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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 20, 2023 13:16:00 GMT
I fear that the Tories are about to go through what Labour did after they were found to be completely useless and Margaret Thatcher came to power. With the SNP weakened, Labour will find it much easier to win next time around. Whether Labour follow a middle of the road line of policies, forge some better trading links with the EU and remain business friendly will probably determine the length of their tenancy at No10 but it could be a long time if they don't go all Corbyn. I think Momentum are quietly lurking, waiting in the background, ready for a Labour win. Then they'll emerge and you'll see a battle for the heart of the Labour Party between the Trojan Horse, Starmer, and the hard line Corbynists as they try to wrest control.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 20, 2023 11:12:48 GMT
I was born in Darlington. This is important news to us.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 20, 2023 11:09:55 GMT
There's no doubt the current government has run out of steam and ideas. I predict the triumphant return of Boris to drive the conservatives to another election victory in 2024.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 19, 2023 14:02:14 GMT
A Lexus IS300 Sport Cross passed me the other day - I thought it still looked pretty good, despite being 20 years old.
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Random
Oct 17, 2023 14:45:36 GMT
Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 17, 2023 14:45:36 GMT
Mobile phone coverage is one of my bugbears; the Israelis can bomb the crap out of Gaza, reducing it to rubble, but the BBC can still get a video call going seamlessly with a trapped resident in a basement. It's 50/50 whether or not O2 can give me a phone signal that works in my house (in the centre of Newcastle).
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 15, 2023 12:00:14 GMT
Come to think of it I only had my Lexus 3 weeks before a Transit rear ended it on the A19.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 14, 2023 18:57:23 GMT
It was the third day and under 100 miles for me in the X3 when a septuagenarian motorcyclist rear ended me in Northumberland. Hope it all gets sorted OK.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 14, 2023 8:13:04 GMT
Back in 2004 we had a diesel Transit catch fire while parked up in the workshop overnight. Gutted the place. Some stored charge in a capacitor was found to be the cause if I remember correctly.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 13, 2023 11:02:37 GMT
You think that’s bad? Backworth Golf Course near here had wallabies grazing across it. They had to get the Wallaby Wrangler in.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 12, 2023 15:11:52 GMT
I recently bought and installed a gadget to emit high frequencies to keep cats away. I had a mate who just used his personality to keep pussy away.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 12, 2023 15:09:37 GMT
The plural of Lexus is.."Lexus". Unless you're Jeremy Clarkson, of course, then it is indeed, "Lexi". Can't believe I have Googled this..... "The plural of “Lexus” is “Lexuses".......In a history of the car, Lexus: The Relentless Pursuit (2011), Chester Dawson writes that “Lexus” was a shortening (and a respelling) of an earlier choice for the brand name: “Alexis.”
After a little fiddling, Dawson writes, “the group stumbled upon the neologism Lexus.”
How should this linguistic creation be pluralized in English? Like any other noun ending in “s,” it’s made plural by adding “es”—hence, “Lexuses.”
Lexus marketing wonks can pretend the plural of Lexus is Lexus - but it isn't. Lexi would be acceptable if the word Lexus was Latin. In future - I think I will say " Lexus vehicles " Actually that's not right - or the plural of Mercedes would be Mercedeses. It's a made up brand so it's just 1 Lexus, 2 Lexus, 3 Lexus etc.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 12, 2023 11:13:03 GMT
I like the sound of that (or not - as the case may be I always imagined that your upper crust Lexi are assembled like nothing else for the money. The plural of Lexus is.."Lexus". Unless you're Jeremy Clarkson, of course, then it is indeed, "Lexi".
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 12, 2023 9:44:52 GMT
Ice? I was driving home from Heathrow last night and it was 17 degrees at night! Then again, looks like the lows here are 4 degrees from Satruday so we get winter then... I'm unsure of my tyre strategy this year..... I'd go for a 2 stop strategy, maybe softs for the cooler weather, switching to intermediates as the day warms up.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 12, 2023 8:02:38 GMT
I'm another against the removal of buttons but qualify it with I rarely touch the temp or ventilation controls in my car anyway so maybe it wouldn't be as big an issue as I think.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 12, 2023 8:00:54 GMT
Yes, I was surprised when my low temp <3 deg warning went off as I arrived in Prudhoe this morning.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 11, 2023 10:08:13 GMT
Range Rover would have been my second guess.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 11, 2023 9:19:29 GMT
Quite astonishing to see the size of the conflagration and the damage caused. Hopefully there has been no loss of life. If I was a betting man, and I'm not.., the cause will be found to be the battery pack of an electric car catching fire. The output from this will be interesting; will some car park operators ban electric cars? Will there have to be designated parking areas for electric cars with additional sprinkler/fire suppression measures? What will be the effect on insurance premiums? I'm sure someone will provide the evidence that electric cars are no more likely to catch fire than ICE ones but when they do go off the inferno seems to bee almost unstoppable.
The electric car movement is not dead but with rising electricity prices, huge increases in insurance premiums, and an expensive purchase price just to get behind the wheel, it's not an attractive option for the private buyer (company users still get good benefits). I've certainly ceased looking at any electric options going forward and I can't see that changing before my next purchase.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 10, 2023 13:11:04 GMT
It costs me 30p to use the toilet in the car park at Coldsteam, when I'm on my way north. Last time it actually cost me 50p each way as I didn't have change and the machine doesn't give change. . I need to perfect the lorry driver trick of peeing in an empty bottle of Irn Bru while driving and lob it out the window. It's Coldstream, doesn't everyone just stand in the middle of the car park and pee there? I had to sign something at the Procurator Fiscal's office to say I wouldn't do that again.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 10, 2023 12:27:41 GMT
Another example at Heathrow: USB-C to USB-C cable : £35 !! Currys/DSG seem to have gone from Terminal 5 unless the place operating there is another new trading name they've dreamt up, but the store size is significantly smaller as is the range of goods on offer.... no interchangeable lens cameras or lenses for sale, for example Yes, I thought Sainsburys was taking the piss wanting £12.99 for one - they are on Amazon for £5.99. I'm not surprised there are no interchangeable lenses - sales of those have been in freefall for the last 10 years and I don't think any shop would devote expensive retail space to them -particularly as most who look at them will then purchase on the internet. Far more money to be made selling those little speakers and mobile phone accessories. Or anything with "Apple" in the name or with an "i" prefix.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 10, 2023 12:23:11 GMT
Deserves recognition for "Furbinator 3000" if you ask me.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 9, 2023 16:07:45 GMT
Does it still cost 50 cents to use the bog at European motorway services? It costs me 30p to use the toilet in the car park at Coldsteam, when I'm on my way north. Last time it actually cost me 50p each way as I didn't have change and the machine doesn't give change. . I need to perfect the lorry driver trick of peeing in an empty bottle of Irn Bru while driving and lob it out the window.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 9, 2023 12:11:23 GMT
I paid 4.50 Euros for a 750ml bottle of water in Heraklion Airport - I did suggest to the lad in the shop the bottle should be in the shape of a horse but he didn't seem to get the reference.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 6, 2023 19:10:23 GMT
I found Thailand reasonably priced for most things. BIL has just bought a very nice house for about £70k. I thought Singapore expensive but I gather they have subsidised housing and utilities. It costs you £88k to own a car in Singapore, and that’s before you even buy it.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 6, 2023 15:58:22 GMT
Crete has gone up as well - they're trying to charge nearly 5 Euros a pint - I don't even pay that at home!
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 5, 2023 15:36:49 GMT
... but not involving cars. This was on train, so I suppose could be classed as public transport, bur rather better than anything that would normally pull into your local station. [url=https://ibb.co/s1rJzZj [/url] On Saturday we spent the day on The Northern Belle train, in a route from Telford, up through Cheshire and Cumbria, then back down the Cumbrian coast. Hauled most of the way by a steam locomotive, the train provides a level of luxury which would rival the best in the world, including the Orient Express. It was like a step back in time and I could live out my Bertie Wooster fantasy lifestyle, with Champagne, caviar and fine dining while we chuffed at speed through the English countryside. During a stop at Penrith Station I climbed up onto the footplate for a look around the business end of the train. There were two of them shovelling coal non-stop as we chuffed up the line to Shap. I have found some videos online from the many trackside spotters we saw along the way. [/quote] I feel this has the makings of an ITV Sunday evening drama about a retired Met detective who travels the UK on a vintage steam train, solving railway related crimes as he dines in style passing through the English countryside.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 5, 2023 15:33:27 GMT
And with their constant sunshine I ask myself why I'm in the UK? TBF, it does seem that Europe has suffered similarly or worse in terms of price rises. I was surprised how much everything had gone up in Greece for example this year over last year. I'm off to Barcelona on a jolly next weekend so will take advantage of those cheap beers and wine. You might have to look long and hard for them in Barcelona.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Sept 25, 2023 10:43:34 GMT
That does look, and sound, lovely. Hope to hear more impressions once you've picked it up.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Sept 25, 2023 10:39:35 GMT
100mph? I mean, come on, you have to don't you? All my cars are run through that but Her Indoors would have killed me if I tried to get the 500s up to 100mph (as if!) or the Qashqais.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Sept 16, 2023 21:22:54 GMT
I think this is generic everywhere. My new pc will not start so I report it and they (Chillblast) refer me to their ontite repair agents (Mendit). They tell me I have to agree to a £250 software reinstall charge or they will not procede. What is the first repair go to? Software reinstall so my free warranty becomes £250 every time something goes pear shaped. If they have a father, they do not know his name. Go back to Chillblast as your contract is with them. Also, check out their Vulnerable Customer Policy and complaints escalation procedure.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Sept 13, 2023 17:31:05 GMT
Unexpected today, but ended up working from home. My son fell off his bike on the way to school and hit his head. His art folder got tangled up in his bike and he fell off. Anyway, his head is ok, but it looks like he’s sprained/injured his left hand. So I had to pick him up- his sister is bringing the bike home. Work was quiet so I’m catching up on stuff that I’ve been ignoring… and I’ve noticed that the chair I bought for the home office isn’t terribly comfortable, probably a 90 minute chair at best. The bike is ok. His head is ok… Hopes he's soon back in the saddle. I remember my trousers used to get caught in the chain and gears and bring me to a sudden skidding stop, that happened a few times and I never learned from it. I never injured myself though. I'd still love to ride a bike again It’s incidents like that which stopped me wearing trousers. Hope your lad is OK, Rodge.
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