Fair enough - I suppose it’s a caution borne out of experience of the awful roads by me - I’ve had a lot of unsealable punctures on the roads near me (from gashes to a bit of glass that wiggled around just enough to not seal).

As a result I always caveat advice to go tubeless - for “proper” punctures (anything more serious than a pin prick or snakebite) tubeless can be a can of worms, and give people a sense of confidence that inner tube users don’t have (wisely).

Granted it’s also down to tyre choice (you can pry my patched panaracers from my cold dead hands) but a tyre pissing sealant and air is much more of a hassle to deal with than an inner tube in my experience.

Aus or NZ?

Tubeless is great for small piddly punctures. Anything bigger and a spare inner tube and tyre boot are a necessity (esp. on longer rides).

Are they not? I’ve read various things stating that they almost already meet most requirements (being ex. EU anyway).

Okay, all of those are amazing.

I have lots of weird little “widgets” I love and would probably hold close to my heart forever (Mr Toad, Quar, etc.) so I suppose a mishmash of things is as good as something “meaningful”. And I guess those things are more likely to stay dear to me over something “big”!

I remember getting a hand written letter from my MP when I hit 18 - I loathe the party he represented but he was a proper gent. His seat was taken over by the current leader of the opposition party who is undeniably mental too, so I doubt she writes to her constituents to welcome them to the democratic process!

I’ve wanted a tattoo since I was about 15 (and I’m 35 now) but I never pulled the trigger on it.

I never found an artist who was just right or a design I would be happy having on my body forever!

They’re awesome though, and I love seeing other people’s.

This is true. You don’t find out if you don’t try!

I suppose so! I guess the big issues would be the deficit (and the exact methodology accepted to calculate this, timelines to resolve, etc), and the possibility of a veto by another member state not wishing to encourage the splitting up of larger nations.

I know that Spain have previously said they won’t block, provided a vote of independence is constitutional, but that would also rely on UK Gov. recognising it, I guess?

What’s the likelihood of Scotland being allowed EU membership though?

The only time the “crush” at a bar has been acceptable to me is in small pubs. Anything bigger than a neighbourhood/village scale battle and it’s oppressive.

Long live the queue.

Is it like the celery in a bloody Mary, or you swig your beer then pop in a little pepperami afterwards?

It’s a pretty common combo too - I see it on menus a lot!

Branston is a pretty mild one, but I love a harsh, vinegary pickle with peanut butter. A sweat inducing Piccalilli is the bees knees too.

A crunchie bar dipped in salsa is a pretty good combo for me.

And I also like branstons pickle with crunchy peanut butter.

Good to see them embracing the mantle of the Nasty Party once again. What the fuck is going on!

On an ideal (working) morning if be up a couple of hours before I need to leave the house to bathe, make breakfast and something for lunch, clean the kitchen a little (which is my domain in the house), sit and watch TV or read for a bit, then leave with plenty of time to get to work.

Sometimes I manage this.

Otherwise it’s snooze the alarm a few times, get out of bed, shower, make some toast quickly, lob some food at the cats and leave a little later than ideal, and get to work just in time.

Unfortunately my partner works from home and gets up later than me so my comfy bed has a chronic cuddler in it, and she’s normally surrounded by our cats too so my bed is a wonderful nest that’s difficult to crawl out from.

Portugal is secretly Eastern European, after all…

Do you ever not listen to podcasts? I can barely keep up to date with 2 or 3!

Don’t rule out running still! Cycling and swimming are both great but - especially as we age - our bone density tends to decrease and minor falls (or from a bike) can cause bigger issues.