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Had a grey day ride yesterday on my Honda, Charlotte. Almost made it home before the rain started, but not quite. The bike handles great in the rain! I love the Michelin Road 5 tires too!

Just got back , good bike , runs and drives sweet , it hadn’t been used for 10 years

While I was reading up on the pitfalls of moving to Spain I read an article about how so many people move back to the UK within 3 years. The expert on expats didn’t mince words. He said there are a few reason. The main one being “a lot of them are losers.” They dont do any research so they don’t understand unemployment is high, they dont speak Spanish but assume that they will be given a job even though they can’t communicate but also consider themselves too good for cleaning villas or other unskilled work, they were losers back home who are running away from their mistakes but learnt nothing so come to Spain and repeat the same mistakes. He said the expansive safety nets the UK has to stop people reaching the very very bottom of poverty dont exist in Spain, if you fall there will be no-one to catch you. Brutal ay, made me laugh, as I read it I thought Pete would love this, Spanish expat losers

I'm exactly the same. I like to travel to see new things, to experience different things and to meet different people. I'm still me, but I like to feel that I grow from these experiences, that it enriches my outlook on life. I know that Pete jokes about lazy dagos, but who's got it right? One of my old colleagues used to moan all the time about one of the other guys, calling him a lazy git, etc. "I'm out there working my arse off for 10-12 hours a day and I know that lazy git is back home by 4pm with his feet up!" So I asked him how many hours we were paid for? "37.5 hrs a week" How many hours does Frank work? " Well.......no more than 37.5 hrs!" So, who's wrong? Just because Frank works the hours that he's paid and little more, but you work 20+hrs a week unpaid overtime, who's the mug? Lazy dago will probably live to 100 years old.

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there. I don’t have any expectations of Spain other than the notion it will be better weather for riding a motorbike. When I was about 10ish I wanted to know why my Dad never came on holiday, he explained that he didn’t go on holiday mainly because going on holiday was hassle and “you’re you where ever you are, if you’re unhappy it’s usually down to your expectations which is easy to fix, just change your expectations” and while I’ve gone in completely on the opposite direction of liking to travel about seeing different places and having new experiences his words stuck and for a lot of situations it works just dandy.

She probably did a Six and just stole one on the net.

Probably the main reason that we moved to France was to get away from the rat race. Yes, it can be frustrating getting things done here sometimes, but that's because we haven't yet got into the rhythm. It's managing those expectations again!

A manager of mine in a company I worked for many years back got promoted to European Quality Manager. His job was to get all of the affiliates accredited to ISO standards for quality processes. All was going well with his job, until he went to Spain to get them accredited! After nearly a year there he threw his hands in the air and got a flight back to the UK!

I meant that I’ve had the anthrax jab, and the effects on different people varied widely. We reckoned that the severity was directly proportional to the number of stripes on the shoulder. I share your arsenic view.

yes and one of those gremlins said to get shot of it and here you are having a great time on it

Right, I'm sorry, how insensitive of me. I forgot over the summer how you and @Tym are especially confused with all this playing in the wetness...... But @Tym can at least sit in it, but when it comes from above in the form of drops it's just too much......

COVID originated in a biological warfare facility in North Carolina.

Its ok we get the same here it's like the UK don't exist to foreigners we are all from England

I think that Spain, and to an extent France, made it too easy for people to fly below the radar, but they're really tightening up on it now, which is catching the grifters out. But many are living here legitimately, so have no issues. Realistic expectations are key to making a go of it.

It’s the same story repeated time after time. They think that they’ll be ok for a short while. The third guy was probably not thinking straight due to shock. First mistake was with the first guy who should have tested the atmosphere. We always tested before going into chain lockers and any space where there might be rust, such as ballast tanks. Had to ventilate for twenty four hours before entry if I remember correctly. protective gear used if there was chance of getting contaminated, oils or sulphur for example. Breathing apparatus or dust masks as required.

Rains fine as long as it never touches my motorcycle im fine with wet.

That's you, @Buckster, @Six30, and @Sir Fallsalot fucking trolling me now!

@Sir Fallsalot.......you know the guy in the air ducts......well I've been looking at more of his stuff! He is batshit fucking crazy!

.....Ok, this should cleanse your thoughts......

But for how long?

Yeh , he bought it to get running and do up , wanted a little project . he can only ride 125 on the road only got a CBT …

Anything is better than being ingurlisch.

No sympathy for these idiots whatsoever. They should try a course of anthrax jabs if they're worried about reactions.

Same here but I think that the yank was a Canuk.

English Welsh whats the difference...lol

uuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmm , I think her opponent was Canadian actually

not a fan of tennis , but just watched the grand slam , brilliant... well done the Emma ..... unlucky yank

NOOOO, None! I know right! WOW!! Bagheera is running great right now. Wait, shhhhhh we should keep this quiet, the gremlins could be listening....

Not so much the fat content of diet as the usual associated lack of exercise or associated health issues. Fat and carb content of many food products have been reduced in UK, so I suppose that could be regarded as mandatory. Hugeness seems to be far more common here these days than when I was a kid. It seems to be following the US trend. I see huge people queuing up at the food banks. How the hell can they afford to get that big? Many people are born stupid, although I'm convinced that many may have been trained. Some both!

No KGB anymore. FSB now.

same thing innit

Canadians must be tired of this chit by now...

I've had similar stories told me on the courses I've done where people have entered a steel tank and died due to the tank rusting, A lot of people don't realise the danger with rust in enclosed spaces it uses up the oxygen creating an oxygen deficient atmosphere, Another one is we are not allowed to use aluminium ladders anywhere an explosive atmosphere may be present because if you bang aluminium against a rusty object you can create a spark and ignite the atmosphere

We often see on some of the Facebook groups those that are always looking for loopholes to get out of paying their way. Fortunately they tend to get short shrift from the people on there!

I don't know about Spain, but here you can apply for a 1 year visa as long as you meet certain criteria, ie, income to support yourself and private medical insurance. So, it may be the same or similar in Spain, if you decide to make things a bit more permanent. and not all expats are a pain in the arse!

sounds good, something we are thinking of doing in the future.... best of luck to the both of you .... enjoy.

I always remember this case from when I did my last Confined Space Course. It's from 2007. "In its report on the Viking Islay incident, which took place on the Amethyst gas field, 25 miles off the East Yorkshire coast, MIAB noted that the ERRV was conducting rig support operations when two seamen went forward with the intention of securing a rattling anchor chain within the chain locker. One of the seamen entered the chain locker and collapsed. It is probable that the other seaman, realising that help was urgently required, raised the alarm with the duty watchkeeping rating on the bridge before he, too, entered the chain locker in an attempt to help his companion. He also collapsed. During subsequent rescue efforts, the first rescuer found he was unable to enter the chain locker wearing breathing apparatus, and he therefore donned an EEBD. He entered the space, but at some point the hood was removed, or became dislodged, and this rating also collapsed. All three seamen died as a result of an oxygen deficient atmosphere within the chain locker." There were plenty of other similar examples. All very sad and unnecessary.

I can't see many of us here fitting through those ducts Fred! We'd all end up stuck in them and then getting arrested by the KGB for spying!

You know we were looking at those tunnels to explore......well I came across this on YouTube. Normally with this type of stuff I'm all up for it......but this one I think is a bridge too far for me! Cos it's a huge underground Nuclear Bunker built to take 10,000 people........and it's in Russia! So you enter Russia and then you break into a restricted Cold War military installation! If that's not bad enough, to get access you've got to squeeze yourself through a sequence of narrow ventilation ducts that take you underground! And you should see the stuff that's stored down there! Holy fuck!

Went for a nice ride yesterday on the Himalayans. Great late summer weather and nice road conditions. On the stretch home we came around a corner to this mess. An accident waiting to happen it seemed.... Two out of the three guys did not seem to know what they were doing and their one friend just drove into the ditch, just drove into it. Everyone was all good in the end. Just a few scratches and perhaps a bit of embarrassment....

That weird old witch is still alive then. I remember watching her programme wondering how anyone would take health advice from someone who looked so ill

When I used to go to motorcycle meets or shows the usual demographic was on the older side! Maybe the change in the motorbike tests all those years back is really starting to bite now? Not that I advocate that 17 year olds should still be able to stick a set of L-plates on a 250cc bike and set off on it with no training, etc. I'm speaking purely of the UK system here of course. But there is definitely fewer kids getting into biking in the UK these days.

Always choose your tattooist carefully!