Foggy
Posted: Fri 8 March, 2013 Filed under: 1BEM, BMW Drivers, Cynicism, Domestic, Driving, Fog, M1, People, Stupidity, Travel Leave a comment »Last night and this morning, my drive from/to work was extremely foggy. This morning was worse, but even last night was pretty entertaining.
What always gets me though is the way people handle foggy conditions when they’re driving – particularly with regard to one of the banes of my life, foglights.
At night, it’s exceptionally rare to need foglights – they’re only for times where visibility is exceptionally low, and you’ve no chance of seeing the vehicle in front of you without the additional lights. The good old Highway Code says
Rule 236 : You MUST NOT use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226)
Rule 226 : “You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet). You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves.”
With lights on at night, it’s exceptionally rare to not be able to see the car 100 metres ahead of you.Yet most of the fuckknuckle cunts are there, belting along with their foglights on.
And yet this morning, when it was actually really bad visibility, most people didn’t put their lights on at all, let alone the foglights.
I truly do not understand people.
Reporting Potholes
Posted: Mon 4 March, 2013 Filed under: 1BEM, Customer Services, Driving, Getting Organised, Pedantry Leave a comment »One thing I’ve become a bit of an arse about over the last few months has been reporting potholes and road damage to the local council(s).
I’m not the only one doing it, I’m sure – but particularly with Bedfordshire it’s interesting to see the speed of response from when I’ve reported stuff to when it gets fixed.
I’m drawing the conclusion that it’s down to me because in some cases I’ve left the report for a month or more, with nothing happening. When I report it, it gets checked and fixed quite shortly afterwards. Now sure, it could be that my report is the one that breaks the limit on reporting – but not every time, I’m sure.
I know that councils are reducing their road repairs as part of all this austerity and cost-saving bollocks, but it’s a false economy. The costs/claims for damage are a big factor – and particularly claims are more likely to be paid up when the pothole has been reported (but not repaired) because that shows more of a disregard for maintenance.
I’m not interested in that side particularly. I am interested in getting decent road quality without dangerous potholes causing issues – both to myself and others.
Moving Mondeo
Posted: Sat 2 March, 2013 Filed under: Domestic, Driving, Finances Leave a comment »With luck, this weekend the Mondeo will finally go.
It was supposed to go last week, had sold on eBay and all good. However, the buyer didn’t turn up (and was, I think, slightly delusional as they were expecting a broken “Spares/Repair” car to get back to Leicester) so it had to get relisted. As always, a pain in the ass.
Anyway, it’s sold again, and this time the buyer is local so I’m a bit more optimistic.
It’s made a good price – better than I expected – both times, which is reassuring.
Still, it’s another of those “end of an era” kind of things/feelings.
[UPDATED 03/03/13] : It got collected today, money paid, all great. An era comes to a close, 2,179 days (just under six years) and 130,500 miles after buying it, Mondeo is no more.
Congestion Lane (Again)
Posted: Thu 28 February, 2013 Filed under: Commuting, Driving, M1, People, Travel Leave a comment »Last night, I finally saw the M1 Congestion Scheme in full effect – vehicles in all four lanes, using the whole thing properly.
The only problem?
All the signs were saying “Hard shoulder for emergency use only”, so the scheme wasn’t *actually* active at the time.
Some days I really despair.
Bye Mondeo, Hello Saab
Posted: Wed 6 February, 2013 Filed under: Domestic, Driving, Finances, Travel 2 Comments »So, today was the day I picked up the new (to me) car.
It’s a Saab 9-5, big beast of a thing, with just under 75,000 miles on the clock. It’s just had an MOT as part of the price, so that’s clear ’til January 2014 without any advisories, so that’s good news. It’s also cost me a lot less than the Mondeo did, which is also (for now) a good thing.
It’s now all taxed and insured, so I’m completely legitimate – I always am, and the insurance was in place before I picked the car up. The tax couldn’t be, as I didn’t have the V5 and so on, but it’s all done now.
So yeah, time to play with a new vehicle. I’ve got a Devon run next week, which will shake it down nicely. (That seems to be almost becoming a tradition, having done the same thing with Mondeo in its first week)
Hopefully this will last a good couple of years, get me through everything else without causing me issues. Time will tell, but that’s currently the hope.