Nah, not really.

Still, the new series of Coupling on BBC 2 on Monday nights (9:30pm) started off very well. I laughed almost all the way through, which for a situation comedy is a rare thing for me. Most bore me rigid, the others usually raise a smile or two.

This evening Sky One are playing the first double episode of the last series of Stargate SG-1. It’s ok, it’s reasonably fun.

Tomorrow night sees E4 showing the new West Wing series.. we’re up to episode 5 or 6 I think.

Other than that, there’s not much on.

Have I done much this last week?

Well, I’ve had a mild cold (which is just about over) and I’ve got better
from the upset innards. Other than that, not a lot has happened.

I’ve requested an estimate for the repair of the keyed paintwork and minor
scratches on my car, bought some trousers which seem a little more baggy
than I like in style but didn’t realise until it was too late. I’ve circummed
to the temptation of the 2 for £20 offers for DVDs in Virgin and bought
M*A*S*H (the film) and the first Austin Powers film. Oh, and I spent a very
nice evening with friends eating pizza and watching “A Knight’s Tale” on
Saturday.

That’s it, there is no more.

It’s late Monday afternoon. I have a headache. At least my innards have stopped their cement mixer impressions.

Anyway, to the subject of this posting, the weekend…
Continue reading →

I finished reading The Lord of the Rings for the second time last night.

It’s
taken me 4 weeks to do so with many nights a hour’s reading, a couple of
weekends almost reading all the time and some evenings full-on reading as
well.

Was it worth it?.. Yes, though at the end it became more of
a strength of will to finish it as it seemed to be never ending, rather like
Frodo’s quest to mount doom with the book becoming more weighty as the end
came nearer.

Last
night I had wierd dreams concerning multi-storey car parks, getting my car’s
paintwork fixed and The Lord of the Rings. One part i rememeber is forgetting
my keys in the car park and driving (without a car!) around my old home town
of Bedford wearing only a towel around my waist trying to get to my old home
in a village nearby and waving to SAAB car drivers.. most strange.. Don’t
even ask about the LotR bits!

Maybe there was just too much MSG in the chicken chow mein I had for dinner.

Well, today I took my car in for its second service, nominally 18,000 miles but as I do low milage it was actually 14,000.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the cost was £296.90 inc. VAT! Ouch!

It wasn’t even a really major service, just adjust a few things, change the oil, change the brake fluid and that’s it. At least they tell me that the front tyres aren’t as far worn as I thought they were, they have 4mm of tread left, so I have 2.3mm to go. If I go carefully and don’t accidently spin the wheels much they should last another year.

Still they did wash the car, or attempted to. The fact that it looks slightly more dirty than it did when it want in as it has run marks where dirty water has run down it. I think they must have used a dirty cloth or something. At least a lot of the scratches from the bushes have faded to slight lines you can see if you shine light off them is good. Though a few do look as though they might have gone through the colour coat after all.

I think the weekend after next I’ll pop down to the SAAB approved body shop and get a quote on the repair of the keyed scratch and the other marks. I want my car to be perfect again.

I’ve got my car paintwork slightly scratched this afternoon.. here’s how it happened..

I decided, as the weather seemed to be fairing better than it had been forecast, to go and have a walk along the ridgeway and try to get some more photo opportunities. So, I toddled off down to the Goring area and took a little un-metalled road towards what was signposted “The Downs.” I was surprised at how busy this little single track was. As soon as I turned onto this track another car followed behind me, meaning that if I decided the track ahd become too severe there was no way I could reverse. Anyway, I manage to get about a mile along the track when there’s a large washed out hole on the left side of the track and bushes crowding each side. I couldn’t reverse, I had to go forward, so I pulled right to the right-side of the track, brushing the bushes quite hard so that my left wheels keep on the higher ground. I manage to get through this.. but the upshot is that I now have minor scratches on my paintwork. The car behind, a Peugeot 406, decided to just go straight on.. that was the driver’s folly.. I heard a great crunch and scrape from behind as he passed the obsticle. I parked up soon after this place and noticed that the Peugeot had now left a long trail of oil from the point of the crunch.. he’d ripped a hole in his engine sump! Rather more expensive than my car’s injury.

The scratches (on both sides, as I had to return the way I came) will polish out but it’s still annoying as I’ve been careful whilst washing the car to use things which don’t scratch the surface. :-/

I didn’t even get to walk very far as almost immediately I got out of the car a heavy shower came along. Oh well.

Well, this afternoon I had a 30 minute drive in the new 9-3.

The version I drove was the 2.0t ARC model. It’s 175bhp, that’s 25bhp more than my current, old model 9-3 SE 2.0 light pressure turbo.

My impression was that the new model is very nice, it’s more comfortable, has better brakes, definitely better suspention and steering. However, in spite of the 25bhp greater power, it seemed SLOWER than my current car with far less “woosh!” The engine is far too sanitised and just doesn’t have any real punch. Admittedly the car I drove only had about 400 miles on the clock so the engine was still quite tight. However, my car had more “woosh” when it had 12 miles on the clock, the day I picked it up.

The new car does seem more cosetting.. which for a sports saloon is not necessarily a good thing as it take you away from the driving experience somewhat.

Anyway, it’s not as if I’ll be buying a new car soon.

Does
anyone else remember the Palitoy Barnstormer Stunt Kite from the late 1970’s?
There seems to be no mention of it anywhere on the net.. maybe it was merely
a figment of my imagination.

This
morning through the post came an invitation to a SAAB 9-3 Sport Saloon launch
promotional thing happening. So, earlier today i phoned up and booked a slot..
I get to drive one for an hour, get fed some snacks and probably get some
nice promotional freebies. Not that I’m looking to change my car for the
next 8 years or so, but if they’ve invited me to play with their new toy,
who am I to turn them down?

Of course, this has changed all my plans
for tomorrow. I’m still going to have to come into work and install a RAID
array on our server at 10am.. I’m just not sure I’ll be able to get to Witney
and get a haircut and still be back at Oxford SAAB by 2:30pm. I guess it
would be possible, thinking about it, assuming the barber isn’t too full
of school kids having their hair cut. Then again, they should have gone through
that last weekend, before term started.