GMB

Wishing you all the best Herbie🍾

You may well still be here after 23 years. God willing, you will be. You never know. But situations can change and you may want to move or have some kind of lifestyle change. All that expensive interest building up " We borrowed £70k and took the third option, ie, to pay nothing. If it runs to term then that £70k that we borrowed will have grown to about £264k that we owe them" That hit of up to £264K will put a big dent in your freedom of choice in the future. You may even want to go and live in Portugal in your "golden years" based on the mess that is happening in the UK. They make a ton of money out of you and can afford to pay third rate "celebs" to sell the policies. Anyway, you have done it now so........Best of luck for the future.☺️ BTW I see that you live in Lancashire as we do.. It does not rain as much in Portugal.⛈️

I think equity release is a big mistake. 😟 You lose control over your future living. What about this Gov't scheme: https://www.ownyourhome.gov.uk/scheme/opso/ OPSO is a form of Shared Ownership available to people aged 55 and over. It allows you to buy an initial share in a OPSO home and pay rent on the remaining share. OPSO homes delivered through the new model of Shared Ownership will enable you to buy an initial share in your OPSO home of between 10% and 75% of its market value. Under the previous model of Shared Ownership, the minimum initial share you can buy in your OPSO home is 25% of its market value. OPSO works in the same way as the general shared ownership scheme, but you can only buy up to 75% of your home. Once you own 75% you won’t have to pay rent on the remaining share. You may be able to buy a home through OPSO if you’re aged 55 or over and meet the following criteria: your gross annual household income is £80,000 or less outside London, or your household earns £90,000 or less in London you are a first-time buyer, you used to own a home but can’t afford to buy one now or are an existing shared owner looking to move. Find out how to apply for Older Persons Shared Ownership (OPSO) (GOV.UK).

Similar thing happened to me. Kids will step into the road at any time and any place. I was in a queue of vehicles doing about 10 mph and a child stepped onto a zebra crossing straight into the road directly in front of me - about 2 feet from the car!! I stopped dead and no harm was done, but the mother went berserk. I reviewed the camera footage and could see the child walking down the pavement, stepped behind her mother and out straight into the road with her head buried in her phone and without a single look or hesitation. Thank God I had the camera because if I had hit her I would be the villain ( on a zebra crossing ). I had not seen this coming at all and luckily was paying a lot of attention to the road etc at the time because it was very busy. I also had a situation where a man stepped out of a shop backwards and fell/tripped off the shop step into the road right in front of me. I just managed to swerve around him. BTW this all happened in France where pedestrians are even more unpredictable than here.

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I always got confused between William Tell theme and the Lone ranger theme on the telly. I like the bit below where Tonto refers to the lone Ranger as " He who knows nothing" kemosabe" might actually be "quien no sabe" meaning "one who knows nothing" Here's a good link: What does "quimo sabe" mean? 2 votes What does "quimo sabe" mean? 16270 views updated MAR 2, 2011 posted by humbertoromero 11 Answers 3 votes Welcome to the forum. That's not Spanish. The correct spelling is Kimosabe. Check out this llink updated MAR 2, 2011 posted by gone I see that the different site owners know how to google also. - 0074b507, MAR 1, 2011 2 votes http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IBVPgalgRAk/TMwuyGLcD3I/AAAAAAAACuc/9_ssTfs3_9o/s1600/Lone+Ranger+Kemosabe+Larsen.jpg updated MAR 1, 2011 posted by Gekkosan A classic! I miss Gary Larson. - pesta, MAR 1, 2011 lol - Snowleopard, MAR 1, 2011 1 vote This is from the urban dictionary. By the way, it is better to write 19th century than 1800s, which to many Spanish and English speakers implies the time period between 1800 and 1810. The Lone Ranger was a long-running early radio and television show based on a masked cowboy in the American Old West, who gallops about righting injustices, usually with the aid of a clever and laconic American Indian called Tonto, and his horse Silver. Tonto greets the Lone Ranger with the expression "kemosabe", which has also been written "Kemo Sabe" or "Kemo Sabhay". The origin of this expression is somewhat unclear, but James Jewell, an early director of the radio series, said the name comes from a boy's camp located on Mullett Lake, Michigan that his father-in-law had run from 1911 to 1941. The translation was said to mean "trusty scout." Fran Striker, the writer of the Lone Ranger scripts, said the actual expression was Ta-i ke-mo sah-bee, which he said meant "greetings trusty scout". In the pilot of the Clayton Moore TV series, "Enter the Lone Ranger", Tonto explicitly states that "Kemosabe" means "trusty scout". updated MAR 2, 2011 posted by Encalada 1 vote Interestingly i just saw this reference in my SAT Spanish book. It says that there is speculation that Tonto might actually by Mexican and the expression "kemosabe" might actually be "quien no sabe" meaning "one who knows nothing" In which case, the two are actually exchanging insults: Tonto = Fool and Kemosabe = Fool

I had a decrepit Comma van. The body was parting company from the chassis. It was a thrilling drive all over the place. My 1 ton Thames trader was fun too. There was a bus stop underneath a motorway bridge and I could turn off the ignition while in gear and turn it back on under the bridge. This resulted in a VERY loud bang and a 4 foot flame from the exhaust. What a horrid thing to do scaring all those people, I am so sorry!🙄

Ed, I agree, and there was more variety and "shades" of coolness to be had. I always wanted an Alfa 3.0 V6 but could not afford to buy one and certainly not afford the repairs My old 504 estate was a solid, reliable and fairly quick car. I still like the looks and style. They were favourites in African rallies because of their toughness. The only weakness was overheating the spark plugs buried deep in the valve cover. I forgot that we had a 104ZS for 6 months until it exploded and was traded back in. On the other hand our 106Xsi was a great fun car.

Hi Vlad, the fzr was de-restricted and tuned by V&M racing who did the TT bikes. Removed the rubber restrictor between the carbs and the cylinder head, new Cobra 4-1 ( empty ) slip on exhaust and re-jetted. It was amazing. It was still picking up speed at 177 until I chickened out. Could not keep the front wheel down up to 100 mph. Yes those were the days and amazingly I survived. The bike shop gave me a great number plate which would never be detected - WVM *** It just looked like a squiggle to the plod and their cameras. BTW I forgot in the list Honda dominator 650 and Bultaco 250 trials. BBTW I am no longer a hooligan☺️

If you google expensive repairs to tesla or similar query you will see. For example: There were 120 Tesla Model Y electric vehicles listed in two large salvage auction houses recently, and the "vast majority" had under 10,000 miles on them, according to a report from the Reuters news service. The insurance companies that covered these vehicles decided that even with so few miles on them, these Teslas aren't worth the $50,000 or so they sometimes cost to repair. The cost to fix a car has gone up as the ease has decreased over the years, which has prompted a discussion over so-called Right to Repair laws, which would give owners more rights to fix the things they buy. Or a similar headline from the USA motoring press - Crashed Teslas With Low Mileage Are Being Scrapped Because They’re Too Expensive to Fix

I think it is the cost of repairs, scarcity of spares, irreparable damage to battery systems and finally the high performance in the hands of idiots - maybe?

The cars that I remember being owned by my Dad were: Vauxhall Wyvern 1950 something - an american copy with a weedy engine. Ford Cortina1200 A car with a 3 bearing crank that needed new main bearings every 12000 miles. Ford Anglia 1200 - same crappy engine Austin Mini 850 - gutless rotbox Vauxhall Victor FBW estate held together by filler compound - rotbox Mine were ( in chronological order ) : Inherited the Vauxhall Victor - sold for £12 Austin Healey sprite 1100 1966 Vauxhall astra estate Year? Thames trader van 1700 VW I ton Van Transit 2000 V4 Fiat ES 2000 Twin cam - great engine rotten bodywork Peugeot 504 estate - very reliable. Rover P6 V8 with denovo run flat tyres police spec. Audi 200T 5 cyl - scary fast. Toyota GT RWD twin cam AE86 - worth a fortune now Sierra XR4i no comment Renault twingo, Megan and Qashqai ( with a nice Renault 1.6 Dci engine ) - in France. Kia ceed3 1.6 dci - still going with no problems after 140,000 miles passed to family. Volvo T5 - lovely Lexus 200t - very comfy and Quirky and 100% reliable Lexus ISF - what a great car!. PLUS - bikes Bantam 175 Kawasaki 750 twin Kawa 900 - Worth a bomb now. Kawa Vulcan 1500 BMW K 100 1000cc 4 cyl - worst bike ever Yamaha FJR 1000 Yamaha FZR exup tuned - 177mph honestly!! Kawa Vulcan 1700 HD 114. That's it for now.

The joys of owning a Tesla or similar. From the Guardian today. Quote: " Driving an electric car should be a win-win, saving money and the planet. So David* was shocked when the insurance on his Tesla Model Y came up for renewal, and Aviva refused to cover him again, while several other brands turned him away. When David did secure a new deal, the annual cost rocketed from £1,200 to more than £5,000. “My insurer was Aviva from July 2022 to July 2023, but when it was coming up for renewal, I received a letter stating that they would not be covering the Tesla Model Y any more,” David says. “I am a member of a Tesla UK owners forum, and lots of other people seem to be having the same issue.” In the Facebook group, members share stories of horror renewal quotes, with increases ranging from 60% (up to £1,100) to a staggering 940% (a jump from £447 to £4,661, according to a screengrab shared by one driver). "

And you could get two Whippets in the back.

Why do they call them minis when they are big fat ugly things? Just wondering. The acme of mini - ism is the 1965 cooper S. A pal of mine was driving his when the steering wheel and column parted company from the floor and he ran head on into a lamp post. The car fell to bits. It transpired that the column was attached to the steering mechanism with one pinch bolt. Good old British engineering. My 1966 Healey sprite exploded on the M1 at 70 mph. 70 in top gear was 5500 rpm!!! No wonder it blew up.

Sorry, I should be more polite. He is called Kevin.

I think the sunniest part of the UK is around Essex and even Kent ( the garden of England - Winemakers' heaven ). The only problem is that the Whippet gets sunburnt easily and would miss his occasional 'tater pie.

I agree, the only snag with cruising at 120 is the massive increase in fuel consumption even with a lexus auto gearbox that has two overdrive ratios. So, only if in a big hurry such as a ferry to catch.

For sheer terror, excitement and buttock clenching fear try getting one of these round a gravel infested potholed roundabout. It took me quite a few days scary practice and It is still not easy.

No, you can only buy whippets from registered dog breeders. And there is not much meat on them, but they stew down quite nicely and make a good gravy.

If you just change the position of the figures then I would buy one: Lexus RZ 450e 71.4kWh Takumi Auto 4WD 5dr 2023 (23 reg) 58,880 miles £2,850 Sorry - only kidding!😉

Pie barms are for the posh folk. Wigan kebabs are for eating after 16 pints on a Friday night followed by a technicolour yawn up a back street. I hear that in some of the rougher areas ( and I do not mean Bolton ) they eat deep fried meat pies on a barm / bap / flour cake or whatever it is called in some places. I heard recently that some people up North can still afford to buy and eat meat! Our chippy still serves "scraps" and pea water to the pensioners! Used to be free at one time. Fish chips and peas with scraps 1 shilling and 6 pence please. That's seven and a half pence if you got O-level maths.😇

Ee bah gum, no, we use donkey stones up 'ere. Don't even dare ask what they are. Clue - Grandma used to use them to clean the front doorstep and they are not from anywhere near a donkey's back end. Finish off drying the car with a good clean whippet skin followed by a Wigan kebab for dinner - that is three pies on a stick.

Barry and Malc I could not agree more. I still have the motorbike ( and the historic broken bones to prove it ) and the fast car and still enjoy them while I still can. However driving pleasure is nothing compared to what it once was. As you imply; our driving experience is being controlled and ruined by all the restrictions. It's all about safe careful drivers and not so much about limits. The last time I went out on the bike for a quick spin in sunny weather I did not get out of second gear and just sat in queues at traffic lights and even stuck in a queue because some idiot refused to pass a bolshy lycra lout hogging the road. I went home after 20 minutes of frustration and had a good moan at the Mrs about the joys of motoring today. Even our country roads have more 50mph average speed cameras. Having been out of the UK for many years, on my return I noticed that the standard of driving has reduced dramatically, the roads are badly congested, the potholes are omni-present. The cameras are everywhere. The lunatics are running the asylum. - Nurse!!!!🤕

I wanted one a few years back but could not afford one and I remember all the fuss when they were first launched. But, three years ago, I was fortunate enough to find a nice Isf 2012 which has proved - up to now - 100% reliable. Sad news is that it is going SORN until next spring due to massive increases in insurance plus the usual road/robber tax £695 and expensive annual service. Thanks for asking.🥲