My Life That Happened In… #7
… April 2024
Goodbye Buddi
Friday 5th
As much as we loved Buddi. She wasn’t in the best condition. So we decided to part-exchange her for a younger model. Please let me introduce you to Pumpkin, the 2016 Fiat Panda 4×4.
We went to a dealership in Gillingham, called Signatures Car Sales. She has over 97 thousand on the clock and feels more powerful than Buddi. So far we are happy with her.
We Failed
Saturday 6th
Me and my brother went on a road trip to Hemel Hempstead. To visit the bookshop warehouse named Book 66. It gave Pumpkin a proper run-in and also to show her off to my brother. He looked at the car and he was impressed. Well, that was what he was supposed to be.
It took just under an hour to get there and once parked up. We went to the back of the queue.
Starting at the back of the queue, about 10ish. We spent the next nearly three hours moving about one hundred metres. And every hour or so an old man would walk the line telling us how long we would have to wait in the queue to get in and advertising an extra date so we could come back at another day.
We were stubborn and held our ground.
The Rules
This is how it works: They let in one hundred and fifty people at a time. After that, they let in as many people who exit the shop. But at 4 pm they don’t let anyone else in, even though they close at 6 pm, you will need at least two hours to navigate the warehouse. The reason to go? 70% off all the books on sale and other discounts.
It got to after 12.30 pm, my brother was starting to get restless. He went to speak to security and have a look at the queue. Seeing how long it was going to take to get in. We realised that even though we may have another two and a half hours left to wait. It was still no guarantee we were going to get in.
Taking our loss, we arranged for the next time to go a lot earlier. We left, stopping off at a service station for my brother to complain about the price of food. We found a food stand closer to home.
Who Can I Trust
As I virtually have no mechanical skills. All I wanted was to have my Android Play system installed to replace the current stereo. So I enlisted help from a colleague’s significant other. But again, after checking the car over. A few problems were found.
Taking his advice, I went back to the dealership. They said they would look into the problems and offered me a temporary replacement car.
As I didn’t know much about temporary insurance. I Bought too much and I lost a lot of money on that. I bought 28 days instead of a couple. As I didn’t know how long the car would be away.
The bright side, of it all, is that I got to drive a Mini for a couple of days. Fair enough, she is old and banged up. But it was fun.
Returning, a couple of days later. The showroom mechanic fixed the problems and treated Pumpkin like she was having an MOT test. One major fault, that was brought up turned out to be extremely exaggerated. He had photos to prove it. So now, I am down a few hundred quid and have nothing to show for it. And I still haven’t had my stereo installed.
More Shopping
Before I handed the car over I installed some storage solutions:
A new Aeriel as the old one looked a bit nasty. I am still having problems with reception, I may have to look at replacing the antenna base.
The sun visors now have something a little extra.
Friday 19th
My new book arrived today after the fun of the car. It’s a sequel to The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence. The book has been signed. I have added the book to the mounting pile I have collected.
Gas Scare
Saturday 20th.
Over the months the wife has said that she can smell gas. But by the time I am there, the smell has gone. I know there is a casual smell, but I also know, there’s nothing to worry about as it disburses after arriving. But this recent one lasted and hung around all night and when the wife pointed it out, I hadn’t noticed, until I opened the boiler cupboard door. That is when I called the emergency line.
Turns out that the boiler was fine but a pipe was a smidgen bit open. Hence the slow leaks. The plumber fixed the problem and after a quick check of everything, he left and we were happy.
Sunday 21st
About halfway through my night shift, I had to sit in the clerk area. My head started to feel funny and when I sat down I had a panic attack. I am not sure the manager understood what happened to me until he saw me go through the process. It took about half an hour for me to get through it. When I was done I barely had any energy left and I had to drag my feet to get to the canteen to rest and have something to eat.
A First Aider saw me and helped me out of the warehouse.
Wednesday 24th
I went to pick up my wife from work and I thought I would treat myself to a new book from Waterstones.
It’s Working
An area of the home is used for hanging clothes and storing some plants by the window. It also has a boiler closet as well. My plan: is that it would turn into a sort of, indoor garden area. So the wife can have some fun and learn how to look after and grow various house plants. And it seems to be working well. She recently purchased a plant stand, that I built and now it sits in the corner of the room.
Fair enough it still needs to be an area to dry clothes. But I also want it to be a small sanctuary for the missus.
The miniature bookcase where we stored documents has been converted into a place to hold her gardening tools and soil. It is helping her mental health and I couldn’t be happier. I do want to do more but no plans are made at the moment. But I know there will be more plants on the way.
Monday 29th
I have finally made the call. Well, email. I will be getting the MAD (mandibular advancement device). Which I have been thinking about getting for a couple of years. It is expensive. But, I am hoping for a better quality of life from it. The reason for the expense is from what the product is made from, Cobolt and the endurance of the product, instead of a few months or a year. This will last, hopefully, forever. The company is Somnowell.
This is an old video explaining what I am getting.
When everything is done I should be able to give the wife a good night’s sleep, instead of annoying her.
Tuesday 30th
Yesterday. I contacted a tyre shop to ask about balancing and aligning my wheels. I was told to turn up and wait.
Okay then, so today I showed up at about 8.30 am and waited for a couple of hours until it was my turn. I spoke to someone while waiting to find out he works at the same place I do. It’s weird how that happens sometimes. It was finally my turn, Pumpkin was taken inside and I was shown how the whole alignment system works. I saw it as one of the many things: that was produced from the Xbox 360 gadget, where lasers are used to measure the straightness of the wheels and are adjusted slightly.
The Results
I was able to have a look under the car and see for myself if everything was okay. Adjustments were made, and Pumpkin was taken outside to balance the wheels. And this is when the most wonderful thing happened: The locking wheel nuts were rusty. When the mechanic tried to loosen the bolt, it snapped.
On top of all of this. The wife was having an anxiety attack whilst going to work. So I had to wait while Pumpkin was being sorted before I could go and collect her.
So now I have to pay 85 pounds on Friday to have someone come out and try and remove it. And then again I can try and have the wheels balanced again.
So much fun this month. My wallet thanks you for your visit. See you next time.
