After getting close to flipping out with stress last night, I finally sat down and went through most of the papers that have been accumulating in the lounge. A few bank statements, a few letters about having gone over my overdraft and PLEASE would I pay urgent attention to getting more money from somewhere, and an “annual statement” (covering the last 6 months) from npower.
Electricity Charges £50
Direct Debits Paid: £61, £61, £61, £61, £61, £61, £61, £61, £61, £61
Balance: We owe you about £550
We’re not going to give it to you.
But for the next year, you can pay £2 a month.
What the hell is all that about?! They have £500 of my money, that would’ve come in extremely useful while I’ve been bouncing off my overdraft limits for the last six months.
How we got into this is that I went on estimated readings for about 5 years, then phoned in. I’d like to know what algorithm they use for figuring out next year’s payments, as if their figures are correct and representative, it will take them 10 years to pay off the debt to me. I’d rather that £500 sat in an ISA than in a privately-owned former utility.
Drove the spitty 70 miles at the weekend: by half way it had started misfiring again! This time it was purely down to my being a fool and ‘fixing’ what wasn’t broken in a half-assed way. This time, with broad daylight, no hurry, and an ample set of tools, I attached the condenser terminal to the low tension wire correctly and with a good contact… so I don’t expect that one to recur.
Saturday we begin our epic 325 mile journey to Carvin, France. I’ve discovered I have Euro breakdown cover on my classic insurance so that’s saved £95. The (TBAT)AA supplied Euro cover when I took out protection through them, but took it away last march. They probably told me this, but I’m extremely bad at reading things people send to me unless they come in handwritten envelopes. On discovering my car was over 10 years old, they decided I should pay £90 for cover in Europe. In this specific case, I think it was a wise decision on their part. But I don’t have to like it.
The route to Carvin shouldn’t be too horrendous. If the speed is kept down to 50, the car’s very comfortable, and indeed cosy, apart from around the ears. I invested in a fleece turtleneck which looks incredibly stupid pulled up around the ears, but as an alternative to a savage headcold with 120 miles to go, is well worth the mild to moderate embarassment. I’ve tried to let Kate know she should bring warm things for the head and neck but I don’t know whether the message has hit home. We have allowed two days to get to dover so can take it easy. The return trip is quicker so may be harder - and of course the weather is sovereign over all. With the soft top on the ride is noisier, flappier, and a lot less fun.
I need to take a little time to figure out what tools to bring, and we’re going to have a go at packing the car this week, as it’s a bit of a challenge with no boot-rack: once the spare, the jack, a few tools and the soft top are stowed, there’s not an awful lot of room for clothes, sleeping bags and tents!
Clue 1: I had a feeling there was some kind of meeting involving me this morning
Clue 2: John’s cup was full of hot drink in the kitchen as I came in but he failed to show at our desk within half an hour. He must be in a meeting I thought.
Counter-clue: The meeting room, which the previous day had been full all morning, was empty.
The crunch: At 10:30 I opened the calendar feature in notes for the first time ever. It said “you’d got a missed alarm… want to see it?” It told me of the meeting I was supposed to be in from 8 am to noon, in the OTHER meeting room. Arsebadgers.
Got a phone call on Saturday from Belkis, who I’d met on the salsa scene in Santa Barbara. She was visiting Durham on a physics conference and I’d said she should come and hang out. So today we did. We did the city walls, looked at the outside of the minster (the inside was closed on account of a looney on the roof, though that seems rather a non-sequitur, as the looney couldn’t see you if you were inside the minster whereas if you were outside it was much easier to shout “jump you fool!” an be heard)
Actually, it was an “unofficial demo” - a publicity stunt for http://www.fathers-4-justice.org/
which photo opportunity the local papers seem to have cleverly missed. Clicky for the story, though that link is likely to break within a week or so…
I had also cleverly forgotten to take my camera. That camera has been everywhere with me since I bought it, and the two times I’ve not brought it out, I’ve wanted it. Next up was a pub lunch, the groovy little church in the town centre, and Clifford’s Tower, Belkis’ treat, which was the only part that I’d not done before. Great views of york and a bit of banter with a composed Scottish guide who managed to combine the Jovial Uncle and Salesman roles most effectively.
To cap it, it turns out Belkis will be in Paris at the same time that we’re in Carvin, so we’ll be meeting up for dancin’ at some point!
[WARNING this blog entry is really boring. I thought I had an interesting perspective to put, but I was nearly asleep by the time I'd finished writing. But finish I did, and I was damned if I'd just throw it away, no matter HOW devoid of merit it might be]
My Spitfire has brakes! I didn’t know this, but the brakes are capable of working nearly 50% more effectively than they have for the past year. I know this because they now do. My first 6 cars having been minis, most more than 15 years old at the time of purchase, I fully accept that older cars’ brakes were not as effective - even when new - as modern cars’. For this reason, I was not unduly concerned that in the spitfire you generally had to plan your emergency stops and use the engine to dump a significant proportion of your speed. The great thing I discovered was how much more sensible my driving was because of it.
I reckon good brakes are the indirect cause of many accidents today. By causing me to habitually drive with more caution, I am likely to get longer to react and be travelling slower by the time any real danger is present.
Picture a row of cars each driving as close as they dare to the car in front. Each driver thinks “the chances are the driver in front won’t brake, unless he meets an obstacle”. Driver 1 brakes. Driver 2 takes a moment to notice and be surprised by this before braking. Because of this delay, driver 2 needs to brake harder. Each driver takes a moment to spot the emergency, then needs to brake a little harder than the one in front. Some driver down the line can’t stop in time and nudges the previous driver into the one in front. Three-car shunt.
Of course there are other factors like many drivers are smart enough to look a few cars ahead and on observing the brake lights will back off and create a safety zone. But many don’t.
In a car with less effective brakes, the brake lights still come on when I press the pedal, but the change I introduce to the situation is less, i.e. I don’t slow down as much. This can be an issue for me if I’m behind an ABS’d up M3, and I might have to bring the steering into the equation, but for the person behind me, there is more time to react and less reaction needed. The rate of change of the situation is slower, though the brake lights, the warning of the change, come on just as early. Thus the mean advance warning is greater and average seriousness of accidents is reduced.
To me, safety with humans in the loop is not directly about keeping speed down. It’s about maximising the time between perception of an issue, and the deadline for judging how to deal with the issue. Of course, the higher the speed the lower this time in general, but there are other factors too, like:
- earlier warnings
- looking ahead
- gentler manoevring
- larger spaces
Just because your car can stop in half a second doesn’t mean you can stop it in half a second.
They are thinking about making it illegal to smack your children if it results in bruises, redness or psychological damage. Those arguing against this law cite the European Principle of an unambiguous law and say if it’s sometimes unlawful to hit your children but not at other times then that’s ambiguous - especially when you have to figure out whether your action is likely to cause psychological damage… Those in favour of this law cite the European Principle of equality and say that the law protects adults from violence of any kind, so it should afford the same protection to children.
This is faulty logic. Children are small adults. Children grow out of being children. If children and adults are entitled to equality, then why can’t they drive? Why do adults have to undress themselves to go to the bathroom?
A black person does not “grow out of” being black. A woman does not “grow out of” being a woman. A jew does not “grow out of” judaism. With some exceptions. Homosexuality has been a matter for debate but we now accept that for many, homosexuality chooses the homosexual, not the other way round. Children however, are not stuck as children. They are developing. In time they will develop into jews, women, africans, asians, homosexuals, and non-of-the-aboves.
If children are to be afforded the full protection of adult law, it follows that they should be given the full responsibility too. If a 12-year-old steals a moped, takes it onto the common and sets it alight, he should go to jail. If a 2 year old urinates in the town centre, he or she should be cautioned by police officers. 6 year olds learning to ride bicycles should use the road, not the pavement where they are a danger to themselves and other 6-year-old users of the pavement.
The work on the car was to a very high standard and I’d go there again, though I’d emphasize he should phone me BEFORE running up much of a bill. Not only did the car brum properly but it brakes properly and changes gear smoothly… all for the first time since I’ve owned it. The knocking from the rear has more or less ceased, not because he fixed it but because it is now possible to drive the car gently!
The suspension problem he reckoned was “an MOT failure” but not urgent, i.e. nothing’s gonna suddenly fail or fall off…
Took the Spitfire in to “Heritage Car Co.” of Norton, North Yorks. on Saturday. He said he’d look it over and give me a call on Tuesday.
Tuesday came and went
Wednesday he phoned, vaguely indicating what work had been done and declaring the exhaust fitting to be looking a lot more complicated than he’d originally esimated.
Uh-oh.
Today I phone him.
“How’s it going?”
“All done! Just waiting for you to collect.”
“Great! What’s the damage?”
“No idea!”
“Well, do you want to work it out then, cos I’m going to have to move some money about…”
oh GOD. Now I REALLY AM scared.