Early Risers.

[AndyB]

I think you have to be VERY careful when someone offers to pay out of their own pocket. Possibilities are that they won't agree with the quality you want the work done to and will only accept a quote that they provide with a builder of their choice. You may end up with a builder who does a half-baked job and have no redress. So, you would be out of pocket and very peeved. 

 

I don't know if there is a time limit on reporting it should the agreement for your neighbour to pay fails to happen.

I would ask her to put in writing that she will pay, agreeing that it is you that gets two or three quotes and that you chose who does the quoting. Obviously this creates work for you that you weren't expecting when you woke up this morning. 

 

Sadly the simplest and best intentioned offers made at the time can evaporate once they see the bill.   

[PhilJ W]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-30671548

Lot of cheap cars heading for Africa soon?

[petethemole]

I expect she's worried about the inevitable rise in premium, which she may be paying for her son. If mum keeps picking up the tab (either way) there's no incentive to improve his driving. If his insurance pays out I'm not sure why it should affect your house insurance but obviously you know it will. There's no guarantee they will cough up anything at all, so I would claim on their insurance.

 

Pete

[petethemole]

Lot of cheap cars heading for Africa soon?

 

More likely new cars for export; the traffic in new cars, vans, etc. through Southampton roughly balances out. The news item said it was bound for Germany.

 

Pete

[AndyB]

Lot of cheap cars heading for Africa soon?

Unless the Sotonians get there first! 

[PhilJ W]

More likely new cars for export; the traffic in new cars, vans, etc. through Southampton roughly balances out. The news item said it was bound for Germany.

 

Pete

I was thinking of the one that turned over on its side a few years ago loaded with new BMW's. Someone bought the cars as scrap, cleaned and dried them out and sold them in Africa, BMW were none to pleased.

[AndyB]

That reminds me. I better get some moss killer to treat my Z3 eco-system. 

[Killybegs]

I take back what I said earlier about it being balmy here. The thermometer may be reading 6 deg C, but I have just been into town on the bike for provisions and my face and ears feel as though they have frostbite. Perhaps I need to go more slowly down the hills to reduce the wind chill factor! Or put more than just a helmet on my head!

[DDolfelin]

 do you think it best to involve the insurance company or not?

 

 

I believe you have a responsibility to inform your Insurance Company.

You can stress that you do not want to claim at this juncture but they may ignore this to protect their interests.

However the No Claims Bonus (if it applies) is not a No Blame Bonus.

[Coombe Barton]

I'm now waiting for a year for the chap next door to finish replacing part of a fence his son used for target practice with an air pistol. Police were involved, and I thought I was being neighbourly to allow him to do it, especially as he has his own handyman business.

 

With this experience if I were in your position I'd go for insurance to get the job done properly.

[New Haven Neil]

Good afternoon, and pleased to see iD back and well.

 

Yes I agree regarding second hand hi-fi, it has virtually zero value.  A shame really.  Some high end stuff appears on e bay, not sure of anyone actually pays the prices asked for it though.

 

Spent a chilly but sunny morning splitting firewood as forecast yesterday, and winterised the bikes - modern petrol creates havoc if left in carburettors over winter, it wrecks them.

 

This afternoon has turned really grey and miserable (outside that is - inside already was grey but not too miserable) and quite chilly indeed, so Debs is just lighting the fire and I have several e mails to catch up on.

 

Whilst in the garage I found a box with some stock in I had, er, harrumph, forgotten I had!  I have rather more SR green MK1 coaches and green CUV's than I thought.  Buy no more, Neil!

[Tony_S]

I have tidied the interior of my car and cleaned the outside of Aditi's Fiesta. Not a lot of point cleaning the outside of mine as I'll be going round to Gatwick tonight. The interior is clean enough not to cover the Land Rover service person with dog hair tomorrow.

Edited January 4, 2015 by Tony_S

[Coombe Barton]

This afternoon I'm being very Mary Berry and making the chocolate log I should have made before Christmas.

[Ashcombe]

Morning all. Today started with a bang, followed a few minutes later by a knock at the door. A car has crashed into my nice new gatepost and wall and partly demolished them. The gatepost had only been there a month! After checking that the young man driving the car and his younger brother passenger were uninjured I took his details for insurance purposes. It seems he recently passed his test and has only had the car insured for three weeks, it is not drivable now. His mother lives round the corner and offered to pay to have my repairs done without going through the insurance, providing it doesn't cost too much. I am a bit dubious about this as what exactly is "Too much"? However, going through the insurance will also affect my house insurance but at least it will eventually get done and paid for. The last thing I want is to be out of pocket for an accident I had no control over and no involvement other than providing the gatepost. Has anyone had an experience like this and if so do you think it best to involve the insurance company or not?

 

Have a good day and stay warm. 

 

About a week before Christmas, 2013, we had exactly the same experience but, as the driver was drunk, the police were called and he was prosecuted. Luckily, he was insured and we claimed via our house insurance, paying the excess for which we were eventually reimbursed from the motorist's insurance. Hope that helps and good luck!

[The Stationmaster]

More likely new cars for export; the traffic in new cars, vans, etc. through Southampton roughly balances out. The news item said it was bound for Germany.

 

Pete

The ship was destined for Bremerhaven and had a Southampton Pilot onboard - one of the maritime sites has suggested a steering fault had been mentioned.

 

Apparently - according to someone who served one as a 2nd Officer - this type of vessel can be very 'fickle' in a cross wind especially when lightly loaded.  But no doubt an experienced Captain and Pilot would (should?) clearly be making allowance for that.

[Oldddudders]

Afternoon all

 

A cold day here, in contrast to a very mild Saturday, when we shopped and didn't really need coats.

 

We took Peter & Ivy's trailer back today, having unloaded the logs. Sherry's car may be an underpowered automatic - but it copes ok with towing, as does the driver!

 

A full and frank discussion took place earlier a propos wedding guests. Having managed to avoid kids most of my life, I really do not want a couple of very young children at the - brief - ceremony, and this doesn't fit well with Sherry's wish to keep her awkward daughter on-side. A compromise may be available, we hope.

 

Flavio - my first Cambridge amp was a P40, purchased in 1969, toroidal transformer et al. And the Nakamichi CR3E I bought a couple of decades later was a very fine item, too. Hi-fi is now a stratospheric-cost hobby, if you really want to improve on the sort of sound most people are happy to get from an MP3 player.

 

Commiserations to those under the weather. Return to work this week is always the worst of the year by a margin, I recall. Another year, another headache!

 

May your week be better than you expect, whatever!

[Tony_S]

Ian. I think my brother had similar views about small children but those who were at his third wedding were very well behaved and certainly helped make the occasion jolly. Considering that Pete (brother) didn't seem to like children that weren't old enough to go in a pub he has taken rather well to the step-grandfather rôle.

Tony

Edited January 4, 2015 by Tony_S

[Ian Abel]

Cold morning...

 

Yesterday I DID manage to;

i) Install some more Kadees

ii) Put down a little more track in the goods yard

iii) Build a Ratio Coaling Stage - don't know where to put it yet though!

iv) RUN TRAINS   :senile:  

So, overall some modeling finally.

 

Today, I'm going to have to break my "don't be daft and go out in this weather" rule, as we apparently have to go over to visit MiL in rehab, as SiL and her husband have decided that they aren't going out because of the cold - funny how they more often than not find a reason when it's their turn 

 

Tonight we're having friends over for a "Sunday Roast" before heading out again (I really AM a nut!!) to see the season premier of "Downton Abbey" on a big screen showing in town..

 

It was -20 when we got up and is holding steady right now  may make -18 if we're lucky today, but there's a moderate breeze so very severe wind-chill at present!

Have a good Sunday - and stay warm, even if it is already tropical - i.e. above ZERO - where you are    

Edited January 4, 2015 by Ian Abel

[southern42]

It's been glorious outside all day - but decided to enjoy it through the window.

It's too warm and cosy inside to ponder anything else.

The bank of cloud on the horizon is only now upon us.

That's good too - it should keep the frost at bay, tonight.

 

Spent much of the afternoon doodling in AnyRail.

Coming to the conclusion I need less track, more space or a new plan.

 

But, for mow, the kitchen beckons.

[pH]

Morning all. Leaf-clearing duty this morning. 35000 down, 145000 to go. I think I need a bigger garden waste bin.

Spotted in the sky above sunny Norf Norfolk this morning (I just happened to look up)... would have been even more impressive if it was St Andrew's Day!

Have a good Sunday, all.

 

standrews_01.jpg

standrews_02.jpg

That is, in fact, how the Scottish saltire came about - http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/britonsgaelsvikings/athelstaneford/index.asp , though there is no record of which aircraft were in the air over Athelstaneford that day.

[petethemole]

For anyone interested in the cargo of the stranded car carrier: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/11701063.FIRST_PICTURE__Inside_the_stricken_Hoegh_Osaka_container_ship/

 

Pete

[45156]

Afternoon All

 After checking that the young man driving the car and his younger brother passenger were uninjured I took his details for insurance purposes. It seems he recently passed his test and has only had the car insured for three weeks, it is not drivable now. His mother lives round the corner and offered to pay to have my repairs done without going through the insurance, providing it doesn't cost too much. I am a bit dubious about this as what exactly is "Too much"? However, going through the insurance will also affect my house insurance but at least it will eventually get done and paid for. The last thing I want is to be out of pocket for an accident I had no control over and no involvement other than providing the gatepost. Has anyone had an experience like this and if so do you think it best to involve the insurance company or not?

 

I wondered what was going on earlier, when 30747 came back with Lily and said that there had been an accident outside your house.  I suspect that I know who the driver is, and also who his mum is, and if I'm right, then you may be OK as she is a pretty fair person, in my experience, and also she has family connections with the building trade, though of course, you may well have your own ideas there, and want to get Phil back to do the restorative work.  I had a look as I walked past a few minutes ago, but it was a bit dark, so I wasn't too clear on just how much damage you've had.

 

I like Il Dottore's description of his hi-fi, and I am still an active listener, and frequently fire up my system, which is all Arcam Alpha (8R amp, CD17, and Alpha 7SE tuner), and the speakers which are Bowers and Wilkins on quality stands and I picked up the stands for three quid at a car boot! - the whole thing sounds quite stunning when run up to a decent volume.  I paid a pretty sum for the setup, but I'll bet it's worth under £100 now.  Such is life - but I've still got the use of it.

 

Sorry I've not been here recently, as life has been getting in the way, and today I had one of these "little jobs" which has a habit of escalating.  Some time ago, Lily decided to help take up some of the vinyl on the kitchen floor, and I did a temporary fix which included a number of steel tacks, which were an eyesore.  Also a couple of feet up by the fridge was split.  So I decided to replace the damaged bits today, only to find that the rest of the vinyl near the fridge was also stretched, and would not stick down properly afterwards, and also I couldn't get the patterns to match - so that's two hours of my life that I won't get back.

 

Hope all who are ailing get better very soon, and that we hear from them on here before too long.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited January 4, 2015 by 45156

[Tony_S]

I will be setting off for Gatwick a little later than scheduled. Matthew's flight currently has a 55 minute delay and is estimated to arrive just before midnight. At least I will get a toll free crossing at Dartford!

[lightengine]

Just watching The Railwayman

[BoD]

Following the discussions about HiFi I thought I'd have a quick look at the current prices for some of my stuff and like others found that there doesn't seem to be much demand for second hand.  I guess it will just stay in the loft then.

Funnily enough someone on e-bay was trying to sell the name badge from the front of the speakers for not much less than the full speakers were going in second hand shops.