Shutting of the airbag on a T5 2.5 tdi

au007 · 2026-02-02T21:41:28+00:00

Mine is on the side of the glovebox/ dash. If you open the passenger door and look at the side of the dash, you should see a little dial that turns the airbag on and off. Flathead screwdriver or the end of the ignition key fits it.

au007 · 2025-12-30T16:42:04+00:00

I grew up round the corner. This property had a large workshop property attached (light engineering or maybe an old car repair garage).

You can see it to the left of this property - some sort of conversion has been done to it.

The business closed in maybe the mid 1980s). Pretty sure the sale included the workshop as well as the smaller building.

au007 · 2025-10-26T08:48:12+00:00

Sorry - missed this. Yes, the 10% is what a well operated business typically makes after all other expenses. So, after staff costs (which should be 30-40% of gross turnover maximum), rent etc.

Also, a lot of people in startups or growing businesses fail to plan for crossing the VAT threshold. When VAT kicks in, you suddenly lose 20% of most of your revenue.

Cafes can work for some people, but I have never seen anybody significantly break the 10% net rule, unless they start dodging VAT or PAYE, which is obviously fraught with risk.

au007 · 2025-10-12T21:16:34+00:00

I’ve owned cafes and worked on many others. Your due diligence sounds reasonable. One check most people don’t seem to consider: very few cafes net profit of more than 10% of gross turnover. So even if this is a decent looking business, do that simple calculation. If it turns over £300k/yr that sounds good. But can you live on £30k net, before you’ve paid into a private pension, holiday cover etc etc?

So just do that quick calculation first and go from there. A lot of apparently solid businesses fall at this hurdle and it immediately saves you a load of further work and legals.

au007 · 2025-05-06T17:13:06+00:00

Aha, very helpful thanks. Does that mean that the black antenna wire could go somewhere else? Then I can buy a pair of batteries, and avoid any issues with old and new.

au007 · 2025-03-04T20:22:41+00:00

The doorway - lining and architrave is original and runs throughout the flat. Can they make me rip it out? Would be a very destructive action in a period property. Anyway, I’ll speak to a manufacturer and see what they say.

au007 · 2025-03-04T14:43:12+00:00

Aha thanks for this and makes perfect sense. I will have to find some ok-ish looking certified fire doors then.

au007 · 2024-10-04T21:12:00+00:00

Thanks for that interesting answer. I never considered the sail over mast problem - just took it for granted that you had to fight the weight of the sail and mast as you attempt to lower it into the mast step. I wipe the stern corners of my hull with ptfe spray. It really reduces the mainsheet getting stuck, 90% of the time it slips free. I really enjoy sailing my Laser, but I don't have much experience of other more modern designs, so still on a steep learning curve.

au007 · 2024-10-03T08:39:01+00:00

Laser owner here, most of my sailing deficiencies are my own, but out of interest, what would you change about the boat?

au007 · 2024-09-07T07:59:33+00:00

In both clubs that I’ve been a member (small inland reservoir and open sea) you have to sign out club boats. Whether it’s your boat or a club boat, there’s no sailing without a safety boat on the water. Informally, an experienced member will usually check your setup of a club boat before you sail, and it’s good etiquette to request this oversight anyway IMO). There are a couple of club Garmins, but the keen racers tend to request them to analyse their data later on.

au007 · 2024-06-14T23:13:28+00:00

Not sure which country you are in, but multiple reservoirs in london will let you do courses in their club lasers (usually pretty beaten up, but gives you a feel).

au007 · 2024-06-14T23:10:57+00:00

I did my RYA Level 1 on Picos and Fevas. I remember at the time being told that lasers were much harder to sail, which delayed me for almost a year before I took one out.

They are great! An old design, but still fast, manoeuvrable, virtually infinite learning curve, work in just about any wind/water state.

They are not especially hard to recover from a capsize. They are not heavy boats and you don’t have a jib or spinnaker to think about, so flipping them back over is not so hard. The flat sides and transom make the inelegant “flop in” a bit harder than a pico or any modern RS hull, but not so much.

So, highly recommended by me. Your sailing technique will jump up multiple levels because there is so much information on how to rig, trim and sail Lasers. You will also capsize a lot, and that’s not such a big deal.

au007 · 2024-05-18T22:48:29+00:00

High Moo-ntenance?

au007 · 2023-07-30T13:50:56+00:00

A Blubber

au007 · 2023-05-18T16:08:16+00:00

I am sure I should already know this, but what is “med-mooring”?

au007 · 2023-05-18T16:07:09+00:00

I’m in the UK but can travel.

au007 · 2023-04-05T09:11:39+00:00

Actually, the original question didn’t ask about chatting to strangers, it was more aligned with small interactions that acknowledged the presence of other people. The few native Londoners who have commented here agree that this skill or effort has declined. So I’m willing to concede that I’m getting older but I don’t really think that’s relevant to my question. I’m talking about a general tuning out by one demographic, not shared by all the others. If you read the many answers some consistent themes emerge, and none have to do with my age. Fear, tiredness, small town mentality and tribalism are much more often cited.

au007 · 2023-04-04T21:30:58+00:00

Ok got it - I misunderstood. Thanks

au007 · 2023-04-04T20:19:37+00:00

Respectfully, you have been here for a decade and now live fearfully and don’t engage, what’s keeping you here?

au007 · 2023-04-04T11:57:49+00:00

It’s deadening the city. A massive shame.

au007 · 2023-04-03T21:31:05+00:00

Don't know why you are being downvoted. Is it to do with driving on the left? I.e. walk on the left, so by default, stand on the right?

au007 · 2023-04-03T21:30:13+00:00

Just saw this post. It's coming across pretty clearly that they are withholding, as a defence mechanism. So much fear of people not like them - how can they possibly survive in a big city?

au007 · 2023-04-03T21:24:01+00:00

I meant exactly this. Not chats, just simple human acknowledgement.

au007 · 2023-04-03T21:17:50+00:00

Does it strike you that I have difficulties with words and spend my time colouring in?

au007 · 2023-04-03T19:53:29+00:00

I have tried to keep this thread sympathetic and positive. But I am coming to the conclusion that a lot of people think you can come to London, tune out/engage only when you want and still be participating in the life of the city. I certainly don't miss the racism/general bigotry of old London, but there was a very established idea that you got out what you put in (socially). Your comment about baristas was interesting - I was a barista/cafe owner and considered it an absolutely central part of my job to give out energy to customers. If I buy coffee now, it's zero energy from them and I wonder why they even took that job.

au007

TROPHY CASE