The Good News / Bad News Thread

[ElyDave]

no specific BN

GN : had a missed call from the hotel yesterday where my stuff got nicked.  After an exchange of e-mails with them trying to avoid responsibility and me pointing out how crap they've been, the chief concierge left a message to say "we are going to learn from this and want to discuss how to reimburse you for the items"
Personally, I think they know it's an inside job, and now I've notified the police they're interested, especially considering the other crap elements of the stay I pointed out.

[Mrs Pingu]

no specific BN

GN : had a missed call from the hotel yesterday where my stuff got nicked.  After an exchange of e-mails with them trying to avoid responsibility and me pointing out how crap they've been, the chief concierge left a message to say "we are going to learn from this and want to discuss how to reimburse you for the items"
Personally, I think they know it's an inside job, and now I've notified the police they're interested, especially considering the other crap elements of the stay I pointed out.

What did you get nicked?

[ElyDave]

Altura rack pack plus contents

Light (battery was attached to frame and left)
Bungees
Tyre levers, tube and co2 inflator, multi tool and a bunch tube full of odds and sods
Rip-off sleeves to a jacket, so I now have a softshell gilet
Various foodstuffs, dried bananas etc

Whoever nicked it will be disappointed.
Luckily I chose not to put my Garmin in there when I finished my ride

[hellymedic]

Rip-off or zip-off? 

Glad some progress is occurring.

[ElyDave]

bloody auto correct, the z and the r are nowhere near each other on my keyboard.

(don't get me started on that stupid French AZERTY thing)

[CAMRAMan]

GN: I found a new bridleway to add to the various routes home from work. Very agricultural.
BN: At some stage I got a puncture
GN: It didn't flat out the rear tyre until I wasn't that far from home; it was a pleasant place to push the bike along
GN: A nice bloke rode past, then stopped and offered to help. I gratefully declined, as I was only a mile from home
GN: That gave me the chance to switch from the Schwalbe Rapid Sams to Land Cruiser Plusses.

[Ham]

BN: The Trump Got Elected early this morning
GN: But I can still ride a bike to work and enjoy it
BN: It was tipping down
GN: But I can still ride a bike to work and enjoy it. Even if it is cold, wet, dark, windy.
BN: Which is quite clearly the trigger for the fairy to leave her visiting card
GN: Just by the Bow flyover, so I could get in the dry
BN: But it was still effing cold
GN: It turned out they have installed one of those roadside track pumps there, un-vandalised

[citoyen]

BN: Trump

GN: I got a cheque from the taxman with a tax refund to the tune of £12.50.

On balance, I'd call that a pretty good day.

Oh, hang on...

[RibbleRouser]

BN: The Trump Got Elected early this morning
GN: But I can still ride a bike to work and enjoy it
BN: It was tipping down
GN: But I can still ride a bike to work and enjoy it. Even if it is cold, wet, dark, windy.
BN: Which is quite clearly the trigger for the fairy to leave her visiting card
GN: Just by the Bow flyover, so I could get in the dry
BN: But it was still effing cold
GN: It turned out they have installed one of those roadside track pumps there, un-vandalised

Roadside track pump !?

[hellymedic]

GN: It turned out they have installed one of those roadside track pumps there, un-vandalised

Roadside track pump !?

Common in the Netherlands and Denmark, now appearing in the enlightened parts of BRITAIN.
http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/find-your-nearest-public-bike-pump/

[RibbleRouser]

GN: It turned out they have installed one of those roadside track pumps there, un-vandalised

Roadside track pump !?

Common in the Netherlands and Denmark, now appearing in the enlightened parts of BRITAIN.
http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/find-your-nearest-public-bike-pump/

I'll mention it t' missionaries next time they're up this way. 

[Cudzoziemiec]

If you're a posh person who likes to scrounge free coffee you'll see them outside Waitrose and Aldi.

[Kim]

GN: It turned out they have installed one of those roadside track pumps there, un-vandalised

Roadside track pump !?

Common in the Netherlands and Denmark, now appearing in the enlightened parts of BRITAIN.
http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/find-your-nearest-public-bike-pump/

Beware of the ones in ABROAD though.  The dastardly FOREIGNS use funny tyre valves, and it may simply lure you into emptying all the air from your tyre in the time it takes to work out that the chuck won't fit properly.

[PaulF]

GN: Arrived early at Heathrow with no circling.

BN: 10 minute wait for a free parking slot means we lost all the time we'd gained

[Ham]

GN: It turned out they have installed one of those roadside track pumps there, un-vandalised

Roadside track pump !?

Common in the Netherlands and Denmark, now appearing in the enlightened parts of BRITAIN.
http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/find-your-nearest-public-bike-pump/

Indeed so, and I notice the one I used isn't even on there. They appear to be fairly bomb proof, and have twin schraeder/presta heads, and a pressure gague

[Cudzoziemiec]

GN: It turned out they have installed one of those roadside track pumps there, un-vandalised

Roadside track pump !?

Common in the Netherlands and Denmark, now appearing in the enlightened parts of BRITAIN.
http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/find-your-nearest-public-bike-pump/

Beware of the ones in ABROAD though.  The dastardly FOREIGNS use funny tyre valves, and it may simply lure you into emptying all the air from your tyre in the time it takes to work out that the chuck won't fit properly.

How so? What is there on bikes apart from Presta, Schrader and Dunlop? Well, I've heard there's another that's common in Japan, but I don't think you're talking about that sort of abroad.

[Kim]

Beware of the ones in ABROAD though.  The dastardly FOREIGNS use funny tyre valves, and it may simply lure you into emptying all the air from your tyre in the time it takes to work out that the chuck won't fit properly.

How so? What is there on bikes apart from Presta, Schrader and Dunlop? Well, I've heard there's another that's common in Japan, but I don't think you're talking about that sort of abroad.

The one that defeated a crack team of Fridays tyre experts in Tilberg (.nl) was presumably designed for a Dunlop valve, but in a way that wouldn't play fair with the Presta it was offered, at least not in the time it took for the primary source of group faff to be resolved and for someone to break out their trusty Road Morph.

Part of the tradition of such things is that if a group of cyclists are going to find themselves loitering for half an hour in close proximity to a municipal track pump, the soft tyre is only discovered at around the 25 minute mark, and the pump some time after that.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Perhaps they should paint the pumps a distinctive, attention-grabbing colour, like fire hydrants.

Odd about the valve. Don't the pumps have multiple heads? I'll have to take a look at the ones we've got here; never used one so don't know.

[Auntie Helen]

Most bikes in Germany have a 'blitz' valve, whatever that is.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Dunlop. A Blitzventil pump should be compatible with Presta and vice versa, at least in theory.

[Vince]

"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."

    -- YogiBerra

The problem is that the woods valve pumps don't have the depth to go over the presta's screw part and will let all of the air out when you attempt to push it on.
In the bike parking area at work there was a compressor hose for inflating tyres which I looked at longingly on several occasions as I hand pumped my tyres!

[Pickled Onion]

BN: email at 10:30 today: Your planning permission¹ blah blah blah and as such I will be recommending refusal².
GN: email at 14:30 today: On behalf of <the person who sent the 10:30 email> please find attached planning permission³.



1. To build a proper bike bunker in what should be my garden but hasn't been fenced off since 1927
2. On the grounds that I clearly don't possess enough cars, and if I get another one I should park it so that it blocks the public footpath. If I build a bike bunker it will not only prevent me from doing so, it will also prevent random people bringing their cars on to my garden and blocking the public footpath. And furthermore, they direct me look on Google streetview to see how I should park an obnoxious wankpanzer antisocially.  Yes, this is Highways.
3. Quote from architect: "I have no idea..."

[Cudzoziemiec]

Well that's the purpose of Highways Depts. To get more cars in the world. It's only by ever-increasing congestion they can continue to justify their jobs.

Go build your bunker!

[Kim]

Are you sure?  I thought their primary purpose was to provide sightseeing and rehabilitation opportunities to the UK's road cone population.  Cars are just a means to an end...


At risk of coming across like one of those websites that's clearly maintained by an autistic teenager, aren't BRITISH road cones great?  So much classier than the ones the FOREIGNS use...

[Cudzoziemiec]

I disagree, Kim. I rather like the road cones they use in Japan.* With a spiral stripe. So much classier than a simple horizontal band.

*I've never been to Japan but I've seen them in films. Or something.