prescottspie

It's updated now with minimal information. Yesterday Wincobank NI school was open according to a recording on their answerphone, but we made the decision not to send our children because it was too icy for them to walk. We continued ringing the school, and only got through after 9am. The response from the headteacher upon hearing we weren't bringing them in was "I don't blame you, there are only two members of staff in anyway". I wonder why they didnt close, saving dozens of families a risky journey to school for nothing.

Thanks for the replies Whatif wewin - there are no instructions on the pack, or i would have just followed them. chinaski, you confirmed what i was thinking of. im going to throw a little liquid in the foil as well, just to help keep it moist. Slow reheat at gas 3 then Im going to coat it in honey and butter, open the foil and roast it at gas 9 for half an hour. Fingers crossed. Merry Christmas

Hi, I have bought a preroasted, honey roast ham for Boxing Day. I would like to serve it hot, and I would like to add more glaze. How can I do this best without making the meat dry out?

We are thinking of holding our wedding reception in a hall, so would need to hire a bar. The first two prices I have got are wildly different - PJ Taste, who I have asked to do the catering, said they will charge around £290! Even though they are making money from the food and of course selling the booze! The other price, from Spire Brewery in Chesterfield, is £50, much more reasonable. Can anyone recommend some other places to get quotes from? We want it to have real ale stocked, plus the usual lager, red & white wine, few spirits etc.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions so far. Since my last post we have been to see quite a few pubs, but have yet to find one thats quite right. Devonshire Arms - James, I popped in to have a look but unfortunately I just don't think we'd get 40 odd people together in one part for the food, nor would we be able to get a band in I dont think. Shame, because otherwise it's a lovely place! A lot of places we have looked at just don't have a big enough function room, bar the Highcliffe on Greystones Road - but it's up for sale. Best one I've found so far is Cross Scythes at Totley, but I am still on the lookout for somewhere a little bigger. I really like the idea of somewhere on the outskirts but still in reach of public transport like the Cross Scythes. What can I say, we're picky! Any more suggestions would be gratefully received.

Yes, sorry should've mentioned you can do this. Although the other PC in my living room is one of a colleague's, and I am fixing it because she used Windows repair.

lol read the rest of the thread - I got a Blackberry 9000 Bold. It owns. Admin, can this thread be locked? It has gone offtopic a few times and is overly long.

Warning: "The Tech Guys" once refused to repair the HINGE from the screen of a PC World laptop because the customer had installed Linux instead of the Windows operating system it came with, apparently voiding the warranty. They even claimed that putting Linux onto their machine was like putting a Ford engine into a BMW. It was only through alerting the media that PC World admitted that they were idiots for insinuating that putting Linux on a laptop would damage the hinges, and that in no way had it voided the warranty. I wouldn't trust PC World for tech support any more than I would trust Maplin to sell me the correct electronic component. </rant>

I'm assuming you had no system restore points made? If safe mode won't work it probably is beyond hope. You could try one other thing - if the option is available load with last known good configuration. If that doesnt work you will need to reinstall windows. You can backup your files to a cd, dvd or second hard drive assuming the hard drives are still working, just download a copy of any linux distribution's livecd and pop it in your machine, you will be able to access the filesystem. This isn't that hard, but can be daunting if you are about to ask "what is linux?".

The megapixel myth is starting to p*** me off because its damned hard to get a decent image quality without buying professional equipment. Im by no means a professional photographer, but do like photography and a need a decent camera in the £100 range. Unfortunately all manufacturers want to do with each camera (and indeed phone with camera) release aimed at the non-professional market is cram more mega pixels onto the same crappy hardware. Hence I have an Olympus compact that will take extremely detailed macro photographs at a fantastic res, but the colours are horrible and not true to life. The pictures seem distorted, and *there is no manual focus and the manual exposure setting is worthless at best, broken at worst* - taking long exposures in low light is impossible because the autofocus wont work and nore will the exposure. £100 spent purely on megapixels. That said, on the other end of the spectrum, the 3.something mp camera on my blackberry is "focus free" (not quite sure how that works). so the pictures are crappy, but the focus is always ok. That's fine for my phone, as all I will ever use it for is those on the spot "need a shot of that" pictures when I dont have a real camera on me.

Bang on description of the iphone there. I also agree about getting used to interfaces, but it helps when you pick up a device and go "yeah, that's ace". That's precisely what happened to me (and the missus) when we picked up the bb bold

Wish someone had told me about the gps sensors before, wont work even in a car, only out in the open. Thankfully I dont drive, so will mostly be using it in the open. If I really needed strong GPS I can buy a bluetooth dongle for not much. Google maps will now triangulate from gsm towers if no satellites detected, but usually gets it *horribly* wrong. I tried the 8GB N95. It wasnt buggy, but it wasnt nice to use. I doubt that will be any better on the N96 due to the same physical format and user interface being used. I havent yet looked at the N85 - but I also didnt have time to wait to buy, my old phone was dying quick!

jezzyjj you're absolutely right, this is why i didnt get one. They are fantastic devices, but lacking in some really basic things. Devil's advocate time though - it does own over the blackberry in terms of the apps available, and the sdk hasn't been out long. Also, you mention no java support - i have read that elsewhere too, but my friend has an iphone, he showed me in safari the java option checked and showed me yahoo mail (which requires java iirc) working correctly. Still, Im happy with the BBB, imo it is the IPZ. sorry for TLA

You will feel better for it! As I say, it costs *nothing* to try....

kelly, i can appreciate that trying linux can be a daunting experience, but it can vastly improve your computing experience. It costs nothing to try. If you are reinstalling anyway, why not give it a trial run? If you dont like it you can always install windows again. Whilst I dont like it myself, ubuntu is very good for windows users looking to migrate without learning too much. give it a try! if you get stuck, just post on here, or one of the great community websites out there, or drop me a pm.

Why does it need to be a laptop? I dont understand the craze - batteries only last a couple of hours anyway. You *will* save hundreds buying some PC components and putting them together yourself. If you don't know how to do this (its actually very easy) then get someone to do it for you for a fee - you still get more bang for your buck. Edit - on that matter, if you need advice on buying pc components, just drop me a line.

I was reading down this thread wondering why someone hadn't posted what cyber has posted just above! Adhesive seems the obvious answer!

On that note, considered wiping it and sticking GNU/Linux on it? I bet you £1 it makes it faster!

By all accounts the Viewty is alright but quite slow, and certainly ahead of its time. If the internet access will be *very* occasional, then save your money and get a solid phone like a sony ericsson. if you think you will actually use mobile internet then make sure you play with the phones in the shops first. some phones are lauded as "best for mobile internet" but when it comes to using them they are horrible (take the n95 for example) my advice for mobile internet would be iphone or blackberry bold (i have the latter and its lovely). How important are other features to you, such as mp3 player, video player, camera / vid camera quality, storage space, email, mms, size of device etc etc. there are a lot of things to take into consideration with todays multi-function phones!

Oh come on! I like the cremorne but its not a quiet pub! And I'd hardly call badly kept deuchars ipa a "real ale"!

I thought about it, but I don't see much more usability over an n95. My bb bold is ace!

Well Carl, I never considered a Blackberry before, because they are business orientated phones. But I got a 9000 Bold and it ******g rocks!!!! It does anything and everything that a phone can do. The only downside is that apps are far and few between and generally cost a bomb. I wanted an SSH program, the only free one doesnt work properly and the proprietary alternative costs £50!! for an ssh program!!! That aside, I'm loving it. Thanks for your help guys.

Thank you for all the suggestions so far guys, a lot of excellent suggestions. Unfortunately the Hillsborough Hotel could only offer us a small space in the bar, sharing with the regulars, which wouldn't really be big enough. Grindleford and Troway are a little too far unfortunately, because a lot of our friends rely on public transport (last train from grindleford is quite early). It's a shame, because the Maynard looks amazing!

Red Lion as in the one time Q's pub? Didnt think it was a real ale pub? [edit] or did you mean the white lion (green fronted pub) - which might be worth a look in actually.

Hi James Stage isn't essential if there is a good enough space for use by a band, and so long as your license is agreeable with live music! I may even be able to get hold of some portable stage blocks for the night. I will try and pop down at some point soon to take a look - I have your mobile number from the web, so will call first to check you are around. Thanks Rob PS - Dawn (assuming it is you that posted from D&R) - I'd have loved to use D&R, silly me for getting married on a Friday!