MooN

"oooh Nurse!" I mean your bike! kinda following on from Bob's "one Bike" thread really, what's the longest you've been without riding, and how often do you ride normally. obviously weather dependant for many of us one way or another. I've not been without a bike since I was 16 and got my first moped except for the first 3 months I was in France, having sold my bike in the uk before leaving. I had no car for 6 years so rode every day, work, shopping, weekends etc. the longest I have been without riding was following my back operation in 2016 when I went 6 months without getting on a bike. I usually ride at least once a week at this time of year, 2 or 3 times a week in spring and autumn and whenever possible in the winter, usually once or twice a month if it's not actually snowing.

I cooked " gratin de raviolis" for the kids at lunch today. I decided to use up some slices of processed hamburger cheese as well as grated emmental. it was surprisingly bad

on motorcyle related questionaires or even forum sign up pages, amongst numerous other stupid questions like "starsign" or " favorite music" they often ask " Riding style". I always reply " Yes"

not yet, no. I'm actually still almost hoping that the company will fold ( I know it's on the cards) that way I get a "licenciement economique" with a reduncy cheque of about 4 months wages, the equivalent of 70percent of pre tax monthly wage for up to a year, free or paid retraining etc etc.... As things stand I would have to stop working and pay for retraining...

G'day zzzack.

you are such a fucking class act!

I can't afford more than one, and If I could I probably wouldn't. I have always preferred to concentrate on one thing at a time.

weather's shit here too at the moment, the frogs are complaining about it almost as much as brits do.

If it's any consolation Pedro, you'll be pleased to hear that I suffered no side effects at all from my 2nd pfizer jab

you get an e mail from them telling you that there are customs charges that they, as the transporter, have had to advance. the actual amount varies on the value of the item but usually between 30 and 40€. you pay online and get your parcel a couple of days later, but still a week or so longer than previously and can be anything up to a month, if it hasn't dissapeared completely. It took me about 10 days and 3 phone calls and 2 e mails to get a proper invoice out of them (DHL) and on the invoice, which they are clearly loath to give you, it clearly states the value of the item, the VAT, the customs clearance charge (0€!) and then an " administration charge" of 30 odd€... + VAT on that charge! legalised theft in my opinion. I am prepared to py the DPD fixed 7€ charge as I understand that there is more paperwork involved and the charge is clear and justified. DHL are clearly doing their best to hide the charge by lying and telling you it's a "customs clearance fee" implying thereby that they have had to pay this fee to the customs.

well at least with a bit of luck the shortage of lorry drivers won't last, you won't need them cos everybody I know is simply stopping buying anything from the UK cos it's too slow, too expensive and too complicated. we're all pooling info on new suppliers of parts from germany or holland, they're loving it and starting to compete for our business. DHL is currently adding a 30 to 40€ "administration charge" on anything coming from the UK. (DPD is more reasonable at a fixed rate of 7€) which adds insult to njury.

has it already been meniond that you're not normal?

that is a good quote. I shall pinch it and reuse it. there's and old well known prayer, I think probably hebraic originily along the lines of " Lord give me the humility to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and most of all the widom to know the difference..." recognising the limits of one's ability or knowledge is, in itself, a sign of wisdom.

all other considerations aside, it does look like fun!

phones, credit cards, number plates, loyalty cards in shops, security cameras, GPS, any internet connection or login... and so on and so forth. They're actually far more interested in being seen to be anti establishment ( no matter the cause) than in any actual real problems or debates that they would be clearly too moronic to make any useful contribution to. Like all morons, they make a huge amount of noise about a non event, basing their "arguments" on hearsay and wild surmises in order to cover up their otherwise complete lack of comprehension of any scientific or factually based subject. They are therby desperately trying to make up for they're otherwise evident lack of usefulness to society.

the UK doesnt want or need foreign labour Bob, I thought that had been clearly explaind to everyone during the leave campaign... just have to hope it's a temporary problem and that it will even out over time. read on the BBC world news site thismorning that uk ministers are suggesting that they may drop the quaranteen regs for returning residents from France IF they're double vaccinated. nothing concrete yet though.

you have a point

this is computer generated random bollocks

having nothing to say is not the same as having nothing of interest or value to say. This has however, never proved to be a problem for most of us

I kid you not, a mate of mine, many many years ago when we were first discovering mopeds as dirt bikes, had a mohawk and carved out the foam of his helmet so's not to flatten it...

@Motobiker wasn't sure about hull zeebrugge ( I used to take that one when parents still lived in lincolnshire, many years ago.

can you not avoid france by transiting through belgium or holland and down the left bank of the Rhine? or ferry in and out of belgium or holland? As there's no border controls within Schengen there's nothing to show you've been in france.

To be fair, the situation is rapidly going downhill in france at the moment, most of the main holiday destinations have had to re install mask wearing even outside ( that's going to make for some interesting tan lines...) and the number of cases is rising exponentially in all the seaside resort areas. Hospital cases are also rising but much slower as far as I can make out.

I got one like that. 60€. if the wheel isn't quite straight on it by the time youve turned it a full rotation it's moved off to one side and won't roll anymore. it's also pants on anything but a flat and clean surface. I can't be arsed with it anymore, I just put an old car jack under the footpeg bracket on the other side to the stand and jack the rear tyre off the flloor half an inch, can spin the wheel much easier then.