GrumpyOldGuy

Fair enough, I hear your point. Although I dont really think much will come of it, SA is great at making laws that cant be policed, they do it daily.

Not as far as I know, but I was there today (go slow) and there were no tractors, bicycles, mobile oil leaks, people on rollerblades or any other odd form of transportation. It was basically just cars riding very slowly. Well at the OR Tambo one anyway.

- Ha, Ha, they may even give you one.! Cycling stuff doesn't interest me so I dont know prices in the USA versus here, but cycling as we know it in SA is very small in the US, commuting is fairly sizable and many shops cater to that market, but the racing culture is minute and very few shops specialize in that market, you would have to do some serious googling to see shops in your area that would have products you are looking for, shops for the commuting market and major sport retailers like Sports Authority carry the basics, but high quality shoes, helmet's etc are not really popular in the mass market.

Oh, ......... ......but yeah, I want coconut blend so its not an issue, and its easier to get to than Sandton City, especially on a Friday.

Yeah, you get TSA approved locks everywhere now, but they will only open the bags if there's something they see in the X-rays that needs to be checked, I have never had any bag opened, but I agree, better safe than sorry.

- Ha, Ha, yeah, but then again, why do you work if not to enjoy the fruits of your labour.?

Can you also taste there?, - I guess so, .................maybe I'll pop in tomorrow, I'll be in the area.

Aaah, dont get me started on the microbreweries - "Dog fish pale ale"...........I'll fly to the US just for that.

Too true, I saw a camera there recently I wanted and when I was at a competing store I told them it was $xxx cheaper at another store, in two minutes he logged onto the internet, and beat the price. These stores trade, they dont umm and aah, they want your business and will do anything to get it.

In principle maybe, but most of the stores offer in house discounts, I am on a few mailing lists and Sawgrass Mills is offering a discount for any store in their malls, bring your till slip and get a % off back in a cash voucher, the higher the till slip the bigger the cash back voucher. Sears is also offering an in house discount for December, cash back voucher at the tills. Not difficult to get around, but in principle you are right.

Yeah, very important, although most times I find today the device can accept both. Another point is to remember the US still uses Imperial, so if you buy something that uses algorithm's it may be in Imperial, need to be sure it can also work in Metric.

I saw it, $399.00 I think.? Although now I recon you will get a discount at the stores, Best Buy, Sears, all of them will be selling cheap.

Orlando is only good for bargain clothes especially T shirts - and I mean cheap, 5 for $10.00 is common. No doubt you will go to Disney or Universal so just close by there are two massive fashion malls, and they discount anything, I picked up three pairs of Asics running shoes there for $90.00 bucks in June, here you pay that for one. All the buses go there, just stand at any bus point and ask the driver, its HUGE and a major tourist attraction. There are also a lot of big malls, my personal favorite been the SEARS mall, and the "Best Buy" in Orlando is monumental, but ideally you need to hire a car, not only for all the parcels, but Orlando is massive and very spread out, driving is simple, get a map and have fun. EDIT - If you have time and a car, take a drive out to the Lakeridge Winery, its roughly two easy hours out of Orlando, they do free wine tours and tastings and the most amazing Cheese lunch. Buy a few bottles of the Lakeridge Rose' its fantastic and less than 5 bucks a bottle, eat lunch in the vineyards or on weekends (probably all the time now) they have music and live entertainment at the cellar - I have been on hundreds of wine tours, but this one is by far the best - by MILES.! Washington and New York are the places to look for electronic bargains, at this time of year all the major dept. stalls are discounting like crazy. A sale in the USA is a sale, believe me, unlike here where they knock off 10 rand and call it a bargain, there two for the price of one is common. In New York B&H Photo is a must, its just crazy there, tell em I sent you, they almost know me by name. Go down to the Grand Central station area in NY and look around for the "Strawberry" branded shops, there's two or three, they sell big brands clothes and shoes that are out of season at ridiculous prices, dont let your wife in there without you having a firm grip of your credit card, I made that mistake once, it was scary.! .........but dont spend all day shopping, go to grand central and have lunch in the station at one of the restaurants, I like the oyster bar but there's a few, its expensive but its absolutely fantastic. Go to a few nightspots, there's literally hundreds, walk around Central park, maybe it snows, beautiful, grab some roasted chestnuts from a street seller, there's nothing nicer, join the line at times square and get discounted tickets for Broadway, all the major shows are discounted by up to 50%. ........Aaah man, I love the USA.

Oh Dear.....................!! I gotta go get some more coconut as well, the shop here in Sandton is also always running out. I bought 20 boxes three weeks ago, only got three or four left, but in my defense I have had a few friends around recently for coffee.

I am not sure pointing to other faults is the way to go, the attitude of "they" do this or "they" do that, so why target me isnt very helpful. Surely its better to say, "I dont break those laws so actually the issue is a non starter to me" I always point to the "Broken window" campaign in New York, where Mayor Giuliani said "We dont differentiate between crimes, a crime is a crime, and we have zero tolerance to any crime, so even if you break a window we will catch you and prosecute you." - and it worked, 15 years ago Times Square was a pimp infested hell hole, today its as safe as anything and families wonder around in the middle of the night. Breaking a law is simply a sign of disrespect for those around you, we cant always change others attitudes and actions, but we can ensure our own are in order.

Quite correct, and most companies will insure themselves against something like this. We had to carry massive insurance because quite simply the employer / responsible person / manager / owner cannot be everywhere, so if an employee was negligent and there were damages and a resulting legal suit, we could refer it to our insurers. Thankfully we never had to, but we still carried the insurance. The same could happen here, lets say for instance the shock malfunctioned, the rider was injured as a direct result of said malfunction and instituted a legal action for damages against the company (employer) however if the company was not authorized to do the work, they would have little chance of the insurance defending them in a legal suit. A policy will not mean an employee can simply be negligent though, the employer or company will still need processes in place that double checks every job before its released to the client, and its signed off and filed somewhere for safe keeping. Problems and damages can still occur, but as long as the employer can prove reasonable precautions have been taken, the insurance will cover the client.

The problem with scooters is they generally cant keep up with the flow of traffic, which causes motorists to try and overtake in limited spaces forcing the scooter rider off their line of travel. Now before you say motorists must respect slower moving traffic - I agree - but the truth is the majority dont, and wont change tomorrow, its a process that takes years. Actually I see much the same on highways with these small relatively under powered cars designed more for turteling around the neighborhood, they struggle to maintain the speed of the highway flow and cause a backup of cars and even trucks behind them, which in turn causes irritation and reckless driving. Its not right, but thats just the way it is. That said as far as cycling is concerned I seldom have issues, but I make a point of putting a foot down at lights, stop streets etc, I indicate my intentions to turn or pass over an intersection and I make myself very visible. Cyclists also need to remember motorists are not mind readers, all too often a cyclist will just make a turn, or roll over a fourway stop and then get into a tizz because the motorist didnt know what he was going to do - Yes, Yes, I know motorists do it too - thats not the point - the point is, from my experience, most of the motorists I encounter, will give you a gap if you indicate your intentions, sit at the red light with them, stop at the stop sign, and put a foot down when they stop, and especially, ride in a predictable manner. Respect is earned, and that includes respect on the road, but COURTESY is absolutely necessary for every human interaction, especially if we want an agreeable response.

Hmm, dont know, but I also hope not, last years Christmas blend was the best, I was hoping for some more.

Indeed, I tend to agree with you. Brings to mind the old adage, "The shoemakers personal shoes always have holes in them" or "The mechanics car always runs worse than yours" - I would prefer to see a good well qualified businessman in the position, someone from outside the industry. Someone who has no favors to repay and can take a cold hard calculating look at what needs to be done and do so without worrying about friends and past ties to the sport.

Almost impossible, coating the threads with a layer of "Coppaslip" or some other such copper compound will help in slowing the process and make the bolt easier to undo later, but it will eventually also wash off and need to be reapplied. A viable, commercially available, permanent solution to rust, will make you a wealthy man, very, very wealthy.

I wonder what qualifications he has besides been a past TDF podium winner.? Which in my opinion is not a qualification for the position at all. Been a good cyclist / athlete does not necessarily translate to been a good Sport manager, especially a position like this which is highly politicized. I have no beef with Greg, but these positions are heavily bureaucratic, its highly unlikely he will simply walk in and start making changes - no matter his intent, good or bad.

Uh, Uh, nothing, better hurry or by the time it does arrive Christmas will be over.

Just got an e-mail from Nespresso and they will send any order over the internet free of charge for December. Just a heads up if you are interested. http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=6603f0cf4b7ec3b96b8853384&id=d901a89234&e=922c9c57b5

I also have a 2 - had it for a while now and its great, but I was looking at the 3 silver edition this morning in the dive format. Seems like there's only a small extra cost for the 3. The silver 3 edition is available nearly everywhere, no shortage of stock, Cape Union Mart here had dozens, and even my local dive shop who is a small seller of Go Pro had 12 in stock. The Black edition looks good but as far as I can see its mainly really just the remote ability that differentiates it from the silver and an extra mega pixel, both of which are not important to me. Going down to Aliwal over the long weekend so I think I may grab one.

Yeah, fair enough,....... maybe news is a bit thin.