What makes you grin? Antidote to grumpy thread

[face]

This morning I visited my local Mercedes Emporium to pick up a new brake pedal rubber. The Parts dept. used to be a little door round the back of Service, not anymore.

I had to go in the showroom to a little area called ' Mercedes Collection'

I was amused by the number of different models on display and the number of chavvy hipsters looking at the garish, big wheeled hatchbacks and crossovers that had £299 per month emblazoned down the side.

There were some attractive elegant saloons - standard spec C,E and S Classes and a lovely big Coupe, what was the CL , God knows what they cal it now, what I do know is that it was £98,000 !

One of the fugly SUV things had 315/40x19 tyres- essential for a diesel shopping car obviously.

The best thing, was thisimage.jpeg

Yes, you can match your nail varnish to your GAL GMA USV

I'm looking at getting a new motor and popped into Cambridge Audi while waiting to go to football the other weekend.

Fuck me, if you think MB is hipster, then call into Audi. I'm never going near one of their dealerships again. It was a boutique, a boutique full of pretentious cunts.

 

I found the MB showroom relaxed and sophisticated in comparison.

[Pillock]

It's all blurry, leading me to think that the shutter was open for too long probably because of light levels. Shorter shutter speed would have worked better, perhaps with a larger aperture and higher ISO. Alternatively a tripod would have done well, or using a night shot scene mode if available.

 

The darks are a little crushed, back of the car is obliterated by shadow. Again, higher sensitivity would have helped or some form of secondary illumination.

 

Composition is OK, car is a little high in the frame.

 

I'm starting to think you didn't mean in a technical, photographic sense.

[bub2006]

This was on Gumtree free for collection. Has a bit of damp and needs a refurb inside. 1986 abbey executive 360. Can probably have it decent enough for a few breaks away to get me used to towing for about a ton. All taps are out and so is water pump and heater. Still has zig unit inside and fire etc so I need to ask a friend to check wiring over as it has sockets and lights but a lot of bits have been removed.

[Aston Martin]

I prefer the pizza shops of 'some kind of nationality' not sure what. They will sell you a massive (probably cat meat) but they fill you up and taste alright for under a tenner.

 

Had my first pizza in about 6 months. I chose the Uzbekistan (probably) pizza place... I regret everything.

[eddyramrod]

What's wrong with this pic

The car's facing the wrong way for a space that has no through-exit. #legally

The lighting, composition and focus all need adjustment. #photographically

The car is too small and French. #crucially

[doobietoo]

Sitting in a bluebell wood having a picnic with Mrsd

[Cavcraft]

Today was Little White Dog Fest 2k16, yo!

[Pillock]

The one on the left didn't get the memo, then.

[Bren]

This morning I visited my local Mercedes Emporium to pick up a new brake pedal rubber. The Parts dept. used to be a little door round the back of Service, not anymore.

I had to go in the showroom to a little area called ' Mercedes Collection'

I was amused by the number of different models on display and the number of chavvy hipsters looking at the garish, big wheeled hatchbacks and crossovers that had £299 per month emblazoned down the side.

There were some attractive elegant saloons - standard spec C,E and S Classes and a lovely big Coupe, what was the CL , God knows what they cal it now, what I do know is that it was £98,000 !

One of the fugly SUV things had 315/40x19 tyres- essential for a diesel shopping car obviously.

The best thing, was this image.jpeg

Yes, you can match your nail varnish to your GAL GMA USV

Vauxhall have lots of lifestyle accessories- tow ropes, tow ropes and more tow ropes.

[twosmoke300]

Don't forget jump leads and fire extinguishers

[michael1703]

This was on Gumtree free for collection. Has a bit of damp and needs a refurb inside. 1986 abbey executive 360. Can probably have it decent enough for a few breaks away to get me used to towing for about a ton. All taps are out and so is water pump and heater. Still has zig unit inside and fire etc so I need to ask a friend to check wiring over as it has sockets and lights but a lot of bits have been removed.

Caravans are free because storage can be expensive and you'd be surprised how little you actually use it when you own one. Some housing developments have a clause saying you can't have a boat or caravan outside it

[beko1987]

A pair of car ramps make excellent disposable bbq stands I found today!

[bub2006]

Caravans are free because storage can be expensive and you'd be surprised how little you actually use it when you own one. Some housing developments have a clause saying you can't have a boat or caravan outside it

I'm OK for storage. As for using it,I live in Derbyshire and there is lots of fields scattered around for caravan owners to pitch up on. Be nice to say bugger it and clear off for a night

[Tamworthbay]

I'm OK for storage. As for using it,I live in Derbyshire and there is lots of fields scattered around for caravan owners to pitch up on. Be nice to say bugger it and clear off for a night

tent and blow up bed?

[DeeJay]

Today was Little White Dog Fest 2k16, yo!

 

image.jpeg

Looking at the fine collection of ladies parading I not surprised you bought a "Little White Dog".

[Lord Sterling]

On Friday I was tired and stopped off at a motorway services after picking up a Fiat 500 Abarth from an old airfield in Nottingham. As I'd just bought some Krispy Kreme doughnuts and got back in the car, what do I see at the far end of the carpark? A familar Red Rover 400 lowered on Corsa wheels, yep, it was our very own Vulgalour.

[Pillock]

That was lucky, imagine if you'd have gone over to introduce yourself and it was a different lowered red Rover 400 on Corsa wheels?

 

Are you enjoying the job Mo? It sounds pretty good to me, I like driving new cars but get a bit bored of the same car so I reckon I'd enjoy it. Even the best job can be ruined by an arsehole boss though. Plus you get to eat at service stations all day. They're still the future of travel. 

 

When the guys delivered my company car, it only had 45 miles on the clock yet there was chocolate mashed into the seat and a coffee stain next to the cup holder. Fair play though, the guy spat on the corner of his hankie and "cleaned it up" when I pointed it out on the delivery report form. 

[bub2006]

tent and blow up bed?

Too cold,too low and too much assembly!

[Tamworthbay]

Too cold,too low and too much assembly!

a caravan isn't any better set up time wise, they are just as cold unless you have blown air heating like the posh new ones do, too low? I have a nice camp bed that is over a foot off the ground, got it from blacks in a sale when they had marked it up wrong, should have been £50 with 10% off but they had written the discount instead of the price where the price should have been so the manager honoured it and I got it for a fiver!

[bub2006]

I've never been a fan of camping,done it though as they was a lot cheaper. I've spent many years touring so its a sort of ark back to my childhood. As for set up time,I've never managed to set up a comfortable sized tent height wise alone but for the caravan its a case of wind legs down plug in cable and you are done. Ideal for me.

[bub2006]

A bonus is I haven't got to hang the caravan out to dry if it rains!

[Tamworthbay]

A bonus is I haven't got to hang the caravan out to dry if it rains!

rain? If you were going to Greece or Cyprus in summer it may be an issue but not in the uk.

[Cavcraft]

We bought a fancy tent last year and all the clobber to go with it. It's too much effort for a lazy sod like me so I'm going to try and swap it for a caravan at some point.

[Pillock]

Tents are OK unless it rains - we've got a 12 man (for four of us - it's big enough to park the car in the middle part) and it whizzes up quite easily. It cost us £30 from someone locally who was getting rid as it was too big.

Only problem was it hadn't been looked after very well, and the poles were starting to split - we then spent another thirty quid on poles and elastic to rebuild them, but it's good for a few years yet. If it rains we just lob it in the back of the car and hang it up in the scout hut over the road, the same as we do with mess tents.

 

I don't reckon tents and caravans are interchangable at all - if you go to a car show, then a caravan is often a no-no unless you're turning up as the gates open. Wouldn't want to take a caravan onto a packed field at Santa Pod, be a nightmare. Then again, if you're on a nice site with toilets and showers and flowerbeds and people that say good morning to you, a caravan seems a much nicer way to spend the holiday. Tents are shelter, caravans can be lived in. 

[Tamworthbay]

That is why I love tents, it means you are out and about, in the local pub, walking or doing whatever. With a caravan it's just a lot of sad old people doing exactly what they do at home with a smaller tv. I had a caravan briefly when our nipper was born and was just utterly embarrassed about using it, it felt like one step away from the care home.

 

And I love being in a tent in the rain as long as it's a good one. My fave is a cheap eurohike one I got from millets about twenty five years ago and has done about 100,000 miles on the back of my motorbikes and been reproved more times than I recall. One loop for a peg in the groundsheet has a repair with a big old fabric plaster that is still waterproof after twenty years and amazes me every time I think about it. It's been all round Europe, every corner of the U.K. And in every month of the year. I got a replacement a couple of years ago as it was new and free from a mate but we haven't bonded.

[Lord Sterling]

That was lucky, imagine if you'd have gone over to introduce yourself and it was a different lowered red Rover 400 on Corsa wheels?

 

Are you enjoying the job Mo? It sounds pretty good to me, I like driving new cars but get a bit bored of the same car so I reckon I'd enjoy it. Even job can be ruined by an arsehole boss though. Plus you get to eat at service stations all day. They're still the future of travel.

 

When the guys delivered my company car, it only had 45 miles on the clock yet there was chocolate mashed into the seat and a coffee stain next to the cup holder. Fair play though, the guy spat on the corner of his hankie and "cleaned it up" when I pointed it out on the delivery report form.

 

Thankfully I'd already met Vulgalour so knew what he looked like

 

I like the job, it's better than being stuck between 4 walls with a load of tossers who don't like you, bosses breathing down your neck expecting you to be hitting "such and such" targets by a set time etc...

 

When your out on the road, you are your own boss, as long as you do the required checks on the vehicle, drive safely to your destination, have enough money for non-car travel/food and book up a hotel if you need to stay out, you'll do fine. There are loads of people who have done it for years, they have thier own stuff to moan about most of which doesn't bother me.

 

The only arsehole things about it can be the money, it's not a set wage as such, more you get paid per drive and per vehicle inspection. Then travelling between jobs must be done via Bus/train/taxi/thumbing lifts, which can be a right pain. Thumbing lifts is one thing I've never been successful at, I'd rather walk to the job and make some tracks rather than waiting for that one person who might be nice enough to give me a lift. Also, you don't often get to go home of a week, your either staying in hotels or in the car/van (van NOT recommended when it's cold, ask me how I know...) which means buying food in. Again, not fun when all your bills have come out and your left with £1.86 in the bank.

 

You have to pay for your own non-car travel (bus/train/taxi) which you get back as expenses included in your pay packet. However, you really need to let them know how much you have actually paid for non-car travel otherwise you only get back what they have set, I.e: travelling from Kidderminster to say Bromsgrove, they say it'll cost you £4.15 when in fact it might cost you £15.00+ in taxi and train ticket fares.

 

All in all, it's Ok, it's a job that's different, you get to see a lot of the country, drive different cars and get paid for it.

[Spottedlaurel]

Sorry if I missed someone else commenting on this, but did anyone see the Mazda 626 in The Windsors on Friday evening? Looked like a 2-tone blue D-reg saloon, seemed to be driven by the wicked stepmother Camilla character. Definitely worth a grin (as is the programme itself).

[JohnDeere]

Other half gets into car to drive down to London. Two minutes later there's a tap on the door. "There's a flashing red light on the dashboard, does that mean there's a problem?" he says.

 

That's because you haven't started it yet, it's the alarm that's been there for the last six years....

[Pillock]

Then I'm really chuffed for you Mo_Sterling, sounds like you're doing well

We've got a new system at work for claiming expenses, it's all done by smartphone now so you get a taxi or the train, take a photo of the receipt, upload it, tap a few details in about why you were doing what you were doing and the money just plops into your bank about a week later. Pretty good really.

[bub2006]

That is why I love tents, it means you are out and about, in the local pub, walking or doing whatever. With a caravan it's just a lot of sad old people doing exactly what they do at home with a smaller tv. I had a caravan briefly when our nipper was born and was just utterly embarrassed about using it, it felt like one step away from the care home.

 

And I love being in a tent in the rain as long as it's a good one. My fave is a cheap eurohike one I got from millets about twenty five years ago and has done about 100,000 miles on the back of my motorbikes and been reproved more times than I recall. One loop for a peg in the groundsheet has a repair with a big old fabric plaster that is still waterproof after twenty years and amazes me every time I think about it. It's been all round Europe, every corner of the U.K. And in every month of the year. I got a replacement a couple of years ago as it was new and free from a mate but we haven't bonded.

Only time we have stayed in the van when I was young was if it was absolutely hammering it down,board games time! Any other times we was out and about seeing things. My dad hated staying in watching TV.