"My Dad took my mother, his mother and his sister to Italy and back in a Mini in 1964..."
And by the time they got there they were stone deaf, crippled with back pain and dreading the return journey. People forget just how actually awful cars were in those days.
Crap. They had a wonderful time. Venice, Rome, Milan, Turin, Monaco on the way back... My grandmother was 70 at the time.
My chums and I once fitted four 20-year-olds and their large rucksacks into a 2CV from SE Scotland to Mallaig for a camping holiday ... not as far as Rome admittedly. But one serious point for Miss Cyclefree about a 2CV - its crashworthiness is poor, I believe, as is that of the original Mini. So I would hesitate to recommend any cheap ocar of their generation for my nearest and dearest: even if they are the most sensible drivers, one can't control other drivers ...
Indeed - that is a very good point.
TBH it would be a load cheaper for her to use taxis on those rare occasions when public transport is unavailable or unsuitable. But having learnt to drive she does need to practise and as we need to change cars rather than pour money down the bottomless pit of our old if loved car I'm trying to combine the two.
A investigative trip to the many car dealers on the A5 this weekend looms......
Scarlett Johansson talks about her latest role in Jonathan Glazer's alien hitchhiker thriller Under the Skin....the film tells the story of an alien seductress played by Johansson.
HOWEVER - this is the big drawback - space is at a premium, i.e., there isn't any. You can squeeze four adults in, but you couldn't take two adults and two kids, on holiday, with bags, no way.
This is no problem for me, I only have one kid in the UK. For others it's a killer.
Tosh. My Dad took my mother, his mother and his sister to Italy and back in a Mini in 1964...
Since when was taking your kit off illegal? As for drugs, their prohibition has been the cause of crime, as you know.
I never said taking your kit off was illegal. As for driugs, just because prohibition causes crime doesn't excuse the fact that you're still breaking the law to do them.
I don't mind a politician having done drugs if they are honest about it, are making the case for decriminalisation/have a convincing explanation for why they have concluded it was a mistake.
It's the hypocrisy around it that I find unpleasant.
Let me apply this to another issue. If I think that current tax policy is wrong, and that income tax should be 25% rather 45%, and I provide an coherent explanation for why I believe that, does that then make it ok for me to avoid paying the marginal 20% extra? No, it does not. We are a country of laws. If that law is wrong, then by all means lobby to change it. But you can't unilaterally obey what you think the law should be. (With an obvious exception for civil disobedience as a political protest.)
The difference is that most politicians took drugs 20+ years ago, and it is possible to forgive past transgressions. If they were currently taking drugs that would be an entirely different matter - and should be treated as seriously as Chris Huhne.
One of the surprising things about the coverage of Nigel Evans case, is that he is presented as a habitual drunk, and that this was common knowledge among his colleagues.
According to this poll, only a minority of either group dislikes bankers. And Mr Farage mentions his city-trader background as part of his standard stump speech.
It's about a 1/3, which seems far from negligible. Quite a bit more than would be bothered by a politician being an adulterer, for example.
I don't think many people listen to stump speeches, aside from the odd soundbite that shows up in the news. I'm not suggesting that Farage is trying to hide his background, just that drawing attention to it might be a profitable strategy
According to this poll, only a minority of either group dislikes bankers. And Mr Farage mentions his city-trader background as part of his standard stump speech.
It's about a 1/3, which seems far from negligible. Quite a bit more than would be bothered by a politician being an adulterer, for example.
I don't think many people listen to stump speeches, aside from the odd soundbite that shows up in the news. I'm not suggesting that Farage is trying to hide his background, just that drawing attention to it might be a profitable strategy
In his speech, it comes just before the bit about how Messrs Cameron, Clegg, and Miliband "have never had a proper job in their lives".
If you bring attention to Mr Farage's work history, you also contrast him with the work history of the other party leaders. A majority of all voters disapprove of of career politicians.
I was a bit sceptical about the claim that Birmingham was more economically successful than London in the early 1960s, but I was watching the 1964 election on YouTube the other day and one of the pundits actually said something like "another result from Birmingham, the most prosperous part of the country".
Terribly sad news about Bob Crow, a genuine character and fighter for what he believed in, even if it wasn't anywhere close to my own views - his passion and vigour had to be respected.
No one likes us, we don't care. That was his motto in and out of work. But I actually liked him very much.
I hope that staff at London Underground will be able to schedule a minute's planned stoppage and silence. Dunno if Bob would approve or if he'd think there'd be a health and safety issue. Probably the latter.
Also wonder if Millwall will wear armbands against Blackpool tonight. Tricky one. Marking respect is always difficult.
OK - for you petrolheads out there. Advice needed on cars. Specifically, which is best city runabout car which could, if necessary, be used by 19 year old daughter without me fainting at insurance cost?
Family car now costing more to MOT than is worth. Hence the need for a change though current car is best and most comfortable car I have ever driven - but not made anymore, sadly.
What I would really like is a stylish fun sports-type car where I can pretend to be Grace Kelly and drive from Nice to Rome (a drive I have done several times in summer) and generally have fun rather than worry about transporting kids, shopping bags and dogs hither and thither. I may treat myself (or at least dream about it).
RIP Bob Crow: 52 is far too young.
Cars for kids are expensive to insure, full stop. Strangely, I believe that old classics like the Ford Anglia, old school Mini and suchlike are among the cheapest to insure. Modern cars such as a couple of year old Fiesta or Clio are the next best. Best thing for a young driver is to get a reliable knacker that they won't need to claim on if there is a bump with a wall or ditch with no third party involved. Things like black boxes and getting lots of family members on the insurance as named drivers help too.
Anything sporty is going to be costly to insure if your daughter hasn't had a licence long, even as a named driver, I've found out recently.
If you can find one, a Citroen 2CV is quite a fun drive, and with a 602cc engine, it should be rock bottom insurance group. They're prone to rust so you'd want to check the floor-footwells before buying one.
Anyone risking their daughter's life in a Citroen 2CV would not be all there. Might as well stick an engine on a pram, ancient and not for for today's traffic , safety is ZERO.
OK - for you petrolheads out there. Advice needed on cars. Specifically, which is best city runabout car which could, if necessary, be used by 19 year old daughter without me fainting at insurance cost?
Family car now costing more to MOT than is worth. Hence the need for a change though current car is best and most comfortable car I have ever driven - but not made anymore, sadly.
What I would really like is a stylish fun sports-type car where I can pretend to be Grace Kelly and drive from Nice to Rome (a drive I have done several times in summer) and generally have fun rather than worry about transporting kids, shopping bags and dogs hither and thither. I may treat myself (or at least dream about it).
RIP Bob Crow: 52 is far too young.
Cars for kids are expensive to insure, full stop. Strangely, I believe that old classics like the Ford Anglia, old school Mini and suchlike are among the cheapest to insure. Modern cars such as a couple of year old Fiesta or Clio are the next best. Best thing for a young driver is to get a reliable knacker that they won't need to claim on if there is a bump with a wall or ditch with no third party involved. Things like black boxes and getting lots of family members on the insurance as named drivers help too.
Anything sporty is going to be costly to insure if your daughter hasn't had a licence long, even as a named driver, I've found out recently.
If you can find one, a Citroen 2CV is quite a fun drive, and with a 602cc engine, it should be rock bottom insurance group. They're prone to rust so you'd want to check the floor-footwells before buying one.
Anyone risking their daughter's life in a Citroen 2CV would not be all there. Might as well stick an engine on a pram, ancient and not for for today's traffic , safety is ZERO.
If you're that worried, you can always retro-fit a roll cage, and wear a helmet.
It's not the car to be driving in a 70mph pileup, but those aren't the accidents you have driving around a city.
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OK - for you petrolheads out there. Advice needed on cars. Specifically, which is best city runabout car which could, if necessary, be used by 19 year old daughter without me fainting at insurance cost?
Family car now costing more to MOT than is worth. Hence the need for a change though current car is best and most comfortable car I have ever driven - but not made anymore, sadly.
What I would really like is a stylish fun sports-type car where I can pretend to be Grace Kelly and drive from Nice to Rome (a drive I have done several times in summer) and generally have fun rather than worry about transporting kids, shopping bags and dogs hither and thither. I may treat myself (or at least dream about it).
RIP Bob Crow: 52 is far too young.
Cars for kids are expensive to insure, full stop. Strangely, I believe that old classics like the Ford Anglia, old school Mini and suchlike are among the cheapest to insure. Modern cars such as a couple of year old Fiesta or Clio are the next best. Best thing for a young driver is to get a reliable knacker that they won't need to claim on if there is a bump with a wall or ditch with no third party involved. Things like black boxes and getting lots of family members on the insurance as named drivers help too.
Anything sporty is going to be costly to insure if your daughter hasn't had a licence long, even as a named driver, I've found out recently.
If you can find one, a Citroen 2CV is quite a fun drive, and with a 602cc engine, it should be rock bottom insurance group. They're prone to rust so you'd want to check the floor-footwells before buying one.
Anyone risking their daughter's life in a Citroen 2CV would not be all there. Might as well stick an engine on a pram, ancient and not for for today's traffic , safety is ZERO.
If you're that worried, you can always retro-fit a roll cage, and wear a helmet.
It's not the car to be driving in a 70mph pileup, but those aren't the accidents you have driving around a city.
The bairn may not be fussed - but the mother may well be. In any case, just think, for instance, of a side-on at the traffic lights.
The Spectator have a very odd story: Powys County Council has become the national regulator for estate agents?
"The Office of Fair Trading has a duty to supervise the working and enforcement of the Estate Agents Act 1979. The OFT may take action against those who do not comply, including by banning estate agents where necessary. From 31 March, the role will transfer to a lead enforcement authority—as we all know, Powys county council—which will enforce the measures throughout the UK"
Anyone risking their daughter's life in a Citroen 2CV would not be all there. Might as well stick an engine on a pram, ancient and not for for today's traffic , safety is ZERO.If you're that worried, you can always retro-fit a roll cage, and wear a helmet.
It's not the car to be driving in a 70mph pileup, but those aren't the accidents you have driving around a city.
The bairn may not be fussed - but the mother may well be. In any case, just think, for instance, of a side-on at the traffic lights.
Its a good point about car safety in a collision. Back in the day, you could always tell what sort of a job you were turning up to by the debris trail, long before you found any casualties. A head on between a Ford Escort and a tree only ever produced one winner- the tree. Nowadays, we still go to just as many collisions, but we get a lot less trapped casualties. I saw, only a few days ago, a current Mini that had hit a tractor head on at warp speed, and was literally shredded, but the occupant was sitting, a little dazed admittedly, in the wreckage of the cockpit. We didn't even need to cut them out, and the Air Ambo doctor was happy to just let us Longboard her as a precaution before she went off in a road ambo. You wouldn't get away like that in any older car.
Rumours that the plane has been found in the Malacka straits. From a forum posting, reporting Swedish media reporting Reuters, so take with a pinch of salt.
As I pondered earlier, if it is there, it will be interesting to know how and why it got there.
Well, that's the ironing done. I do the ironing, vacuuming and repair all minor household disasters. Such is the life of a retiree. I'm lucky though, my wife is an exceptionally good cook.
Getting back to Bob Crow. I understand that though big and bulky, Crow was a fanatic at exercising in the gym. I have noticed that many exercise freaks have sudden and early deaths.
On the Mini: it's too bloody small for many aged people to get in and out of, thanks to lack of flexible joints. (no not on the car)
As a fellow 52 year old I was quite shocked by Bob Crow's death. He has made his union members much wealthier than they would have been otherwise and that was his job. He was good at it.
As a 52 year old I remember when there were as many union leaders who were household names as politicians. Right now I have no doubt that I could name more members of the shadow cabinet than union leaders. Crow was one of a former generation who used his union position to project a moral stance on the nation. His stance was not one I agreed with but he had an integrity in presenting it that is very rare on any side and especially in the post Blair Labour party.
The broader Labour movement is diminished by his passing. (And I can't help feeling those who made a song and dance about him going away on holiday a couple of weeks ago look pretty stupid too.)
RIP Bob Crow - definitely will be missed by all those who care about the railways.
As a regular commuter, I care about the railways, but won't miss Bob Crow, and his resolute stand against modernisation in the supposed interests of safety. Full automation of the London Underground network cannot come soon enough.
Comments
My grandmother was 70 at the time.
http://my.news.yahoo.com/mh370-detected-above-malacca-straits-2-40am-062617741.html
He just did his job, and did it well (in the short term - I suspect the long-term outcome will be negative). Nothing more than that.
TBH it would be a load cheaper for her to use taxis on those rare occasions when public transport is unavailable or unsuitable. But having learnt to drive she does need to practise and as we need to change cars rather than pour money down the bottomless pit of our old if loved car I'm trying to combine the two.
A investigative trip to the many car dealers on the A5 this weekend looms......
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26529830
Scarlett Johansson: 'I'm not a nudist by nature'
Scarlett Johansson talks about her latest role in Jonathan Glazer's alien hitchhiker thriller Under the Skin....the film tells the story of an alien seductress played by Johansson.
(your dad and his mother/sister/your mother)
I don't think many people listen to stump speeches, aside from the odd soundbite that shows up in the news. I'm not suggesting that Farage is trying to hide his background, just that drawing attention to it might be a profitable strategy
The PM "expresses his deepest sympathies to Mr Crow's family and friends", No10's official spokesman says
And so do I.
If you bring attention to Mr Farage's work history, you also contrast him with the work history of the other party leaders. A majority of all voters disapprove of of career politicians.
I was a bit sceptical about the claim that Birmingham was more economically successful than London in the early 1960s, but I was watching the 1964 election on YouTube the other day and one of the pundits actually said something like "another result from Birmingham, the most prosperous part of the country".
No one likes us, we don't care. That was his motto in and out of work. But I actually liked him very much.
I hope that staff at London Underground will be able to schedule a minute's planned stoppage and silence. Dunno if Bob would approve or if he'd think there'd be a health and safety issue. Probably the latter.
Also wonder if Millwall will wear armbands against Blackpool tonight. Tricky one. Marking respect is always difficult.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100263201/bob-crow-one-of-the-last-leftists-to-believe-in-materialism/
Too authentic for the twee horror of New Labour.
It's not the car to be driving in a 70mph pileup, but those aren't the accidents you have driving around a city.
13:30 Irving
14:05 Dodging Bullets
16:00 Quevega
Also have EW on Our Conor in the Champion Hurdle
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/missing-flight-mh370-copilot-entertained-melbourne-woman-and-friend-on-a-previous-international-flight/story-fni0fiyv-1226851038856
"The Office of Fair Trading has a duty to supervise the working and enforcement of the Estate Agents Act 1979. The OFT may take action against those who do not comply, including by banning estate agents where necessary. From 31 March, the role will transfer to a lead enforcement authority—as we all know, Powys county council—which will enforce the measures throughout the UK"
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2014/03/powys-county-council-reaches-dizzy-new-heights/
Anyone risking their daughter's life in a Citroen 2CV would not be all there. Might as well stick an engine on a pram, ancient and not for for today's traffic , safety is ZERO.If you're that worried, you can always retro-fit a roll cage, and wear a helmet.
It's not the car to be driving in a 70mph pileup, but those aren't the accidents you have driving around a city.
The bairn may not be fussed - but the mother may well be. In any case, just think, for instance, of a side-on at the traffic lights.
Its a good point about car safety in a collision. Back in the day, you could always tell what sort of a job you were turning up to by the debris trail, long before you found any casualties. A head on between a Ford Escort and a tree only ever produced one winner- the tree.
Nowadays, we still go to just as many collisions, but we get a lot less trapped casualties. I saw, only a few days ago, a current Mini that had hit a tractor head on at warp speed, and was literally shredded, but the occupant was sitting, a little dazed admittedly, in the wreckage of the cockpit. We didn't even need to cut them out, and the Air Ambo doctor was happy to just let us Longboard her as a precaution before she went off in a road ambo. You wouldn't get away like that in any older car.
As I pondered earlier, if it is there, it will be interesting to know how and why it got there.
Getting back to Bob Crow. I understand that though big and bulky, Crow was a fanatic at exercising in the gym. I have noticed that many exercise freaks have sudden and early deaths.
On the Mini: it's too bloody small for many aged people to get in and out of, thanks to lack of flexible joints. (no not on the car)
As a 52 year old I remember when there were as many union leaders who were household names as politicians. Right now I have no doubt that I could name more members of the shadow cabinet than union leaders. Crow was one of a former generation who used his union position to project a moral stance on the nation. His stance was not one I agreed with but he had an integrity in presenting it that is very rare on any side and especially in the post Blair Labour party.
The broader Labour movement is diminished by his passing. (And I can't help feeling those who made a song and dance about him going away on holiday a couple of weeks ago look pretty stupid too.)