Helpfulness

Posted on October 14, 2024October 15, 2024 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Car, Caring, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2092, kind, Life, Neighbour, Prompt, SupportLeave a comment

What makes a good neighbor?

Sometimes you need a neighbour to help. Or they need your help. As we grow older you can become more isolated. If you don’t have anyone you might need that support. What happens if you struggle with something? I once had to ask someone to take my handbrake off because I’d put it on too tight and I couldn’t release it. Yesterday I had to park up the hill as all the spaces outside my house were taken. Later when I saw the cars go I walked slowly up the hill to move my car (I had parked outside a neighbour’s house).

I don’t really know him but I was worried that someone was going to park outside my house before I moved the car. This neighbour kindly offered to stand outside my house until I moved it!

Being on good terms with neighbours helps everyone. X

Anecdote on wiper blades

Posted on September 15, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged anecdote, Broken, Car, Driving, Funny, Humour, Memory, side to side, String, Tied up, Windscreen wipers2 Comments

My windscreen wiper motor broke down on the way back from Birmingham once, so we titd a string to one wiper, put it through the driver and passenger windows and tied it to the other wiper, We got cold and wet but at least I could see what was going on. Hubby pulled the string side to side while I drove! We got some peculiar looks on the way home! Especially when we stopped at traffic lights… People were laughing at us!

I remembered this after reading about the woman from America who invented windscreen wipers in the 1890s after seeing a tram driver struggling to see the road through his window in a snowstorm in New York.

Travel, Esther Chiltons blog prompt.

Posted on August 21, 2024August 21, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Accident, Bike, Car, classic bike, Cycling, Esther Chiltons prompt, Life, Memory, mixte frame, Time, Travel, Viking Queen2 Comments

Transport; I wish I could still cycle, but I stopped a few years ago. Driving a car didn’t help, the more I used the car the less I used the bike. That was because I had a accident that damaged my bike so it came apart while I was riding it a year later. It took a year to get it fixed and in the meantime I got the car. I used that for work and to travel further with my hubby. I did keep cycling for a few years, bur as I say I gradually lost my fitness and confidence. I still have the bike, it’s in my house. It’s a classic, I hope one day someone else can use it.

Written for Esther Chiltons prompt “Travel”,

Parking…?

Posted on August 8, 2024 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Car, Cars, fluorescent, Life, Parking, parking restrictions, racoon, search engines, traffic warden, vanLeave a comment

I asked WordPress to show me a photo from it’s free photo library of ‘parking restrictions’. So I was slightly surprised to see a racoon nesting in a tree! I do wonder what criteria it’s search engine uses. But it was amusing so I’ve posted it.

Why am I thinking of parking? I live on a street with residents only parking. I don’t mind if other people park up as long as I can fit in but recently builders have been parking up while renovating buildings in the street.

Today I saw two men in yellow fluorescent jackets wandering up and down the pavement. One seemed to be writing something in a book. Dreaded parking wardens. They ticketed a van. If the owner had knocked on my door I would have lent him my car parking pass. But it’s a good job I didn’t as I now have a visitor and she needs it.

Sharing information

Posted on March 17, 2024March 17, 2024 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Car, Careful, free image, Information, Library, Life, Sadness, Thinking, Websites, WordPressLeave a comment

Someone spotted the type of car this is. I posted it on my previous post. But it’s not my car.

You can use a free picture library here that will provide you with a free image. I use it when I don’t want to share information that identifies specific details about me. I know that people can do reverse image checks and get your details. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I trust WordPress more than some other sites but even so it’s a risk to share stuff that people could use against you. That’s why I don’t share pet and family names either. I’m not being rude, just careful. X

Expensive

Posted on March 16, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged brake pipes, brakes, Car, Expensive, Life, old car, pre 2000, Repairs, Time, TravelLeave a comment

I just had to have work on my car. It had lots of problems with corroded brakes and break pipes, plus my old mechanic has retired. So I don’t think I got as much support as we have had for the last twenty years or so. My car is pre 2000 so parts are hard to get.

It’s worrying because I don’t think I will be able to afford to have it fixed again next year

It also has several advisories that show that there will be similar problems or worse next year. I will have to think outside the box. Really I think I need an automatic, I want to stay safe on the road.

Parking problem

Posted on February 26, 2024February 26, 2024 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Car, Car park, chockablock, Fine, Hospital, Life, Parking, paying, pharmacy, Space2 Comments

I was looking for a parking space at the hospital today. It took a while but I got one, then I struggled to fit square in the space and leave enough room for cars on either side. I went to the parking meter and paid for an hour.

When I got to the pharmacy I had to wait twenty minutes for new tablets, but that was not unusual. I had half an hour left when I got back to the car, and the distance to get off the car park was about 200 yards.

Guess how long it took to get out? Half an hour! Cars were queuing all the way up to the barrier. You could turn right or left, but the car park leads onto a road that goes through the hospital grounds. And that was chockablock with cars and buses. Both ends of it lead onto traffic lights and then main roads. So it was effectively pretty gridlocked, with only small numbers of cars released every few minutes. My main worry? Will I get fined for staying over the hour I paid for?

Mom’s old car

Posted on February 18, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Accident, Austin allegro, Car, Countryside, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1852, Driving, Gift, MemoryLeave a comment

Share one of the best gifts you’ve ever received.

When I passed my driving test I couldn’t afford to buy a car so my mom gave me her Austin Allegro? as she had wanted to replace it. She did say the brakes were a bit dodgy. But with the enthusiasm of a new driver I wasn’t too worried.

A couple of weeks after getting it we decided to explore the countryside where we used to cycle. The narrow lanes were tricky but I got us safely to Rudyard lake and a peaceful afternoon.

What possessed me to take a wrong turn on the way home will never be known. Possibly I thought I was taking a shorter route? But we got lost, the lanes were narrower, steep banks on either side. I came down a hill approaching a bend when suddenly another car roared round the bend coming head on for us!

All I could do was violently swing the car left toward the side, the other car got past, but the brakes didn’t stop us in time. I hit a low stone wall straight into the radiator. The car stopped. I had to find a phone (no mobiles in those days). We rang the AA who came out. The car was a write off, the engine had been knocked back six inches!

Despite the fact the car was destroyed I still think it was the best gift. And I learnt a valuable lesson. Don’t drive beyond your capabilities.

Stuck in Wales

Posted on December 17, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged bad luck, Breakdown, breakdown service, Car, clutch, Life, Now, Repair, Stuck, Wales2 Comments

My sister is broken down in a car in Wales, her clutch has gone. She’s been waiting for the breakdown service for about four hours! They keep saying they are sending someone but it’s getting late, and cold. Why they advertise a service when they can leave someone on their own late at night. So of course I’m worried about her. I will keep ringing her back until I know she is safe. I cannot go to her because she is about eighty miles away in a town I don’t know. So if you read this please just send her good wishes. X

Hubby news

Posted on December 2, 2023December 2, 2023 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Car, Cat, Cold, Freezing, frosty, hoar frost, Hospital, Hubby, Icy, Life, Lock, Poorly, stable5 Comments

The hoar frost was thick this morning when I visited hubby at the hospital. I had a frozen car lock to contend with, then a car parking meter that was frozen so it would not accept cash. The other one on the car park was not taking money either, just card payments.

When I got to the ward the doors were locked. I was visiting outside visiting hours, they are allowing me to do that because hubby is awaiting surgery but they don’t know when yet and he might have to be taken to theatre during visiting times.

I don’t know who will read this so I’m not doing into details, but he is poorly but stable. I just feel lonely without him.

Waking up in an empty bed is so strange, the cats were with me keeping warm. I hope he can come home soon, but we won’t know until he has an operation.

I might not be around much, but I will try and catch up when I can. X

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Car