MarkW

I'm at a biopesticide conference in California, and have just spent 20 minutes talking to the guy who invented the belt drive system used by Harley Davidson. Apparently they filed their first patent in 1975, which I think covered the belt, and then filed a later patent for the cog system. Just thought I'd share that with you guys since nobody else I know will give a toss, but it seemed cool to me.

Just arrived in Atlanta, and now waiting for my connection to San Francisco. The tea and crumpet-waving worked a treat at immigration.

"You vant Breeteesh verker? Drink tea? Scratch balls? Cost you five times as much moneys!"

That's easy - you vote 'not guilty'. "Better that a hundred guilty men go free than a single innocent man be punished." Benjamin Franklin said that. Or it might have been Rumpole of the Bailey...

So what did the EU ever do for us? Well, not much, apart from: • providing 57% of our trade • structural funding to areas hit by industrial decline • clean beaches and rivers • cleaner air • lead free petrol • restrictions on landfill dumping • a recycling culture • cheaper mobile charges • cheaper air travel • improved consumer protection and food labelling • a ban on growth hormones and other harmful food additives • better product safety • single market competition bringing quality improvements and better industrial performance • break up of monopolies • Europe-wide patent and copyright protection • no paperwork or customs for exports throughout the single market • price transparency and removal of commission on currency exchanges across the eurozone • freedom to travel, live and work across Europe • funded opportunities for young people to undertake study or work placements abroad • access to European health services • labour protection and enhanced social welfare • smoke-free workplaces • equal pay legislation • holiday entitlement • the right not to work more than a 48-hour week without overtime • strongest wildlife protection in the world • improved animal welfare in food production • EU-funded research and industrial collaboration • EU representation in international forums • bloc EEA negotiation at the WTO • EU diplomatic efforts to uphold the nuclear non-proliferation treaty • European arrest warrant • cross border policing to combat human trafficking, arms and drug smuggling • counter terrorism intelligence • European civil and military co-operation in post-conflict zones in Europe and Africa • support for democracy and human rights across Europe and beyond • investment across Europe contributing to better living standards and educational, social and cultural capital All of this is nothing compared with its greatest achievements: the EU has for 60 years been the foundation of peace between European neighbours after centuries of bloodshed. It furthermore assisted the extraordinary political, social and economic transformation of 13 former dictatorships, now EU members, since 1980. Now the union faces major challenges brought on by neoliberal economic globalisation, and worsened by its own systemic weaknesses. It is taking measures to overcome these. We in the UK should reflect on whether our net contribution of £7bn out of total government expenditure of £695bn is good value. We must play a full part in enabling the union to be a force for good in a multipolar global future. Disclaimer: All of the above was shamelessly stolen from a Facebook post by a friend, who herself shamelessly stole it from an article by Simon Sweeney, Lecturer in International Political Economy, University of York.

What's this visa stuff of which you speak? When I go to the US next week I'm planning on turning up at immigration with a cup of tea, singing Rule Britannia and waving a crumpet in the air.

Trump for president and Boris for PM. Just imagine the photo opportunities...

With much respect, you've slightly missed my point mate. I don't know enough about the intricacies of First Past the Post, Proportional Representation or Mixed Member voting systems to have an opinion that is worth a damn: I was just saying that the way our system currently works means that it is perfectly possible for the majority of the people who vote to get something they didn't vote for, in which case they are perfectly entitled to moan.

First Past the Post in a three-party system like ours means that the majority of people who vote can still get a government they don't want. If the percentage voting split is 40/30/30 the party with 40% wins and 60% of us get a government we didn't want.

Our electoral system means the country is often run by people that the majority of us didn't vote in. Yeh your right that needs changing as well . I think we need some sort of benign dictatorship. As long as I'm the dictator - that goes without saying...

Our electoral system means the country is often run by people that the majority of us didn't vote in.

I'm for staying in. Having worked closely with the EU Commission for many years (albeit in one fairly niche area) I have to say they are a damn site more efficient at getting things done than our lot. Sometimes, having our politicians told what they are going to do, how they are going to do it and by when can be quite handy. And it'll be another kicking for George Galloway, which is always a bonus.

I'm no expert on TVs, but I used to live near a farmer who liked to drive his tractor whilst wearing a flowery dress.

+1 A hydration pack is what made the biggest difference to my daily mileage on the continent: being able to drink on the move means I only need to stop for fuel now.

Too true. I was at the Yorkshire Show last year, standing in the queue for the burger van, when a young woman ahead of me collapsed. I didn't see it happen, and the first I realised there was a problem was when I saw people stepping over her to get to the counter! I've never understood how people can ignore someone who obviously needs assistance, and my instinct has always been to help. She was out for the count, so I made sure she was OK and stayed with her for the 20 minutes (yes, 20 minutes) it took for the shows paramedics to arrive. She came to briefly at one point, and tried to pull her ID out of her back pocket. There wasn't anything very useful in there except for her driving licence. This is often a good thing to check, because as in this case, a short validity period often indicates an underlying medical condition. Anyway, huge respect to you matey for stepping up to the plate under horrific circumstances. Those that stood idly by should hang their heads in shame.

Cheers. This contract also had very tight deadlines that we were obliged to meet, so we have been turning away all but the smaller projects in order to make sure we had capacity. I've had better days, it has to be said...

It's a tricky one: the main company is Kenya, so we wouldn't have any rights there, and the UK subsidiary with whom we have the contract is probably going to go bust. Either way it looks unlikely that we'll get anything. We're only a small company of five people, and business development is one of my roles. Better get to it I guess...

Thanks guys. I fear there's no easy solution here, as the client had raised a significant amount of finance to run this project, which obviously will all be pulled now the company is being sold. Finding a buyer could take a long time, and there's no guarantee that the new owner would want to run the project, or be able to raise the finance to do so. We are now in touch with our solicitors to see if there's any way we can claim some of the lost income. They haven't been honest with us at all: getting this contract was contingent on us increasing our capacity, both in terms of staff and facilities, which we did. The project then started a few month ago, and as late as Friday afternoon they were sending me emails with details of the next batch of material they were shipping to us and reiterating that they wanted everything completing this year. Going from that to deciding to sell up in the space of a weekend is mind-boggling!

Just had a call from our biggest client to say that they are selling their business and cancelling all on-going projects. That's just wiped £650,000 off our 2016 forecast at a stroke. Inconvenient is not the word.

Well said. I've been an active member on various forums over the years, and this is by far the best - so much so that it is now the only one I participate in. It's easy to take for granted, but the modding on here is superb in my opinion. I walked away from a musicians forum last year where one mod had a tendency to throw his weight around and then selectively delete posts to create his own version of reality, and where another would heroically grasp the wrong end of the stick whenever he was asked to intervene by other members. It also has to be said that a good many of those members were obnoxiously elitist - the sort who'll gleefully blowtorch some poor sods fledgling attempts at a bass solo on the basis that his tone isn't as good as Jaco Pastorius, or his Fender Jazz has the wrong sort of scratchplate. Tossers. Scuba forums are also pretty bad in my experience - amply populated by zero-to-hero types with more posts to their name than dives, all full of bravado and derring do at their underwater heroics. Not for me, I'm afraid. But this place I really like!

I've done a few trips through France on the bike and loved them all. Lots of sound advice above, to which I have nothing to add really. I've never bothered with breathalysers or triangles, but my spare waterproofs (for pulling on in torrential downpours) are hi-viz, satisfying any requirements for breakdowns. As far as I am aware filtering is illegal in France, but everyone does it - especially if you hit the peripherique in rush hour! The police bikers filter too, and didn't care less when a load of us followed them through the traffic as it parted in front of them. Have fun, and watch out for those nutty Parisian scooter riders!

Just tried one of those snazzy Dyson ball vacs. Bloody painful, and not really any cleaner than showering. Let's see if I have more luck with the ultrasonic ring cleaner...

No mention of me on the BBC news page as another infamous bass player who went to Madeley High School. Honestly, the standard of reporting these days...

Nice photo! It's amazing to look back on family photos taken so long ago, isn't it? They hadn't even thought about building the Titanic when that one was taken! We were at a family funeral a few weeks ago, and I think we realised that there are so few of us left that someone needs to collate, research and archive all these old photos if they are not to disappear in the mists of time. My mother is retired now, so the genealogy bit will give her something to do, and I'm happy to scan and annotate the images and take her for the odd research trip: her father was in the Cheshires between the wars and served extensively in India, so I'm sure a trip to their regimental museum in Chester would be fascinating.

Aye, but where is he when I need him? Out jitterbugging I shouldn't wonder, or whatever these young 'uns get up to nowadays...