August 2003
What is it with you Poms, as my Australian cousin living in London says? Every August Bank Holiday since time immemorial countless Brits and their families sit sweltering (or in the rain) in endless queues of traffic try to get to somewhere which will be full of people just like them when they get there. They will be miserable, squalling kids, over-priced "services", rickety caravans wobbling along holding them up if they ever do get moving. Tabloid headlines will shriek "HOLIDAY TRAFFIC HELL TRAPS MILLIONS!" or some variation on the few words it is possible to get into 3" headlines on the Daily Wail, all of which must have been repeated in some form or another "n" times since the fiery summer of 1949 when we were already picking blackberries on my birthday in mid-August. Yet every year they all do it, they all know they're going to be miserable and yet, gritting those British teeth, they do it all over again, like voting New Labour back in, and totter back to work on Tuesday more dead than alive so they can exchange "how was it for you on the A272" stories on Tuesday.
It was ever thus, like some sort of grim tribal ritual, some lemming-like compulsion to conform and is nothing new. The French are even worse, except they do it for a month.
By contrast Father would absolutely refuse to go anywhere by car on a Bank Holiday. "I spend most of my week in the damn City being bally miserable because I have to", he would pronounce, "But I'm damned if I'm going to miserable for the fun of it". And so it was, if the weather was fine, we kids would be led on long country walks with picnic baskets, or else played games and squabbled while Mother read the paper and Dad dozed off at the local cricket match. If the heavens opened for the weekend, as they often did, it was games of charades or Monopoly indoors, Dad's corny jokes and conjuring tricks we'd all seen before but which we all laughed at anyway, Mother scolding us if we showed up without hands duly washed ready for trifle and blancmange for tea.
How much more sensible, I always thought.
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Took advantage of the wet weather in N Wales. It has been dry up here for some time and the rain I experienced had been the first for some time. Disengaged the "nanny" software systems on the BM and consequently had some "unique moments" on some of the quieter
roads up here. No need to become a victim of Mr B's speed cameras to have some fun - Joy. Read more
The LCD on the centre of the dash of my Rover 214 1998 has failed to work for some time.
Since then, I've had a battery failure meaning a new battery was to be fitted, but of course all the electrics were disconnected for a while.
Although I have the radio code, apparently there is a start-up sequence to follow that requires the LCD.
Anyone know how to re-install the stereo without the display ? Read more
Ps,also check the fuse in underbonnet fuse box,if its the same as 414? fuse may have corroded pins,IIRC 7.5 amp fuse that supplies permanent +(positive)memory supply.
May be wrong as dont know the 98 that well?
--
Steve
...You want British Brawn! ;-)
www.motorcyclenews.com/news/detail?sectionID=50677...5
Well, it's certainly individual. Read more
This might seem a daft question but it was a question I could not answer when asked by my overseas visitors last week.
Why are the number plates in this country white on the front and orange on the back?.
Regards Mal Read more
The stuff that is really sorting the men from the boys at the moment is the computer link from traffic cars to the drivers license register.
Much more difficult for unlicensed, uninsured, untaxed Johnny Scrote to give a false id and address at the roadside so the producer is a waste of time. ie questions like just where and when did you pass your test Mr Scrote start the story changing apparently until they have dug themselves well in the mire.
Serves em right. hur hur
i have a like hissss and rattle when i accelerate upto 3000 rpm then it dissapears, the car picks up ok its just the noise, but when reving the car at stand still the noise is not present just the usual slight hisss which is normal but when put under load the noise appears again, does anyone have any ideas what it might be Read more
Forgot to say its the 110 bhp engine. Could the injectors just be cleaned?
Why do small people choose big cars, when they can hardly see
over the steeing wheel.
Why do guys well over 6ft go down the M4 in VW lupo's or Toyota Yaris.
Why do fragile looking young women drive 4x4's?
What happened to The Doctors car, one titled lady owner etc? Read more
In my case mid-sized person relunctantly ended up with a big car :-( - learning to love it though :-)
Just been chatting to my neighbour - a retired and fairly well-to-do company director who's just replaced his ageing Rover 416gti with a new Rover 45. Knowing how fastidious he is about his cars I thought I'd have a quick look and I'm sorry to have to say this but I was rather disappointed.
The car is a very well specified model (leather, climate control, full electrics etc.) but after even a cursory 'inspection' it was evident that the attention to detail was lacking. There was a large and obvious paint 'run' on the o/s rear pillar, very cheap looking and poorly fitted lining in the boot and numerous seams and joints which seemed to be shoddy to say the least. So far as the dealer experience was concerned he told me that the mud flaps he'd ordered weren't fitted and that only 6 months VED was provided rather than the 12 months they'd agreed.
So, all in all, pretty poor and very disappointing 'cos I really hope Rover can get it right and grow into a company we can all be proud of. My old 820e was a pile of rubbish and I was hoping those days were well behind Rover but perhaps not quite yet! Read more
What you say about the dealers is true, some definitely seem to be better than others.
As regards the handling, I believe the 75 estate has uprated handling from the saloon, and I believe it may also be possible to order this upgrade for the saloon too when buying new. Whether you can add it as an aftermarket option I'm not sure. Better ask someone who knows about these things!
when accelerating hard blue smoke is visible in small quantitys if traveling behind the car, is this a cause for concern or is it normal? Read more
You should be able to get a crank regrind and oversize shells thro' a local engineering business.
Looking for any advice on the revs of my Avensis. When the car is sitting idle the revs fluctuate quite bit, almost dropping to 500 rpm. Don't think it always relates to the cooling fan kicking in. Car is reg 1999 and is in excellent condition. Sparkplugs were changed approx 3 months ago. Any particular reasons?? Read more
Air-con switching in and out?
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The one piece of good news as far as I am concerned is that few people read a map or plot a back up route.
I do the driving and my wife does the navigating as she does all over the world.
We take good maps.
Preview alternative routes before starting off.
Are prepared to take a little longer.
Enjoy the view instead of a rear bumper.
The main rules while on a diversion are simple. Give me clear instructions early. I will feedback any features along the way. If we take a wrong turn then either we turn round or we may go two sides round a triangle but no one blames the other.
Unfortunately we just had to undertake some urgent travel over the weekend and we saw some beautiful countryside avoiding many miles of A road and M way queues.
We are lucky to be able to do this.
I understand from my children that Geography at school isnt like it was for you Dad. It isnt about reading maps. So this bit is good news for the future. Good old OS maps.