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LJ Came Back! *clings*
I need my LJ today - I had a Very Good Day and a Very Sucky Day and need to witter about it.
Today was the raid on The Petersfield Bookshop, an emporium discovered by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thalinoviel a few weeks ago and described as "Tardis-like". This was sufficiently intriguing that she was able to herd some cats organise a group trip. I volunteered to be the "north London" driver (cars being preferred to trains for the convenience of not having to carry nine tons of books home via public transport). So I duly picked up thalinoviel, albeit a bit later than planned, and we headed down to Hampshire.
It was a glorious drive down. The sky was crystal clear and blue, the sun shone and England's green and pleasant land looked very beautiful. Despite leaving almost half an hour later than intended, we managed to get to Petersfield for 11.45am, a mere 15 minutes later than scheduled. Parking was found and we scampered to the bookstore, wherebibliogirl and rotwang were already attacking the courtyard outside the shop. A phone call from cookwitch revealed that herself and the ever lovely Mr d_floorlandmine were on their way and so shopping commenced.
The bookstore is just mind blowing. Shelves and shelves and shelves of books to be explored, a good mix of hardback and paperbacks available and just generally a Good Place to Be. Some of us *stares at a certainthalinoviel* got thoroughly carried away and emerged bearing a load of books almost the same height as she is. I'm not kidding. There is photographic proof which I'll link to if the pic is made available. I was more modest and believe it or not folks, I actually almost stuck to my budget of £15 :D I only spent £17.50, which I feel was darn good! I bought a paperback version of Maureen Lipman's "Lip Reading", because I have no idea where my hard copy had gone, dammit, and several Andy Capp cartoon books for the collection. It was one of these that pushed me over budget but it was a very good copy of a rare collection so I figured why not? I even put two books back on the shelves to accommodate the purchase. Restraint can do no more :)
After prising everyone loose, we nipped back to the car long enough to drop off the books and thenthalinoviel led the way to the pub earmarked for lunch. We commandeered a table in the restaurant and proceeded to chomp our way through very, very delicious food. I had the home made GI Cheeseburger - basically a burger the size and shape of a cricket ball. Quite why they bothered with the bun, I have no idea, because it was impossible to eat it as a normal burger; demolition by knife and fork was a necessity. The chips that came with it were particular delicious too. Mmm! I wasn't planning on dessert but everyone else had one, so naturally I decided I may as well. I can thoroughly recommend the raspberry cheesecake at "The Good Intent" pub in Petersfield, it was GORGEOUS. :D
Fat and full, we all then waddled back to our various cars and said our goodbyes, before wending our way home. And that, folks, is where The Good Day went sour....
Somewhere up the A3, my car developed a rattle. I slowed down. The rattle stopped. I speeded up, the rattle started again. Oh bugger, I thought. Looked at the dashboard and the needle on temperature gauge is so far up the dial, it's gone past the red band and is scrabbling on the side of the dashboard trying to get out. Oh FUCK!! I slapped the hazard lights on and hauled the car over towards the grass verge. We're on a very, very busy dual carriageway with no proper hard shoulder. Joy. As I pulled up onto the grass as much as I could without scraping the crash barrier, I could smell burning and the unmistakeable scent of burning oil. Oh boy.
Of the many bills I haven't kept up with this year, let us pause a moment to thank all that is holy that I kept up my AA membership.
Thank you.
I phoned the AA, gave all the details, explained that we were in a very, very bad spot, safety wise, and we were duly made a total priority call. One snag. I had no idea where on the A3 we were. *sighs* Normally, I pay attention to junctions but I just couldn't recall what town junction we'd just passed.thalinoviel heroically scampered down the road to read the nearest marker but for some reason the numbers didn't come up on the AA system. So we played a few guessing games of "have you gone past X?" and "How long since you left Y?", gave her our best estimate and scrambled out of the car to the safety of the path that was on the other side of the crash barrier to wait for rescue.
It was a bit cold but thankfully it wasn't raining, there was shelter in the form of a bridge nearby if it did turn nasty and as we noted, we weren't hungry or thirsty because of our feasting in Petersfield. Plus there were many, many fireworks displays to be seen, so we found a spot on a low wall to sit and watch.thalinoviel spotted that on the southbound carriageway, a few hundred yards away, there was a road sign. I wasn't in favour of going to read it but after we got a phone call from the driver who sounded a bit lost, she determinedly walked up the path to peer through the dark at the sign. We then called the AA and gave them our new improved location and 15 minutes later the driver arrived.
Just a note here - from the time we phoned to the time the van got there was 50 minutes. Bloody impressive, given we couldn't give a precise location for most of that, they didn't have any vans in the area and couldn't call anyone out for 20 minutes and it was Saturday evening on Guy Fawkes weekend and the world and his dog was out and about. Kudos to the AA.
The driver looked at the engine after I described the events and mournfully declared it dead - the head gasket probably blown. Not much else to do but be towed somewhere safer to wait for a tow truck, which he duly sorted out. Just for the record, being towed when you are on a static bar tow, with no power steering and no brakes, is downright freaky. You can't brake (and shouldn't even if you could), steering it is like driving a tank and you have to fight your instincts not to get closer to the van in front that's towing you. But we got to the retail park that was our destination safely and the cheerful driver (who was, in the finest traditions, a very nice man) called the tow truck, whilethalinoviel and I headed for a nearby Burger King for soothing and necessary hot tea.
Another AA note - the van driver said the tow truck would be there between 60 to 90 minutes. It got there in 30. I'm impressed.
Another very, very nice man got the car onto the tow truck and we had a painless journey back to WGC, enjoying all the firework displays we could see. At one point, we were watching four simultaneously :)
We got back to my place at just after 8.30 and the car was duly parked in the bay outside the flats. AA man departed andbytepilot arrived, with two chums, to rescue thalinoviel and also give me some sage advice about the car. One of the chums is very knowledgeable about cars and he confirmed the AA man's diagnoses of a blown head gasket and also confirmed my estimate of repair costs. Bugger. He and bytepilot were very helpful and kind though and planned to go and see if they could get the right spare parts, although the actual repair is a total bugger as you have to dismantle the entire engine to do it. Ah well. I thanked them for their help, waved them all goodbye and gratefully crashed on the World's Comfiest Sofa.
So what now, I hear you ask? Good question, I reply. Short term - Repair estimates are around £500 or more. I don't have £500 and I can't put it on the credit card. Options are 1)bytepilot and chum work a miracle and effect repairs. Not impossible but bloody difficult and not looking likely. 2) Ring the insurance company and see if they'll let me write the car off 3) Find a garage that will buy the car as is for whatever I can negotiate. Whichever route, I'm currently without a car. Short term, I should be able to blag a lift into work from a colleague who lives in WGC. There is also a bus route between Hertford and WGC which may go near where I live, so that's a possibility. Long term - If all else fails, it'll have to be option 3, even though I'll get peanuts for the car, it'll let me buy another cheaper car and I need wheels, for work and visiting Aunty Eve if nothing else.
So we'll see. But despite it all, I did enjoy the trip and the company, and it was a blessing I had someone with me when the car went bang. But I'd really, really like for nothing else to go bang now, kthx. Enough is enough :)
So. How bad was "Robin Hood" then? Am I going to be sorry if I bother to watch the repeat?
Today was the raid on The Petersfield Bookshop, an emporium discovered by
thalinoviel a few weeks ago and described as "Tardis-like". This was sufficiently intriguing that she was able to thalinoviel, albeit a bit later than planned, and we headed down to Hampshire.It was a glorious drive down. The sky was crystal clear and blue, the sun shone and England's green and pleasant land looked very beautiful. Despite leaving almost half an hour later than intended, we managed to get to Petersfield for 11.45am, a mere 15 minutes later than scheduled. Parking was found and we scampered to the bookstore, where
bibliogirl and rotwang were already attacking the courtyard outside the shop. A phone call from cookwitch revealed that herself and the ever lovely Mr d_floorlandmine were on their way and so shopping commenced.The bookstore is just mind blowing. Shelves and shelves and shelves of books to be explored, a good mix of hardback and paperbacks available and just generally a Good Place to Be. Some of us *stares at a certain
thalinoviel* got thoroughly carried away and emerged bearing a load of books almost the same height as she is. I'm not kidding. There is photographic proof which I'll link to if the pic is made available. I was more modest and believe it or not folks, I actually almost stuck to my budget of £15 :D I only spent £17.50, which I feel was darn good! I bought a paperback version of Maureen Lipman's "Lip Reading", because I have no idea where my hard copy had gone, dammit, and several Andy Capp cartoon books for the collection. It was one of these that pushed me over budget but it was a very good copy of a rare collection so I figured why not? I even put two books back on the shelves to accommodate the purchase. Restraint can do no more :)After prising everyone loose, we nipped back to the car long enough to drop off the books and then
thalinoviel led the way to the pub earmarked for lunch. We commandeered a table in the restaurant and proceeded to chomp our way through very, very delicious food. I had the home made GI Cheeseburger - basically a burger the size and shape of a cricket ball. Quite why they bothered with the bun, I have no idea, because it was impossible to eat it as a normal burger; demolition by knife and fork was a necessity. The chips that came with it were particular delicious too. Mmm! I wasn't planning on dessert but everyone else had one, so naturally I decided I may as well. I can thoroughly recommend the raspberry cheesecake at "The Good Intent" pub in Petersfield, it was GORGEOUS. :D Fat and full, we all then waddled back to our various cars and said our goodbyes, before wending our way home. And that, folks, is where The Good Day went sour....
Somewhere up the A3, my car developed a rattle. I slowed down. The rattle stopped. I speeded up, the rattle started again. Oh bugger, I thought. Looked at the dashboard and the needle on temperature gauge is so far up the dial, it's gone past the red band and is scrabbling on the side of the dashboard trying to get out. Oh FUCK!! I slapped the hazard lights on and hauled the car over towards the grass verge. We're on a very, very busy dual carriageway with no proper hard shoulder. Joy. As I pulled up onto the grass as much as I could without scraping the crash barrier, I could smell burning and the unmistakeable scent of burning oil. Oh boy.
Of the many bills I haven't kept up with this year, let us pause a moment to thank all that is holy that I kept up my AA membership.
Thank you.
I phoned the AA, gave all the details, explained that we were in a very, very bad spot, safety wise, and we were duly made a total priority call. One snag. I had no idea where on the A3 we were. *sighs* Normally, I pay attention to junctions but I just couldn't recall what town junction we'd just passed.
thalinoviel heroically scampered down the road to read the nearest marker but for some reason the numbers didn't come up on the AA system. So we played a few guessing games of "have you gone past X?" and "How long since you left Y?", gave her our best estimate and scrambled out of the car to the safety of the path that was on the other side of the crash barrier to wait for rescue.It was a bit cold but thankfully it wasn't raining, there was shelter in the form of a bridge nearby if it did turn nasty and as we noted, we weren't hungry or thirsty because of our feasting in Petersfield. Plus there were many, many fireworks displays to be seen, so we found a spot on a low wall to sit and watch.
thalinoviel spotted that on the southbound carriageway, a few hundred yards away, there was a road sign. I wasn't in favour of going to read it but after we got a phone call from the driver who sounded a bit lost, she determinedly walked up the path to peer through the dark at the sign. We then called the AA and gave them our new improved location and 15 minutes later the driver arrived.Just a note here - from the time we phoned to the time the van got there was 50 minutes. Bloody impressive, given we couldn't give a precise location for most of that, they didn't have any vans in the area and couldn't call anyone out for 20 minutes and it was Saturday evening on Guy Fawkes weekend and the world and his dog was out and about. Kudos to the AA.
The driver looked at the engine after I described the events and mournfully declared it dead - the head gasket probably blown. Not much else to do but be towed somewhere safer to wait for a tow truck, which he duly sorted out. Just for the record, being towed when you are on a static bar tow, with no power steering and no brakes, is downright freaky. You can't brake (and shouldn't even if you could), steering it is like driving a tank and you have to fight your instincts not to get closer to the van in front that's towing you. But we got to the retail park that was our destination safely and the cheerful driver (who was, in the finest traditions, a very nice man) called the tow truck, while
thalinoviel and I headed for a nearby Burger King for soothing and necessary hot tea. Another AA note - the van driver said the tow truck would be there between 60 to 90 minutes. It got there in 30. I'm impressed.
Another very, very nice man got the car onto the tow truck and we had a painless journey back to WGC, enjoying all the firework displays we could see. At one point, we were watching four simultaneously :)
We got back to my place at just after 8.30 and the car was duly parked in the bay outside the flats. AA man departed and
bytepilot arrived, with two chums, to rescue thalinoviel and also give me some sage advice about the car. One of the chums is very knowledgeable about cars and he confirmed the AA man's diagnoses of a blown head gasket and also confirmed my estimate of repair costs. Bugger. He and bytepilot were very helpful and kind though and planned to go and see if they could get the right spare parts, although the actual repair is a total bugger as you have to dismantle the entire engine to do it. Ah well. I thanked them for their help, waved them all goodbye and gratefully crashed on the World's Comfiest Sofa.So what now, I hear you ask? Good question, I reply. Short term - Repair estimates are around £500 or more. I don't have £500 and I can't put it on the credit card. Options are 1)
bytepilot and chum work a miracle and effect repairs. Not impossible but bloody difficult and not looking likely. 2) Ring the insurance company and see if they'll let me write the car off 3) Find a garage that will buy the car as is for whatever I can negotiate. Whichever route, I'm currently without a car. Short term, I should be able to blag a lift into work from a colleague who lives in WGC. There is also a bus route between Hertford and WGC which may go near where I live, so that's a possibility. Long term - If all else fails, it'll have to be option 3, even though I'll get peanuts for the car, it'll let me buy another cheaper car and I need wheels, for work and visiting Aunty Eve if nothing else.So we'll see. But despite it all, I did enjoy the trip and the company, and it was a blessing I had someone with me when the car went bang. But I'd really, really like for nothing else to go bang now, kthx. Enough is enough :)
So. How bad was "Robin Hood" then? Am I going to be sorry if I bother to watch the repeat?