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.

fred - hope you saw the cartoon in today's telegraph ..... not one of Matt's, but very witty; i'm (not) sure you would agree

Sir Nigel to you Fred and don't forget it !!

Manuel.

Post it up.

I can't afford the rag.

Looks like a proper Cad here ,what do you think Fred ?

I think a Dumbo and the above are suitable companions.


Have a look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07yqr3s

would do fred, but no idea how to .... but in that case, how can you post Matt?

Good question!

But the politics of the UK at the moment is like a complicated drama and the World's is like a nightmare.

Good question!

But the politics of the UK at the moment is like a complicated drama and the World's is like a nightmare.

Do you mean this one?

Is that meant to be Maybe Theresa?

World's is like a nightmare.
----
Your right there Fred ,we are hopefully just about to put that right ,i wonder what you see as the nightmare ? as usual i don't expect an answer .

fred - no it was related to trump commenting on abbott

Which shop's plonk costing £5.99 beat expensive wines to take gold?

An Aldi Australian wine costing just £5.99 has taken gold at the Oscars of the wine world. It was up against wines worth three times as much, and came out ahead, to take gold. The supermarket actually picked up an impressive 14 medals at the competition - including one incredible bargain that costs under £5.

The International Wine and Spirits Competition does blind taste tests in order to identify the best wines in each category. Aldi's gold medal winner was a sweet dessert wine - Aldi's Berton Vineyards Botrytis Semillon - in the Australian Botrytis Semillon category. It came out ahead of a competitor Botrytis Semilon from Waitrose - costing £19.99.

Aldi also won a Silver Outstanding medal for its Iron Horse Barossa Valley Shiraz 2015 red wine (which costs £6.99) as well as silvers for its Callia Magna Argentinian Malbec 2014, Estevez Pinot Noir 2014, Exquisite Collection Clare Valley Riesling 2016, Lot 17 Wrattonbully Shiraz 2015, Exquisite Collection Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015, Exquisite Collection Hawke's Bay Merlot 2014, and Lot 13 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc White 2015.

It took bronze for The Project Sauvignon Blanc 2016, Exquisite Collection Argentinian Malbec 2015, Lot 21 Argentinian Chardonnay 2015, Estevez Cabernet Carmenere 2014 and Exquisite Collection South Australian Shiraz 2015.

Bargains?
They're not all sold for bargain basement prices. The Lot 17 Wrattonbully Shiraz 2015 and Lot 13 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc White 2015, for example, cost £9.99.
Some are incredible bargains though. Notable budget wines include Exquisite Collection South Australian Shiraz 2015 for £5.79, The Project Sauvignon Blanc 2016 for £5.99 and Exquisite Collection Argentinian Malbec 2015 for £5.99. The cheapest wine of the bunch was the Estevez Pinot Noir 2014, which sells for £4.79.

Why?
Aldi has been doing increasingly well in this competition over the years - as it has in a number of other wine competitions. The supermarket has picked up more than 130 awards for its beers, wines and spirits - including being named Supermarket of the Year at the Drinks Retailing Award back in February.

Back in August, Aldi boss Matthew Barnes, admitted one key strategy was attracting middle-class shoppers by stocking high quality alcohol, and then persuading them to come back for a wider variety of items.

It's the same shoppers he is targeting with healthier foods such as quinoa and bean salads - as well as spirallised vegetables and cauliflower rice, and 'special buys' that include brands like Dyson.

Residents in for a rubbish surprise after councils hike charges

Councils aren't satisfied with dramatically cutting their waste collection services - leaving you with rotting rubbish for the best part of a month. Now, they have found another way to squeeze cash out of people who need to get rid of unwanted junk - by changing the rules at recycling centres. There are a number of ways that these changes could catch you out - and cost you a small fortune.

Various councils are dealing with budget cuts in different ways. Some are introducing charges for certain vehicles visiting the council tip, others are charging for certain kinds of waste, and some are restricting opening hours - making it difficult for residents to get there.

The charges
Dumping DIY waste will now cost you money in a large number of sites - including Basingstoke and North Somerset. In Basingstoke, you will have to pay £10 per sheet of plasterboard, and £2.50 for a 30 litre bag of rubble, bricks or tiles.
In Surrey, meanwhile, there are charges for anything considered 'non-household waste'. You get to dump one bag for free, and then you'll be charged £4 per bag or item - or £50 for a carload. This includes everything from vehicle tyres to soil and stones.

The paperwork has increased too, so that in some areas you need to apply for a permit if you hire a van to take waste to the tip. In other cases you need a permit even if you just take the car.

The problem
While these changes are annoying, there's the risk they could spark even bigger - and more expensive - problems. There will be plenty of people for whom the reduced opening hours or increased paperwork mean they cannot get to the tip, and will need to pay someone to take their rubbish away. This opens them up to a serious risk of being taken for a ride by rogue traders - who charge to pick up rubbish, and then fly-tip.

If you use an unlicensed operator to take care of your waste, then if they dump that waste illegally, there's a real risk it is traced back to you. Councils are facing increased issues with fly-tipping, so are stepping up their investigations - with more CCTV at strategic spots and even DNA testing of the rubbish left behind.

Despite the fact you are unlikely to have a clue that the person you paid was going to dump your rubbish, if you didn't check their credentials and ensure they were licensed, you could face a hefty fine. To protect yourself, you need to check they are listed as licensed carriers on the government's website.

The alternatives
If the tip is out of the question, you need to consider the alternatives carefully.
The council collection service still works out as more expensive than paying dump your items at the tip, with minimum collection charges, additional charges for collecting from inside the building, and charges for bulky items. You can easily spend far in excess of £100 paying someone to take your items away.

If you have lots of waste to get rid of, therefore, you might be best hiring a skip or a Hippobag (which is a more flexible alternative). The very small skips start at around £60 and take about 25 bin bags of stuff - which is far cheaper than a charge of £4 per bag. You could even club together with the neighbours, and assuming you have 25 bin bags worth of stuff each, you could get a skip to suit eight of you - for around £300.
If the skip is going in the road, you'll have to add the cost of a permit on top, but it may still work out cheaper, and more convenient, than going to the tip.

Smile please. This is a candied camera. :-)

Our council is very fair regarding the council tip/recycling centre. The convenience is open 5 days a week, not Tues or Weds. No charge. I have a tipping permit for the run around Toyota hi-lux (holds three quarters of a ton) allowed 12 visits a year. In the car as many as you like, all for no cost. Green waste - £40 for a bin for a year to be emptied fortnightly. From start of March till second week of dec a dustcart sits for an hr on a sunday in the village carpark and at a set time and you can run all your green waste down to the vehical, all paid by the parish council. Tipped 8 ton bags today, :-)).

Mind you there are now less cause for the village idiots to have a burn up on a sunny weekend day. :-))

Manuel,

P 73768

Are you sure?

8-)

Fred

What are your thoughts on Jeremy Corbyn using Diane Abbot as Shadow Chancellor?

Now these two were once lovers but aren't now. So just what is Jeremy getting his head round with her about things now?

Could they both still handle such a handful?

Ordinarily, if the party were to be elected to run the country she would move from doing the Shadow Chancellor's job (without actual responsibility) to become Chancellor (with full responsibility).

Now that is quite a handful, is it not? Could they keep it up?

Freds one of those voters, where if you stick a Labour rosette on an
ass they would still vote for it..

But then again, that's ALL they've got to vote for these days...LOL!