Royal

99spec bumpers are a great upgrade. Much better than the original.

As Retro said. Karate is particuarly bad for overexteding elbows and knees as they like to punch out straight and hold them there, rather than 'whipping' them like boxers. Did you see Ray in St Ives/carbis bay Retro? I remember he started training around the same time as me. He's doing quite well down there now, bit of a lad but well into it. He was doing some cage fighting when I saw him last.

So gutted for you mate! Made my heart jump when I saw the pictures. I hope you get it sorted and insurance makes it better than ever. Dave

'In half an hour it could be BEIND you..' must be the accent!

Isn't number 2 the plastic undertray lol! Maybe I'm wrong?

Nice white Zed on the a249 to sittingbourne. We beeped each other as I passed you. I waited to drive with you and then buzzed off before realising I was in the wrong lane at the roundabout :slap: Dave

Just SPANK HER!! :dance:

Hope its going well mate. Load of my old lot have recently gone out there to so say hello if you see any bootnecks!

Hello! Congratulations.

Surprisingly it looks good, not that I'd spend that sort of money on it.

Awesome! Feel very healthy now

We were in Newton Hamilton for a while and the boss put an advert on orders saying that 'due to the work commitments in afghanistan there are spaces on the SBS under water knife fighting course (!) anyone interested fill in an application form and hand it to their team leader!' A new lad fell for it and put his form in so we sent him on the helicopter with a rubber dagger and a diving mask to Bessbrook to do the course. He only realised when he got there and everyone was p*ssing themselves that he'd been had haha! The bug*ers got me as well after I'd spoke some (very poor) french to some people who had had an accident in town. They said I was going to be a translater for a visiting VIP, I was down waiting on the helipad nervously practicing my french before the loudspeakers announced I'd been had!

which bit do you need to see mate? You'll prob need a specific angle as its not easy to see things.

Thats why you have to do things yourself mate, there are actually quite a lot of ways to do well out of it providing you put the time in yourself. I spent nearly a year studying for my cisco and microsoft qualifications while in the Marines. I was doing my normal job as well, but I had plenty of time to work on the courses. Its just hard motivating yourself because not many other people do it. Also you can move into a specialised area and that sets you up for the future as well. Plus they now do a thing called extended learning credits that gives you either 3k over three years or 6k over 3 years depending on your service time. I've left but I'll be paying for my higher level Cisco courses through the MOD with this money, which is a good thing as my new employer wont pay anywhere near as much as this for courses. Dave Jack: would be good to meet mate, I've not had a chance to go to any meets up here yet either.

The long haired boss saw you when she was coming back from southampton today. Red 300, original looking. :dance: Twin exhaust. ps proud of my lady, check out her Zed spotting!

Jack, maybe you took over from us? it was paras, but I can't remember which battalion. I was there with 42cdo. My mate topped himself in Bessbrook in the armoury with the CO's pistol (at least he had a sense of humour with it). Know what you mean about the stag on thing, bloody nightmare. My grandad was a Para by the way, he dropped just after the gliders to take pegasus bridge. Zevoguy50, one of my friends dads was out there then with the LI and before that. Hard work then I reckon mate. Not to put a downer on the forces though for Kamikaze, I still don't regret a moment of it, there is so much you can do and see its certainly worthwhile, really changes your outlook on life. Dave

Ouch thats rough mate. We were in South Armagh and it was just a waste of 6mths nothing going on (good I suppose) but stuck in the SF base. Then my feckin mate blew his own head off :cry: never forgave him for it :slap: . Ought to go to his grave but still find it hard to come to terms with. Arsehole thing to do to yourself and family. RIP Ratty.

Should be a bit of room with 17s on (or do you mean the 16" oem alloys?). Smithies kit is a very good interim measure, and you can upgrade the calipers later on. Thats assuming it will fit inside your alloys??

Yeah, I think the lifestyle is particuarly unhealthy. The average lifespan of an infantry soldier is 55 yrs you know! A lot of the old boys I know who have done a full career are dropping off, or had to get amputated limbs and stuff. Its quite sad. They look 20yrs older than they are. I know I can push myself till I collapse, theres just nothing to be gained from proving it anymore!

As said above mate, it really is what you make of it. EVERYONE in the forces says its shit at some point, its a forces perogative to moan and winge :-). Its just because you spend a lot of time hanging around doing bugger all and getting bored. However if you are prepared to push the boat a bit then there are opportunities to do things you will never do outside. Usually the people who moan are the ones who don't get off there arse and get on trips or sports clubs etc. I did 6 1/2 years in the Royal Marines and went to the jungle, desert, arctic, jumped out of planes, did lots of time in the mountains, represented britain in martial arts, and plus managed to wrangle my way into an IT job that has enabled me to walk straight into one in civvy street. I will say though that its all off my own back. They got me involved in the IT networking because I had an IT history but wouldn't give me the civilian courses, so I studied my arse off for a year and then left the Marines (and got a pay rise :) ). It really is what you make of it. If you are thinking of the long term I'd recommend going into something that gives you career options (RMP, techie or whatever). Theres not many vacancies on civvy street for sniper. Dave

If you are going to dispute it then don't fill in the form as that is an admission of guilt. Write a seperate letter putting forward your situation. I asked for a photo and I could see the driver quite clearly so if it is the case that you wern't driving then maybe it'll help you? otherwise probably best not to have it! :-) Dave

NNNIIIICCCCCEEE! Good on you matey

Good Tony! will be awesome when its all done.

There was an MR2 in Plymouth with what was supposed to be a good ferrari kit, just looked silly to me. I think its better just making whats there better with a nice body kit etc, not try to make it look like an 100k car because it never will.

You gotta be joking? With the rear seat down I've moved house in my Zed!! Two surf boards, several massive suitcases, tools, absolutely all sorts was squashed in there. Surprised myself actually at how much space there was. :)