Lunch with Steve S

I popped over to Oundle to meet up with Steve. We'd previously met just before Christmas, when, amongst other things, Steve was making plans for being father-of-the-bride for his daughter, Kelly, on Easter Saturday. I've lent him some books on speeches!

We walked to The Ship, as normal, and as part of my giving-it-up-for-Lent thingy, I avoided the chips for lunch - I had the chilli instead - and avoided the side-order of cheese too!

There were roadworks on the A605 on the journey over there, resulting in 2-3 miles of tailbacks each way. I didn't want to risk whether they'd still be there on the way home, so I came via the back roads - and it seemed to take less time!

Lunch with Sally B

My gorge-fest continues. At this rate, I'll be classified under 'excess baggage' when we (err, 'if' � see yesterday's blog) go away on holiday!!!

Oooo, a flutter of snow in the air. I drove over to Cambridge to meet up with Sally B for lunch. We haven't seen each other since June and it was great to catch-up.

Whilst waiting for Sally, I even found time to help out another driver who, in attempting to get into the parking space in front of me, outside Brown's, judged the angle badly and managed to plonk both her nearside wheels in the large gutter that plagues many of the streets in Cambridge.

Luckily the gutter was partially filled with leaves which softened the drop (and made it less deep) � in other conditions, it would have probably damaged the wheels. Anyway, after a bit of instruction and skillful driving, we freed the car.

We ate at Brown's as normal, and what a pleasure � and contrast, after yesterday's disappointing service in London at des Vins. Great food, superb waitress service and a good buzzy atmosphere � just how it should be! We both had starters; Sally had steak and chips whilst I tried the lamb in red wine sauce with mustard mash for our main course.

We skipped dessert finished with tea and coffee and left just after 1.30 � we even managed to fix our next get together next March.

Good to see you Sally � have fun tonight!!

What do points make�?

Followers of my blog (and those that try to follow me in the car!) will be well aware of my heavy right foot! So heavy in fact, that at the beginning of 2009, I was up to NINE points � all for speeding.





I can't remember the last time I didn't have any points on my Driving Licence, I think it was when I was about 22 years old!!

Although we're not quite there yet, three more points 'came of age' today and are eligible for removal. That just leaves me with THREE points left (after three more came off back in June). So, providing I can get to 22 May 2011, I'll be back to zero points.

Blood from a Stone?

A few weeks back, I had some new tyres fitted to the front of my car. At the same time, Kwik-Fit managed to scrape both the front alloys in doing so. They suggested I got the wheels refurbed and then they�d re-imburse me. Well, after numerous fob-offs by Kwik-Fit, I rang yesterday to explain that I thought they�d spent long enough giving me the run-around, with their excuse that �we haven�t taken enough money here to re-imburse you�.

I suggested therefore they credited my card instead � they agreed that was the best way forward (but why they didn�t suggest it in the first place, I don�t know!!)

So, imagine my delight to arrive there this morning to be told they COULDN�T do the credit because it�s a leased car (rubbish!). However my request to ask them to call their area manager and then pass the phone over to me so I could explain the problem seem to encourage a change of attitude..and possibly a change of underpants at roughly the same time!

Richard was most helpful, he agreed that the whole thing had been handled badly and promised to get me the cash by the ends of the day. At 4.45 the phone rang, and he confirmed that the cash was ready at Kettering. Amazing how the meer hint of top-down pressure gets things moving!!!

�simples!�

Cambridge, here we come!

Ann, Nicki and I set of for Cambridge just before 8am, to finish off the Christmas presents. The weather was truly atrocious � gale force winds virtually everywhere in the UK. We had a smooth journey there and were soon amongst the hundreds shopping at The Grand Arcade. I managed to get the last of Ann�s gifts and the girls did pretty well too!

Ann also bought me a beautiful Rado watch for our forthcoming 25th Anniversary in December. I need to get my act together and reciprocate!!

We decided to have an early lunch and settled in Carluccio�s, close to Lion Yard. Good job too, as when we got there, it soon filled up. The food and the service turned out to be EXCELLENT! We settled for just a starter and mains and then headed home. The queue for the car-park was enormous and we�re glad we arrived when we did!

We got back around 2pm and I popped in to sort out the issue of the repair of my damaged alloys at Kwik-Fit. They�ve agreed to let me have them refurbished and they�ll reimburse me, but it all sounded a bit vague and sloppy � let�s see how it turns out!

We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out catching up with the newspapers. Nicki left earlier than usual as she had to be in Reading by 5.30

It�s been a good great day!

New tyres� new damage� to my alloys!

I took the car into Kwik-Fit in Kettering today to have the front tyres replaced � the car has covered 14554 miles on the previous set and apparently that�s about normal.

What I wasn�t expecting, was to acquire some damage on each of the front alloys as a result.

I zoomed back to Kwik-Fit where Joe, the Manager took charge of the situation but said he�d have to refer it to his area manager.

Ooooo-errr missus!

Ready�Steady�Go

Ahhh, weekends, a time to relax, put your feet up and generally chill-out!

I must look-out for a weekend like that sometime!!! :)

So, here we go then:

7.15am: Dry Cleaners � drop off ironing and dry cleaning and pick-up the stuff we put-in last week

8.20am: Drop off Biscuit and Bon-Bon at Patsy's for their six-weekly, wash-and-brush-up

9.10am: Take both cars to Central Garage. Mine: The key-fob's stopped working; Ann: To swap the silver MANUAL Fiesta for a hot magenta coloured one with an AUTO box. Saw Tom, Julie and Jean there � small world!

10.00am: Time for a short breather

11.30: Pick the cats up

12.30: Catch-up with The Old Croydonians web-site maintenance

2.20: Head over to Rushton Hall for Jo's secret afternoon tea birthday surprise thingy!


What an excellent event! There was around 30 people there�and Jo was totally gobsmacked when she arrived for 'a quiet afternoon tea'.

5.45pm: That's it for today � nothing left to do but rela �zzzzzzzzzz :)

OCA Committee Meeting

I drove to the BRIT School today for a full OCA Committee meeting. The normal crappy journey (left home 4.30am and got there just before 9am � it's only 90ish miles!)

We were under pressure from the start as they had a VIP visit scheduled for the morning (it turned out to be Ken Livingstone) and two senior politicians and a pop-star in the afternoon (apparently they couldn't tell us who they were) � so we told we had to be out by noon, cutting the meeting down to just two hours.

Actually, it was an efficient meeting and we were all done by about 11.50. The most interesting news of all was that many in the Committee seem to want me to be the next Chairman! Oooo-errr!

The journey back was better, as I chose to go via the Blackwall Tunnel. I left at just before 12.30 and was home by 3.45pm.

Bat out of Hell� err�Feldkirchen

8.30 local time. For those of you who were disappointed to learn that Michael Schumacher is not returning to the race-scene, I have good news!

I can confirm that after extensive facial plastic surgery and an enforced two-stone weight gain, he is now driving a taxi from Feldkirchen to Munich Airport.

Overtaking on hairpin bends, straightening out any curve in the road network and regularly exceeding the speed limit (120kph in a 70 zone was a regular thing) ensured that I got to the airport in record time experiencing a mix of exhilaration and fright throughout. The only time I thought he wasn't Schumacher was when he stopped to point out a beautiful castle along the route!

If he's the pilot, then I will be nervous!!! - can't wait to get home.

The patter of tiny...

...tyres!

Well, it's a start. We bought new number plates for Ann's yet-to-be-sourced new car.

Car Service

The Mondeo went in for its annual service today to Central Garage. No major problems, just the following:

• The key-fob has stopped working
• There is a leak in the water-pump
• A minor scratch on the rear offside and front nearside alloy

Paul is going to keep it in overnight, because the new pump won't be delivered until tomorrow.

New Tyres

I took the Mondeo over to Kwik-Fit today to assess the rear tyres. At just under 24000 miles, I knew they were getting close to the legal limit, so it was definitely worth checking them out. As I suspected, they did need replacing. The service was pretty swift and forty-five minutes later, the job was sorted.

What do points make�?

For people of a certain age it makes 'prizes' � for me, it also makes for a complete pain-in-the-bottom having acquired nine points on my driving licence over recent years.

So, a special day today then, where I say good-bye to three of them � sorry, I won't miss you�.

If I can get through until December of this year, I lose another three and that'll get me somewhere close to being considered a sensible driver!

Ford Mondeo - 1 year today!

The year has really flown - much like the car - I can't believe I've had the car a year. I've covered 18720 miles and every single one of them has been a pleasure. I've been especially impressed with the fuel consumption. It's never dropped below 35mpg, and in a few cases it's been up to almost 50!

Mechanically and electrically, apart from a few minor niggles, the car's been trouble-free and the excellent service from Central Garage in Irthlingborough has really put the icing on the cake!

The gardening begins...

With the clocks changing last night and the lighter evenings beginning to appear, it was time to devote some energy to the back-garden.

...so I washed the car, whilst Ann did all the hard work!!!

Well, that's not quite true,I did rake the lawn to remove all the debris left behind by the Lawn Doctor.

Biscuit and Bon-Bon for a bath!

We took the cats over to see Patsy of Rushden Persian Rescue for their six-weekly 'bath-and-brush-up'. This is only their second visit there. Their first, back in January was because the previous groomer had been arrested for cruelty to animals after an RSPCA raid late last year!!! 

We made good use of time today, popping into Rushden Waitrose and Peter Crisp and Ford - Central Garage that are all in that direction.

We got off to a poor start. When we arrived just before 10.30 and rang the door-bell there was no answer. We tried and tried but it was clear no-one was in. Strange! Surely she hadn't been arrested too!


It wasn't a great day for either of us not to have our phones with us either, so we had just sit-it-out! Just before 11am, someone turned up - but it wasn't Patsy!

After a quick conversation, it transpired that we'd arrived at the wrong house - Patsy's place was just a few doors up the road. So, apart from having completely different cars on the drive, a different back-gate, the first house having a dog (not cats), then I guess it's pretty easy to get the two dwellings confused. Doh!

So, after spending a load of dosh in Waitrose and picking up some scrubbing brooms from Peter Crisp, we got back to Patsy's at just after 2pm, which was perfect timing as she'd just finished. Boy, had she done a really good job on them both! She had even used tinted (brown) talc on Biscuit and a special shampoo for Bon-Bon's white fur!! She had even used special 'concealer' around Bon-Bon's eyes to hide the tear stains. Perfection!!!

We got back about 2.30 and caught up with the papers.

Waitrose Indian takeaway tonight. Yum-Yum!!

A Productive Sunday!

We started the day with a bacon sandwich and coffee - perfect!

We then caught up with episode two of the excellent Edge of Darkness DVD. It's amazing how well the plot has stood up to the passage of time. So much stuff from TV in the 80s looks horribly dated crap when watching it in 2009. If you like eco-political thrillers, then get this DVD - you won't be disappointed!

Ann then got on with a bit of baking whilst I gave the car a really good clean. I can't remember the last time I washed it - not because it hasn't been washed, but because I've been using the 50-strong Polish car cleaning team down the road! All for a fiver!!!
We then reviewed Ann's redundancy paperwork and generated a some queries for her boss next week (lucky boss!). Ann then finished off her CV after speaking to Sam.

In the afternoon, Ann tackled the ironing whilst watching The Lost Prince by Steven Poliakoff on DVD. I popped round to Paul and Karen's to sort out why their copy of Microsoft Money wasn't remembering any entries entered after August last year - strange!! I think it has something to do with the backup strategy that I put on their PC. I think the backup is 'restoring itself' and over-writing the main file. I've switched off the timed-backup, so we'll know by tomorrow evening when the timed back-up is due to run. We can then check to see if Money is showing the revised data entries we put in today.

Ann went for a walk with Jo around 4.30 whilst I caught up with my reading.

...a busy, but rewarding day...

The White Stuff

In yesterday's post entitled, 'Snow Go' I may have mistakenly given the impression that the snow was on its way out. 



At a round 4pm today, the snow returned - a little at first, then it got heavier and heavier. By the time I got to the station to pick-up Ann around 6pm, the whole area was covered. It wasn't particularly deep but it was causing absolute chaos on the roads.

We came home via Deeble Road to avoid the road-works near Wicksteed Park. The car in front was all over the place with its front wheels spinning like crazy! I slipped the car into manual and kept it in third gear all the way home  - perfect...no slipping, no sliding and no skidding (phew!). I couldn't reverse the car into the garage - I just couldn't get enough grip, but I did manage to get it in frontwards - well, at least it's out of the snow!

Bugger!

Trapped in the snow!

I didn't sleep too well last night and was awake at 3am! Looking  out the window, I noticed it had snowed a lot - what a pain in the arse as I'm off to Daventry today.

I assumed that the journey was going to be bad so I decided to leave a little earlier than I normally do. So, at around 4.30am I got the car out the garage and carefully headed out of the Close. I got to Reynolds Close where there is a slight incline and that's when my troubles began! I obviously couldn't use too much throttle and so I started to climb the incline using momentum. Not quite enough though!

The car slowly came to a halt and I spent the next hour trying to get up the incline. Even after trying to dig my way out with the shovel that Ann had suggested I put in the boot (clearly a good idea!), it was mission impassable!

A guy coming the other way in an Astra van tried to help by pushing my car, but it was no good - not even when his mate turned up to lend a hand! After a number of attempts, they left as they needed to get back to the main roads out of Kettering as they were heading for London.

I reversed down the hill for one last time, disengaged electronic traction control and tried again. This time the car got some grip and we sailed past the difficult bit. With some extreme revving of the engine. I managed to get out of

I made it and after a slowish journey to Daventry, I arrived at my normal time around 6.30am.

Surprisingly, Daventry seem to have more snow than Kettering and car-park at the clients had around 4 inches.

I parked in the car-park as normal and prepared for day ahead. As things turned out, it was a good day, and when I came out about 4.30 most of the roads were clear of snow, just wet.

When I arrived home, the snow I'd left behind had started to freeze and it took me a couple of attempts to get on the drive. Just time to check emails before heading for the station to pick Ann who had got the early train at 5.30pm. By 6.30pm, we were home (the drive was still difficult to negotiate).

...what a stressful day, I need a beer!!!

Nuts!

The car went in to have the locking-wheel nuts replaced. Strangely, they had completely rusted during the last few months. They've been replaced with some shinier new ones of a slightly different design! - nice! Rob also touched-in the two 'nicks' I had on the front alloys - cheers Rob!!

New front tyres @ 14000 miles

Well, that was a bit of a surprise. The Mondeo needed two new tyres on the front. After only 14000 miles! They're 'Continentals' and they're apparently quite 'soft'. The new ones are 'Dunlop' and it'll be interesting to see how long they last! The rear pair, I'm told, will be good for another 10000 miles.

Being a lease car it was a good feeling to not have to hand-over any money once the job was done!

Pick-up Mum/Ann still not well

I drove over the Bedford Station to pick Mum up - I dropped into Denise and Steve's on the way through. Denise made me coffee and forced a mince-pie on me and we sat in front of her open fire in the lounge - lovely! Steve was out getting plumbing bits and pieces and arrived back, tap-in-hand, just as I was leaving.

Mum had had a good journey through on ThamesLink and arrived slightly ahead of schedule, at around 11.45. She was therefore in good spirits...

Which is more than I can say for poor Ann. She certainly seems to be suffering health-wise at the moment. Laryngitis and a streaming cold are the latest ailments - not nice! The real bummer for her is that she seems to get a bit better and then relapses! Against everyone's advice, she went into work for half-a-day and I picked her up from the station early afternoon.

PaintShield - Great! O2 - Not Great!

I drove up to Grantham today to PaintShield to have the film reapplied to frontal area of the car as well as the off-side wing. Nice job guys and gals thanks! ..and thanks for your hospitality too!

Boo to O2! My phone went wrong last night and I was surprised to learn that they don't replace that particular model - the Stellar -anymore! I hadn't counted on that! I have all the data backed-up and no phone to restore it all to. O2 said they don't the sell the phone anymore either and my only hope was to take it into an O2 shop and have it repaired. So I drove into Kettering and put the phone into intensive care. It was slightly irritating to see my phone on display there - albeit a dummy phone. Looks like it could be 5-10 days in hospital..and there's no guarantee that they'll repair it...but they'll let me know. Time for Plan B - eBay! I found one going for 160, which is a good price, so I'm bidding as we speak. Fingers crossed.

Anniversary Weekend in Manchester - Sunday

Our 24th Anniversary today! As we're leaving early today we exchanged our presents last night.

At last, it's stopped raining!

We decided to go for an earlier train back to Rugby, so instead of getting the 11am, we aimed for the 9.30 out of Manchester Piccadilly. This was a good connection as we were back in Rugby by around 11.30.

A short drive home followed by a marathon un-packing session!! :)

The Cecilian Singers' Carol Concert

I joined Val and David at The Cecilian Singers' Christmas Carol Concert in Leicester tonight. This is becoming a regular thing (we went last year and the year before that) and it's a brilliant way to get us all in the mood for Christmas. Val and I travelled there in my car because Ann was resting at home (with her cold) and David, as normal, was singing in the choir, so he had to get there earlier.

The format of the evening was different this year. Instead of a guest of some-sort, there were readings, poems, and individual musical-pieces sung by individuals and smaller groups from the choir. Sue Strong was particularly good - her voice lived-up to her surname! and the male-voice octet was excellent.

In fact they all did very well, given two significant disappointments:

• Their Pianist let them down at the last minute and they had to find a substitute
• The venue's PA system developed a mind if its own towards the end of the performance and crackled-away causing a lot of frustration both sides of the piano. Apparently it couldn't even be turned-off!

We got back around 11.25.

Trouble comes in 3s!!

Today's the day when the cats get a haircut and a bath.

Take cover! :)

They're well overdue for both and I reckon it'll be difficult for the Pussy Parlour to get rid of all their knots (without shaving them)given that it's been so long since their previous visit in August. This is the longest they gone without a 'service' and that's not ideal and it's not good for their coats. It'll be interesting to see how they look when they get back ...and what sort of mood they're in!!!

Oh bugger!! - We got there and the whole place was closed. That would explain why they hadn't returned any of my calls.

Well, they say trouble comes in 3s...

Event 2 - Ann tapped in her PIN to pay for the shopping, but it queried it - so she tried two more times ...and the machine still didn't like it and locked the card. It was at that point I realised I couldn't find my Visa to pay for the food. Guess what? Ann was using my card with her PIN.

Event 3 - So, there we are queuing to leave Sainsbury's car-park and waiting for the guy in front to realise he's driving the wrong round the car-park's one-way system. Still at least he didn't drive into us.

..but the woman to my right, reversing her Fiesta, almost did. I really, really, really thought she was going to hit us. And, she was looking in her mirror as she did so. I reckon she was 1 inch off stoving the side of the car in! Go figure!

I think it's best if we just go back to bed today!!!

LNG Meeting in London

I travelled down to London with Denise for the last LNG Meeting of 2008.

Denise ran a session on Project Management whilst Luke and Philip talked us through a rather good management profiling tool from The Good Boss Company.

The venue was Sam's office just off Piccadilly Circus.

The meeting finished around 2.30 which gave me plenty of time to get to St Pancras and catch a train. I caught the 3.30 but at Bedford, the train was halted and they announced there had been a fatality at Wellingborough. So, I got off at Bedford Station and Ann picked me up. She had a good journey there and a good one back - we were home by 5.45.

Ann didn't feel too well and decided not to join the neighbours for Paul and Julie's joint birthday bash.

Mondeo sorted!!

Excellent news! The side-skirt (that was on back-order) arrived and guys were able to finish the car today!

They've done an excellent job

More for the Mondeo!

Paul rang from Central Garage to alert me to the fact that the front tyres were in need of replacement and the rears weren't far behind! The car was also due for its annual service. So, it looks like the car won't be ready for Thursday...but I will get it back on Friday! :)

Mondeo in for repair...

I took the car to Central Garage in Irthlingborough to get a quotation for the repairs after Saturday's adventure. 

Looks like it'll need a fill-and-re-spray to the front panel, a replacement side skirt and a refurbed alloy. Total bill will be in the region of £600!

They think it'll take a day, maybe two, to repair everything. So I should get it back by Thursday.

I'm just pleased they were able to get it in so quickly. I guess it's one of the advantages for me that the car industry over here is generally struggling at the moment! I hate driving around in cars that look like they've not been looked-after!!!

Then, I'll need to get it up to PaintShield in Grantham to have the film-protection added. That'll be another £200...

Visit Nick and Celina/Val's Birthday meal

We took a drive over to Stamford on Saturday, to see our good friends Nick and Celina. We met at The Crown in Stamford for lunch and then did a bit of shopping. We decided to move my car from the pay-and-display because it was a maximum three-hour-stay. That was BIG mistake. Nick suggested we ark it in his office's car-park just up the road. The entrance was very narrow and I managed somehow to scrape the near-side front wing and dent the side-skirt. On the way-out I managed to repeat the process and scrape the front wheel too! Bugger!!!

We headed back to theirs and spent the rest of the afternoon reading the papers and generally chilling out. Celina cooked a brilliant meal in the evening. Butternut Squash soup followed by chili and meatballs and then home-made apricot sponge. All washed down with far too much alcohol!

We stayed Saturday night and had breakfast with them. David and Wendy complete with their dogs 'Cassie' and 'Jasper'. We finished breakfast and headed home, arriving back around 11.30.

Then, it was off to Edward's, our favourite restaurant by the Canal in Crick for Val's birthday lunch. Boy! have we over-eaten this weekend!!!!! Still it felt good!

We got back about 4.15. I rang Paul and we agreed that I'd take the car in tomorrow for an estimate.

Apart from the incident with the car which dampened my spirits a little, it's been a GREAT weekend.