JohnOnTheWey

Heh. Honey Ryder - it's not too difficult to see why you do what you do for a liviing. JOTW

Be very careful what you wish for .... JOTW

And Lo and Behold - it's heads. See you at Thrupp Moley. JOTW

G0n, I went through this with CW. I asked whether I would get moaned at by T-mobile for using the W'n'W as a modem for the laptop. They said, and I quote, "do it and don't go mad with it and they're not likely to bother". The Web'n'Walk I got with the Flext 25 comes with a download "limit" of 3GB per month. You say you pay an extra fiver for another 2GB. Is your standard limit 3GB? That makes some kind of sense actually, now I think about it: it's £2.50 per GB. Whether they get snotty about you actually using what you've paid for in any way you like is a discussion to have with T-mobile should the situation arise. I'm unconvinced that they have the will or the technology to monitor the usage and to then take action on it; they're too worried about losing you to their rivals. Cheers, JOTW ps. I hope

Hi Chris, I recently took out a contract with T-mobile, Flext 25 + Web'n'Walk, and it costs me 25+7.50. What are you getting for your extra £5? Insurance perhaps? I had to do an 18-month contract, but the seperate insurance deal I took out allows me to terminate the contract after 6 months without penalty (I mean the phone contract). The phone is an N95, and I've come to realise that these things are no longer phones. They are handheld computers with onboard video camera, stills camera, MP3 player, Sat Nav units and so much more .... and you can make phone calls on them. Carphone warehouse did the deal for me - they're OK. I haven't needed to use the phone as a modem for the laptop yet - my mooring has WiFi and I just use G3 on the phone when I'm out and about - otherwise, there are an increasing number of cafes and pubs and such which advertise free wireless broadband to drag the customers in and I just use those for the more wordy emails (and posts to this forum) that I want to write. My advice would be to go to a Carphone Warehose outlet and talk to someone who knows what they're on about and strike a deal. The websites are fine if you want to find out your balance/make a payment/download ringtones ( ) but there's nothing like chatting to someone face-to-face to get what you really want. Hope this helps. JOTW

Agree with all that. I got one of these:- http://www.tvaerials.com/product.aspx?productid=26 recently and hooked it up to one of these:- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hauppauge-WinTV-NO...w/dp/B000F8RPQE which is in my laptop. Perfect reception of 67 digital channels (half of them TV, the rest DAB radio) and I threw out the old conventional telly. I gained a big chunk of space inside the boat, but lost about 4 feet of roof space - which suits me. John

http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/images/2...Information.pdf I think that's the link Bottle missed out. If you're considering certain other canals, such as the Wey Navigation or the Basingstoke you have a different navigation authority. I saw a very smart little Springer, recently painted, re-blacked and refurbished inside selling for £9,500. It went very soon after I saw it. Trouble was, it was only 20 feet long. A lot depends on the length of boat you require as this affects licence and mooring fees and the amount you'll get charged to have it lifted out for maintenance every so often. Stick around ... you can learn stuff here. John Sorry Bottle, my post overlapped with your edit. John

I can do either too. Any chance of a bunk-up? (Be quiet Maffi, you know what I mean) JOTW

Hugh, I live in Chertsey too (on my boat). PM me and we'll arrange a meet, maybe a quick trip on the Thames, and I can give you the benefit of my (albeit limited) experience of the Wey and some of the waterways of the Midlands. John ps. I would suggest a beer or two in Bar 163 (the old Town Hall). Free WiFi internet access - reasonable beer - edible food; what more could anyone want?

I've got a pair of "leather" (hmmm .... more "leather effect" I think) full-size recliners with matching foot-stools going for a good price (ie. £0) if you want them to tide you over. I'm on the Thames about 3 hours cruising upstream from Teddington. Let me know if they'd be any use. John ps. they're blue too, though not as dark as your paintwork.

Simply beautiful Steve. Well done. John

That's a very generous offer Carl, but he's a funny old stick. After he serviced my engine, I took him over to a place which does good batteries at sensible prices because he'd decided his 2 leisure batteries had reached the end of their useful life. He asked me if I could possibly stop off in town first, and we did this. He found the first hole in the wall and drew out just about his whole pension (he gets it paid fortnightly) so he could do a cash deal with the battery guy. I wanted to say to him that I could maybe help him out a bit, but I knew fine well what he would have said. I'll make sure he's OK for heading off up the canals at the end of the year, but I'm going to have to be a bit creative about how I do it; it's like a case of stealth caring. Thanks again, John

Thanks everyone for the comments. Maybe I should have left out the link to the video and just tried to explain my point from the first. Shadow's "owner" (let's call him Jim) is well-known to me. All he has is his boat, his dog and a pension. And throat cancer. He likes the Thames and that's why he settled in this area. The EA know him well, and generally just chivvy him along if he overstays his welcome. During most of the winter he couldn't move his boat far because of lock closures up- and down-stream and he was left alone. Recently, there has been a change in EA attitude towards him because of a complaint made by the owner of a quite upmarket flat with nice river views from windows which have to be at least 15 feet above the river level (if it's a ground floor flat). Jim's now left the area, and is desperately trying to save up to buy a gold licence for 2008 so that he can take himself off up the system. Jim is ex-Navy and an engineer, and on Thursday I reckon that he saved me about £450+VAT (and probably a lot more) by servicing my engine. For payment, he asked for "a couple of drinks". He made me watch his every move and kept up a running commentary (as best he could) so I could understand why he was doing things in a certain sequence, and so that next time I would be able to do it myself (my knowledge of diesel engines tending towards zero). As an encore, he fixed a new glass into my Squirrel door - the fittings of which were so corroded I could hardly determine which kind of screwdriver I needed (ask Bones what condition it was in - she cleaned it up and reckoned (as did I) that the fittings would need to be drilled out and re-tapped). It took him 7 minutes to do it. I don't want this to turn into a bitchin' and moanin' session, but when I first saw that little video and the comments it had provoked it occurred to me that I'd much prefer more Jims on the Thames and fewer riverside property owners complaining about the nasty boats on the water. John

OK Malc - I'll bite. What am I looking at in your picture? John

Well you've certainly got that right Malc. I'm a Northerner who found myself down here for various reasons, and I've sort of acclimatised to it. Every so often, though, this kind of case comes up and I start thinking with a Lancashire accent. John

Hadn't thought about the EA angle, but I don't think so. And yes, it's WOT; we had one of our banters there. By the Wey (see what I did there?), once I get the furniture sorted out on this boat would you and Ange and Lucy fancy a weekender on the big river? Cheers, John

Sorry Scotty; now edited. It's Friday, I'm tired and I'm an idiot. (30 years in IT, and I do this about 3 times in 10 :::mutter mutter:: John

If you're able to view this, I'd be interested in any opinions about the comments which have been posted on the YouTube site concerning the video. There's only 5 comments so it's not too arduous. In fact, you could just skip the vid (although I rather like it) and just read the comments. I know my audience, and I know which way the balance is going to swing, but even so I'd like to hear what you think. In a couple of days I'll tell you a little story about the subject. John PS. Please don't post your own comments on the YouTube site (just yet anyway). I'll explain why later.

Do you mean really small? All the various members of the tit clan have very monotonous calls just like the one you described. John

OK, the clouds are gathering again. What the Hell does "Bouquet" mean at the Astra site? (second column). Cheers, John

To be honest, as long as I can get BBC1 and 2, ITV, Channel 4 and Five I'll be happy. I bought a largish conventional aerial which the shop guy told me was ideal for digital TV and I can't locate any Freeview channels whatsoever. Good job it was only a tenner. Maybe I'll wire it up to the shore line and do me a little electro-fishing. Cheers, John

You said "and it says it gets free to air channels excluding freeview ". I don't understand - but then I am from Barcelona. (That bit's not true - my grandfather was from Barcelona, but I always had strong empathy with him.) Anyway, where's my nearest Lidl? I really want this kit. Cheers, John