Malc1

a trusted indy will be the way to go once the Relax warranty and other benefits vanish BUT get them to check the calipers, that's NEVER included or specified in a service It will save you a small fortune provided you can find a worthy indy My last indy FULL service ( oil and filter, air filter checking and adjusting all else and the calipers ( specifically asked to be checked ) at my indy to include MOT ...... and now at 225k miles, was £210 all-up ........... doubt the 8 x plugs would add much more than £150 but they aren't due until @ 260k miles maybe 3/4 years hence Malc

Aw c'mon now guys . these cruise operators are run by the accountants now and any thoughts of Loyalty or Customer Care just vanished Son-in-law's parents on a recent 2 week TUI fly cruise to Jamaica and around the delightful Caribbean ...... note under the cabin door the start of the 2nd week cruise saying " CRUISE CANCELLED " Flew home next day to UK and £300 credit towards a next booking and some compensation ....... all that sodding around to and fro Heathrow etc, wot a bummer eh ! Reason . couldn't get the food on board . you may laugh . fact is 900 passengers in a 918 cabin ship . why would the accountants let it continue at a loss one asks Sign of things to come Don't hold your breath for any changes soon . these operators have a lot lot of catching up to do to get their balance sheets right after covid The German Govt owns most of TUI and Sept 22 Balance Sheet shows the German Govt had to dump half a billion ££££ or is it euros, into the business to keep it " afloat " . and after having taken out / sidelined a Russian oligarch they discovered secretly owned 30% of TUI tooooo NOW many cruise companies are a part of the TUI empire now . so take care eh ! Check up before you book any cruises to see who actually owns / runs the business, shipping line you're trusting with your money and more importantly TIME Fred Olsen and Ambassador are independent and MSC ( sadly with huge ships tho' ) are Italian and have been around in shipping since the days of Pirates, the 1600's I understand Best go by car and drive your Lexus wheresoever you can eh ! Malc

yesterday locally The previous day there were traffic lights ushering the Qs of vehicles past a host of barriers BUT looking at nowt going on . as is often the case around here Then yesterday a huddle of at least 20 persons discussing and finger pointing at whatever and Qs and Qs of traffic negotiating those sodding traffic light controls An hour or so later and venturing back past them all and WOW .. GONE . the guys actually working with the barriers just on the grass verge edge and their works trucks parked up on that same grass verge AND ZERO Qs of traffic, sense prevailed and the roadworks guys actually managed to do their works without restricting the traffic NOW why can't they do that more often one wonders ! Malc

Regards John “Instructed and inspired by Britprius” He always had this at the end of his many wonderful and thought provoking Posts RIP John Malc

SGS is a well known trusted supplier of ( their own ) manufactured struts ....... I've used them too BluePrint, well, I've received some not really up to the mark stuff and on this occasion you're lucky to get what seems to be great quality product . well done I would use SGS tbh Malc

I'm understanding these eat huge amounts of vegetation . what does that do for the climate then ? and those tusky tusks . wot use are they these days ? Elephants roaming around Hyde Park would be a revelation methinks .. and strip out all those trees in Hyde Park and bring in more grass for the elephants to freely roam eh ! Malc

I think I'd want Attenborough's opinion on that before we all go gung-ho and stripping down all the woodlands to bring in more cows .. and sheep ? Malc

so the local clearance of the Amazon Rain Forest is now quite ok to put to grassland for cattle ............ . and cows too ? Malc

the price of fitting wiper blades eh ! . who'd have thought Well done Malc

doing the 8 click dance seems to have improved the rake action performance .... mostly .. thank you Mark . I'll see how this all unfolds before I go-get a replacement rake fix Malc

Solar Panels eh ! living in a Conservation Area I'm more or less precluded from having them on the roof etc ............ and remembering going back some 20 years maybe !!! When i was involved in energy conservation stuff . chatting with a guy from BP in Holland was it ? Joern Bo . a great guy who's knowledge of all things BP solar panels was second to none . advising that the continuous research and development of these SPs was so constant that he thought they ( BP ) in their research would never get to the " ideal " formulation . the technology just moved on so . and I guess continues to this day too . and in 5 years time the standard SP of today will possibly be but a poor relation of what's ahead in SP technology Malc

there might of course be other issues ............. another Ls460 owner might pop up with summat useful Malc

and the proven culprits of CO2 emissions, being cows, can be properly addressed going forward Malc

I've not had the undertray on my car for at least 122k miles ............ nothing detrimental seems to have occurred in that time 🤫 I shouldn't stress over it's absence tbh Malc

Just as a starter ............. has the radiator been changed at 100k / 10 year intervals ? ....... as recommended on here ! ( date , mileage etc would help maybe ) Malc

I'd never thought of Tesco bank for insurance quotes BUT I think I was recently reading that Tesco's is giving-up on it's banking business asap ... Malc

it's a Bummer for sure ............ 40 years old cars are however exempt and it might be prudent to find summat like a great old'ish Saab of 1982 vintage which might also go on forever ..... like Insp Crabbe in Pie in the Sky ! Visiting relatives in Welling area will kick-in with the new Fuhrer's fees come August and my thoughts are to find such a Saab .. my prior ownership of a brilliant Saab 900 of same vintage as my present Ls400 would do me fine . if only I could pre-date it ! My 2006 Honda Legend is exempt from the present fees ULEZ stuff Malc

did my latest Aldi sellophane ? wrapped cucumber come from Ecuador . or have i imagined that ? Malc

Thank you Malc

Gentlemen ..... reality is that COWS are the main culprit globally of pollutant emissions ........... this is FACT and that's why the NZ Govt is taking strict emission control action . being a leader in this field NOW ... the ban on milk consumption excesses will shortly follow . here in the UK at least I'm predicting . and why not ? Maybe the price of milk will quadruple to restrict consumption to sensible manageable levels ... your doorstep delivery, should you have one, will be delivered not by a polluting EV carrier but by horse and milk wagon and there will be a competition to analyse the value of the horse shiiit . good for the roses they used to suggest ! Malc I am however being very very serious about the NZ Gove absolute restrictions on cow output

Thank you sooooo much . I'll make prompt enquiry Malc

no worries on that score at all .. the New Zealand Govt is bringing in cow number controls to quantify the quality of cow farting and belching . restricting cow numbers on quality of fart output .... not necessarily milk and meat quality etc AND I'm being SERIOUS about this in New Zealand . it's not totally a figment of imagination Malc

Don't know if you've seen this BUT just got an email from the DVLA ( as one does ) that one can now check recent'ish MOTs of NI vehicles https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history Malc

Gentlemen / Steve maybe .... . any thoughts here likely part number etc maybe ?? coz it's quite frustrating me losing the up-down and now restrictiveness of just the in-out and slight up-down flexibility .......... oh dear, wot old age does to one eh ! Thanks Malc

In all this have we discussed the Power of the Tide with our enormous coast and continuous everlasting tidal push and pull . and it really is free , well, subject to the infrastructure to capture it 24/7 . your thoughts ! Malc