Nigel R Slack

Don't know why people find SDis too slow. I did 501 miles from Skye to home during the day yesterday. Just two cars passed me and I re-passed one of them. The other left the motorway about 200 yards ahead of me about 20 miles later. I overtook plenty of cars on the Highland roads. It's low running costs and lasts well (I'm on 326k miles now).

Rochefort 10, a Trappist beer from Belgium has fabulous flavour. It's strong (12% alcohol) and pricey over here but well worth trying.

I also really enjoy Dunvegan to Neist Point (Skye), again unclassified, and the B6270 through Swaledale - both fantastically scenic.

Unclassified Glen Lyon (Fortingall)to Killin (Glen Lockay)is fabulous. The road linking the two glens is not marked on all road maps, or is just shown as a track, but is actually tarmaced (although a bit rough).

It was free.

I gave a lift to someone hitching near Dingle in Ireland last week. When he got in I realized he was totally drunk. He wouldn't get out when I got to the village I was going to, and started waving his bus pass at me saying I was denying him the right to go to where the bus was supposed to go! After about 20 minutes of trying to persuade him to get out a real bus came along and he decided to try for that (even though it was going the wrong way). I nipped off quick.

I was reading yesterday that people not looking properly (presumably mainly at junctions) is the commonest cause of fatal accidents (followed by people misjudging the road conditions - traveling too fast, but often not exceeding the speed limit). Is it best to drive a yellow car, as this is said to be the colour that is most easily noticed?

No, I'm on the original clutch. The plastic box on the clutch pedal has been repaired, but that's all. Now on 313k miles.

I've changed mine (X reg SDi) every 70k to 80k miles (about every 2.5 years) and am now on 312k. I change the oil and filter at 5k intervals.

Drive slowly on longer trips for good fuel consumption (+ensure oil filter is clean and tyres are well inflated). My average is 56.4mpg over 311723 miles (I've recorded all fuel usage). Total cost per mile (excluding parking charges which I keep to a minimum) is 17.1p.

To my mind the people being vastly overpaid are in the private sector - look at the top people in banks and the London traders. Why should they get multi-billion pound bonuses for 'managing' other peoples money - generated by true hard graft?

The teachers and lecturers I know work very long hours. My wife stays up to 4/5am at least 4 nights per week working, and always takes loads of work with her on holiday. Her colleagues are similar in their hours - one stops in the department all night once a week to get through his workload. Even the PhD students are normally leaving about 8/9pm whilst I'm waiting for my wife. Every teacher I know comes down with some form of illness or other at term end - my sister-in-law is 'expected' to go into school for about 2/3rds of her weekends (with no extra pay) to cover additional activities.

'Spain also once you get a little way in has no tolls, just miles of empty roads that the EU ( WE !!!!!) have paid for' - I suspect Germany has paid far more than the UK, as the current economic powerhouse of Europe!

My SDi has cost 16.9p/mile for all expenses except parking charges (which aren't much for me) - seems pretty good compared to average costs published by the AA.

I'm on 306k miles with my Fabia Sdi, but 'Fat Bloke' has more than 1.4 million miles - 'omg stop talking about the bss engine i have one of these ive done 1450628 miles ssshhhhhh no more talk about oil pumps please'