oilworker

I use Barclays Internet Banking using the pin-sentry device - does this mean that if they know my pin code they can clone my bank card and then they can access my Barclays account online using any pin sentry machine?????

How can you tell by looking at the cash machine if it has one of these things fitted - is there something sticking out from the slot where the card is inserted or is it less obvious than that???

Why didn't you simply leave your soiled underwear on the bedroom floor and toilet seat up like everyone else - would have saved a lot of time and needless aggravation???

Thanks - I work in Italy and the no-socks and loafers look is still very big here (with white trousers rolled up at the bottom of course) - also stupid satin scarves and matching hanbags abound (and that's just the boys) - but all Italians are in some kind of a time warp - they still think it's clever to go around with a pastel shaded v-necked jumper draped over their shouders!! (They are in the Serie A league of dickheadism here!!)

"Interesting point about pedalling - I thought it was the opposite, riding fixed helped you go through the deadspot smoothly" - thats exactly the point - the fixed wheel takes you smoothly through the dead point but when you go back to a geared bike you can't rely on that effect and you end up with a jerky pedalling technique. ps I'm almost certain I had one of those red retro flyers - a triang something or other! (what happened to triang??)

"" Davros, no offence but Spitalfields is definitely a good place for your flatmate to work- there, Dalston, Hackney Wick, Bethnal Green, Shoreditch etc (please see Being a Dickhead's Cool on Youtube)."" I've just watched this on yourtube and I go the message "you are using an out-of-date browswer" Does having a retro browser make me cool or what??

Induction sessions at the veledrome are 9am Saturday mornings but it's probably shut for the winter now - the sun is not strong enough to dry out the dampness on the track and the surface is consequently v. slippy. Should open agin at easter (poss earlier cos Easter is late next year). Look on VCL website. No one will ever convince me that you can stop anything like as quick on a fixed wheel bike as you can with decent brakes - also on braking really hard on fixed theer is the danger of un-screwing the cog unless it has a lock ring (most fixed riders don't) - this results in having zero braking!!! It's a load of bollocks about riding fixed improving your pedalling style. We used to ride fixed (in the 1980's) all winter in the belief that this was true but we had to re-learn to pedal a geared bike each spring when the racing season came round cos a fixed wheel actually gives you a lazy pedalling style (it takes you over what we call the pedalling dead-spot"") anyway how much fixed riding did Armstrong, Contador and the King of pedallers Miguel Indurain do?? - That's right -none!! Stick to riding fixed on the track where it belongs!!

Dave - your "no-brakes" flat mate isn't brave - he just hasn't had the horrific accident that's inevitably coming his way yet - and he won't have a leg to stand on (quite possibly literally) when it comes time to sue the errant driver of the lorry/bus/mini cab etc. etc. ps do you also roll up your right jeans leg to the knee and wear a campagnolo cap?? (If so ask yourself why) pps (and this goes for you too Horsebox) wait until you've got something worth bragging about until you talk about your bike (which isn't really the done thing anyway) - something like a Ciocc track special with Columbus SLX tubing - no one's impressed by an of-the -shelf stocker!!.

"Down to 13 degrees" -?? So what ??- when I was growing up in Scotland in the 1960's (we'd never heard of central heating) we regularly had ice on our windows - on the inside!! We just used to go to bed with jumpers and pyjamas tucked into socks. Didn't do us any harm and I doubt it'll harm your little man either.

barcelonas up near harvester - two tapas + two bottles of Sol should see the job done for under twenty quid. They often have the footy on as well so u can stay behind and watch that once shes gone so the evenings not a complete write off. Why not just do it by txt or on her Facebook message board??

Initially euphoric - then it will back to the usual moaning about underwear lying on the bedroom floor and toilet seats being left up...

Steve - we already have track stars in abundance - track cycling was our most succcessful event at the Beijing Olympics - what we have to worry about is the next cohort - there are indeed lots of cyclists around but many of them are MIMIL's (Middle-aged men in Lycra) so we need to ensure a means of encouraging as many kids as possible to get into competitive cycling - that way the natural talent will be identified and developed from an early age.

In all honesty watching that rescue operation was as interesting as watching paint dry. I was hoping that the Chilean TV director would pan to pretty girls in the crowd like they do in the World Cup but no such luck.

"kick myself" I wish you would....

"Yep, it's a myth that the Italians are stylish. Crap leather jackets, tracksuits, ponytails, and stupid pointy shoes can be observed in abundance along the full length of the country." Yes but none of them (Italians) would wear a short sleeve shirt paired with a tie, chinos and cornish pasty shoes like many of my British work mates. The Italians' main downfall is a sheep-like adherence to designer labels - think fake Moncler jacket and YSL handbag (both girls and boys) - and they have ruined the British icon that was Belstaff (which is now Italian owned) by recreating the classic Trialmaster jacket in nylon. Che barba!!

Avoid the unwanted affects of deja vu simply by doing the same thing over and over again....

What have you been up to now Mr. T? Dastardly Deed!

Access (although currently not ideal) is a minor issue here. What is needed is DE's acknowledgement and agreement that this site will only be developed in a very modest commercial way and that its current status as a public facility will not be jeapordised. Sports like track cycling, mountain biking, football etc. (the first two of which currently go on here - the latter used to) simply do not return a financial profit which is why this existing facility must be jealously guarded. Any development wich is predicated upon DE achieving a substantail rental income on the site would be a disaster.

The citygrove deal has been in the pipeline for at least five years but nothing has ever come of it. DE (in 2005) gave the impression that any leisure development would be done with the needs of cycling in general and with the continued use of the track in particular. Is there evidence that this approach has been moved away from and that cycling will not have a place at the velodrome post-development? Local residents have a general interest in how any development is undertaken (in that they will not wish to see a busy leisure facility which is open 18 hrs a day with all the associated noise/disruption) . Cyclists have a particular interest in seeing continued use of the site for their sport. Both groups will have effective lobbiers - this site is nearly in the middle of Dulwich Village - a haven for self-interested property and planning lawyers. The prowess of the cycling lobby group has already been proven by its refusal to be fobbed off with a sub-standard substitute by the Olympic Development Agency when Eastway Stadium in Hackney was closed down to make way for the Olympic Stadia. Both groups together should be enough to scare off any rapacious property developers but we cannot be complacent. Join the campaign!

It depends what it says in the rental agreemnet regarding who pays for re-decoration when the flat is given up - for short lease its often the tennant - esp if it was newly decorated when u moved in. My tip is to "borrow" some tippex from work (like I did in my old flat in camberwell when selling it - I used it to cover up some damp patches on the white ceiling) - thined dowwn with tippex thinners to the right consistency it works a treat!!

Talking of getting rid of the dead carcass (sorry tautology), i found a dead one in our back garden - it was as stiff as a board so when i put it in the wheelie bin its tail (sorry brush) was sticking out the top - they're longer than you think! Anyway bin men didn't bat an eyelid and off it went to landfill!!

But harsh JL - I'm just off for a run now - if I'm not back in 30 mins call me an ambulance...

I heard on the radio the other day that there are people alive now who will live to about 1,000 yrs old....

A "walloper" supper would've brightened your day - washed down with barr's American Cream Soda.

Mrs O and I were recently in Liguria at a place called "Lovers'Walk" (Via del"Amore) where there are lots of these things. Some local wag had decided to add a tampon to the display. Let's hope that particular custom doesn't catch on in London.