MarkyMarkD

Neil Lyndon in today's Sunday Telegraph magazine seems to think so. Well done, Octy!

Lovely pics, Alex.

Yes, I knew that generalising would get me into trouble. Sorry!

Like I said, yashicamat, they are Trafficmaster sensors which, as you say, are to monitor traffic flow.You are incorrect that they point straight down - they DO read numberplates and use them to calculate speed between cameras (like SPECS) but they are not for police purposes. You can't measure vehicle speed with a camera which points straight downwards; if they just judged speed at the point of the camera they would be less useful as they are trying to report traffic problems.

I don't see you as a lawyer either, E-E. It seems a bit dry and technical for you, IMHO. I think Mo's suggestion is a great one, though - it involves things that you understand, could involve driving around which you clearly like, and would probably earn you a lot more than milking cows.

There's always a market for boggy standard models with no toys, especially among the older generation (or so I understand it). It's also great for any brand to be able to say "from £9,990" or whatever amount, even if the model which costs that price is bought by hardly anyone.

I expect that in fact all courtesy cars are insured by their owners for any driver, but probably with a high excess to minimise the cost of the dealer policy. So, the dealers often require you to insure it yourself so that they don't have to argue with you about their excess etc. and so that it's a claim on your policy, not theirs. I recently had the wife's car serviced and the dealer required us to insure the courtesy car, but didn't check the documentation. Therefore I would have thought that they'd be guilty of aiding and abetting a "driving without insurance" offence if you were fibbing about having insured the car. As they only tell you the registration details for the courtesy car at the last minute, there is little way you could get a cover note in time unless your insurer is super-efficient, so I can see why they don't check that you really aren't insured.

My Fabia has a rattle/creak from the piece of trim immediately behind the steering wheel (and immediately below the instrument panel). I can remove this piece of trim and replace it (and the clips aren't broken or anything like that) but it still rattles/creaks intermittently. I mentioned it to the dealer at its 1 year service (last week) but they couldn't find the fault/didn't do anything to fix it. Any expert ideas about how to resolve this? There isn't anything very clear to pack with anything. It's most likely rattling/creaking where the back of the piece of trim meets the underneath of the instrument panel; it has some felt-type stuff on the piece of trim at this point which doesn't seem to be stopping the problem (but isn't damaged or worn in any way). :(

They definitely incorporate some sort of delay between going red and flashing. Otherwise it would be daft.

I'm feeling old compared to most of these posts. Our first was born on my 37th birthday, when the Mrs was 36 (she's 5 weeks younger than me). Rather later for first baby than we intended - we were married when we were 22 and intended to have children in early 30s but couldn't then due to my wife's health. Our lovely baby girl is a bit of a wedding anniversary special.

The "lane cameras" are NOT speed cameras - they are Trafficmaster sensors. The VAN contains the speed camera and that's why you (variously) got it wrong. The rules about speed cameras being visible (as the site mentions) do NOT apply nationwide - they only apply in revenue sharing areas (although that is much of the country). So I expect that is where the horrible tripod ones are being used.

I think it's quite interesting, because it is different, doesn't look that bad, and is undeniably good value. I expect the residuals will be rubbish, though - they were for the Chrysler Neon which had a similar combination of cheap price and poor quality IMHO.

That's a really nice way of putting it!I also wondered where E-E had got to, as she never seemed to be without posting for more than a few hours let alone 24! Glad to see she's back Briskying away.

The changes should just introduce higher bands of emissions - which shouldn't penalise sensible TDs like the Superb, but will hammer 4x4s.

I'm not sure I understand the point of selling all the bits (and going through the pain of swapping them) if you want to sell the car anyway - can't you sell it complete, or swap it with someone with a standard car who wants a sorted car? :confused:

I think Joff's right. I am now getting around 50mpg most of the time even when wellying the car quite a lot - Leicester to Liverpool and back was 50mpg exactly today. Has improved a bit since new - definitely loosening up - so your car should be better as it's run in some.

I'm sure that the right thing will turn up, sooner or later. Feeling useless could be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, though - you are NOT useless, you just need to find the right home for your talents and skills. Good luck!

Yes, I did try to get the thread back on topic. Honest! I'm off to Liverpool this w/e for a stag weekend - frustratingly very close to the Northwest BBQ meet, but I can't get to the meet - d'oh! And I'm travelling by train for a change - better than getting the car mashed in Liverpool, I suppose.

Welcome to Briskoda ... good to see you!

I've got Daktacort which is mionazole and hydrocortisone (i.e. steroid). When I first used it, the first patch of ringworm improved really quickly but didn't completely disappear, and a few days later the other patch appeared. After some neglect (forgetting to treat it) it's all flared up again. Now you've reminded me I'll apply some right now! I think you look quite blonde in your newer first pic anyway. Or is that just the light?

Is that from your working with farm animals?I've got some on one foot, which seems to have spread to the other foot, and is a sod to get rid of. I've never been near a farm animal so I dunno how I caught it. :( It doesn't help that you are meant to keep the ointment in the fridge but put it on 3 times a day - I don't have a fridge at work - d'oh!

Hey Mandy and welcome ... lovely choice of vRS there. I'm coming to Belfast on business for a day later this month and looking forward to it - haven't been in NI since a few years ago when we had a nice holiday there.

Beautiful car, Bryan - well done! Watch for rust in the body shell immediately behind the headlights - my S110L was awful here.

Economy 7 sometimes works the way bengie says, and sometimes covers the whole house. It depends on the local electricity supplier. In the East Midlands, most houses (all houses?) seem to have Ec7 meters which cover the whole house. We save some money (but probably not a lot, given the higher standing charge and daytime unit cost) by being on Ec7 by running the washing machine and dishwashers overnight (always) as well as things like the fridge and freezer which are on 24/7, so 7/24 of their costs are on Ec7 hours of electricity.

Why do you say "during manufacture"? Isn't that more likely a bit of delivery damage which the dealer failed to disclose after doing a dodgy repair on it?