looked at so far the mig looks easier. As for the scotch I had no intention, until the Knochandu came out.

I need some advice. Last night, whilst in the cricket club, sometime in the hazy period when the Guinness stops flowing and the Malt Scotch starts, when there is enough sentience to make decisions, but not enough to make good ones, a couple of mates and myself decided that it would be fun to enter our local soapbox derby, which takes place in July. Our entry has been accepted and so now we need to build a machine designed to get from the top of a hill to the bottom, negotiating a number of obstacles enroute in the fastest possible time. On the back of a beermat we have drawn something which might do the job but the problem is we are all carpenters, not metal workers.One of us, guess which, needs to become a master welder in the next fortnight. Can somebody tell me what type of welding I should go for? I want something that is inexpensive and easy to, if not master, produce decent seem welds to fabricate a basic frame from scaffold tube, box section and steel plate. I'm thinking gassless arc welding, the type that feeds wire to the welding tip, is that sensible? Then it's Youtube 101.

I think that's exactly right. The issue here is with a) the manufacturer, this is a made for Aldi product, and b) the Aldi warehouse which shipped it out. I would expect such an item to have high density foam inside the box plus additional protection such as buuble wrap or air sacs around it before being bagged. By comparison I got home from shopping this morning to find a parcel on my doorstep with four glass paint jars for my spray gun (I only use glass as they clean better than poly ones). All the way from china in perfect condition. Buying over the counter is all well and good if you live on a large urban area where these items are available but when you live in the sticks as we do there is often no better option. Take my glass paint jars for example. They are not easy to come accross nowadays, most places only stock plastic ones. The nearest supplier to us is Northampton, fifty plus miles away and that is a commercial supplier so only open Mon - Fri. Love it or loathe it, mail order is the way of the future, in fact not the future but the now. You live with it or do without.

Aldi have been selling solar battery savers recently, 6w panels with reverse polarity and overcharge protection for £24.99 which seemed a good deal so to make sure I got one, as our local store doesn't always have all of the special buys in stock, I ordered one online. It arrived a few days later via Hermes. It was larger than I had anticipated considerably larger than an A3 sheet of paper and quite heavy. When I opened the box it was obvious something was amiss as I got a glass splinter in my thumb as I opened it. Indeed, the panel was smashed. It was very poorly packed for a glass item. The panel itself just in a plain plastic bag inside a cardboard box with no kind of impact protectin. No foam wrapping or bubble wrap to protect it, and the box was in a blue Aldi bag, again with no protection around it, not even a "fragile" label or tape on it. I cannot find a telephone contact for Aldi customer services. The contact us opens a message page which you have to complete and send. I did this on Tuesday, still no reply. The website says I can return special buys (but not web only items) to the store for refund so I took it to our local store this morning. Initially they advised that I couldn't return it to store, so I opened the page on my phone and showed them. Then they said that did not include damaged items, so I asked them to show me where it said that in their ts&cs. After about fifteen minutes arguing they finally accepted that it was not in there so they agreed to swap it. They had two on the shelf. On inspection both of the items they had in stock had similar damage. They then tried to tell me I would have to return it to their mail order service for refund. More arguing and reference to their website and they eventually made a refund to my card. I've been a big fan of Aldi for years but this has somewhat soured the water. If you are thinking of buying one of these be carfeul of ordering online and check stock in the shop carefully before you leave. There seems to be an inherent fault in the way they are packaged.

And very nice of them it was too. Don't worry, we reciprocated in kind, waving them off with a smile as they all made their way along the Walton Brek Road to where the coaches were waiting. They didn't seem very happy so we tried to cheer them up with a few songs. A rousing chorus of "it's a long way to Spain when you've lost", We're going to Madrid" and "Come back, when you're good enough" seemed to cheer them up. It was so beautiful many of them were reduced to tears.

A reminder for anyone travelling to Baku for the Europa League final that visas are required for Azerbaijan. They can be done online but you must enter Europa League Final as the purpose of your visit and you might want to consider the urgent service to ensure it's processed in time. Best flights in are Turkish Airlines via Istanbul or Antalya but prices will rocket quickly. Baku is a lovely city so consider travelling a couple of days either side of the final to get better flight prices. Hotel accommodation is plentiful in Baku but book quickly to get the best prices. That's if your lucky enough to get one of the 6000 tickets each team is getting, which in a stadium of nearly 70,000 is shocking.

What, I'd like to ask is a Spanish cod doing cooking onboard Corsican? I thought that was your job Geoffrey. And how did you know it was Spanish?

That sounds like Bouillabaisse, search Mary Berry Bouillabaisse online, she does a very good, slightly anglicised version.

Clive was talking about the sedans with pictures of some of the full size mock ups for the modified aft section on facebook a little while ago so deffinitely progressin, and looking very good. I do congratulate Richardsons for designing their new boats with some degree of style to them. There is a decent attempt at least to make them look boat like, as opposed to many other yards producing waterborne sheds.

And just to show that there is a human side there is a wonderful picture of Spurs fans consoling their Ajax couterparts in the media today. That does restore one's faith in the beautiful game. As for cricket that's easy. You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out. When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game

Of course. I wear the trousers in this house. I know this to be true as my wife tells me so.

I'd like to record how much I love this forum. Sadly my wife have become increasingly upset with the amount of time I spend posting here, and not paying attention to her and has issued an ultimatum. "It's me of the forum"! So sadly it's time for me to say farewell. I'll be back in a couple of hours when I've finished packing her things and driven her to her mothers. Don't do anything interesting without me.

Honourable! It's a scurrilous lie! My main sport, as a participant was cricket. I played from county schools level to minor counties and a couple of A grade games, however I doubt I was quite good enough to make the step to full county cricket though a back injury playing Rugby when I was twenty denied me the chance to find out. Cricket of course is well known for it's "sledging", that friendly banter between oponents on and off the field. Sadly even in this gentle game that seems, with increasing regularity to go too far nowadays. Football is no different to that. Let me highlight two different examples. I would comment on a post above such: So correct, not a football fan then ..... followed by various emojis and LOLs, a friendly gest between supporters of different clubs. Similar to me telling my team mates, quite vocally not to try and dismiss an opposition batsman who had just been involved in two run outs as he was our best wicket taker. Friendly banter. Compare that with posts I have witnessed on facebook recently regarding Liverpool's qualification referring to "cheating bas***ds" and worse and then a line is crossed. But it's not just football, or cricket. Sadly it affects many sports nowadays. One of my closest friends has played hockey all his life, to county and national levels and now coaches a local club. The actions of some parents, and because of that their offspring is disgraceful.

Indeed what a fantastic season it has been. Well done to Tottenham last night and good luck to both Chelsea and Arsenal tonight. Wouldn't it be great to see an all England final in the UEFA as well as the Champions League. I don't understand football fans sometimes. A couple of my (now former) friends on facebook, people I have known for many years were gutted that Liverpool qualified on Tuesday and posted a number of really nasty comments about it. Then when I posted congratulations to Spurs last night and how much I was looking forward to an all England final delivered another round of vitriolic diatribe at which point I decided they were friends I could do without. I like Liverpool to win everything, of course I do, but if we can't then I like to see other English clubs do well. It seems that attitude is at odds with some, especially those who support the red half of Nottingham. We've just got to hope that Brighton can get something at home to Manchester City on Sunday, which is highly unlikely. I was hoping the relagation battle would go to the last day so that Brighton had a need to fight for their lives, but with that all resolved I can't see anything but an easy away win in that one.

this is the bit I can't agree with. Those corporate sponsors are paying hundreds of millions of pounds collectively every year to make this tournament possible, You can't take the money and not expect them to want involvement in the final. It is these tickets that will find there way into Liverpool Supporters hands, and like you I have no doubt that come the day the ground will look like a typical saturday afternoon at Anfield.

LIverpool and Spurs will wach receive just over 16,000 tickets, plus extras for staff, officials, players family etc. In total the allocation to the clubs will be just under 50% of the stadium. Of the remainder 5% of the total are allocated to european football associations, some will go to UEFA officials, some will be sold to hospitality companies and some will go to sponsors. Whilst I'm in full agreement that it's sad that only half the stadium is being set aside for supporters of the club, many of those other bums on seats are necessary evils in making this tournament what it is. Most of the tickets allocated to sponsors and UEFA officials will end up on resale sites. If you have upwards of 3.5k to spend they are already available on sites such as stub hub. I got my ticket for the 2005 final in Istanbul though one of these sites at a cost of £2650. When it arrived it had "UEFA Allocation" as the price, and when I took my seat, six places to the left of me sat Lennart Johansson, then President of UEFA. Somebody at UEFA made a very big killing by selling their tickets on. What does surprise me is that it is being held at the Metro, when the Bernabeu 10 minutes up the road can seat 13000 more.