A used car sting, but this used car is going to stay around for a bit

It's been a few weeks since I bought my used car and now I've learnt an expensive lesson one which could have been avoided and nearly was, but nearly doesn't cut it. It should have been avoided. However, in the sense of learning and understanding I sure as hell have learnt a lot. For instance, don't trust a used car salesman, this should be stamped and tattooed into every buyers mind. If you're only spending out a few hundred quid, then it probably doesn't matter at all. If it's going to be in the thousands then buyer beware it is. As always the problem was heart and mind were in conflict and I bought without engaging the cogs as much as I should. The nearly part comes in because I had considered getting the car independently checked out by a mechanic. I'd even done some online checks to find organizations and people who would do this. The AA do it. It was the week before the booked test drive when all this had gone on in my mind. I really should have thought about it more, driven the car and said the salesman I'd like to get my own independent mechanics check of the vehicle. The issue of this was being a bit tight and thinking to myself it would be another £140 quid ontop of what I was already paying. They were subtle, unfortunately poor experience with cars and poor knowledge meant they were not picked up on. There is nothing like a novice idiot, a newby, someone without knowledge who is waiting to be screwed over. As I already know, the most powerful engine in a car is the one in the driver's head, if they don't use their brain it is nothing more than a chunk of metal driving at velocity and with little in the way of control.

It was the issue of control which made me get Lucy (car) checked out. She had three different sets of tyres on. This was one of those subtle hints, for the tyres were probably amongst the cheapest available. Car control in the wet was worrying for it just felt like it was aquaplaning. The more I think about it, why would someone just get the cheapest tyres available? The previous owner was a woman and she didn't drive the car much. It was likely just used as a run around. Her husband (I guess) was alright with keeping the car roadworthy but wasn't going to put his hand in his pocket to get premium goods. Except when it came to the service. For they had gone out of their way to get a very expensive service 8 months prior to part exchanging it. A service which was three times more costly than a normal service. Perhaps the problem is people who put their car in for service think the mechanics will give it a full check to see if it is mechanically sound as well. Maybe they think if there was something of concern then the mechanics would point it out and say "hey the thing over there needs replacing."  Certainly on a service which cost £400 when the normal costs should be in the region of £145. Then perhaps again at service Lucy was checked over and perhaps the then owner knew there were things which had to be replaced and repaired thinking it better to get rid of the car and buy another. It makes me a bit mad, not absolutely crazy mad, just a bit mad, because the faults lay with me, the seller and with the previous owner. Primarily me because I shouldn't have bought the bloody thing, or rather wouldn't have bought the bloody thing. Mind, here a little emotional attachment comes in. For I do actually like to drive Lucy. It is an experience I enjoy. An experience which has now cost me an additional £1100 in repair costs.

So, I contacted National Tyres and spoke to the local branch, my question stemmed on whether to fit wider tyres on the car than it already had. The simple reply was no, the young man on the phone seemed to know his stuff and said he'd previously worked for Fiat, the maker of my car. Now even though the car's manual indicated it would take a further 10 mm width than the one's already on there his view was to stick with the same width because the tyres could mushroom, which I took to mean bow out to the sides if they didn't correctly fit the rims. Shortly after I ordered four premium grade all season all weather tyres, it might be summer here but in the instances when it rained the current tyres felt slippery. The new ones would make all the difference. National Tyres ran me up a day after the internet order and I spoke to the same chap I'd previously spoken to, it was then I also asked if he could check out the breaks. It wouldn't cost any more.which was good news.

I took a day off, delivered the car and then went off for a walk and a coffee waiting on a call back in an hour or so. It was the phone call back that came as a bit of a shock. He said he had checked the breaks but while at it also checked other parts of the car. The exhaust was rusted and needed replacing, the back passenger side break only had one millimetre of wear left and had to be replaced, the rear shocks were leaking fluid and cracked. On tallying up the cost of this he quoted £1300. My reaction was to swear in shock and say the show room had given the car a check over telling me the breaks were good for another 12,000 miles. They'd also done their own pre-inspection prior to letting it leave the show room. An expection which couldn't of been much cop. I know now I will not buy my next car from there which was going to be my future plan. I know now this car will have to last a minimum of two years before I get my next. I also know I am skint. After my shock at the initial start of the conversation, I was offered a discount and so £200 was knocked of the price of the repairs. the new tyres which were already bough cost in excess of £300. So taking a day off work, getting the car sorted and up to scratch had totaled in an additional cost of £1400. This is just over half the value of the car when I bought it. So lets look at the costs so far:

£2700 purchase of car
£1000 fully comprehensive insurance and one year break down cover
  £300 new tyres
£1100 repairs, new rear shocks, new exhaust new breaks front and back.
£5500 Total costs

The handling now of Lucy is quite a bid different than it used to be. I no longer have to depress the brake pedal all the way down for it to stop. The steering feels stiffer, which is odd but is probably a good thing, I put this down to the new tyres and the fact they now actually have substantially more hold. The old tyres did have a lot of grip left, between 7 mm and 4 mm, but they were economy class. For some reason the back of the car seat feels higher up, this must be related to the rear shocks which have probably raised the rear end making the seat support my back more. Previously the seat felt low but now it does feel a little higher and a little better. Lastly the hand break also feels stiffer and like the break pedal which only needs a small amount of pressure before I can feel the car slow down now the hand break becomes stiff and engaged after pulling it up no more than about three inches. Before it was a matter of yanking the thing as high as I could to be sure it had engaged.

In parking on a hill I was advised the car should be put in either reverse gear or first gear. The young man I spoke to said he knew the break would hold but it was best to keep it in gear when on a hill. This advise is something I will take to heart and change my parking/driving preference. After I collected Lucy I had a migraine, it had began in the morning even before the events of the day took place and as the day went on it go worse, it has nearly lifted now. I would say about 36 hours of head pain.

I have learnt a hell of a lot from this experience and I know from this there is a lot to driving and knowing cars than I could have ever considered before. When I learn things like this on my own, then the lesson is tougher, but it sure sticks as well. Now me and Lucy are engaged, I better not let Sparkling Eyes know she'll kill me.

 

Learning to be a driver with Lucy

About 27 years ago I owned a mini, having bought it from a car auction. Unfortunately it was a bad experience after a matter one just one week things began to go wrong. The steering suddenly became pretty loose, then the clutch went and after having some work done on it pushing the clutch down was like kicking a medicine ball. In an attempt to try and find out what else was wrong with the thing I managed to get a friend of a friend to see if it would pass an MOT. After which I was then told the rear suspension had also gone. The only thing I could do then was to have the car towed back home. After a short while I returned it to the car auction and of course this was a loss 50% of it's value had been lost and my thoughts were there really was no need for me to have a car any further. I could get a bus to work and the thing just seemed to be a money pit. It made good financial sense, my foray into the world of personal mobility was not more.

This event meant there was no real opportunity for me to gain driving experience. Proudly I had passed my test first time and there had not been many people I'd heard of who managed this, but not actually driving really meant I had never been a driver. It is I believe a skill which takes time to learn and a certain awareness. Understanding the road, your car and the rules of the road, not forgetting there are also many drivers who also pretty poor. They will do things which are inappropriate but get away with them. I have now bought my own car and am practising driving, doing my best to understand the car and to improve my skills, there is a mixture of apprehension, fear and excitement as well as a good feeling which comes about by just driving and enjoying it. I do have to concentrate a lot while driving but I also do find it is something I like to do.

The initial fear has been getting into the car on my own, I have no one to guide me and have not considered asking work colleagues. Most days I do get in and do have a drive, even if the drive is a short one of only a couple of miles. But in my mind it is a necessity I must get out and do it. After all what is the use of having a car which is doing nothing but getting dusty in the garage. It's cost a lot of money and more than a third of the cost has gone on insurance. A ridiculous amount but is understandable, there is a greater risk for a driver who has no driving years under the belt.

Learning the ABC of getting around is slow, so for the time being I keep to as many local roads as possible, stretching the boundary of my known area gradually. Not knowing where to go is a pain.  It is bad enough driving but trying to recognise the roads and directions after hours on google maps is just as difficult. The matter of confidence is not just one of driving skills it is also one of knowledge. As a consequence I've spent hours looking at satnavs on youtube and have been reading up reviews. Yet also having a satnav in the car and following it's directions would no doubt be another skill to learn. Further roads today are a lot different from roads so long ago. There appear to be many more traffic rules than there used to be, many more speed restrictions and certainly a load more humps in the road. In the first week I may well have broken a couple of speed limits and could of been captured on camera, but so far there have been no brown envelopes in the door. I wonder if it is a matter of time before they turn up as perhaps the car has not been registered yet by the DVLC and the postman is presently holding on to them. We'll see, for it is not only a tomtom I've been checking out in my spare time. Camera laser detectors as well.

So about three weeks have passed. My car who I now refer to as Lucy is beautiful, she might be a few years old but she is beautiful in my eyes. She is a fiat grande punto eleganza and gets whistled at every time I see her.

Big Brother 1017 - Joe the prick

Every word that comes from Joes mouth is of an uneducated moron, a man in his late 50s who has a problem speaking the English language and you can't help but wonder if this guy bothered to attend school when he was growing up. Joe is only a slightly older than me, but his demeanng behaviour towards Rebecca telling her she irritated him, but not saying he didn't like her is the behaviour of a complete and utter dick head.It seems there is a consensus on Joe being as thick as two short planks for even the Sun newspaper calls him a moron. Which is pretty ironic as the Sun is for right wing racist bigotted morons anyway. Joe no doubt is one of their readers. In this episode we saw Rebecca accept the bait and rage against Joe, quite rightly as well, if however she'd had a few more years of age she might of come up with a humours and biting backlash. She was taken by surprise by Joe's frankness. But what can you expect from a moron who really should not of been on BB 2017 in the first place anyway.

What Rebecca has is intelligence, and youth being on the better side of her 30s. She is a self made business woman and in her outburst she also chastised her best buddy Keiron. He didn't go to her defence or support her when he should of. I felt sorry for Rebecca because all she really needed was someone to listen to her, and let her get those negative emotions off her chest. Further she needed someone to call Joe a fucking Prick. Joe sat quietly while Rebecca was losing it. It was the mark of someone who was just thinking, in his case this is a difficult thing to do but he most likely was thinking. His only reaction was when Rebecca asked how he would feel about it if someone said what he said to his daughter. This was a valid response, it was a challenge and in effect a reflection on Joe to try and understand what he just did. Given Joe is now included in the next set of eviciton nominees this week is going to be an exciting one. Rebecca I hope stays, while Joe has got to go. After all he is a complete prick.

Big Brother 2017 - Imran and Sukvinder go

Well another series of Big Brother is back, and within two weeks we've seen the loss already of a number of contestants.  This week however we saw Imran get voted out and Sukvinder decided of her own accord she would go as well. Thank heavens. For Sukvinder has come across as an emotionally unstable brdering psyychotic personality. Everything has to be her way and what should of been Imran's exit was gate crashed by her. Now to Imran.

Imran had engineered himself as the mediator type personality, the father and husband who could have a good time, but in reality besides having Sukvinder as his wife, he came across as bland. Mind he is not out to tear his clothes off and show off his body because he's married, he's not out to try and impress anyone except his own wife. What we saw from Imran was a man dedicated to his wife but perhaps also present in this dedication was an element of controlling personality. Yes, he was always there for her but in one incident to do with Sukvinder hiding a bottle of wine and insisting it was so she could pull it out and share it with her friends, Imran did make a judgement of Suki, he did indicate she should not of done it. Further his downfall was he failed to actually listen to her, Sukvinder's emotional stability got worse and she had a full melt down come near breakdown. It was at this time I wondered whether they could sustain their relationship. However, within a few hours they are cuddling together and Suki is crying.

In the BB house Imran was voted up for nomination and it was noticeable how some housemates thought he ignored them on purpose and didn't want to engage with them, Kayleigh, Rebecca and Chantelle all alluded to his behaviour. It was as though he came across as aloof, a trait which may be considered epidemic amongst males who practice the religion of Islam. Maybe, maybe not. I also might be that he genuinely found these younger girls held no interest for him at all so would not be bothered to engage in any kind of getting to know you discussion. Or it might of been because he was aware Sukvinder could take it as if he were trying to chat up younger females and go all psycho, the likes of an arguement which could not be shown on any TV. I could see her now chasing after the women with a recently sharpened carving knife not helping herself if she went on a murderous spree. At the end of it she'd feel completely justified.

Just as there was a clearly viewable dark side to Sukvinder there was a less obvious dark side to Imran, the BB supporters and voters chose wisely and more so for a single vote they evicted two. Now Big Brother is down two contestants as Arthur walked out as well and if it continues then BB 2017 would end two weeks early. So given it has just started my betting is two more new housemates are about to come in, if not there must be at least one more. This to has been in part confirmed by Emma Willetts on BBOTS Friday 16.06.17. Emma would not spill the beans because it's her job the question will when are the new housemates going into the house?

Princess J is 4 today

Today will be Princess J's 4th birthday and she is really growing up. I had the pleasure of being her best pal most of yesterday, this was a very important job which began early in the morning. When she decided she would wake me up having spent the night sleeping with her Gaga, Pops had been regaled to the spare room. I could hear her outside the door saying she wanted to wake pops. So to help her out the kindle was hidden under a pillow and I pretended to be asleep. The door creaked open and little feet marched towards the bed, her voice gently called out "Pops, Pops" no movement. A little bit of fake snoring was thrown in. Princess climbs on the bed and looks straight into my face again "Pops, wake up" some more snoring and now her little button has been pressed because the go softly treatment is over with. She shouts "Pops, wake up!" Of course at this point who would not wake up?

The entire morning I'd become Princess J's best play friend. It meant being shot with a water spray and running away from her as she giggled uncontrollably, holding down the sea-saw and swing at the end of the garden as she went up and down as high as she could possibly go while the legs of the fruniture did their best to pull out of the grass. Then there was the hour or so run on the local children park, again up and down on swings, and round and round on an assortment of playground kiddy toys. Followed a a few rolls down a small grass hill and the intermingled game of trying to keep Princess J's summer hat on her when she didn't want to wear it so just kept throwing it on the ground. Each time she was told-off she laughed more, because to her it didn't matter as this was all fun and fun is always the most important thing in the world. Certainly to every four year old, something us adults very much need to relearn, our laughter may well be more sophisticated but a child's laugh is the purest of all.

So Sparkling Eyes (Gaga) has now spent over two hours making sandwiches for the party, in her concern for the taste of young children she knows exactly not to mix adult tastes with the taste of a child. Theirs is more simple I am told. They like cheese, cheese with about anything is OK. I did the dishes and picked some fresh mint and chives from the garden. For a little mint and chives sprinkled over dip and things looks nice. Sparkling said she will drive today because she is more careful and will have to drive slowly. We'll head down to Rock Chick's place in a couple of hours time.

Princess J got a bicycle. When she first saw it she was a little quiet. For it was not a Paw Patrol bicycle, but it didn't matter for shortly afterwards she was on her bike with her Dad going to the shops and Rock Chick had a little emotional cry as she saw her daughter grow up another year. Funny both I and Sparkling had a moment when we thought of Princess opening up her bicycle and then just staring at it trying to take in that it was not Paw Patrol, because she is fixated with Paw Patrol and everything she has must be Paw Patrol endorsed. Any manufacturer in the world who makes items for children must have a very close eye on the trends they keep. The Night Garden has been kicked into tenth place, opening any kind of chocolate egg and finding a toy is first place. Any new Disney child film with lots of songs also rates up there pretty high.

The party hasn't began but, the day has and it will be beautiful and sunny.

Dancing with a 3 year old -

Little Princess J has a demanding side which can not be let down. If she says it is time to dance, no matter how you feel, whether having trouble sleeping, completely shattered both mentally or physically you have to dance. There is no in between because the "No" word is totally unacceptable, when she hears this word in brings out and incessant series of "please" and long faces as she pleads she wants to dance. At which point her favourite song must be found and played out loud with the poor victim of her desire made to join in and boogy with all they got because if you stop and stand there then again you'll get a tongue whipping asking why you are not dancing or just a single word demand "Dance!" It is bloody difficult especially when the sleep pattern has been interrupted and zombie dancing is about the only dancing I'd like to do. With a very hot, very strong coffee. Yet after a session with my Little Princess J and when I can no longer here the word "Pops" being called out repeatedly the sound of her energy and demands fades to stillness. I love my Little Princess very much and miss her every moment as she springs up and grows into a sprightly four year old getting taller by the minute.

For a three year old the current pop songs are not as important as the current Disney cartoon film songs, or Pixar or whatever company has suddenly cornered the market and attacked the mini me's of parenthood. But the thing is these mini-me's are not mirrors of their parents in any way. They do take on parental mannerisms and even sound like them at time, because they have to mirror what they see. It's a learning method for their little sponge like brains. Each and every morning on goes the TV and their favourite shows are played, some shows are even repeated. Princess J loves to watch chocolate novelty eggs being opened. It's weird but she has a thing about it, she will spend hours watching them and see the different toys which come out. There's an excitement about it, it's very short lived and has to be repeated moments later with another display. Unless of course it happens to be a dancing morning, because dancing will bean energy levels are so high physicists begin scratching their heads and writing on boards wondering how to mimic the same energy, but probably without the same music in the background. At the moment Little J is in love with the film Moahna and it makes her both sing and dance to the world. With the energy she should of had another sibling, then her time could of been spent annoying the sibling than wearing out the adults around her. Mind it could of equally been worse, for two children fighting, screaming and demanding I expect means double trouble. No her mother was right, she has a wise head, Rock Chick needed to make sure Princess J could scream with fun and rule the house without the restrictions of a sibling who'd no doubt ensure the house was in a state of permanent rioting. Maybe when she has reached the age of five we'll see another little bump and begin the joys all over again.

In a couple of weeks time Princess J will be hitting her fourth birthday. I can't wait to see her again and celebrate another year. I expect there will be all the usual birthday goodies. Cakes, ice cream, jelly and sweets. Her little friends and their parents will be there and madness will the the underlying theme of the day. And so it will be a very wonderful and very happy experience.

Fed up with moaners

Firstly let me just say a big welcome to the year 2017, a year which will be full of wonder and joy. Depending on what perspective it's taken. For example, say you just happen to be walking down the street and without realising it have trodden in a large dog turd. By bursting the fragile hardening cover it suddenly releases the most pungent turd smell you ever had the pleasure to come across. Mind such things happen not to be pleasures for most normal people, except those who happen to be into bodily waste shit. Lovely pun there, anyway, there you are finding something to try and rub this crap off, the pavement, a discarded piece of paper or grass, most of it is erased. But not all, and the stink did get under your nose to the point of nearly gagging. Or as they say in Scotland, boke-ing. If of a pessimistic mind it will likely edge your demeanour into a moan, a mild swiping depression, something you might talk about but to an extent have to be careful because you can't talk about it today you'd have to save it till tomorrow. On account if you mention it today to your willing offloader
they might wonder if you have changed your shoes and whether they should disengage as quickly as possible. So this little juicy gem will be held under the hat to groan about later. On the other hand a different set of thoughts might arise. The disappointment of treading in a turd may initially be there however with a little bit of cognitive hopscotch it could be turned to an advantage. I've done this before, laughing to myself and reminding myself of the old saying. Treading in shit is good luck. The bigger and stinkier the shit the bigger the luck. This example may even give the impression the world of people can be grouped into two. The pessimists and the optimists, unfortunately the world of people and human behaviour is more complex, but if only it wasn't.

The problem about moaners is the dwell in misery, it is like the most beautiful place in the world. Their life is very much like the dog turd, they moan about anything and everything. Whatever they moan about is an opportunity to bring the discussion back to themselves, they are selfish and in the egocentricity they do not see the needs of others and are unable to step outside of themselves or contemplate a world which would be different if only they could view the world differently. There are some individuals where it only takes a moment to know they fall into this category and when you are in their company you want to get away from them as quickly as possible. Every fucking thing sounds depressive and if only they would curl up like the turd and fuck off. An occasional humorous quip can sometimes disarm them, but don't stay too long, for fear this pessimism takes on a smallpox likeness and becomes your very own death sentence. The problem is for want of trying to be nice to these people in order not to give them further ammunition which they could use to say you how you treated them, they will bring you down. Sometimes it is absolutely necessary to be in the company of happy people or optimistic people because they are life givers and inoculators. Or in the company of a pragmatist, things-could-be-worse-so-lets-be-glad-they-are-not sort of person.

My beautiful granddaughter, Princess J has all the markings of an optimist, but then she is only three and a half years old and all children of this age should be happy. She has the cutest smile and the most disarming way to get what she wants so I cannot say "no" to her. She is the most beautiful little girl in the world. I am bias but can't help it. Five minutes in her company and she would make anyone happy and I wonder why there are so many people so depressive and not with it. Who have not broken their own moulds, who can only see sadness, because there always is more. Sadness and depression do have their place but they shouldn't need to be a lifetime vocation. So said Frank Smith.