Thursday was back to work for me, returning to normality, except on I was required to go to Birmingham office for Friday which means an early start to the day, which also happened to be Suzie’s birthday. She had taken the whole week off work so was free to do as she pleased, including a trip to Sheffield with her mate Sam for some retail therapy.
Saturday’s main activity was the removal of an old mattress and a load of junk from the back garden to the local tip, achieved by using Mum’s MPV. Andy had been pre-booked to give it a check over, which revealed two tyres cracking due to age and one of those had a small nail in it. Andy has made arrangements for 2 new tyres to be fitted later this week. Then last night we went out for a meal with Wendy & Barry, and Dave. The chosen venue was the Boat Stop at Rowley which was both a pleasant and popular venue, with good quality food and amicable staff. We all returned back to our home to share a bottle of bubbly Sue was given for her birthday. A nice way to end the day.
Today was marked by the clocks going forward and us consequently loosing an hour in bed. Also the start of the F1 Grand Prix season, and the first suitable day for cutting the grass. Additionally I took a trip down to see Mum & Dad, who has been having a few problems with his catheter. The district nurse called while I was there this morning and when I popped back down at 7pm, she had been again to give him another clean one. Hopefully he will have a better night tonight.
Tomorrow is my birthday and I have to go to the Birmingham office again. Back to normal? No, not quite yet!
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Scottish trip – the irony
There is no doubting the fact that we enjoyed Scotland. However, there was an irony that behind the trip. On our way up the M6 on Sunday I received a text from my friend Don to say that he and his wife Liz were in Derbyshire on a week’s vacation. Now Don and I have been mates for around 35 years. He and Liz live in Colchester (where we met) but both originate from Stranraer. And my text response was to the effect that we were then pulling into Tebay West motorway services on our way to Scotland for a few days. Ironic or what?
The good news is that we got back on Wednesday and Don & Liz came round for tea and a chat, which was the icing on the cake of our anniversary celebrations. It was good to see them, have a chat and share our experiences of the previous few days.
The good news is that we got back on Wednesday and Don & Liz came round for tea and a chat, which was the icing on the cake of our anniversary celebrations. It was good to see them, have a chat and share our experiences of the previous few days.
Touring Scotland – Wednesday
Up just after 8am, breakfast, pack and load the car. We’ve chosen the route back via Loch Lomond and it’s a good choice – an entertaining drive and picturesque at the same time. Instead of by-passing Glasgow Sue navigates us straight through the centre. Then we pick up the motorway and head on down the M74, first stop Gretna Green, where, after over 3 hours driving we decide to stop for a light pub lunch. Then it’s back on the road down to Penrith, where we pick up the A6 over Shap Fell on the old route to the north. We pick up the M6 again south of Kendal and continue over the Thurlwell Viaduct where the effects of the strong side winds can be really felt. Traffic is heavy so we take another short break at the Knutsford Services before completing the final leg of our trip.
A trip that celebrated our Silver Wedding Anniversary, and what a way to celebrate. Thank you Scotland.
A trip that celebrated our Silver Wedding Anniversary, and what a way to celebrate. Thank you Scotland.
Touring Scotland – Tuesday
Silver Wedding Anniversary day, so it starts with opening our cards from friends and family. Again we are up just after 8am and down to breakfast. Then we head out. Our first stop is the Ben Nevis Range gondolas and a ride up above the snow line to The Lodge. It’s windy, gusting 35mph, and as we set off light rain starts, which turns to snow as we near the top of the 15 minute ride. We walk through the café and out onto the veranda. Boy it’s cold. We are tourists and dressed as such, not mountaineers, so it’s a case of a few quick photographs and retire to the shelter of The Lodge. No purchases from the café (we’ve just had breakfast) but we do buy, write and post a couple of postcards to our parents.
Our next destination is to be Fort Augustus, and we set off but we come across the monument to The Commandos and despite the rain I’m out of the car (the only on in the car park) and at the statue/monument – it’s fabulous and a fitting tribute to our fighting forces. Back in the car and we are soon in Fort Augustus, we park up and walk up the side of the lock gates to the top lock, across and back down the other side, cameras clicking all the time. The rain is returning so we get back in the car and head off up Loch Ness, next stop Inverness.
The Commando monument
Inverness is dry and bright, but chilly and breezy. We park in the multi-storey car park at the bus station and take the short walk into town. An indoor market, a shopping precinct, then the pedestrianised High Street, popping in and out of stores and small local shops. We stop at Smith & Jones for a light lunch before continuing down to the river, then back tracking up the High Street and back to the car. Our chosen route is to take the less well travelled Ness Trail down the east side of Loch Ness and after a slight detour heading the wrong way on the B852 we find our bearings and the right route out of town. The road is fabulous, narrow with passing places down the east side of Loch Ness. We stop and walk down to Flores Falls, both upper and lower view points, and back up to the car and on to Fort Augustus where we get a cake and a cuppa in the local Tea Rooms. Just as we get back to the car the worst weather of the trip blows in so we head for Fort William.
There’s no let up in the weather and Sue has always wanted to do Glencoe, so trusting that our luck will hold we drive straight to the turning onto the B863 at North Ballachulish. We get 200 yards from the turning and the weather breaks, the clouds clear and the rain disappears – our luck is in. It’s a 10 mile loop round the loch and back to the A82, and it is absolutely the crown to our trip. Fantastic, fabulous, everything. Momentous and powerful waterfalls, stark and stunning scenery, snow top mountain backdrops, it has everything, including sunshine – it was worth the gamble and the effort. We return to The Moorings for our last evening meal to find that they have set aside a bottle of wine, on the house, for us to have with our evening meal to celebrate our 25th Anniversary, a nice touch. Of course, I end the day with a wee dram.
Our next destination is to be Fort Augustus, and we set off but we come across the monument to The Commandos and despite the rain I’m out of the car (the only on in the car park) and at the statue/monument – it’s fabulous and a fitting tribute to our fighting forces. Back in the car and we are soon in Fort Augustus, we park up and walk up the side of the lock gates to the top lock, across and back down the other side, cameras clicking all the time. The rain is returning so we get back in the car and head off up Loch Ness, next stop Inverness.
The Commando monument
Inverness is dry and bright, but chilly and breezy. We park in the multi-storey car park at the bus station and take the short walk into town. An indoor market, a shopping precinct, then the pedestrianised High Street, popping in and out of stores and small local shops. We stop at Smith & Jones for a light lunch before continuing down to the river, then back tracking up the High Street and back to the car. Our chosen route is to take the less well travelled Ness Trail down the east side of Loch Ness and after a slight detour heading the wrong way on the B852 we find our bearings and the right route out of town. The road is fabulous, narrow with passing places down the east side of Loch Ness. We stop and walk down to Flores Falls, both upper and lower view points, and back up to the car and on to Fort Augustus where we get a cake and a cuppa in the local Tea Rooms. Just as we get back to the car the worst weather of the trip blows in so we head for Fort William.
There’s no let up in the weather and Sue has always wanted to do Glencoe, so trusting that our luck will hold we drive straight to the turning onto the B863 at North Ballachulish. We get 200 yards from the turning and the weather breaks, the clouds clear and the rain disappears – our luck is in. It’s a 10 mile loop round the loch and back to the A82, and it is absolutely the crown to our trip. Fantastic, fabulous, everything. Momentous and powerful waterfalls, stark and stunning scenery, snow top mountain backdrops, it has everything, including sunshine – it was worth the gamble and the effort. We return to The Moorings for our last evening meal to find that they have set aside a bottle of wine, on the house, for us to have with our evening meal to celebrate our 25th Anniversary, a nice touch. Of course, I end the day with a wee dram.
Touring Scotland – Monday
Up just after 8am and down to breakfast. We don’t often make the time for breakfast at home so a real cooked breakfast is a real treat. Fortified for the day we set off from Banavie to Mallaig. It’s a pretty route and we take a few detours onto alternative routes, mainly through villages that have been by-passed, as we try and stay on as much of the old road as possible. The forecast has been for heavy showers passing through, and that’s what we get, but, we manage several stops en route when the rain eases and when we get to Mallaig, it stops after we’ve spent a few minutes sitting in the car and while there’s a strong breeze, it’s dry and we explore on foot. Needless to say we missed the 08:40 ferry to Skye (by 3 hours) but we walk up the hill from the shops and find a view point that makes the effort worth while.
White sandy beach near Arisaig on our way to Mallaig
After about a 60 – 75 minutes we are back in the car and heading back to Mallaig, but instead of heading straight back we decide to take the long route down the A861 to Strontian and Loch Sunart, returning to Banavie via the west side of Loch Linnie. My camera has chewed up it’s batteries so we stop by at the hotel to pick up some spares I have in the room before heading off to Fort William and an escorted trip round the Ben Nevis distillery at 4pm, followed by some whiskey tasting and the purchase of a bottle to bring home. Then into town for a wander round and a bit of window shopping and finding a suitable place to eat later that evening. It’s getting cold and it’s 6pm so we head back to the hotel for a bath, to freshen up and change. We then go back into Fort William to the pub we’d chosen as our evening meal venue, returning to the hotel and retiring via the bar and a wee dram.
White sandy beach near Arisaig on our way to Mallaig
After about a 60 – 75 minutes we are back in the car and heading back to Mallaig, but instead of heading straight back we decide to take the long route down the A861 to Strontian and Loch Sunart, returning to Banavie via the west side of Loch Linnie. My camera has chewed up it’s batteries so we stop by at the hotel to pick up some spares I have in the room before heading off to Fort William and an escorted trip round the Ben Nevis distillery at 4pm, followed by some whiskey tasting and the purchase of a bottle to bring home. Then into town for a wander round and a bit of window shopping and finding a suitable place to eat later that evening. It’s getting cold and it’s 6pm so we head back to the hotel for a bath, to freshen up and change. We then go back into Fort William to the pub we’d chosen as our evening meal venue, returning to the hotel and retiring via the bar and a wee dram.
Monday, 23 March 2009
A Mothering Sunday drive
An early(ish) start to the day saw us up and about, cards from the boy opened and hugs all round, then completion of packing and Suzie & I hit the road for Fort William. The route we chose was A50 (J2) from Derby west to the A500, up to the M6 then all the way up to the M74 to the M80 towards Stirling before cutting off across country on the A84, A85 & A82 through Callander and Tyndrum to Fort William. All told it was (according to the on board computer) 403 miles, taking 6hrs 39mins, averaging 61mph at an average of 45.1mpg.
On the way we stopped at Tebay West services – described as the best in Britain. Now I’m no connoisseur of motorway services, but, if that’s our best then “Lord help us!”. Somewhere between Glasgow and Stirling we stopped again (at 4hrs into journey) at The Silk House, a Chinese buffet restaurant which was (for us a toilet break and a cuppa stop). Just wish we’d waited to eat there too. It was (from observation) fabulous, and busy, and very reasonably priced. Highly recommended if you’re travelling that way.
The only traffic jam we encountered was just after leaving The Silk House, near J9 of the M80 for some road works that cost us about 10-15minutes. Otherwise a straightforward trip.
We checked into the hotel and deposited our stuff in our room, then went down and had a “bar meal” which includes waitress service. We both had baked trout and it was superb. Retired to bed fairly early as we were quite tired and wanted an early start to Monday.
On the way we stopped at Tebay West services – described as the best in Britain. Now I’m no connoisseur of motorway services, but, if that’s our best then “Lord help us!”. Somewhere between Glasgow and Stirling we stopped again (at 4hrs into journey) at The Silk House, a Chinese buffet restaurant which was (for us a toilet break and a cuppa stop). Just wish we’d waited to eat there too. It was (from observation) fabulous, and busy, and very reasonably priced. Highly recommended if you’re travelling that way.
The only traffic jam we encountered was just after leaving The Silk House, near J9 of the M80 for some road works that cost us about 10-15minutes. Otherwise a straightforward trip.
We checked into the hotel and deposited our stuff in our room, then went down and had a “bar meal” which includes waitress service. We both had baked trout and it was superb. Retired to bed fairly early as we were quite tired and wanted an early start to Monday.
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Surprise! Surprise!
Saturday dawned bright and sunny. I’m up early with a number of chores to do before heading off with the boys for a “Mothers Day” meal, just the 4 of us. This had been brought forward because Suzie and I were travelling up to Fort William for 3 nights away to celebrate our Silver Wedding anniversary on 24th.
So I did the laundry, and ironing, getting it all up to date. Then Mark and I went and had a hair cut at the local barbers – all exciting stuff, but, all stuff that was planned. The boys had told us that the meal was booked for 2pm (but not where) so with those jobs done (and more) we get ourselves ready and pile into Andy’s car. We arrive at the venue, the Newdigate public house in West Hallam and on entering find that Sue’s parents, Janice, Desmond, my mum, Angie and John, plus Emma (Andy’s girlfriend) all sat waiting for us at a reserved table.
So we had a lovely meal, with a special celebratory cake done by Sue’s mum (with a bit of help from Adie who did the decoration) and some impromptu photographs which I may well hook up into the web site at some time after we get back home from Fort William (which is where I write this from).
So along with a huge bouquet of flowers that the boys got Suzie for Mothers Day, we had a family anniversary meal and a splendid time. Just a shame that dad can’t get out and be a part of these things, but we took him a bit of the cake back later in the evening and showed him all the photos on the laptop, so he didn’t miss too much.
A big Thank You to the boys and Joyce for the arrangements, the family for turning up and making it an event and the Newdigate for their hospitality and entertaining us.
So I did the laundry, and ironing, getting it all up to date. Then Mark and I went and had a hair cut at the local barbers – all exciting stuff, but, all stuff that was planned. The boys had told us that the meal was booked for 2pm (but not where) so with those jobs done (and more) we get ourselves ready and pile into Andy’s car. We arrive at the venue, the Newdigate public house in West Hallam and on entering find that Sue’s parents, Janice, Desmond, my mum, Angie and John, plus Emma (Andy’s girlfriend) all sat waiting for us at a reserved table.
So we had a lovely meal, with a special celebratory cake done by Sue’s mum (with a bit of help from Adie who did the decoration) and some impromptu photographs which I may well hook up into the web site at some time after we get back home from Fort William (which is where I write this from).
So along with a huge bouquet of flowers that the boys got Suzie for Mothers Day, we had a family anniversary meal and a splendid time. Just a shame that dad can’t get out and be a part of these things, but we took him a bit of the cake back later in the evening and showed him all the photos on the laptop, so he didn’t miss too much.
A big Thank You to the boys and Joyce for the arrangements, the family for turning up and making it an event and the Newdigate for their hospitality and entertaining us.
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Learner Riders
Today I got a call from my mate Phil who lives close by on Oakwood. Did I want to go for a ride out? Half hour later (12:15) we set off for Matlock where we planned to meet up with Colin and some of his young rider. Phil had spent the week with his bike in bits doing his own servicing and he wanted to do a shake down run. I needed no such excuse.
Arriving a little ahead of Colin's expected arrival time we paid a visit to the local car park tea bar (all of 10 feet from our parked bikes) for a sausage cob and cuppa special. There were several bikers/motorcyclists hanging around and it's a friendly place so getting chatting with total strangers soon becomes the norm. One such encounter was a young lady with a white Ducati 848 (called Karen I beleive) who I had a brief chat with. She was on her way for a ride up into the Derbyshire Peak district "just for the sake of a ride-out".
Colin's group turned up, a mixture of seasoned and young riders. It took them several attempts to decide exactly where they were going to park up, but, they eventually made it across the car park to the shack and (following the usual round of greetings, handshakes and introductions) proceeded follow our example and to refuel on cobs and cuppas. All the time bikes were coming and going and I took the opportunity to take a couple of impromptu strolls around, have a gander and a chat. Bumped into Pat & Mrs Cray (both looking in exceedingly rude health) who were there on their Yamaha FJR.
We set off up the Via Gelia towards the Cat & Fiddle, before turning towards Ashboune, then to Carsington Water for a stop off and another "biker chat" before Phil & I cut loose to head back to Derby (at a very "lively" pace) while the others returned to Matlock before heading for home.
I enjoyed the whole afternoon, but, most of all I enjoyed the opportunity to ride with young riders like Karen and these learner riders, to talk with them about riding and about their motorcycling aspirations. That's what motorcycling in the UK needs -- fresh young blood. Youth! And female riders. Prepared to just get out there and ride for the sake of riding -- something that the law makers of this country just don't, and never will, understand.
Arriving a little ahead of Colin's expected arrival time we paid a visit to the local car park tea bar (all of 10 feet from our parked bikes) for a sausage cob and cuppa special. There were several bikers/motorcyclists hanging around and it's a friendly place so getting chatting with total strangers soon becomes the norm. One such encounter was a young lady with a white Ducati 848 (called Karen I beleive) who I had a brief chat with. She was on her way for a ride up into the Derbyshire Peak district "just for the sake of a ride-out".
Colin's group turned up, a mixture of seasoned and young riders. It took them several attempts to decide exactly where they were going to park up, but, they eventually made it across the car park to the shack and (following the usual round of greetings, handshakes and introductions) proceeded follow our example and to refuel on cobs and cuppas. All the time bikes were coming and going and I took the opportunity to take a couple of impromptu strolls around, have a gander and a chat. Bumped into Pat & Mrs Cray (both looking in exceedingly rude health) who were there on their Yamaha FJR.
We set off up the Via Gelia towards the Cat & Fiddle, before turning towards Ashboune, then to Carsington Water for a stop off and another "biker chat" before Phil & I cut loose to head back to Derby (at a very "lively" pace) while the others returned to Matlock before heading for home.
I enjoyed the whole afternoon, but, most of all I enjoyed the opportunity to ride with young riders like Karen and these learner riders, to talk with them about riding and about their motorcycling aspirations. That's what motorcycling in the UK needs -- fresh young blood. Youth! And female riders. Prepared to just get out there and ride for the sake of riding -- something that the law makers of this country just don't, and never will, understand.
Red Nose Day
It can hardly have escaped anybody's notice that yesterday was Red Nose Day. The bosses controlling the office I work in had allowed us time to organise events at work. Now Fridays are usually "dress down" days, but yesterday was "fancy dress" day with the emphasis on pyjamas, costumes or Just Red. I went for Just Red in the form of my (very bright) red shirt. Light hearted fun. There were five competitions, including a Wii Mario race game, Body Parts, Through the Keyhole, Jokes, Picture caption and a pub quiz style name the cartoon character. I came runner up in the joke competition and won the Picture Caption competition. I also supplied various cakes and buns which went down well, however, there are some left over for Monday.
All told we raised a total of £439.10
All told we raised a total of £439.10
Mercedes update
New front pads fitted by Andy Wednesday evening. I then fitted a new air filter. What a difference! Drives and feels much better, more quality and refined. Makes me wonder just how long the control arm bushes had been in that state?
Picturs of the car are on the family website and sometime soon I'll update the ownership and running costs.
Picturs of the car are on the family website and sometime soon I'll update the ownership and running costs.
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Mercedes build quality
Today Andy caught up on some of the maintenance jobs outstanding on my Mercedes C220 CDi (a Sport Coupe SE if you really want to know). This meant replacing both front control arm bushes (also known as push/pull bushes), both front discs and the central locking door motor in the drivers door. I’ve to get a new set of disc pads to go with the new discs, and they will go on this coming week to complete the job.
Now historically I’m a high mileage driver often doing 25,000 – 30,000 miles a year and often doing more. And in doing those sort of mileages I’ve had my fair share of motors. But in all my time I’ve never done in a set of discs, never had a central locking motor fail and only a Toyota Carina e 1.8 needed the attention in the control arm area (the control link arms having to be replaced when the bushes went). But that car had done 113,000 miles. The Mercedes has only done 86,000 and Andy reports that the discs were completely shot to pieces and the hub/disc carrier had extensive corrosion which he had to address.
I don’t know when I’ll be in a position to replace the Merc but one thing is for sure… the longer I own this one the lower the chances of me ever owning another. Build quality is a long way short of the legendary levels that used to be synonymous with the marque. In the modern era Skoda, once the but of build quality jokes, can now give Mercedes lessons on how a car should be build and screwed together. Even the 2 troublesome Rover 800s that I had the misfortune to own were better built considering the cost to buy into the experience.
Now historically I’m a high mileage driver often doing 25,000 – 30,000 miles a year and often doing more. And in doing those sort of mileages I’ve had my fair share of motors. But in all my time I’ve never done in a set of discs, never had a central locking motor fail and only a Toyota Carina e 1.8 needed the attention in the control arm area (the control link arms having to be replaced when the bushes went). But that car had done 113,000 miles. The Mercedes has only done 86,000 and Andy reports that the discs were completely shot to pieces and the hub/disc carrier had extensive corrosion which he had to address.
I don’t know when I’ll be in a position to replace the Merc but one thing is for sure… the longer I own this one the lower the chances of me ever owning another. Build quality is a long way short of the legendary levels that used to be synonymous with the marque. In the modern era Skoda, once the but of build quality jokes, can now give Mercedes lessons on how a car should be build and screwed together. Even the 2 troublesome Rover 800s that I had the misfortune to own were better built considering the cost to buy into the experience.
Mark’s Birthday
Tuesday was just like any other workday Tuesday, except it was the day that Mark ceased to be a teenager. Some cards, a few presents (he’d already had his room done at the weekend) and we all went about our usual business. That evening, however, we went to Pepito’s on London Road, Derby for a rather pleasant Mexican meal. A bit on the pricey side but it was marking a special event after all so no complaints.
25th Wedding anniversary
In a little over 2 weeks from now Suzie and I will be celebrating our Silver Wedding Anniversary. Now silver isn’t something we have an affinity for, so instead of buying each other something silver that will never see the light of day we have decided to treat ourselves to a short break, so Mothering Sunday will see us driving up to Fort William where we will be staying in The Moorings hotel for 3 nights.
Now, apart from a day trip into Edinburgh Suzie hasn’t been to Scotland, and my record isn’t much better. A family holiday there in a Commer campervan with my parents, brother and sisters when I was about 12 years old, then 2 weeks in Edinburgh when I was working on an implementation at John Lewis back in January/February 2000, followed by the day trip with Suzie and the boys when we were on a caravan holiday at Berwick on Tweed when the boys were small.
So what are we aiming to do? Visit some historic places and learn a bit of the Scottish history and culture. A bit of touring to see the Great Valley, the lochs and possibly the western side coast and maybe a bit of the Highlands. Ex-colleague and friend Kev Mc has made some suggestions on routes and attractions as it’s his native land and he’s far more familiar with it that anybody else I know, because Don & Liz are from the Straraer area. Whatever we do, it will be some quality time together for us, and that’s what’s important.
Now, apart from a day trip into Edinburgh Suzie hasn’t been to Scotland, and my record isn’t much better. A family holiday there in a Commer campervan with my parents, brother and sisters when I was about 12 years old, then 2 weeks in Edinburgh when I was working on an implementation at John Lewis back in January/February 2000, followed by the day trip with Suzie and the boys when we were on a caravan holiday at Berwick on Tweed when the boys were small.
So what are we aiming to do? Visit some historic places and learn a bit of the Scottish history and culture. A bit of touring to see the Great Valley, the lochs and possibly the western side coast and maybe a bit of the Highlands. Ex-colleague and friend Kev Mc has made some suggestions on routes and attractions as it’s his native land and he’s far more familiar with it that anybody else I know, because Don & Liz are from the Straraer area. Whatever we do, it will be some quality time together for us, and that’s what’s important.
Family web site
While I’ve been neglecting the blog of late the same can’t be said of the family web site. I’ve added a number of pages relating to the Honda Deauville motorbike, improved navigation with more links in the navigation bar and posted my biking history along with some details and photos of my long standing friend Don and his bikes. The front page now has 8 photos instead of the 1 that was there before and I’ll be doing more work on it over the next few months.
My motorcycling
Well 4 weeks into my employment and I’ve been able to use the Deauville for my daily commute from week 2, when it got used 4 out of 5 trips, missing out on the Thursday visit to the Birmingham office. Ditto week 3. This week it only saw action on Monday (to Leicester) and Tuesday (to Birmingham) – the latter resulting in a very wet ride home after the weather took a turn for the worse. With day time showers and night time frosts I used the car for the last 3 days commute.
I’m still active on the Deauville forum web site and hoping to get out on some rides with the folks sometime this year. On top of that there are a number of race rep riders at work, as well as a Harley owner and a Virago trike pillion rider, so my motorcycling is accepted much more readily that I have experienced in the past.
Mark’s scooter is now proving more reliable after the attentions I gave it during my period of unemployment. It had got quite unreliable and Mark’s response was to just neglect it rather than telling me about the problems he was experiencing. With the help of Phil on the Deauville forum (he lives nearby and also owns a 400 Burgman) I got it sorted. Yesterday after finishing at university he went off on it to Manchester to visit his girlfriend Eleanor, and I got a text to say that he arrived safe and sound so it must have performed OK.
Over time I’ve got a bit rusty with my use of the spanners but this episode has proved that I can still resolve mechanical problems if I put my mind to it, so it looks like I’ll have to start doing so more often.
I’m still active on the Deauville forum web site and hoping to get out on some rides with the folks sometime this year. On top of that there are a number of race rep riders at work, as well as a Harley owner and a Virago trike pillion rider, so my motorcycling is accepted much more readily that I have experienced in the past.
Mark’s scooter is now proving more reliable after the attentions I gave it during my period of unemployment. It had got quite unreliable and Mark’s response was to just neglect it rather than telling me about the problems he was experiencing. With the help of Phil on the Deauville forum (he lives nearby and also owns a 400 Burgman) I got it sorted. Yesterday after finishing at university he went off on it to Manchester to visit his girlfriend Eleanor, and I got a text to say that he arrived safe and sound so it must have performed OK.
Over time I’ve got a bit rusty with my use of the spanners but this episode has proved that I can still resolve mechanical problems if I put my mind to it, so it looks like I’ll have to start doing so more often.
Neglecting the blog
Sorry folks, but, I’ve been busy. There’s a lot for me to take on board at Fidelity and some nights I get home feeling mentally shot. Anyway, excuses out of the way – let’s play catch-up.
The week before last Angie came up from Colchester on the coach and stayed with mum and dad through to Thursday. I/we didn’t get to spend much time with her but hearing it from mum’s side it seems that her visit went well, and mum enjoyed having her company and help with dad. Mum seems to have finally realised that the time is getting near when she will not be able to cope with managing and caring for dad under the current “Care in the Community” set-up.
That weekend we were running round sorting out a replacement bed and carpet for Mark’s bedroom. Why? Because that is what he’d asked for as his birthday present which was Tuesday this week. The laying of the carpet was arranged for 2pm the following Saturday afternoon (before his birthday) and the bed to be delivered on his last day as a teenager (this Monday). That meant that Mark and I were fully engaged through Saturday emptying his room, cleaning, hoovering and preparing for the visit of the carpet fitters. This included squirting expanding foam into the gap under the skirting board along the front of the house to reduce the cold air blast getting into the room that way. The fitters arrived early and were finished by the time they were due to arrive, which meant an early start to putting everything back into the room. The result was well worth the effort and best of all, he loves it!
The week before last Angie came up from Colchester on the coach and stayed with mum and dad through to Thursday. I/we didn’t get to spend much time with her but hearing it from mum’s side it seems that her visit went well, and mum enjoyed having her company and help with dad. Mum seems to have finally realised that the time is getting near when she will not be able to cope with managing and caring for dad under the current “Care in the Community” set-up.
That weekend we were running round sorting out a replacement bed and carpet for Mark’s bedroom. Why? Because that is what he’d asked for as his birthday present which was Tuesday this week. The laying of the carpet was arranged for 2pm the following Saturday afternoon (before his birthday) and the bed to be delivered on his last day as a teenager (this Monday). That meant that Mark and I were fully engaged through Saturday emptying his room, cleaning, hoovering and preparing for the visit of the carpet fitters. This included squirting expanding foam into the gap under the skirting board along the front of the house to reduce the cold air blast getting into the room that way. The fitters arrived early and were finished by the time they were due to arrive, which meant an early start to putting everything back into the room. The result was well worth the effort and best of all, he loves it!
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