Paul

I made a New Years Resolution in millennium year. I am pleased to be able to say 18 years later that I have kept rigidly to it. It was never to make any more New Years resolutions.

Perhaps they're coming from Curry's. We should have paid the surcharge for a fixed delivery day.

I thought I'd pop back and update this thread. I ordered a new Sony XA-1 Ultra from Giff Gaff at 9.30 on Tuesday evening. The price was very reasonable, much less than Argos / Amazon et al. The phone arrived before 9:00 am next morning, quite impressive, especially in the run up to Christmas. First impressions are very promising. About the only thing that the phone doesn't seem to have which the Galaxy did is fingerprint recognition but I'm not too worried about that. The Xperia transfer app was very useful, moving everything from my old phone, apps, photos, videos, contacts, messages etc which is useful as I can no longer connect it via the USB port. So far, very impressed with the phone and the service from Giff Gaff

I understand Tom Cunliffe is en route to film the repairs for the come back of his "boat yard series". I have acquired a brief synopsis of the script ...... This week I've come to Portsmouth to meet Jerry, a man who has just taken delivery of a boat with a problem. This is a boat with a leak meaning one thing. The whole thing is slowly sinking. Can Jerry fix it before all three billion pounds worth of boat ends up as scrap metal. It's going to be close ......... Jerry, tell us about the boat, and the problem ahead. Well Tom, this is HMS Queen Elizabeth, or "Old Bess" for short. Whilst on sea trials we found a leak from one of the prop shafts leaving water gushing into the bilge. That must have been very frightening .... Not really Tom, sea trials are designed to highlight any issues such as this an enable us to fix them before she enters service. Was there much panic on board when it was found that she was actually sinking .... Not really Tom, there was never a danger of her sinking, the rate of water ingress was much less than the capacity of the pumps. So what sort of boat is HMS Queen Elizabeth .... She's an Aircraft Carrier Tom, often referred to as a "flat top" But I was just up on her deck Jerry and I didn't see any launch paraphinalia, catapults, arrestors etc? No Tom, she doesn't have any of that, she's designed to carry short take off / vertical landing aircraft only. Oh, you mean Helicopters? Yes Tom, as well as Lockheed F35B fighter aircraft. I didn't realise we had any of those err, we don't A kind of aircraft carrier with no aeroplanes then (insert self important smirk and slight giggle here). So what is the plan to fix her, will she have to come out of the water? No, the contractor assures us they can fix the problem whilst she is lying alongside Portsmouth That sounds difficult, repairing a shaft seal whilst she is in the water The contractors intend to surround the effected area with a rubber bag which will be sealed to the hull allowing the repairs to be carried out. A kind of "carrier" bag you mean (insert self important smirk and slight giggle here ..... again) Well folks, the race is on, Can Jerry fix his ship before disaster strikes, You know I think it's going to be tough, but there is something about Jerry that tells me he can do it, he's the right man for the job. Come back after the break to see how he gets on ........

I would like to state for the avoidance of any doubt that the finance example shown above is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute an offer of credit.

Surely not Curry's, I thought we were buying it from Brighthouse on the never never. Product cost £3 billion plus "optional" warranty, plus "optional" accidental damage cover (excludes theft, act of god, war, terror or malicious damage) 1,560 weeks at £67 million, total payable £40 billion, APR 69.9%

Now that's my kind of thinking. Online reviews of the XA Ultra seem reasonable so I have ordered one from giff gaff, who supply unlocked phones which means I can use the last two months of my Vodafone contract which I was willing to burn, just to get rid of the abysmal Samsung phone. Once that contract has expired I will join giff gaff in February. I won't bother about the unlock code for my phone, I will have great pleasure is destroying it. I am taking great delight in what form that destruction shall take,current favourite is to draw a target on it and use it as a target to zero the sights on my Titan Manitou.

bummer, you mean I can't say bogey on the forum, my life will surely come to an end. Are you sure that it was censored by the mods, or was it simply picked up by the forum software filter, over which I doubt our mods have much influence. Is there something about Jenny's Norfukkian dialect which causes you offence kadensa, if so I'm sure the mods will look at your concerns. Or are you just trying to stir the "faeces" (again)?

I'm with Vodafone now but the coverage around my home is not good, plus there have been a number of "outages" recently, one of which lasted four days. I must have a reliable network at home as that is how my work contact me. If they can't get hold of me they'll pass my jobs on to someone else and I lose out. I looked at the Huawei, I know the brand from mifi dongles I've used in the past, but the screen is not big enough. Every inch matters (don't say a word Gracie!) . The XA Ultra has six which is the minimum. I'd like 7 inches really, but then you are into phablet territory and the only UK supported models are mega money. I don't think I'm brave enough to buy one from the US or Far Eastern market where they are much more common and much cheaper.

I'm entering the last month of my existing contract with Vodafone and the wretched device Samsung call the S6. In the past I have always used Sony mobiles, but having been with Samsung for a couple of years am out of touch with the current models. I need a large screen so looking at the XA1 Ultra. Are they still as reliable as they used to be, Elaine has one which is a similar age to my S6 which is still looking and working like new but she doesn't hammer it like I would. Also what is O2 coverage like around the broads, it is most likely I will move to giff-gaff (again, following Elaine's lead) which is carried on the O2 network. Any input most welcome and much appreciated.

A rowing boat toll this year was 32.85, if you use an electric outboard it attracts a lower toll than motor boats which start from 50.00 for boats 5m2 and under,so the increase is not huge, unless it's a particularly large dingy.

Is that Sykes by any chance, can highly recommend them. Used them a number of times for "proper" timber

Will there be varying "stiffnesses" of brush head available? Will Clive be providing the super soft mohair version on his Platinum Fleet but the standard "nut scraper" on the classics?

crikey, getting better than Corrie, all this argie bargie.

I find it interesting that the claimant denied knowledge of the plans for "Radleys" when it was discussed at length at Parish Council meetings (the Parish Council previously refused permission for change of use to residential on the grounds of lost amenity to the village). The claimant was a regular attendee at these meetings even before becoming a councilor himself.

Correct, WD is for Water Dispersant and it was the 40th formula tried

I've long since held that local / district councils should not have the authority to issue orders of this kind, at least without reference to a magistrate. The system is too open to abuse by a level of local authority which does not have a great record of integrity (and I am not referring to any one council) The fact that the complainant in this case is a parish councillor is bound to leave a slight whiff of fish in the air.

but comfortably less than similar offerings from BB,so still offers the excellent value you expect from PC

Enchantress is back on the Thames.

I moved from British Gas to Iresa. Our monthly DD reduced from £86 a month to £47. After 18 months we have saved over £700, plus we are £50 in credit on what we are paying now.

It appears that all the "comments" regarding Enterprise and their motivation for the original closure made on the "closing" thread are being borne out.

That's fine, but I draw the line at the Stinking Bishop

Perhaps we could have a bit added to the avatar displaying our stance towards the "Authority", Slagger, Supporter and perhaps various various stages in between, determining the names of which could be used to fend off our winter blues? Perhaps somewhere in the middle would be "undecided", or perhaps "floating voter"?

Finally got Breydon settled at 3.30 this morning, then off to bed. Up just after 6 with Jamie, got him his breakfast, toured the house with a bin liner, emptied all the bins and the rubbish from Jamie's bedroom. Collected Breydon's bottles, washed and sterilized them ready for him waking. Tidied Jamie's toys and vacuumed the Lounge, hall and stairs. Collected the dirty laundry from the bedrroms and put the first load in the machine. Made a cuppa and sat down to listen to Clueless on Radio Leicester, forgetting that they cancel it on Remembrance Sunday so started listening to Treasure Quest on Norfolk instead. Gave up, it's painful since David Clayton left. Mowed the front Lawn and communal lawns opposite the house. Washed the car. Burped Breydon after his mummy had given him his "breakfast". I just seem to have the knack. Took the first load out of the washer and into the tumble dryer, second load into the washing machine. Went to Hinckley shopping. Got home, had a cuppa and a yummy donut from Morrisons's, emptied the washing machine into the dryer, load 3 onto the machine. Went to see friends who sent lots of goodies for Breydon and took them a thank you gift. Got back home, put pizza and dough balls in the oven for tea. Sat down to eat it and put the recording of the Grand Prix on only for it to have stopped half way through, thank you useless Talk Talk box, I didn't want to see the end anyway. Did the washing machine and dryer again, Ironed Jamies uniform for the week. Sat on the sofa with a cuppa and dozed, so now waiting for the last load to finish drying, then off to bed. Up at 3.30 in the morning for work, two pallets to North Wales then collections all afternoon. Looking forward to the rest.

I agree it is very sad to see Maffett go. We too never hired from them, as many years ago we booked with Pacific Cruisers via Blakes and that was that, we never go anywhere else but Broads01 is quite right, Loddon does make the best starting point for a boating holiday. Just looking at Trambo's photo that picture is real "old broads", it could date back to almost any time. The loss of these small yards over the last twenty years or so is really sad.