rustic

I totally agree.If I was sent this invoice, first I would ask, in writing, since we are being formal... for the terms and conditions as to what I was accepting when agreeing for my child to attend. I would then ask for a copy, in writing, of my signed acceptance of these terms and conditions, before going through them to see if this was in fact a fair contract. Then I would consider, should I have to pay them, how this payment would be made and over what time scale... maybe a year say, just in time for the next party lol.... so I can be invited again. lol I wouldn't have put myself in this situation, I would have cancelled and offered to pay any shortfall. Most decent people would say thanks for the offer, but it's ok no need. We have been dropped in it on occasions, you get to know your audience, and book a couple under, and add one or two on the day. It's only a children's party... I doubt any child would want to go next year. I feel sorry for the child. I also feel sorry for the teacher in passing this on to a child, if indeed this was the case. Normal practice would be to go through the school office, and school policy followed before this child was given an invoice meant for his parents. Very underhand and unprofessional to involve the school on a none school activity. Basically they have no chance of getting paid, and that's how it should be, in my opinion, especially the way it has been done. It would cost them hundreds to find that out the hard way, I can tell them for free, or shall I send them an invoice for my advice... joke... joke lol... It must have been a slow news day that day, that's all... lol. Don't know why I'm wasting my time writing about this... I have much better things to do lol..

Back in the 70's, Esso had a campaign, "Put a tiger in your tank" maybe there is a new campaign from one of the new petrochemical companies, no not Q8, it might be K9 lol...

If you rise to it, you never know, they might drop back and blend in to traffic, when in fact they are following you to your final destination, or to a quiet car park. Then next morning, in the daylight, you might find if they were really holding a grudge... I have sometimes gone around a roundabout twice, or come off a sliproad on a motorway and then back on again, or double backed, if you like these stealth manoeuvres then rise to these idiots.

I used to drive to that area, to work, boy oh boy, it is one area that I don't flash or give any hand signals, even to those overtaking cars waiting at red traffic lights... Doors locked, stay in gear at traffic lights and leave a full car length in front of you, so you can lurch forward when someone tries to hijack the car. Do not make any eye contact with any other driver...People have actually been shot around there for less. To those people who feel it necessary to take the challenge from these wasters in road rage incidents, guess who will the police prosecute when they see you speeding, or when they pull you out of the hedge, get them to explain to your wife and family that even though you had the fastest car, it only got you to the cemetry quicker. Most road rage incidents are only one to one, so what are these people trying to prove. I used to be intimidated by some drivers, but now, I just repeat their reg number into the live video camera, one day I will show it to the police following an incident to show how the looser was driving before the crash. Who knows.... that looser could be you.... Don't forget... there are more and more of these cameras in use by other road users. Chances are, a lot of our daily driving is captured on a video camera somewhere... Also... another sobering thought... if you have one of these cameras, can you afford to have the video played in court, if it was you who was in the wrong? Now that should make some drivers think... it certainly has quietened me down. Not difficult to measure the time between lamp posts when trying to determine your actual speed, and it records conversations in the car. Remember what Jeremy Clarkson said.... just before he crashed a car...." Now WATCH this....!"...

As an engineer, this is looking more and more like a design fault, caused probably by inadequate strain relief on the cable, or too short a cable causing undue fatigue and stress on possibly short lengths of cables. When industrial electrical cabinets are wired across hinges to front metal doors, strain relief is incorporated to prevent damage to the cables, fairly standard practice on cables which are required to flex under normal operation. Now to see it from Skodas point of view, could it possibly be, owner or driver error, lol... as the customer is opening and closing the door too often? doh.. lol That's why it mainly occurs on the driver's door. So stop opening and closing the doors. Never had this problem on Mini Mokes lol... ( for those young ones out there, mini mokes had no doors, as seen in the TV series "The Prisoner" ). It might also be made worse if you open the doors wider than necessary... Clearly the doors are designed to be opened regularly to the extent of the door strop, designed for that purpose. So if the wiring loom in the door fails in a short time, then the design is not fit for the intended purpose, and has had the potential for a fault to occur from the day it was built.û So to me, this fault should be repaired foc even outside warranty as the fault is well known and looks on first impression, to be a design fault. Clearly a more detailed inspection and full technical report and investigation would be required to confirm this. So in anyone week, how often do we actually open each door on a car? Heaven knows what would happen to a Skoda that was used as a taxi, or for local deliveries or Pizza delivery man. I can see a recall coming on... but that only tends to happen if safety related, mind you, if the air bags may not function... Enough said... Could be a safety issue, I'll start watching " Watchdog" from now on lol...

Should have gone back a few minutes later, and put it back up lol...Maybe you did, but daren't admit it. lol..

Probably not...and then they have probably charged him £1 disposal too... doh! For me, this just confirms that buying a "full size" spare was the correct choice, despite reducing the boot space.

You have to, but the police will no longer prosecute if you don't have them. Can't work that one out lol...When you do buy them, they have a limited shelf life, some less than a year, so buy carefully just before you go if you must have them. Halfords sell a pair at the till for £4.99 I read somewhere, they cost around a €1 at most supermarkets in France. Yes we too are planning a french visit soon. Lidl fire extinguisher too...£8.99 at the moment.

If you have a clean licence now... why worry, however if you were sitting on 9 points...then you can start panicing. Problem is... You can get enough points on any one trip without you even knowing it, no time to learn from the first offence. If this is your first offence, then you should think yourself lucky, as you have time to adjust your driving technique, or improve your observation skills lol... I used to drive a lot, 30-40 k miles PA and I had this theory, that if around 10% of the cars are overtaking you on the motorway, then you are driving to the conditions, and mostly you will be ignored, but if you find yourself overtaking everybody... then expect a letter on the mat. This was my theory... it worked for me. Don't forget, there are many unmarked police cars on the motorway, nearly all drivers will slow down when they see a marked police car, whether they were speeding or not, but often by the time you see a marked police car, you have already passed an unmarked one at your previous speed. Last summer we passed a mobile camera... dry sunny afternoon, too late... I looked at the speedo... 80 mph, ( speed limit 70) and I knew from the GPS that that was the speed, I said to my wife....it's ok we were only doing 80 mph... I had no concern, and had no post either... Now I need to learn from that... Now I consider myself lucky. We were not in the outside lane at the time though... Some friends elected to go on a speed awareness course, having been caught for 32 in a 30 and when they talked to the other students, most were less than 5 mph over. It seems the ones doing 35+ were not given the option, it was points and fine. So don't assume 10% over is ok. Zero tolerance is just that. Doing 80 mph, as opposed to 70 mph on a 100 mile trip with varied conjestion, barely makes 10 minutes difference to your arrival time. You can also save 10-20% fuel too, less stress, less looking for speed cameras, or unmarked police cars, more time to observe what is happening around you so you can drive defensively. Overall a better driving experience.

You can get to the back of that socket without too much panel dismantling. You needn't remove the whole panel. Upper rear plastic panel, a screw or two, then the luggage clip bars, three screws. All screws are Torx headed. There is a two pin plug on the rear of the socket. Biggest pain is the rear lower panel where the boot slams down, getting the panel off is easy, two screws, then pull upwards, but putting it back is a pain, I used a torch and a long plastic tool, to align the metal clips... before pressing it down, then realign the door seal, then finally clip the lower part into the sides. I nearly posted on here for advice lol... but I persevered.

Did my tow bar last week, and definitely torx, you will need to replace the 7 screws back into the holes on the car, I also put some waxoyl on the threads of these screws and on the head, so hopefully won't rust or leak.Getting a torque wrench into the space behind the wheel arch splash guards is possible without having to undo it, but a bit tight for space. Loose fit all fixing bolts and then tighten each a little as you go.. Mine was a Towsure, and looked totally different to the one in the picture. Getting the painted plastic upper bumper bolt panel ( below the light cluster) off, is a struggle if you want to avoid scratching it, I found it very easy once the light clusters were removed, as you could then see what you are doing. I wonder, how resilient the painted plastic rear bumper is, when compressed with another car during bad parking. Without the original crash bar, first contact will be on any sticky out bits of the tow bar steel work. Now there is a gap of nearly 2" that the plastic bumper has to deform before contact with the tow bar steel work, will the bumper take this abuse, as in some places, parking for some, is a contact sport. ! ! ! Maybe fixed tow bars are the right way to go after all. On all my other cars, people tend to take extra care and avoid my rearward facing steel work. Now here is a technical question. Can the tow bar be used as a jacking point, not that much weight on the back, after all I have seen many a caravan topple where when the caravan is on its side, the rear of the car has been lifted off the road. Clealy different forces involved to normal towing, but I would have thought the mounting point would be fairly strong.

Yes... always worth trying to get past a parked car that's on the pavement.... Sometimes the push chair or wheel chair gets jammed, it takes ages to get the paint marks off the wheel chair though. These modern acrylic car paints are quite soft... Seriously, forcing parents with infants, or OAPs with wheel chairs into the road is criminal, and the driver should be booked with obstruction and dangerous driving. Then you get onto the wheelie bin situation, these also obstruct the pavement in many places. People move them to the side of their drive blocking the pavement so they can get the car in and out easier. My Mother in Law in South Cheshire now has 6, yes six full size wheelie bins, and she is a disabled pensioner, living on her own. They have run out of colours, so some now have different colour lids to differentiate them. Some are on a two week cycle, some on a three week, and one on a four week cycle... So work that lot out!

Now that is an example of poor engineering. Why haven't they engineered in, some form of inspection panel? I've also known bumpers that have to be removed, just to change a bulb. The best one is on a Citroen Picasso, if you have a rear puncture, the jack is in a plastic box inside the rear wheel, which is slung under the car. Unfortunately if the tyre is flat, there isn't enough clearance to get the wheel out, in order to retrieve the jack in order to change the wheel. doh... Simple solution... don't keep the jack in the spare wheel. Engineering with no common sense.

Must be one of those new fangled self dipping mirrors... All new products have to undergo a soak test lol. Sorry about the joke, couldn't resist that one. Yes, I too would be unhappy with this on a new car. The best place is under cover, to limit any further water ingress, also check any water damage around the roof lining. You don't have a panoramic roof do you? or it might just be a loose or faulty drain.

For gaffa tape, masking tape type adhesive, then I find WD40 or white spirit works well. Both are quite passive on paintwork. You have to be careful with acetone, or cellulose thinners as it dissolves some plastics, and if you accidentally get it on clear plastic lenses, then the surface goes opaque ... Petrol is generally fine, as it is also the main ingredient of some tar removers. Again, as with any solvent, take the usual H&S precautions, and wear suitable gloves, as the solvent could help to pass the nasties into your skin. Tip:- You can always remove a piece of inner plastic trim, and practice on any small area of exposed paint. I must admit, I never use an automated car wash, or bob a job charity wash, or wash while you shop. Ask yourself this question.. If they drop the sponge onto the floor, do they discard it, rinse it in the wash water or pick it up and continue washing the car, grit and all? I think we all know the answer to this one, BUT what would you do? The problem with these places, they don't have copious amounts of water to rinse the dirt off before they swirl it around with a sponge on your paintwork... Now where did those swirl marks come from? Now in Germany, they often wash cars without water... How does that work?

I think I read that on the Yeti, if you centrally locked the car twice, the second action disabled the interior motion alarm. Just need to lock some one in the car to test that one out, as long as it doesn't annoy the neighbours... lol Might be the same on other models too. Not tried it myself lol... I suppose..you could lock your self in.... But if all goes wrong, you might be there a long time lol...

Why can't you just have an oil and filter change when you want? I'm thinking of planning one in before my first variable service is due. I aim to cover approx 15 k miles PA I could get the skoda dealer to do it, or I could do one myself and say nothing, but use the correct grade oil and filter. Which has been suggested on other forums.. Or just do the oil with a dip stick pump, and leave the filter for the recommended period, hence the car would still be under warranty, I would have 95% brand new oil and it would have cost me around £35 for the correct spec oil. I would be happy that I have fresh oil...correct spec... and in 8 years time I will look back on this choice. Warranty is preserved... In the past, with other cars, I have always had an oil change less than 6 months from new, whether it needed it or not... Often done by the dealer. They say it wasn't required but understood and did it anyway. Fords and Rovers used to require an oil change and first free service at 1000 or 1500 miles otherwise the warranty was null and void. It had been suggested that these new cars had special "running in" oil put in. I think that the first ever change is the most important, and if I was going to economise, then I might do that on later changes... I will certainly consider an oil change at between 8-10,000 miles from new when on variable.... Just in case.. What are other's thoughts on this?

Frozen nozzles or just ran out of water...I used to carry an old washing up liquid bottle filled with water and or screen wash in the car, and when safe to do so... open the window and spray the screen. Bad eggs smell from washer bottle. Now has anybody else had this problem, with our previous car, I often walked into the garage, and I could smell sulphur dioxide, or Hydrogen Sulphide. This was often an issue with Lidl screen wash or when mixed with others. The solution was to drain and rinse the bottle and washers, use a bleach solution and let it all soak, of course I had to wash off any spills or sprays with the hose pipe. After a long soak, I drained the bottle and flushed through, then filled with new screen wash, and problem solved. I found just rinsing alone with fresh water was not enough to prevent it recurring, so I assume there was some bacteriological action taking place.

Well no problem on my other car, the cam is gear driven.. Good old fashioned engineering. Mind you it doesn't stop some garages quoting to "replace it for ya gov!" Or for changing your spark plugs in a diesel lol...

Double de clutching is just wearing out the moving clutch parts twice as fast for no other gain. Puts extra wear and tear on your left knee too. Takes longer to complete a gear change and slows progress, not healthy if you have just pulled out into moving traffic. Far better to rev match up and down, much kinder to clutches and the transmission. If you cause a snatch when changing gear, you are doing it wrong, increasing wear, and damaging the DMF, bringing an expensive repair closer. If you want to see how well you can rev match, you could try gear changing without using the clutch... Aghhhh.... Warning.... Do not try this at home with your own car... expensive wear and tear can follow if done incorrectly... Best tried on a test track prior to it's last trip to the scrap yard. I wonder how modern cars cope with learner drivers with kangaroo starts... and engine stalls, not good for DMFs.

Screening can be an art in it's self. The key point is never to use the screen to pass current, which might be the case if both ends are terminated. From many years of design and RFI interference, I have found that electronic weighing equipment performs better against spurious RFI transmissions when the screen is connected at the instrumentation only. Other instrumentation can behave differently, depending on the main cause of interference. RFI could be from CB radio, mobile phones, PMR - 2 way radios, even wireless transmissions from car key fobs to remote weather stations and houshold alarms. There can also be electrical interference from electric motors, flourescent lights, electric tools and kitchen appliances. In extreme industrial circumstances, I have had to install twin screens to cables, sometimes the screen is connected at both ends to reduce the problem, or even fit additional supressor components. It is a black art, but for this application, it looks fairly straight forward, and to be honest, I couldn't wait to get started, just to see how well it did perform. So, I do hope you are able to post back how well you got on, and what accuracy and resolution and repeatability that you achieved overall. I am still an engineer at heart... ( Retired but still messing around, more so, now we have a grandson lol). We bought him one of those red plastic BMW pedal cars, from Toy's R Us, it must be the only one with orange flashing LED indicators, white LED head lights and Red LED tail lights. Next Mod... as he is getting older, is a horn on the steering wheel. Now.... how can I install a maxidot display and central locking? hmmm... Well it is running on 12 volts, with a non spill rechargeable gel battery, and all correctly fused and wired up of course. So anything is posssible, maybe turning fog lights. Now what about a tow bar, and trailer lights..?lol..

I have been involved with the design of electronic weighing systems, which use strain gauges in a bridge formation. The Bridge impeadance was 350 ohms per load cell. Systems could have 1, 4, 6 8 + loadcells. They were driven with 10-15 Vdc and had an output of 2mV/V so max output was 20-30 mV, so the application is similar to yours. Driving them 20+metres was not a problem, but we used high quality 6 core screened cable. The systems were Weights and Measures approved, so would not be unduly affected with temperature or moisture or barometric changes. The accuracy of the system was 1 part in 5000 or 0.02% However, to achieve this it was essential to sense the voltage at the load cells, hence the need for 6 wires. Additional circuitry in the electronics was required to monitor this voltage drop. Alternatively you can have a power supply built with remote sense, so the voltage is constant at the sensor. The High impeadance of the electronics, means that the signal line is not greatly affected by voltage drop or temperature changes etc. So... you can see what can be achieved, not using sense will affect the accuracy of the system, but if you only want say 1 part in 200 or 0.5% then it should work reasonably well, but I would run a 6 core screened cable anyway, for later upgrade, and in the mean time double up on the both supply wires. Screen needs to be grounded at the instrument, and unterminated at the sensor. DO NOT run other cables bundled in the same conduit as this screened cable, unless those too are instrumentation cables carrying low voltages and low currents. Mains cables MUST be avoided at all costs. The largest error with your method of level measurement will be changes in barometric pressure. Using a differential pressure sensor should help to reduce this error. Hope it helps, best regards, Richard

That sounds logical to me.I noticed today on my FL yeti, if you only remote open the boot, load it, then close the boot, it locks the boot again. Can be a good feature, but... Just don't put your coat in there with your keys in...

So no mention of the driver or the occupants of the Yeti then. From the fact the report seemed to not care about them... can we assume the Yeti was unoccupied at the time?

You may have lost an earth or grounding wire, so check security of connections.