Markeh

Saw a 55-plate Mk1 Focus ST170 on my way home earlier. Did these carry on until the Mk2 ST was sold? I've seen Mk1s on an 05 before.

Got rid of my LG plasma (freebie in 2016, needed a new power board, only had one working HDMI port but was still a cracking picture - I think the local air cadets are still using it for a flight sim!) almost 3 years ago to the day for an LG OLED (55CX, just over £1k thanks to newer models on the horizon and an ambitious pricematch attempt that Richer Sounds honoured - this was my 'I've saved x amount due to not commuting thanks to lockdown, I'm treating myself' present) and it hasn't disappointed. I'll absolutely be running it until it dies. Can't see anything on the horizon that would ever make me think about upgrading. My only minor gripe is that I need to get a new TV cabinet in order to accommodate my centre speaker as you can't get anything low enough to sit under the screen without obscuring the picture.

I was in disbelief at the insurance costs my friend was quoted over the past few days. Context - 30, driving for about 10 years, probably 7 or so years NCD, does about 20k a year, two claims but protected NCB (one break in and one her fault that's just been written off) - was paying about 5-600 on her previous 2008 1.6 diesel. C4 1.6 diesel, everything declared - £700. 308 2.0 diesel, 400cc and 20bhp more - £1500+. I expect some increase but I was amazed at how much the little difference in power and size meant, but also how little an effect the claims have had.

Still selling the D-Max and trucks new I believe - there's still a Subaru/Isuzu dealer near me.

A couple of months back I did pay for parking for the Meriva I've not owned for 2 years instead of for the Nissan.

And another one today. Sporty BMW, D1 DNT coming off the M1 at J27. Again, surprisingly properly spaced.

E4 RPS properly spaced spotted on the Nottingham ring road earlier on a Disco Sport - given the location, highly suspect a relative of a certain Lioness goalkeeper.

Away for the weekend at Butlins. Queuing up for the gents in one of the venues, noticed each cubicle door is numbered. Apparently the done thing isn't to yell "cashier number 3 please" as someone walks out. Well fuck it, it made me laugh...

I have a sore throat from the weekend, which is making talking fairly difficult and hard to understand. So this interview I have on Teams at 4pm can only go well - I'm not sure they've ever heard someone explain their .NET experience sounding like Orville before.

00s Renaults weren't that unreliable or bad. Aside from the electric window issues (and I guess maybe the electric steering lock that went on mine - most of the competitors of the time wouldn't have had that), anything that went wrong on my Megane II could and in all honesty would have gone wrong on most cars of a similar age and mileage, and it was a damn sight better equipped, better handling and comfier than an equivalent Astra or similar - and in my opinion better looking. The Chrysler PT Cruiser does not deserve the hate it gets. It was a reasonably comfortable and well specced family car with different styling which I think didn't look all too bad. Not exactly dynamic handling or good economy, mind - it drove like an armchair. Some of the mods you see out there are horrific but there are some tastefully modified examples out there - I recall a very nice purple one on chrome hubcaps and whitewalls taking my fancy many years ago.

Of course I get a bloody awful cold before I'm away for two weekends in a row. I guess my only hope this weekend is if some lucky lady out there is interested in a wardrobe sized man who smells strongly of Vicks VapoRub.

I forgot why I had stayed put for so long at my current company - the job market is full of shite. Only submitted a couple of applications so far. One came back and said 'looks a bit light on experience' - your job spec said 5 years doing something I've clearly written I've been doing for 7 on my CV... Other random crap such as about 6 or 7 hours worth of interviews just puts me off applying right from the word go. Another thing, so many companies expecting that because you're a software developer, you must live and breathe code and have tons of pet projects and code loads in your own time - I enjoy coding between the hours of 9 and 5 Monday to Friday - I don't have pet projects and want to do it every waking minute, once I'm done with work I don't want to do more work, I want to fuck off down the pub or fall asleep in front of the telly.

Oh absolutely, work laptop went off for the weekend as soon as I was off the call (manager even offered me a reference, decision was out of his hands), straight on LinkedIn and other sites looking, removed Teams and Outlook from my phone and when I'm back at work on Tuesday they'll be finding out precisely how many things they've now got to take responsibility for because I won't be doing it any more. I'd have said it today but don't want it to come across as a kneejerk reaction.

Worked my arse off all year for a promotion and got the same rejection reason as last year. Done well to maintain my cool while being told but I'm utterly fuming this afternoon now. They can shove their job up their arse as far as I'm concerned.

Mine's gone up, although the renewal is still the cheapest price I could get. I'm with Admiral, 10 years no claims, not exactly the nicest area of Nottingham and being a modern car with keyless, I imagine that plays a part too - was paying about £600, am now paying £750. Definitely less margin to match quotes/bring down the premium though. Both years, the renewal originally came to about £800, but I call up and haggled on the phone. They do try and dissuade you from doing that now with a voice operated renewals assistant thing but eventually I got through to a human. I think the cheapest quote I could get was about £780 when shopping around, but I get better cover where I am, I'm likely moving my house insurance to them for further discounts down the line, and what's not made clear from comparison sites is whether any of the quotes they provide give third party cover on other vehicles, whereas I know Admiral do (and am happy to pay a slight premium for this).

Funnily enough, I parked next to it at Tesco in Chesterfield on Sunday. It did look quite convincing close up but I too was doubting whether they made them that late, hence the photo, I was going to look it up when I got home.

Life was base, we had a 56-plate Club from new which had those shaped 5 spoke steels with plastic covers.

Got the otherwise fairly miserable task of putting the last of my grans stuff for sale, her old clothes on Vinted. Apparently the manufacturer of this top she bought didn't bother replacing the label text with their own. Ah yes, that well known fashion brand, Sample Text

WA05 STE on a skip lorry on the M5 somewhere near Bristol on Monday - I think there were two or three in convoy from the same company but this is the only one I remember. 70 NER (correctly spaced, too) on a Toyota C-HR near Kegworth, also on Monday - presumably a photocopier salesman KIA 2 on a series 3 Allegro in a garage somewhere near Lincoln - I bet that would be worth something to a certain Korean manufacturer.

I don't go into our office so much nowadays, but I've seen one of our newer service desk guys leaving in an 00s/early 10s shape black Dodge Challenger. All black. Sounds pretty nice. Because I've not been in much since this chap started, I don't know how often he's going in or whether he's local or not, but he's parking in a very small car park next to our building that I always thought was permit only, so if that's the case, given we're deep in the city centre, he's probably paying a fortune for the privilege. Mind you, even if he was allowed to park in one of the few bays we have in the underground car park, given the many pillars and narrow gaps I don't think he'd be able to get it in there, and I wouldn't want to chance it on the nearby multi-storeys...

Sheer incompetence here. Waited til 6:30pm for an electrician. At about 6pm, I checked the third attempt of wiring I'd done, with the intent of tucking it away, assuming they werent coming, just so I didn't damage anything. In the process, I wired it up right. I paid an £80 callout charge, all they did was turn the breaker back on and check the switch worked... In fairness I did get them to change the landing switch while they were here. Idiot tax paid, lesson learned, don't try and bugger about with electrics before you start work. Hopefully they just charge me for the callout - if they do, I'll probably bother to put some work their way for an outside light I need fitting.

Managed to cock up this morning. I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to some DIY tasks, and I've successfully changed all the light switches and sockets upstairs in my house, as well as one downstairs that broke. Everything working fine, electrician was happy last time I had a callout for something unrelated, all good. Well after a couple of years the cheapo switch I used in the hall started playing up and one side of it now doesn't work at all, bought a replacement switch, lived with it for a bit, didnt think anything of it, managed without a hall light for a bit. Finally decided sod this I want to change it this morning. Moved it over one wire at a time, as I have previously. Well clearly either this switch is fucked or I've fucked it up as it's now tripping the electrics every time I turn the lights on. After trying a couple of basic wire swaps I decided nope, fuck this, I'm not getting involved. Emergency electrician on the way. Now I'm conscious I look like a know it all who tried it and fucked it up.

You're not wrong. Normally I do park on the slabs (or even with one side on the path itself) but when I moved the car last night I was in a rush and clearly wasn't paying enough attention! One advantage of this being a modern with cameras is that I can look at how I'm lined up at least. Did help with maneuvering to get it unstuck.

Due to the weather and my driveway being unfit for purpose I managed to get stuck last night. Managed to get it moved today. Will get done in a couple of months when I get some cash through. Hopefully before I get stuck again!

Non-mover: This fucker's still here. No random projects this year. A couple were enquired about (tried to get my hands on a Mk1 SLK and Mk2 Ka from various family members with no joy and another ex-blood bikes Octavia got ruled out after my contacts stopped working with the group) and I've tried my hand at some roffles but no joy other than a tablet and two Chromebooks! Very much looking for a second car next year. Lack of mechanical knowledge and driveway space doesn't help, although an impending inheritance once probate finally does its thing will hopefully turn the above mess of concrete and grass (and currently far too much mud) into a driveway wide enough for two - and maybe if there's some leftover I might get something else...