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Good luck with it Tim. surely a background of Electrics by Mr Lucas is a great help.

 

If anything I found it a bit of a hinderance as household wiring doesn't bear a lot of resembleance to vehicle wiring.

 

Good luck though. Everyone I know (including me) who jumped ship and tried something new has never looked back.

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Good luck Tim.

About 10 years ago I decided on a major career change, I was a chef but decided I wanted to work in IT. Long story short, I got a load of paper qualifications but couldn't get a job in IT with the CV of a chef. After about 4-5 months of trying to get a real IT job I took a job as a box shifter on a desktop rollout. I worked hard and tried to show I was capable of more than putting pc's on desks. A few weeks down the line I was doing desktop support on the same project and after that job I had contacts and experience. It was the best thing I ever did, I wish I'd made the change years earlier.

It was a lot easier for me though as I'm single and have no dependants, so didn't have too much to worry about whilst I was looking for that first job.

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Absolute best of luck, Tim.

 

Somethings gone horribly wrong with my career, which seems to have been on a downwards trajectory ever since graduation. This is what happens when you do a four year Masters degree in Colouring In. Wish I had the balls to drop everything and head in a brave new direction, but mortgage etc. put paid to that.

 

In other news; A4 failed its MOT today on two brake hoses and an ARB balljoint. No biggie, but I can't afford the downtime to do it myself. Hence I have farmed it out to be done by "a proper man".

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I can't take it anymore. Thge Punto is great on fuel, cheap to insure, hasn't broken.........and is dull as hell. I need a retro daily, something like a Sunny or mk.4 Escort. Also found someone who can weld the Yugo

 

Erm, won't an Escort or Sunny be great on fuel, cheap to insure, reliable and dull as hell.

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I can't take it anymore. Thge Punto is great on fuel, cheap to insure, hasn't broken.........and is dull as hell. I need a retro daily, something like a Sunny or mk.4 Escort. Also found someone who can weld the Yugo

 

Erm, won't an Escort or Sunny be great on fuel, cheap to insure, reliable and dull as hell.

 

But it would be interesting in that it's a bit different, whereas the Punto is so bland you'd lose it on your own driveway. That said I do have a strong desire for another MX5, although I don't think I'm brave enough to try an MGF OMG HGF etc etc

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My old Polo was taken away today, sad times. The new owner tells me he's planning a van conversion and 1.3 engine swap which is a sensible course to go since the engine is shagged and the interior unfinished. I doubt I'll see the car again, I have very mixed feelings about parting with it since it has been a part of my life for over a decade.

 

Maestro nearly broke down today too, which was an alarming incident since motoring with it has been otherwise uneventful. Very loud, strange, squealy noise that I at first thought was the clutch doing something odd. No smell, and afterwards an erractic idle and cutting out at junctions, just like the Polo used to do before I fixed the vacuum hose. Somehow, the Maestro had popped the vacuum hose off, Dad pointed it out, plugged it back on and we're back to reliable motoring again.

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I can't take it anymore. Thge Punto is great on fuel, cheap to insure, hasn't broken.........and is dull as hell. I need a retro daily, something like a Sunny or mk.4 Escort. Also found someone who can weld the Yugo

 

Erm, won't an Escort or Sunny be great on fuel, cheap to insure, reliable and dull as hell.

 

But it would be interesting in that it's a bit different, whereas the Punto is so bland you'd lose it on your own driveway. That said I do have a strong desire for another MX5, although I don't think I'm brave enough to try an MGF OMG HGF etc etc

 

Fair point! Sunnys are great little things, especially when being thrashed about.

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Come home tonight to find Mrs Lankytim in hysterics about this course i'm going on. "we can't afford it, you won't get time off work, we rushed into it" To be fair she has a point but anything like this has to be a certain leap of faith. The clincher for me was the fees were £1500 more than the guy told me they were going to be. He told me a price I was reasonably happy with, got me to sign the bottom of the paperwork and left. Stupidly I didn't read through the bumph and Mrs Lankytim only read the small print today. Sneaky bastards! I have cancelled the whole thing online using the 14 day cooling off period law and hopefully I won't be too much out of pocket. What an ordeal, I feel like a right muppet!

 

So, looks like my old career is staying atleast for the time being.

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Hot news in south-west Cumbria! My employer, Thomas's Bakery, is up for an award! We therefore need your support: go to the website of our local MP, John Woodcock (johnwoodcock.org) and vote for Thomas's Bakery! The voting closes on Tuesday so please, do it soon!

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Well, after starting what was intended to be a tidy up and prime ready for beige job, it looks like I've discovered the Princess has had a previous bump on the corner I've fixed as there's evidence of previous crash repair. I need a fresh flapwheel to explore further, there's a lot of paint, filler and fibreglass resin to work through before I can really get it sorted. Also made a start on pre-MoT checks and found there's very little to do... which is both worrying and comforting.

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Come home tonight to find Mrs Lankytim in hysterics about this course i'm going on. "we can't afford it, you won't get time off work, we rushed into it" To be fair she has a point but anything like this has to be a certain leap of faith. The clincher for me was the fees were £1500 more than the guy told me they were going to be. He told me a price I was reasonably happy with, got me to sign the bottom of the paperwork and left. Stupidly I didn't read through the bumph and Mrs Lankytim only read the small print today. Sneaky bastards! I have cancelled the whole thing online using the 14 day cooling off period law and hopefully I won't be too much out of pocket. What an ordeal, I feel like a right muppet!

 

So, looks like my old career is staying atleast for the time being.

 

 

At least you had a good go at doing something though, Tim. Something else will turn up I'm sure, sadly there's naff all doing at our place or I'd try and get you in there.

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Was down a couple of scrapyards this morning freezing my ass off looking for something they didn't have as is usual...

 

But did spot a Scimitar in the back corner of one, was a bit cramped to get a proper look and had no camera but thought I'd mention it in case it's any good for the folks on here who have one?

 

 

There was an old shape BMW 320i in one too with some nice alloys that I'd be having trailered home if my dad wasn't there, lol. :lol:

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Minor news, I now have one electric window working on the Scirocco, the drivers, so its the important one. New switch required for passengers side me thinks. Main thing left to fix is now the fuel gauge and test drive it with the new gearbox & driveshafts, but it's currently untaxed.

 

This week I had 7 car tax reminders come in the post, in my post xmas/accidental Lancia buying financial state I will not be re-taxing many of them, just the boring and Scirocco I think :(

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In Chesterfield on Friday I spotted what I at first mistook for a red Metrocab but which turned out to be a remarkably grot and dent free A reg Nissan Prairie. Uselessly, I had no camera with me, but it was certainly something a bit special to see these days.

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Small bit of news today, my dad came over this morning to collect the Alto on his trailer so he could get it back to his in readiness to start this head gasket.

 

8374120740_4fa814fc16_z.jpg

1985 Suzuki Alto FX by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

It was a bit daunting driving it onto the trailer as it's so steep but it seemed pretty much made to fit, sadly i cracked the number plate on the front panel of the trailer when i rolled it forwards, whoops. :oops:

 

8373046413_11c35ca9f9_z.jpg

1985 Suzuki Alto FX by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

I followed it back to dads which after we took it off and parked it up we tackled the broken front spring on my Mondeo, we got it fix just before dark but what a arsehole of a job, the top rubber bearing had also broke but due to lack of spares we just repacked it with grease and refitted it, next weeks the mot so fingers crossed for a pass.

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Time I made this public I think. The Maestro is going to be sold, I have decided after much deliberation on the car that will replace it. I need something small, with 2 seats, that's good on fuel, insurance and tax. I don't need something fast, or with a great image, or complicated, or comfortable.

 

Reliant%20Rialto%20F29DVG%20014.JPG

 

The hunt is on.

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I dragged this out of the garage where it has sat for about 3 years today:

 

Image0115.jpg

 

amazingly, all the lights work, the brakes work spot-on and it started straight up after a short crankage. The unused, 18-month old battery on it was kippered though. Here's fatha_nutsack lobbing a bucket of rainwater over it:

 

Image0117.jpg

 

Anyway I A-framed it behind the mondeo up home, about 150 miles. I put its dead battery on the mondeo to charge it up as I drove, unfortunately that was a bit too drastic and it caused the battery to boil up like a pan of spuds. Took it for a blezz and it drives spot-on so I am gonna bosh it in for a ticket next weekend, 50mpg here we come

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