Any question answered...

If so- amazing

Did I stutter?

My usual route is US/UK to middle east - I'm sure they can handle another similar expat destination

1 Attachment

Priority Mail International® Large Flat Rate Box
USPS-Produced Box: 12" x 12" x 5-1/2"
Maximum weight 20 pounds. $121

$96 if you can squeeze it into the Medium flat rate box 13-5/8" x 11-7/8" x 3-3/8" or 11" x 8-1/2" x 5-1/2"

Just a very big difference from the $300 from FedEx

Yeah, it seems too good to be true, right?

For what it's worth, we've used them for the last four years, multiple origins and destinations, probably 20+ packages, never any issues.

What options have people here pursued for a degree qualification later in life when they have a pretty demanding job?

I did a Maths degree (Bachelors) with the OU many years ago (2005-2012). All whilst working full-time and becoming a father.

You can get it done in faster than 6 years but it depends on the course and the dependencies, usually 4 years is the minimum time possible for a Bachelors degree.

I took 8 years to do mine because I wasn't in a rush and did an extra couple of courses that I was interested in.

As others have said it's about ~£22k at the moment for a typical Bachelors degree with the OU (some courses will be more if there are materials or other requirements). No problem doing it from abroad. Go to https://www.open.ac.uk/courses/fees-and-funding and click the "Change location" button and you can select the country you're in.

How much workload it is depends on you and the course. For my Maths degree I already had a reasonable grounding in Maths (Further Maths A-Level) and had done some 1st year Maths with my existing Comp Sci degree.

The OU does say:

"One credit represents about 10 hours of study. You’re awarded credits after you successfully complete a module – for example, a 60-credit module awards 60 credits."

So they seem to say that a 60 credit module (effectively half a year of a degree) is ~ 600h. Which is bonkers. For the typical time between start and exams that's about 16-18h/week. No way I did anywhere near that.

I did pretty much the bare minimum to get through mine:

For the first year modules I'd rattle off the assignments (4 for a 30 credit module) in under 2h each, often without reading any of the material beforehand. I'd start with the question paper and, if stuck, look through the course booklets for the relevant stuff and smash out the answers.

So for a 60 credit worth of 1st year module(s) I'd spend 16h doing assignments (8 assignments at 2h each) and then a bunch of hours looking at past papers in the weeks before the exam. So probably 25h in total.

Second year it probably went to 3-4h per assignment, and a bit more time looking at past papers, so probably 50h in total for 60 credits worth of modules.

Third year it was 4-5h per assignment and quite a bit more time on past papers. Probably 75h-100h for 60 credits worth of modules (most 3rd year modules were 30 credits each).

I recognise that I'm an outlier here. I have a natural affinity for Maths so had to do less work than many others.

Most of the time I'd start the assignment the night before the last posting date, smash it out late into the evening (starting at 11pm and finishing at 3am wasn't uncommon), copy it out more neatly, photograph it (as a backup), stick it in an envelope and then post it the next day (getting proof of postage).

Occasionally I left it so late I had to do it on the actual deadline day and then cycle it round to the tutors house to hand deliver it.

Obviously things are a bit more modern now and electronic submission makes things a lot easier (especially if studying internationally).

If I did a completely different degree (I don't know, Geography, Sociology or Psychology, etc) I'd be needing to do a fuck load more work each week as I wouldn't be able to just blag it so easily.

If you have time to spare then it's easy to fit it in and isn't that much of a burden.

The odd thing about the UK undergraduate degrees is that they're way more expensive than postgraduate degrees:

• The 3 year (4-6 years in reality) Maths Bachelors degree with the OU is ~£22k
  
• The 4 year (6 years in reality) Maths Masters degree with the OU is ~£12.5k
  
  

You can't just jump straight into a Masters degree though. Some will be very hard without suitable grounding before hand, there may be foundation options to help bridge the gap, but a single year of undergraduate study before starting the Masters will bring the costs up to the same as a full undergraduate degree.

Any idea what you'd be interested in studying?

tl;dr is that it's quite expensive (~£22k) and takes a long time (4-6 years) but it's doable with a job/family/life.

(Also I paid about £4k in total, including a week long residential course in Nottingham. Absolute bargain. Would have carried on doing OU courses but the course fees went up from ~£750/full-year to £3000/full-year and then to £7000/full-year).

Yes that's the ones thanks!

That's a great suggestion thanks!

Ah, ok - this is a service where I’d put the address provided in when I purchase an item.

My situation is that I have purchased something, it’s at a fellow forum members house in the US, and I need to pay for a label that he can put on the package to ship it to me.

Any suggestions for a tig set for learning with? Obviously I don’t want to spend tons, but at the same time I don’t want to waste my money.
I’ve got an auto helmet and mig kit so thought I’d like to give it a go.

Figure out what kind of start you want.

Then buy one and play. Lidl/Aldi do them from time to time.

Cheers. Ideally Hf, but I’m guessing Lift is the most cost effective way to get started, without going the scratch. Scratch looks like it’s awkward to get right to them not use if you get a better machine. Or is it worth just getting a cheap scratch to have a play with? But ultimately out grow quickly (hopefully anyway)

I’ve never TIG welded, but from reading around the car forums I’ve gathered the cheap TIG machines aren’t worth wasting your money on. It’s definitely a question to ask on Retro Rides or one of the other car forums rather than here, though. The tech in consumer (ie non-pro) machines has changed significantly in the last 10 years and moved heavily from transformers to solid state. Plus, if it’s anything like MIG, the torch itself probably makes quite a big difference to your welding experience.

Firstly, stupid question you are getting a 240v one, with a 13amp fuse. Do you know the voltage you get through the day?

Years ago I was looking at Sherman AC/dc machine was a copy of jasic machine. https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/sherman-tig-jasic-in-disguise.93719/ that forum might be better to ask?

Can you pay for an internal shipping label to the SnS address? So you're still providing a printed label but total shipping costs are now just national postage + 40SGD?

Morning Jon
I thought with the wide base on LFGSS it was worth an ask.
Yeah the £200 pocket ones are wank. I have had a go on a £99 one from machine mart to tack an exhaust together to have it properly welded by a friend and it stuck enough for them to finish the job without the mig tack that you have to grind out before finishing. I really want a pedal etc.
I’ll have a sneak around retro etc ta.

Hello
I can run a 30amp if needs be, but really want a 3 pin plug one as it’s only for smaller stuff.
I’ll head over to mig-welding and have a snout around ta.

Thought about asking the question in the sale thread but dont want to derail it, really tempted by them..

These wheels

weight limit is stated as 110kg

But can a heavy rider like me(currently 95kg) really get away with running wheels that light?
Would they just feel a bit noodle-y under me?
I always fantasise about having some ultra light wheels but would it be realistic for me?

Wouldn’t the builder be able to tell you?

Aye, of course, I could have asked on the thread but didn’t want it to derail the thread, hence asking here. Maybe there’d be insight from others who were hefty like me and went for super light wheels and regretted or maybe not regretted it?

Edit - @broken_777 would these make sense for my heft?

I weigh 92kg and have a pair of fairly lightweight Hunt wheels, they recommend you running the tyres at 100psi min if you are heavy, even on wide ish tyres.

Did Santa bring you a welder ;)

From messing about with mig welders, basically you need the wire feed to be constant the same speed. Which is down to the a decent motor AND a power supply voltage and ampage that doesn't vary. That is the greatest issue with older wiring to sheds and garages. Even in houses.

What I found with cheap tigs and expensive tigs is the cycle, or how long you can weld continuously for.

Random, but has anyone seen a good diy sauna build on YouTube?

Everyone one I come across has Finns critiquing the build in the comments.

Do Finn-acceptable builds exist?

I’m a bit lighter, but my experience of going from 32 spoke fairly heavy weight to 18 spoke Zipp 202’s (talking about the front here) was that for the first few minutes the lack of rigidity is surprising- and not very welcome. And then it fades away and the steering is just the steering again. I think I was 80ish kg and both wheel sets were tubs- had them on the Serotta CSi.

I have been on this quest for some time, I haven't found any perfect videos yet.

The method I've employed is to watch as many videos as possible and read the comments. Over time you build up an idea of what each one does well and poorly, and take only the good ideas for your own planning.

If you like I can share my saved youtube playlist with you.