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I don't think I like that slur on my character. You may not like the fact but... she is happy and so are we. I know that to be true as her best friend who lives round the corner came round today and told me so. Not all of us live in such a cynical, grey world.

Just come back and read the thread (I am the OP). In hindsight I can see why some people are suspicious of my circumstances. All I can add is that the lovely old lady who we bought from has become a very good friend. In fact she is coming down from her new area a hundred miles away to stay with us in February. She wanted to give the house to her children but they all live some distance away and showed no interest in the place. She was very dissappointed that they didn't show the passion for the house that both she and I have. It is the most wonderful piece of history (originally an inn in the 17th century) and it will be cherished as our family home for years to come (we will not be moving unless we need to downsize in retirement unless I am able to pass it on to my son). My son has no surviving grandparents yet sees the seller as the gran he hasn't got. One other thing... and many of you will disagree with me on this but... the very good estate agent (can't believe there actually is one!) was steering me to play hard ball at £30k less but WE CHOSE to up our offer because we knew we were getting an unbelieveable deal (even before the deeds had appeared) and didn't want to feel like we had robbed someone of their home. I know that will make some people sick but I am an extremely fortunate person and I want to sleep at night. Finally I would also like to add that very little of our wealth was inherited, it has come from a mix of hard graft, sensible attitude to money (only ever spending what we have already earned), previously overpaying repayment mortgages and seeing things coming years ago that Gordon, Tony and Alastair were too dumb to see! I will post pictures at a later point but for now we are just a little busy!

No way... it's beautiful for what it is. The fear of holding all that cash in the banks was terrifying me. Pulling out of Irish and Spanish banks has finally allowed me to sleep at night. It's a bit of a dash for assets on my part. I know technically housing is not the right kind of asset but I need a roof over my family's head and I think we've got a fair amount of drop before we see negative equity. Even so we are in the extremely fortunate position of being mortgage free. This wasn't meant to be an 'aren't I doing well' post but a thankyou to everyone for keeping my mind focused when the media were feeding me 8ullsh1t. ...but I can't ignore the chance to stick 2 fingers up to Hamish and Sibley

Here's the gist... Old dear inherited the house which had been in the family for 65 years. When it came to sell she realised she had no deeds. House so popular that it had 36 viewings in 2 weeks in this market! No one else could get a mortgage because she could only offer possessory title so no one else could get a mortgage on it. Everything agreed as we are cash buyers and then just before exchange the deeds turn up at a local solicitors out of the blue. In the mean time I had investigated the history of the house (written a 30 page book after studying old maps and the census, traced it's history back to 1600 and the Manorial history to 1076) and built up a huge relationship with her. She now says a deal is a deal and things should stay as agreed as we are the only ones she can entrust the heritage to.

STR 2 years ago followed by 3 different rented houses. Wife has had the patience of a saint but fortunately for me understands what it's all about. Wasn't planning to buy just yet but the deal of the century came up and we complete on Friday. 12 acres of Sussex countryside and a 400 year old gorgeous house. Old dear selling with no chain her side, us buying for cash with no chain our side. Estimated value just touching 7 figures and we agreed at a whisker over 600 with no hassles from either side. She's happy because she has enough to live on and an easy deal and we are happy for obvious reasons. To the bulls I say read it and weep. To the bears I say have strength, it's swinging our way. Through the difficult times of the last couple of years I must thank the inspirational advice from people on this site... in particular Realist Bear, Blue Loo and Sybil13. I won't post any more after this thread as my work is done. I only hope the slide continues as further slides down secure the future for my children.

His FO's are lucky that they are short haul. At least they get away from him every hour or so. These 'characters' are the stuff of nightmares in a long haul environment as after a few hours you just can't stand sitting next to them any more. Of course no one can ever get the message across to these types because in their eyes it is always someone elses fault.

Peter Skellan, This is just my opinion and I have every right to express it here just as you have the right to come back and slate me as you undoubtedly will. I imagine that your FO's don't get much input into decision making in your flightdeck if you manage that the same way as you discuss(!?!) on here. You will claim that CRM is alive and well at Ryanair but if so it is definitely something that you don't choose to use outside the office. As the holder of a similar position in the same industry I am apalled at the way you represent the piloting profession and ask everyone else to understand that PS is the exception, an example of the bad old days that modern systems are trying to eradicate for safety reasons. It is quite clear how non industry readers can make certain conclusions about Ryanair when both top management and supposedly senior captains believe the only way to get a point across is by bullying. I'm sure the nature of your reply will tell me a lot.

When I turned on my PC this morning it asked me to update PB which I allowed it to. I haven't been onto RM yet so is there anything I can do to remove this update/virus or is it too late?

Repeated at 0230 in the morning by the way.

Having STR'd a year ago I am currently renting a house that previously seems to have been rented by minor criminals. I am constantly bombarded with letters from debt collection agencies with demands for the previous tenants. What saddens me is that I always phone these agencies up to tell them the name of the letting agents who have forwarding details for the previous tennants but almost every time the debt collection agencies are only interested in removing my address from the list but not in taking the details that would provide them with the ability to recover the debt. This has now happened at least 10 times in the last 6 months alone and it is driving me mad. nobody seems to care any more. Just had to get it off my chest.

If you double the 2007 figure you get £810k which is probably not far off what the greedy buggers would have expected at the time. Now say the couple divorced and one party bought the other party out would Land Registry then show a purchase for half the amount?

That's the jobby! I have a couple and have been flying them loads this summer since I moved down to Sussex. Fly paragliders too but the hills are a bit limiting compared to sticking a motor on your back. Going to the Isle of Wight for a family holiday later this month so plan to fly there and back. (edit for spelling)

A new paramotor... well I do like to be different!

Along with wife and son we had £90,000 in PB's from Jan to June. In 6 draws we received a total of £150 (1x£50 and 4x£25). Withdrew before the July draw as even a crappy interest rate at the banks gives significantly more return.

I used to get the Sunday Times but got disillusioned because of the crass VI slant at every opportunity. For the last couple of months I have switched to the Sunday Telegraph entirely for the wisdom that is Page 4 of the business section, lead by the consistently superb artiles by Liam Halligan. edit for spelling

There are knobs in all professions... the pilot community has many as well but no more than usual. Good luck to the BA guys and girls. Tough times behind us, tougher times ahead.

Property values are set to rise in the next three months as a lack of homes props up prices, estate agents want you to believe. Sorry but I thought I'd better add in the words the Times forgot to mention!

"hot chocolate with a flake in it" ??????????????? never heard anyone say that before! Also, no commercial aircraft has an 'auto-takeoff' built in. It would be quite easy to create but would serve no operational benefit, unlike autoland.

Airline pilots are massively overpaid 99.9% of the time. Problem with this logic is that if you are a passenger, that remaining 0.1% of the time when the SHTF, then airline pilots are the most underpaid profession there is. You don't want a pilot to be earning his money.

So how long do you think your mortgage is going to be cheap for?

How about asking for a restictive covenant on the vendors place in exchange. Be interesting to see if he's prepared to take a dose of his own medicine.

Heaven help us!

I mentioned this in another post but I think it's also relevant here. I bought a cheap (£100) wireless alarm system. Mount any components with anti-tamper switches on the back on a small piece of board (or securely tape the contacts in the closed position) so that you don't need to do a drilled and screwed installation and give them reason to not return deposit. Now if they try to come in they will trigger your alarm and think twice about doing it again. When my LA told me about a planned visit when I wasn't in I told them that they would come up against the alarm system and that stopped them in their tracks and never tried. Tennant 1, LA/LL 0.

I would see this as a lucky escape. The LL is showing their true colours, ie they have no consideration for you, you are just a means for covering the costs on their 'investment' and are a disposable commodity. If you sign on the dotted line they will give you nothing but trouble for the entire duration of the AST by which time I suspect you will be pleased to get out. I'd walk away.

The more I read this forum the more I realise that all the bulls don't project their thinking forward beyond the end of the current day in any form whatsoever. Everything is based on the current headlines with no concerns about the long term economic prospects that are staring us widely in the face. Incredible ostrich-like behaviour!