Loz

the big question is.. will 'Jedi' make the list after it's great success last time?

Kbabe01, I don't think you follow - it is the date of the strike that is the issue here. If you want to strike on the 2nd or 3rd or 7th or 10th or whatever, then fine - go for it. Striking on the 5th of November - the busiest day of the year for fires - is just plain irresponsible. It doesn't matter what your grievances are. Nothing justifies striking on bonfire night.

Well, kbabe01, my knowledge of the dispute is the same as 99% of the public and I am pretty sure they will come to the same conclusion as me. If the fire fighters want to lose all public support then they are going exactly the right way about it. Remember - the firefighters chose the date of the strike. You can shout and shriek and WRITE IN CAPITAL LETTERS as much as you like, it won't change that fact. And that's what the public will see,

Kbabe01 - at least my opinion is not going to get anyone killed. Yours is.

Oh - one thing NOT to do is what a friend of mine did and somehow got away with. She threw a birthday party for her boyfriend which doubled as a surprise wedding. Remarkably, they are still together.

Iaincoubert, You sound like you are in full agreement with this strike date and even sound like you are relishing the havoc, and probably deaths, this will cause. I don't know, nor care, who Mr Coleman is. I just know that every person that dies in a fire on bonfire night will be the fault of the firefighters union and those that supported this strike date. If the fire fighters had any sense and any decency, they'd be telling their union to change the date of the strike PDQ. They might even get a bit of good PR if they did. Fire fighters used to above this, and the public respected them for that. I remember a strike a few years ago when they were all on the pickets, but all pretty much 'on call' and ready should the worst have happened. Nowadays they pick the single worst day of the year to strike. I think the word I need rhymes with 'bar soles'. As I said, I have no idea of who wants what in this dispute. I just hope now the fire fighters lose. Badly.

I've just read that the strike will be on Bonfire night. I don't know much on who is right and who is wrong in this dispute, but this is going to lose the firefighters a lot of support. It is just completely irresponsible. Why do unions do this? It's like when BA cabin crew thought about striking over Christmas. Inconvenience the bosses and the organisation as much as you like, but striking on the stupidest day you can think up is just self-defeating. Frankly, I hope the FFs lose now. Sod them.

The missus and I wanted to be married - the getting married bit was incidental. We held the wedding with immediate family only - ceremony in a lovely garden setting by the river on the edge of Perth, Aus, with a boat trip back to the city (laden with drinks) with dinner at a nice restaurant for all. Simple, but the best day ever with minimal organisation and didn't cost a lot, either. I've never seen the point of spending tens of thousands to feed and water a bunch of people you only invited because you felt you had to. And as for the standard wedding speech malarkey - no thanks. No best man, no bridesmaids - just me, the missus and our nearest and dearest. Perfect.

N-Dubz: the most successful joke band ever. Just edging out the HeeBeeGeeBees.

Wagner was again, utterly but awfully brilliant. I'd love to know if the final group flash by the dancers was a little joke he wasn't in on. I thought that only Cardle and Katie Weasel stuck with the 'Guilty Pleasures' theme. Since when has Led Zepp been a guilty pleasure?

david_carnell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If you're on a tight budget, Eastern Europe might > be a decent bet. The resorts are small but this > won't matter as a beginner. > > Bulgaria might be worth looking at. And the > instructors are as likely to speak English there > as they are elsewhere on the continent. > > I've not been myself but have heard lots of good > reports. That's very true, David. With the added bonus of very cheap beer.

Proof that Rebecca can sing more than just jazz favourites... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIk6uYuFIAI (Vocals start at about 01.30)

Mazza, See this page for lots and lots of info, but suffice to say the right piece of plastic is your best bet.

I'm in my mid-40s and I'm still never the oldest boarder on the hill! The first couple of days of boarding hurt (you fall a lot) but after that you will progress faster than you will skiing and off-piste on a board is much easier than on skis. Skiing is still fun, though, and I'll probably go back to two planks one day. ?750 is probably on the low side, especially if you want private tuition. As a budget... - ?500 to ?700 for the actual trip (flights, accommodation, transfers and food). A bit more for the train, but you can get 8 days on the hill in compared to 6 if you fly (as you travel overnight). - ?100 for ski/boot hire - ?160 for 5 half day ski tuition in a group. You can (at least) double this if you want 1 to 1. - ?160 to ?240 for six days ski lift pass (depends on the resort). Some companies (e.g. http://www.outgoingski.co.uk) offer all-in deals which can be good value. Also, I would recommend you try and talk a mate into coming with you. Learning with a friend is more fun and the lessons are generally half-days, so you will have someone to ski with in the afternoons.

Nero, That depends - what is your budget like? Smaller resorts are cheaper and as you will probably only get onto 4 or 5 pistes tops in your first week, going to a massive area like the Three Valleys is probably wasting your cash. This may sound terribly racist, but I would go for a ski school that is British run, at least for your first week - they are geared up to the British market. Of course, if you really want to push the boat out, you could always go for Canada or the US! Avoid ESF schools in France - they are better than they used to be, but there are still better options out there. Small independents are best, especially for 1-1 tuition. The resort itself isn't usually terribly important (though I wouldn't recommend St Anton in Austria as the nursery slope is very small). I would short list a few resorts after looking through a few tour company websites, then look at www.skiclub.co.uk to see the resort info, then check google for local schools. Italy and Austria are generally cheaper than France and Switzerland. You'll pay ?7 for a pint in most big French resorts. Ouch. This isn't a bad list of resorts, though by no means exhaustive. Your other option is to do a course or two at one of the local snowdomes - Hemel Hempsted and Milton Keynes are the closest. I would recommend this option as you will ski the nursery slope bit when you finally get onto the real stuff. You will get past the side sliding and snow plough bits. But, if you'd like to learn to snowboard, I can recommend an absolutely brilliant school in Morzine/Avoriaz - Mint Snowboarding.

Why does the Angus Steak House have a vegetarian option, but the local veggie restaurant not have a meat option? Because, as Huguenot says, it is less a lifestyle decision and more a cult. As Thomas said, "The quicker we understand what in Dulwich isn?t vegan, the quicker we can make it vegan!" Luckily, most vegans are too weak and pallid to really ever attempt to overthrow the system... ::o

aps1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Have you considered using a pre paid mastercard ? > You can just store money on it and use it abroad > without transaction charges Not according to their T&C's of the card you linked to (http://www.mycashplus.co.uk/). You will pay 2.99% transaction charge for non-Sterling purchases and up to ?3 charge for using a foreign ATM (and then the 2.99% on top of that). There are much cheaper way to get currency abroad.

If they do, three will disappear without trace. Only Matt Cardle and Rebecca have any chance of a career.

Huguenot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sure thing Louisiana, but in specialist areas like > software development the Chinese workers get paid > the same as their western counterparts - so > there's a level playing field. Don't think that's true - we still offshore a load of stuff to India to save dosh. A lot of companies are moving their Indian operations to China because it's cheaper still.

I thought all the champagne went Left?

*Bob* Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Loz Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > A little tale that has been doing the rounds > > today... > > Bullingdon Club? What-ho, eh. Pass the port, there's a good chap.

Not as many as SteveT got in 1950.

A little tale that has been doing the rounds today... Suppose that once a month, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all of them comes to ?100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes and claim State benefits, it would go something like this; The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay ?1.
The sixth would pay ?3.
The seventh would pay ?7.
The eighth would pay ?12.
The ninth would pay ?18.
And the tenth man (the richest) would pay ?59. So, that?s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every month and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until, one day, the owner caused them a little problem. ?Since you are all such good customers,? he said, ?I?m going to reduce the cost of your weekly beer by ?20.? Drinks for the ten men would now cost just ?80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free but what about the other six men; the paying customers? How could they divide the ?20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share? They realised that ?20 divided by six is ?3.33 but if they subtracted that from everybody?s share then not only would the first four men still be drinking for free but the fifth and sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So the bar owner suggested a different system. The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing.
The sixth man paid ?2 instead of ?3 .
The seventh paid ?5 instead of ?7.
The eighth paid ?9 instead of ?12.
The ninth paid ?14 instead of ?18.
And the tenth man now paid ?49 instead of ?59. 
Each of the last six was better off than before with the first four continuing to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. ?I only got ?1 out of the ?20 saving,? declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, ?but he got ?10!? ?Yes, that?s right,? exclaimed the fifth man. ?I only saved a ?1 too. It?s unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!? ?That?s true!? shouted the seventh man. ?Why should he get ?10 back, when I only got ?2? The rich get all the breaks!? ?Wait a minute,? yelled the first four men in unison, ?we didn?t get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!? So, the nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. Funnily enough, the next month the tenth man didn?t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came to pay for their drinks, they discovered something important ? they didn?t have enough money between all of them to pay for even half the bill.

mockney piers Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > and juuuust in case anyone is willing to believe > that X Factor Judge == talent, here's a reminder > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwLFMdlZgAg > > No need to do one for Cheryl, I'm pretty sure it's > self evident. is even better/worse. Young Talent Time. Even at 8 years old I knew it was bloody awful television...

It's Friday and, even better, I'm off with my free ticket to the Ski/Snowboard show tonight. My official start of the winter season. Wax on...