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Hope you had a good 'un, SS.

From FleaBay: Charles Lloyd 'Voice In The Night' and Keith Jarrett ' At The Deer Head Inn'

welcome back John. How's the house?

Bobby Hutcherson's 'Oblique'. The RVG, which for us, means it's a Copy Controlled jobbie. Nevermind, should still be good and something new to listen to while CDBaby do their thing with my next incoming: 'This Is The Place'

That's how it's been most of the time over here too Claude; truly dreadful 'summer' weather. We may have, what our British press like to call, an Indian summer, where the temperatures hit 25 degC for three weeks in September .

I've just this minute ordered it; hell, I feel like I'm missing out big time and it's only been out a few days. Looking forward to hearing it a great deal, especially since my impromptu meeting with 2/3 of the trio. Wait a second, my in-laws were at Niagara last Sunday; maybe I should have told them to hang around there a while, nip across the border, buy a local A-Z, and run and get me my copy. Then again, my father in-law thinks I'm weird enough as it is.

Nut Bra..... Now I'll get my coat....

Excellent Ed. I'm pleased you went with a high quality package. It sounds like that bike shop are just the job. A few fundamental 'housekeeping' rules and you'll get years out of that thing. PS remember your pump, spare tube and some allen keys!!! have fun...hope the weather is nice.

Well actually I would still snap one up if the opportunity presented itself. The problem is though, and this won't be any surprise to you fellas, but they just don't handle well on UK roads. I mean we have all sorts to contend with over here; they are narrow, awfully bumpy and unmade in places, and mine does corners rather well. There is still time though.

I haven't driven one with a blower. There was another there with the 4 litre engine + supercharger and when it pulled up a few people were grimacing at the high pitched whine that accompanies the motor. i don't mind it but I'm not sure if it would get to me after a whike. One thing for sure though, on a big lazy V8, the supercharger is a good route to go; bringing the torque and hp up proportionally. Glad you appreciated the pics.

Funnily enough Peter, that's one of only two supercharged models that attended; there weren't that many made. Good choice.

where i attended the second BBWF (Big Bad Wedge Fest). Lots of variants on a theme; 127 cars to be precise, there aren't many more than that on the road in this country. Some absolute pearlers. We had a competition: How Loud Is Your Wedge? taken from a decibel meter at 4500rpm and some other constants. I scored a respectable 107dB. Then I won some lovely stainless wheel nuts in a raffle. Well worth the £70 in fuel it cost to get there and back. Here are some pics. I also have some mpeg footage if anyone is interested, or is as 'anoraky' as myself?

Here I am, out of bed for the umpteenth time and sweating my way through the second bout of tonsilitus in a month Aprt from the double dose of anti-biotics my doc has prescribed for two weeks (which means two more weeks of no beer ), he's also given me these very potent painkillers to ease the golfball in my throat. I did sleep last night though; quite well in fact . Well enough to travel to Michigan and meet Joe and Jim (Sorry Randy, you must have got held up somewhere, or probably hanging out with the groupies ) Joe, you were running a bar, and when I entered and ordered a beer, I introduced myself. You knew of me through the board. Obviously, how else would you know me . I then told you how I had to be home the next day and that I wanted you to bring a copy of the new album to the bar next morning. The for some bizarre reason my grandfather walked in and told me our hotel was flooded To be honest I'm glad that the only online activity I had last night was a quick surf here; bit of a cautionary tale I suppose, maybe one that should be added to the packet of those painkillers. When taking this medication, please refrain from operating machinery, driving or visiting any internet forums that may appear intimidating. I'll be ordering that disc asap by the way. Cheers fellas.

Congratulations Lon from over here.

You'll find Ireland (all of it really, slight regional variations) has fairly good weather during Autumn and Winter. It can been quite nice in October; sunny intermittent rain jsut as it is in June for that matter. Dublin is one of the dryer parts of the country being on the other side of those Atlantic winds. As for social/entertainment concerns; nothing gets in the way of social life in any part of Ireland as far as I've witnessed. Providing you have a Rough Guide for example, and a drink in your hand, you can't go wrong. PS maybe best to avoid Dublin during the shopping frenzy that is November and December

You do right sticking with the local specialist Ed. That way, after a mont or so when the cables have stretched (which they do) you can ride in and have him adjust things back to how they should be. He also won't mind amending your saddle or tyre choice even though they might not be standard. For the few quid you'll save from a big outlet, you'll spend on repairs at the local place anyway. Just an aside; I bought a new 'winter' bike (essential in the UK) last October for £700 and, wheels aside, it is as good as anything I raced on a few years ago. Same for clothing etc. Such is the improvement in basic quality of these off-the-peg bikes. If you did want to spend a little less, you'll find that a couple of hundred less might only downgrade the components to say, Shimano 105; still decent quality stuff. Get the best combination of stuff you can afford; pointless putting the bulk of your cash into a frame and skimping on components or vice versa. Much like buying stereo equipment Go for it Ed. Let us all know when you're up and running.

That's a very humbling and candid account of what you all have been through Conrad. It must have been very upsetting to write that. My thoughts are with you now.

you are very welcome Ed. For what it's worth I'm exactly the same height and have always ridden a 56cm frame. That is a nice bike for the money and will roll along very nicely. Like I said tyre choice is important; if the roads are of a decent surface, go with 23mm. Any more and there'll be too much weight and rolling resistance, any less (21mm or 19mm) and you'll run the risk of lots of impact punctures. Cornering will also be compromised. Will you buy mail order or is that a price you've been quoted from a local specialist store?

Just to add, I've just looked at the pdf containing all the geometrical data and it looks like you will get a 'squarer' frame than you once did. No worries.

Go for it Ed. That looks a decent piece of kit for the money. It's certain that you'll get better stuff for your money now than you did ten years ago. After all this years Ultegra, for example, is as good as Dura Ace a year or so ago. I'v enever had a problem with STi shifts but do find the lever hoods a bit of a wierd shape. Then again, i was brought up on Campag. The Shimano stuff is well finished though. Those Bontrager wheels are decent. You won't spend much time trueing them They too, have a nice finish on them. Buy it, change the tyres for some Michelin Pro Race (the best mid range tyres you can get, totally slick but grippy in rain or damp. Every condition apart from fertiliser that the farmers around here leave. The go and do some miles. Just a word of warning though; Trek's always used to hae short top tubes. For example, if I was to buy the 56cm frame, I would need a 56cm top tube and a 13cm stem. now Trek had a habit of making the frames around this size with maybe a 55cm top tube. This would necessitate a longer stem which would affect handling. How tall are you? And are you in roughly average proportions? ie you ain't got disproportionately long legs or back.

All the best mate.

very good

Do you get the day on your bike as it's your birthday Bebop? All the best mate.

Google moon see what they saw on this anniversary of the first moon landings.

Just downloaded a trial version of their software which has not only fulfilled my label-making needs, but has also solved the earlier problem I was experienceing recording from MD. Job done!!!! (I now have a few fantastic Jazz On 3 gigs sitting on my shelves, designing the covers will be fun)