Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

dubai is fine - if you can afford it! ...... confess i always buy 2/3 bottles of wine at duty free on the way in to drink on my balcony ...... dubai airport has an excellent DF just before you leave the baggage hall; a zillion times better selection than at LGW

Have you ever tried Stroh Cynic? It is by far the strongest drink I've ever experienced straight.... A couple of shots of this stuff and you'll know the meaning of life..

hardly ever touch spirits of any kind

Is todays rally a mug punt??.

Would like to see what market is like once Berwanky has spoken by thursday.

Ben Bernanke under pressure to spell out QE timeline

US stocks jumped and the dollar climbed against the yen on Monday, amid expectations that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will spell out how it will decide when to put the brakes on America's quantitative easing programme, at its two-day meeting this week.

it jumped, dumped and then clawed back a decent amount but still well short of the day's highs

My son has been in Barbados since last Wednesday on a cricket tout. I got a text from him today saying, "why didn't you pack my cricket whites?" We are all falling about laughing and his brother is in hysterics.

is he out of nappies yet?

Forgot those as well!

One of the guys on the tour has parents with a $4m holiday home at Sandy Lane. They went to visit it yesterday and the housekeeper cooked them (16 of them) a meal. Next uni term he is sharing a house with 6 of the group. My son has arranged the house for next term. It is a huge detached house with an acre and 7 bedrooms. The guy who's parents own the house in Barbados got confused and he thought they were buying it and not renting it.

clearly your son has a steep learning curve when he gets to uni and suddenly has to take full responsibility for himself and his (in)actions

Give the lad a break, he's probably blotto most of the time.

Think back.

He is at uni. Normally he is fine, but he was at home before Barbados and reverted to home mode where he gets things done for him.

is everyone still snuggled up in bed to avoid the cold or what?
very pleasant here this morning (say 27), though as always by the gulf, it is a bit humid

off to a meeting very shortly, but with luck, it will be cool enough and not too humid by about 17:00 to venture down to Emirates or Creek for a couple of hours practice and relaxation

We are looking at 25-28°C here tomorrow (allegedly) - Met Office

Lucky you, the sun is trying to put its hat on here in the North but still chilly - patchy blue sky.

Near perfect weather conditions here in blighty as usual.. despite some "cynical" remarks by some -):

is that more NE wind + rain Stan?

No idea, I'm in the West.. and as we all know the West is best!