Absolutely Anything Else

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

....
Well the letter is to say that she no longer lives here... so why send it to this address? Send it to almost any other address in Hungary, it is patently the last address in the world that she is actually going to receive it, but that is the posta for you.

I think it's to confirm that she really has moved.  If she was still there and it was a fake address change then she'd respond to the letter complaining someone had moved her.  They do that in the UK.

Well it is not quite that... it is that the family had loads of debts and moved from here... then don't use our address on your address cards as if you still lived here. All that does is put a load of hassle on us, you sold the property to us, you moved out, now GO and don't keep using our address as if you still lived here... I met with the fellow the other week as it happened, he is still driving taxis in Budapest, but you CHOSE to abandon the property and move out, then you can't at the same time CHOOSE still to use it as your address. The people themselves are nice enough people and I have met them, but come off it, you sold me a property, it is MINE, not YOURS. People seem to want it both ways... I paid off all your debts but you still want the property in some sense so that any dunning letter, any debt, comes to me rather than you. If you default on any loan, then they won't be taking your television, they'll be taking mine. That is NOT going to happen. First, I don't have any debt. None. I live within my means, I have no debt whatsoever. I don't have a credit card, or an overdraft, or anything. I am not rich, I live within my means. Second, I expect others to do likewise. If you can't afford something, don't buy it. We would like to get a new roof, new windows and doors, but we can't afford it, so we haven't bought it. We shall save up over the wintertime and the nice fellow who gave the quotation, we shall buy it and ask him to do the work in February or March. He is not short of work so that is not a problem, were he short of work I would somehow give him an advance, but fortunately he has lots of work. Then save up and pay for it when we can afford it. It is not really tricky, is it? Everyone in Hungary seems to live on tick and gets into trouble with it. I don't.

SimonTrew wrote:

....Then save up and pay for it when we can afford it. It is not really tricky, is it? Everyone in Hungary seems to live on tick and gets into trouble with it. I don't.

Things are pretty tough here at the bottom of the pile. If you are uneducated and don't have the smarts, you will end up in bother here financially. It's not a rich country to cough up on social security payments.   Some people just don't have financial skills to plan and budget for household expenses.

I am not sure now but there wasn't a personal bankruptcy law here but I seem to remember we discussed this in these forums people. People owe forever and ever and there's no way out of it. 

On the other hand, healthy people can go fruit picking or farm labouring in another country or even road sweeping, whatever and do better than here. 

God help you if you are disabled, old, mentally ill (or any combination) and on your own here.  I think you'd die sooner or later.

Perhaps the thing is to take up a life of crime, get banged up and have heat, warmth, regular meals, healthcare and built-in company.

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

....Then save up and pay for it when we can afford it. It is not really tricky, is it? Everyone in Hungary seems to live on tick and gets into trouble with it. I don't.

Things are pretty tough here at the bottom of the pile. If you are uneducated and don't have the smarts, you will end up in bother here financially. It's not a rich country to cough up on social security payments.   Some people just don't have financial skills to plan and budget for household expenses.

I am not sure now but there wasn't a personal bankruptcy law here but I seem to remember we discussed this in these forums people. People owe forever and ever and there's no way out of it. 

On the other hand, healthy people can go fruit picking or farm labouring in another country or even road sweeping, whatever and do better than here. 

God help you if you are disabled, old, mentally ill (or any combination) and on your own here.  I think you'd die sooner or later.

Perhaps the thing is to take up a life of crime, get banged up and have heat, warmth, regular meals, healthcare and built-in company.

"In the midst of life we are in debt" - Dorothy Parker.

Yes I have often thought doing some crime, three hots and a flop, and so on, would be the way to go. Unfortunately the police in Hungary are so lazy that any crime I commit seems to go unnoticed and I have completely failed to get into prison.

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

....Then save up and pay for it when we can afford it. It is not really tricky, is it? Everyone in Hungary seems to live on tick and gets into trouble with it. I don't.

Things are pretty tough here at the bottom of the pile. If you are uneducated and don't have the smarts, you will end up in bother here financially. It's not a rich country to cough up on social security payments.   Some people just don't have financial skills to plan and budget for household expenses.

I am not sure now but there wasn't a personal bankruptcy law here but I seem to remember we discussed this in these forums people. People owe forever and ever and there's no way out of it. 

On the other hand, healthy people can go fruit picking or farm labouring in another country or even road sweeping, whatever and do better than here. 

God help you if you are disabled, old, mentally ill (or any combination) and on your own here.  I think you'd die sooner or later.

Perhaps the thing is to take up a life of crime, get banged up and have heat, warmth, regular meals, healthcare and built-in company.

"In the midst of life we are in debt" - Dorothy Parker.

Yes I have often thought doing some crime, three hots and a flop, and so on, would be the way to go. Unfortunately the police in Hungary are so lazy that any crime I commit seems to go unnoticed and I have completely failed to get into prison. What I need really is a decent stretch, say nine months, that takes me over the Brexit boundary, so I have to do some kind of decent bit of criminal activity but not too much. Hmm, perhaps a robbery of a decent kind would work, perhaps just go and rob someone.... going equipped? But the police aren't looking for people going equipped with intent to rob, so I will just get away with it.... i need a decent, definite offense that I can be guilty of.

I mean it used to be easy in the UK, you could have Arson in Her Majesty's Naval Dockyards but they abolished that one... but Going Equipped, or possession of drugs used to be easy, I have no idea how to get drugs (beyond tobacco and alcohol that I get from the dóhanybolt) so I am unlikely to be caught in posession let alone dealing, I need a decent criminal offence then I am in. I don't particularly want to smack my neighbour with a crowbar, that would be out of order. What I need is a harmless criminal offence. Eating on public transport just gets you a fine, or not having a ticket (I have had that one once for some reason even though I had a ticket), so that is not good enough. What you need is something criminal but not injurious. If I attempt to smash my own place up, I am not committing a crime because it is my own property.

This is the problem with Hungary. In UK, there are so many crimes that are easy to commit without even noticing, if you are gathered together in more than ten people you are a "riot" and can be arrested, for breach of the peace. It is just quite hard here to get arrested. I suppose I could break someone's window but I don't want to do any harm.... how about "urinating in a public place"? You often get arrested for that in UK although I don't really see why dogs and cats and everything else can do it but not humans, anyway why do they call them public toilets, is that a public place? You can get arrested for almost anything in the UK, but it is very hard here to pin an offence on someone. I could try defenestration, but it is a single storey property and the wife would just bounce off the street, that would be no good.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Things are pretty tough here at the bottom of the pile. If you are uneducated and don't have the smarts, you will end up in bother here financially. It's not a rich country to cough up on social security payments.   Some people just don't have financial skills to plan and budget for household expenses.

I am not sure now but there wasn't a personal bankruptcy law here but I seem to remember we discussed this in these forums people. People owe forever and ever and there's no way out of it. 

On the other hand, healthy people can go fruit picking or farm labouring in another country or even road sweeping, whatever and do better than here. 

God help you if you are disabled, old, mentally ill (or any combination) and on your own here.  I think you'd die sooner or later.

Perhaps the thing is to take up a life of crime, get banged up and have heat, warmth, regular meals, healthcare and built-in company.

That is true and not true, as these things are. There is a man, I haven't seen him for a while, who used to beg outside Keleti Pályaudvár for paying for an operation for his wife. He has been begging for years and is genuine - my wife can separate the wheat from the chaff. He has not been there for a while so maybe he got enough for his wife to have her operation, I haven't seen him this summer. I am lucky, I am able, relatively young, yes I have a mental illness which I have had since I was 18 or probably before, depression, but I cope with it - have spent time in mental hospitals but have learned how to cope with it, not perfectly, but get through it, and it hits you when you least expect it - and I AM for most of the year on my own here. We shall all die sooner or later. I don't really care if it is sooner, I have had a very good life, and enjoy every day, one way or another, so if I died today I would not say to God "Oh sod you, for taking me away too soon". Carpe diem if you want, seize the day. (I before E except in seize and about three thousand other words... ceiling....)

I gave some money to my favourite charity today, I don't need a pat on the back for it. They need a pat on the back for their hard work. If you can, you must. Give to whoever you can, whatever you feel, but give something back to society if you are rich enough, lucky enough, to have a bit of money and a conscience, then please give something back. You choose, I am not asking for donations. But give a bit back when you can, please.

If you can, you must. That is one of my life rules. If you can, you must. You can't always, but if you can, you must. If you can, and don't, you are just selfish. If you can translate, on the street, and don't, you are just a selfish moron. If you can put a bit of litter in a bin/trashcan, and don't, you are just a selfish moron.

If you can, you must. I may not have a religion but I do have morals.

SimonTrew wrote:

....

Yes I have often thought doing some crime, three hots and a flop, and so on, would be the way to go. Unfortunately the police in Hungary are so lazy that any crime I commit seems to go unnoticed and I have completely failed to get into prison.

I should have said.....life of crime....or move into politics. More profitable than crime per se.

Mrs Fluffy had an aunt who had a friend who disappeared (this was many years ago).  Her husband had murdered her, chopped her up and hidden her in the attic where she mummified.   I think he was caught about 2 years after the deed but all he got was 10 years.  Seems quite a short sentence for murder but from what we hear, sentences are much lower here than say, in the UK. 

Murder there is what, min 25 years to life there, but out in say, 12 years on license?  Life isn't life these days, 20 years maybe?

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

....

Yes I have often thought doing some crime, three hots and a flop, and so on, would be the way to go. Unfortunately the police in Hungary are so lazy that any crime I commit seems to go unnoticed and I have completely failed to get into prison.

I should have said.....life of crime....or move into politics. More profitable than crime per se.

Mrs Fluffy had an aunt who had a friend who disappeared (this was many years ago).  Her husband had murdered her, chopped her up and hidden her in the attic where she mummified.   I think he was caught about 2 years after the deed but all he got was 10 years.  Seems quite a short sentence for murder but from what we hear, sentences are much lower here than say, in the UK. 

Murder there is what, min 25 years to life there, but out in say, 12 years on license?  Life isn't life these days, 20 years maybe?

Should have watched How To Murder Your Wife, and done it properly improperly. Yeah, I don"t really know about sentencing here,  but the way the cars fly about around here, it can"t be much or they would be more careful.... joking aside I literally must have been nearly killed about six times this week by cars flying around corners and across ped crossings that are clearly marked and have just been repainted. If you are a ped, you take your life in your hands in this country, a car driver is going to kill me one of these days. I can't always walk on the pavement because either (A) there isn't one or (B) YOUR EFFING CAR IS PARKED ON IT. I walk at least 10km a day, dont use a step counter thing just I know I do. I walk everywhere. Now GET Your effing car off of my pavement/sidewalk. I CAN WALK OUT ONTO THE STREET, PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS OR MOBILITY SCOOTERS CANNOT. THIS IS MY BIT. THE BLIND TEND TO LEARN ROUTES AND SUDDENLY FIND YOUR SODDING CAR IN THEIR WAY.

Hmm that was a good rant for this morning.

SimonTrew wrote:

...can't always walk on the pavement because either (A) there isn't one or (B) YOUR EFFING CAR IS PARKED ON IT. I walk at least 10km a day, dont use a step counter thing just I know I do. I walk everywhere. Now GET Your effing car off of my pavement/sidewalk. I CAN WALK OUT ONTO THE STREET, PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS OR MOBILITY SCOOTERS CANNOT. THIS IS MY BIT. THE BLIND TEND TO LEARN ROUTES AND SUDDENLY FIND YOUR SODDING CAR IN THEIR WAY.

Hmm that was a good rant for this morning.

I agree with you.  Between many villages there aren't any pavements (US:sidewalks) or even cycle paths.  People have to walk in the road.  It's really dangerous and unhealthy.  People drive to work but they could easily cycle and be more healthy and green. I want them to put in quiet paths through the forest so one can cycle or walk without cars around.

This  time of year, autumn/fall, I always find the most beautiful. I love to go out and smell a few late chrysanthemums, that people have planted, or someone down the street has a rose bush that is one in bloom but many in bud, and they are beautiful. My garden looks like a parking lot at the moment, because the things I stuck in won't bloom until at least next Spring.  Narcissus, daffodils, are good for an early bloom... I haven't managed to find London Pride here in Hungary but thatis a nice flower for your window boxes, I am so lazy I concreted over my window boxes

Petunia is nice, and a bit of azalea, lavender is always nice to give a bit of scent and makes a nice bush, roesemary also makes a lovely bush and scent and you will never have to buy rosemary again. Buddleia is a good climber, but will need a bit of support in its early years, peonies always look good, lots of flowers you can plant. THen the birds and bees can have their harvest and everyone is happy. I put in a walnut but that won't go until well after my death, a walnut is a very slow growing tree. The stem roses I put in my country house are flourishing this year, and will probably do so for eighty more years. And this is for FREE. you get this beautiful dawn, this beautiful sunset, this beautiful flower, for FREE. It is better than any television programme. You get it for FREE if you just look.

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

...can't always walk on the pavement because either (A) there isn't one or (B) YOUR EFFING CAR IS PARKED ON IT. I walk at least 10km a day, dont use a step counter thing just I know I do. I walk everywhere. Now GET Your effing car off of my pavement/sidewalk. I CAN WALK OUT ONTO THE STREET, PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS OR MOBILITY SCOOTERS CANNOT. THIS IS MY BIT. THE BLIND TEND TO LEARN ROUTES AND SUDDENLY FIND YOUR SODDING CAR IN THEIR WAY.

Hmm that was a good rant for this morning.

I agree with you.  Between many villages there aren't any pavements (US:sidewalks) or even cycle paths.  People have to walk in the road.  It's really dangerous and unhealthy.  People drive to work but they could easily cycle and be more healthy and green. I want them to put in quiet paths through the forest so one can cycle or walk without cars around.

There is a psychopath... no hang on cycle path... between Baross tér and I don't knwo where it finishes but goes past Keleti pályaúdvar That seems to be used mostly by motorcyclists, who use it to race the lights at the crossing right by Keleti. Well, that is not what it is FOR. It is there for cyclists, clearly marked as for cyclists, not for motorcylists. They use it essentially to jump the lights at Keleti well you can wait just like any other vehicular traffic your are a vehicle, you can wait, and obey  the red yellow/amber and green... i am a ped and I have to remember which way to look because I was taught the Green Cross Code, "Look left, look right, look left again", and of course now I have to reverse that and look in different directions. my eyesight is not too great and I have to THINK, it is not automatic. Which way am I supposed to look? Is there a bus or villamos or troli coming? Or some camion, kamion, that will kill me dead? At Keleti, at the Derby, the cyclists tend not to use the cycle lane but ride or walk their bike up the pavement, can't say I blame them for that. Incredibly dangerous for a cyclist there. Technically I suppose they are committing some offence for riding on the pavement, and certainly they should give way to me, but I would not ever use that cycle lane. And I have cycled a  thousand miles around France, Belgium and the tNetherlands just on holiday, getting very wet and seeing the sights, I am not sure I would cycle down that one.

I agree people seem to  confuse freedom with freedom to be an idiot and step- on other people's rights.
Yes, have to look both ways here even on one way streets.
Often we wait to cross on a green walk sign and almost get hit by a bicyclist who thinks he can ride on the bike lane but not follow the rules of the road.They often just keep going on while the traffic stops, if you ride on a bike lane you must follow the road rules too.My pet peeve is people who think rules do not apply to them.
My husband often says he would love to see just one old fashioned policeman on his beat, he said they would even run after cars until they caught up with them at a light and then hit the insane driver with their club, would pay to see that if the person deserved it, which most do.
His grandfather was a policeman in Budapest before WW11.
He trained and bought, was the purchasing   agent for the Budapest police dept. He was a real horseman and a real policeman.
Oh well, no one wants to do their jobs these days, just want the money without any work involved.
Yesterday on my walk I had to pass some odd dude on rollerblades who thought it was "cute" to have his elbows out  with hands on hips as he buzzed through the crowds on the st.
I swear to God if one of these fools clobbers into anyone I know, they are not getting any aid from me, in fact I may kick a man when he's down. That's how rude they are to everyone on the st.
I really get mad at those idiots who come up behind you on a scooter, bike etc. and almost hit you, like we have eyes in the back of our heads, many times I've barely missed getting hit from behind because they cut in so close, you don't dare move out of line without looking behind you first on the walkways.
Riding bikes is great but most have no care for anyone but themselves, on top of it they usually have headphones on and are in another world.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I agree people seem to  confuse freedom with freedom to be an idiot and step- on other people's rights.
Yes, have to look both ways here even on one way streets.
Often we wait to cross on a green walk sign and almost get hit by a bicyclist who thinks he can ride on the bike lane but not follow the rules of the road.They often just keep going on while the traffic stops, if you ride on a bike lane you must follow the road rules too.My pet peeve is people who think rules do not apply to them.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
I really get mad at those idiots who come up behind you on a scooter, bike etc. and almost hit you, like we have eyes in the back of our heads, many times I've barely missed getting hit from behind because they cut in so close, you don't dare move out of line without looking behind you first on the walkways.
Riding bikes is great but most have no care for anyone but themselves, on top of it they usually have headphones on and are in another world.

Have you noticed these electric sit down scooters and Segways down on Vorosmarty Ter and up Vaci? I've even seen them on the road up to the chairlift and on Margitsziget. I think these are vehicles.  They go pretty fast and the electric scooters have two people on them without helmets!

I ride my bike around Budapest sometimes and it's pretty rubbish for cycle paths.  A lot of pedestrians walk on them and are smartphone zombies.  They never hear you coming even  if you use your bell.

Let's not even get into the "dumbphone zombies" they are a breed of their own.
Mind controlled lost souls...
How boring they must be to be stuck in a lift with! Nightmare!!

We thought they made those silly Segway things illegal to use on Vaci Utca but who knows...
Tourists don't wish to come home with a cast on their leg or a broken arm from getting run over by an idiot on a scooter with head phones on who only compensation is,"Sorry'! Weak excuse for sure!
Today while just walking on a side st. home from running an errand a young couple was  walking towards us, my husband is a total gent, I mean a real gentleman from way back when , his manners are for real.
I tend to walk fast so he fell in behind me to let this ding bat couple pass, the young women must of thought she was the "bees knees' with her wildly swinging arms I held my ground  to the right but that lamo couple just about knocked me off the sidewalk.
Not sure if we should of told the guy to run away fast with his life or for her to run because he was a loser!
I am 100% serious in the US a young couple no matter what their race or background would show allot more respect then that for old folks.
Hungarians are not exactly well trained in manners even if they say their language is respectful to others. Could be that we have just experienced low class people and not seen the "cream of the crop".
I am old school about certain things, if a person who is older then I am comes by, I will move away or stop to let them pass out of respect.Of course I'm from the generation that never called any of my friends parents anything other then Mrs. or Mr. These young people will find karma to be a B**** and no one will cut them any slack. Who knows they may even put them away after age 45 or 50, useless garbage.
Soylent Green time.

I have to say I am very disappointed with the manners of young people here in Hungary.
The lost generation.
Have to almost feel for them, God only knows how they will be treated when they get older, if they even last that long.
I wonder if these people ever where taught anything from their parents or if they are all just another breed of human.
I understand  how some young people are full of themselves but ,"Please" they aren't all that. If they could only see themselves they'd probably loose their s***!
Not exactly attractive people in their prime , give them a good 15 years and they will be in a food line or alone with 5 kids and no father around...
I am also serious when I often tell my husband that if I was a healthy young active man, I'd pass on what I see on the st. Could actually even understand if my son was gay or didn't want to date.
Only because the female pickings aren't all that great out there from what I see. Maybe the real young ladies are hiding at home?
My son is not gay at all but he has never ever dated an American or western women because they have dropped the ball and don't measure up to anyone with standards. Too male in their behavior and too nasty and rude for him.
He works in a casino and could pick  up any women at random any day, many "cougar" older women ask him  to dinner etc. It just grosses him out, Cocktail waitresses who are divorced with children and baby -daddies who smile at him all day long, he loves his simple sweet Japanese wife who never puts on airs and is gentle and a real lady.
He used to go to all the big clubs in Vegas, years back knew all the doormen after handing them hundreds of dollars for VIP status etc. Bottle service etc. just bored him to death to see how desperate some ladies were to meet anyone they though had money.
Funny thing my son looked great but drove a old car and lived at home  to be able to save for a real women and not a party gal type.
Oh well, many people don't fully understand that most men even these days are still looking for a mate that can be a mother and partner not one of those Kardasistion  types.
One reason he has traveled the world for mates, western women have really let the female sex down in so many ways.
Guess you can tell I'm not a women's libber, although I used to be as far as equal pay and father's paying for children and women getting educated and getting a fair chance for jobs.
Somewhere they crossed the line and it isn't pretty at all.
Many young women these days seem more male then their male partners are.
Reversal of roles.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
Funny thing my son looked great but drove a old car and lived at home  to be able to save for a real women and not a party gal type.
...

Isn't that the "girl next door" syndrome though?  Or the "guy next door" for fairness?

All immortalised in the movies and TV.

Probably embodied the ideal person  in reality, anthropologists have modelled that sort of thing - the turn on for straight guys is a woman's waist ratio 70% small than the hips.  Presumably the human instinct for an ideal ratio for child bearing when it comes down to it notwithstanding the most important sex organ is between one's ears.

Someone I knew said his ideal woman was a "lady at home and a slut in bed".

Not judging, just saying. 

Not sure what the ideal man would be.  "Gent at home and a saytr in bed"?   I'm more inclined to think stability more important than anything.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I ride my bike around Budapest sometimes and it's pretty rubbish for cycle paths.  A lot of pedestrians walk on them and are smartphone zombies.  They never hear you coming even  if you use your bell.

Now that is a nice phrase, "smartphone zombies", I like that. I know what you mean, they are so attached to their phone, flicking around on something, that they aren't watching anything else. We all have to share the street, it is a public place. In theory you can't use a phone in a car, but it makes no difference, SatNav is one of the worst things... instead of learning your route, now you are looking constantly at your SatNav and not on the road and bang goes Simon, because you have not seen him on the pedestrian crossing that your SatNav hasn't told you is there. I have just come to hate cars... I love buses, and truck drivers tend to be very considerate, but private motorists think they rule the universe and f- me if I get in their way. There is a ped crossing near me that they must have repainted only a few days ago as it is nice white glassine paint on it, has signs marked as a ped crossing in all four directions, and fukdifino why cars do do not stop for me, on a pedestrian crossing. Oh, I know exactly why... because they in their vehicle are more important than me on boots. Sometimes (I have not yet done this) I just want to get my keys out of my pocket and as you go past I just scrape your car, scrape the paintwork with my keys, now THAT might teach you a lesson.

There are lots of cycle lanes in Budapest, certainly lots where I live, but they are kinda all in the wrong places. Just draw a line down the street and call it a cycle lane, Mr. Mayor gets a bonus for having now put in 15km of cycle lanes or whatever. You don't really need cycle lanes anyway, what you need, is cyclist advance at junctions (which doesn't seem to exist), and other kinda traffic measures like that. Cycling along a straight road is not the big deal. It is when you get to junctions and stuff like that, that you really need help. A cyclist is actually far quicker off the blocks than a car, at a junction, that is simple inertia for you, but the cars will just try to smack you turning left or right as you are trying to get across the junction. Even if they WERENT slower (which they are) then they are just so impatient, they will kill you. Obviously a car goes quicker than a bicycle, on average. But from a standing start, bike is quicker off the blocks than a car, has less weight and inertia and I can get across that junction a damned sight quicker than you can.

And to make it clear, I do have a driving licence, I have and can driven heavy goods vehicles, buses, and pretty much anything, I have a tracked vehicle licence so I can drive a tank down the street if you want me to (they are rather fun to drive) but I just prefer, at the moment, to stay on Shank's Pony and see the wonders of Budapest by foot.

Once when I lived in Cambrige, England I was walking across the junction at Parker's Piece, up to Mill Road - this is a very busy junction with pedestrian lamps. It is right opposite the police station where I have spent a few happy nights after enforcing my rights, getting let out in the morning with no charge, the coffee in Parkside Police Station is absolutely dreadful I don't know how the Constabulary put up with it.

Anyway I was just waiting at the lights to go green for me to cross on the ped crossing. What AMAZED me is a woman with a small child then tried to shoot the lights, go across on the ped crossing with a child in a pushchair. Now, I would have shot those lights were I on my own, because I can see the traffic and know it is relatively safe to do so. What I would NOT do is teach a child to just ignore the lights and go across whenever he or she pleases. That is just asking for trouble, to me. I can take risks, I am an adult and understand risk, and if I want to flick across a busy street when I think it is safe, that is my own lookout, literally and metaphorically. What I would NOT do is teach a child that it is perfectly fine to cross a busy street whenever you feel like it, if it seems like there is no traffic coming. I would teach them to wait at the lamp, wait at the light until the green man is lit up.

So that child is going to get killed because before he knows any road sense he is going to run across the street, be hit by a car, go into Addenbrokes Hospital and not come out again. I mean, I may bitch and complain about things - it is chiefly my job here it seems - but surely you do not teach a child bad habits. You get your bad habits when you are older and wiser, surely you should teach a child how safely to cross a road?

Once I spent another not particularly memorable night in Stevenage Police Station, for some other offence I hadn't committed, but someone had me on the hue and cry - if you want to be free, if you want to enforce your rights and stay free, you have sometimes to go to the edge of the law. If you want to protect your freedom, TEST it, and sometimes you find the police come and say you have done something which you have not done - but I am a big fan of civil liberties so I WILL push it. If you don't keep track of your civil liberties, you will lose them. Anyway that is a ramble as usual.

So I was in Stevenage Police Station and the duty sergeant in the morning asked me "do you know what time it is"? No madam, you have taken my watch from me, but judging by the sun through that window I should say, it is about half past eight. She said, "You're bang on, actually".

I worked for about eighteen months for a company in Stevenage that was, when it was first built, GEC Marconi but it has changed hands since, it does a lot of the stuff underneath your mobile phone. They had a bizarre policy that you had to sign to get a biro or pencil from the stationery store. I have had this before at British Wasteospace, that you have the Pencil-Ordering Department but I thought that had gone out by now, but yeah, you had to sign for a new biro. Now, may I borrow your biro so that I can sign for a biro? No, that is MY biro, you need your own biro.... it is very Kafkaesque, how do I sign for a biro if I do not have a biro?

I just took the practical way out, went to Poundland and bought  a packet of twenty biros for a pound, but I just cannot understand that kind of logic. You employ someone simply to make trouble? Jobsworth it used to be called, I know yes somehow on the form you have to account for it but it is a tenpenny biro, it is not that I am taking a thirty thousand pound oscilloscope (which I actually did take without having to sign for it). Small companies tend not to work like that, just help yourself, sooner or later you are going to have enough pens at home you will stop taking them, you are not going selling them on the black market are you?

British Wasteospace was a bit like that with what, at that time, was Stores Demand Notes (SDN's), if you wanted something from store, you had to have a Stores Demand Note. This would have to be signed off by your boss. The hardest thing was actually getting a pad of Stores Demand Notes, that in itself had some stores number, so to order a pad of Stores Demand Notes itself required a Stores Demand Note...  at the same time I ordered 1 set of floppy disks (which we used at that time and I think magically I still have) and because I put 10 (each) i.e. one packet I then got ten boxes.... nine boxes to me then... but you had to have a Stores Demand Note.

As an apprentice you were sent on fool's errands a bit. The oil store, at 87L, was about a mile from the electronics store, at 72L, but if you wanted oil cooled resistors (and we did) the electronics store would send you to the oil store, who would of course send you back to the electronics store.... I never fell for striped paint or left-handed screwdrivers but we did use a lot of weird parts and so some things you think... I think this is a joke but I am not entirely sure and find out that yes actually there are self-lubricating gaskets or whatever it might be. You think surely this is a fool's errand and find out it isn't, three hours later when your boss is saying did you go to the store and get those self-lubricating gaskets because we need them now, and is not joking.

Heavy oil, and light oil, well can I weigh it? No I need heavy oil.... well how heavy do you want it to be?

fluffy2560 wrote:

I'm trying to think of a witticism for these musings involving the green saying  “If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down”

Piston broke.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
Funny thing my son looked great but drove a old car and lived at home  to be able to save for a real women and not a party gal type.
...

Isn't that the "girl next door" syndrome though?  Or the "guy next door" for fairness?

All immortalised in the movies and TV.

Probably embodied the ideal person  in reality, anthropologists have modelled that sort of thing - the turn on for straight guys is a woman's waist ratio 70% small than the hips.  Presumably the human instinct for an ideal ratio for child bearing when it comes down to it notwithstanding the most important sex organ is between one's ears.

Someone I knew said his ideal woman was a "lady at home and a slut in bed".

Not judging, just saying. 

Not sure what the ideal man would be.  "Gent at home and a saytr in bed"?   I'm more inclined to think stability more important than anything.

My son's ideal women weighs 100 lbs. with long black hair,, Hench he goes Asian.
I'm about mentally ready ( bout time) for him to have a child, can't wait to see a little Eurasian baby .
Of course it's all out of my hands.
My friend who is a few months younger then I am is already a great-grandmother!
I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever see a baby in the family at all.
My boy is super pale 6'3" tall with red hair and green eyes, it will be interesting to see how the DNA comes together with his Japanese wife, never know.
I sometimes do think though it's not fair to the tall ladies out there for a 6'3" guy to like tiny ladies.
The pickings are slim for allot of tall young ladies as it is.
I've spoken to many and they do get upset seeing a tall man with a super tiny lady,like it's hard enough for a tall gal as it is.

I do miss driving a car, will be doing so soon enough though. Can't wait.
The problem with allot of wild drivers is they haven't had their first or second crash yet.
Many people who drive here are first generation drivers, their parents probably never owned or drove a car. In the US most people had at least grandparents who drove.
I know we always had at least 2 cars at all times growing up, once my husband and I had 4 cars between the two of us, that was over kill.
My husband's father came from a upper class HU family and had a car of his own pre WW11 .
Back then not allot of private citizens in Hu had cars, mostly businessmen, the wealthy, doctors to be able to make house calls, a politicians.
My husband is a terrible passenger,I dislike driving with him in the car.
Every min. he has something to say, you're too fast, too close to this or that, makes me insane so I really don't even wish to drive here in Hungary at all.
Drove years back by myself near the lakes when we stayed there for 6 months, drove myself all over lake Venencia and over the lake area to the other shore to go to a gym in the hills.
No way do I even want to park the car let alone drive in Budapest.

Some people are just horrible drivers and no amount of time matters, they never improve.
In Vegas my co-worker friend wanted to take me to some real estate thing.
I drove to her townhouse and she drove us over to the meeting.
OMG!!
I thought I'd get whip lash , it was like riding a bucking bronco.
I couldn't figure out at first  what was going on.The car was going forward then jerking then forward then jerking and on and on.
It was an automatic and a fairly new Toyota, good little car.
I noticed how she drove, insane.
Was too cautious.
Gas then brake then gas then brake it was ridiculous.
She drove in the far right lane and people pulling out from various shopping centers all along the route waited for her to pass, she even confused normal bad drivers.
She was the worst driver ever and I silently prayed the whole time.
Thankfully she stayed on the sts, and didn't go onto the high speed freeway.
My husband had a cute little Fiat sports car when we mnet.
He was about to trade it in for his new Dodge Challengar.
I had no idea he was getting rid of the Fiat, I would of bought it off of him.
One of his crazy Hungarian friends, a chubby gay guy everyone knew who went by the name, "Raisin" ( not sure of the HU spelling Maszula?)
talked my husband into selling the car to him for about $300.
This was in 1975, think the Fiat was a 67.
He let him buy it even though it must of looked silly since the car was tiny and this guy was fat and round.
My husband asked him if he knew how to drive a stick shift, guy said yes, not sure why because as soon as the deal was done and he drove off, he blew out the clutch.
Dumb, really dumb.
Later my husband told me he would of just given me the car if I wanted it, too little too late for that.
I never drove that Dodge, it was really powerful and hard to push down the clutch for me, never liked the car, thought the old Fiat was cuter although the Dodge could move like lightening, go 140 MPH on hills heading to Vegas, passing every other car on the road.
Way too much power for me, no thanks.
A HU guy we know who was a line mechanic for a major US beer co. was a driving clutz.
He bought a new car and had to change the clutch about every 6 months!
We drove with him once in FL. and I know how bad his driving skills were, hard to believe he knew how to fix line production tools but couldn't figure out how to use a clutch without killing it.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
My son's ideal women weighs 100 lbs. with long black hair,, Hench he goes Asian.
I'm about mentally ready ( bout time) for him to have a child, can't wait to see a little Eurasian baby .
Of course it's all out of my ......

My husband is a terrible passenger,I dislike driving with him in the car.
Every min. he has something to say, you're too fast, too close to this or that, makes me insane so I really don't even wish to drive here in Hungary at all....

100lbs is 45kg.  That sounds rather low by European but I suppose she's quite tiny and therefore proportionate.   What about them and their child? Are they ready?  World changes when babies arrive as most of us know.   

I'm a bit of a back seat driver myself but I actually don't care if Mrs Fluffy is driving. I prefer it really.  If we go places, I usually want her to drive.  I can then have a sleep, look at the scenery and keep the kids in order. Sometimes I drive but I must have drive a milliion miles in my time so I'm not that bothered to drive much. 

I always drive in the UK because Mrs Fluffy is not confident driving on the left. I don't find it a big issue at all. I can just swap but after so long away from there, I do sometimes forget where I am.  Had some close calls.   The worst thing here is the unmarked give way to the right.  This is just a nightmare and asking for trouble and accidents.  How do you know in a village which roads are give way to the right?   With no markings and equal size roads, how do you know?l  Mrs Fluffy says you have to just learn it!  Pfff.....

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

I ride my bike around Budapest sometimes and it's pretty rubbish for cycle paths.  A lot of pedestrians walk on them and are smartphone zombies.  They never hear you coming even  if you use your bell.

Now that is a nice phrase, "smartphone zombies", I like that. I know what you mean, they are so attached to their phone, flicking around on something, that they aren't watching anything else. We all have to share the street, it is a public place. In theory you can't use a phone in a car, but it makes no difference, ...

The thing is that they are heads down on the phone but even worse are the ones with the earphones in listening to some important rubbish or other.  That's why they don't hear you coming.  People die because they are walking zombie like and don't hear the traffic moving or hooting.   

Other people walk on the cycle paths and don't observe the signage.  Bikes travelling at speed are going to seriously injure people if they get in the way.

The urban environment is relatively hostile and these days one should always be maintaining situational awareness.  I've had these discussions with people before and it might be a thing.  I've noticed this in restaurants.  Some will want to position themselves at a table where they can see the door and observe the whole room or by a window so they can see the car.   I've always done that and I presumed it's innate because if there's trouble, one could see it coming. What one could do about it is another thing!

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Some people are just horrible drivers and no amount of time matters, they never improve.
In Vegas my co-worker friend wanted to take me to some real estate thing.
I drove to her townhouse and she drove us over to the meeting.
OMG!!
I thought I'd get whip lash , it was like riding a bucking bronco.
I couldn't figure out at first  what was going on.The car was going forward then jerking then forward then jerking and on and on.
It was an automatic and a fairly new Toyota, good little car.
I noticed how she drove, insane.
Was too cautious.
Gas then brake then gas then brake it was ridiculous.
She drove in the far right lane and people pulling out from various shopping centers all along the route waited for her to pass, she even confused normal bad drivers.
She was the worst driver ever and I silently prayed the whole time.
....
A HU guy we know who was a line mechanic for a major US beer co. was a driving clutz.
He bought a new car and had to change the clutch about every 6 months!
We drove with him once in FL. and I know how bad his driving skills were, hard to believe he knew how to fix line production tools but couldn't figure out how to use a clutch without killing it.

There's bad driving everywhere here.  There are terrible habits like driving too close on the autopalya, cutting corners (this is really common), parking too close to others (this really annoys me), throwing the car around corners like a rally driving etc.   Why is it that when we park at least 1 car away from the nearest car in an empty car park some stupid nitwit wants to come and park right next to us?   We always park one or more car away so they don't squash us in or scratch our paintwork.  I have asked people why they do it and the most ludicrous answer I ever heard was "it looks neater".   Do me a favour!!

My Dad always told me to drive smoothly like a chauffeur or like you've a wedding cake or box of eggs on the back seat.  It's quite a good way to drive. Everything in slow motion.   The roads are quite bad here here so avoiding the potholes is an art.

Re the clutch, the guy was probably continuously resting his foot on the clutch pedal while driving.   That'll wear out the thrust bearing in no-time.  Clutch should go for 60,000 miles approximately in normal driving so that's perhaps 3-5 years in normal usage.

I drove my 5 speed Saab for over 10 years and never had to change the clutch, put nearly 200,000 miles on it, had almost 100,000 when we bought it at just 2 years old.
Loved that car, the tranny died in Las Vegas... Like so many dreams!
Some guy placed an add in the paper from Washington state, he bought Saabs and fixed them up. Very Grunge style in Washington I guess, they love the funky Saabs and Volvos, I do too.
I was happy to know he was going to fix it up and it would see many more miles.
Yes, people ride the clutch, that guy was too much I swear he thought it was normal to change the clutch every 6 months!
our son's first car was a nice older Benz that he was lucky to buy off a old retired couple. They each had the Mercedes and they had decided to sell one as they no longer needed two cars.
People in parking lots would key it or run their shopping carts into the door, jerks!
I loved driving his car, a Diesel engine big 4 door model, very "old lady" style but with allot of power when you needed power.
One bad oil change and he blew out the engine, had the car for 5 years without any issues until he killed it by accident. Forgot to put the screw back on tight after changing his oil, blew out on the freeway in Vegas... Dumb!!! Bought another car the same year and model  but it wasn't as good as the one that old couple had taken such good care of.
After that he bought a junk Suzuki off a friend who was moving back to Japan.
Paid $300. for it, ran for years and years, had A/C too.
Was so sun faded and ugly that people actually got out of his way.
They might of thought it was an illegal driving a old junk without auto insurance on it.
He paid more for insurance each year then he paid for the whole car.
No chick magnet for sure!
Only had to change out the timing belt which my husband did for him.
Funny thing when he went to Japan he had broken up with his Japanese girlfriend, it was her good friend who sold him the car.
He was standing all 6'3" with red hair in Tokyo and out of the sea of little dark haired people he saw that women looking at him from across the street. He waved to her but she didn't wave back, either she was afraid he wanted his money back on that car( which was still running at that time) or she was mad that he had dumped her friend and was in Japan looking for new ladies.I thought it strange he would run into anyone he knew in such a busy city.
I'm not so sure my DIL is still just 100 lbs. after living in America.
She is the same size as I am but she is petite , her clothing is cute but everything is too short for me, sleeves, , she only wears dresses of skirts, that is very Japanese.
I'm almost 5'9" tall and I know I don't look skinny but I am only an average now of 122 lbs to 124. My "fat" times are when I go up to 128. Even when I was pregnant I only gained 23 lbs. at the end of term.
I buy clothing for her sometimes that fits me but is short everywhere, fits her perfectly.
One of his old girls had such tiny feet she had to have shoes mailed in from Japan or buy children's shoes.
My husband thinks it's ,"weird" that he likes such short little ladies when he is so tall.
My German grandfather who was born in 1882 married my grandmother when he was pushing 50.
He was very tall for his generation at 6'4" and super slim, my son took after him that way.
His first marriage since he was a military man and loved to travel around.
My grandmother who was half Mohawk and English was super tiny with long black hair down to her waist. Guess it runs in the family , guys liking someone who is so different then themselves.

Just got on the scale, having a "fat" day 124 lbs, 55.7 Kilos.
My sister was 5'10" tall and 108 lbs. in her late teens early 20's was never more then 120 lbs. in her life and was physically strong.
My DIL was helping us move into a storage unit when I first met her, she was picking up tool boxes by herself which even my husband had a hard time doing alone.
My husband would like it if I gained about 10 15 lbs but then he would have to buy me a new wardrobe.
I'd rather not do that.
I think as one ages they either gain weight or lose weight, better to be slim when one ages because lugging around extra weight isn't so good on the bones, poor knees.
Perhaps  that's one reason though they I'm getting so upset with sidewalk hogs, I can be blown over by a gentle wind these days let alone a steam engine walking down the sidewalk.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I drove my 5 speed Saab for over 10 years and never had to change the clutch, put nearly 200,000 miles on it, had almost 100,000 when we bought it at just 2 years old.
Loved that car, the tranny died in Las Vegas... Like so many dreams!
Some guy placed an add in the paper from Washington state, he bought Saabs and fixed them up. Very Grunge style in Washington I guess, they love the funky Saabs and Volvos, I do too.
I was happy to know he was going to fix it up and it would see many more miles.
Yes, people ride the clutch, that guy was too much I swear he thought it was normal to change the clutch every 6 months!
our son's first car was a nice older Benz that he was lucky to buy off a old retired couple. They each had the Mercedes and they had decided to sell one as they no longer needed two cars.
People in parking lots would key it or run their shopping carts into the door, jerks!
I loved driving his car, a Diesel engine big 4 door model, very "old lady" style but with allot of power when you needed power.
One bad oil change and he blew out the engine, had the car for 5 years without any issues until he killed it by accident. Forgot to put the screw back on tight after changing his oil, blew out on the freeway in Vegas... Dumb!!! Bought another car the same year and model  but it wasn't as good as the one that old couple had taken such good care of......

The older Saab 93s are just  basically the underside of an Opel Vectras badged up and with higher build quality.  I think the running gear was made in Austria.  I had a black Saab 9000 myself and it's a nice car, akin to a Mercedes. I used to think it looked like a Mafia staff car.  I drove it around Hungary for about 3 years and no-one touched it!  I used to get stopped by the cops a lot - they wanted bribing.

Mercs of course are legendary when it comes to reliability. I've been in plenty of Mercs over the world, including one in Central Asia which the owner told me had a million km on it and the original engine.  He said he bought it in  Poland (where he was a student) ,maybe 3rd or 4th hand from Germany, then drove it all the way back to his "-stan" (i.e. one of the countries ending in -stan).  Drove it through Russia etc. He said he never had a problem with it but even if he did, people in his "-stan" were adept at fixing stuff in the field so long as it was Russian, Japanese or Mercedes.  Cars like Seat or Renaults or Fords, they had no idea.   Same in Africa. I was in a breakers yard in West Africa and they had plenty of "posh" cars parked up there for lack of parts - I remember them being Volkswagen 4WDs.  Vehicles like Land Rover or Toyota Land Cruiser, they could cope with.  They said they removed the electronics mainly and made it "simple".  Same with the "-stan" cars - make it simple. 

Riding the clutch is just such a black mark on people's driving style. I've noticed it's fairly common to do that here.  I've notice some weird double footwork on automatics as well  - left on the brake and right on the power at the same time.   

The bit that goes in the clutch is the thrust bearing rather than the plates themselves although they sometimes go as do the covers.   The thrust bearing is the bit that moves the plate (connected to the pedal via cable or hydraulics and therefore your foot).   

I had a part time job once selling car spares - we would sell more thrust bearings than clutch plates.  But I learnt from experience - if you've got the thing apart, you might as well just change the plate as well.  Sometimes getting to the clutch on modern cars is just so difficult, it's not something you want to do just for fun.

I've heard from others that Japanese cars like Toyotas are extremely reliable.  I've never had a Japanese car but driven plenty.  I was thinking about  one of those for next time.  Probably a couple of years before we change the present daily driver.

My husband  swears on Japanese cars.
Most reliable cars.
In the US they have a saying , "Fiat" fix it again Tony.
Ford, "Fix or repair daily!"
We had a very old Saab 99 and mine was a white sweet basic 900.
My husband's old Hungarian boss in S. Ca. was SUPER rich, he lived in Asia for many years and worked as an engineer.
In S. Ca. he just flat out bought a new building in the 1980's for a couple million bucks, my husband went to his home once, said his Persian carpets were so thick he nearly broke his ankle walking on them.
Anyways, this guy was loaded but drove the worst car on the road, some very old Volvo from the 60's  that was mostly primer grey.
My husband was another clunker driver when he was making great money and could of bought any car off a showroom floor, he drove that old Saab 99,ran great but was dirt brown and funky.
Someone once asked me if that car was made in Mexico!
Sort of cool to know they had enough confidence in themselves to not need to impress anyone. Even illegal Mexicans had better looking cars then my husband did. I didn't care, he gave me the nice car, as should be...

Shipped those 2 Saabs to Hawaii after first driving them to New Mexico and using them in high desert climate, drove them for a couple years in humid Hawaii.
Sold the 99 to another HU guy in HIlo but shipped my Saab back to New Mexico for a couple more years of high desert driving.
Great cars.
Funny thing with Saabs though, my brother is a airline mechanic and when I once asked him to look under the hood of my Saab, he just opened it up looked around and closed the hood.
Said no thanks to that transverse engine.
Oh well, some people can't think outside the box.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

...
Funny thing with Saabs though, my brother is a airline mechanic and when I once asked him to look under the hood of my Saab, he just opened it up looked around and closed the hood.
Said no thanks to that transverse engine.
Oh well, some people can't think outside the box.

My bro had Saabs for years and even my BIL had one.  They are good cars. 

Your brother and the transverse engines would have had kittens looking at a car with a longitudinal engine (crankshaft inline with the body) and a front wheel drive transverse gearbox (drive across the body). 

I cannot remember the actual car it was in when I looked at it but it probably was a Renault 4. Really quirky design but probably much easier to work on as more space down the sides.

Front wheel drive cars are better handling than rear wheel drives (the wheels pull the car around corners rather than rear wheels pushing the car around).

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
Funny thing my son looked great but drove a old car and lived at home  to be able to save for a real women and not a party gal type.
...

Isn't that the "girl next door" syndrome though?  Or the "guy next door" for fairness?

All immortalised in the movies and TV.

Probably embodied the ideal person  in reality, anthropologists have modelled that sort of thing - the turn on for straight guys is a woman's waist ratio 70% small than the hips.  Presumably the human instinct for an ideal ratio for child bearing when it comes down to it notwithstanding the most important sex organ is between one's ears.

Someone I knew said his ideal woman was a "lady at home and a slut in bed".

Not judging, just saying. 

Not sure what the ideal man would be.  "Gent at home and a saytr in bed"?   I'm more inclined to think stability more important than anything.

My son's ideal women weighs 100 lbs. with long black hair,, Hench he goes Asian.
I'm about mentally ready ( bout time) for him to have a child, can't wait to see a little Eurasian baby .
Of course it's all out of my hands.
My friend who is a few months younger then I am is already a great-grandmother!
I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever see a baby in the family at all.
My boy is super pale 6'3" tall with red hair and green eyes, it will be interesting to see how the DNA comes together with his Japanese wife, never know.
I sometimes do think though it's not fair to the tall ladies out there for a 6'3" guy to like tiny ladies.
The pickings are slim for allot of tall young ladies as it is.
I've spoken to many and they do get upset seeing a tall man with a super tiny lady,like it's hard enough for a tall gal as it is.

I do miss driving a car, will be doing so soon enough though. Can't wait.
The problem with allot of wild drivers is they haven't had their first or second crash yet.
Many people who drive here are first generation drivers, their parents probably never owned or drove a car. In the US most people had at least grandparents who drove.
I know we always had at least 2 cars at all times growing up, once my husband and I had 4 cars between the two of us, that was over kill.
My husband's father came from a upper class HU family and had a car of his own pre WW11 .
Back then not allot of private citizens in Hu had cars, mostly businessmen, the wealthy, doctors to be able to make house calls, a politicians.
My husband is a terrible passenger,I dislike driving with him in the car.
Every min. he has something to say, you're too fast, too close to this or that, makes me insane so I really don't even wish to drive here in Hungary at all.
Drove years back by myself near the lakes when we stayed there for 6 months, drove myself all over lake Venencia and over the lake area to the other shore to go to a gym in the hills.
No way do I even want to park the car let alone drive in Budapest.

Welll people don't drive in budapest,, they point their car in some general direction and hit the gas pedal.-.-.-. apparently brakes are entirely optional (or, if fitted, must squeal) and any kind of lamp is also entirely optional, brake lamps especially entirely optional, headlamps may also be optional. Windscreen wipers are VERY optional, also bumpers6fenders are very optional.

SimonTrew wrote:

...
Welll people don't drive in budapest,, they point their car in some general direction and hit the gas pedal.-.-.-. apparently brakes are entirely optional (or, if fitted, must squeal) and any kind of lamp is also entirely optional, brake lamps especially entirely optional, headlamps may also be optional. Windscreen wipers are VERY optional, also bumpers6fenders are very optional.

They do drive but not all of them drive well.

I imported a car which was on the edge of not passing it's MoT (UK term for the yearly safety test).  It passed the MoT here no problem.   Guy I know said his bulbs on one side didn't work (not a dangerous bulb, one of the rear number plate lights) and it still passed. 

Strangely they refused to give me a list of things that needed fixing on my car other than saying the brakes weren't great.  How that works when trying to guess what might wrong is an open question.

So I just replaced all of the calipers. When I did I found some of the dust rubber seals weren't very good but I didn't have any spares so I cleaned them up and put them on replacement.   The brakes are better now but I reckon they could be still better.  What might be wrong according to their tests I dunno but it drives and stops OK.

One thing, is the Radio 4 UK Theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48YxyR-PSi8.- I tended to wake up to that each mornig, and of course in a particularly bizarre British way it was arranged by a German, Fritz Spiegl.  But it gets you going in the morning, especially, you can't beat Rule Britannia fora decent wake up, Elgar knew how to write a good tune.... but it is just this wonderful medley of all the nations of the UK and it is better than any alarm clock, it actually starts with "as I woke up one morning" if you know that folk song.... Stupidly BBC Radio 4 got rid of it a few years ago,

SimonTrew wrote:

One thing, is the Radio 4 UK Theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48YxyR-PSi8.- I tended to wake up to that each mornig, and of course in a particularly bizarre British way it was arranged by a German, Fritz Spiegl.  But it gets you going in the morning, especially, you can't beat Rule Britannia fora decent wake up, Elgar knew how to write a good tune.... but it is just this wonderful medley of all the nations of the UK and it is better than any alarm clock, it actually starts with "as I woke up one morning" if you know that folk song.... Stupidly BBC Radio 4 got rid of it a few years ago,

Am I the only one who calls the percussion section the kitchen sink department?: I thought everyone used that slang. Listened to a lot of Elgar's Enigma Variations this morning, you can't beat a bit of Elgar although Sousa comes close for a rousing march, I think Elgar has more finesse. Then they went into Wagner who I think is a pile of rubbish, bit of Beethoven which I don't mind.

A mate of mine, where I lived, Frank was a session musiician for the BBC and others and played on so many of these things, he was a very funny man and lived, not as a millionaire but well enough, off the PRS cheques. Never took a penny off the state so well done you, but would tell you tales about various recording sessions. Of course he was never credited, session musicians usually aren't,. but he played with  some of the best and could tell a tall tale with the best of him. Unfortunately now dead, I went to his funeral a few years ago. Everyone interesting seems to be dead now, the world is just getting duller. Everyone is stuck to their mobile phones instead of doing something interesting or unusual.

Now I am on a mission again. I need a bodkin or darning needle to sew up a fluffy toy. I have no idea what a sewing shop is in Hungary and have never seen one, I have absolutely no idea how to translate "bodkin" or "darning needle". I presume they must exist but I have never had to do this  before, so it will be a"learning experience". I mean, I know how to sew, execept a  sewing machine baffles me so I hand sew everything, but I just need a particular needle for this toy, and have no idea where I would get a needle, or how to ask for it. I know where the little art shop is but they won't do it, where would I get a needle? It can't be that hard, surely. I have thread etc etc just need a darning needle.

SimonTrew wrote:

One thing, is the Radio 4 UK.... it actually starts with "as I woke up one morning" if you know that folk song.... Stupidly BBC Radio 4 got rid of it a few years ago,

I've stopped listening to Radio 4.  I just got really bored with it. I now listen to LBC over the internet all the time.  If I need a BBC show - usually the comedy ones, I just listen on catch up.   Same with BBC TV, do it all on the Iplayer.

The adverts are annoyingly repetitive on LBC but it's worth it just to hear the loopy callers phoning in - many call in from overseas like the USA, Australia even Japan. 

The subjects can be quirky but often it's Brexit, Policing, Trump or whatever takes their fancy.

Some of the presenters are quite funny as well - James O'Brien is not bad as is Nick Abbott.  Even some of the callers you can recognise as they call in often.  Some level headed, some completely bonkers.

SimonTrew wrote:

Now I am on a mission again. I need a bodkin or darning needle to sew up a fluffy toy. I have no idea what a sewing shop is in Hungary and have never seen one, I have absolutely no idea how to translate "bodkin" or "darning needle". I presume they must exist but I have never had to do this  before, so it will be a"learning experience". I mean, I know how to sew, execept a  sewing machine baffles me so I hand sew everything, but I just need a particular needle for this toy, and have no idea where I would get a needle, or how to ask for it. I know where the little art shop is but they won't do it, where would I get a needle? It can't be that hard, surely. I have thread etc etc just need a darning needle.

Try this sewing shop

There is a sewing shop on the large Blvd. between Rackoci and King.
Roltex is the name if my memory is right.
A small shop , easy to pass by if your not looking closely.
They sell zippers, thread needles , buttons etc.
I'm horrible at giving directions but if you walk on the left side of the blvd. going from Blaha Luza towards King, it will be on your left side of the st. Near a small flower shop.

No, tha'sd no good,  just want to go out and get a needle, I don't want to order it online, I  can see tat one coming, it willl arrive via the postie in bubble wrap, I will take of the wrap, and then have nine needles stuck into me. The missus will then burst all the bubbles in the bubble wrap, I don't know why people do that I keep it for the next parcel, and now I shall have no bubble wrap and nine needles stuck in me. If I wanted that I would go to an acupuncturist,.

Also I did not ask for a "showing shop", If you like a bit of acerbic wit I recommend Thurber, "Nine Needles".