PhilJ W

I used to practice 'bangernomics' as I commuted by car and alternatives in case of (a rare) breakdown. I picked a car with a long MoT and often traded it in with a months MoT. When I retired I treated myself to a brand new car which I still have thirteen years later. The reason for buying a new car is reliability which is where the newer cars score heavily. Older cars even when brand new were never as reliable as modern cars.

Should that be thrice?

Goodnight all.

I had a serious accident in my 1988 Nissan Prairie which was then 12 years old. The car was rolled over two and a half times ending up on its roof. When it was recovered almost every panel was dented and the windscreen was badly cracked (it was a write off anyway). Despite that I walked away with a cut finger and that was on the broken glass when I crawled out of the car. Despite the damage all the doors, including the sliding doors and tailgate opened and shut perfectly. No air bags, just seat belts. I have a cutlery box on my drainer that holds sharp knives handle up.

Sharp knives?

I take it the ends are yellow only faded?

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I had a spoof call earlier this evening. They were saying that my government grant aided loft insulation can cause condensation problems and needs to be replaced. Two problems with that. I paid myself for new loft insulation only seven years ago after the grants had ceased and the insulation itself is some sort of wool/felt material and the attic space is well ventilated and I don't have a condensation problem. Tea has brewed, be back later.

England 2 Germany 0

England 2 Germany 0.

The Jimney is still in production in India but does not comply with current UK emission standards.

Toad in the hole? Hat, coat and gone............

The full length version is here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI0jX5TMs0Q together with some other clips. Two points about it, the abandoned car belonged to the chap in the blue shirt running up and down like a headless chicken. He stopped, got out and ran back. Then he tries to get back to his car and then sensibly decided to stay away. When the police car arrived the fires had momentarily died down. Undoubtedly some of the other clips were of fatal accidents such as the tanker overturning going to fast around a sharp bend, the top of the trucks cab was ripped off down to the bottom of the windscreen.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I'm more than a bit annoyed with the BBC. According to the printed TV program the news would start at 4 PM. Because of the TV going into scan mode I switched on ten minutes early. It didn't go into scan mode (fortunately) but instead of the tennis that was scheduled it was two thirds of the way through the news! Apparently someone in their wisdom decided to move the news forward to 3:30 so anyone switching on expecting to see the news at 4 as advertised would have missed it. Those of you who have been or are in the passenger transport industry, buses in particular know that running early is a cardinal sin but running late is acceptable with a just reason. I've seen this before, in the above clip they've cut about a third of it out. One question, where's the fire brigade? 1) Yes he did, he can be seen running towards the central barrier and ducking behind it at the start of the film. 2) Its front end was damaged making it immovable, the driver joined the gas truck driver behind the concrete barrier. 3) Dumber than dumb.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit of Arthur Itis this morning but he's now gone without resorting to the Nurofen. The TV has started going into scan mode again but I may have discovered a routine to overcome it. Switch off at the main and leave it for a couple of minutes then switch it on at the mains and it returns to 'sleep' mode. Then wait a few minutes and then switch on and so far its worked. Not that I will be watching much if any TV today as there's some sort of kick-ball game on that they're making a fuss over.

Most modern car designs are created with the aid of a computer and those computers use the same software.

Goodnight all.

Weren't the A4's also designed with the aid of a wind tunnel? This was to lift and clear the exhaust rather than increase speed.

Converted to metric 5' 3" is 1.6 metres, a nice round figure.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. The rain has stopped but its still very sticky. I will be sleeping on top of the duvet tonight. Not a lot else to report, be back later.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. The TV program on BBC1 is again is a work of fiction. Not that the kick-ball being on or not worries me but the scheduled program instead of kick-ball has been replaced by tennis. At least the news is in its usual spot.

Football?

Hello again from Estuary-Land. I mentioned that some of the streets on the estate where I live follow ancient lanes and tracks. I've found a photograph of the road at the side of my property taken not long after the estate was built. This shows the trees that lined the original lane. The original road was known as Honeypot Lane and at one time went beyond the town centre but had been diverted when the railway was built and in fact crossed beneath Basildon Railway station. As you can see the road is not completely straight and in the distance it dropped down and moved to the right but still carried on northwards. My house is out of sight to the right, the council planting is a lot bigger now but nearly all of the trees have gone.

Weird, I went to edit my last post that took at least four minutes to post and it had Andrews Officer Crabtree included after I edited it.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis was making a fuss this morning so Nurofen has been deployed. My street unlike most new town streets has a small kink in it and it lines up with an ancient old road. Looking at old maps it becomes obvious that the street was once part of the road. I live at the very end of the street where there is an equally old road at right angles that was lined by trees when the estate was built and the trees were retained. Sadly most of the trees were elms and were lost to Dutch Elm Disease.

Goodnight all.