My Day

[floydraser]

At some time in my education I learned that for any given quantity of crude oil it's easier, cheaper and quicker to produce diesel fuel than petrol, which requires further refinement. Therefore, back in the sixties diesel was far cheaper than petrol.

People bought diesel powered cars so I guess HMG lost out on petrol duty.

John Prescott raised the duty on diesel on the basis that the particulates were damaging the environment. Modern diesels are cleaner (my 1.3 diesel Corsa is zero rated for road tax due to low emissions) so why is this still so? Don't answer.

During the pandemic the fuel prices dropped through the floor to stimulate the market because we weren't going anywhere.

The war in Ukraine hasn't been going long enough to affect supplies, it's just people sitting on their backsides bidding the price up to cash in.

Is it just me but why haven't we heard that the cost of flying is going to go through the roof, therefore causing people to cancel holidays etc???

[DAVIDH]

11 minutes ago, floydraser said:

Is it just me but why haven't we heard that the cost of flying is going to go through the roof, therefore causing people to cancel holidays etc???

I suppose that as flying is dynamically priced, any fuel increase can be added in to the purchase price as they go along. Airlines usually buy their fuel forward, which means any short-term fluctuations are negated. It will make a difference once that pre-purchase period ends. 

The strange thing is that it seems the vast increase in oil prices has met little resistance in terms of companies ceasing to trade etc, so far. The OPEC oil producing countries naturally want the highest price they can get for it, but can't just charge what they like, as they realise putting up business costs in this way will just shrink their own market, as more and more firms stop trading. Perhaps at some point, OPEC will see this, and pump more oil into the market to reduce prices. 

[addicted]

On a trip to Enfield north London last Wednesday the most expensive fuel we saw was £1.86 a litre at a  BP garage on the A1. We paid £1.54.9 at Morrisons  on the A10 Enfield.

 

Carole

[LizG]

Changing from fuel prices but still car related..............I went out early this morning to meet up with a friend to travel around the M25 to the M40 to do a spot of Brown Hairstreak butterfly egg hunting as you do!!! So trundling along in my trusty 2006 Fiesta having just joined the A414 dual carriageway into Hertford (at the height of the school run/rush hour) there was a clunk, and then a very big clunk and the car lurched to the left.  I was lucky that the verge was wide enough to fit my car and hazard lights went on.  I knew exactly what had happened - the suspension had gone again.  This is a very common failure in Fiestas and the previous ones had all been in the driveway - I often wondered what it would be like if you were driving - now I know!

So first a phone call to my husband, then I started ringing the breakdown number we have in the car.  The cover is free with our bank account but the number didn't work so back to another call to my husband who confirmed soon afterwards the bank had recently changed to the AA and there was a new number.  So the lengthy process started of phoning one number, listening to all the recorded messages first and hearing about Covid, then getting a text to fill in all your details and then another phone number to ring and so on.

In the meantime my husband couldn't get hold of our garage so went down there and got the okay to bring it there.............and went to do his usual Friday shop!  At this point I did get out the car having got so close to the crash barrier - it was a bit of a squeeze and I waited on the other side of the barrier. As I was in a dangerous location, it was only about 30 minutes before a van arrived..................he put on a special AA tyre and said I was to drive slowly to the garage and he would follow.  A police car did eventually stop and blocked the inside lane - the car had to be put on the carriageway as he needed to jack it up!

So having got the car to the garage, had a chat with the manager, I then walked home - and my day out was aborted!  I have broken down before but never in a situation like this - so a bit of an experience

Ps Fuel at Sainsburys in Enfield is also always cheap (er)!

[Mouldy]

I’m getting incredibly tired of Covid being a valid excuse for poor service.  Last September I had an engine warning light on the dash of my car.  I have personal membership with one of the best known breakdown companies, including recovery and at home, so called them for assistance.  I had to listen  to various messages telling me they were busy with staycation holiday volumes (at the end of September) and staff shortages caused by Covid.  Twenty five hours later, one of their patrols rocked up.  I was very glad that I wasn’t sitting out on the road somewhere.

Obviously, I had to call them to express my utter disgust at the length of time I’d been left to wait.  They were apologetic and continued to offer Covid related issue as reasons for the delay, saying I wasn’t priority, as I was at home.  I asked why the delay hadn’t been communicated, given the timescale and as they couldn’t really offer anything, stumped up £75 as an apology.

I’m convinced that too many staff were furloughed as the pandemic took hold as companies saw the opportunity to increase profits.

[BroadAmbition]

An eventful day out - You remained safe and got homme ok, that's the most important bit

Griff

[grendel]

I one had the wheel come off on the motorway (actually thinking about it, it was just off the Motorway where it had changed to the A2) in my old bedford camper, I managed to pull onto the hard shoulder, then walked about 400 yards to where the wheel had ended up, 5 wheel studs had sheared, as at that time I wasnt a member of any recovery company I was on my own resources, I knew I had a spare axle with 10 spare studs at home, so I knocked one stud out of each wheel (leaving 4 per wheel, fitted the broken wheel on the 3 studs thus gleaned, and very carefully drove home, where I proceeded to replace the broken studs with newer old studs, I think the van had been sitting some years without moving, stressing the wheel studs, eventually, about 4 hours late we got where we were going for the weekend, the very next week I went into the local vauxhall dealership and asked for 20 wheel studs (which they actually had some New old stock, at less than £1 each, and i also ordered a new old stock needle valve for the carburettor, they had one of those in stock too, and apologised when they charged me 7s6d in old money as that was the price on the box (37.5p)

[FairTmiddlin]

On 08/03/2022 at 12:25, Smoggy said:

Are you suggesting that american cars run on burger fat?

Wish mine ran on burger all

[LizG]

56 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

An eventful day out - You remained safe and got homme ok, that's the most important bit

Griff

Yes! Luckily I wasn't that far into my journey and without a passenger who would have left their car somewhere else - that's when it gets complicated. 

For people without modern mobile phones the experience would have been much harder - I had a link to a progress update so I knew when they were due to come, the registration number and the expected arrival time.................

[Chelsea14Ian]

This morning  I went for a blood test at Hospital. While I was there Marina  went to the beach at Gorleston. Sea a bit rough, but sunny.Also saw one boat crossing  BW near Yarmouth. 

Video thanks to Marina. 

[addicted]

5 hours ago, LizG said:

Changing from fuel prices but still car related..............I went out early this morning to meet up with a friend to travel around the M25 to the M40 to do a spot of Brown Hairstreak butterfly egg hunting as you do!!! So trundling along in my trusty 2006 Fiesta having just joined the A414 dual carriageway into Hertford (at the height of the school run/rush hour) there was a clunk, and then a very big clunk and the car lurched to the left.  I was lucky that the verge was wide enough to fit my car and hazard lights went on.  I knew exactly what had happened - the suspension had gone again.  This is a very common failure in Fiestas and the previous ones had all been in the driveway - I often wondered what it would be like if you were driving - now I know!

So first a phone call to my husband, then I started ringing the breakdown number we have in the car.  The cover is free with our bank account but the number didn't work so back to another call to my husband who confirmed soon afterwards the bank had recently changed to the AA and there was a new number.  So the lengthy process started of phoning one number, listening to all the recorded messages first and hearing about Covid, then getting a text to fill in all your details and then another phone number to ring and so on.

In the meantime my husband couldn't get hold of our garage so went down there and got the okay to bring it there.............and went to do his usual Friday shop!  At this point I did get out the car having got so close to the crash barrier - it was a bit of a squeeze and I waited on the other side of the barrier. As I was in a dangerous location, it was only about 30 minutes before a van arrived..................he put on a special AA tyre and said I was to drive slowly to the garage and he would follow.  A police car did eventually stop and blocked the inside lane - the car had to be put on the carriageway as he needed to jack it up!

So having got the car to the garage, had a chat with the manager, I then walked home - and my day out was aborted!  I have broken down before but never in a situation like this - so a bit of an experience

Ps Fuel at Sainsburys in Enfield is also always cheap (er)!

Actually your p.s. was a wake up call to my memory .It was Sainsbury we bought our fuel at. Senior moment!!

[addicted]

I once had a very embarassing moment while driving  - the nearside front wheel of my Lotus Elite came off just as I pulled away from a roundabout. I'd noticed a tremor in the steering and had resolved to call the garage that had just had the car for over a week to sort out suspension issues, as soon as I got home. As said garage turned up with  a low loader bringing the  really  busy secondry main road to  a standstill while they loaded my car all I wanted was a paper bag to put over my head!

 

Carole

[Ray]

3 hours ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

This morning  I went for a blood test at Hospital. While I was there Marina  went to the beach at Gorleston. Sea a bit rough, but sunny.Also saw one boat crossing  BW near Yarmouth. 

Video thanks to Marina. 

That's a nice Prom to walk at Gorleston, Gill and/or I have often whiled away an hour while the other was having inoculations /eye exams etc. at JPH 🙂

[Smoggy]

3 hours ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

This morning  I went for a blood test at Hospital. While I was there Marina  went to the beach at Gorleston. Sea a bit rough, but sunny.Also saw one boat crossing  BW near Yarmouth. 

Video thanks to Marina. 

Probably not that bad out in the marked channels, there's a lot of shallow banks along there that bring the lumps up, it's usually bouncy till about half a mile out even on the way out to gorleston road.

I once tried to follow the chart plotter close in to lowestoft and turned round when the depth sounder started giggling at me, backtracked to near the river mouth and followed the normal route, I've seen a few cruisers belting along well inshore but not brave enough to try again, deep is safe.

[TheQ]

Once was passed by an Austin Allegro on the M74 doing strange maneuvers as it tried to head for the hard shoulder... Then a wheel passed me as I braked to avoid him..

Wheels off Allegros were common in their early days. An Austin 1300 had something like 168lbs on their main wheel nut, the mechanics assumed it was the same on an Allegro.. Only it wasn't, they're only meant to be finger tight...

 

Meanwhile this weekend has been a big step forward with Blue Moon, all the rigging is complete, the hull has been antifouled, she just needs 1 washer  (42 mm inside diameter) fitted to her steering gear. I turned the washer on a lathe over the weekend.

Then next weekend it's,

Add a block to the boat for the topping lift, add the rope for the topping lift to the mast.

Fit new mud guards to the trailer,

Check and grease the hubs as necessary.

Collect the fenders, add their ropes and a carabina hook to the fixed position pair,

Select a tow rope from the pile of spares, and add a carabina hook to that.

Get some insurance, and pay the broads tax..

Then at the end of the month, she'll get her feet wet for the first time since about 1999.

 

 

[Lulu]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

Then at the end of the month, she'll get her feet wet for the first time since about 1999.

Would love to see some photos 

[TheQ]

Yep I'm intending to take something down there to get some photos, if nothing else I want some to see if she sails to her designed water lines with me on board.

Here's a picture of her hanging on the crane just before landing on the trailer for the first time in 5 years.

Shortly after this I  stripped the paint you can see, then  started the sand paint sand paint routine, 

[TheQ]

and one of her Stern,

[BroadAmbition]

she'll get her feet wet for the first time since about 1999.

Wow - Twenty three years - Nice one. exciting times, hope all goes well

Griff

[TheQ]

I designed her and Built her in Saudi over a 3 year period, sailed her for two days, a couple of weeks apart and then we got posted to the mountains. So her first 3 years were spent getting a suntan.

Then when I returned the first weekend At Snowflake Sailing club, I started crewing Yeoman then helming them, so she sat for 15 years in her shed (you can see that alongside.)

At some point I decided which ever Yeoman owner pulled out from sailing first  (which turned out to be the summer owner), I would then devote my time at weekends to rebuilding her for Sailing at Horning.

Unfortunately two seriously ill family members and deaths slowed progress so of the 5 years only 3 summers and part of the winters were used.

Then the winter Yeoman owner had a very serious motorcycle Accident and we haven't sailed for 2 years. So for those two years winter weather permitting, I've had that time as well.

The keel you can see was built over the winter 2020-21, there is 150KG of lead in there and the whole assembly weighs 170Kg.

The keel on it's way to the boat, with the supervisor insisting he be in shot..

[TheQ]

The deck soon after I started varnishing. the hatch with all the stuff on was being repaired hence the heavy Items on it while the glue set.

[ChrisB]

Wonderfull !

[Mouldy]

Typical . . . . . . . just typical!  I’d booked my motorcycle in for its MoT yesterday morning.  The weather had been looking okay, but it had rained early in the morning and the roads were a bit damp still when I ventured out on the bike, that I’d spent a couple of hours on Sunday polishing.  I needed some fuel and the old girl requires super unleaded.  Only one of the local garages sells it, so went there first to top up.

The bike’s computer suggested I still had 55 miles range, so probably around 5 litres left.  Don’t get me wrong, I knew it wasn’t going to be cheap, but £35.05 to fill it up did take me by surprise.

Anyway, about an hour later, I was leaving the bike shop with a new MoT certificate tucked into my jacket, another £29 worse off.  The DVLA have thoughtfully sent me a reminder that the VED is due at the end of the month - another £96!  It’ll take more than an Elastoplast to repair the considerable damage to my wallet after I’ve paid the insurance as well!!

Anyway, back home, I spent the afternoon starting to assemble the wardrobes that were delivered on Monday by that famous Swedish flat pack furniture vendor.  Due to supply issues caused by Covid, driver shortages and errant container ships in the Suez Canal, it’d taken a long time for all of the individual parts to be available for delivery at the same time.  With our new bed due to be delivered tomorrow, we’ll soon have our bedroom back and functional again.

Happy days!! 

 

[TheQ]

I see two stage verification of credit / bank cards comes in at the end of the month.. Just how is that going to work in shops where there is No mobile phone signal like the Big Tescos at Harford Bridge (large areas of the store have no signal at all). I predict lots of very annoyed people and long queues even when it does work...

I think I'll be going back to cash which will mean a regular trip to find an open bank, because I guess cash machines won't work either..

it means people with no mobile phone can't use credit cards..

[Smoggy]

1 hour ago, Mouldy said:

Typical . . . . . . . just typical!  I’d booked my motorcycle in for its MoT yesterday morning.  The weather had been looking okay, but it had rained early in the morning and the roads were a bit damp still when I ventured out on the bike, that I’d spent a couple of hours on Sunday polishing.  I needed some fuel and the old girl requires super unleaded.  Only one of the local garages sells it, so went there first to top up.

The bike’s computer suggested I still had 55 miles range, so probably around 5 litres left.  Don’t get me wrong, I knew it wasn’t going to be cheap, but £35.05 to fill it up did take me by surprise.

Anyway, about an hour later, I was leaving the bike shop with a new MoT certificate tucked into my jacket, another £29 worse off.  The DVLA have thoughtfully sent me a reminder that the VED is due at the end of the month - another £96!  It’ll take more than an Elastoplast to repair the considerable damage to my wallet after I’ve paid the insurance as well!!

Anyway, back home, I spent the afternoon starting to assemble the wardrobes that were delivered on Monday by that famous Swedish flat pack furniture vendor.  Due to supply issues caused by Covid, driver shortages and errant container ships in the Suez Canal, it’d taken a long time for all of the individual parts to be available for delivery at the same time.  With our new bed due to be delivered tomorrow, we’ll soon have our bedroom back and functional again.

Happy days!! 

 

I got all that to come very soon but with the added pain of 2 new tyres, new front pads, and luckily got a good deal coming my way for a pair of brembo disks and braided hoses that have done very little (along with all the titanium bolts and banjos) for the cost of one new budget disk.

Tyres got fitted yesterday, just waiting on the other bits now so I can get back to terrorising traffic gently bumbling around the back roads.