Upcoming MOT
Posted: Sun 8 March, 2009 Filed under: Domestic, Driving, Getting Organised Leave a comment »Tomorrow the car goes in for its MOT. It should be OK – it’s already had the necessary replacement brake-pads and discs which were the main thing I knew needed dealing with.
I’ve had the car for two years now – the MOT is the anniversary sign, really (along with the insurance renewal, of course) – and in that time I’ve done some 42,000 miles in it. When I got it, it was on 56,000 (give or take) and it’s ust gone over the 98,000 mark. By the end of the month, I’ll have clocked the damn thing, courtesty of normal work mileage plus our holiday in Scotland at the end of the month.
Of course, in a perfect fit of timing, one of the full-beam bulbs blew on Friday evening – so that’s something else that can be replaced while it’ in the garage tomorrow.
And hopefully that’ll be all that needs doing in order to get the MOT Certificate. I’m going to spend the day with my fingers crossed, just to make sure.
Vehicle Checks
Posted: Tue 3 March, 2009 Filed under: Driving, Geeky Leave a comment »If you’re buying a car, you’re always recommend to do a check on the car, to ensure it’s not recorded as :
- Stolen
- Still has outstanding HP payments (which could get the car repossessed)
- Unregistered (for example, a cut/shut job)
However, getting those checks has always been either expensive, or non-simple to do.
Now, there’s “My Text Check” – for £3 (plus network charge for the text) you can text the car registration to 83600 , and you’ll get back the report, including information on police records, etc.
And about time too…
Hub Caps
Posted: Fri 27 February, 2009 Filed under: Driving, Travel, Weirdness 2 Comments »In the last month, I’ve somehow managed to lose all four hubcaps from my car. I know one went when I had the blowout, and another one disappeared soon after.
But I’ve lost the other two in the last three days. I haven’t hit anything, gone into any significant pot-holes, haven’t heard or noticed anything of them coming off. There’s no sign of them along my route to work. They’ve just disappeared.
Fortunately, when I had the blowout I’d ordered a couple of replacements from QuickHubs, and ended up getting a set of four as that cost me the same as two individual hubcaps. So in this case it’s fortuitous, as I now need all four – I’d have been mightily narked if I’d paid for two, and now needed two more, as that would have doubled what I’d paid.
At least now all four will match.
And I’ll be attaching them with plastic cable-ties as well, so they should stay put this time round…
Photo Opportunities
Posted: Fri 20 February, 2009 Filed under: Driving, Photography Leave a comment »A few days ago, a friend made me aware of a burned-out van out in the wilds of Norfolk (and fortuitously close to where I’m currently working) which was of interest to me for some photo ideas.
I was going to go over there this weekend, but changed plans this morning, loaded the camera into the car along with the satnav (in order to find the bloody place at all) and took the opportunity while it was there – the local council usually being vaguely efficient when it comes to vehicle removal.
The road that it’s on is – interesting, I think it’s fair to say. Distinctly rural, single-track, and covered in mud for the first mile, deep ditches on either side – I’m just glad I wasn’t going with the initial evening/night-shots plan. (Now I know where it is, I might give that a go next week if it’s still there)
All told, I’m quite pleased with the photos I’ve managed to get – or at least, I’m pleased with how they looked through the lens, and on the screen on the back of the camera. I’ll only get the chance to see them on the big monitor tonight, and see what I think then.
Clunk Click Every Trip
Posted: Thu 19 February, 2009 Filed under: Driving, Thoughts 2 Comments »I still find it amazing that a significant number of people still don’t bother putting their seatbelts on when driving.
As a result, Norfolk police are this week having a campaign to catch people driving without seatbelts , which has to be a good thing. According to the story, officers expect to issue hundreds of tickets over the next seven days. (I wonder if they’ll also be checking for tosspots still using mobile phones while driving – hope so!)
Last year 2,111 people were fined for not wearing a seatbelt in Norfolk. The last time Norfolk held a special campaign, the number fined leapt to 440 over a two-week period.
I’ve always worn a seatbelt, and to be honest can’t imagine not doing so. But I see people doing so every day – or pulling away from a junction, or carpark, or whatever, and then pulling the seatbelt across them while driving along. I’d love to see some of those pillocks stopped and fined, I must admit.
Interestingly, my dad’s now had two driving accidents, one either side of the seatbelt law.
In the first, he hit black ice and rolled the car down a slope. He’s always said that in that case if he’d been wearing a seatbelt, he’d have been trapped in the car and unable to get out. As it was, he walked away with a bundle of bruises.
In the second, he was hit head-on by an idiot Frenchman driving round a blind corner on the wrong side of the road. In that one, he was wearing the seatbelt (by then it was law) and says that if he hadn’t been wearing it, he’d have gone through the windscreen and probably died.
Not that any of that is an excuse for not wearing seatbelts, of course.