bunn

 I took Theo for a walk in town, meaning to grab some milk afterwards, and when I got back to my car, one of the tyres was completely flat.  Not just a bit soft, absolutely flopperty and hanging in folds. 

"Fuck", I said to Theo, who looked very solemn.  I put him back in the boot, and tried pumping up the tyre. 

I did eventually get it to inflate, but I could hear air whistling through a monstrous crack in the sidewall. 

"Fuck", I said again. 

Then I remembered that I had seen a sign for a tyre place, Timmy's, just around the corner.  I looked at the tyre, and estimated that it would probably hold air just about long enough to get me there.  Result! 

So I drove to this dingy place surrounded by junk, and found a phenomenally grimy youth who said, to my delight that yes, they could fit a replacement tire there and then.  Please could I back in?

So i backed in, and I found myself in a vast cavernous and shadowy barn of a place, which did indeed have a rack of tyres on one wall, but also had the skeletons of various ancient vans and cars and possibly other wheeled things that were clearly not going back on the road any time soon. 

It also sold firewood.  And cabbages.  And it was warmed by an old black brazier in one corner, which sent flickering fire-shadows dancing around the tyres and the ancient vehicles and the cabbages and gave it all a pleasant scent of woodsmoke to mingle with the oil. 

They said they'd charge me £25 for a tyre, and their card reader wasn't working so did I have cash. 

So I blinked a bit, and went off to the cashpoint, where I thought surely, surely they aren't really only going to charge me £25 for a tyre and got out quite a bit more cash. 

Anyway, I returned to the vast fire-lit barn, and found that there were now a group of men gathered around the fire.  I am fairly sure that they must, surely, have been wearing jeans and jumpers and things, but my memory keeps giving them like, filthy leather aprons.  Tunics. Hammers. They definitely had impressive beards, and at least a couple had long flowing grey hair. 

Anyway, they had met Theo while searching the car for the locking wheelnuts, and Theo liked them very much.  And they had indeed fitted a tyre, and...OK, it was a part-worn tyre, because I don't think that there was a single new item in that barn, but it was functional enough.  And £25 quid including fitting. 

By this time I was feeling like I should have paid for it in silver sixpences.  It was great. 

 I looked back over my old entries and found the bit where I started writing Rexque Futurus, the story about Arthur, Merlin, the ancient Volvo. Apparently  in December 2015 I had already written 32,000 words, which is really odd because the last few chapters that I have been writing have come VERY slowly. But that time was when I was working on a bunch of other things at the same time, and also endings always seem to be harder than beginnings.  My optimism about being able to summon up a chapter a week for the last 5 chapters was ludicrous in retrospect, but hey, it's a learning experience. 

Anyway,  I wrote a chapter, with no Volvo but there is a dragon and a bunch of ravens, and it's here. 

Oh, also my car (ironically, an ancient Volvo, though when I started writing the story my car was a Saab) went in for its MOT and failed, but the garage seems optimistic that it can be tweaked and fettled sufficiently to pass, which would be good since second-hand cars seem to be thin on the ground at the moment (presumably because people are trying to avoid public transport). 

We shall see.  It currently has 160,000+ miles on the clock, one of the rear doors is very bashed,  the driver door is a different colour and the window doesn't work, and nor does the sun roof, so it is at least aging.  But it's still surprisingly nice to drive, and also there is an excellent feeling of invincibility to it. Anything short of a lorry that drives into it is is probably going to come off worse and leave little sign of impact.  And you can get a lot of stuff in it. 

In other news, Helga Saab had a few minor fixes, re-took her MOT and passed! For a car made in 2002 that is getting on to 150,000 miles, I think passing an MOT at a price of only 200 quid (including a new tyre) is pretty good. Well done Helga. Well done, 2002 Swedish engineers, I'm sorry your car company went bust. Well done, Dave the Garage with your stylish-yet-affordable tyres.

ETA, apparently Saab has risen from the ashes and is now National Electric Vehicle Sweden, still based at the splendidly named Trollhättan! Good for them. I bet their cars will be quirky and efficient. Sadly, it's very unlikely I shall ever be able to afford a new car, but I shall send them generalised good wishes anyway.

Helga the Saab flashed up a plaintive message at me this morning: "Time for Service"

She reinforced this when I cruelly clicked the clear button and ignored her, by releasing her left indicator light as I drove along, so that it flapped about on the end of its cable.  I had to stop and shove it back in.   And I KNOW she needs a new tire.  Pants. 

Also, Az's pet insurance is up for renewal, and they want £351.69 for the next year!  That's only fifty quid less than the insurance on Helga!   Mind you, both of them are getting on a bit, so I don't know which one I expect to break sooner...

- Our washing machine has died. Debating whether to buy a new one (probably more efficient, will take more stuff in one load!) or see if I can find a repairer (more economical and more green to repair than replace - IF I can find a repairer that will come out here for not-astronomic sums and who can actually fix a machine that's about 8 years old and was cheap to start with...)

- Not only does it keep hailing, but I see from my window that Dartmoor is covered in snow! It's nearly April, this is most unexpected.

- forecast for the weekend is dire, so for a change I don't have Gardeners Guilt for going away rather than trimming and pruning madly. Fingers crossed the advent of Aaargh Day will be late this year.

- I went to Milton Keynes with my mother, two collie crosses, and a working Saab. I came back with my mother, two collie crosses, a whippet, an attack of the lurgi, and a Saab with a knackered thermostat.

- The thermostat is fixed and only cost £50 inc parts & labour. And because I'd topped the oil up, I didn't get charged for it by the garage (which tends to do stuff like that and ask later). Am rather cross with Helga Saab for going wrong when I'd bought her new tyres and everything...

- I wrote to my MP about the Digital Economy Bill, which seems to be being shuffled through in a bit of a rush, containing many worrying ideas. There is an Early Day Motion to delay and debate it properly, which I have asked him to support.

WOOHOOO!!!!!

Have returned the horrible courtesy car.  I hoovered it within an inch of its life last night so with a bit of luck they will not spot that it has spent the last 2 months full of greyhounds (and a week or so full of collie as well).  I noticed that it has a minor scratch at the bottom of the front bumper : can't remember if that was there before, or if it was me.  If it was me, hope they don't notice it!

Nother call from the garage to say they are still waiting for parts.  They hope the parts will come in on Weds and will call again then.

I have Given Up Hoping. 

I damaged my car on 10th April. It's supposed to be being repaired under the insurance policy, but the garage are *REALLY* taking their time. They told the insurance company it would be finished Weds, but rang me on Friday, not to say it was done - but to say that they would ring me again on Tuesday... Tuesday will be over a month they have had my car!

Does anyone know if there is any kind of limitation on how long they are allowed to take over this, or if there is anything I can do about it? It took the garage 10 days to assess the damage and produce a quote!

Because the accident was my fault and nobody else was involved, I am forced to use the insurance company's choice of garage rather than my own.