The New Motorway Speed Limit: 50mph!

A trip to Hull and back this weekend, a round trip of almost six hundred miles, reminded me of some of my pet peeves on the road!  And yes, I'll leave the new "Mini" alone this time...

The first thing I was not really surprised to encounter was roadworks.  But it was the sheer amount of them that really made the journeys longer!  I swear I spent more miles at in "average speed camera" marshalled 50 mph limits than on roadwork-free roads!  And most of them didn't even have anybody working on them!

Of course, I understand the need for road improvements and the like, but surely the whole M1 doesn't need repairing?!

One three junction stretch of the M1, spanning a good five to ten miles, appeared to be down to one lane so they can put more overhead information boards up.  With cameras.  Always with the cameras!  Speed does not kill... irresponsible speed kills.  The autobahn in Germany seems to work perfectly fine, bring it in here I say!

The traffic on the roads was also it's usual pain in the arse self.  You had the normal twattish driving from almost all BMW drivers.  Driving right up your exhaust pipe, too impatient to wait for you to get out of their fast lane, even though you're doing ninety!
You had the normal "I own the road" attitude from anyone in a 4x4.  Cutting you up because they forget how ridiculously big their tanks are.
And you had the normal lorries overtaking lorries... when will bloody HGV drivers realise they are all speed limited?!

It's also been noted (by me) that the price of petrol has been slowly creeping up to extortionate levels again!  And we can't blame the 2p rise in tax this time!  A global recession, yet the price of fuel has gone up by 20p  (equating to about 20%) in the last six or so months.  It now costs over £70 to fill my bloody tank up!!  I know... my own fault for having such a big car!

Why is nobody else concerned?  I haven't seen any complains about it recently...

That said, I still love driving.  It helps that I still really love my car, despite the constant "French tin" abuse she gets from the girls at work.  Black leather seats, awesome aircon/heating, good sound system... exceptionally good for those six hundred mile roundtrips.  And let's face it, with my family in Devon and Phee's in Hull, there's a lot of driving to be done!

Spend, Spend, Spend... There's a Recession, You Know!

This month, I have mostly been spending... LOTS!

For the first week, I eBayed a load. I got a funky new Nigeria football shirt (I'll explain that one another time), some Battlestar Galactica stuff (lapel badge, which I collect, and a mousemat with hot cylons on for work), a leather jacket (because I've wanted one for ages) and some CDs (Rammstein, Guns 'n' Roses).

And I was excited by all of that! But today my excitement has hit a new level, thanks to this:


This is Xandra II.

Legend has it that I crash cars. Unfortunately, the legend is true. Xandra II would be my sixth car so far. One was old and had knackered suspension, two hit things, one wasn't in a fit state when I was given her and one survived!

One of the two dead ones, was the original Xandra. A dark metallic green Peugeot 406 Coupe SE, identical to the new one. And she was the love of my life (other than Sophie, of course!). Oh how I went into mourning for at least two months after smashing her into a pole, wiping out an entire villages electricity in the process! But the wait is over...


Xandra II is the same 2L model I had before. The 3L version would require me to take out a mortgage to feed her petrol habit! She has plenty of grunt, and a pretty big exhaust to scare small dogs with. For the £1,650 I paid for her, there are a few little dinks to iron out with a good t-cut and polish and a small crack in the front bumper (not my parking for once), but it was still a good price.

Little Tammy, the 1.2L Corsa, is on her way back to Devon soon to meet up with her new owner. It's shocking how the car sells for a grand less than I bought her last year! But it'll do nicely anyway.

I think my spending spree is pretty much over now though... the £60 to fill her up each time is going to clean me out real soon!!

A Mini Rant!

What is the deal with new "Minis"? They are just so bloody common now!

Phee's friends at Uni all seem to be getting them, with three of her little circle of friends having "bought" them in the last year. They're just bloody everywhere! And the both the cars and their drivers annoy me.


First, let me start on the cars themselves. They are just not Minis! For a start, the inherently British icons of the motoring world are now German! And for a German car, they apparently have quite a few known faults. I mean, don't get me wrong, the Germans and Japanese make awesomely reliable cars on the whole!

And it's just not diddy enough. It's too big looking. It doesn't even have diddy wheels! This picture shows that the newer version is bigger. And just doesn't have the cute appeal:

And as for the drivers... well, they drive just like any other BMW driver: like a fucking wanker. No Mini EVER, will own the road. So why the drivers of them seem fit to try, I dunno! The tailgating bastard up my arse is now a BMW, 4x4 or a new "Mini" driver... basically, these silly cars are just BMWs for women!

And all these people go on about is how cute their car is. No it's not, it's bloody huge! And they normally have those ridiculous stripes now them. Or a silly roof!

If you want a Mini... get a REAL ONE!