edwardc

We've been having intermittent problems with the broadband for the last couple of months - honestly 99% of the time it works and everything is great but every now and then the connection from the hub to Virgin's network drops out and when it does the support lines are no use at all. It went out just after midnight yesterday and didn't come back until mid-morning. Support staff said problems in our postcode but there was nothing on the status page. We're in Hillsborough, next to the park.

Same thing in Hillsborough, first brownout took out the filter on our fishtank and we don't have a spare. Going to have to change the water tomorrow and see if I can get a new one on Boxing Day. P.S. changing the fuse and trying another socket didn't work, already thought of that!

I hope the Shakespeare's alright - it's a good pub, that.

We're in Hillsborough, just heard a big bang about five minutes ago, any ideas?

I love cooking, so much that my other half sometimes complains that she never gets to cook much any more... What can I say? I love food...

I'm in the pub, I've got my pint... what do I want with either of them? I'm in the pub to have a beer...

Some of the beans we harvested last year have sprouted, so I popped them in some compost before Christmas and they're now growing really well - I need to put them into a proper container really soon, before they get too big and start twisting all round each other...

Since you've already checked the trap at the front of the machine, I'd suggest checking the outflow pipe at the back. There will be a flexible plastic water pipe coming out of the back of your washing machine which will hook into a outflow. Check that flexible pipe isn't blocked, because the water isn't draining out of your machine properly. Good luck!

Of course men and women can be friends! We're not *all* sex-crazed, you know! Probably about half of my social circle is female, and I can say, hand on heart, I'm not sexually attracted to any of them - not because they're not attractive, but because they're my friends, and I just wouldn't go there. Disclaimer: I've known most of my female friends since I was in my early twenties, and I've been in a relationship for ten years (and married for six of those) so it's not really an issue for me these days.

I've got no idea how old (or young) people think I am, but then I don't post on here all that much, I'm more of a lurker.

I'd been away for a couple of weeks and hadn't spotted what was going on elsewhere in the forum. I found the other post just after I posed my original reply, like you say if it's not one thing it's another, isn't it? I suspect that it would probably be just fine to run the boiler, but don't quote me on that. What I can do, is PM you the number of the plumber I've been using for years, he put in our new boiler and has done a load of work on our central heating and he's absolutely brilliant, we've never had any problems with him at all.

Basil - Really glad it's all fixed now My other half says she's glad our troubles with our rubbish old boiler were useful for something!

It sounds like it's trying to light, which is really positive, but if the pilot isn't on, it won't get very far. This really, really sounds like our old boiler - different make and model, but the same problem. Check that instruction sheet you mentioned for any information about a safety cut-out. The cut-out is supposed to kick in if the boiler thinks that the pilot light's gone out, or it overheats, or it's not burning cleanly, but sometimes these things can be far too sensitive. The safety cut out will most likely be a little button you'll have to depress, you may have to remove a front panel to get to it, but on most boilers the panels just pop on and off. If it is the safety cut-out, the pilot light should re-light once you've reset it. The only thing I'd say is, if you get it working again and the safety cut-out *keeps* kicking in, get it looked at because it could mean your boiler hasn't got adequate ventilation. Good luck!

As other folks on here have said, check your pilot light to see if the boiler's actually gone out. The other thing is, if it has gone out, there might be a safety cut-out switch you'll have to reset before you can re-light it. Good luck!

50k? That's more than we paid for our house, for heaven's sake... My wife and I got a loan out for ours, we borrowed about £5,000 and had paid it off three or four years later. A lot of that money went on the honeymoon, though

A good way to look at partial eclipses is to look at the reflection of the sun in window glass or similar, as the glass only reflects a few percent of the light - I managed to angle one of our glass-topped tables at work so that you could see the reflection, and then managed to get a few people over to take a look

There used to be a really nice little cafe at the Rivelin Valley post office, at the junction of Rivelin Valley Road and Manchester Road, here : http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.380519,-1.566871&spn=0.002784,0.006813&t=h&z=17 Does anyone know if it's still open? I haven't been out walking that way in a while but fancied going out there this weekend if the weather is decent

Sounds like this could be the culprit - I've never done any work on my car, but I might have a word with a friend of mine to see if he can help out...

Thanks! I've only been driving a couple of years so I'm still a bit new to all of this, which is why I thought I'd ask here. What I don't understand is why the squeak goes away when you use the brakes - I would have thought if it was brakes it would only happen when you used them... it is clearly connected to the brakes, though, but I just don't understand exactly how...

Sorry, I'm clearly having a forgetful day. I've edited the original post to add that info - it's a T reg Renault Clio. Cheers.

I had one on my chest until fairly recently, it was just a little lump maybe 5mm across. It wasn't painful, and then one day it just sort of... burst

Should have mentioned, sorry... I took it to the garage earlier in the year, they had a look at (let me see if I can remember...) - brakes - suspension - driveshaft and gave the car a general once over - they couldn't see anything wrong. The car has passed its MOT and has been serviced since the squeaking started, I'm reasonably confident that it's probably not dangerous, it's just really annoying!

My T Reg Renault Clio has developed an intermittent squeak which is annoying the hell out of me, and I was hoping someone here might be able to help me figure out what's wrong with it... Here's what happens... The squeak is fairly loud, high pitched, not continuous, but a series of short squeaks, about three times a second at 30mph. If left on its own, it will continue for around five to ten seconds, however I have found that applying the brakes, even the slightest touch, tends to stop the squeaking. It doesn't happen all the time. It might happen maybe three or four times over a two hour journey. It almost never happens until the car has been running for around a half-hour or so. It happens more often at middling sort of speeds, around 30 or 40mph, though it has happened at much lower and much faster speeds. It doesn't seem to make much difference what gear I'm in, though. At faster speeds, the squeaks speed up. Doesn't seem to be dependent on engine revs. The car handles perfectly normally when it's squeaking. The drive is unaffected. It tends to happen most often when coming back into urban driving after a long period of faster driving, e.g. a motorway journey. It will be fine while on the motorway, but once you come off you'll usually get a squeaking "episode" within about five minutes or so. It first happened going up a really steep hill in the Peak District. Any ideas?

mr_busdriver, what was the name of the TV programme? It sounded quite interesting and I'll have to see if it's on our watch-again service (we're on Virgin)

Assuming this is without any traumatic surgery, then yes, in a heartbeat - I'd love to see what things were like on the other side, and think of all the pretty clothes I'd be able to wear! The only trouble is, I'm not sure what my wife would make of it