Daio

Probably looking for a sliding hatch. It's a very fast water snake. Snake on the plane. Was it coming down off the bridge, or scaling it.

Putting inside lights on gives adequate lateral illumunation.

At least (s)he hooted so you know they're a-comin. What puzzles me is the the steerer who sends a crew member to the front to report back, usually by way of frantic unco-ordinated violent arm waving and hand flapping. Why not toot? Then again, I toot, to be roundly abused by OH for frightening her to death as she was nodding off next to the horn (story of my life).

Blimey, even my asthmatic Beta can get me up to 4 mph in half a mile! Do you not have an afterburner?

Love 'em. Mind you, missus tends to do the running around - as Gaggle says, when I offer to waggle me windlass, she stops moaning and carries on, claiming I'll shout if she scrapes (nonsense!). Tho' we did share Tardebigge in June, in 4 hours. Must say I do get dismayed with the pissers when we've forgotten to close the side hatches.

You're not a praying mantis, are you?

Can be quite intense. Had a packless bearing, the sort with a carbon thrust washer. Bit of grit got in and would have sunk a 3 year old boat pretty quickly if I hadn't heard the trickle of water just before I walked away for a week before the next visit.

Some think its all downhill moving north. They are in error.

Glad you're happy with the table. Just one word of caution. I used to have a caravan with a desmo legged table. When taking it down, the legs had a tendency to stick in the table top. coming away from the bases first. On one occasion, a leg dropped off the table after I'd lifted it about a foot. The legs have pretty sharp edges and it dropped on my toes. It hurt like hell and that was through heavy shoes. If I'd been barefoot or wearing sandals or even canvas shoes, I'd have broken a toe easily. I learned to lift the table whilst pressing my toes against the nearer leg, thereby keeping it in the floor socket.

Chester too?

We had one above the kitchen several years ago. Saw wasps coming out of the light fittings and one night put the light on to see the window completely coated in them on the outside, a moving tide flowing from the bottom up. Surreal but beautiful. Found a MASSIVE nest in the space above (single-story extension). Let it be (bee?). The nests only get used one year, they never come back to the same place. When we sold the house last December, nest was still there, empty of course. Sliced into one with a fork in the compost heap once, that made me run. Dogs have dug out wild bee hives a couple of times, gotta move quick (sorry, been watching the Dave's Farm videos) to bat them off their backs before they get too stung.

or Li-lo for a RIB

Titanic, Graf Spei (zpelling?), Bismarck, Marie Celeste, Hesperus, Potomac, Macaulay Culkin, Paris Hilton, Thatcher, Peter Andre, Stalin, Durex .. I could go on. One thing I bloody hate is names obviously made up out of owners' names, like Stanedna (apologies to the owners of Stanedna).

For an eyebrow-raising moment there, I thought you'd said Asda! Actually, might be something in that. 'spose Africa or South/Central America could stir things up too, if they could get their act together. Oh, by the way, as a nod to the topic, as a self-respecting tight-arse I would rather get em' ahead all night than pay £10. Worcester Race Course, anyone? No, me neither. Send the family to bed and chug up and down 'til cock crow. Yes, I know it's not BW charging but the principle's the same. Do they want me to spend money in their retail, booze and meals outlets or not? No? OK I'll go elswhere then. Where? Tewksbury? Oh. Gloucester? Ah. Not even Market Drayton now unless it's Market Day! If I was the paranoid type...but I'm not, they really are out to get me (or the diminishing contents of my purse).

Nail on head. EARNING more is fine. GETTING more often isn't. Successive governments have pursued "benefit fraudsters" for many years, whatever their so-called left/right manifesto. Stuffing tax dodgers has always been a slow burner. Politicians are generally keen to put self-interest first. I remember a member of a local Bench telling me once, with much pride, how he hadn't paid income tax for years. He had a big house in a posh neighbourhood (think Premier Division footballers) and a flash motor or three. He was self-employed, of course. I was so pleased for him, what with my PAYE etc. These people are taking the piss. Take the piss too much and revolutions happen and rich people die. Then another load of rich people appear, and so on. Difference in UK is that no-one's actually starving, which is the usual precursor to a revolution. But we're heading in the right direction.

That can't be right. We're all in this together....

Presumably because you've just heard the Excise are after you!

So now they either have no more information or don't want us to ask for it.

I must confess that I was of the view that overnight parking in lay-bys was illegal, but cannot find authority for that. Perhaps I was thinking of caravans. Certainly the Highway Code makes no reference to overnight parking in lay-bys simpliciter and a thread on a motorcaravan website gives a link to some extremely confused replies from the DoE and the Highways Agency, or whatever they call themselves these days. Seems it boils down to bye-laws and perhaps the existence of an "island" between the lay-by and the carriageway. S'pose you could be done for obstruction though, if there for many hours. And don't forget to leave your lights on if outside a 30 limit.

The only reasoning I can think of is that boats moored onside there could give difficulties to the permanent moorers opposite when manouvering, but from memory there's plenty of room for both. I've certainly moored there before and don't recall the sign, but it was a few years ago. Moored near the aqueduct a few weeks ago, didn't see the sign but wouldn't have been looking out for it. There's an overpainted strip near the bottom of the sign. Wonder what that said. Presumably plenty of scope here for an argument about the legalities. Pity it doesn't claim a £10 charge!