GrumpyOldGuy

Oh, absolutely, the Chinese are outraged over the spying issue, but its becoming a game of nerves now, see who will flinch first, I see China has now come out with a strongly worded release saying the US comments are "groundless and unacceptable". Over to Obama.......

Yes, no doubt, Russia especially. Putin is always keen to put one over on the US. I think China just wanted to get rid of Snowden and they still pull the political strings in Hong Kong for sure, but they have a lot to lose if relations with the US sour so I think they turned a blind eye to him leaving, but I can assure you, they wont let him back.

Yah, I hope so. I dont really have a "dog in the fight" either way, but I would kinda like to see him safe for the immediate future anyway, I guess we will have to wait and see. I am surprised that he disappeared so easily though, I understand he remained in the transit lounge in Moscow,... not real easy to disappear from there, .........but I think the Cuba flight was a smokescreen, or at least I hope so.

Yah, I just take all my units to Garmin once a year and have them all upgraded, maps, software, whatever, it takes them a few minutes and as I am not clued up on downloads etc its just more convenient. Garmin is one of the most "customer orientated" companies in SA, or at least of all that I have come into contact with, they stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Nothing new in it, just a rehash of the same old same old, I recorded it (70 minutes) and watched it in 10 minutes,... I wouldn't waste my time.

Hmm, yeah, tough lot that, all d**n good riders in their own rights, no fence sitters here.

Hmm, interesting, read a bit about him now (Stander) its a while back and although I knew he was killed I must say I didnt know he was shot in Ft Lauderdale. Seems it was by accident though,..... quite a tragic end.

Not sure, cant place it.

Interesting, I never experienced any issues, loved it actually, was very happy there. I lived in a gated community and mostly only closed my door to keep the leaves out. I know Plantation well, used to go to a sports bar there "Bokampers". Still have a few mates in "Sunrise" just up the drag.

A few choices, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba even possibly at a push. The interesting thing to me is that both the Chinese and the Russians have actively assisted in getting Snowden out of Hong Kong effectively, as the US puts it "poking a finger in their eye" but have done so in a way that keeps them on a fairly good legal footing with the US. Behind the scenes however the US must be fuming, and they have made a few veiled comments about the "troubling manner" in which Russia and China have handled the matter, but both have done remarkably well to get rid of Snowden with as little uproar as possible, and of course now they just claim "No Snowden here - so No problems" - Clever tactics I think. Where he gets a passport will be interesting though, right now he may be safe in the Bolivian block, but there are few countries where there is not economic and or political pressure to be more friendly with the power house of America, so even though he can rest easy knowing they will never hand him over at the moment, what will happen if 5 / 10 years down the line they decide he is an impediment to their relations with the USA.? I think the USA is patient as well, should he hole up in the Bolivian block they will sit back and wait it out, he is a young man with many, many years ahead of him, sooner or later they will get him, there is no doubt about that.

Interesting I have spent many hours on a bike around Ft Lauderdale, we did a lot of business with a Miami based company and I had an apartment just off Cypress Creek in Ft Lauderdale. The roads are hectic, but generally they are much wider and most have a big shoulder so I never felt in serious danger in the traffic on my bike,..... on my Motorbike............well thats something else entirely. I Loved Ft Lauderdale for the people, the beaches, the great climate, my wife loved Ft Lauderdale for Sawgrass Mills shopping complex........... Just as an aside, did you ever do the Lighthouse to Lighthouse race in Miami? Started at the Lighthouse in Key Largo and ended at the lighthouse in Key West, was great, you could race with anything human powered on wheels, skate board, bicycles, roller blades, go carts, anything.........I dont think its still run though, I am talking 10 years back, was sponsored by Target supermarket.

Yeah, traffic seems a lot worse lately, dont know why, perhaps school holidays or people are just driving more often. I ride around Midrand and its crazy, sometimes I am completely surrounded by 36 wheeler trucks, cars and taxi's - fortunately I have never really had any issues, but Yah, can get scary.

I agree, when I started driving many cars didnt even have have syncro's and we still managed to shift around and drive without them. - so Yah, off hand I would guess the problem is in the box.

To be honest Lance bought a lot of his present issues down on himself, he was living the good life on stolen time and money and it may have worked, but he became brash, insensitive, arrogant and thought he was untouchable,.............and traits like that seldom go unpunished. As far as Jan and his admission goes, I dont really care, I considered him (and this view hasnt changed) a real human, he had failings and he admitted them, he drank a bit too much, drove too fast, partied too hard and enjoyed a good meal, he never maliciously hurt anyone, he never sued anyone for talking about him, he was just Big Jan, .......I like him, ..........and still do, he is someone I think I could sit down with and enjoy a beer,........LA not so much.

If you feel strongly enough about it I would suggest taking your complaint firstly to RMI, a franchise like this is almost sure to be a member and let them work through it on your behalf. http://www.rmi.org.z...le-a-complaint/ I would suggest perhaps taking the car to a specialist gearbox repair facility, they are usually a lot more geared (excuse the pun ) for these kind of faults, most likely the agents would have just sent it there anyway, they would seldom get involved in this kind of repair.

Actually, I watch some of it too, just because the rest of the "adult" shows are plain rubbish. ........anyway, who can tire of Mickey Mouse.?

I watch SKY news mostly. I think DSTV viewing has deteriorated considerably recently, I flick around all night but seldom find anything interesting. If I can I try watch "Gold Divers- under the ice" thats quite interesting (to me anyway) and "Shipping Wars" only because I chuckle continuously at Roy and his comments, Pawn Stars irks me now, I did enjoy it but you can only see so many old guns and coins before you get bored. Same with "Counting Cars, Storage wars, Cajun Pawn Stars etc" its all just the same week after week after week, after week.... and that smug, uber cool, pony tailed owner in Counting Cars really irritates me. Even the movies are poor lately, all the same skop, skiet and donner - to me its just mindless entertainment.! How I long to see good classics like Platoon, Braveheart, Schindlers list, Shawshank Redemption, The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse now, Forest Gump, Four Weddings and a Funeral..............there are so many and we get this 5th rate junk.

They aren't that expensive depends on the size you need, if its for small parts similar to the size machine a dentist uses then they are fairly cheap, even under a grand, but if you need a cleaner to fit a motorbike head then Yah, thats going to be expensive. Sometimes its easier to sandblast them if they are biggish tho chris?.

Oh okay, interesting, I didn't know that, learnt something today then.

- Yeah the only thing Pantani wasn't on was his bicycle, well most of the time anyway as he would just hang his bike up for months at a time, and then still come back pretty strongly. Nevertheless, I quite liked the little guy, he was a character of note, and I like that, Ullrich was another really, ate too many pork pies, rode his Porsche too fast, drank too much German Beer, Partied a bit too hard, basically he lived his life and enjoyed it off the bicycle, its rare today, I pretty much think the modern crop of riders are characterless machines,.......except Sagan of course , few would dare to go where he does, and with a smile!.

Good point, could well be.

Hmm, Yeah, not much been said about Andy but I think "The Shack" is in a serious state of disarray at the moment, its actually quite startling how they have almost "collapsed" in a very short space of time, certainly the news out of their camp has been overwhelmingly negative so maybe its not surprising morale is at an all time low.

Yeah, seems so. Dont you long back to those days of the "Silver Train" of Fassa Bortolo with Ale Jet.? I think they were incredible, a joy to watch. Once they got a head of steam up no one would stop them, racing has changed a bit now I guess, but they were to me anyway, the epitome of "lead out Excellence."

Me........Naa, never. :lol:

Yeah, but I doubt they will do that. One thing SKY isnt is silly, they may get it for a day or two but like Lance and US Postal / Discovery they will be rushing to give it back as soon as they can, the competition should be a lot stiffer this year, they wont risk wearing out the team early on.