Peeking out

Off early to get the Aston on a frosty morning.

Car 1 - Lift to the station
Train 1 - Mannintree to Colchester
Bus - To Marks Tey
Train 2 - To Shenfield
Train 3 - to Brentwood
Taxi - To Grange
Car 2 - Aston back home

The car was in the workshop and I caught it in the shaft of light on the way out.

Then A12 back home in the sunshine.

SAAB out pm for jobs.

Special Sticker

Overnight sail and then the wait for the unloading - we'd been put on the lower deck with the larger vehicles and trucks and given a nice new sticker too.

Quite an ok run up - past the A3 M25 and A12 (but not picking up the Aston) and home to unpack.

Then SAAB out for jobs and finally into town.

Long Day Packing

I had to clear up the painting work debris before I could pack the car, but eventually everything was done.

It felt strange to be leaving in the evening though.

Not a wheel turned 26-27th

Just working to keep the job going.

New addition to The Fleet required ?

Morning trip to the Central Hospital to get Jana X-ray'ed and checked over after a bad fall. They did have good wheel chairs though.

Certainly better than my effort.

But you never know when an old office chair will come in handy ...

Pottering 22 - 24th

A few shopping trips and work on the house.

Off and ready

Off the boat first thing - after they had unloaded this Double Decker Bus - not what we expected to see.

Then typical SAAB jobs - shopping and a trip to the diy shop for the things we'd forgotten. Not too sure this chap got his stuff home in one piece though.

Drop off and Dash

Final packing for the SAAB in the morning. Paint and ladders this time.

Then having warmed the Aston up for a long while I used the boost pack to start the car ... easily as it turned out. Then a bit of a worried run down to Grange making sure I did not stall the car. How many times that happens I don't know - but not something you want to happen at a big junction.

Anyway - I parked it up next to the DB9 outside the service bay. Another prat with a personalised number plate.

I arranged to pick the car up on the way past on our return - so that will work out well.

So we headed for the port and an empty boat.

Given a clean

Aero out for jobs across the boarder in Essex.

Then treated the SAAB to a car wash - esp the wheel - once back in Suffolk. Oh and a full tank of petrol before packing with tools again.

Good plan but we found that we'd forgotten to book the ferry...

Riding Along

Mk7 to Maningtree and back.

Looked at the cold sun and thought about a run ... but not keen.

Wimping out

Alpine meeting at Wicken Fen - so I took the SAAB. My excuse was it was a cold dreary day. But I guess I just did not feel like it.

Three Alpines turned up - all white as it happened.

Good turnout of 20 people though.

Then SAAB out again in the evening for a delivery run.

Awakening the Beast

Aston raised from it's slumbers by the new boost pack that arrived yesterday afternoon. After an over night charge the pack was ready to go. The leads were a bit short to reach but they did. Oh and the pack could have a non slip backing too.

The point was that the car fired up first time too. Impressive for a cold (ish) six litre V12 beast.

I did have a strange message though - so I might need to get the alarm re-set.

Then afternoon SAAB runs again in the dark and the cold.

More Swedish tales in the Rain

SAAB pottering about for jobs - splashing through the puddles - belching out carbon. How would I have got there and back though without transport ?

It could have been electric I'd admit - but really is that it - hydrogen cars are on the market now. In the 1900's Petrol won out over steam and electricity because you could carry your fuel with you and replenish the 'tank' quickly. I suspect that the same benefits will make hydrogen power win - if we have time to develop it.

In the UK there is more rain on the way, across the country that is waterlogged and flooded in some parts. Today fires rage across Australia and California and Spain have had them earlier in the year too. The change is making the extremes broader - we are told to expect the rain to get more intense and the heat too. Statically it is undoubtedly a change to the climate and a change to what we know - or more precisely what we have recorded.

In the 1970s we were all expecting a new Ice Age.

Only time will tell if we are still on the see-saw or have reached a tipping point. Have we 'amused ourselves to death' to quote Roger Waters.

Stay tuned.

No joy

Aston charger showing green - so after 2 hours of warming I gave it another try. Just a lot of clicks and flickering lights so - no.

Boost pack on order so we'll see how that does.

SAAB out in the evening to RGEA meeting in the rain though. No one brought a car either.

Two down - six to go

SAAB for run around again first thing. It was a cold 4 deg when I took Jana to the station.

After some jobs I decided to put the E-Type in the bubble as the sun was out at last. So on went the heater for 2 hours.

The Jaguar starred well and I backed it out. Then went to start the Aston ... dead battery. At least dead enough not to start the car - so I put it back on charge and left it alone for a while. I'd noticed that the charger was not green when I went in though - so it might not charge.

I'll heat it up next time though.

So E-type off for a quick run while the bubble was inflating.

Then I found the front nearside tire would not inflate easily - it's jot supposed to be 120 psi ... so that's on the list now too. I think I've had the problem before though.

Dodging the rain

Dreary day so inside working on a 1909 Opel 4/8 PS Doktorwagen.

Chasing the sun

SAAB out and about for jobs and then chasing the sun - looking for the Mercury transit.

Ten points if you can spot it.

Journeyman run

Back down the A1 past the waterlogged fields but no problems. Just a long run.

To the coast

Mk7 to Whitby and the blustery coast.

On the run over the North York Moors we hit 1300 ft, but dodged the sheep in the road.

Rain begins

Not quite set for 40 days and 40 nights but the forecast is poor especially for the north east of the country ... so that's where we headed in the Mk7 Golf.

The A1 should have been closed for miles due to the floods - but we found it had just opened so had a light run up past flooded fields and rivers.

Short Swedish Stints

Just Aero to next village.

Wheels looking especially dirty too.

Oh and I turned off the 'Service me now' message. Hold 'clear' for 8 seconds - ish.

Playing with the light trails gave good effects too.

More nightlife

SAAB out and about for local runs first thing. It keep telling me to get it serviced.

Then up to the hospital - where there is never anywhere to park on busy days - so I squeezed in here.

Finally a night time run for more light trails.

Drop off

Mk2 into town for jobs pm.

Not sure it looks loved or unloved at the moment with the filler. The little rain did nothing to clean it - mainly it's got dusty from the work I did. But I got a friendly toot from a chap in an old VW Polo estate of the same vintage - he obviously appreciated the car.

Then SAAB out for a nigh time run to take pictures of light trails on the A14. Not bad.

New Boots

SAAB running around but treated to four new tyres.

It needs a clean too.

Badge Engineering

Decided to try to do the SAAB badge.

Lots of boiling water, a little screwdriver and strong string to get the old one off.

But it turned out that the one I had bought was the wrong shape - so I ended up making one out of the two. Took a lot longer but should do the trick I hope.

Then spent time putting more filler in the Mk2 to fix the rust in the doors.

Finally a run to the boat to take a look - using the Mk7 as a ladder to get on board.

Notice there is no mast now either. Makes my cars look cheap to maintain and easy to store.

Running around in the rain

SAAB into service as the wind blew and the bridge was closed again.

Paint for France loaded up.

Pick Up

Collected the SAAB and the suspension is fine, plus the small bit I found under the bonnet was a knows oddity and had been closed off already. Coincidence.

Was shown a ratty bright yellow SAAB 9000 - it had some Abbotts bits from the 1980s too.

Not one for me though.

Also guess what - burst water main in The Street.