LenT

Just a thought, Malcolm…Are you replacing all four tyres or just the fronts? I’m not too clear from your post. It’s just that having different tyres on the two axles can prove to be a very bad idea. In any case, even when replacing the same tyres, the newer ones should always go on the rear axle.

The latest BlackVue cameras have built-in voltage regulators that monitor the battery to ensure that its voltage doesn’t drop below a preset level. This is particularly useful when the camera is in Parking Mode and the ignition is off. For older systems they have the Power Magic Pro that sits between the camera and the battery. https://blackvue.co.uk/what-is-parking-mode/ I’m sure other makes have something similar.

So sorry to learn of your health problem Stuart. But a positive attitude always helps, so don’t give up on the car just yet! You can be sure that everyone here will be rooting for you! 😊👍

Speaking of Larry, here’s an extract from an article today marking Larry’s tenure at No.10….. Larry, whose full honorary title is Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, is held in higher regard than either Sir Keir or his predecessor Mr Sunak, an Ipsos poll found last week. The survey showed 44 per cent of people have a favourable opinion of Larry, while just four per cent take an unfavourable view. This makes him significantly more popular than the new Prime Minister, who is seen favourably by 34 per cent and unfavourably by 41 per cent.

One of many new arrivals in the Commons, Malcolm, who I suspect will now discover the reality gulf that exists between the supposed glamour of speaking FOR the Public as an MP - and the sheer horror of having to speak WITH them as their MP!

To be fair, Gray, all the established Parties do that. It’s when their Members go ‘off piste’ that they start to fall apart - as the last incumbents demonstrated so well! For example, I’ve noticed that the latest bunch have to chant ‘£20 Billion Black Hole’ what ever they may have been asked. This apparently helps to justify making some Pensioners poorer, but doesn’t really explain how the Black Hole is further reduced by buying off some Unions with unconditional settlements in excess of those recommended by independent bodies. If you’re suggesting that this is tedious and patronising, then I agree. But it may be because a Selection Board chose its prospective candidates for their willingness to follow a Party Line, and not their intellect and independent spirit!

Console Box. And I claim my £5!

That’s a very interesting point, Ron, that hadn’t occurred to me! Worrying too as I couldn’t even fit a pair of gloves into my crowded glove box. So I’ve just checked. In the event of electrical failure it appears that on my Lexus at least, the mechanical key will work on the boot lid as it does with the doors. Whether that applies throughout the range, I don’t know.

Wellcome Ian. And good timing - you’ve got your Lexus just in time to enjoy the revised local speed limits, I believe! 😊

Drat!! I knew that the day would come when I would regret not getting a Bus Pass. 🥵 It was that or a Lexus…

As if we pensioners are not suffering enough under this Labour Government, I also discovered today that the production of Truffle Marmite has been discontinued! 🙁 Is there to be no end to this horror? 😡

As is often the case, Nick Ferrari has identified a piece of Civil Service nonsense with which to skewer a Minister. Having had to deal with Civil Servants in Ministries, I often encountered this approach - namely, deliberately complicating a process in order to deter its application. If Civil Servants have been party to deciding that Pensioners shouldn’t have Winter Fuel Payments, I doubt they’d make it easy to do so! I once had to create an advertisement for a Ministry inviting anyone interested to contribute to the discussion about a piece of new Legislation. I duly presented what I thought was a very creative and appealing solution to a rather dull subject. It was immediately rejected on the grounds that it would attract too much attention. It was patiently explained to me that the Ministry had already spoken with anyone who actually mattered and they certainly didn’t want Members of the Public sticking their noses in. The ad was simply to comply with the legal requirement to appear to be inviting contributions.

In an effort to reconcile the original topic of a Winter Fuel Payment and the digression into American politics, does anyone know if American Pensioners can access similar social benefits? My impression is that what are regarded as ‘handouts’ to the less fortunate of Americans is not universally regarded as a ‘good thing’.

Indeed so Stephen. It’s an immediate display of hypocrisy that may well go into Parliamentary folk lore alongside Liam Byrne’s notorious note to his successor at The Treasury! Alternatively, it’s confirmation that we ARE a Democracy! As Churchill quoted ‘Democracy is the worst form of Government - apart from all the others!’ We are governed by those who can be bothered to vote at an Election choosing those who can be bothered to stand for Election! But at least it’s a choice and - to my mind - better than having only one ruling Party. Or even no Party! In fact I’ve never really understood the American system. With our plethora of Parties - and even individuals - to vote for, it seems unlikely that the entire gamut of human opinion can be successfully represented by just two opposing factions. That was the situation in Orwell’s ‘1984’ and that didn’t turn out too well! Still, that was fiction - couldn’t possibly happen in real life?

Nevertheless Stephen, a choice is what they are going to have to make. At least they’ve had some experience of a Trump administration where as - on the back of the second lowest recorded level of support - the UK has acquired a new Government which appears to have elevated ways to rapidly alienate voters to a record level! The UK made its choice because those who voted thought it couldn’t get worse with a change of personnel in Government. Well, apparently it can! What really astonishes me is that after months of preparation and laying out their stall, the first actions of the new Government is to take actions for which they would have lambasted the previous lot! Starmer et al are discovering that it is always far easier to oppose the Government than to actually be it!

Well, having no influence as to its outcome, I haven’t been following the US political scene as closely as perhaps I should. But I did by chance catch Harris’s most recent speech. While I don’t find her voice particularly attractive, I certainly didn’t find her incoherent. Rather than describe her comments as ‘babbling’ they struck me as rather generalised and sufficiently anodyne that it was hard to take exception to. Whether or not she’s an idiot, I have no idea. However, I have been convinced that Trump is a paranoid egotist who has demonstrated scant regard for the Law over many years, a misogynist who is going to find it extremely difficult to debate a woman who has a track record of dealing with crooks and an individual whose claims rarely stand up to close scrutiny and whose major defence is to mount ad hominem attacks on his critics. Perhaps it is time that a woman was front of house at the White House?

Could it be a celesta? https://www.yamaha.com/en/musical_instrument_guide/celesta/structure/#:~:text=Celestas look like an organ,carry over quite a distance. Correction: I think you’re right - it’s a harmonium. The celesta comes in later! Not heard it for years - probably because the latest generations neither know nor care who Flynn was! But sometimes his reputation for being rather promiscuous slightly backfired. In the 1938 Adventures of Robin Hood he had a long kissing scene with Maid Marion (Olivia de Havilland, who was a good friend). She later wrote that she decided to have a bit of fun and kept fluffing the scene, which then required several retakes. To her amusement it also caused Flynn a disturbance in the tights department!

Obviously very hard to prove without an independent witness or perhaps an initial email confirming the deal. Failing this the Sales Staff will simply argue that it’s a ‘misunderstanding’ and - perhaps - that they only ever offer one free service anyway. So it really depends on how strongly you feel about it. You’ve waited this long for the car so you might feel that rather than start all over again. you’ll take the one free service and then find a different Lexus dealer for subsequent services. Frankly, that sounds the best course. Ultimately, you can stand on a Point of Principle and cancel the order from the current Dealer on the basis that they are in Breach of Contract and find another Dealer, although you may have a battle over any deposit you paid. For the cost of a minor service, I’d just accept it and not deal with them again. And in future remember that verbal contracts are not worth the paper they’re written on - so confirm every discussion in writing! PS. Isn’t the first Service free anyway? So you could clarify that as the first service is free, it’s the second service that will now also be offered free. Could be a face-saving response for them to clarify the ‘misunderstanding’!

Yes, he certainly is - in 1959 at the not totally unsurprising young age of 50. He had previously died earlier in 1941 while portraying General George Custer in the movie They died with their boots on. If you’d like to know more about Flynn, I can recommend his autobiography called ‘My Wicked, Wicked Ways’. He wrote it very much with tongue in cheek - and not necessarily his own! Equally fascinating is David Niven’s excellent trilogy, starting with ‘The moon’s a Balloon’. He and Flynn shared a flat together - and much else besides. I believe it was Flynn who got Niven into movies.

My apologies, Phil. Of course you know who Errol Flynn was! And Valentino did indeed die in 1926. Coincidently, 1926 was the same year that Douglas Fairbanks made a silent movie called The Black Pirate in which one of his stunts was stabbing a sail with a knife and sliding down it. Just saying….. BTW: How’s the search for info on the LBX progressing? (I get told off if I digress from the subject too much!)

Stephen, I think you’re showing your age! 😊 I may be wrong, but I rather doubt that Phil knows who Errol Flynn was.

Assuming the TPMS valves have been registered, this is the resetting procedure from my Manual: How to initialize the tire pressure warning system 1 Park the vehicle in a safe place and turn the engine switch off. Initialization cannot be performed while the vehicle is moving. 2 Adjust the tire inflation pressure to the specified cold tire inflation pressure level. (P. 544) Make sure to adjust the tire pressure to the specified cold tire inflation pres- sure level. The tire pressure warning system will operate based on this pres- sure level. 3 Turn the engine switch to IGNITION ON mode. 4 Press and hold the tire pressure warning reset switch until the tire pressure warning light blinks slowly 3 times. 5 Wait for a few minutes with the engine switch in IGNITION ON mode and then turn the engine switch off. The reset switch is set back under the dash about in line with the steering column. For reasons best known to Lexus, not easy to find! Note:  Registering ID codes The tire pressure warning valve and transmitter is equipped with a unique ID code. When replacing a tire pressure warning valve and transmitter, it is necessary to register the ID code. Have the ID code registered by any authorized Lexus dealer or repairer, or another duly qualified and equipped professional.

I totally agree with this Ed. My point about Streeting is precisely this; he has had no ‘real world’ experience in running anything! I suspect too that the political career path you describe is more commonly found among Labour MPs than Conservatives. I’m certainly not suggesting that a University degree is an essential requirement to being an effective parliamentarian, only that a background in science or medicine would seem more appropriate if you aspire to run a National Health Service. (It’s interesting that Margaret Thatcher said she was more proud of being the first Prime Minister with a science degree than being the first woman.) Unfortunately, Selection Committees can only choose from those who apply - and then tend to select people like themselves. The voters are then placed in the invidious position of having to support their chosen Party despite any misgivings about the candidate!

Who wrote this? I support the sentiment. The new Government has yet to demonstrate that it has an effective solution to a problem that bedevilled the previous administration. But the grammar….not so much.

Welcome Phil. And I wouldn’t worry about that. Merely being smart enough to aspire to own a Lexus is probably sufficient! There are some very good video road tests of the LBX on YT, I notice. It’s also What Car magazine’s Car of the Year - among others. Mind you, there is a local farmer and pub landlord who was a bit sniffy about it - name of Jeremy Clarkson. But I wouldn’t take him too seriously! My suggestion is that you start another thread specifically asking about the LBX and what new owners think of it. That way you’ll target the people who really can help you. BTW…I’m a great fan of the Brokenwood Mysteries…👍