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General Discussion Area / Re: Hi
« on: Yesterday at 23:40:39 »
Good to hear from you. 
- 17 November 2018, 16:16:53
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General Discussion Area / Re: Brexit negotiations
« on: Yesterday at 17:49:28 »I don't believe there will be or should be a second referendum.
But if there were, my guess is 'remain' would win it.
If there is a second referendum I don't believe there should be a 'remain option'. I think the choice should be between TM's deal ( piss poor though it is) or no deal. We (not me) have already voted to leave.
I'm inclined to agree. Forgetting we ever thought about leaving seems a sensible way out of this fustercluck, but the EU is now a toxic "brand" in the UK and to not leave will unleash a wave of nationalism and unpleasantness that will make UKIP and the EDL look like a knitting circle IMHO.
I just hope all the pledges to vote down the deal are because it genuinely is a trap that we can't extricate ourselves from rather than an opportunity to further a few political ambitions.
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General Car Chat / Re: Where is the OBD2 socket on a 2004 Astra 1.6 petrol?
« on: Yesterday at 17:43:02 »I am trying to drop the sump. I have removed all the bolts and screws I can see attaching the sump to the block and the bell housing, but it did not fall off. I hve given it tentative taps with a hammer, but it stays put. Is there a trick to release it?
scrape part of the gasket out with a Stanley knife, then pry the sump off with a nylon wedge in the hole.
You could knock a screwdriver into the gasket and pry the sump off that way. But you'll probably have to straighten and or dress the edges afterwards.
.. and re-bore it, replace the main and big end bearings...
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General Car Chat / Re: So what have you done to your car today?
« on: Yesterday at 16:28:24 »Worth checking if there's any significant current draw when parked up too. Last time this happened to me the heated rear windscreen relay contacts had welded themselves closed.Well, at 14.35v (dropped to 13.8v briefly with everything switched on before coming back up to 14.25v) at idle, the alternator is clearly ok.
Don't believe that I had left anything switched on, so have acquired a new battery to prevent any further issues.
You ought to spend £20 on a drop tester....
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General Discussion Area / Re: Brexit negotiations
« on: Yesterday at 16:21:22 »What is totally unacceptable about this agreement is the knock on effect that the outcome will have on us all regardless of where we live or nationality. Trade should have been a condition of the agreement on the table today. Well done Barnier and May. I expected common sense to apply but instead spite reigns supreme. They did tell us this the day after the vote in fairness.
Yes, it's not as if we didn't have agreements about such things with our European allies before the EU. It's just that Brussels have cynically bundled in all the common sense policies of neighbouring countries with similar aims along with their personal political ambitions which the UK electorate have found to be wanting. Now, we can't have the common sense without signing up to the batshit stuff.
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General Discussion Area / Re: Brexit negotiations
« on: Yesterday at 12:57:50 »Thing is, if there had been as much public say and involvment of such an important decision back in '92,'99,'03 and especially '09 then we would have had a membership that the majority of the public could have gotten behind or at least shaped in some way through democratic means. Instead we have had decades of conflating being elected a representative of the people with being given an agenda to do whatever someone likes vis-a-vis Europe. All parties are guilty of this.
We finally had a vote for in or out at a point where the UK was increasingly frustrated with the EU and because Cameron had the guile to oppose Junker's election to high office he deliberately made it difficult for the then PM. This was probably the nail in the coffin for the EU's relationship with the UK. Until the EU makes itself a club that citizens wish to identify with rather than just be a member of because it is convenient/easy/good for the economy/etc then it will continuie to have a problem with the people it is supposed to represent.
Remember that they gave Ireland a referendum on closer integration about a decade ago and it failed. So they had another until it finally passed. The EU is not a democratic institution. It is an institution masquerading as a democratic body. To even consider a second vote on Brexit is absurdly unequal in the balance of public voice. PM Brown signed us up to the current incarnation of the EU despite the fact that polls showed the majority of the public were against it. Where were the cries for a public vote then?
What you are saying is going some way to understanding the UK constitution, and what 'Parliament is Sovereign" actually means. In the UK, 'the people' aren't sovereign - they have no say in the day to day, week to week, month to month or year to year running of the country, or any agreements that the govt enters into.
Parliament took powers from the King back in the 1600's. It did not pass those powers to the people - it kept them for itself. In effect parliament replaced a single dictator (the King) by itself. The only powers the public have are those granted to the public by parliament, and those powers can be revoked. Women only got the vote in 1918/21 because parliament voted to give them that right. Parliament can revoke that right.
So as things stand, the treaties we entered into in '92,'99,'03 and '09 did not (and still would not) require public approval. Infact it can be argued that they don't even need parliamentary approval because international treaties are (arguably) govt to govt agreements under crown prerogative.
So the next time you see someone write something like "we had a referendum and the majority ordered the govt to..." you can safely assume the writer doesn't understand our parliamentary democracy. The public have no right to order the govt/parliament to do anything - they can only give an opinion. Because, ultimately Parliament is Sovereign.
Indeed, but how long can a parliament persist with pushing through policies which do not have national support? Eventually the work of ministers starts getting hampered by the fact that they find themselves dangling from lamp posts.
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General Discussion Area / Re: Damp Under Bath
« on: Yesterday at 12:28:40 »
Might be worth improving the ventilation under the bath area before doing anything more drastic. Can you put a vent in the bath panel, for example?
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General Discussion Area / Re: Damp Under Bath
« on: Yesterday at 10:33:13 »
There has to be a source of moisture for the condensation to continue to form.
Given that you've eliminated the bath and any human activity inside the premises, I think damp is getting in from outside somehow, or the provisions to ventilate the wall cavities and underfloor areas are not effective.
Given that you've eliminated the bath and any human activity inside the premises, I think damp is getting in from outside somehow, or the provisions to ventilate the wall cavities and underfloor areas are not effective.
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Omega General Help / Re: M.o.T.
« on: 15 November 2018, 20:42:25 »Any small exhaust leak will mess with the Lambda reading, may be a small enough blow not to fail the test
Yep, and given the rest of the results this is where my money would be, in addition to checking the plugs. There's a bit of hc in the exhaust so any sign of a misfire?
I don't think additives are going to help.
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Omega General Help / Re: What car should I buy?
« on: 15 November 2018, 08:00:19 »
Doesn't sound too good but will be interesting to see what you find.
If the rest of the vehicle's sound you could always source another engine. Plenty of them get scrapped with perfectly good mechanicals.
If the rest of the vehicle's sound you could always source another engine. Plenty of them get scrapped with perfectly good mechanicals.
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General Discussion Area / Re: Brexit negotiations
« on: 14 November 2018, 14:21:41 »I suspect that in a decade when Mrs May is gone and has left this country as effectively a colony of the EU thanks to her efforts. News will emerge that she has been living in a splendid Villa on the Riviera, Amalfi Coast, Algarve or somewhere equally glamorous on the continent.
.. with a massive pension from Brussels thanks to shuffling papers around there for a few years after her banishment from UK politics, naturally.
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General Discussion Area / Re: Brexit negotiations
« on: 14 November 2018, 13:21:04 »I just couldn't care less any more. Perhaps this was May's plan all along, beat us into apathy.There it is again!
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General Discussion Area / Re: Brexit negotiations
« on: 14 November 2018, 13:18:36 »None of the chatter really matters. Its highly unlikely her deal will get through the commons, as it seems designed to piss off everyone on all sides.
Hopefully the Tories will finally grow a pair and get rid of her after the commons vote, then it all starts over again.
I'm starting to think that Brexit isn't going exactly to plan.
Plan?
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General Discussion Area / Re: Did anyone else see this .
« on: 14 November 2018, 09:31:58 »That Evening Standard page had so much content, videos, adverts etc that my laptop ground to a halt and I gave up waiting for it to load.
..and then they whine about people like me who run ad blockers.
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General Discussion Area / Re: Did anyone else see this .
« on: 14 November 2018, 09:30:28 »From the comments section:I hear what you're saying, but she has a point about Piers Morgan.
"Hmmm, I was going to laugh at her, however, on reflection, she has a point. Anyway, anyone who annoys Piers Morgan is OK with me. Morgan is an obnoxious bell-end".