gangzoom

I did my first half marathon end of last year. I found it a real mental challenge as well as physical one. Sounds like your training is going well, maybe have a easy week to let the legs recover?? I said to my self at the end of the half marathon I wouldn't even try a full, but now running 8-10km is 'routine', so keen to push for the full at some point. Stick with it, as the weather gets warmer it'll become 'fun' again

I think the 'theme' of what people are saying is maybe its time to grow up a bit, and take some responsibility in life . Who doesn't want a big house, nice car, no worry about cash, but real life isn't like that... As for moving to the US to chase the 'American dream', yes people here have nice lives….If you have the $$$$. I'm staying at the Hyatt Regency in century place in LA at the moment, looking out of the window I can see a row of homeless people who have no access to health care, no access to benefits, essentially get ignored and treated as no-bodies just across the street. I took a bus to Santa Monica beach yesterday for $1.25, the hotel concierge was shocked I would even consider taking a form of transport that exposed me to the great un-washed, and yes a few of the homeless uses the buses to move from one begging spot to another. No they didn't bother me, it was just sad to see people living like this in the most developed nation on the planet. How well do you think your get on in the US with an attitude of borrowing money like there's no tomorrow to waste on cars/toys?? Unless your a true genius/entrepreneur your 'American dream' is more likely to end up been an American nightmare. As others have said no one can walk into a nice car, big house etc, infact your borrowing habits is probably whats letting some fat cat banker in London do exactly what you want to do - live large for not much effort, by living off commission they get for lending out money. Also don't bank on your other half bailing you out just because she's going med school. Uni tuition fees are £9000 a year now, so 5 years of medical school will leave her with £45K of debt to pay off, starting salary for a junior doctor is £22,000 BEFORE TAX. You can do the maths your self on how long it will take her to pay of tuition fees .

Forget houses etc, your already £8k in debt and now want to finance a £30k+ brand new car!!! I know your young, but surely you must see the financial madness of what your proposing. Effective your proposing to put your self close to £40K in debt for on a car at the age of 22, if the banks/credit companies have any morals/codes of practice they really should refuse to let you finance a £30k+ car. We all learn/live by our mistakes, what ever you do please don't put anyone else down as a 'guarantor' on any credit/finance you try and pull off to get a Mustang.

Most people on here probably know I'm driving around in an electric Nissan Leaf with a view of changing to some thing quicker end 2016/early 2017. One of the cars on the list was a Tesla Model X - It's the one with 'gull wing' doors. They are only just out in the US, but not in show rooms yet so they are pretty rare sight even in EV loving California. Well I managed to see one close up in the flesh on the last day of our holiday thanks to a friendly Model S owner in LA. Wasn't as excited by it as I thought I would be, bare in mind the one in the photo is worth $120K!!! 0-60 time is about 3.9 seconds I think. Essentially it's a big fat SUV like all big fat SUVs. After staring at it for a while decided naaa....I still don't see the point of big fat SUVs 'gull wing' doors or not, so I haven't gone totally mad on the car front If anyone is interested in another big fat SUV, I'm pretty sure this thing will be hitting the Waitorse car parks soon...Well 2017 anyways.

[quote name='Commander' timestamp='1454087666' post='1580025'] GangZoom - Premium Bonds and an ISA. Or spunk it on a well expensive used car that won't depreciate too much and sell it later when you need the cash. [/quote] Got premium bonds + ISA already. Been lucky win premium bonds, last 3 years averaging a refurn of 7% for 0 risk . ISA, got a fair amount now just coming out of a longterm deal, but current interest rates are horriclly low. As for spending it on a car, that in the pipeline, 11 months to go. Already know the spec I'm after..But I'm pretty sure it'll deprecate by ALOT. Probably will loss less money if I gamble the pot on the makers...I may not be into petrol/diesel cars, but I'm still very much into wasting money on cars

[quote name='Tom-89' timestamp='1454077520' post='1579958'] [quote name='gangzoom' timestamp='1454076897' post='1579954'] Are you guys treating buying stocks as a hobby or as a serious investment tool?! [/quote] it's my job, I don't actually trade with my own money though [/quote] So what would you do with a £20-40K lump sum, in the short to medium term - 12-24 months.

Are you guys treating buying stocks as a hobby or as a serious investment tool?! 20% return on £1000 sound great but actually isn't that much to write home about. 20% return on £20K is a different matter. But I haven't got the balls needed to play with £20k of my own cash on stocks.

Just taken the new toy on the it's first family holiday. Loving the fact I can now fit ALL my camera gear in one small bag that use to be only big enough for one lens + 550D, and actually when out and about no need for a bag at all Also loving the pancake kit lens, it's not the quickest but the performance is more than good enough for me - Though am no pro. Really enjoy using the camera, even the shutter makes a lovely noise. Anyone currently still shooting with DSLRs need to give these mirrorless systems a try, they really are good!!

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/05/met-chief-admits-institutional-racism-claims-have-some-justification goverments own report https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277111/4262.pdf

We're currently in LA, and curising around in a Camero. Wanted to try a Mustang but these were all they had as a convertible at the hire car place. Have to say the similarity with my old 350Z is remarkable. The noise, the slight reluctance to rev all the way to the red line, the lack of luggage space, the way the fuel gauge drops. It's even got a V6 that pumps out around 300bhp. I now see why the Z got comapred to these 'muscle' cars. It's all good fun, especially when a Mustang, Charger pulls up at the lights and eveyone pretends they are in Fast & Furious....Than my wife reminds me she's 30 weeks pregnant I bet the V8 Mustang must be some experience, but I'm a old man these days, fun for a bit but after a few miles much prefer the silent running of EVs to all this drama!!

It all depends on the GFV. There is another option. By law apprently finance companies cannot charge you for over payments - They can for early termination or total settlement. So it's apprently possible to buy the car via PCP, pay off 99% of the outstanding value with either cash/bank loan, and that way your simply left with paying a higher interest rate on 1% of the original debt but also still have the option to hand back at the end.

So 67% voted for the Maserati, and you go and buy a GTR Enjoy the new car, I'm sure your love it!!

They are getting cheaper quite quickly these days. Early cars (3/4 years old) with <50,000 on the clock are listed in autotrader starting from £33k, so I suspect if you push hard you can pick up a tidy example for not too much more. Given that's about 50% deprecation in 3 years the prices are about right. I know if I was still in the market for petrol cars I would find those kind of prices hard to resist, regardless of running costs....and so much more practical/sensible than a 6 series

Not enough snow around the Midlands, the IS300H may be RWD, but boy does the it not like the rear end over taking the front - No doughnuts for me till I can get something else RWD Had a quick play with the new camera and its 'super hi-res' mode, really tempted to get a macro lens now.

What about the GS-F, though granted its essentially just a bigger IS-F.

This is what Nissan is busy working on... Though the boss of Nissan doesn't look that happy after seeing first hand the 200 mile, sub $30,000 Bolt, GM has just announced they are gearing up to put into production with-in 12 months. A 200 mile real life range Nissan EV is still at least 18-24 month away.

Not had much time to play with the camera, but tried the 'super hi res' mode: Not sure how useful it is in real life, but for stills, does seem to deliver 'hi res', this was taken with the 30mm non-macro lens. With a macro lens on the detail picked up at 1:1 zoom will be crazy....I see an excuse to buy a macro lens Zoomed to 1:1

Odds on the lottery isn't that bad compared to premium bonds. 1 in 45 million for the jack pot on the lottery ?? We have a decent amount of premium bonds, the odds of wining a big prize on that is something like 1 in 27 BILLION!! Last 2 years we've been lucky, have got over 10% return on premium bonds (estimated annual return is only 1.36%). But last 6 months have got virtually nothing so thinking of what to do with it, still don't fancy the idea of gambling all of that on the lottery

My much loved Canon 17-55mm f2.8 lens died this X-mas, and I was in two minds about if I should replace the lens or move to a different camera system. After some digging around went for a Olympus OM EM-5 Mark II. I know a few people here into photography, and here are some of my thoughts compared to my old Canon 550D. The AF system: The biggest reason I avoided with mirrorless cameras in the past is the inferiority of the AF system compared to a DLSR. The reviews on the current mirrorless systems like the Olympus, Sony, Panasonic suggest things are much better, so I thought why not give it a try I have to say despite the lack of phase detection, the AF system on the Olympus is really good. Even in very dim conditions, it’s not really any better than the 550D, but not much worse. I suspect something like a 7D mark II would make the Olympus feel very slow especially in continuos tracking AF, but for my use, its good enough. This was shot with street lighting only, focus point was the shifter, kit lens, 1 second exposure!! High ISO: The 550D only really had a usable of ISO up to 1600, the EM-5 is about the same, 3200 is usable, but beyond that I would say it’s too noisy. I’m pretty sure a newer APS-C camera like a 750D will be ALOT better than the EM-5 at higher ISO, and full frame will be in a totally different league. But the 5 stop image stabilisation built into the EM-5 helps to improve things a bit in low-light situations. Though if your after the best ISO performance, stick to APS-C or even better full frame. Depth of field: One of the other concerns about moving to a smaller sensor is the loss of depth of field. Just as it happened we went to the same hotel we visited a few years ago, and the same night-cap drink was in the room. One is shot with my old 550D at 68mm f4, and one with EM-5 at 30mm f2.8. To me the differences in depth of field isn’t striking, but again on a FF system it would be better. Overall use: So far it may seem like APS-C/FF camera systems are better than even the most current mirrorless systems. But there is one advantage with EM-5 holds over my old 550D, and thats size/weight. I had a budget of about £1000 to move from my 550D to another system - which would have just about enough to get a used 5D mark II + lens. I could have also got the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 Pro lens (£500+) with the EM-5, but instead I went with the £140 kit lens. The reason is as below. Instead of having a camera that required it’s own bag, gathered attention from passer by, I now have a camera system that fits in my coat pocket You don’t need to pixel to peak to realise if your after the BEST image quality, FF/APS-C systems still kick ass. But I’m not a ‘pro’, and have no intention of trying to make any money from my photography. It’s a hobby, and the smaller size of the EM-5 means I can now enjoy taking photos again in situations where lugging around a DSLR is simply too much hassle. In short, I’m loving the EM-5, and have now put all my Canon gear up for sale. I’m sure APS-C/FF systems will be around for a long time to come - if your after the best image quality its still FF all the way, but for me the EM-5 is close enough in terms of functionality and quality .

The odd thing is as you get close to Edinburgh it becomes dual carriageway again....It's almost as the though as the Scotts want to make it as hard as possible for the Jodie's to bridge the gap between the two cities Blasting up from the Midlands to Glasgow is a completely different experience, once north of Liverpool the traffic just melts away, and 3 lanes all the way to pretty much the centre of Glasgow, you can set the cruise control at 80 (75 once across the boarder) and not have to touch any pedals for the next 2-3hrs...So maybe it's just Glaswegian are more welcoming.

Humm....If you get seen by curtain twitching nosey parkers in London flashing those things around, and have the wrong coloured skin I suspect your get a vist from the boys in blue pretty sharpish...

I've seen a few at £35k hence why I chose that figure - that's truthfully the lowest I've seen them go for. How much are you budgeting for running costs over 12 months?

This will do for me (ofcourse replacing the Maserati with a Tesla)

For all the fun that gets poked at BMWs been rep/dull cars, you cannot deny the fact they know how to build a car with decent handling - after some mods Glad your enjoying the V8, touchwood it remains reliable.

How you finding the AF system on these mirrorless systems?? I'm on the verge of dumping all my Canon gear (17-55mm f2.8 is dead after suffering one fall too many ) for either the Olympus or Panasonic 4/3 range.