Mississippi Bullfrog

We already have a mechanism that controls vehicle speed. It's called the driver's brain. Unfortunately too many drivers seem not to be fitted with this option, or if they have one installed they don't activate it. So you can thank all those muppets doing stupid speeds for this development.

My parents are in their 80s and most insurers won't offer them motor cover. They've always phoned direct as they don't use comparison sites. I think a lot of insurers won't provide cover for older folks.

I'd be pretty brassed off with that response. We are with an alternative breakdown organisation who I have never called out in years except the once, when our daughter drove the car a few inches too far onto a muddy grass verge and got stuck. Technically it wasn't covered within our membership but as they said - you've paid your membership for years and never called us out so it's our chance to show a bit of goodwill - and they sent a guy to tow her out, check over the car and get her back on the road. So they've kept my annual subscription ever since. Perhaps time for you to switch cover?

I've never had a problem with spray dry wax - having tried many different ways it works for me. Little and often is my preferred method. Which reminds me my tin is nearly empty - however J&S at Delamere is literally minutes down the road from our new house so that's a temptation I will need to learn to resist.

The other side of the coin is those parents who abdicate all responsibility for their offspring and assume it is the state's responsibility to teach them manners, morals and even how to eat, never mind anything to do with the national curriculum. I can see why some teachers lose the plot. And then there's constant reorganisation by ministers in Whitehall who are clueless, constant underfunding and persistent sniping from all angles - if results go up the exams are too easy, if results go down teachers are to blame - and half the time the children who need it most never even make it into the classroom to begin with. Our last school was a former secondary school pressed into use as a primary school. The difference in funding per head between a secondary pupil and a primary pupil is massive - but we're still meant to run the same decrepit buildings and deliver the results. A saving grace was that there was a funding stream that recognised oversized buildings so provided some kind of buffer for the budget - until that sneaky Mr Gove at a stroke just cancelled that budget coding so we lost a huge sum of money. Guess what - the school has been in a deficit ever since and is losing staff hand over fist. The thing with education is you can commit your heart and soul to it and all you'll get in return is a kick in the teeth. This country will get the teachers it deserves - if we're getting bad teachers then there's a reason.

You just have to post that pic It's on my daughter's phone. I'll get her to send it to me when we get home.

Went Ludlow Castle with my wife, daughters and two sons-in-law, my wife wanted a group photo of us standing on top of a wall. Guess who stepped backwards just as the photo was taken? I am just a rapidly descending blur.

I just gave. They come in blue wrapping. This confuses me, surely the jammy ones ought to be in the red wrapping?

I have just eaten a jammy wagon wheel purchased from Tesco's in Ludlow following an afternoon touring the Ludlow Brewery. From this perspective the world is generally a rather happy place.

Still you can always contemplate the joy of having dental work done when you are immune to anesthetic. I discovered this whilst having a tumour removed from my spine and discovered I was awake. I happened to believe I was the Lone Ranger and someone had nicked my horse which resulted in two surgeons and four porters restraining me. This was an interesting if slightly disturbing experience and one which has caused several medical issues subsequently. It does make having teeth pulled somewhat less pleasant. Just for fun they tried me up to the maximum legal dose and then some and were interested in the continuing conversation which was conscious if not entirely lucid. I believe the medical term is "awkward sod."

It depends. A 12volt battery is really six 2 volt batteries connected in series. If the cells drop equally you can save the battery but it can happen that one or more cells will die before others. The healthier cells then effectively recharge the dud one which means that cell goes reverse charge, in which case the battery is stuffed. That's a bit over simplified but after a few beers that's the best I can come up with.

Yes They're so nice! But you're right.. Really shouldn't be. I will say as well, I do adore tunnocks caramel wafers. They make me feel like a little kid again Well that's got to be more than a coincidence. Left to my own devices our shopping trolley always gets to the till with Wagon Wheels and Tunnocks Caramels. Maybe there's some kind of genetic predisposition for Wagon Wheels, Tunnocks Caramels and motorbikes. Someone could win the Nobel prize for science investigating it?

It's small comfort but we've all done it. I think it's ready some kind of right of passage. Very frustrating when it happens because you feel such a clot. I fit reminder cables to my disc locks and I've made a habit of moving the bike manually every time just to make sure I haven't done anything daft.

Why do Haggis only live in Scotland , is it not illegal to Hunt them now ? So long as you use a bow and arrow it’s perfectly legal. But you mustn’t shoot them with any form of firearm. No self respecting haggis hunter would use a firearm anyway but some poachers have been known to do so. The problem arises when you boil them, if they’ve been shot the skin bursts and you’re left with a pan of mush which isn’t nice. Global warming has of course limited their natural habitat but it seems they’re showing signs of adapting and numbers in the wild are on the increase. But you do want a proper wild haggis rather than a farmed one.

Can we take a moment to consider wagon wheels....they are obviously made of cheap chocolate, some kind of chemically composed filling and the actual biscuit bit is pretty much like compressed cardboard....so they should be horrible, right? Except they’re not...they’re amazing. How’s that work then?

I’ve had some terrible haggis and some absolutely wonderful haggis. You really need to get hold of a good one to appreciate what it can be like. You want a really good supplier who knows their stuff. The type you buy at the local supermarket doesn’t do haggis justice.

Never had tripe but I do love a proper black pudding.

The back end reminds me of our music teacher when I was at school. He looked just like that. Enjoy it.

A priming charge is just a very low amp charge to raise the voltage back to the point where a standard charger will recognise the battery and be able to do the usual charging. I have a regular thing where elderly people don’t drive all winter so by spring their car battery is flat. They call out a mechanic who tries to charge the battery, it won’t take a charge so they say it’s scrap and sell them a new battery. I’ve taken those scrap batteries, put them on a 400Ma charge for a couple of hours, then put them on my standard charger and hey presto, one perfectly healthy battery. Amazon sell a Silverline 12v 500Ma charger for £7.99, that’s pretty similar to what I use.

About a month ago I towed my two boats to our new house ready to move them to our new sailing club. The club opened last week so I decided to move the boats this afternoon. They'd been on our drive for a month just as I'd towed them here so I just hitched up and set off. Which was fine until I got down the road and glanced in the mirror to see one of the launch trolley wheels bouncing down the road. Someone had removed the clip on that axle so the wheel wasn't secured. No excuse, I should have checked the whole thing before setting off. Imagine if it had hit someone on a bike coming the other way! I'm normally a bit OCD about towing anything, I'd just assumed it was as I'd left it a few weeks ago.

Check the fuse first of course. But worth mentioning that a very flat battery won't take a charge off a standard charger. If the battery is totally dead you sometimes need to give it a very low amperage charge to raise the voltage back .... I use a 400Ma charger for gel cells for really dead batteries. A couple of hours on that then back to the standard charger. So check the battery voltage as well. Anything under 12v and it may need a priming charge.

I love superglue....years ago I built an electric model plane when we were using rubbish motors and nicads. Power to weight ratio with the heavy battery pack was woeful so the airframe had to be as light as possible. So I built the wing out of ultra thin balsa and then poured about half a pint of superglue over it rubbing it all over with my hand constantly. The wing got hot enough to smoke and by the end of it I had a thick crust of superglue on my hand, which just peeled off by the way. Then I sanded it until you could read newsprint through the wing. It weighed 90% of nothing and was seriously strong. On one occasion I clipped a concrete bollard with it which chipped a piece of concrete out but the wing wasn't even marked. I covered it in pink shrink foil and called it Wicked Willie. Totally irrelevant to the original problem I'm afraid but there you are.

I do too! Charge a fortune and useless! Main delay in this was my dentist didn't want to attempt it because of complications which is understandable and fair play he was honest, but then dentist I was referred to who was supposedly better tried and couldn't then said I'd be referred to hospital but instead of that another dentist decided he wanted to have a go so got called back there for him to try (and fail miserably) before giving up and referring me to hospital. Funnily enough hospital done it with no issues and really nice dentist. But guarantee she probably earns a fraction of what the private practice ones earn. Same sort of thing happened to me , she tried to pull it and she hadn't numbed it properly , nearly hit the ceiling and like a fool I let her have another go ....on the second attempt still wasn't numbed properly and you'd of thought she was trying to Excalibur from the stone , was like she didn't have the strength . got referred to a another dentist , numbed it one yank and it was out . I had an awkward one out about a month ago. My dentist reckoned it would be difficult so referred me to our local hospital. They refused to accept the referral until she'd tried herself, the attitude was that they'd only get involved once she'd tried, broken it and I was in pain. Then they'd out me on a six week triage list! She suggested a colleague who charged me £125 to remove it but to be fair he got it in one go. His advice was always to get a male dentist to remove men's teeth, especially old farts like me with hardened bones. He wasn't being sexist, his point was that he'd used all his strength to get it out and most female dentists just wouldn't have been strong enough to remove it without complications. It annoyed me that our local hospital wouldn't do it until my (lady) dentist had broken it. She knew it was beyond her so fair play to her for referring me elsewhere. I know my teeth are an issue as I got measles when I was a kid and it did some horrible things that I'm still living with. Deformed teeth roots is the least of the problems.

I think the real connection is made clear by the Blue Brothers song - Rubber Biscuit. "If it don't bounce back - you go hungry...." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhAdzzYSKfY

I've had bikes with and bikes without. Those with I've never activated it but all the same these days I'd go for a bike with ABS every time. It only takes that one moment to make it worth it.