bubblesfun 
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You have to be careful about assuming pregnancy as well. My husband gave up his seat to a larger woman and in the course of casual chat asked when she was due. Huge mistake. Not expecting, just large.
Reply #4521. Feb 16 12, 3:34 PM
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| lesley153
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It's not the long distance that would be the killer, it would be their wives!
A man let me sit down on a train a few months ago, and I nearly fainted. (It might have been the fact that I said "Oh bugger" in a stage whisper as he just beat me to the seat.) I was delighted, of course, and thanked him a lot. I am not twice the man he is. I am not twice anything - bits of me are packing up and dropping off left right and centre.
Mr Bubbles would not be the first person of either gender to get that wrong, and he will not be the last of millions. I promise. |
Reply #4522. Feb 16 12, 8:19 PM
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| lesley153
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I have the saddest of news - I think my faithful car has breathed its last.
A few weeks ago, an AA patrolman came and breathed life into a drained battery. He checked it and said it was good - just flat. Drive it round for 10-15 minutes, he said. I drove it round for 20 minutes.
The next time I wanted it, the battery was flat again. I didn't call the AA because I couldn't face the thought of driving round in the snow.
I waited till this afternoon. It was a different, much younger man, who applied jump leads but said the battery was using more energy than it was absorbing. He also said I could, in theory, charge a battery just by leaving the car running on the drive (although not in practice at the moment).
That was news to me - I've always been told that you needed to drive round at 30 or 40mph to charge a battery.
"Not with modern cars," he said.
This isn't modern - it's 1992!
"This one's ahead of its time. They always are."
He can put a new battery in for me. Would I like him to tell me how much it'll be? No. But I suppose I need to know. He'd have to take the existing one out to see which model it would need to replace it, but it would be either £90 or £100. Aaargh.
The car tax runs out at the end of March and the MOT is due about now. I think I need to remind myself that a new battery would cost more than the car is worth, and cut my losses. |
Reply #4523. Feb 20 12, 7:34 PM
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satguru
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If the rest of the car is OK it's much cheaper spending £100 on a battery than many times more on another car. Each year keeping it will save more and more for the new car fund. Mine cost nearly £300 just to get its MOT before the service. That was for three cheap items, they have us by the short and curlies.
Reply #4524. Feb 20 12, 8:12 PM
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| lesley153
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If I were confident that all it needs is a new battery, I'd be happy. It sailed through the MOT for years, until a few years ago, when it needed a new tyre. Three tyres were OK and the fourth had a bald patch you could see with a magnifying glass and a periscope. The two or three years after that, I've probably spent the price of an old banger each year, just to keep this one on the road.
It has has slightly rusting bits, slightly broken bits, and a slightly missing bit, and I think I need to accept defeat.
Of course, if I had a windfall, I'd travel back to 1992 and buy a new one! |
Reply #4525. Feb 20 12, 8:44 PM
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| veronikkamarrz
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Well Lesley, have you thought about what you want to do? If you need to 'jettison' the Jag, then a new car is in the future, yes? I saw a Hyundai(?) that has three doors! Interesting...Go looking, and pick something! :)
Reply #4526. Feb 20 12, 9:09 PM
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| lesley153
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I don't really want to think about it!
Jonathan has a few ideas, and he's even offered to make a contribution! but I think I need time to gird my loins and sell a kidney before I start looking. :( |
Reply #4527. Feb 20 12, 9:33 PM
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wyambezi
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It's a shame it's dying, that's a nice looking vehicle (the steering wheel is on the wrong side in the pics ;)) How many miles are on it? Are you without transportation now?
Reply #4529. Feb 20 12, 11:59 PM
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| lesley153
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I didn't realise how nice it looked till I saw those pictures! I am, but there are buses, and taxis.
I asked the AA man to give me a lift to Sainsburys. I spent £140, which should keep me going for a few years, and got a mini-cab home. I filled about a dozen bags, which the driver loaded into the back of his car and then carried to my doorstep, which was nice. I've had drivers who wouldn't even get out of their seat (and wondered why they didn't get a tip).
So yes, until I sell a kidney, I am without personal transport. Anyone wanna kidney? Hasn't been used much! |
Reply #4530. Feb 21 12, 6:38 AM
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| C30
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Shame about your car Lesley, of 1992 vintage it nearly qualifies as "collectors items"..........thus worth a small fortune!
In comparison, my 1999 "plastic pig" is still a youngster!
Have you, or anyone else, noticed how exceeding slowly the wheels of DVLA grind. For our trans-atlantic cousins, that stands for Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency, and it up to the gunwhales with Civil Servants.
Back in the middle of October, they sent me a nice letter, informing me that as my licence was due to expire when I was 70 in December, I needed to renew it if I wanted to continue driving. This I did and last week became the proud? owner of a new licence, complete with handsome? photo self, valid for 3 whole years. It "only" took DVLA FOUR MONTHS to achieve this!
Are you getting another Jag Lesley, or downgrading to a "Smart" Car, or something? Or.........shudder.........relying upon the efficient?, frequent? and cheap?, public transport system of Bedford?
Reply #4531. Feb 21 12, 8:47 AM
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| lesley153
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Thanks, Ray, I think it's a shame. The inside, all leather and walnut, looks as good as the pictures. The outside doesn't. I spent money like water to keep it on the road. Finding the money to keep it looking good as well would have been impossible.
Right now, it's not much more than scrap. Can I keep the steering wheel?
Yes, the DVLA is a national treasure. :)
As I can't do time travel, and money isn't No Object, it's not likely to be another Jag. It'll probably be a Ford *shudder* or a Vauxhall Carbuncle, with a bumper sticker saying "my other car is clean." |
Reply #4532. Feb 21 12, 8:50 PM
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| veronikkamarrz
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Aww. I feel so bad for you and your 'family' car. I'm sorry for taking this problem so lightly. I didn't mean it like that.
However...We're thinking about 'new' stuff, right? Or 'new' Old stuff. You need a car, I think. So, you'll think about how to do this. :)
Reply #4533. Feb 21 12, 9:26 PM
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| lesley153
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Thanks, VM, and nothing to apologise for.
It's the only car I've owned, and it feels lovely... till the bills come. It's also a diva when it does only short journeys, or the weather gets cold. It runs beautifully, when the battery is charged!
I don't need a car as much as when I was doing the school run. I was going to one school two miles away twice a day for a few years and then ten miles each away twice a day for two years. A lot of the things I do are within walking distance, but I can't walk to town centre concerts, or the station, or the supermarket. A taxi to and from any of these would be about £12, and there's the frustration of waiting and waiting...
Tomorrow I shall think about shifting the car and a kidney, and what to get next.
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Reply #4534. Feb 21 12, 9:46 PM
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| lesley153
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Once upon a time, if you bought clothing in Marks and Spencer, you could reasonably expect it to outlast you. It would keep its shape, size, colour and fastenings for as long as you wanted to wear it, or your money back: no messing, no arguing. A refund or a straight swap.
Last summer I bought a pair of trousers in Marks, and I was so pleased with them that I went back and bought a second, identical pair. At least, they were identical till a couple of months ago, when I realised that one pair was as comfortable as ever, and the other pair was much shorter, and tighter.
Yesterday I took them both back for comparison, anticipating an offer of a swap for the shrunken pair. The style is still available. Twenty years ago, I would have been given two new pairs, but one will do.
I kept the pair that hadn't shrunk, and swapped the shrunk pair for a new pair. What I wasn't expecting was to be asked to pay the difference between this years'a price and last year's price.
It was only £1.50, not enough to fight over, although I did remonstrate briefly that I didn't think the charge was reasonable. It's a faulty garment - why should I pay...
It may be legal, it may even be moral, but it strikes me as cheapskate. Does anyone think it was justified? good business practice? |
Reply #4535. Feb 22 12, 2:54 PM
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bloodandsand
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For the sake of £1.50 I'd have to say they were cheapskate.
Reply #4536. Feb 22 12, 3:40 PM
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| lesley153
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| Thank you. I mentioned it to a friend who has her own business, and she used the word picky. I thought that was quite good too. |
Reply #4537. Feb 22 12, 4:19 PM
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| lesley153
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| Forgot to mention - I got the bus home, and nobody drove into it. |
Reply #4538. Feb 22 12, 7:03 PM
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| trojan11
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The loss of an XJ40, for the lovers of those cars, and I am one, is an event of great emotional trauma. Once gone, never to be replaced. Shame. But, hey, there's always a mazda, nissan, toyota..... or somefink!
Reply #4539. Feb 22 12, 7:41 PM
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| lesley153
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Thanks, that makes me feel better. A Toyota Yaris, perhaps?
*sob* |
Reply #4540. Feb 22 12, 7:47 PM
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