Introverts, how is your day?

[Pseudonym]

Peanuts, olives... you growing a feast? ;)

[Arcadia]

That's what makes it even more annoying ... they aren't edible! Well, I guess the hog peanuts are, but there's only one per plant, they're tiny, and you have to shell and roast them; not worth the effort.

[Carol the Dabbler]

You can thank the US Department of Agriculture for your Russian olives (same people who brought us the multiflora rose). They have a rather odd concept of "non-invasive plant."

[Pseudonym]

Cringing cringey cringe cringe. 

 

I got a mobile auto-electrician to come out to look at my car. It, stupidly, didn't occur to me that he'd have a call out charge. He got the car fixed (hoorah!) quickly and easily, so I asked how much I owed him and he said 'unfortunately there's a 40 quid call out charge' so I bit back my expression of horror and went to get my purse, came back out, paid him the 40 quid, and there was a bit of an odd silence which I didn't register much at the time. I thanked him cheerily and vanished back into the office and got back to work. 

 

I've since realised he obviously intended to charge me something on top of the call out charge for fixing the issue, but I didn't give him a chance to say it. Thus, I suspect, the awkward silence when I gave him the call out charge only and then essentially skipped off. OMG, I can't stop thinking about it and cringing. He must have felt too awkward to yell after me and just let it go, but euuurgh my god, I'm so embarrassed. 

[Pseudonym]

I'm feeling a bit sad and sorry for myself. I've had one issue after another with my car,  as I mentioned I paid 40 quid earlier to get my keys fixed, then I went to start my car to come home after work, and discovered it wouldn't start. I had to call out the breakdown people, who took an hour an a half to turn up, and after running a battery (ha!) of tests he told me my battery was dead and needed replacing. Which means I had to shell out another 112 quid. I've only just got in, hours after I should have done. Luckily I cooked dinner yesterday so it just needed warming up, but I'm completely drained and feeling sorry for myself. I'll be okay once I've got some sleep I'm sure, but for right now...  :(

[J.P.]

Stupid Photobucket ate my emos, but this one will do too.

[T.o.b.y]

Oh, poor you. As the owner of another very old car, I sympathize entirely.

 

When I take mine to the garage, they always look at us with a combination of contempt and pity...

[Pseudonym]

Aw, contempt and pity, not a good mix.  

 

I've slept now, so I'm feeling a bit less depressed, I just hope it actually behaves for a while - I'm not made of money! My first car was a 1970s VW camper van, and only one garage would MOT it, and that was only because they knew my father. 

 

I got a Welsh dragon decal to put on it, maybe it'll like me if I spruce it up more. ;)

[Arcadia]

My poor car, I neglect it so, yet it still treats me so well. Y'all are making me guilty, I feel like I should go out and give it a bath or something to show I still care. I gave it full tank of gas yesterday, does that count?

[T.o.b.y]

My poor car, I neglect it so, yet it still treats me so well. Y'all are making me guilty, I feel like I should go out and give it a bath or something to show I still care. I gave it full tank of gas yesterday, does that count?

With the price of gas being what it is, definitely!

[Carol the Dabbler]

I've since realised he obviously intended to charge me something on top of the call out charge for fixing the issue, but I didn't give him a chance to say it. Thus, I suspect, the awkward silence when I gave him the call out charge only and then essentially skipped off. OMG, I can't stop thinking about it and cringing. He must have felt too awkward to yell after me and just let it go, but euuurgh my god, I'm so embarrassed. 

 

I had a moment like that, many years ago.  I haven't been much of a newspaper reader since leaving my parents' home, but this one day I decided to buy a paper from the vendor on the corner.  I pressed a dime into his hand with a cheery smile and went on my happy way -- only to discover when I actually read the paper that the price had gone up!  Heaven knows what the poor man thought.  :(

 

*****

 

So just how old are these "very old cars" that y'all own?

 

Alex and I have two cars.  One is a '91 Toyota Tercel that's on its third engine, third alternator, and second transmission (that we know of, since we bought it used).  We would still have a nice little '99 Honda Civic hatchback, but a nasty old Cadillac SUV decided to take a short-cut through it.  So our "new" car is an '06 Toyota Matrix, which we bought because it has all-wheel drive (our road is gravel, so even when it does get snow-plowed, it's still slippery).

[Arcadia]

'91! I'm impressed.

 

Mine's a 2000 Toyota Echo. Still looks and runs like new. I'm a confirmed Toyota customer from now on.

[Pseudonym]

It's tricky having a really old car here because by law they have to pass an MOT (Ministry of Transport) test to be on the road. The test includes the obvious, like brakes etc, but also things like emissions. Unless you have an old car in pretty much pristine condition it's unlikely to pass.

Because my old car died fairly recently the 'new' one that's giving me all the gyp is '06. It worked perfectly when my parents had it but the second I bought it it went to the dogs!

[Carol the Dabbler]

When we moved to California, our car had to be inspected for emissions and basic functions such as you mentioned.  This was in '91, and the car I had then was a '76 Toyota Tercel wagon.  It passed all the tests with flying colors.

 

However -- because the car had not been explicitly manufactured according to California emissions standards, I had to pay a hefty fee to bring it into the state -- even though according to their own tests, its emissions were a mere fraction of what was allowed.  Plus there are tons of truly ancient vehicles on the road out there (no snow = no salt on the roads = no rust) that I can't imagine would come even close to passing -- but they're grandfathered in.

 

I won't even go into how the gas station that tested it tried to cheat me.

 

[Doe]

I understand you very well, Arcadia.

 

I used to turn inside, too but sometimes life obliges to be outside.

 

I love to read a book with music and coffe in house but my friends offended at the slightest thing. I must go out with them.

[Arcadia]

I used to have that problem. The friends I have now, though, they don't expect so much from me, because they are the same way.

[Pseudonym]

Been poked and prodded by Mr GP this morning. Bit annoying because I've been up for hours but I've only just got into work - feels like a chunk of the day should be done already! 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I'm not sure there is such a thing as a GP in this country any more. There were plenty of them when I was a kid, but it seems like nowadays most people's primary physicians are either internists or family practitioners. I miss the good ol' GPs.

[Pseudonym]

Isn't a family practitioner the same thing?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Not quite. As I understand it, none of them do any surgery at all, whereas a GP will do some minor stuff. An internist mostly handles diseases (i.e., internal matters), and a family practitioner does that plus delivers babies. Or something like that.

[Pseudonym]

Hm, maybe it's a bit different here - I don't think GPs do any surgeries, most stuff gets referred. I even had to be referred to have a hospital appointment to get a blood test. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Maybe your current-day GPs are more like our internists, then.  Though an old-time GP here would probably not have had the lab equipment to actually run blood tests either.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Here's a comparison done by an American doctor (who is a family practitioner herself).

[Doe]

I need tranquility. Can I borrow some?

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Get a proper visa and fly to Minnesota. Then rent a car and go north until you reach Lake Superior. I always find it tranquil up there. So relaxing.