The replacement car will be here in around four-weeks, so some activities are required to get the Mondeo ready for its return to the leasing company. The first major activity was to drive over to Paintshield in Peterborough to have the protective film removed from the front portion of the car. It was good to …
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Category:Car
Nice Surprise!
Vauxhall rang today to tell me that my new car will be delivered EARLIER than planned – two weeks early to be precise! Even the sales-guy couldn’t believe it…so I’ve only pencilled it in. Roll on April 7tth!!!! …or not! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post …
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Car Update
So, the dealership has confirmed that the car should be here by the first (or second) week in April. I’m still slightly unsure about whether it will actually happen on that date, as so many Insignia owners are saying the wait is much, much longer. Anyway, we’ll see! Now that the retention document has arrived …
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Manic Saturday!
8.00am: It was over to Peterborough for a haircut. Then back home for a quick change of clothes before we head off to Lamport for the treat-of-the-week – our full tasting session for our proposed Wedding Breakfast. 10.45am: The sampling session was a really enjoyable event, and the chef and Emma had worked very hard …
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New Car 2011–Vauxhall Insignia 2.0 CDTi 4×4
Ok, I officially signed-on-the-line today for my new car. It should here towards the end of March/early April. Apart from the challenge (for just 24 hours!) of the finance deal – in terms of will they or won’t offer it?, the only other difficulty was choosing the colour. I nearly went for silver…nearly!, but …
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On-Off-On!
So, I ordered my new car on Tuesday and yesterday, the dealership rang me to say that the finance proposal had been declined! WHAT! UNBELIEVABLE! That’s the closest I’ve been to throwing a strop for a long time! I’ve been buying cars for 20 years on finance and never, ever, ever had a problem. The …
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Boys and their Toys (Part 479)
After a lot of research towards the end of 2010, I popped into the local Vauxhall dealership today to do the deal for my next car. This follows a very enjoyable three-day-test-drive just before Christmas of the Vauxhall Insignia. The superb Volvo S60 came a close second – but the fact that my nearest Volvo …
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Test Drive: Vauxhall Insignia – Day 2
Day 2 of the 3-day test drive with the Vauxhall Insignia. It was slightly warmer in the morning (only minus 3C!!!) and the roads were a lot better. This gave me an opportunity to push the car a bit harder and take a closer look at the toys. It’s still a bit early to determine …
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Test Drive: Vauxhall Insignia
With a frighteningly cold night (-11C when I got up this morning), it probably wasn’t the best time to have the Vauxhall Insignia for a three-day test drive. By the time the car arrived, it was almost lunchtime, but worth the wait! Even though they couldn’t supply me with my first choice (an ‘Elite Nav’), …
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Chichester for the day
Morning reader! After last night’s lack-lustre meal in the hotel’s restaurant, we were hoping for an improvement at breakfast. It wasn’t to be! Ann opted for poached eggs and bacon, whilst I went for the Full-English. Mine wasn’t bad, but Ann’s bacon meant we didn’t need a trip to the shoe-repairers! Still, at least we …
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The Angel
Rush, rush,rush. Although I managed to finish my Course early, it was still a bit of a rush when I got home (around 4.30). Ann got in not long after and we ran around like mad things, to try and get ready for a 6pm departure. Actually, we didn’t do too badly, as …
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Hello Polo
I picked up Lee after work and we headed over to High St Cars in Burton Latimer to pick-up her latest ‘wheels’ – a 2005 VW Polo 1.4 automatic. She’s named it ‘Clyde’! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My …
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Lee’s surprise purchase
I took Lee out for a drive this afternoon to help her pick her choice for her next car. After getting Ann’s car washed, we tried the dealer immediately next-door to the car wash. The vehicles on offer were certainly in her price range and we narrowed it down to possibly a Renault. We then …
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A Flat – Major!
Sometimes you just get days when nothing goes right. I left the house this morning at stupid-o’clock to get the 5.51am train to London. I’d got about half-way up the road when I heard a strange sound coming from outside the car. Yep, as I suspected – a flat front off-side tyre – a major …
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Sign on the line!
I took Lee down to town today so she could sign the paperwork for her new place in Kettering – it’s not long to go now, and the plan is that she officially moves in on the 9th May. I haven’t driven down to town for ages and the parking was even more nightmarish than …
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Endless Journey!!
So, the theory was that because it’s half-term, there wouldn’t be so much traffic on the roads. Well, that was certainly true on the journey TO my School meeting today. 122 miles in two-and-a-bit hours. Not bad!!! Contrast that with the journey home. I left at 12.55 and got home at 4.35!!!! Arghh! Accidents everywhere …
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Lunch with Steve S
I popped over to Oundle to meet up with Steve. We’d previously met just before Christmas, when, amongst other things, Steve was making plans for being father-of-the-bride for his daughter, Kelly, on Easter Saturday. I’ve lent him some books on speeches! We walked to The Ship, as normal, and as part of my giving-it-up-for-Lent thingy, …
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Lunch with Sally B
My gorge-fest continues. At this rate, I’ll be classified under ‘excess baggage’ when we (err, ‘if’ – see yesterday’s blog) go away on holiday!!! Oooo, a flutter of snow in the air. I drove over to Cambridge to meet up with Sally B for lunch. We haven’t seen each other since June and it was …
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What do points make…?
Followers of my blog (and those that try to follow me in the car!) will be well aware of my heavy right foot! So heavy in fact, that at the beginning of 2009, I was up to NINE points – all for speeding. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have any points on …
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Blood from a Stone?
A few weeks back, I had some new tyres fitted to the front of my car. At the same time, Kwik-Fit managed to scrape both the front alloys in doing so. They suggested I got the wheels refurbed and then they’d re-imburse me. Well, after numerous fob-offs by Kwik-Fit, I rang yesterday to explain that …
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Cambridge, here we come!
Ann, Nicki and I set of for Cambridge just before 8am, to finish off the Christmas presents. The weather was truly atrocious – gale force winds virtually everywhere in the UK. We had a smooth journey there and were soon amongst the hundreds shopping at The Grand Arcade. I managed to get the last of …
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New tyres… new damage… to my alloys!
I took the car into Kwik-Fit in Kettering today to have the front tyres replaced – the car has covered 14554 miles on the previous set and apparently that’s about normal. What I wasn’t expecting, was to acquire some damage on each of the front alloys as a result. I zoomed back to Kwik-Fit where …
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Ready…Steady…Go
Ahhh, weekends, a time to relax, put your feet up and generally chill-out! I must look-out for a weekend like that sometime!!! 🙂 So, here we go then: 7.15am: Dry Cleaners – drop off ironing and dry cleaning and pick-up the stuff we put-in last week 8.20am: Drop off Biscuit and Bon-Bon at Patsy‘s for …
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OCA Committee Meeting
I drove to the BRIT School today for a full OCA Committee meeting. The normal crappy journey (left home 4.30am and got there just before 9am – it’s only 90ish miles!) We were under pressure from the start as they had a VIP visit scheduled for the morning (it turned out to be Ken Livingstone) …
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Bat out of Hell… err…Feldkirchen
8.30 local time. For those of you who were disappointed to learn that Michael Schumacher is not returning to the race-scene, I have good news! I can confirm that after extensive facial plastic surgery and an enforced two-stone weight gain, he is now driving a taxi from Feldkirchen to Munich Airport. Overtaking on hairpin bends, …
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The patter of tiny…
…tyres! Well, it’s a start. We bought new number plates for Ann’s yet-to-be-sourced new car. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of …
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Car Service
The Mondeo went in for its annual service today to Central Garage. No major problems, just the following: The key-fob has stopped working There is a leak in the water-pump A minor scratch on the rear offside and front nearside alloy Paul is going to keep it in overnight, because the new pump won’t be …
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Look…no brakes!
Today, a real techy-innovation. I’m test-driving the new Volvo XC60 with ‘CitySafe’. It’s an innovative piece of technology that senses a vehicle in front and slows the car down if you don’t! And this is 2009! 👍😉 Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well …
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New Tyres
I took the Mondeo over to Kwik-Fit today to assess the rear tyres. At just under 24000 miles, I knew they were getting close to the legal limit, so it was definitely worth checking them out. As I suspected, they did need replacing. The service was pretty swift and forty-five minutes later, the job was …
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What do points make…?
For people of a certain age it makes ‘prizes’ – for me, it also makes for a complete pain-in-the-bottom having acquired nine points on my driving licence over recent years. So, a special day today then, where I say good-bye to three of them – sorry, I won’t miss you…. If I can get through …
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