h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

.
'Morning Bx4

I'm in a rush to get to a big city pow-wow and will try and post later today. I hope you and the cat have a good day and don't miss Bx4 SO too much. BDT

At desk lunch break

powwow: I hope it generates more euros/pounds for you

SO: I miss, not sure about non-Diogenes though

BS

.
"...I thought the moment of parting might earn me a bit of sympathy…"

Clearly being on two wheels is important to you and I'm sure Bx4 SO will understand this. Myself I'm half thinking about downsizing to workmanlike 500. This would appear to have the benefit of a good "bangs to bucks" ratio and appeal to my like of mechanical minimalism. On the minus size I quite like the wheels I have now. I've grown quite used to the handling and never feel as certain on any loan machine.

Weather has improved throughout the day and the sun has been shining.

"… On PM a representative of the Scottish Govt. said 'Shove it' only more politely…"

I wonder what passes for a focus group these days that the allegiance proposal saw the light of day.

"…SO's surprise..?"

I don't make a habit of shouting at the radio at six in the morning.

"… I have been rather sternly been told to tell you…"

I consider myself told!

"… the cat…"

I've got one of these too and bear the scars.

Powwow; the morning session is finished and will reconvene at three. Far too early to count Euros.

two wheels: Or three in the right configuration. The SO will not be readily be forgiven for the 'runabout' suggestion.

I don't need a city runabout. I get the harbour ferry to Landungsbrücken (probably you were there or thereabouts on your trip to Dresden) and the whole of the integrated HVV transport system lies before me.

The 'boxer' is for much more serious travel.

My negotiating power is increasing as I have now reached critical euromass on the quad

workmanlike 500: I advise extreme caution here. I you make that your opening bid the SO will negotiate you down to a 250. I am not sure about the 500 anyway - severe loss of face with fellow megaburner enthusiasts.

focus groups: I am not sure its a new idea. Didn't one of the madder Tories propose a 'cricket' test before you got citizenship.

Scottish Govt: Salmond's latest wheeze is to say that his government will replace Council Tax with a local income tax.

Question is how the 'Union' parties will respond. I suspect they lose either way. I think they are less good at the 'voter thingy' that Gar was wittering on about

Six o'clock: I am truly impressed by your dedication to Today. I have pretty much stopped listening. Stops me from hurling the radio at the wall when Pomp and McPiffle come on.

Its the former that really irritates me, working class boy desperately trying to pass. He should read Fanon. A Daily Mail enthusiast I believe.

Mostly using iplayer at the moment to follow the odd TV programme

Scars: Mine is quite friendly in an aloof sort of way; Seems to be adjusting well except for the lack of rabbits.

Euros: Hope it went well

.
"…The SO will not be readily be forgiven for the 'runabout' suggestion… much more serious…"

OK I'm going to do a New Labour and shy away from this one. I'm very pleased however that you now have the Euros to allow a choice of actions.

"…HVV…"

It's been five years or more though I do remember the system worked fine. I can't remember place names though.

"…make that your opening bid the SO will negotiate you down to a 250…"

Fortunately my SO doesn't take an interest in engines so will not even know about 250s. I'm mean with road tax so limbo dancing under the 600 bar is a consideration. Alas due to inflation most work a day 600s are now 650s. That leaves the GS500 which I agree doesn't have street cred. That said impressing mega burner enthusiasts is part of my plan. Whether the 500 twin could ever substitute for a 600 four is however a consideration. Whilst maintenance and weight remains manageable I'll stick with what I've got.

"…local income tax…"

Personally I'd rather a national increase in VAT and money distributed to councils according to need. Most local cash is raised centrally whilst spend is dictated nationally so why endure the political pain of inflicting a separate tax?

"…the 'voter thingy' that Gar was wittering on about…"

Gâr is as scarce as a Lisbon Treaty referendum these days, perhaps he'll reappear one day soon in a new persona?

"…a 'cricket' test…"

I'd fail.

"…Six o'clock: I am truly impressed by your dedication to Today…"

It's me getting up to go to work; nothing to be impressed about. I think Today is at its simplest and most efficient between 0600 and 0655.

"…Fanon…"

I'll confess to not knowing about him though the "wiki" write up is interesting.

"…the lack of rabbits…"

Tasty rabbit pie.

"…Euros: Hope it went well…"

It seemed to, the client appeared happy with us.

.
"...impressing mega burner enthusiasts is part of my plan..."

"isn't" not "is" (with apologies for any other sloppiness).

Nulabour: No need the SO and I always reach an amicable outcome.

Choice: An improved negotiating position

Euros: I'm a bit surprised at how cheap quads seem to be.

Names: Landungsbrücken is the big interchange hub on the Elbe.

http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/fileadmin/media/foto-galerie/hamburg/hamburg-landungsbruecken-2.jpg

megaburners: Something like this maybe:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/w650.htm

I quite like the retro look.

500 twin: Not, I assume as in twin boxer.

weight: Surely your current machine is likely to wear out before that becomes a problem.

I am still rather wedded to the trike strategy but I may have to go for an alternative. I quite fancy this in the slate grey metallic

http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/bikes/bike.jsp?b=2008r1200gs&p=overview

or this in silver

http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/bikes/bike.jsp?b=r1200rt&bikeSection=tour


VAT: Not sure I agree. I'm in favour of subsidiarity a la Maastricht. Everything devolved to lowest level possible.

'voter thingy: VOTER THEORY

gar: briefly appeared as selsey then vanished. Maybe he just got bored. I think I am beginning too as well.

cricket test: me too. my crazed headmaster was into it but I found a long stop/last man strategy worked for me.

most efficient: for me it's between 0600 and 0601. I have even given up TFT and the joy of its tortured metaphors.

Fanon: Very 60s but still appropriate. Think Gordy's Britishness.

Rabbit Pie: They are shown but not donated.

client: Hope approval generates euros.

I really need to disengage from knock about referendm thread and get back to serious one. I wonder if the shut threads down if they are inactive for too long?

Day off to-morrow still get pd though.

.
Coincidentally one of our weekend guests is a quad owner. I seem to remember him telling me how much it cost; I promptly forgot the number, though it was certainly a lot cheaper than a rice burner. There was no top drawer badge and the machine came from PRC. Nether the less I enjoyed my play on it.

Looking at your photo links (thank you) starting with the miniature Landungsbrücken I'm sure I've been there. Whilst the retro 650 looks great I'm wedded to the idea of a bike with panniers or one that panniers can be easily attached. Hence your R1200RT would appeal. Also I quite like the idea of a bike with good availability of spare parts, hence long production runs and high volume sales are more desirable than the desirable. The rice burner GS500 I'm vaguely looking at is an in line twin and seemingly built for riding schools. For now I'll keep my four, the critical changeover point will come when I feel maintenance costs become prohibitive.

On VAT I hear where you're coming from though we are nowhere near subsidiary in the UK. I missed Gâr's "selsey" manifestation. I'm sorry you are tiring of the Today MB. I think you may wish to consider some of your own advice (if I've read you correctly) and admit that the world is bent and there is no right way to straighten it and there is certainly no way to convince everyone that it's the right thing to do. Power will never devolve down to our level, the political elite have long since got everything sewn up.

Gordon Brown's Britishness? Who is his intended audience? The English? Maybe if he comes to his senses, and starts to think, he'll win a fourth term. Britishness will have nothing to do with it.

I received some rather worrying news about the client this morning. Ho hum nose to the grindstone. I think referendum thread 3 has got to the point that lots of threads reach where the irrelevant issues discussed start to swamp the title issue.

Enjoy the day off; see if you can have a go on a quad, you may be pleasantly surprised.

quad: I am not averse as such though the SO needs it more than me. The price did surprise me though. I had envisaged them as a sort of Range Rover of the bike world.

miniature: Must confess I have never been to miniatur-wunderland, or even Knew it existed till I found photo. None of the shots of the real Landungsbrücken are as good.

R1200RT: I quite like it. I have always liked the big tourers. I gave up my R 1100S (for an 850) because it was a bit OTT where we live in Scotland. Here the HVV is so good and so integrated that a runabout isn't really necessary so the option of a touring boxer 2 is attractive

Gar/Selsey: Yes his eccentricity was fun. I miss it.

Bent: I don't see the world as bent only the political process. Probably irredeemably so.

Today board. The hurly burly is quite entertaining in the short term but in the end much of it seems like Groundhog Day.

I signed up about the time the delusion thread started and I found it interesting. Didn't realise how atypical it was though.

I thought the sharia thread was turning into something interesting but it seems not.

I enjoy our intermittent referendums debate though

Power: Not sure I agree. Oddly I think that it has more likelihood of being something that might evolve out of the EU but not the UK.

Gordy the Brit: I think it's a response to the mindset one sometimes sees. Some people seem to have difficulty grasping that if it's the UK then the PM doesn't need to be English.

Senses: I agree but It won't be my vote that contributes:

thread 3; Agree: Of course for most people, unlike you, it not the promised but undelivered referendum that's the issue, but the EU itself. Strange how they peter out around the 1x10^6

Day off: of course I have been assigned 'stuff' to do

.
1x10^3 rather than 1x10^6?

My working theory is that people are less snobbish about brand for quads than traditional bikes hence the success of PRC imports? I can well imagine how miniature Landungsbrücken outshines its real world graffiti dodgy geezer infested big brother. It's interesting what you say about big bikes. As you know my chief concern is weight. My bike is theoretically 205kg and that really is as heavy as I want to go for manoeuvrability's sake. I have to lift the bike up a ramp and then onto the centre stand for my beloved chain maintenance. I can imagine a pannier clad opposed two circa 800 (like my neighbour blew up) could work though SO would baulk at the new price (yes I like new). So yes a touring boxer anything would be attractive though I'd have to get a different SO first (only joking).

I agree the political process is irredeemably lost to the common man because the elite really know how to cling to power even if they've been "the real opposition" for the past century or so. There have been many attempts to break the mould that have foundered on the rocks of conservatism. I agree the EU is more likely to provoke a shake up than our central government (that likes nothing more than to play finger pointing with its local counterparts). Like you I dabbled on the Sharia thread from memory taking the side of the Archbishop because I like being part of minority opinion. Why not take an imaginative approach to the law? It is supposed to be for all of us and not the exclusive outlook of WASPs.

I don't think the UK will be around for much longer. This is no bad thing as the home countries could all prosper under the EU umbrella. The devolution genie is out of the bottle and it's a one way street to independence for Scotland. Whether Wales follows I'm not sure.

Good luck with the stuff to do list.

afternoon rg

I thought I had posted a reply to your above but it doesn't appear to have taken. I'll do it later.

I appear to have precipitated a debate on typoism on LTR3 and upset those wit a humour bypass involved. What fun

51

"… typoism on LTR3…humour bypass…"

I know I'm (mostly) watching the thread from a discreet distance. Just as long as you're having fun. Thanks for the 'mess of potage' support. Watch a typical Election results programme and you'd almost believe everyone was committed to the process and there couldn't possibly be another way of organising ourselves as a democracy.

1x10^3 Realised after I posted. I was still in evolutionary theory mode . wrong timescale.

Quads. Could be - I had sort envisage them as equivalent to a Range Rover.

Miniatur: Better picture than any of the real LB. I have never visited it because didn't know it existed until now.

Geezers: Actually quite clean and tidy. Remember during my previous residency here I had to visitthe Great Wen (thatcher years) I was appalled by how grotty it was.

Weight/manoeuvrability. I can see how that would be an issue in some situations. Less for me perhaps than you. If you are going for carrying capacity some form of tourer seems ideal.

Chain maintenance: If you are attached to this a boxer would not be a good choice.

New SO. May not be necessary you need to engage her interest. Mine likes riding pillion (and still looks fetching in her leathers).

Elite. I wonder if we might not be in a hiatus that may end when the 'mess of potage' runs out.

Sharia/minority opinion: Got us into trouble on the delusion thread as I recall. I thought psi and I were getting into an interesting debate debate on the relation between science and philosophy but we seem to have got sidetracked into one about differing interpretations of something Clint said.

EU/UK: I tend to agree. The EU, despite its 'democratic deficit' may be more capable of change than a moribund UK.

doing stuff. Not as much progress as I hoped got sucked in again. The SO is returning with my old statistician colleague and her SO so I am supposed to be getting one of the spare bedrooms set up. Visor down tomorrow

discreet distance: a wise choice, IMHO

Fun: may be wearing off. Problem with --IP Dave is that I can't get Ivan's description of him as the pub bore at the Cravat and Blazer out of my mind.

Support: NP. As you said we probably agree more than we disagree even on *that* referendum.

IMO, very few of the 'phobes see the issue as you do, for them I don't think it is the breaking of a manifesto promise that's important. They have a quite different agenda.

Winding up the PCTs is quite amusing, though

Have a good weekend.

bis später

finally managed a post.

Enjoy weekend.

bis später

.
"...Great Wen..."

What's the Great Wen?

"...carrying capacity..."

I've never wanted for carrying capacity on rice burner. I have been on trips with three night stopovers and everything I needed fitted into the soft panniers. Between entertaining guests I had a brief look at my wheels and decided I really didn't want to change just yet. The bike shop won't be happy.

"...riding pillion..."

This is not possible because the heavy chain and lock I carry to secure the bike live on the pillion seat in a special carrier. SO doesn't do biking of any sort. I never enjoyed pillion and agree with one of the bike magazines that described it as "being akin to hanging onto a car luggage rack at speed".

"...the 'mess of potage' runs out."

More money will have to be borrowed to sustain the flow of potage. The golden rule?

"...minority opinion / something Clint said..."

I'll leave you to sort out the Sharia thread. I notice our Dutch friend Jankaas was also contributing there.

"...The EU, despite its 'democratic deficit' may be more capable of change than a moribund UK..."

I think the UK relationship between central and local government suits the former just fine. Good luck to the EU this needs sorting out.

"...doing stuff..."

Me too so visor down and bye for now.

.
"...Ivan's description of him as the pub bore at the Cravat and Blazer out of my mind..."

Ivan has me in tweed.

"...They have a quite different agenda..."

I suspect so. You won't be surprised to read I think that not holding the referendum plays straight into their hands. Looking at the 2004 EU election results the other day I was struck that there was a majority in favour of pro EU parties. I suspect this would translate into a Yes vote. Instead those hostile to the EU can rightly call foul.

"...Winding up the PCTs is quite amusing, though..."

As I said earlier, so long as you're having fun keep posting.

I'm busy this weekend so have not looked at LTR3 though I did rush a post on LTR1.

bis dann

Great Wen: London William Cobbett

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wen

Capacity: Sorry I thought you were looking to upsize because you wanted more capacity.

No change: The call of continuing joys of chain adjustment.

Security: I don't really need that stuff on the island. People are pretty honest.

Pillion: My current boxer isn't a tourer. Though my previous one was.

Enjoyment: I have ridden pillion since I was about 18 though the SO quite enjoys it. So do I - the leathers;. Though most of the time I solo.

Jank: Yes we bump into each other on various threads mostly to do with purple haze. On 'delusion' he shows signs of moving from Clintism to to woolly minded liberalism.

central/local: Certainly subsidiarity is not something the former are comfortable with. Things not so bad in Scotland because of devolution and single tier regions.

stuff: Much progess a couple of the maintenance guys phoned me up to see, since I was on my own, if I fancied going out. Told them I couldn't and they turned up to help. Bedroom sorted.

I won't tell the SO though.

Visor down: That's me from Monday. SO and guests arrive Friday.

At least we won't have to do the Reeperbahn tour.

bs

tweed: I thought he was comparing you to tweedie the poster.
All in favour of tweed. Harris Tweed is a big if variable earner on the island though mostly produced in Lewis. Still quite a lot is hand made.

I have a a quite nice hand made suit tweed suit.

Referendum/Yes vote. I think the problem is that the LT that its of interest only to a minority. I think that the notion of a temporary proxy might work.

I am quite surprised that Skippy doesn't take the bull by the horns and go for an in out referendum.

The evidence seems to suggest that the in' option would win. If so it would be interesting to see how the phobes would react.

Fun: I keep hoping to see a rational argument being made. Not talking about your position here but the whole 'EU is against human nature and/or it is a conspiracy by a ahadow elite' guff that is fascinating.

I don't know if the 'I Spy' books were around were around when you were a kid. I am thinking of adding the 'I Spy Book of Logical Fallacies'.

LT3: It's the weekend. Very quiet.

I am going out for a meal so

bis später

.
"...Reeperbahn..."

Wild at heart Bx4! I read your reference to leather in a different light.

"...The_Great_Wen..."

Thank you for clearing that up.

"....continuing joys of chain adjustment..."

This and all the other lube points and adjustments.

"... woolly minded liberalism..."

I found it remarkable how the Clintists resembled evangelists.

"...Things not so bad in Scotland because of devolution and single tier regions..."

Are local taxes for local services raised locally? I think unravelling local and central will never happen. Imagine a local authority deciding it would like to introduce selection by the front door? Yet isn't this what subsidiarity means? (Under the principle of subsidiarity, in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence the Union shall act only if and insofar as the objectives of the intended action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, either at central level or at regional and local level, but can rather, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved at Union level.) [Article 9 of the proposed European constitution]

I'm pleased that "stuff" proceeds apace.

"... I am quite surprised that Skippy doesn't take the bull by the horns and go for an in out referendum... The evidence seems to suggest that the in' option would win. "

He can of course, though inevitably he'd still be accused of ducking the LT referendum implied in his manifesto. The EU functions perfectly well without the Lisbon Treaty. I agree the straight in/out poll would be easily won, pity his predecessor didn't think of this before inserting a CT referendum in the manifesto to avoid another second place at the polls in the space of one year.

'EU is against human nature and/or it is a conspiracy by a shadow elite'

I thought it was what individual governments agreed to do with their neighbours. I do however think they could have done a lot better at keeping their peoples on side.

Enjoy your meal SO calls.