New Tyres
Posted: Sat 14 December, 2013 Filed under: Cynicism, Domestic, Driving, Finances, Getting Organised 4 Comments »Today, the Slab has had two new front tyres, from eTyres. As I’ve written previously, I’ve done a goodly number of miles on them since getting the Slab, and I’ve no idea how long they’d been on the car before I got it.
While I’ve not noticed anything particularly wrong with the previous ones, I also don’t/didn’t trust them as much as I should. There’ve been little niggling ‘well, that doesn’t feel right‘ moments that’ve felt like momentary loss of grip – particularly at very slow speeds – and my previous history of tyre loss isn’t positive, so I decided it was time to get replacements.
For those who don’t remember, so far my tyre losses have both been fairly explosive blowouts, and both times in the outside lane of a multi-carriageway road. (It turns out I didn’t write about the second one, which was in August 2012 – I must’ve had my mind on other things!) In both cases, I can certainly tell you that adrenaline is somewhat brown.
So yes, with that kind of history when it comes to tyres failing at the most inopportune moments, I figured it was best to be pre-emptive and get them changed sooner rather than later.
The Slab is a front-wheel-drive car, so for now I’ve left the back tyres alone. (Yeah, I know, they’ll be the ones to blow now) I’ll probably change them early in the new year though – and I did get the nice man from eTyres to check them, just in case they were more chuffed than I suspected.
I’ve no idea yet whether the change will make/ have made any difference, but I certainly feel happier for having had them changed.
High Milage
Posted: Mon 9 December, 2013 Filed under: Domestic, Driving, Getting Old(er), M1, Thoughts Leave a comment »Over the last month I’ve done a fair number of miles, including two trips to the North-East, one to the North-West, and one to the South-West, as well as a couple to closer parts of the country.
Indeed, by my rough reckoning I’ve done about 1,700 miles this month on those journeys, as well as my usual 600 of commuting – and as regular readers know, that’s one of my lowest-mileage monthly commutes in recent years. Indeed – having just checked – it’s the shortest commute since I worked in Oldham while living in Manchester. (And that took longer to do by far, as it was reliant on public transport)
The next few weeks will be quieter though – I’m done for long-mileage trips for the next month or so at least, which is no bad thing.
The Slab has done well on it all though. When I got home last night, the odometer read 99,500 exactly. The 100,000 mile service is booked in for just before Christmas, so the timing on that should be pretty spot-on, all things considered. Even if I go slightly over by then, it’ll still be within the next 1,000 – all told, no bad thing.
The only thing I really miss on Slab from Mondeo, it turns out, is cruise-control. I never used to use it much, but it does come in handy on long motorway drives where your leg doesn’t move much from one position on the accelerator. It meant I could engage the cruise-control for a couple of minutes, stretch and move my leg, and stop my knee from totally locking up. Instead, getting home last night I must’ve looked like a pirate getting out the car, for the first couple of minutes it really wouldn’t move well at all.
Type A/B
Posted: Sat 30 November, 2013 Filed under: Commuting, Domestic, Driving, Introspective, People, Personality, Thoughts, Travel 1 Comment »Over the last few weeks I’ve been doing (again) a lot of driving, and the next week or so isn’t looking any different. (For example, next Friday is looking to be 350-400 miles on its own, with another 250-300 on the Sunday, minimum)
As always, when I drive I tend to be a Type-A personality, wanting to stop the sodding about and just get there. That’s par for the course with me, just get the job done and get on with it. And yes, that’s kind-of related to that laziness I mentioned in yesterday’s post.
However, when/if I get stuck in traffic jams or behind vehicles I can’t get past (road conditions, traffic, whatever) then I’m far more of a Type-B personality, and don’t get stressed or annoyed about it. It’s a situation I can do nothing about, I can’t go anywhere or change anything, so I just have to accept it until I can change it.
It is (I understand) a bit of an odd state of affairs to be quite so middle-of-the-road on these personality types, where I can change from one to the other without apparent effect. I don’t mind though – it means I’m less stressed-out than pure Type-As, and more effective/productive (usually) than the pure Type-Bs.
Besides, it’s not like me to be the stereotypical anything, so it fits in quite well with that aspect as well…
Maladjusted
Posted: Tue 26 November, 2013 Filed under: 1BEM, Commuting, Cynicism, Driving, People, Thoughts 2 Comments »As the nights have drawn in, obviously I’m driving home in the dark.
It amazes me how many people drive with either one headlight out (and in some cases both, which utterly baffles me) or really badly adjusted lights.
There also seems to be a newer trend for people driving on dual-carriageways and motorways with their full-beam headlights on, and refusing to dip them.
To me, lights at this time are just one of those essential things, and I try to make sure that they’re as safe and sorted as possible. I just don’t really get why so many other drivers don’t seem to think that such things are important.