Early Risers.

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

he solution to that is to purchase a small 'runabout' vehicle (four-wheel drive is ideal) that the RV / Motor coach home can tow. I regularly see this configuration on highways in the US. 

 

You park the motorhome in your campsite spot with the runabout unhitched, and drive around exploring in that. A small vehicle would be advantageous on Cornish lanes, and the extra petrol would not be expensive.

 

 

Suzuki Vitaras seem to be  the car of choice here for that reason. 

[Barry O]

1 minute ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

Suzuki Vitaras seem to be  the car of choice here for that reason. 

Or a hundi I10...

 

Baz

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Long but enjoyable day yesterday. Our Western Australian veteran cricketers were a good bunch. They batted first and scored 266 forb8 in 45 overs with some lovely shots being played.

 

After a nicevtea Yorkshire Ridings shuffled the battingborder around and set off in pursuit. Knocked off the runs with 2 balls left. BBQ afterwards went well and a great bit of yacker and drinking followed.

 

Didn't get home until 10;30.

 

Off to meetnup with an old work colleague this morning .. 

As it is supposed to rain this afternoon some muddling may be achieved.

 

Good to hear from @Dave Hunt. Extra restraints are required on that black mutt..

 

Time to get some food then off to Roundhay Park..

 

Enjoy your day!

 

Baz

[polybear]

46 minutes ago, pH said:

What about this, then?

 

 

A 9-axle B-train. Somewhat bigger, though with a professional driver.

 

(Edit - or Australian road trains.)

True - but that’s not the UK….

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.  It chucketh it down.  16c, windy and eeuch.

 

Should go into the garage and make a start on that pile of bits I suppose, brain was checking off missing bits all night, some little parts to look for, there's another few boxes of parts for something else in the garage loft that they may be in, or be able to rob!

[Coombe Barton]

6 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

The solution to that is to purchase a small 'runabout' vehicle (four-wheel drive is ideal) that the RV / Motor coach home can tow. I regularly see this configuration on highways in the US. 

 

You park the motorhome in your campsite spot with the runabout unhitched, and drive around exploring in that. A small vehicle would be advantageous on Cornish lanes, and the extra petrol would not be expensive.

So you have two taxable and road insurable vehicles instead of one, you are still towing something so that your speed is restricted, you have spent money on something that's designed to be all-in-one and then hitch something else on the back end.

The cost exceeds threefold that cost of car and caravan with absolutely no benefit.

[DaveF]

The rain has stoped for now so it is just dull at around 14°C.  It is supposed to rain on and off until mid afternoon.

 

I have to make a decision on what to do with a wicker chair in the bedroom, it gets in the way but is quite comfortable.  I don't "need" it but would probably miss it if I got rid of it.  Perhaps I just need a bigger house!

 

Apart from that I am not sure what I'll end up doing, as it may be wet it will be something indoors, perhaps modelling .

 

Someone has started parking a white van on the opposite side of the road just along from my house.  I will have to try to find out if it does belong to someone local and perhaps suggest to neighbours that when we see the driver we suggest he parks elsewhere.  There are several people at the far end of the road who bring vans home with them at night.  At least it isn't right opposite my house.

 

David

[pH]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

True - but that’s not the UK….

Neither is the RV/pickup/boat combo.

 

7 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

So you have two taxable and road insurable vehicles instead of one, you are still towing something so that your speed is restricted, you have spent money on something that's designed to be all-in-one and then hitch something else on the back end.

The cost exceeds threefold that cost of car and caravan with absolutely no benefit.

Wrong way of thinking! Cost is quite often irrelevant. Anyone who can own that kind of combination is usually not too worried about the cost. 
 

On major roads, like the US interstates, there’s no special speed restrictions for those combos (or, if there is, not much attention seems to be paid). Off those roads, where they cannot do the allowed maximum because of road conditions, and collect a tail of other vehicles, that’s the other drivers’ problem, not theirs.

 

And there is an advantage of such a combo - you’ve got a two-bedroom house on wheels, often with all mod cons. People can live ‘on the road’ for years in rigs like that, by choice.
 

There are also people living like that from necessity, though not to the same standards of comfort and convenience (the trailed car may be a carried bike, powered or not, for example). A recent movie shows a dramatized version of that nomadic lifestyle, with an appropriate title:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadland

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Dull and grey here at the moment, plus, it’s just started to rain, I’m glad I’m working inside today, the down side is I now won’t be able to open the cellar doors! As I mentioned in last nights post, the plan for today is to carry on painting the wash stand, I’d like to get it finished today, but realistically, I don’t think I will, mainly because I’ve only got this morning for painting. Charlie is due to call round after dinner, so I’ll be spending the afternoon in the workshop, but it’ll be a nice change. 

 

Back later. 
 

Brian

[Hroth]

 

Back to a normal British summer.  Cool and grey, with occasional dribbles of rain.

 

Perfect!

 

[iL Dottore]

16 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Indeed Peter, but then we go into deepest, darkest GWR (gulp) territory.

 

Dave

C’mon Dave, get real!
 

Are we to believe that ER’s in-house “Ace RAF Fighter Pilot” who would fly through flak barrages and lots of definitely UNfriendly fire with a broad grin and whistling a jaunty air, is intimidated by a few Green Locos?

 

Well I never!

[Coombe Barton]

40 minutes ago, pH said:

Wrong way of thinking! Cost is quite often irrelevant. Anyone who can own that kind of combination is usually not too worried about the cost. 

The carbon footprint would disagree

[Coombe Barton]

41 minutes ago, pH said:

On major roads, like the US interstates, there’s no special speed restrictions for those combos (or, if there is, not much attention seems to be paid). Off those roads, where they cannot do the allowed maximum because of road conditions, and collect a tail of other vehicles, that’s the other drivers’ problem, not theirs.

 

I don't drive in the States

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

So you have two taxable and road insurable vehicles instead of one, you are still towing something so that your speed is restricted, you have spent money on something that's designed to be all-in-one and then hitch something else on the back end.

The cost exceeds threefold that cost of car and caravan with absolutely no benefit.

 

32 minutes ago, pH said:

Wrong way of thinking! Cost is quite often irrelevant. Anyone who can own that kind of combination is usually not too worried about the cost. 
 

Well said. I think that far too often in the UK, whether in public or private spheres, cost becomes the sole consideration, not outcomes, convenience, quality, reliability, sustainability (or a host of other things), just cost.

 

In a way, as this is understandable: the UK is definitely a low-wage high-tax country, but I also think it is due to a change in mentality from the “if I want it, I will save up for it“ of my youth to today’s “I want it now and I’m not going to save up for it” mentality. This in turn means that whatever is wanted, has to be cheap.

 

And, for the industrialist, providing cheap is very profitable indeed. With final cost being the only consideration, whatever is produced can use poor quality materials, poor quality workmanship, put together by a poorly paid workforce coupled with a lack of rigorous QC, with the resulting poor quality item being very, very cheap indeed with the importers still being able to slap on a nice profit margin to provide the consumer still something “cheap”.

[PhilJ W]

7 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

The solution to that is to purchase a small 'runabout' vehicle (four-wheel drive is ideal) that the RV / Motor coach home can tow. I regularly see this configuration on highways in the US. 

 

You park the motorhome in your campsite spot with the runabout unhitched, and drive around exploring in that. A small vehicle would be advantageous on Cornish lanes, and the extra petrol would not be expensive.

 

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

So you have two taxable and road insurable vehicles instead of one, you are still towing something so that your speed is restricted, you have spent money on something that's designed to be all-in-one and then hitch something else on the back end.

The cost exceeds threefold that cost of car and caravan with absolutely no benefit.

My sister and her husband are keen caravanners and have been for years. My BiL had to retire due to back problems so they replaced the towed caravan with a motorhome. They also have a car but when they go touring the car stays at home. When touring in the motorhome wherever possible they use public transport both of them have senior citizens bus passes and railcards, this seems to work for them.

Several cars I have owned had speed restrictions when being towed, some 30 mph or less so if you wanted to tow a car behind a motorhome I'd check out that the car being towed is suitable.

[Hroth]

16 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 

Well said. I think that far too often in the UK, whether in public or private spheres, cost becomes the sole consideration, not outcomes, convenience, quality, reliability, sustainability (or a host of other things), just cost.

 

In a way, as this is understandable: the UK is definitely a low-wage high-tax country, but I also think it is due to a change in mentality from the “if I want it, I will save up for it“ of my youth to today’s “I want it now and I’m not going to save up for it” mentality. This in turn means that whatever is wanted, has to be cheap.

 

And, for the industrialist, providing cheap is very profitable indeed. With final cost being the only consideration, whatever is produced can use poor quality materials, poor quality workmanship, put together by a poorly paid workforce coupled with a lack of rigorous QC, with the resulting poor quality item being very, very cheap indeed with the importers still being able to slap on a nice profit margin to provide the consumer still something “cheap”.

 

CHEAP? 

 

I see such items as merely inexpensive.

 

Many expensive items are priced and sold on brand/features but are no better value for money than less expensive items, particularly in the long run.

 

A case in point.  Aldi flogs stuff that is aimed at the budget-conscious who, once daily living expenses have been covered, want stuff that help them enjoy life a little more easily than might be achieved otherwise.

 

For example, small power tools.  If you're not using them in a "professional" capacity, or as the main tools in a hobby, then there's no point in buying expensive "quality" items.  But for occasional, or even for an individual project, they are perfectly adequate, completely suited to what they need to do and are INEXPENSIVE.

 

And if the tools survive the experience, then they're even better value.

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Not a bad night last night, 3 hours then 4 hours sleep. Not a lot of trouble from the arthritis except for the stiff joints first thing. Will now have to get a move on, things to do so its be back later.

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

Back to a normal British summer.  Cool and grey, with occasional dribbles of rain.

 

Perfect!

 

The Shire of Dismal Fogs is living up to its name today. Thick fog, heavy mizzle, a stiff wind and rather warm. 
 

Everything indoors feels sticky. 
 

Dr SWMBO has been asked to approve purchase of a dehumidifier. Not only to keep things dry but it should improve my asthma if I am not breathing in quite so much dampness. 

[TheQ]

The tow speed problem can be over come by use of a dolly, rather than a A frame, the dolly is basically a mini trailer that supports the front wheels of the car, most small cars being front wheel drive, the automatics do not like being towed.. Legally the car supported by a dolly becomes one trailer.

 

If you wonder why I know this rubbish it's because there have been loooooooong debates on land rover forums on what you can and can't tow. In particular about the Sankey trailer, which is a military trailer designed to tow other trailers..  unfortunately you can only do that when are on military duty, you can't do that with a land rover as a civi.

 

Ditch extended, and dug partly down one more layer, getting old and being on this trial pill makes digging hard work..

Pipe not found, I might be digging to close to the road as the bottom of the ditch is softer further away...

 

I'm begining to think this trial pill is so men can experience morning sickness...

 

After recovery I'm going to go play with that bridge, now where's the brown wood stain..

[Coombe Barton]

14 minutes ago, TheQ said:

The tow speed problem can be over come by use of a dolly, rather than a A frame, the dolly is basically a mini trailer that supports the front wheels of the car

More cost and finding storage space when not being used. All it does in increase the footprint.

On cost, I could do all of these things, but why? What is the advantage of a motorhome if you're not driving somewhere every day? The time element is no more in travelling with a motorhome than packing up a caravan and pitching - you still have to provide yourself with services, power, water and grey and black water disposal. The environmental costs of two vehicles, one of which is big, is more than a car plus caravan.

 

Then there's parking at the supermarket. Sainsbury's Penzance have specific bays. Campervans are in a different category foresee of travel and size - but still need packing up daily.

For me value for money comes down very strongly on the side of a flexible single motive power source. All my normal travel stuff (maps, guides and so on) is in one place when I go out. Additionally a normal sized car rather than a small vehicle runabout when at home means that I can do normal stuff like tip runs and DIY stuff without having to be bothered about capacity.

Horses for courses, but of my course motorhomes with additions are not my horse (or horse and pony.)

 

[Winslow Boy]

39 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

CHEAP? 

 

I see such items as merely inexpensive.

 

Many expensive items are priced and sold on brand/features but are no better value for money than less expensive items, particularly in the long run.

 

A case in point.  Aldi flogs stuff that is aimed at the budget-conscious who, once daily living expenses have been covered, want stuff that help them enjoy life a little more easily than might be achieved otherwise.

 

For example, small power tools.  If you're not using them in a "professional" capacity, or as the main tools in a hobby, then there's no point in buying expensive "quality" items.  But for occasional, or even for an individual project, they are perfectly adequate, completely suited to what they need to do and are INEXPENSIVE.

 

And if the tools survive the experience, then they're even better value.

 

I'm told this, but have not been able to confirm it, that in Germany Aldi and I believe Lidl's are not seen as cheap supermarkets. It is only in the UK that they are seen as bargain basement because that was the market segment they opted to go for. How far this is true I don't know. Perhaps one of European correspondents could verify/investigate?

[Coombe Barton]

47 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

The Shire of Dismal Fogs is living up to its name today. Thick fog, heavy mizzle, a stiff wind and rather warm. 

Visibility here gone down to about 75 metres. I estimate distance in these conditions depending on how many trees I can see.

[Coombe Barton]

5 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Visibility here gone down to about 75 metres. I estimate distance in these conditions depending on how many trees I can see.

Weather forecast says:

 

 

I says - nope

 

Edited August 15 by Coombe Barton

[Andy Hayter]

39 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

I'm told this, but have not been able to confirm it, that in Germany Aldi and I believe Lidl's are not seen as cheap supermarkets. It is only in the UK that they are seen as bargain basement because that was the market segment they opted to go for. How far this is true I don't know. Perhaps one of European correspondents could verify/investigate?

 

 

Quite wrong in my experience  - 17 years living and  working in Germany.  Aldi and Lidl are seen as cheap - as in inexpensive - but the range is limited.  Weekend shopping would often see folk going to A or L to get their basics and then drive down the street to the "big supermarket" or  the specialist shops (butchers, bakers etc) for the rest of their shopping.  The difference in Germany is that there is no stigma in shopping at the low cost stores and you are just as likely to see big Mercs in the car park as cheap Fords or Opels.

[Winslow Boy]

7 minutes ago, Andy Hayter said:

 

 

Quite wrong in my experience  - 17 years living and  working in Germany.  Aldi and Lidl are seen as cheap - as in inexpensive - but the range is limited.  Weekend shopping would often see folk going to A or L to get their basics and then drive down the street to the "big supermarket" or  the specialist shops (butchers, bakers etc) for the rest of their shopping.  The difference in Germany is that there is no stigma in shopping at the low cost stores and you are just as likely to see big Mercs in the car park as cheap Fords or Opels.

That is interesting. I know they keep a very, and when I say very I really do mean it, tight rain on there costs. They also chose to own the land on which there stores are built, rather then either leasing it or selling it and then leasing it back. Something which I think a number of retailers have done and are now regretting it. They do pay well but expect there employees to earn it.