What makes you grin? Antidote to grumpy thread

[castros_bro]

I went to a French car boot sale today, and bought this for €4:

 

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A plastic case, containing a foldable barbecue...

 

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What appealed was the quality of it - none of your modern pressed steel rubbish here but a proper cast iron base, with a stainless steel wind break and side plates which are a couple of mm thick!

 

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The hinge screws are drilled and tapped into the metalwork, and the whole thing feels bombproof. Much more satisfying than those £2.99 disposable ones. Ideal for the van, and I'll probably be bringing it down to SF for testing purposes

 

EDIT - they also had brand new 205 driveshafts for €15, and ones for a Renault 9/11 for €20. I did wonder about stocking up to sell on eBay!

 

 

I got one of those when I lived in a van in Nantes because you can start the fire and get the embers glowing, fit the metal screen, flip it through 90degrees and spit roast a chicken with the fat dripping into the "back" wind shield tray. That's why there's cutouts in the sideplates for the rotating spit. I lost it while transporting it on the back of a 4x4 during some slow manoeuvring whilst pig meat grilling in woods near the Rhine in a snowy winter's morn. Good buy rating 27/10

[Ghosty]

barbecue

 

 

Le Creuset is a very good cookware company, they make those fancy orange cast iron Dutch ovens you get from John Lewis for £whatthefuck. As such the iron bits are to be expected, that'll be a quality thing. Bargain!

[beko1987]

Yey! That white ZX that was being broken for spares near me is still about, and the guy has the steering column, rubber boot and middle bit with the second UJ already out of the car and still for sale for £25! He also said that he was fine to hold it for me until payday/I get a spare £25 (possibly helped by me turning up promptly and paying the full asking for the last lot of parts I had)

 

Very happy now, I just need to limp mine through for another few weeks. When I get the new parts I'll clean them up and grease them up before fitting.

 

I presume swapping my lock barrel etc is quite easy? we shall soon find out!

[Supernaut]

I was bored yesterday evening, so I took the Xantia with newly fitted radio out for a spin.

 

Selected the folder full of songs by Ghost, stuck it on random and drove at entirely legal* speeds.

 

All I can say is that anybody who hasn't experienced a hydropneumatic Citroen needs to. Now. The way it soaks up bumps then corners almost totally flat is unreal.

[eddyramrod]

y a fully loaded roofless 2cv with boot box at 60mph with classic fm blasting William W-altons 633 squadron out of the speakers.

Here speaketh a total WINNAR!  633 Squadron?  Top of the range!

[bub2006]

There is a fat bloke in a white xantia in Ripley who has been known to play the van der valk theme tune at full tilt........

Caused a few raised eyebrows

[eddyramrod]

There used to be a young scruff in a hand-painted red Marina in Southport who would do the same with The Pirates Of Penzance....

 

Thinking about it.... wasn't 633 Squadron by Ron Goodwin?

[fordperv]

Grand designs revisited, it's showing stuff from 2000, oh my god it's chock full of shite, red xr3, red sunny coupe, mk3 fiesta, silver sierra hatch and 2 door black e30 just in one part, there's lots more as well

 

 

[doobietoo]

Drove home from Dover to Dorchester in Dorset in 3 hours last night all at completely legal speeds.... who says our roads are rubbish....

 

As an aside both the motorways and backroads in both the Netherlands and Belgium were far worse than our own as regards lack of repairs and potholes...Having said that there are no "middle laners" but only because if you do stay in the outside lane for a second too long they drive a few millimeters from your rear bumper until fear makes you pull over...

[bub2006]

There used to be a young scruff in a hand-painted red Marina in Southport who would do the same with The Pirates Of Penzance....

Red Marina.jpg

 

Thinking about it.... wasn't 633 Squadron by Ron Goodwin?

Yes it was I pretty sure.

[Pillock]

TV program about the railways around Leeds. Interviewing a driver as he pulls out of a station in a Pacer.

 

"Oh, it would be the perfect job" 

(off-camera interviewer) "Would be?"

"Yeah, if it weren't for the passengers. Just ride around looking at cows and stuff"

[richardmorris]

Yes it was I pretty sure.

My mistake. Walton is the crown imperial.

[mat_the_cat]

Le Creuset is a very good cookware company, they make those fancy orange cast iron Dutch ovens you get from John Lewis for £whatthefuck. As such the iron bits are to be expected, that'll be a quality thing. Bargain!

 

It lives! (Not that there's anything to go wrong, but it felt (and tasted) nice to put it back into use...

 

 

[richardmorris]

How do you get manage to get your kebabs so rectangular?

That's how you buy them in the supermarket !

[AlabamaShrimp]

TV program about the railways around Leeds. Interviewing a driver as he pulls out of a station in a Pacer.

 

"Oh, it would be the perfect job"

(off-camera interviewer) "Would be?"

"Yeah, if it weren't for the passengers. Just ride around looking at cows and stuff"

What was the programme and is it on the Internet?

[Skizzer]

As an aside both the motorways and backroads in both the Netherlands and Belgium were far worse than our own as regards lack of repairs and potholes...Having said that there are no "middle laners" but only because if you do stay in the outside lane for a second too long they drive a few millimeters from your rear bumper until fear makes you pull over...

 

Indeed.  Dutch motorway driving is terrifying, far worse than in Germany.  

 

(Most of) Belgium is just the third world without the charm, beauty or potential.

[phil_lihp]

Grand designs revisited, it's showing stuff from 2000, oh my god it's chock full of shite, red xr3, red sunny coupe, mk3 fiesta, silver sierra hatch and 2 door black e30 just in one part, there's lots more as well

 

 

I remember watching one old one a while back where the house was only accessible via a steep, narrow lane that lorries couldn't get up.  To get around this issue, they transported several tons of turf and other building supplies using the house owner's Citroen Visa which presumably died shortly afterwards, seeing as it was being thrashed to and from the site on its bump stops.

[oldcars]

Painted the wing mirror on the Kia last night. Looked shite, i was well annoyed. Went this morning to check it had dried and it looks fine now. Lacquer still to go on but happy so far.

[Eddie Honda]

Having dropped my bacon butty at the renewal on the daily - http://autoshite.com/topic/22252-the-grumpy-old-manpedant-post-feel-free-to-add/?p=1014017 - today, I got my renewal for the GS.

€229.85, last year's premium - €229.85. That's right, a big fat 0% increase!
 

[Pillock]

What was the programme and is it on the Internet?

 

"The Railway - Keeping Britain on Track"

 

was last nights but it's a rerun from 2013. The quote in question is at 4:50 but he's got a few gems all the way through.

[cms206]

"Can we offer a £50 gift card to entice you to stay with us?"

 

No Tesco Car Insurance, I'm afraid it doesn't quite bridge the £1100 gap between your quote and Admiral's quote for a 19-year old diesel Peugeot.

 

Thanks for the offer anyway.

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[purplebargeken]

^^ Wow!

[Wilko220]

Fish and chips in North Yorkshire...

[MarvinsMom]

kerry picked the Jaguar up last night, all fixelated and mot'd for another year.

 

the bill came out at £385, and NOT £450, so i officially WIN!!!!

 

she went and bought a new temperature sensor for the Mini with some of our unexpected winnings.... and i'm still ahead.

[beko1987]

The washing machine blocked up earlier, and after calling amy down from calling the landlord, interpol, the cia etc, once back from work drained it all out with a wet vac, the stuffed the hose into the filter housing and tink, tink tink...

 

 

We've never been to America, and its dated 2012! Certainly got me off the hook as she was blaming me for blocking it up washing all my vaccuum filters and hoses etc.

 

I didn't tell her about the vacuum filter (stupid tiny one from a lux boss) wrapped around the filter...)

 

All fixed now!

[M'coli]

The washing machine blocked up earlier, and after calling amy down from calling the landlord, interpol, the cia etc, once back from work drained it all out with a wet vac, the stuffed the hose into the filter housing and tink, tink tink...

 

pic_20160608_190311.jpg

 

We've never been to America, and its dated 2012! Certainly got me off the hook as she was blaming me for blocking it up washing all my vaccuum filters and hoses etc.

 

I didn't tell her about the vacuum filter (stupid tiny one from a lux boss) wrapped around the filter...)

 

All fixed now!

I'd been living in my house for a good 5 or so years before I recovered a well- worn Spanish coin (probably 10 pesetas! ) from the u-bend of the cludgie. I've never been to Spain!

[Alfamale]

Just got back from the Renishaw Hall Classic car show which is an annual event here on the south east side of sheffield. Gets better every year with a massive range of stuff on show by very friendly people. Can't wait till next years

[Eddie Honda]

I've never been to Spain!

You are The King AICMFP.

 

[Brodders]

Fish and chips in North Yorkshire...

That is almost as good as this one I see near Bury St Edmunds bus station.

 

 

I am surprised nobody has opened a bakery called "Baking Bad" yet.

[MarvinsMom]

shit...,.^ you've gone and stolen my idea

 

how about a dry cleaners called "touching cloth" cos, well, it will require touching cloth?