Todays - What Grinds my gears

[WD Forte]

[Polarbear]

[stinkwheel]

[thx1138]

Officially diagnosed with KO a rare ear disease yesterday, only took 5 months a private/nhs ENT service diagnosed it, but declared it too complicated to treat, and have made a referral to “URGENT ENT” at the hospital. Exposed bone in ear, along with the rest of it.

Finally officially diagnosed at least.

[to v or not to v]

[to v or not to v]

mechanics...
the wenches "trusted" mechanic, serviced and MOT'd her car in march. yesterday she told me the right front wheel was making a noise when turning right. i went out with her and had a listen, sounds like worn brake pads thought i.
checked today and the inner pad has worn down to the metal.
wench only does about 6000 miles a year, so theres no way that shes worn them down in 5 months.
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Moto Guzzi V7.

[stinkwheel]

The Lake District in general can fuck off. In the last few years it's got progressively more telly, money grabbing and owny to the point I'm not going there any more.

For reference, I've lived on the edge of the Lake district for 26 years now and I canoe as a hobby.

The nearest larger lake to me is Bassenthwaite but now to go in Bassenthwaite you have to pre-purchase a permit for £7 then hope there's somewhere to park when you get there.

I used to go down to Derwent water for an hours paddle after work. My preferred spot was kettlewell carpark, easy launch and Mrs stinkwheel is a national trust member so parking is included in that. However they've now errected an arch over the entrance to stop camper vans so you can't get in there with a boat on the roof.

Next best was Theater by the Lake carpark and trolley the boat down to launch it off the beach, there was an unwirtten rule that you could launch at the far end away from the boat hire and motor launch jettys. Now there are "No canoeing" signs every 10 feet and a huge Orwellian -style CCTV camera. Which leaves crow park, a relatively awkward trolley/portage from the carpark. I just paid nine fucking quid to use the carpark so I could accompany Mrs stinkwheel doing swinrun training. That would be just about fair enough if it was easy to launch from there but it isn't.

So Thirlmere? There used to be a couple of carparks down the West side where you could launch. Now closed.

It's got to the point where going for an hours paddle after work isn't financially or logistically a realistic thing to do.

My advice, if you want to go canoeing, don't come to the Lake District. You'll pay through the nose and even when you do, they seem to have gone out of their way to make it as hard as possible.

I should have been feeling calm and relaxed after a mornings paddling with my wife. I'm actually pissed off and feeling robbed.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.