The new news 24 thread

[brownnova]

1 hour ago, Ghosty said:

don't forget the Zoom!

Don’t worry I’ll be back by 8...ish... 😂

[Jerzy Woking]

Popped down to the family house today. As I was turning in to the street, a police car passed me. 

As i got out of my car, a neighbour shouted to me that he had just been fined €200 as he had washed his car in the street. It is illegal here and the fine can be up to an eye watering €3,000

I wonder how the police knew?

 

[Stanky]

32 minutes ago, Jerzy Woking said:

Popped down to the family house today. As I was turning in to the street, a police car passed me. 

As i got out of my car, a neighbour shouted to me that he had just been fined €200 as he had washed his car in the street. It is illegal here and the fine can be up to an eye watering €3,000

I wonder how the police knew?

 

Crumbs! Why is it illegal? Excessive water use or something else?

[brownnova]

Great turn out at Mavericks tonight: 

 

And there was this... which was just absolutely perfect 🤩 

[gm]

I was raking around in the garage at me mam’s house and found an old Halon fire extinguisher - so I brought it home and hung it up in my own garage (still shows pressure but I doubt I would rely on it, it’s probably illegal to use one these days anyway)

also found this tiny multi tool spanner thing

Some kind of spark plug tool ? 

[HMC]

I’ve had a really confusing day courtesy of the dvla.

First thing I got an e mail About a direct debit of a car I’d sold a while ago. I tried calling but there was an automated message saying basically they were on strike and nobody was going to answer the phone.

I went onto dvla web chat where an automated bot attempted to answer questions but didn’t really understand why I was making contact. It kept asking for clarification of my clarification and ended up in a never ending loop of misunderstanding.  Eventually I was put through to a waiting list for a person

After which I was informed no people were available.  Repeat x6. Anyway eventually it was sorted.

TL:DR DVLA on strike so avoid having to need to speak to a person.

[Jerzy Woking]

10 minutes ago, Stanky said:

Crumbs! Why is it illegal? Excessive water use or something else?

There seems to be a few reasons, mainly due to stuff going down drains. 

Probably the reason why commercial car washes are everywhere, whether it's mechanical, hand wash or jet wash. They all filter and recycle the water they use. They are cheap too, and the jet wash I use runs for 5 minutes for €1, and is very good indeed.

[Stanky]

2 minutes ago, Jerzy Woking said:

There seems to be a few reasons, mainly due to stuff going down drains. 

Probably the reason why commercial car washes are everywhere, whether it's mechanical, hand wash or jet wash. They all filter and recycle the water they use. They are cheap too, and the jet wash I use runs for 5 minutes for €1, and is very good indeed.

Blimey, round here its more like £5 for 1 minute! Interesting that its legislated though, thanks for the info.

[richardmorris]

5 hours ago, reb said:

To follow on from Ghosty's battery woes, how do I tell what size of battery I need for my C2? I tried looking up the numbers on it but it just brought up that specific Halfords battery rather than the general type.

Tayna.co.uk.

put your reg in.

 

have used them a few times and are quick and cheap.

[stuboy]

13 hours ago, gm said:

I was raking around in the garage at me mam’s house and found an old Halon fire extinguisher - so I brought it home and hung it up in my own garage (still shows pressure but I doubt I would rely on it, it’s probably illegal to use one these days anyway)

 

we had ours all removed in security as people had died elsewhere.....

google says..

Halon fire extinguishers are now illegal in the UK, due to the damaging effect the fire extinguishing agent has on the Earth’s ozone layer. There are only three main exceptions to this rule; Halon fire extinguishers can be used in aircraft, for military use, and in the Channel Tunnel.

[gm]

maybe I should hand it in somewhere ? the local fire station or recycling centre ?  I'll not use it anyway 

[Fumbler]

5 minutes ago, gm said:

maybe I should hand it in somewhere ? the local fire station or recycling centre ?  I'll not use it anyway 

I'd say hand it to the fire station, otherwise a local fire extinguisher supplier will take them in. Halon will kill you in 15 seconds flat if exposed to it, it was that good at smothering fire.

[gm]

ok, that will be getting ditched tomorrow then  

 

[SiC]

Halgon sucks all the oxygen out of your lungs. It's a very effective fire extinguisher agent though!

I remember being told the big red emergency button on the wall in the data centres was the P45 button. Hit it without a bloody good reason and that's what you'll be getting next. You had ~60s to evacuate from the alarm going off before they were deployed. If you were in when it went off, you were highly likely to be dead. 

[Sunny Jim]

I made it to the meet at Mavericks (and home again!) this evening a round trip of 100 miles. The car is running fine now on the new dizzy and rotor - it even went up Rhuallt hill on the A55 in fifth at 65mph - most cars I've owned you have to change down!

There's a really ecletic bunch of cars there with friendly and approachable owners though I feel they could do with more shite to balance out the fast Fords and Porsches. It's every Tuesday, 6-9pm at  Mostyn Road Business Park, Llanerch-y-Mor, Holywell, Flintshire. Wales. CH8 9DQ - be good to see more of you there.

[Zelandeth]

32 minutes ago, gm said:

ok, that will be getting ditched tomorrow then  

 

Good luck.  My local fire station would take it off my hands - for £50.  Sod that then.  Basically I could get rid of it through several channels...all of which involved spending a not insignificant amount of money.

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, 64A60 said:

Spent the weekend T-Cutting and polishing the A60, the first time since 2018. The top half of the car is still the original cellulose and was flat as Lincolnshire. Also had to superglue the plastic J back on the rear number plate as it made a bid for freedom after 57 years 😆 

 

Oof! Dad had a Cambridge in that colour. Later, I bought an F reg Oxford at auction (JER 531F) Cracking car, earned me a (smoll) profit

[Low Horatio gearbox]

More house and garden dickery.. house retail like like it's been carpet bombed by Allied Pickfords doing a car jumble. Internet now on... priorities and it was only somewhat of a faff.



42 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

I'd say hand it to the fire station, otherwise a local fire extinguisher supplier will take them in. Halon will kill you in 15 seconds flat if exposed to it, it was that good at smothering fire.

 You learn something new everyday.

[gm]

11 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Good luck.  My local fire station would take it off my hands - for £50.  Sod that then.  Basically I could get rid of it through several channels...all of which involved spending a not insignificant amount of money.

I guess next time I'm taking garden waste to the tip, it might end up there (in the empty gas cylinders and extinguishers section, not just flung in the skip !)

[Fumbler]

Just now, Low Horatio gearbox said:

More house and garden dickery.. house retail like like it's been carpet bombed by Allied Pickfords doing a car jumble. Internet now on... priorities and it was only somewhat of a faff.



 You learn something new everyday.

Yeah it's a brilliant fire suppressant. The problem with it is that it's so dense it displaces oxygen nearly literally everywhere in the place it's released in. Halon 1211 IIRC was able to completely suffocate someone in 15 seconds flat.

[barefoot]

It appears that the Amazon outage wasn't caused by all that Fastly bollocks, but by them selling out of my new book!

Don't worry kids, you can still buy it direct from the publisher; 

https://veloce.co.uk/store/Cool-Recipes-&-Camping-Hacks-for-VW-Campers-p290771667

 

 

[Amishtat]

15 hours ago, vulgalour said:

I might be the only person ever to have no issues at all with Lion batteries.  Maybe I have the only good one?

No, they definitely  made at least two. Had one on the Volvo when I bought it which lasted a couple of years. When it failed its replacement was a scrapyard Yuasa (for a tenner!) which is still on there now. 

[somewhatfoolish]

11 hours ago, Fumbler said:

I'd say hand it to the fire station, otherwise a local fire extinguisher supplier will take them in. Halon will kill you in 15 seconds flat if exposed to it, it was that good at smothering fire.

 

11 hours ago, SiC said:

Halgon sucks all the oxygen out of your lungs. It's a very effective fire extinguisher agent though!

I remember being told the big red emergency button on the wall in the data centres was the P45 button. Hit it without a bloody good reason and that's what you'll be getting next. You had ~60s to evacuate from the alarm going off before they were deployed. If you were in when it went off, you were highly likely to be dead. 

It really doesn't do any of that; if you're in an enclosed space(like a data centre) it's not great news, but less so than CO2. It interrupts the fire triangle by snaffling the oxygen before Mr Fire gets it but only does so at high temperature, if there's no high temp it's just an asphyxiation hazard. If there is a fire then things are a bit different as the byproducts are toxic, but in the same way that most smoke is filled with shit like hydrogen cyanide from combusting soft furnishings, wire insulation, etc. which will irritate the fuck out of your lungs.

TL;DR Halon is not going to kill you nor the nuns with baskets of kittens in the bus queue, unless you include death by melanoma from the hole in the ozone layer.

I'd keep it for my car as the gauge is in the green; a burning car is worse for the environment than a squirt of Halon.

 

[Fumbler]

4 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

 

It really doesn't do any of that; if you're in an enclosed space(like a data centre) it's not great news, but less so than CO2. It interrupts the fire triangle by snaffling the oxygen before Mr Fire gets it but only does so at high temperature, if there's no high temp it's just an asphyxiation hazard. If there is a fire then things are a bit different as the byproducts are toxic, but in the same way that most smoke is filled with shit like hydrogen cyanide from combusting soft furnishings, wire insulation, etc. which will irritate the fuck out of your lungs.

TL;DR Halon is not going to kill you nor the nuns with baskets of kittens in the bus queue, unless you include death by melanoma from the hole in the ozone layer.

I'd keep it for my car as the gauge is in the green; a burning car is worse for the environment than a squirt of Halon.

 

As I stated earlier, Halon is very good at suffocating fires and living things. You're right saying CO2 will kill people in a similar fashion, especially in enclosed spaces. It's not so bad out in the open to vent halon and CO2. The fact the extinguisher is still holding pressure is quite good, but it's still a halon extinguisher. Some quick googling shows they haven't been manufactured in over 20 years. A nice prop, yes, but I still wouldn't rely on it if it were me. A dry powder extinguisher isn't much after a quick search, as is a carbon dioxide one.

[Essex V6]

13 hours ago, brownnova said:

Great turn out at Mavericks tonight: 

 

And there was this... which was just absolutely perfect 🤩 

Wow - Chevette HS last week, Lotus Sunbeam this week - superb!

[Slowsilver]

12 hours ago, gm said:

I guess next time I'm taking garden waste to the tip, it might end up there (in the empty gas cylinders and extinguishers section, not just flung in the skip !)

I recently found an old Halon extinguisher while clearing out my late father's garage. Checked online and it said that our local tip in Buckingham would take it free of charge. Took it there with a load of other stuff and asked the guy there, who took it with no problems.
 

[Ghosty]

My local Halfords have offered me a job interview for part time working in the bike bit.
It's less per hour and less hours that my current job ((£9.50ph 20 hours with commute, vs.  £10ph 40 hours working from home) but the job security is potentially better. 

The thing is I don't interview well... dilemmas. 

[Spurious]

1 minute ago, Ghosty said:

My local Halfords have offered me a job interview for part time working in the bike bit.
It's less per hour and less hours that my current job ((£9.50ph 20 hours with commute, vs.  £10ph 40 hours working from home) but the job security is potentially better. 

The thing is I don't interview well... dilemmas. 

I think half the battle with interviews is being polite, turning up on time and being presentable. 

Knowing a little about the company and having an educated guess about what questions they're going to ask and preparing those will cover 90%. Good luck 🙂🤞

[Six-cylinder]

13 minutes ago, Ghosty said:

My local Halfords have offered me a job interview for part time working in the bike bit.
It's less per hour and less hours that my current job ((£9.50ph 20 hours with commute, vs.  £10ph 40 hours working from home) but the job security is potentially better. 

The thing is I don't interview well... dilemmas. 

Have the interview anyway as it is practice for a job you really want.

Remember an interview is a two way thing and until you have questioned them you are not in the best position to decide if you want to work for them. 

[Ghosty]

I'm assisting in a collection mission tomorrow...