tchapm

1, matt@theforce - Octavia Mk1 2, johnny50 - fabia vrs 3, boycarp - superb Mk1 4, tchapm - vw bora 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, __________________

Thanks again to everyone. I must admit although my general sentiments are of thinking positively, it is very difficult to achieve that all of the time. Recently I have been guilty of not thinking so positively... its really hit home over the last couple of weeks that I am alone in this world once again, and my reason for living and being happy has totally gone. Getting up in the morning has become more of a chore, let alone managing to do the washing / ironing / going to work usual stuff. Unfortunately, it all has to be done. Anyway enough negativity. Thanks for your kind words. On a different note, I'm having the Bora lowered Wednesday, and will hopefully post some pics soon................

Thanks to everyone for sending your thoughts and best wishes. Its been a difficult couple of days to say the least. Not the best time of year anymore, but in the end you have to just get on with things. My friend lost her husband and her baby this year, so we have been supporting each other. I think we both understand how crap life can be, but at the same time, how wonderful it can be when you find happiness. Thanks again.

Here Here!

Well its been almost a year since my last post and a lot has happened in that time! Sam unfortunately passed away in May from the melanoma. She isn't suffering anymore and this is the thought I cling to. At least she can't feel any more pain. I'm 28 and the bottom dropped out of my world in May. Since then I've been having to rebuild my life from scratch - but nothing is the same. People aren't the same, my home isn't the same, my car isn't the same (probably because I bought another one, well two actually but that's another story), life just ain't the same... But my New Years resolution (well, actually my resolution in general) is to just try and have a good time whatever the circumstances, and sod everything else - you only live once, and this has been brought home to me like a sledgehammer to the head. And that, guys and gals, is also my advice (for what its worth) to you for 2009 and beyond! Sod what the TV keeps telling you about the state of the economy or world, and just enjoy yourself. (Obviously don't bankrupt yourself in the process mind, but just enjoy yourself). Good things seem not to last very long, so when they happen savour the moments! And tonight, go and give your other half an extra specially big hug and kiss, because you can. Enjoy Christmas everyone, live for now (but save a bit for tomorrow in case it happens)!

Following much heartache with the wife's illness etc, it came to pass that the order for the new car had to be cancelled. I paid £1000 deposit for the new car, but due to the circumstances needed it back. (I have left paid employment to look after my wife during this sad time). I went to see Jeremy at the dealership and explained the situation. He seemed to understand but didn't offer me the deposit back straight away. He said that he would have to discuss it with the owners of Rainworths - which was fair enough. They decided I could have my deposit back, once they had moved the car that I had ordered off their books. After about 2 months they did this and I got my deposit back. All in all I am grateful to Rainworths for seeing that the situatiuon was unique, and having enough heart to give me the money back. Jeremy has proved he is honest, and what he says will happen, happens. You can't ask for more than that, in my experience. If I can afford to buy a Skoda in the future, I would not hesitate to contact Jeremy again to place an order. Whether he would accept one from me is another matter.

Not sure - this is a new car, so is part of the central new car stock that Skoda have.

Yes my father-in-law and I went down to see Jeremy in person, which I think is why he's agreed to do what he has. I don't think it will take long to sell; there weren't many in stock when I was looking for one, and none to the spec I wanted. Its in central Skoda stock as well, so not just dealer stock. What I don't understand, is that they had an existing order in for a Race Blue one which they changed to my specification to reduce the wait time by a couple of weeks. Now, if they already wanted one, why don't they just use mine and give me my money back. What's the big deal that it needs to go to central stock? Surely they will place an order for another new one, which will take another 3 months to arrive? I don't know. I don't trust sales people at all. There's only ever one winner.

Rainworth's have agreed the return of the deposit, subject to the sale of my new car. Once that's off the books, I'll get a cheque. I think that is very reasonable of them. Once I have received the money back, I will write a comment in the dealer section...

Exactly right. Odd.

Thank-you everyone again for your kind thoughts. We are devastated but going through the process of seeing family and friends again after the news and its getting a little easier. We are back at home, and that too makes things more "normal"; but its like people have said - we need to make the most of our time now. We are kind of in a bit of a limbo - we need to see the results of the scan to see the extent of the damage - but this could be a week away. My work are letting me "work from home" for the forseeable future which is good of them. Not sure about much else yet, planning holidays and stuff - but got to cancel the order for the Octavia VRS on Monday. This is something I'm not looking forward to. The Mansfield guys have a £2000 deposit for the new one, and I'm sure I won't be looking at getting that all back. I guess we just have to see what they say.

Hi all. I couldn't respond to your messages yesterday, but today trying to remain positive. The operation was started and aborted on Tuesday by the Consultant. The cancer has spread up through Sam's leg and is now coming out of the top and wrapping itself around the arteries used for the ILP. The cancer is not now isolated in Sam's leg, and therefore the operation can't be conducted again. The doctors advise that Sam has approximately a year left at current tumor growth rates. There are no other treatments; ILP was the last straw. IV chemo might be offered by Sheffield, but the doctors up here advise that it is ineffective against melanoma as are most treatments (ILP now having the best results - 80% response rate). The question is whether Sam wants to spend her possibly good 6 months being sick and getting over the effects of chemo or whether this time is better used doing other things. There are a lot of decisions we need to make now. Thanks again for your kind messages of support.

I've receive lots of ongoing **** at work. All the time. Every working day is full of ****. My company can be especially proud of all the **** they deal out.

A big thank-you to everyone for your messages of support . I really appreciate it, and Sam will too when I tell her. You're a bunch of great people. :grouphug: I'm just sat in the hotel waiting for news right now trying to keep my mind occupied by flicking through these pages and writing a few posts. When I called the hospital at 2pm they were late taking her down to surgery, so should know something by 5pm.........:scared:

I can't help with the first two questions unfortunately, have to leave that to the more experienced Briskodians.... Regarding the third question, the "Free Equipment Upgrade" refers to the following kit: - Jumbo Box (air conditioned) with MP3 input, dual zone climate control, 18" Zenith Alloy wheels, electric rear windows Take a look here for more details.

SWMBO's in a Glasgow hospital undergoing treatment for serious melanoma in her leg. The treatment is the second ILP (isolated limb perfusion) she's had to go through in the last 3 months. Its a horrific expensive surgery, which is only conducted in 2 places in the UK - Glasgow and London. Considering Glasgow's results are better, we opted for there. Basically the doctors inject a cocktail of drugs (melphalan and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)) directly into the leg, by isolating the limb in the groin and let the drug perfuse throughout the tissue for 2 hours. This treatment seeks to destroy cancer cells by effectively poisoning the entire limb, but which the ordinary cells recover from and the cancer ones don't. The drugs are so toxic, that if there is any leakage into the rest of her body she could suffer from serious toxic affects. The first time this op was done, they only used Melphalan. As this is the second time, (the first time only had marginal results) they use the second drug, which is more expensive but is much more toxic and dangerous. This time we're keeping fingers crossed and really hope that the drugs work. There are no more options for treatment if they don't. Anyone else had experience of this op? Needless to say, my wife (Sam) is not looking forward to the op which is tomorrow. I'm holed up in a dodgy hotel down the road from the hospital and she is in her hospital bed worrying like crazy about tomorrow. She's not the only one. Please keep your fingers crossed for us.

I would suggest turning off your routers' "broadcast network name" beacon, as well as hiding the SSID, and using WPA.

I know :eek: I can't quite believe it either, and I thought my managers were weird...

With a £3500 deposit, £300 a month x36 will buy you a £19,000 car on a 25,000 mile a year PCP Finance (Skoda Solutions) at 5% APR (approximately) - assuming a GMFV of around £7,000. (Excess mileage 6ppm). Skoda Solutions applies to second hand cars up to a certain age as well as brand new ones, (usually at the end of the plan, the car should be no older than 5 years, somthing like that). £333 a month at normal tax rates is around £250 net. With a similar deposit as above, you might get a £19k car with a 10,000 mile a year limit. Looking on this site, a £17k petrol VRS hatch may be attainable in your budget with the above factors considered. If you are interested in a PCP finance deal check out www.car-finance.net which is about the only place on the internet I have found who will give you a real quote for these PCP finance deals. The downside is that their standard APR is about 11% now, which will skew your figures somewhat.

2008 doesn't look like a great year to be buying a new car, what with record fuel prices, rising cost of living and an uncertain economy... :eek: But then I've just done it.... I worked out the man-maths, and I am actually saving money by buying the new car....

I ordered mine mid-December, arriving end of Jan. The dealer brought the order forward a couple of weeks by amending the spec of a car he'd ordered a couple of weeks earlier to what I wanted. They quote 12 week lead times as an outside estimate. They would rather say 12 weeks and it be 4, than say 4 weeks and it be 12. If they have said week 3 to you, then I'd expect delivery then

:orb_duh: me and my big mouth! The Scout is slightly higher priced, but does come with more kit... so in the end very similar to a well spec'd VRS...

You KNOW I love you really :orb_blow_ Its not YOU anyway, its just those that share the single brain - but this you know already, you're making me feel bad for not qualifying the remark :orb_duh:

Its not a Porsche, but the ones in stock (and actually there are very few with the equipment upgrade at the moment, according to the two dealers I spoke to in December), there are none with added curtain airbags (a pre-requisite for me - and why this is an 'optional extra' these days and not 'standard' I'll never know) and privacy glass.... hence if you want something that isn't standard, you have to factory order. Otherwise, I wouldn't have picked a brand new car anyway, due to depreciation etc... The 3 year deal with Skoda Solutions package... 5.2% apr, 30k miles servicing, 3 years warranty, 3 years breakdown.

A rolex.... works every time. Of course, I've never given or received one....