George and Dragon

The only cash I have is a one pound coin for the supermarket trolley . I don't care that my card provider knows I've been to the supermarket or even the filling station. I've never had any targeted advertising though - how does that work? Incidentally, my only contactless means of payment is my smartphone - if the phone's out of battery then all my physical cards require a PIN. I ditched one of my credit cards when they refused to issue me with a non-contactless card.

Off on a tangent... We have a multifuel set up as a woodburner at home (Charnwood something I think), 4kW. This provides secondary space heating in the living room as required (usually evenings) and doubtless saves a great deal of gas being wasted to heat the parts of the house we're not using. The ash only needs emptying about twice per month. On the boat we have a Morso squirrel which burns smokeless. Stays lit as long as we need and the ashpan can be emptied while it's in use which is a good thing since it needs emptying daily. Two totally different use cases with two different solutions.

I wonder if the comment will be left for others to read?

Do what the **** you like. There are no consequences.

Best option is phenolic ply. A joiner will make one to measure. Where are you? We got ours from phil@straightandnarrowboats.co.uk

20+ years ago that was the situation at several villages in North Yorkshire. The weekly bus service ran to Malton on market day with the return leaving town at 12:30...

Similar for Manchester.

The music was good (well, plenty wasn't but we manage to forget that). The TV was dreadful and broadcasters seem to think we want to remember just how bad.

Seriously? So much for this being a free country. (I'll say no more since it might be construed as 'political').

Does your tablet hold a SIM or are you connecting to the MiFi? (I think you answer this further down). It depends what you want. Most deals assume you use your phone for data and calls. You need to request a PAC; then you ask the new provider to 'port' your number. This can take a day or two since they are incapable of working at weekends even though it's all done by computer. Martin Lewis (moneysavingexpert.com) says you shouldn't be paying more than £5 per month. I'd get a rolling monthly or 30 day contract. Your tablet connects to the router. The router could be used to make calls if the SIM allows though most calls are just data so it makes no real difference. If you have unlimited data on your phone it doesn't matter. Or you can connect to the MiFi by bluetooth or WiFi. Your choice.

The official importers are listed here. Might be worth giving one of these a ring.

FTFY

Your interpretation may or may not be correct but since this is not a police state then passage through an open lock or system of locks ought not be dependent on travel to or via any particular point.

Sodium chlorate.

We had a couple of Fat Bast*rds Rascals last week. Very enjoyable.

We were told by one of the vollies of something similar happening at Foxton. Person went into one of the side pounds and ended up in the lock. So now they have installed grids to ensure it can't happen again. Of course the outcome should anyone be sucked onto the grid will now certainly be fatal. I have no idea whether the claimed incident ever happened.

@mrsmelly what's a teacake then? (Asking for a Bradfordian friend)

Apparently each boat passing through a lock uses 20,000 litres of water. That seems rather low to me.

Likewise tractors and other farm machinery.

The people who operate the machines will continue to use them as before, meaning that the amount of diesel used will remain unchanged but the tax revenue will increase. HVO is taxed at the same rate as dino juice.

Good luck with that!

When you pass a vacant mooring can you tell whether it's not been let or if the lessee has gone off for a cruise?

The fuel cost may have doubled since 2 years ago but in reality it's increased by about 50% in the last year. If they now need to apply a surcharge of £15 they must have been working on it costing £30 beforehand.

We got some Aspen when we bought a new mower a couple of years ago. Expensive doesn't really cover it. £18 for 4 litres!!!! Needless to say a little goes in the tank at the start of the grass cutting year then standard unleaded. Sadly I need to refill the petrol can this week so maybe I'll just buy a couple of litres to save wasting too much when it goes off over the winter.