Weston Super Saint

I wonder if there's a template that covers these circumstances....

So, apparently, despite being told I was being booked in for an operation by my previous consultant, it turns out that Tuesday was yet another 'consultation', bringing the total to 3 different consultants, one GP, two specialist nurses and countless admin / secretarial staff that I've seen before finally - fingers crossed - being booked in for the enormous 20 minute operation on the 6th of July. In the meantime, I've been taking advantage of any breaks in the weather and wearing my knees out even more I've finally joined the 'century' [kilometres] club with this morning's ride of 67 miles. The first 40 were pretty easy despite taking a wrong turn and ending up on the A39 with heavy lorries running past at 60 followed by a torrential downpour just outside of Glastonbury at which point I got off the bike and snuck in to a bus shelter to avoid the worst of it! The last 25 miles were pretty tough going, my knees had given up on me and I was heading West straight in to the wind which had picked up from a gentle 5mph on the way out where it was a following wind to about 20mph as a head wind! All in, not a bad ride considering with the plus point of burning through 5,200 calories having had no breakfast and snacking on a grand total of six jelly babies for the whole ride. https://www.strava.com/activities/620103505

That's it, my last ride for 2-3 weeks https://www.strava.com/activities/615895718 Off to the hospital in a minute to undergo 'carpal tunnel relief surgery' on my right hand which only takes about 30 minutes but will leave me with four or five stitches in my palm, preventing any riding. Not such a bad thing as my legs have become knackered over the past week as I've been squeezing in as much riding as possible to make up for my enforced absence!

So, they've sold 5,000 season tickets, which to be fair is a good number in division 4. They sold 1,000 of those in the first 8 hours and the remaining 4,000 in the next 13 days. I would guess at around 7,500 would be their max this year - anyone who is likely to buy one would have done so by now, but there is still another pay day to get through so they could sell a few more. Luckily, some of the wiser fans that they have, have made comments on that article suggesting now is the perfect time for them to be getting their 40,000 seater stadium

Lol. I overtook my first person going up Cheddar Gorge on Saturday I noticed him ahead as I came through the 'steep bit' and it flattened off to about 6-7%. I've no idea why but something inside me just made me pedal faster to catch him up - I guess it's because he's the first person I've ever seen not pulling away from me on the climbs!! As I went past him I was desperately trying not to show how much I was hanging out my arse as I gave a cheery 'morning'! About half a mile later he over took me again, but that's fine, I'd achieved my goal and was saving myself for the last KM segment when I could put the hammer down again.... Managed to get a new PB of 16:41 for the 2.5 miles of Cheddar - compared with 21:14 for my first ever go at it less than a year ago. I'd set myself a target of getting up there in less than 20 mins by the end of the summer, that had changed to less than 18 mins after April when my first go of the year beat the 20 min mark! I've now set a new goal of 15 mins by the end of the year....

Not convinced to be honest. Don't lepers carry bells around with them?

LOL. The sign above his head looks like it lights up as well - like something you'd find on a B&B in Blackpool.

No worries. Having re-read their witness statements and done some number crunching on the small amount of numbers they have provided I now have an argument against their new reason for redundancy - which they are now claiming to be a reduction in the workload - which shows that actually the amount of work required by one person actually rose by over 5% compared with 2014, ergo no redundancy event triggered in 2014 should mean no redundancy event triggered with an increase in the workload! Moral of the story, check your figures before sending them to a pedant! I do, however, have a new problem!! Exactly six months to the day from my previous redundancy, I was informed by my new employer that my role is now 'at risk' due to the contract that I was working on for them being cancelled early. 29 of us are now under 'consultation' so I reckon I've got about 7 weeks to find alternative work. My question is, if I don't manage to do so and therefore have another period without income, can I add this to the original claim? It stands to reason that I should be able to as if they hadn't unfairly dismissed in the first place then I would not suffer any of the losses since dismissal, but need to know if there is any legal precedent as to why not? For once the tardiness of the courts looks like it will work in my favour as the case could have been done and dusted by now before the new redundancy was revealed

And also, how many were loans and won't be there next season? Good enough to challenge - probably not without the loanees they had this season.... Which is why they failed to get out of League Two. Again.

To be fair, they were tears of despair due to the lack of spelling, grammar and punctuation in the emails

Looking for some specific advice that my only be known by an employment lawyer - any on here? - or very experienced HR person.... So, to cut a long story short, I was dismissed in December. Turned up to work as normal one day only to be sat down with the Head of HR 30 minutes later and told I was being made redundant, hand my keys in, collect my belongings and sod off with immediate effect. I know that I have got them bang to rights in terms of process as I wasn't even invited to the meeting where I was dismissed, so I'm 99.9% certain that the judge will award in my favour at the tribunal and agree that the dismissal was 'unfair'. What I am looking for is some advice around the 'Polkey' argument. I've had the witness statements through and they aren't even bothering to defend their actions in terms of the dismissal process. The reason that the Head of HR gave me for the redundancy was that the company was 'no longer financially viable'. Obviously my appeal was against this - as well as the lack of process followed and the fact that there was no consultation - and the company has blatantly ignored this as well as blatantly lied about it! I recorded the meeting with the Head of HR on my phone and have since submitted this as a document as well as a full transcript of the meeting. In the appeal outcome letter that I was sent - before I told them I had recorded the meeting - they state that they have spoken to the Head of HR and she says she did not at any time state that the company was no longer financially viable - which is a clear lie! They are now trying to use a Polkey argument to reduce the amount of compensation. However, they have now decided to change the reason for the redundancy and state that it was down to a reduction in business - fair enough as this is a 'fair' reason for redundancy, however, they haven't provided any 'evidence' to support this and the P&L's and audited accounts that I have had entered in the bundle show that whilst there was a small drop in turnover, it remains way above the level of previous years during my employment which didn't trigger a 'redundancy' event, so again, I'm confident that I will win that argument. So, the question is, can the change the reason for redundancy and still use a Polkey argument? Fair enough if they didn't follow the process and dismissed me 'unfairly' but still shut the business due to it no longer being financially viable, I could understand that a Polkey argument would work. However, can they change the reason and ignore the original reason that was given and still use the argument? If so, how many times can they do it? Whilst I appreciate that 'professional' advice may be the only way to answer this question, the way tribunal courts are set up - in that costs can very rarely be claimed, let alone costs for legal representation - it is counter-intuitive to spend money on legal advice that can never be reclaimed! Any comments welcome

And a Villa fan. Not a lot to cheer about in knobhead neil's life!

So, it's [give or take a day or two] the anniversary of my first bike ride today with the first one being the Saturday of the second May bank holiday weekend last year. My first ride gave these results : https://www.strava.com/activities/341555034 12 months later, 3,431 miles under my belt and two stone lost from under my belt! and my anniversary ride produced many new PRs : https://www.strava.com/activities/590406378 Onwards to the next 12 months and hopefully another two stone to be shed!!!

Someone concerned with Pompey frantically re-writing history? I don't believe it...

Is it sad that this is how I spent my birthday morning : https://www.strava.com/activities/582809389 1 mile for every year! Off for birthday lunch now so I can pig out safe in the knowledge that I have already banked several thousand calories for the day

Probably won't be far off a season ticket next season

All went well with tyres, tubes and chain all working as expected https://www.strava.com/activities/573456313 In terms of maintenance I've now ticked off bottom bracket replacement, chain replacement, rear cassette replacement as well as re-indexing both front and back dérailleurs. Added to the obvious, tyres, tubes and brakes. The only thing left - which I wouldn't want to do myself - is complete re-cabling, but there is no issue with the cables right now so the LBS will have to wait to earn more pennies from me!

Let's see if the weather clears for a short shakedown ride tomorrow... Fitted shiny new tyres - GP 4000s - and a new chain and need to test them before a 40-odd miler that I've got planned for Saturday. No ride for Sunday as I will be in Hamble for a party Saturday night and driving home on Sunday.... The chain is a little bit short. I counted the number of links in the old chain and cut the new one to the same number but I've changed the rear cassette recently - and added four more teeth which, as every pompey fan will tell you, makes a huge difference!! - there will be carnage if I forget and try and put it in the big ring at the front and the big ring at the back as the whole thing will jam up. That was just possible with the old chain but I've realised just how stretched that has become!!

Still, on the plus side, he can now sit and watch the match in comfort, at home on his tellybox and won't have to suffer the smell of rotting detritus and fat filled pipes. Every cloud and that.... Do Sky still have a camera choice via the red button - if so, he could even choose to watch from the camera where his seat used to be safe in the knowledge that the stand won't fall on his head during the game...

Presumably it would fall under 'genuine occupational requirement' and would NOT be racial or any other kind of discrimination : http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/schedule/9

Get well soon.

I frequently get knee pain from over working the knees - for me it's genetics I'm afraid as my mother has had both knees replaced following several knee 'scrapings'. About three weeks ago it was really painful and I noticed my knees were quite bent even at the 'straightest' point of the pedal stroke. I raised the seat another inch or so which meant the knees got straighter during the stroke and it has relieved a fair bit of the pain. I don't think it will ever disappear and I guess I've got used to my dodgy knees, dodgy back, dodgy hips and curved spine [scoliosis] and just kind of get on with it.... Raising the seat would be worth a try - and pretty cost effective if it works If it doesn't work you've not really lost anything. It does make getting on the bike even less glamorous than it used to be but what the heck!

Happy with that Just short of 40miles with an average of over 15mph including a climb over Cheddar : https://www.strava.com/activities/567988196

Any tips for inner tubes????

Meh! Jersey pockets are for jelly babies