:: Diary - November 2016 ::

:: Wednesday, November 2, 2016 ::

I ordered some bits and pieces for the Chevy about 2 weeks ago. I ordered them from one of the US specialists - just odds and ends, a couple of wheel trims (which are bleeding expensive by the way, stainless steel and all) because one of mine flew off and disappeared in some bushes. I did find it later at night, when it shone up in a flashlight, but decided to get a couple of spares, seeing as they don’t seem to be available over here. So - two wheel disks, plus the spinner-trim thing that fits on them - and a replacement dash clock, and some blank keys, because I only have one set.

A couple of days after I ordered them, they contacted me to say that the web estimate of freight costs was wrong, so they charged me more.

Then today, they were finally delivered, and I had to pay import duty. Now that, plus the freight, was nearly as much as the cost of the goods themselves - I would have been cheaper, almost, to fly over there and bring them back myself. And at least I would have got a holiday out of it…

Lesson learned!

I managed to get duplicate keys cut at Timpson’s - they had to order in the blanks, and then cut them, then I had to sand the sides down a wee bit because they were a fraction too thick to go in the keyhole, but they work! They also managed to find a blank for the petrol - sorry gas - cap key. The new blanks from the US fit in the locks much better - I’ll get them cut to the right pattern as well…

So - next job is to fit the clock, and then tidy up the engine bay a bit - I like doing that, there’s something therapeutic about cleaning mechanical things, but maybe not when it’s as freezing cold as it is just now!

:: Sunday, December 6, 2016 ::

As well as the Chevy, I also have a TVR S Series, that I’ve had for years. You can read more about that at tvrgit.com. At the moment, it’s in a barn I rent at a farm, about 4 miles from the house.

Anyway, today is the day of the monthly TVR Car Club meeting. Dave still isn’t driving after his operation, so I took him and Claire in the Chevy - what a hoot! After taking up 3 parking spaces, I was last to order my dinner, because I was talking about the car. It’s certainly different!

I drop off Dave and Claire, and took this photo to demonstrate what happens to Citroens if they take too many steroids. Drugs is bad, don’t do them kiddies… By the way, did you see the interview the other day with the fire crew who had just put out a blaze in an illegal marijuana factory? Funniest thing I’ve seen for years…

Then on the way home, I stop off at Morrisons for some cans of coke (the fizzy kind, not the snorty kind - see above). As I get out of the car, this woman loading groceries into her car says “I bet you get this all the time but I really like that car…” Turns out her ”arsehole ex-husband” had a Chevy Caprice, so she knows what it is. I’m still trying to decipher whether her main hint was “arsehole” or “ex-husband…”

When I come back out, there’s one of those 80s Mercedes 500 coupes beside it, and the driver is just getting back in his car. As I get nearer, he turns and comes back - “this your car?” - this wakes me from the “arsehole ex-husband” pondering, to looking around for his accomplices and an escape route. But no, he saw me coming in, and hoped his girlfriend would get back before me. They both have a closer look, take a couple of photos, bit of chat, then they leave. He’s still looking at the car as he reverses straight into a lamp post. Oh dear.

So I help him to pick up various bits of plastic (just one rear light) and while I’m doing that, I see someone else who looks like Willie Nelson standing beside my car, smoking a roll-up. So I go over to speak to him. “You drove past me the other day’” he says, “I was on a trike.” I remember - it was an orange one with 2 front wheels and one back wheel. So we chat for a bit…

Then I get in the car to go home, start it up - and another couple appear at the drivers window. “Can we take a photo?” It’s a free country…

Nearly an hour to walk into Morrisons and buy a 6-pack of fizzy drinks…

Brilliant!