Any question answered...

Are non-drive side bottom bracket cups interchangeable between brands and between 68 and 72mm models?

How does the BA one differ from Gold? Presume the benefits are only for BA flights? I have a boring UK credit card and think I should be looking to get something from it. Guy I work with has Amex and seems to collect quite a few points with it. I never used my Aussie ones though. Be nice if I could just transfer it.

The main bonus from the BA one is getting a companion voucher (effectively a buy one, get one free when you're using your air miles). Used to be along the lines of spending £20k in a year on the standard one or £10k a year on the paid BA card to get the voucher. Only really worth it if you've got a load of air miles though and you're flying long haul, preferably business class, using the miles.

Unless you specifically want that then I'd go with the Gold.

Yeah nah, I don't fly enough for that. Maybe I'll look at Gold.

Have applied for the amex gold

Mrs P had a lloyds duo MasterCard purely for the air miles, but I don't know if they still do that. She puts as much as poss through her Amex ie Amazon, eBay etc, and has this has paid for many a holiday in air miles. I am not that organized.

Welcome to the late-onset asthma club. Mostly rubbish, but once in a while, if you get very wheezy, they give you steroids. My experience of GPs was a bit hit or miss - if it is asthma make sure you get a referral to an asthma clinic /nurse.

I'd like to think I'd be organised enough to put everything on it purely for the rewards but that could easily go very wrong. Having expenses in one place is the main goal. Granted I don't have many but I dare say I'll be going to Colorado at least once next year and only having a debit card relies on me keeping a buffer of £1500 in my current account at all times just in case. Plus the odd last minute train to Nottingham (had to go last week, £160)

have mbna combined visa/amex - it's straightforward and they give a generous credit limit from the outset - my 'go to' card for medium purchases (e.g. group ski trip for £15k)

Are non-drive side bottom bracket cups interchangeable between brands and between 68 and 72mm models?

Very rarely between brands, maybe sometimes between 68 and 73 but the go-to Shimano UN55 actually has 4 different BSC threaded NDS cups depending on shell width and axle length, and two more for Italian threaded 70mm shells.

make sure you get a referral to an asthma clinic /nurse

You should get that by default under the current NHS practice, assuming asthma diagnosis is confirmed.

Couple of other tips for @hippy ; if you're using a salbutamol aerosol inhaler, get some kind of spacer device, and if you don't like the generic product try the branded Ventolin Evohaler, it tastes different due to the different propellant. Also, if they put you on Beclomethasone too, Qvar kicks the arse of generics, you can achieve the same therapeutic effects with about half the dose. The third drug you can use without a TUE is Salmeterol. I've tried it a couple of times over the years without really feeling any benefit, but if it works for you it would be a good match for your proclivity for 12s and 24s.

I had a couple of chest x-rays, I think to check for lung herpes or chest AIDS or something.
These get back to my GP in a week and who knows what happens then.
The prescription for Sal I can pick up from the local pharmacy. It's WADA legal if you use less than 16 puffs a day or something.

What concerns me is the fact that I'm at 70% of capacity, when rested, in a warm building. That shit's not right.

Thanks dude, I'll refer back to this when I get more info from the docs.

What concerns me is the fact that I'm at 70% of capacity, when rested, in a warm building

That's why they X-Rayed you. If you had >90% most of the time and then just crashed to 50% reliably with known triggers, they would have pretty much nailed the asthma diagnosis without going to the hospital.

^^^^^^^I've put around 20K on my AMEX card this year, the points are ok- I send them over into my Avios account.

What would the difference on the UN55 NDS cups be? Presumably the internal diameter is consistent so the only difference is the depth of the hole, so that it clamps the end of the BB cartridge without bottoming out on the internal frame threading.

Pretty much answered your own question there. The short-axle versions probably have the driver socket cut a bit deeper into the cup so that the crank boss doesn't crash into the cup, and I'm guessing the actual cartridge assembly is also narrower for those versions.

I could've saved all this and just copied you but, I don't trust you, so there is that....

I just followed the advice on LFGSS when I asked the same question as you last year.

And it all comes full circle

That makes sense. Cheers tester

You, definitely. Me, probably.

So, I have another ridiculous illness? Awesome.

Is that it? Surely with your bike shit, you'd hit that in a month?

Shit, if my pubs took Amex, I could fly the globe for nix...

Definitely. Pucker up, sweet lips.