Booking Breaks
Posted: Wed 31 December, 2008 Filed under: Driving, Getting Organised, Travel 4 Comments »In view of trying to be more organised (and the fact that the current job gives me holiday pay) we’ve been trying to be more prepared when it comes to holidays etc. for 2009.
So this week we’ve booked the first break – a week up in Castle Douglas, in Dumfries & Galloway at the end of March.
It’s an area I’ve never been to, but it should be fun. I’m already looking forward to it, even with a seven hour drive to get there…
Green Fuels, New Problems
Posted: Mon 29 December, 2008 Filed under: Cynicism, Driving, Green, Thoughts 1 Comment »This story on BBC News raises an interesting issue – as more cars get converted to dual fuel, and use LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas), crashes and vehicle fires are starting to carry significantly more risk.
After all, LPG is carried in cylinders under pressure, which make it very similar to the acetylene cylinders which always make the Fire Service pap themselves (and for good reason) due to the possibility of explosion if they get too hot in a fire. If you’ve ever put an aerosol can on a fire, think of the effects of that and multiply it by a thousand. Explosion, fireball, etc. etc. In short, Ka-boom.
The same is true (and even possibly exacerbated) with LPG canisters – after all, petrol escaping from pressure and turning back into gas is going to cause one heck of a bang.
So I suspect we’re going to see more road closures for relatively minor accidents and/or vehicle fires where LPG-powered vehicles are involved.
Think I’ll stick with diesel, myself…
Text/Drive
Posted: Fri 19 December, 2008 Filed under: Cynicism, Driving, News, Thoughts Leave a comment »I’m pleased to see that the woman who killed another driver while driving and sending text messages has been convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.
During the journey, travelling at 70mph+ on the M40, this woman had received and/or sent 20 text messages. She said she thought that it was perfectly possible to send text messages while driving “in certain conditions”.
Hopefully this conviction will have taken away that thought. But somehow I doubt it.
The Drive Home
Posted: Tue 16 December, 2008 Filed under: Driving, Travel Leave a comment »Oh yeah, and the drive home following the concert last night was dead easy too – we got back on the dot of 1am, as predicted some hours earlier.
In fact, it took two hours dead from leaving the (effing extortionate) car park in Hammersmith to entering the drive at home.
As usual, the sat-nav was useful for getting out of London (it had been OK for getting in, but the route was based more on my memory – of which another post later – than on accuracy of satellite information/routing) but after that it was just a case of auto-pilot, and not hanging about.
Fraudulent
Posted: Sun 7 December, 2008 Filed under: Customer Services, Cynicism, Domestic, Driving, Travel 1 Comment »It’s going to be one of those months, obviously.
On coming out of the hotel we stayed in on Friday, one of my car tyres was nearly flat. (7psi , to be exact) I’d only checked and inflated the tyres on Thursday – the same one had been a bit flatter than the others, but not so significantly – so we knew it was a slow puncture.
Reinflated the tyre at the conveniently nearby garage, and went to get a replacement.
In the end, both rear tyres needed replacing – yes, it could be a dodgy upselling trick by the tyre place, but I simply don’t know enough about tyres and wear to make an educated judgement, although I did know they were due for replacing in spring anyway, according to the normal servicing garage.
So I went to pay by credit card. And ended up going through to manual authorisation where the people were asked if I was present, and for loads of details which made it obvious that both a) I was there and b) the card was there. Then they got put on hold, and the twat on the other end never came back.
I’ve just tried calling them about it, and apparently the fraud department shuts at 5pm on a Saturday, and won’t be open again ’til Monday. Now yes, I could have called earlier, but I didn’t – we’ve had other things to do, for one thing. But why can’t they be bothered to call and say “we think this card’s being used fraudulently” ? They did last time something like this happened.
I’ll write more when I know what the fuck is going on with the card. That should be another fun task for Monday…
Un-Snowy
Posted: Mon 24 November, 2008 Filed under: Domestic, Driving Leave a comment »Pretty much all the snow has now disappeared. No bad thing, in my opinion – the drive in to work this morning would have been infinitely worse if the snow and ice were still around.
So there we go. All over and done with, and a minimum of hassle.
Service Outcome
Posted: Sun 26 October, 2008 Filed under: Customer Services, Driving 1 Comment »Good and Bad news from the car’s servicing yesterday…
For the most part, it was absolutely fine. Didn’t even need topping up with oil.
However…
The bad news is that the power-steering pump is well on it’s way to dying – apparently it’s cracked, and is not in a good state. In fairness, I’ve known it’s on the way out, as it’s been getting noisier. Last time it went in for a service (about six/seven months ago) they commented that it was noisy, but couldn’t find the problem. So it’s no surprise that over that time (and some 10-12,000 miles more) it’s got worse, and they can now see what the problem is.
Price for repair? £400 .
So it’s booked in for a couple of week’s time, seeing as the power-steering is pretty important, but I need at least a week for a new insurance certificate to come through for the courtesy car.
But that’s it – and I class the power-steering as wear-and-tear once it’s coming close to the 100,000 miles. These things happen. I’m just pleased that the car and engine all seem to be fit and well, which is no bad thing at all.